2023 Top Ten + Watch List

Aitamaako'tamisskapi Natosi: Before the Sun — A thrilling, beautifully shot sports movie about horse racing and a unique view of indigenous life in Canada. Available on Paramount +.

Anatomy of a Fall — Did she do it? Ambiguity, the kind that only the French can provide. Available on Amazon Prime Video.

Barbie — Perfectly cast, incredible craft, funny as hell, and made with heart. It’s nice to see colors in movies again. Available on HBO Max.

The Burial — Jamie Foxx might just be the most talented overall performer in all of show business, and here he is effortlessly giving an incredible and entertaining performance. Plus, I’m a sucker for a good courtroom drama. Available on Amazon Prime Video.

The Holdovers — Possibly a perfect movie; definitely a perfect performance from Paul Giamatti. Available on Peacock.

How to Blow Up a Pipeline — A message movie that knows the best way to get the message across is to entertain first. A first-rate thriller. Available on Hulu.

Killers of the Flower Moon — 3 1/2 hours that flew by, a retread of both Taxi Driver and Goodfellas, but set in the waning days of the west, with an eye towards the atrocities carried out against native Oklahomans. That ending. Available on Apple +.

Origin — Unlike anything I’ve seen in the mix of personal & political, historical & present, fiction & non-fiction, emotional & clear-eyed, and able to juggle it all seamlessly. Astonishing work. Available in theaters.

Priscilla — Behind every great man is a great woman. Or, in this case, a young girl who grows up to be a great woman. Available on HBO Max.

The Zone of Interest — You may be able to look away, but you’ll still hear it. Available in theaters.

**

all new releases I watched in 2023, in order:

bullet train - airplane

retrograde – caa (with pta q&a)

pinocchio – at home

babylon – glendale americana

all quiet on the western front – netflix

ross bros movie #6 – work in progress /vimeo

the batman – at home

navalny – hbomax

marcel the shell with the shoes on – showtime

women talking – glendale mall

fire of love – disney+

the menu

thirteen lives

air

causeway

how to blow up a pipeline – los feliz 3

return to space

beau is afraid

for love and country

45 days

all the beauty and the bloodshed

dungeons and dragons: honor among thieves

magic mike's last dance

call me kate

the anthrax attacks

always, lola

asteroid city – logan square theater chicago

barbie – easton mall columbus

mission impossible – glendale mall

passages

the survivor – max

she said - prime

elemental – at home

paw patrol movie - guinness records screening at autry

theater camp

no one will save you

oppenheimer – citywalk imax

past lives – airplane

killers of the flower moon – glendale mall

priscilla – glendale mall

the killer – netflix

the holdovers – glendale mall

anatomy of a fall – los feliz 3

before the sun – museum of the american indian streaming

the burial – prime

little richard: i am everything – max

the zone of interest – vista

maestro — netflix

poor things — drexel

Top Ten 2022

The Oscars are today, so I made a list of my top ten films of 2022.

All in all, I think it was a bit of a weak year, with lots of movies that were pretty good or had nice scenes/sequences but didn’t cohere as a whole, but few that were excellent overall. Here are the ones that worked best for me:

BABYLON — Damien Chazelle took a big swing to rehash the transition from silent to sound films, and did so with impeccable craft and an eye towards debauchery. Available on Paramount +.

THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN — Ireland itself over the last 100 years or so, personified in this little dark, bleak, sad, beautiful, surprisingly funny little fable. Available on HBO Max.

THE FABELMANS — The marketing for this movie made it seem like another “celebration of cinema”, and it is anything but. Instead, Spielberg made his most personal film about discovering the causes of the dissolution of his family, and how he used his budding filmmaking skills to distance himself from it all. Wonderfully messy and unlike anything he’d ever done before. Available on multiple platforms.

HAPPENING — Abortion in France is the 1960s could destroy a teenager girl’s whole life. We’re rapidly devolving back to that point. Available on Hulu.

JACKASS FOREVER — The most fun I had in the theaters the entire year. Available on Paramount +.

LAST FLIGHT HOME — Eli Timoner wanted to die. His daughter documented the process. Available on Paramount +.

TAR — A biopic about a person who doesn’t exist. Available on Peacock.

TOP GUN: MAVERICK — Crowd-pleasing. Available on Paramount +.

THE WOMEN KING — The kind of ahistorical, rousing period costume epic about foreign warriors that Hollywood has always excelled at. Only difference here is that it revolves around black women in Africa. Available on Netflix.

WOMEN TALKING — A movie about a group of Mennonite women deciding what to do in the wake of a rape epidemic in their colony. It surprised me at every turn. Available on Amazon.

Research films

I’m prepping a new film.

It’s a modern-day adaptation of an old Russian short story about a love affair.

I’m doing research while writing, which really just amounts to watching a bunch of similar movies. Soaking in various styles. Noticing trends. Stealing things.

Here’s what I’ve watched so far:

Brief Encounter (1945) - David Lean’s stiff-upper-lip, non-linear take on adultery. IMDB. Full film.

L'atalante (1934) - A masterpiece of the early sound era about a young bride who finds herself stuck and stifled on her new husband’s boat. IMDB. Full film (in the original French).

Partie de Campagne (1936) - Jean Renior’s unfinished film, perhaps the most famous and intriguing uncompleted film of all time about two young Frenchmen attempting to court two ladies in the country one afternoon. IMDB. Full film.

Charulata (1964) - The female gaze. IMDB. Full film.

Casablanca (1942) - This one needs no introduction. If you’ve never seen it, do yourself a favor and correct that immediately. IMDB. Opening five minutes.

The Apartment (1960) - The conceit is great, but what continues to get me is how effortless the humor and the sadness comingle. IMDB. Trailer.

Love in the Afternoon (1957) - More Billy Wilder. Can you imagine if it were Cary Grant insead of Gary Cooper? IMDB. Ending scene.

Roman Holiday (1953) - More Audrey Hepburn. The one that made her a star, and you can see why. IMDB. Clip.

Hiroshima Mon Amour (1959) - Love is suffering. IMDB. Opening scene.

Before Sunset (2004) - An incredible sequel, with a constant tension based on the actors’ chemistry and the driver, waiting to take Jesse to the airport at various stops until: “Baby, you are going to miss that plane.” IMDB. Ending scene.

Medicine for Melancholy (2008) - The day after a one-night stand. IMDB. Trailer.

Columbus (2017) - To quote from the movie’s official description: “A showcase for its director's striking eye for the way physical space can affect emotions.” IMDB. Full film.

Some trends I’ve noticed:

  • Use of animals — to connect characters or allow for a meet-cute.

  • Long scenes of dialogue — we want to see them getting to know each other by talking, flirting, conversing in ways that they probably wouldn’t with someone they were more familiar with.

  • Exotic or picturesque scenery — where they fall in love should be featured prominently — we like local color, we like to imagine where they fall in love externally being as interesting as what’s happening to the characters internally.

  • Apart — when they are apart, we want to see them, visually and viscerally, thinking of each other and yearning.

  • Trains — especially for older films, the drama of getting on or off a train and the permanence of that. What would be a contemporary equivalent?

  • Water — there’s a preponderance of scenes taking place on the water or in a boat. What is it about courtship that leads us to the sea? To rivers? To lakes?

The biggest issue is figuring out the appropriate conflict, especially as this is an updated telling of a story from over 100 years ago. I’m reminded of this line from David Mamet’s “Bambi Vs. Godzilla”: “The engine of a love story is not what attracts them — we know that: they’re young and pretty. The work should into the construction of the plausible opposition to their union.”

Conflict in this way can also come from age differences, personality differences (homebody vs. adventurer), cultural differences, adultery.

What should I watch next? Some possibilities: Lost In Translation, 28 Hotel Rooms, Shame, In The Mood For Love, An Affair to Remember, The Seven Year Itch.

What do you think?

Top Ten 2021

Today is the Oscars, so here is my own top ten from 2021:

Benedetta — Paul Verhoeven is a Christ scholar, and here he asks an essential question as only he could: why aren't we more horny for Jesus? Available on Hulu.

Don't Look Up – A dark and funny satire about the end of the world that is strikingly current and pulls no punches. Available on Netflix.

Flee – What it can cost to become a refugee. Available on Hulu.

Get Back – I wasn't a fan of the Beatles before watching this doc. Now I am. Available on Disney+.

In & Of Itself – Derek DelGaudio does actual magic. Available on Hulu.

The Lost Daughter – Rarely do you see a depiction of just how difficult and thankless parenting can be, especially juxtaposed with such beauty. Available on Netflix.

The Power of the Dog – This is not a western. Available on Netflix.

Spencer – This is not a biopic. Available on Hulu.

West Side Story – I was skeptical that this movie needed to be remade. Then I saw it. Available on HBO Max.

The Worst Person in the World – The absolute messiness of modern romantic life distilled into two hours and eight minutes. Still in theaters.

Yet to see: All Light, Everywhere; The Beta Test; The French Dispatch; House of Gucci; The Last Duel; The Meaning of Hitler; The Novice; Parallel Mothers; Quo Vadis, Aida?