The writers’ strike. Declining theater attendance. Films spread across streaming platforms.
Let’s face it, all of the awards ceremonies are a lot of noise about nothing much. The Golden Globes were held last night. Did you watch? Only about 9.4 million did so. If that sounds like a lot, it’s less than half of pre-2020 numbers.
I’ve yet to see Oppenheimer or Killers of the Flower Moon, though I don’t even need to see the latter to know that Lily Gladstone is a wonderful actress or that any award she doesn’t win will be considered a travesty.
My best of 2023 list has one single criterion: I saw it in 2023. kay, one more; it can’t be more than five years since it was released. Here’s my list in countdown order:
10. Amsterdam: David O. Russell’s film polarized audiences. It punched all my surreal-meets-history buttons.
9. The Whale: A touching portrait of a broken man’s eating disorder.
8. The Son: A (sort of) sequel to The Father. Review forthcoming on January 22.
7. Yesterday : Yeah, a 2019 movie than I and too many others didn’t see. A classic small gem.
6. Lunana: Yak in the Classroom: Ditto the above and set it in Tibet and add gorgeous cinematography.
5. EO: It stars a donkey, but who’s the ass?
4. : All Quiet on the Western Front: The insanity of war adapted from one of the greatest antiwar novels ever.
3. The Banshees of Inisherin: I’m already on records saying it should have won Best Picture last year. I’m sticking to it.
2. The Quiet Girl: A quiet film that will hit you like a hammer. Review forthcoming this Friday.
1. Women Talking: Sarah Polley’s smart film about the strictures of religion and the power of female consensus-building.
Here are my top “classic” films in alpha order:
Buitiful: An earlier Iñárritu film and Javier Bardem as you seldom see him. Review forthcoming
Black Girl: A 1966 film considered an African pathbreaker.
Far From the Madding Crowd: The 2015 remake of Hardy’s novel.
Playtime: Jacques Tati’s 1967 surreal skewer of commercialism.
Long Day’s Journey Into Night: Hepburn does Eugene O’Neill. Can’t go wrong.
Trois Coleurs: Rouge: Simply one of my favorite films
of all time.All are great, but Rouge!
And here is material for the dumpster:
Worst: Babylon: A total huh? on all levels. Paramount should have to match the $80 million it took to make this and donate it to charity.
Not Quite as Awful: Everything Everywhere All at Once: The fact that this was last year’s Oscar winner is an indication that Oscar needs glasses.
Awful + + +: Cocaine Bear. The ASPCA should be notified
Mind-numbingly bad: Old Joy: Kurt and Mark go to the mountains. Nobody knows why.
Give It Up, Please: Wakanda Forever: Things blow up. People die. And so did the script. Time to put the Marvel franchises on hold.
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