First Impressions: The FILMS of 2023

[Sweeping Strings 2,363]

The Holdovers - bittersweet 70s-set comedy drama that reunites Alexander Payne with Paul Giamatti for the first time since Sideways. Giamatti plays a curmudgeonly teacher at a boarding school who is tasked with looking after the 'holdovers' (the boarders who have nowhere else to go) during the Christmas holidays. Giamatti, the debuting Dominic Sessa and Da'vine Joy Randolph (as the school's cook) are all very good indeed. 

 

  

 

 

[A24 4,338]

Did you see that one in the theater? 

[Jay 37,369]

When I was in Target yesterday, I saw that it's already out on blu ray

[JNHFan2000 2,966]

Rye Lane

 

Lovely film. 

Both leads are fantastic and have wonderful chemistry. Script is very well written. Lot's of dialogue, but it all feels very real and lived in.

Cinematography also adds a lot to the vibe of the film. And I loved all the bright colors!

 

At 80 minutes it was just the film I needed today.

 

Oh, and there's a really fun cameo by a rom-com legend!

[Sweeping Strings 2,363]

12 hours ago, A24 said:

Did you see that one in the theater? 

 

I did ... 10:10 am screening in my local Cineworld yesterday, only 2 other people in attendance. Bliss. 

[filmmusic 1,829]

At last! The Boy and the Heron opens in my country this Thursday!

I have never seen an anime in the theater, and I haven't been generally to the theater since The Rise of Skywalker, 5 years ago.

Opinions about the film? Is it worth it or should I wait for the blu-ray?

I generally LOVE Ghibli films.

[Jay 37,369]

It's always worth going to the cinema for a Miyazaki movie

[KK 3,307]

On 26/01/2024 at 8:02 AM, Jay said:

I went into Saltburn with a completely open mind and really ended up not liking it at all. I wasn't surprised when it got no Oscar nominations. I don't think it will be talked about much after another few months

 

Agreed. It's a remarkably empty film. Beautifully shot, and well-acted, but little more than a string of "shock" moments designed for TikTokers to foam over. Though it does have a particular fanbase.

 

On 26/01/2024 at 6:58 AM, crocodile said:

Regardless of your opinion, that doesn't say much. A lot of really great films make little impression at first and take their time to make their big comeback some years later. Things that burn the brightest at first, on the other hand, tend to disappear or lose their relevance. Life is funny like that.

 

Karol

 

I don't think Babylon is by any means a "great film". I think it's very impressively made, but has little to say that hasn't been said before in better ways. All of it feels like imitative grandstanding.

 

It's basically Boogie Nights (almost beat for beat) meets Singing in the Rain, and I'd rather watch both of those.

 

But I'd take all three over Saltburn.

 

2 hours ago, filmmusic said:

Opinions about the film? Is it worth it or should I wait for the blu-ray?

I generally LOVE Ghibli films.

 

It's great! Like a darker cousin to Spirited Away. It's messier than his other films, and is filled to brim with ideas (perhaps a bit too much so), but it's still lovely. Definitely worth watching it in the theatres.

[filmmusic 1,829]

8 minutes ago, KK said:

It's great! Like a darker cousin to Spirited Away. It's messier than his other films, and is filled to brim with ideas (perhaps a bit too much so), but it's still lovely. Definitely worth watching it in the theatres.

I fear that it is said, the film leaves many things unexplained.

I don't like this in films. I like to be served the explanations without trying to find my own! 

[JNHFan2000 2,966]

Anatomy Of A Fall

 

Wooooooow!

I love courtroom dramas and this is truly one of the best I've seen. This film truly puts the audience in a place of complete confusion. Because we also don't get to see what happens, the whole film through you're left guessing. Just like it would be in real life.

 

The best thing about this film is the script. Written by Justine Triet (who also directs) and Arthur Harari. This is one of those scripts I would love to read. It's one of the most real scripts, and therefor films, out there. What I mean by that is that there is no added drama. It all plays out like it would in real life. In the courtroom scenes for example. Every single word spoken in those scenes in not only written, but also performed in a real and honest way. People are stuttering, are searching to find the right words. You can feel there is a lot of tension there, but that's all done by the script, acting and camera placement.

 

Sandra Müller is fantastic in the lead role. She is able to convey so much, with very little. There were a few scenes where I was completely in awe of her performance, mostly because what she was doing is not easy.
The other standout is definitely Milo Machado Graner. What a performance for such a young person. He blew me away! Oh, and a shoutout to the dog!

 

This is one of those films of which I find it difficult to write down my thoughts. It moves me deeply and really makes my head spin with thoughts.
All I can say is that I thought it was brilliant and that it deserves all the nominations it's getting.

[filmmusic 1,829]

Just finished The boy and the heron. I was excited that I would be watching an anime for the first time in a theater. Well, did we wait for years for this? I found it mediocre at best and not that visually compelling. I didn't find it more disjointed than some other films, but I don't know... Didn't  care for it much. That said, I will buy the Blu-ray to complete my Ghibli collection .

[A24 4,338]

 

A bit too warm and sentimental for me. Sideways remains Alexander Payne's Manhattan. 6/10

[Sweeping Strings 2,363]

Although in fairness, not many other warm and sentimental films have one character sincerely call another - 

 

Spoiler

'Penis cancer in human form' 

 
- near to the end. lol. 

[Tallguy 3,398]

1 hour ago, Sweeping Strings said:

Although in fairness, not many other warm and sentimental films have one character sincerely call another - 

 

  Reveal hidden contents

'Penis cancer in human form' 

 
- near to the end. lol. 

 

While delivered with wonderful precision and many levels of emotion, that was one of the lines that felt very contemporary to me.

[Glóin the Dark 1,222]

9 hours ago, A24 said:

Sideways remains Alexander Payne's Manhattan.

 

I'd say Sideways is his Annie Hall and Nebraska his Manhattan. 

[Knight of Ren 789]

Some thoughts on a couple of films I watched recently:

 

The Zone of Interest

One of the most disturbing films from last year, because of how sick it makes you feel, while not showing you nothing at all, That's where it shines the most, in the way it constructs the story and we get to see the ordinary lives of these people, making us almost connect and empathize with them. But the genius of the film lies in the way it uses sound to constantly remind us of the truth behind this beautiful and idyllic facade, and that makes it really scary and frightening. Great photography and great acting all around. I felt the film went on for a bit too long, and there are a couple of "abstract / dreamy" sequences that I don't really know if work well with the rest of the film, but overall, a very solid and thought provoking film.

 

Killers of the Flower Moon

The film is really long, but Scorsese's direction never lets you feel bored or disinterested, and it's constantly moving the narrative forward, supported by a brilliant cast. The story is complex and full of nuance, and offers a poignant reflection on the corruption and greed of these white men that led to the murder of many people who were just trying to live in peace in their own land. DiCaprio is great, as is DeNiro, both portraying their characters' double-faced intentions with ease, but who impressed me the most was Lily Gladstone. She embodies all the suffering and pain of the Osage, and you can feel this just by looking at her eyes, full of sorrow and anger. She is subtle when she needs to be, but I also love the scenes she shares with DiCaprio, where she stands her ground with ease. She's definitely an actress to keep an eye on. I wish the film had focused a bit more on the Osage people, on Molly and her relationship with her sisters, but the way its told, it feels more authentic and frustrating, just like reality.

 

Asteroid City

If you like Wes Anderson, you'll like this one. If you hate Wes Anderson, you'll hate this one. I'm usually a fan of his style, and this movie sees him take another step forward into the distillation of his particular style. The visuals and set designs are top notch, the cast is full of recognizable faces that all offer great, profound and memorable performances, however short they might be, and the story is as quirky and melancholic as with any of his movies. Actually, I felt this movie had more emotional depth than for example, The French Dispatch, and while not all of it works, it pays off greatly in a third act that is both unexpected and emotionally captivating. Desplat's brief score works brilliantly within the film too!

[Jay 37,369]

 

May December

 

This is a film that when it was over, I wasn't sure if I liked it or not, nor even if I really understood everything it was trying to say.  And how serious was it meant to be taken, and how much was meant to be comedic and make you laugh?  I will say it's one of the few 2023 movies that has stuck with me and made me think about long after seeing it, which is always a good thing in my book.

 

One thing I like about it is how little it spoonfeeds the audience; You know early on that Elizabeth (Natalie Portman) is an actress spending some time with Gracie (Julianne Moore) because she is going to play her in a movie; and that Gracie's life is worth making a movie about, because she slept with a 13 year old when she was 36... and now 23 years later they are still married, with 3 kids.  As Elizabeth talks to various people from Gracie's life, you start to understand more and more about who Gracie really is.  I love how slowly it is revealed how manipulative she is and has been the whole time, and also the final reveal that Elizabeth's movie is just as cheesy as the lifetime movie clip she had watched earlier and not a serious independent movie at all was really hilarious in a darkly comedic way.

 

But the most interesting character is the third lead, Joe played by Charles Melton.  Unlike Elizabeth and Gracie, he goes through a whole character arc throughout the movie, with several heartbreaking scenes (the joint scene on the roof, and the high school graduation).  He was robbed of his childhood and is living with a monster and that was depicted exceptionally well.  So the movie overall is not a new classic or something I'd really think of as Oscar worthy, except for Melton who deserves more accolades for his acting than he got.  Bummer.

 

It's on Netflix

[JNHFan2000 2,966]

American Fiction

 

American Fiction is one of those films of which I feel that nothing that I will say, will be able to express how brilliant it is.

 

Going in I knew the storyline about the book from the trailer. But all of this was soooo much better and funnier than I thought it would be. The commentary here is absolutely spot on and that to me made it all the funnier. I actually really hope that people feel offended by this film, because that means they themselves are a part of the problem and what this film is making fun of. The tokenism especially is shown in such a fascinating and hilarious way. I can't believe that the film was able to pull this off.

 

The other big storyline of the film is focused on Monk's family. I was not aware of what this was and again, I'm very impressed that the film was able to have this storyline live side by side with the big satire of the other. The family plot is so heartfelt and holds so much sincerity. It probably hit hard, because it's something that showed some things that were very close to home.

 

The balance between these two storylines is exquisite and it's remarkable how one improves the other and the other way around. Because the satire is almost larger than life, the family angle shows exactly what Monk is trying to prove. That they are people, and have the same problems and struggles that any other person does. But this always gets overshadowed by other things, simply because they're black. Of course these things are still very important, but I loved the way the film was trying to make a point.

 

I've been a fan of Jeffrey Wright for a long time and he is outstanding here. And the rest of the cast are all fantastic!

The film is helped by a fantastic and authentic jazz score by the great Laura Karpman. And besides Cord Jefferson's incredible script, I love how he kept the direction of the film very simple. That way the script and the performances were the things that took the spotlight.

 

So, this might've been a bit of a ramble, but I really can't express enough how brilliant this film is. If the studios are able to release a film everywhere at the same time someday this would've been my No. 3 of 2023.

[Edmilson 7,466]

Paradise (2023)

 

A science fiction dystopian movie from Germany on Netflix about people who sell years of their lives (literally) to billionaires, somewhat similarly to Andrew Niccol's 2011 In Time.

 

It starts promisingly enough, like many dystopian movies about regular people who work for a powerful megacorporation only to find out how imoral their work is. I like that the characters are portrayed as normal people, without special combat skills or whatever, in a desperate situation.

 

However, the promising beginning is almost undone by the time it ends with a stupid "open ending", clearly designed to create a franchise. Sigh...

 

Still, I think it's worth watching.

[JNHFan2000 2,966]

This was spectacular.

 

The first half was a genuinely good, if a bit by the numbers, sports drama. Then in the second half it truly blew me away. The final 2 or 3 scenes made me cry so much. It was brilliant.

 

Zac Efron's is fantastic here. His physique is almost uncomfortable and it feels like he's carrying more than just muscles. It's full of burden and it's really mesmerizing to watch. This is the first time that I didn't see Efron, but I only saw the character.

The rest of the cast is also stellar.

 

A truly great film about burden, loss & love. Very tragic and heartbreaking but I felt ultimately very rewarding.

 

 

[JNHFan2000 2,966]

Woow, Netflix just put Nimona in it's entirety on their YouTube channel for free. Haven't seen that before

 

 

[Bespin 8,483]

Stopped after 10 minutes 11 seconds.

 

What an horror.

 

#Wonka

 

[Naïve Old Fart 9,534]

What was horrific about WONKA, Bes?

I haven't seen this film, and I don't think I'll ever have the opportunity.

[Sweeping Strings 2,363]

I appreciate that life moves fast these days ... but Bes posting about Wonka in the 'Older Films' thread when its cinema release was in DECEMBER gives me pause, lol. 

[Tallguy 3,398]

1 hour ago, Sweeping Strings said:

I appreciate that life moves fast these days ... but Bes posting about Wonka in the 'Older Films' thread when its cinema release was in DECEMBER gives me pause, lol. 

 

This was it's proper place 3 months and 13 days ago.

[Edmilson 7,466]

2 hours ago, Sweeping Strings said:

I appreciate that life moves fast these days ... but Bes posting about Wonka in the 'Older Films' thread when its cinema release was in DECEMBER gives me pause, lol. 

Now your comment doesn't make any sense.

[Sweeping Strings 2,363]

Story of my life, lol. 

[Jay 37,369]

 

The Holdovers

 

I liked this movie!  It reminded me of a type of movie that used to be prolific, but isn't made that much any more for whatever reason.  Just a nice comedic drama with characters you care about and good story beats that cause them to learn, grow, and/or make changes in their lives.  I liked the setting (winter 1970/71 New England), it felt like my childhood with actual snow everywhere for the wintertime.  And the acting was good all around, though I am kind of surprised that Divine Joy Randolph won an Oscar for it since her character has the least amount of growth and range for an actor to play with; She starts the movie a grieving mother and ends the movie a grieving mother.  Paul Giamatti had much more to do, though I'd probably have to watch Oppenheimer again to see if I thought him or Cillian Murphy were more deserving of Best Actor this year.

 

Nice film I will certain see again some time.  One aspect I found curious was that is is only rated R for a small amount of swearing, couldn't have been more than 5 or 6.  It seemed like you could easily turn those into other words and have a nice PG film for the entire family to enjoy.  Strange choice to keep it R.

 

It's on Peacock

[Jay 37,369]

 

The Kill Room

 

I watched this movie on a plane ride last week and that was probably the best way to see it.  This is a strange film with a complicated setup of Uma Thurman being an art dealer with an Adderall addiction, whose drug dealer tells Jewish deli owner Sam Jackson about her gallery, which causes him to use have mob hitman Joe Manganiello paint paintings that they "sell" to her which she then "sells" to random clients as a way to launder money for the Russian mob Jackson actually works for.  Phew!

 

There's so much more to the story and a ton of side characters, but its all kind of sloppily put together and jumps around from one story to the next often, and builds towards a climax that makes no sense.  I can't even say its a bunch of good acting ruined by a bad script, because a lot of the performances are weird too.  Sam  Jackson doesn't exactly phone it is, but doesn't bring anything interesting to the character either.  Uma Thurman is kind bonkers in the movie, always on edge, and I'm not sure if its because she was trying to show what Adderall addiction is like or if its just a strange choice she made.

 

Overall not much to recommend here.

[Tallguy 3,398]

On 24/03/2024 at 12:17 PM, Jay said:

 

The Holdovers

 

I liked this movie!  It reminded me of a type of movie that used to be prolific, but isn't made that much any more for whatever reason.  Just a nice comedic drama with characters you care about and good story beats that cause them to learn, grow, and/or make changes in their lives.  I liked the setting (winter 1970/71 New England), it felt like my childhood with actual snow everywhere for the wintertime.  And the acting was good all around, though I am kind of surprised that Divine Joy Randolph won an Oscar for it since her character has the least amount of growth and range for an actor to play with; She starts the movie a grieving mother and ends the movie a grieving mother.  Paul Giamatti had much more to do, though I'd probably have to watch Oppenheimer again to see if I thought him or Cillian Murphy were more deserving of Best Actor this year.

 

Nice film I will certain see again some time.  One aspect I found curious was that is is only rated R for a small amount of swearing, couldn't have been more than 5 or 6.  It seemed like you could easily turn those into other words and have a nice PG film for the entire family to enjoy.  Strange choice to keep it R.

 

It's on Peacock

 

I'm a cranky old stick in the mud, (and I've said this elsewhere) but some of the swearing was the only thing that took me out of the remarkable recreation of the era. It wasn't that the characters wouldn't be swearing, it's just that the swearing sounds like 21st century swearing. (Like I've said elsewhere as well, I didn't swear in the 70's but I swore a fair amount in the 80's and 90's and this didn't sound like that either.) (Hey, I can't JUST tell the same Star Wars stories over and over!)

 

I want to watch this with my dad who grew up in western Mass. and would have been 26 when the movie is set and ask him what he thinks.

 

Oh, and I LOVED the movie. And Divine Joy Randolph may not have had the most extensive arc, but she felt like a totally realized person.

[Jay 37,369]

6 minutes ago, Tallguy said:

I'm a cranky old stick in the mud, (and I've said this elsewhere) but some of the swearing was the only thing that took me out of the remarkable recreation of the era. It wasn't that the characters wouldn't be swearing, it's just that the swearing sounds like 21st century swearing. (Like I've said elsewhere as well, I didn't swear in the 70's but I swore a fair amount in the 80's and 90's and this didn't sound like that either.) (Hey, I can't JUST tell the same Star Wars stories over and over!)

 

Right? I'm glad I'm not the only who thought all the swears were a weird chose for this particular movie

 

6 minutes ago, Tallguy said:

I want to watch this with my dad who grew up in western Mass. and would have been 26 when the movie is set and ask him what he thinks.

 

It's very authentic.  I read after that they filmed it throughout several MA towns including on my good friends live in nearby here.

 

6 minutes ago, Tallguy said:

Oh, and I LOVED the movie. And Divine Joy Randolph may not have had the most extensive arc, but she felt like a totally realized person.

 

That's very true, actually!

[Tallguy 3,398]

38 minutes ago, Jay said:

 

It's very authentic.  I read after that they filmed it throughout several MA towns including on my good friends live in nearby here.

 

I can't tell you what that time and place was like as an adult, but I was a little kid there and then and it's eerie.

 

I showed my kids the trailer and they remarked that it looked like "an old thing". Which confused them because they knew it was new and they knew who Giamatti is.

[Jay 37,369]

Yea if they hired completely unknowns for every role here, it could pass as a lost movie from the 70s

[A24 4,338]

Dream Scenario (2023)

 

 

Sometimes you need to see a Nicolas Cage co-produced by Ari Aster movie. 7/10

[A24 4,338]

Watched the first hour of Oppenheimer and sadly it's another typical Nolan movie where the story is told at a speedy MTV pace. There's no mood, atmosphere, or anything else that could potentially pull me in. It's all about telling a story and keeping those with a short attention span interested.

 

[bollemanneke 3,349]

Poor things. Well, it was certainly interesting. I was hooked during the first 30 minutes or so, but sort of lost some interest the moment the grand adventure began. The acting is superb and the dialogue mostly fantastic, but what always bothers me with movies like these is that they reach a point where the situations/dialogues become too absurd, or rather, so absurd that it seems the characters are bound to become aware of their own mad predicament. Still, it’s one of the best movies I’ve seen this year. Most of the music is incredibly grating, though.

[Bayesian 1,363]

Wish is now on Disney+ and I gave it a watch because of my morbid curiosity given all the bad reviews and press it got last November. And yeah, the movie is as middling and disappointing as everyone says. It's not a bad movie necessarily, but it's just so frustratingly weak in too many aspects. There's no soul or depth or nuance to anything (costumes, faces, settings, character arcs...). The overall impression you get is that this movie is a simulacrum made by an alien or generative AI of what it thinks human beings would enjoy in a Disney animated movie. Watching Wish is just a wan and emotionally flat experience. Except during the songs, when all you can do is cringe at the amateur quality of the writing. ("Throw caution to every warning sign"? What does that even mean?) You can't help but miss the genius of Howard Ashman and Stephen Schwartz when you hear talents like Ariana DeBose and Chris Pine do what they can to make lemonade from the artless rhyme-lemons foisted upon them.

 

Also, it seems like every tenth word spoken in the movie is "wish." I never thought that word could get annoying to hear but, yes, it definitely can.

[Edmilson 7,466]

Some movies I saw over the last few days:

 

Talk to Me

 

 

The horror indie darling from the last year, just like The Babadook in 2014, Hereditary in 2018, Midsommar in 2019, etc. I didn't care for the synopsis and thought it would be just another teen horror, so I checked it only because of the positive reviews.

 

And... it's pretty good! I like that the movie can be also a psychological drama about grief and regret as well as a traditional horror. The teenage cast is pretty great and the characters are well rounded and well written, some scenes are very disturbing and the writing and directing is surprisingly good.

 

A nice start from these two directos who apparently started their career on YouTube.

 

Anatomy of a Fall

 

 

This French movie made me realize by contrast how expositive Hollywood cinema is. Everything in American movies is made perfectly clear for the audience, even good movies like Dune 2, Oppenheimer or Joker are very explicit about their themes and message.

 

Anatomy of a Fall, however, is deliberately opaque. There's no score underlying the feelings, the acting is restrained, there isn't an emotional scene of a character breaking down in tears while confessing their crime while a dramatic score is playing and we see a montage... 

 

Not only that: the movie isn't exactly explicit about what is trying to say, what are its themes. It can be about gender relations in the XXI century (the woman is a famed writer while her dead husband failed in his writing career and is now stuck at teaching), about how French society treats immigrants even from other European countries (the woman is from Germany and barely speaks French, even during the trial), about the French Judiciary system...

 

Different people who watch this movie will come to different conclusions, about its story, themes and even the narrative. Slight spoiler, but the movie doesn't make clear if it was a murder or a suicide, if the woman is lying or not. We see her version of the truth, created with the help of her lawyer, and the Prosecution's version.

 

There's a scene where the protagonist is seen rehearsing for the trial with her lawyer, and he tells her to ommit some facts from her past and highlight others. Well, isn't a trial's function to discover the truth? How are it supposed to get the full picture of the truth if she is instructed by the lawyer to hide some facts and highlight others?

 

So is all trials, and the Judiciary in general, just a dispute over who tells the most convincing story, which may be just a fraction of the truth?

 

In other scene (again, spoilers, I guess, so if you don't wanna know skip to the next paragraph), we start seeing during the trial an audio recording of a fight between the couple before the husband died. In a flashback we see their dialogue, filled with repressed feelings and years of anger and resentment, slowly turning into a discussion and then into a serious argument, but when the fight gets physical the movie cuts to the present day at the court and we only see gasps, things breaking, etc. So... who hit who? Did the husband physically assaulted his wife (which, if confirmed, would give her a motive for killing him) or did he just break some objects on his own (which would confirm his poor mental health and make his suicide more plausible)?

 

The movie puts in the air all of these questions but doesn't answer them in a clear statement. So unlike, say, the Joker movie which is very explicit about its themes and what is trying to say, especially during the final confrontation between Arthur and Murray. Or the James Cameron Avatar movies, with their strong environmental messages.

 

All of these discussions, of course, wouldn't be possible if Anatomy of a Fall wasn't a good movie, but thankfully it is. Masterful writing and dialogue and a brilliant cast, including the blind little boy who plays the couple's son. 

 

Of course, I'm not saying one style of movie is better than the other but after seeing Hollywood becoming very explicit, it was refreshing watching a movie where you aren't spoonfed its themes but rather you are presented with the situation and can conjecture about what really happened - which is exactly what a court does in real life.

 

So sorry Oppie - you're not my favorite movie of 2023 anymore 

[Jay 37,369]

 

Anatomy of a Fall

 

Wow!  I loved this movie, it's really good.  What I really grew to admire about it is how little it holds your hand; There are no exposition dumps whatsoever, you learn what you need to know through context organically, if you learn it at all!  I also appreciated how much is left ambiguous and up to the viewer to decide.  This is the kind of film that will be more rewarding than others on second watch due to all this.  But even on first watch there is so much to admire; While the screenplay is the star, I think, Sandra Hüller is so good as the main character, as are both lawyers and her son.  The husband is wisely barely shown to really help put you in the minds of both sides of the case as they are  presenting them.  Just a really good movie, I don't know what else to say

 

It's on Hulu