| A still from Martin Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon |
My Favorite Movies Released in 2023
I had some movies which finished with the same score and I'm not interested in picking them apart to separate one of these from the rest. So, I'll list these 10 movies in tiers (in alphabetical order):
Tier 1:
Killers of the Flower Moon. Directed by Martin Scorsese. An admission of white complicity & a testament to the inability of art/entertainment to convey atrocity, while still telling an epic sized true story of systemic mass murder on both micro and macro levels. Brilliantly acted with impeccable craft, often brutally hard to watch, Lily Gladstone gives a shattering performance as the film's heart and soul. Few films expose the bottomless hell of America's obsession with profit - by any means necessary and often by the most brazen and obvious means available - as clearly and mercilessly as this one does.
Tier 2:
Oppenheimer. Directed by Christopher Nolan. Twin track storytelling makes for a rigorous examination of power and the compromise of human achievement used to create human suffering is brough into stark relief. Terrific work by a strong enemble, with a career-best performance from Cillian Murphy and arguably Robert Downey Jr.'s best work in years. The pacing never flags over 3 hours, even in a film loaded with scenes of people sitting and talking in rooms, and the centerpiece of the film is a stunning re-creation of the Trinty Test, evoked with wonder and horror.
Spider Man: Across the Spider-Verse. Directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin Thompson. Vivid, vibrant, colorful, with deeply felt perfomances, particualrly Shameik Moore's Miles, Hailee Steinfeld's Gwen, and Oscar Isaac's Miguel. The magnificently animated action sequences maximize the multiverse concept (in contrast, see my thoughts on The Flash below) to explore regrets, missed opportunities, paths not taken, and even challenges canonical ideas about character/destiny as it relates to comic book characters in general, and Spider-Man in particular.
Tier 3:
Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret. Directed by Kelly Fremon Craig. Vivid evocation of early adolescence for young women, replete with anxiety over boys, periods, cliques, and family trauma rooted in racism. Occasionally broad, but very funny and moving. Rachel McAdams is effortlessly authentic as Margaret's mother, with fine performances from Abby Ryder Fortson, Benny Safdie, and Kathy Bates. With this and The Edge of Seventeen, Craig is a terrific filmmaker with a distinct voice working in teen drama/coming of age storytelling.
Elemental. Directed by Peter Sohn. As much a star-crossed romance as a family drama where fire-based Ember (voiced by Leah Lewis) is torn between chasing a romance with water-based Wade (voiced by Mamoudou Athie), while her family is desperate for her to take over the corner store in the "fire-slums". Delicately animated, with vibrant colors and lovely settings, while quietly examining the hostility and burden of immigrant minorities trying to make their way in a society built to cater to others, while still chasing their own dreams.
Ferrari. Directed by Michael Mann. Sleek, dynamic, thrilling. Adam Driver is a fine anchor for this story which covers several tumultuous months in 1957 as Enzo Ferrari prepares his racing team for the Mille Miglia. An incendiary Penelope Cruz as Laura, Ferrari's wife and co-owner, is sidestepped in her grief following the death of their son, as Enzo and his racing team embrace their work heedless of consequence. The racing becomes a metaphor of the drive to succeed at any cost, illustrated with great racing sequences and punctuated by the most horrifying car crash I've ever seen on screen.
Godzilla Minus One. Directed by Takashi Yamazaki. Follows a kamikaze pilot played by a highly appealing Ryunosuke Kamiki, who having "failed" his orders is left to help his shattered country and broken countrymen fight a new force of nature with no support and no resources. Conveys the shattered postwar physical and mental state of Japan expertly, calls out hollow nationalism in service of true honor and self-defense, with expertly designed and paced action scenes and a great eye for peiod detail.
May December. Directed by Todd Haynes. A melodramatic riff off the Mary Lay Letourneau scandal, where Natalie Portman's actress Elizabeth spends a week with Julianne Moore's middle aged Gracie and her much younger now-husband Joe, played beautifully by Charles Melton. Nastily funny and queasy, this film skewers Elizaberth's careerism and Gracie's naive narcisscism to illustrate the long-term damage of using people for personal gain. Melton in particular, makes for a deeply sympathetic moral center, while the film treats the character as an adult with his own emerging dreams and feelings.
Rye Lane. Directed Raine Allen-Miller. David Jonnson as Dom and Vivian Oparah as Yas have wonderful chemistry as a couple. Along with some sharp writing, their performances turns this romantic comedy into a lovely walk-and-talk budding romance with each person struggling to navigate past a terrible break up. The widescreen compositions bring the larger community to life and make this pair feel like part of a larger world, without losing the initmacy of their connection.
They Cloned Tyrone. Directed Juel Taylor. John Boyega, Jamie Foxx, and Teyonah Parris are all terrific as a a drug dealer, pimp, and hooker, respectively. They discover their place in the community when a nefarious conspiracy is discovered, and one of the main characters is exposed as a clone of his previously murdered self. By turns clever, hilarious, intelligent, and heartbreaking, with acid takes about white power and black survival against assimilation.
Other 2023 Movies I Liked (in alphabetical order):
- Air. Directed by Ben Affleck.
- Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. Directed by John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein.
- Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 3. Directed by James Gunn.
- Infinity Pool. Directed By Brandon Cronenberg.
- John Wick: Chapter Four. Directed by Chad Stahelski.
- The Killer. Directed by David Fincher.
- Maestro. Directed by Bradley Cooper
- M3gan. Directed by Gerard Johnstone
- Napoleon. Directed by Ridley Scott
- Past Lives. Directed by Celine Song.
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem. Directed by Jeff Rowe
Movies Released in 2023 I Still Want to See:
- Afire. Directed by Christian Petzold
- Anatomy of a Fall. Directed by Justine Triet
- Asteroid City. Directed by Wes Anderson
- Beau is Afraid. Directed by Ari Aster
- The Holdovers. Directed by Alexander Payne
- Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning, Part One. Directed by Christopher McQuarrie
- Poor Things. Diretced by Yorgos Lanthimos
- Priscilla. Directed by Sofia Coppola
- Showing Up. Directed by Kelly Reichardt
- The Zone of Interest. Directed by Jonathan Glazer.
Most Frustrating Movie I Saw in 2023:
Worst Movie I Saw in 2023:
Great Movies I caught up with in 2023 (or for the first time in a long time).
Beyond the Lights (2014). Directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood. Gugu Mbatha-Raw is transcendent as a rising pop star trapped in a bubble - created by Minnie Driver's domineering mother - who finds her true voice. Nate Parker is terrific as her grounded, generous lover. Sensual, with clear ideas on women artists subsumed by trauma, media, greed, and machismo.
Bull Durham (1988). Directed by Ron Shelton. Authentic portrait of minor league baseball is very funny, honest, and has aged very well due to progressive attitudes about relationships and sexuality. The writing is sharp, full of zingers, soliloquies, understated desperation, and regret. Kevin Costner, Tim Robbins, and Susan Sarandon all have chemistry together and are all terrific.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000). Directed by Ang Lee. Formal distance collapses in the face of a half dozen action setpieces with amazing choreography, fabulous set design and photography, and a pair of terrific star-crossed love stories with heart-rending performances from Chow Yun-Fat, Michelle Yeoh, Ziyi Zhang, and Chang Chen.
Deep Red (1975). Directed by Dario Argento. Delivered with high style, vivid colors, a dynamite score, brutal violence, and multiple thrillingly staged murder sequences more than overcome the silly concept of David Hemming's musician as detective and the flatness of the characters.
The Duellists (1977). Directed by Ridley Scott. Keith Carradine and Harvey Keitel are well-matched antagonists engaged in a long-running feud, while the emotional distance highlights the bemused contempt for outdated social mores. Visually ravishing, without pulling punches on the era or violence.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004). Directed by Michel Gondry. Features my favorite performances by both Kate Winslet and Jim Carrey. Splendid supporting performances (RIP, Tom Wilkinson) and an imaginative, prismatic look at memory, loss, love, and second chances in an affecting tragic romance.
Five Easy Pieces (1970). Directed by Bob Rafelson. Jack Nicholson gives a raw portrait of a privileged young man lashing out at everyone over his insecurity and running away from his heritage. The location work is authentic while performances are fully grounded and convincing.
His Girl Friday (1940). Directed by Howard Hawks. Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell make a perfect match as a divorced editor and reporter who banter their way back into each other's hearts. Dialogue, pacing, staging all crackle with brisk pacing and good humor.
The Killers (1946). Directed by Robert Siodmak. Stunning black and white photography visually expresses the narrative twists and hidden lives of the characters, while Burt Lancaster's bruised romantic machismo makes for a perfect chump against Ava Gardner's sultry femme fatale.
L.A. Confidential (1997). Directed by Curtis Hanson. The conspiracy isn't always clear even when explained, but the film has strong writing, three brilliant leads (particularly Russell Crowe) and great supporting performances (particularly Kim Basinger), sumptuous craft, and depicts the LAPD and 1950s Los Angeles - espeically the strange connections between people at the top and bottom of social strata - with honesty and authenticity.
Lost in Translation (2003). Directed by Sofia Coppola. Lean and lovely story about dissaffected and dislocated Americans living/working in Tokyo. Scarlett Johannson and Bill Murray are understated, but their chemistry is sensational and the depiction of Tokyo feels simultaneously foreign, yet seductively dazzling.
Malcolm X (1992). Directed by Spike Lee. Denzel Washington disappears into Malcolm X. The pacing is fleet and the material is provocative, though Lee takes pains to ground everything in context and doesn't pull punches about Malcolm as a man, the era it protrays, or the shady dealings of the Nation of Islam - in particular Al Freeman Jr's quietly vicious Elijah Muhammad. A rousing and moving experience.
The Maltese Falcon (1941). Directed by John Huston. Thrilling, fast, and fun to follow - a handful of stylish performances by Mary Astor, Sydney Greenstreet, and Peter Lorre add color and layers to the world surrounding Humphrey Bogart's Sam Spade - an icon of cool, tough, and clever, if not always smart.
Michael Clayton (2007). Dirtected by Tony Gilroy. Delicious performances built around scintillating dialogue leads to a smartly executed thriller that moves like a freight train. The narrative eventually becomes more conventional and a couple of threads are dropped/unexplored, but the final confrontation between George Clooney and Tilda Swinton is breathtakingly great.
Once Upon a Time In the West (1968). Directed by Sergio Leone. Deliberate pacing, gorgeous widescreen compositions, gritty textured locations, and a great score transform a western potboiler into legend about the West. Stuffed with iconic moments & great actors with expert performances.
Perfect Blue (1997). Directed by Satoshi Kon. Vivid, violent, lurid, occasionally exploitive anime about a pop star and the fracturing of her personality after filming a traumatic assault while acting for a TV show, while battling the paranoia induced by online fandom and a stalker.
Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019). Directed by Celine Sciamma. Beautifully crafted, suffused with longing and sensuality, poignant regarding how women are impacted by men and the families they make in reply, the gaze of the subject versus the artist, and memory paired with art. Noemie Merlant and Adele Haenel are heartbreaking in the lead roles.
Possession (1981). Directed by Andrzej Zulawski. Uncompromising nightmare of a marriage in a death spiral, raging with hurt, disgust, lonlieness, lust, and remorse. Evocative setting and imagery, terrific and disgusting practical effects. Isabelle Adjani gives the best performance I've ever seen from an actress - I have no idea how she kept her sanity - and she's almost matched in power and pain by Sam Neill. No film I've seen evokes the bottomless hurt of a broken relationship better than this film does.
Ride the High Country (1962). Directed by Sam Peckinpah. An winter Western about the death of the West and the uselessness of individual honor against the advance of technology and capital. Passively misogynist, but gets both the evil of men and value of friendship and duty with touching, sentimental performances from Joel McCrea and Randolph Scott.
Sorcerer (1977). Directed by William Friedkin. Nasty, bleak, gritty, and blunt. Locations and actors are fantastically convincing and the pacing is breakneck, resulting in exhaustion by the end. Bolstered by a handful of brilliant action/tension setpices. Roy Scheider in particular evokes the desperation and shame of a dead end in a third world shithole with his lean, driven performance.
Spring (2014). Directed by Justin Benson and Aaron Morehead. Nicely shaded performances from Lou Taylor Pucci and Nadia Hilker combine with ingenious craft to maximize the scale and setting on a small budget, with startling and clever creature effects. Plays with notions of love and sexuality as uncontrollable monstrosities.
The Verdict (1982). Directed by Sidney Lumet. Paul Newman is magnificent and raw as ambulance chaser Frank Galvin, getting one last chance to make the law work for good. Plotting is lean and propulsive, characters are beautifully conceived and performed by a great ensemble. Devastating indictment of how money corrupts institutions built to serve.
No comments:
Post a Comment