Best of 2023
2023 is over. Thank God! I keep a record of everything I watch so these were my favorites from the past year. Some old and some new. It’s a good mix of double/triple features and one offs… All writing is off the top of my head. Enjoy!
The Deep Blue Sea (2011)
Dir. Terence Davies
Terence Davies died last year on October 7th. I’ve never really been affected by a famous person’s death, but Terry’s shook me to my core. I love Bud and The Long Day Closes with all my heart, it’s probably in my top 3 films of all time, and I wanted to pay homage to the director in some way. I saw this movie at MOMI the day after his death. Based on Terence Rarrigan’s play of the same name, The Deep Blue Sea begins with Hester’s suicide attempt. She’s living in London a few years after the War, and she’s stuck between a rock and a hard place or “the devil and the deep blue sea.” She recently left her husband and life of privilege for a volatile RAF pilot. Neither man fulfills her. This is the issue. Davies explores both ends of the spectrum with solemn grace, showing us that love is both beautiful and devastating. A constant theme in his work. RIP Sweet Terry <3
Trenque Lauquen (2023)
Dir. Laura Citrella
I went into this movie blind. I had no idea that the movie was 260 minutes long, so I walked out of the theater after only seeing the first 120 minutes. I was reading this review from Reverse Shot when I realized my mistake. Yellow flowers? I never saw a yellow flower once… the next day, I trudged back to the same theater and watched the second half. It was well worth it. This was my favorite movie of the year. The first part of Trenque Lauquen is a mystery. Chicho is looking for a woman named Laura in the titular town of Trenque Lauquen. He’s in love with her of course, so we drive around the Las Pampas region of Argentina looking for clues. In the second half, which I saw on the second day, we follow Laura. Let’s just say, she’s doing her own thing, and her story is WILD!!! Chicho fades into the background. There are so many twists and turns that will leave you saying QUE? But in a good way. It’s an epic!
To Sleep with Anger (1990)
Dir. Charles Burnett
This is the perfect dysfunctional family film set in South Central LA. Danny Glover plays Harry, a southern drifter, who ends up on his old friend Gideon’s doorstep. Over time, Harry’s charisma and devilish mysticism slowly tears Gideon’s family apart. He’s a force of nature (bad vibes only), and weathering the storm is the point of the film. Burnett masterfully weaves themes of upward Black mobility with Southern folklore, making the film evocative and stirring. I cried and laughed watching this at MOMI, totally overwhelmed by its layers. You can watch the whole movie for FREE HERE :) I think it’s one of the best films from the 90s. Great music too.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023)
Dirs. Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, Justin K. Thomas
Intellectual property should be shared, chopped and screwed. Creativity would flourish if entertainment conglomerates didn’t protect their respective IP with an iron fist. When Sony crossed swords with Marvel (Disney) for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, we had literal evidence. They created one of the best superhero movies of all time. The overall premise of the film is breaking canon events. Think about it, Peter Parker can be anyone! So why stick to the same measly white guys.. But let’s also acknowledge the fact that Spider-Man has almost always been a measly white guy within the cultural zeitgeist, and move on with Miles Morales as he explores his history and future. This shit doesn’t happen every day because of copyright. I was so stunned by this movie, and its blending of IP that I wept.
Unrelated (2007) / Archipelago (2010)
Dir. Joanna Hogg
Joanna Hogg is my favorite working filmmaker. Her films are objectively boring on paper, very little happens, but boy does she make room for the DRAMA of everyday life. Both Archipelago and Unrelated are vacation films that are quietly observed. Unrelated is weird and unsettling, it’s about a woman in her late 30s, who starts hanging out with a group of teenagers on a bougie vacation in Tuscany. She has her reasons, mostly related to infertility that will leave you feeling heavy. Archipelago is a movie about familial resentment, work, and privilege. Hogg’s blocking and tableau shots are always gorgeous, like a Dutch genre painting. Both films star Tom Hiddleston, who is totally wasted on Marvel movies!
Priscilla (2023) / Janet Planet (2023)
Dir. Sofia Coppola / Dir. Annie Baker
I like taking notes during movies. Scribbling down my favorite pieces of dialogue if the moment hits. I had one of those experiences during Janet Planet at the NYFF. I let out an audible gasp when Lacy said to her mother, the titular Janet, “every moment of my life is HELL.” It’s simultaneously hilarious and sad. They’re sitting in bed together, and her mother tries not to laugh. Lacy is a dramatic, awkward child, seeking attention. Her life is obviously fine, but she’s lonely. She’s looking for a reaction, but she really just wants camaraderie. Luckily, I got my girl. I remember saying shit like this in the cafeteria at lunch. I’d be her friend… even though she is really annoying.
I had a similar experience during Priscilla. She’s just met Elvis and he’s returning to America without her. Depressed, she sulks. Her parents want her to snap out of it, hit the town, or date someone her own age, but Priscilla is over it. “There’s nothing to do here,” she says, and it’s true. She wants more. Teenage boredom and loneliness are perfectly captured with this one line. You don’t have to be dating a colossus to feel that.
The Misfits (1961) / Cool Hand Luke (1967)
Dir. John Huston / Dir. Stuart Rosenberg
Two Words: Method Acting! I became obsessed over the summer… This style or system of acting is synonymous with bad behavior, Marlon Brando, and balls to the walls performances, but it’s a bastardized term. Anecdotes like this are bullshit. Don’t entertain them in serious conversation. Instead, I highly recommend this entertaining introduction from the Criterion Channel for some playful information regarding the method featuring Ethan Hawke and Vincent D’Onoforio. OR if you’re in a scholarly mood, feel free to read the following: Method Acting and Its Discontents: On American Psycho-Drama and The Method: How the Twentieth Century Learned to Act
Marilyn Monre is wild in The Misfits. She plays an ex-stripper running from her past, stuck in the desert. She’s foiled by old school charmer Clark Gable. He’s capturing mustangs with his whole heart while she screams like a banshee. Marilyn’s performance is low key unhinged. She’s in a completely different movie than every other actor, but understanding her performance requires CONTEXT (something I always encourage when watching films). Method acting is primarily built around “experiencing,” which is when actors blend their sensory memories/trauma with their characters' actions, essentially fusing the two together so they can find some sort of emotional truth within the performance. Marilyn was experiencing in The Misfits, her last film. Her career was declining, her marriage was failing, and her drug addiction was becoming more present. She was doing the work, she just went too hard. Her personal tragedies are on display. Lee Strasberg, her teacher and president of the Actors Studio, was probably proud.This film isn’t really a fave, I prefer Fat City, but Marilyn’s performance lingers.
Cool Hand Luke has many iconic scenes. There’s the egg scene, the car washing scene, and the box. All of them are unforgettable, but my favorite is Luke’s conversation with his mother Arletta (Jo Van Fleet). Throughout the film, Luke is always up to something. He can’t keep still even in prison. Someone says he’s got “rabbit in his blood” but when he sees Arletta, he goes cold. It’s a perfectly measured duet. Both actors are known for their exuberance and charisma, but they play this scene subdued. Their joy seeps into sadness because they’re saying goodbye. She’ll die while he’s in prison. I’ve included the scene here, but I highly encourage you to watch the whole movie. It’s top tier.
Showing Up (2023) / Fallen Leaves (2023) / Anatomy of a Fall (2023)
Dir. Kelly Reichardt / Dir. Aki Kaurismaki / Dir. Justine Trinet
Movies about WERK!
Kelly Rechiardt makes very specific small scale films. Showing Up is about artists who need to work like they need food to live. Reichardt hones in on her protagonist Lizzie's meticulous skill and mercurial nature. The camera doesn’t cut away as she makes her fragile sculptures. Time washes over these moments, revealing that the art making process is not glamorous, but rather tedious and all consuming. If only Lizzie had more time, but she has to work at her dead-end administrative job, and take care of her mentally ill brother. It’s a true act of love. Some people (Amy Taubin) have also speculated that the film is about Rechiardt’s relationship with Todd Haynes…. Suggesting that she is Lizzie and that Todd is her rival Jo. Not sure if I believe that read, but it is juicy!
Fallen Leaves is the fourth film in Aki Kaurismaki’s Proletariat Trilogy. Lol. He’s like that. This film is a seemingly simple love story with a Charlie Chaplin edge. Tonally the film is charming and tender, but the world that Aki builds is bleak. Helsinki is oppressive, work is sparse, and the characters in the film are viewed as one step above derelicts. They work in supermarkets, bars, and construction sites. They are replaceable, but Aki knows that this worldview should not be entertained. His characters find love.
Anatomy of a Fall… All I gotta say is the French legal system better not work like that.
Jaws (1975)
Dir. Stephen Spielberg
Saw this for the first time ever on the BIG SCREEN. This is what going to the movies is all about. PERIOD!
May December (2023) / Killers of the Flower Moon (2023) / The Zone of Interest (2023)
Dir. Todd Haynes / Dir. Martin Scorsese / Dir. Jonathan Glazer
This is cliché, but these are my top 3 films of the year. I hope to go more long form on these in the coming months, but I’m done writing for now. I’m tired! Stay tuned, and thanks for reading <3