Just catching up on this thread. I agree with you about Hard Truths. I found it difficult to continue watching after a while. Disconnected scenes do not make a complete film. Secrets and Lies and Topsy-Turvy are truly his best. So many layers of emotions woven into a complete plot.
I think that his films often seem disconnected and eliptical but finally coaslesce into something quite satisfying. My favourite run of his is Another Year, Happy Go Lucky and Mr Turner, all of which do that in different ways
I missed Mr. Turner and do want to see it, not least because the wildly abstracted late Turner paintings (and his late sketchbooks0 are astonishing.
I wrote a thing about it for a journal that will be published later this year. It is an interesting, fairly atypical biopic