#2023 in film

[haveyouseenthis2023film]

Summary: Miles Morales returns for the next chapter of the Oscar®-winning Spider-Verse saga, an epic adventure that will transport Brooklyn's full-time, friendly neighborhood Spider-Man across the Multiverse to join forces with Gwen Stacy and a new team of Spider-People to face off with a villain more powerful than anything they have ever encountered.

Release Date: June 2, 2023

Director: Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson

Rating: PG

Everyone and their 5th cousin has likely seen this movie, or so it seems, but if you’ve managed to avoid it, you should definitely go watch it! It lives up to the hype and is an amazing sequel, amazing animated film, amazing superhero film, amazing Spider-Man film, and amazing film in general!

reblog for larger sample size :)

[agentnico]

Top 10 WORST Movies of 2023

For every good movie there’s always a dozen stinkers, and 2023 brought out a lot of turkeys, and I’m not referring to all the poor birds that ended up in our bellies this Christmas season. It’s become a tradition for me every year to do a top 10 best and worst movies of the year list, and I tend to leave the top 10 best list till later as I catch up will the awards potentials, however with the bad list I get right on into it. There are of course many bad movies this year I didn’t see, as I don’t actively seek out to watch the bad ones, but I have heard that these following haven’t been the best: Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, The Marvels, Indiana Jones 5, Shazam: Fury of the Gods, Expend4bles, Children of the Corn, Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey…… damn, a lot of films got a bad rep this year. Yet I have 10 other ones that I’ve seen that I thought were crap. Don’t worry if a film you loved ends up on this list, it will simply mean your opinion is wrong and your have to live with that. With that in mind, here’s my humble list of the shit-fest Hollywood had to offer in 2023…

10) ANT-MAN & THE WASP: QUANTUMANIA - Everything that is wrong with the current state of Marvel is exhibited on full display here. Lacking a sense of direction and exploiting the idea of the multiverse just for the sake of it, the movie is a dud. It feels like whilst trying to focus on going bigger and bolder, the movie lost the sense of fun that elevated the earlier instalments in the tiny hero’s franchise. Paul Rudd is still as charming and likeable as ever, however the introduction of Kang as the next MCU Big Bad is pointless seeing as this big baddie can be defeated by a bunch of ants. Don’t make no difference now anyway with Jonathan Majors losing the court case, but who in the first place thought “oh yeah, Kang is a badass who killed many Avengers, but a giant head of Corey Stoll should weaken him no problem”. Look, there’s no sugarcoating it - this movie is bad. Also, Bill Murray appears in this because…?

9) THE BEANIE BUBBLE - Zack Galifianakis without any facial hair is truly a sight to behold, but that’s not enough to make this fluffy yet bland behind-the-scenes look at the famous Beanie Babies toys even remotely interesting. It’s as if this film can’t bear (thank you) to show the creepier side of these toys, as this should have been a more darker and messed up tale, especially with the lightly implied institutional sexism. Oh well, that’s that then.

8) WE HAVE A GHOST - If ever there was a movie that fit more to the phrase “Netflix & Chill” then this is it, as you will be too busy banging your partner or your sock than caring about a silent speechless David Harbour creeping about Casper-like and being all quiet and mysterious. To be fair he’s the only redeemable quality as the rest of the movie is a mishmash hodgepodge of genres that is neither funny, nor effective in its family drama dynamic. At least seeing Jennifer Coolidge jump out a window was mildly amusing. Mildly. Anyway, where’s that sock?

7) THE OLD WAY - It is truly fascinating that after starring in over 100 films, this is Nicolas Cage’s first ever western. Aside from that mind boggling revelation, this movie comes out with less than a bang. I don’t know, I was hoping for something a bit more mad, especially with Cage’s involvement. Heck, in the movie’s opening sequence Nicolas Cage is introduced with a sprawling Poirot-like moustache, and immediately I assumed that I am in for something ridiculous. However following that scene the movie cuts to 20 years later, and with that both the moustache and the hope for something exciting or weird is diminished to singular unseen atoms.

6) FOOL’S PARADISE - The directorial debut from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia star Charlie Day (who also writes and stars), misfiring Hollywood satire Fool’s Paradise wastes a strong ensemble cast that also includes Adrien Brody, Jason Sudeikis, Jason Bateman, Kate Beckinsale, Ken Jeong, Common, John Malkovich and the late Ray Liotta. Look, in a way I feel bad about including this film on this list, as you can tell this is a true passion project for Day and one that has good intentions by attempting to go back to the old-school slapstick Charlie Chaplin-era of comedy, with a lighthearted satire on the way the film industry works. In this case the result is neither sweet nor funny enough, and as such it’s an unfortunate misfire, but easily the most disappointing inclusion on this list.

5) GHOSTED - Adrien Brody’s crappy French accent in this movie I could have forgiven, if only I have not seen John Wick: Chapter 4 a couple of weeks prior where I experienced the most delightful Parisian mouthing of Bill Skarsgard’s villain, so now Brody’s French-ish slur sticks out like a sore thumb. What else sticks out is that Ghosted feels like a film from the early 2000s, featuring every cliche of the genre and with a romantic pairing of Chris Evans and Ana de Armas whom share zero chemistry. Their kissing scenes reminded me of that Andrew Garfield/Emma Stone SNL sketch where they don’t know how to kiss on camera, only in this case it’s unintentional. Also featuring a slew of pointless cameos, and I do mean pointless, this is a throwaway campy spy-action flick that is destined to be forgotten.

4) THE EXORCIST: BELIEVER - Billed as the true sequel to William Friedkin’s original horror masterpiece, it really shouldn’t have strived for that. Ellen Burstyn’s return is a waste. For those excited to see her, she’s only in 3 or 4 scenes total, and the creative choices made with her character are such a disservice to the original movie. Without spoiling, it’s a choice that seems to be inspired by the modern woke culture, with Burstyn’s Chris having being studying the art of exorcism ever since the events that transpired with her daughter, and then when questioned about why she herself did not partake in her daughter’s exorcism she blames the patriarchy. The choice of bringing her into this narrative and then what happens to her…it’s basically taking a classic character and making them dumb. I must say though that the only actual shocking moment in the movie comes in a scene involving her character, and though that moment itself is memorable, the build up towards it is so stupid. Also, with the return of Burstyn it comes as no surprise within the movie when a certain other character pops in for a cameo. Does it add anything to the movie’s story? No, it’s just there for cheap fan service. As for the movie itself, the horror hardly works. It’s not scary at all and you really shouldn’t believe in this one.

3) THE SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE - Yeah, I know, my inclusion of this film on the list will rattle some feathers, but I don’t care, as for any of you pricks out there thinking that stupid “Peaches” song deserves an Academy Award nomination, you guys are stupid and must be high on some very powerful shrooms. If so, I hope you’re having a great trip, but the fact stands that this movie is bad. Simply doing fan service for the sake of fan service don’t make for a good narrative. Me and my friend were bored throughout, as this movie is 100% for kids. There are nostalgic elements to it all, but I do believe that Illumination and Nintendo should have followed more in The Lego Movie’s footsteps and targeted the film for audiences of all ages, due to the fact that many who grew up with Mario are now adults themselves.

2) LEAVE THE WORLD BEHIND - So much wasted potential. A long drawn-out slow shuffle to Nowheresville. A movie that offers so many ideas, plot points, and thread lines that are never answered or go anywhere. In Leave the World Behind things are truly happening under the motto “just because” and “why the hell not” and it makes the viewing experience immensely frustrating. Especially when the movie is nearly 2 and a half hours long and the anticlimactic abrupt ending is a slap to your face for wasting your time. Oh, and if I weren’t a fan of the Friends show before, now more so than ever.

1) 65 - Right ladies and gentlemen, I’d like to ask you all so kindly to rise up from your seats and give a humongous round of applause to 65 - the 2023 film to exhibit qualities of a top contender of the worst movie of this year. Look, I’m disappointed as you are. Adam Driver fighting dino-dinos’?! You’d be a madman to not want to see that! However here’s 65′s first mistake: there actually aren’t that many dinosaurs, let alone fights with them. I know right, I can sense the resounding aura of you, my kind audience, in unison thinking “what the f***?”. Exactly, what the fudge indeed. No, instead what we get is a couple of somewhat thrilling dinosaurs interactions, but overall the movie is just Adam Driver and this little girl walking. Just walking. Walking and whistling. Bunch of jackasses.

That’s it - we did it! Now I can happily forget I ever watched any of these and mentally prepare for what wonders of stupidity 2024 will bring to the big screen. As for my Best Movies of 2023 list, don’t worry, it’s a-coming. Still need to watch The Boy and the Heron and Poor Things and then all will be revealed…

[rosalyn51]

“2023 in film.”

- FilmUpdates

[filmografie]

Favorite films watched in August 2023:

The Hit (1984), dir. Stephen Frears

The Small Back Room (1949), dir. Emeric Pressburger & Michael Powell

The Lady Vanishes (1938), dir. Alfred Hitchcock

Black Narcissus (1947), dir. Emeric Pressburger & Michael Powell

The Long Farewell (1971), dir. Kira Muratova

[feeling-through-film]

Glass Onion (2022) 

It's a dangerous thing to mistake speaking without thought for speaking the truth. Don't you think?

[punster-2319]

2 weeks late making this poll, because I had a feeling that Wonka would enter the top 12 at the box office at some point (which it just did this weekend).

[oldfilmsflicker]

new-to-me #1039 - Limite

[thejewofkansas]

MISTER ORGAN Review (by guest critic Anna Boyles)

This review was submitted by my friend Anna Boyles, who viewed Mister Organ earlier this year; it debuts on Amazon Prime November 21, at which point I may review it for myself. My deepest thanks to her for offering her time and talent. Near the beginning of 2016, I went to the True/False film festival. It was a trip provided by the University of Kansas’ film department which I only applied to go…

[drdavidhuxley]

Favorite New-to-Me Watches of 2023:

GOOD MORNING (dir. Yasujirō Ozu, 1959)

TRULY MADLY DEEPLY (dir. Anthony Minghella, 1990)

ALMA'S RAINBOW (dir. Ayoka Chenzira, 1994)

THE SMILING LIEUTENANT (dir. Ernst Lubitsch, 1931)

A TALE OF SPRINGTIME (dir. Éric Rohmer, 1990)

WOMAN CHASES MAN (dir. John G. Blystone, 1937)

ARISE, MY LOVE (dir. Mitchell Leisen, 1940)

FIFTH AVENUE GIRL (dir. Gregory La Cava, 1939)

THE CHILDREN'S HOUR (dir. William Wyler, 1961)

LETTER FROM AN UNKNOWN WOMAN (dir. Max Ophüls, 1948)

THE DIVORCE OF LADY X (dir. Tim Whelan, 1938)

PUNKS (dir. Patrik-Ian Polk, 2000)

[carolinemathildes]

I won't post this on Twitter because there are so many haters there (seriously my former friend still hasn't talked to me because I liked Saltburn so much lol) but I have one friend who posted their top ten on here and another friend who asked me for them so for folks on tumblr these are my top ten favourite movies of 2023:

Gran Turismo (also now my second most-watched movie in cinemas)

BlackBerry

Saltburn

Hell of a Summer (not officially released this year but I saw it at a festival)

Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.

A Haunting In Venice

Poor Things

Oppenheimer

No Hard Feelings

The Holdovers

Overall, I saw 86 new releases at home and at the cinema. I went to the cinema 112 times (a mix of new and old releases, and a handful of new releases that I saw multiple times). I went to 19 different movie theatres, and visited one 23 times, the most for the year (second most was 19).

[crankygrrl]

2023 Movies

Fire of Love (2022, documentary)

14 Peaks (2022, documentary)

The Northman (2022, self-serious tripe)

The Menu (2022, satirical drama)

*Point Break (1994, Keanu flick)

*The Seven Samurai (1954, historical drama)

The Summit (2008, docudrama)

*Everest (2015, docudrama)

The Clouds of Sils Maria (2014, drama)

Personal Shopper (2016, dramatic thriller)

Jurassic World Domination (2022, bad dino movie)

*Creed (2015, sports drama)

*Creed II (2018, sports drama)

*Meru (2015, documentary)

*Free Solo (2018, documentary)

*Touching the Void (2003, documentary)

Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves (2023, fantasy/adventure) x2

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023, animated) x2

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023, who asked for this?)

*Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981, action/adventure)

*Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984, racist action/adventure)

Guardians of the Galaxy, vol. 3 (2023, superheroes)

Nimona (2023, animated)

*Mission Impossible (1996, action/adventure)

*Mission Impossible 2 (2000, action/adventure)

*Mission Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015, action/adventure)

Mission Impossible - Dead Reckoning, Part One (2023, action/adventure)

*Senna (2010, documentary)

DC League of Super Pets (2022, animated)

Dog (2022, Channing Tatum and a dog)

Professor Marston & the Wonder Women (2017, docudrama)

*Red Dawn (1984, action/adventure)

*Taps (1981, drama)

*Drive (2011, crime drama)

*The Duelists (1977, historical drama)

*Kingdom of Heaven (2005, historical drama)

*Mystery, Alaska (1999, not actually very good in retrospect)

*L.A. Confidential (1997, period crime drama)

Bottoms (2023, fucking awesome) x4

*The Fast and the Furious (2001, car movie)

2 Fast, 2 Furious (2003, John Singleton, you've done better work)

*Fast & Furious (2009, car movie)

*Fast Five (2011, car movie)

*Fast & Furious 6 (2013, cartoon)

The Three Musketeers (1973, fucking awful)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (2023, animated) x2

*Charlie's Angels (2019, action comedy)

Fear Street Part Three: 1666 (2021, horror)

Friday the 13th (1980, horror)

Friday the 13th, Part 2 (1981, horror)

Friday the 13th: Part 3 (1982, horror)

Annabelle (2014, horror)

Annabelle: Creation (2017, weird Catholic cosplay)

Annabelle Comes Home (2019, how not to care for evil objects 101)

The Conjuring 2 (2016, horror)

*8 Seconds (1994, biopic)

*Grosse Pointe Blank (1997, action comedy)

Shiva Baby (2020, cinematic anxiety attack) x2

*D.E.B.S. (2004, not as good as I remembered)

The Marvels (2023, superheroes) x2

Barbie (2023, comedy)

Uncharted (2022, video game adaptation)

*Bridge on the River Kwai (1954, essential piece of film history)

Godzilla Minus One (2023, KAIJU!!!) *indicate films I have seen before

As of 9/12/23: 64 films 33 new movies - 31 films I have seen before

[agentnico]

Top 10 BEST Movies of 2023

Happy New Year everyone! Hope you all partied hard and are now surviving a dreadful hangover by sitting with your family or friends and enjoying a well deserved marathon of Lord of the Rings. 2023 - what a year! In the movie biz alone there were those little minor events known as the strikes of the actors and writers. Just when we thought COVID was over and stopped affecting releases, these strikes were like “errr no, actually..!”. To be fair, the way the streaming services were underpaying their actors and the studios enforcing AI so much into the media, it was good that these artists stood up for themselves and showed it to the man so to speak! Anyway, we’re not here to talk Hollywood politics, but to celebrate all the quality filmmaking that was exhibited this past year. I’d say in all honesty this year felt weaker compared to 2022. To be fair last year gave us Everything Everywhere All at Once, Top Gun: Maverick and of course the legendary RRR, so the bar was high for 2023. That being said, I still enjoyed some solid films, so let’s rank my Top 10 favourite movies of 2023, but first some honourable mentions…

HONOURABLE MENTIONS:

Evil Dead Rise - one heck of a gore fest, and the best opening title card of the year hands down!

Past Lives - a simple yet brutally honest love story.

The Boy and the Heron - Wanna hear Robert Pattinson sound like not Robert Pattinson?!

The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar - Wes Anderson and Roald Dahl are a match made in heaven.

Barbie - I’m Just Ken…need I say more??

Wonka - Timmy makes for a good Willy.

Right, with that, let’s get into the actual fun stuff - The Top 10 Best Movies of 2023!…

10) GUY RITCHIE’S THE COVENANT - The least Guy Ritchie film Guy Ritchie has ever directed and I mean that in the nicest way possible. Away with the rough East End and grizzly jokes, and instead what we have is a very reserved and straight-faced war thriller. Honestly I was so surprised with how much I was engaged and invested in The Covenant - it is a thrilling pulse-racing story of survival that adds to the dread that elements of it are true to many people’s reality. Truly, this is a well-made movie!

9) TETRIS - You hear of a movie titled Tetris and one has to wonder if we have another Emoji Movie on our hands, where we get little tetra shaped characters goofing about in some animated mathematics world trying to force an unfunny joke upon our poor heads. Luckily that’s not the case, as instead this is a behind-the-scenes look at the legal drama behind the ownership of the game rights, and though that may not sound that fun, the movie is surprisingly very entertaining with some visual pixel tricks, a great soundtrack, delightful nostalgia, a fast-paced ante-upping narrative set in the backdrop of the Soviet Union and an adorable Taron Egerton in the middle of it all. Honestly, I’m shocked at how much I digged the Tetris movie!

8) GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3 - Marvel is evidently in a rut, but a rare bright spark in recent memory was the final instalment of James Gunn’s take on the fun dysfunctional space family. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is a wonderful ride, bringing lots of great humour, character dynamics and emotion, and gets you hooked on a feeling…one last time. Oh, and Gunn finally managed to properly show Nathan Fillion’s face in a Marvel movie, and that in itself is a win!

7) MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: DEAD RECKONING - PART ONE - Tom Cruise - what a guy! I mean yes he’s a Scientologist, has a constant death wish by breaking his ankles on film sets and also guilty of jumping on Oprah’s sofa like a monkey, but my my is he a charmer! You guys know the drill with these Mission Impossible movies - Tom Cruise throws his body around like a potato fearing not for his life nor broken limbs, but you have to respect the man for wanting to give the audience their tickets’ worth of entertainment, and Dead Reckoning not disappoint! There’s never a dull moment, the action is constantly inventive and exciting, and honestly with how consistent the quality of these films are, I say keep ‘em coming, Cruise-man!

6) DREAM SCENARIO - Anyone who knows me knows how much I love me some Nicolas Cage! The guy’s an acting legend, and he’s had it rough a decade ago when he got stuck paying off hi tax money and starring in crappy B-movies, but recently he’s been on a hot streak of great original content, and Dream Scenario adds to that. I love this idea of a random dude suddenly appearing in people’s dreams for absolutely no reason. It’s so rare to have a new original conception in a film in our day and age, and the execution here is great. As a bonus, the movie features possibly the best fart joke in the history of the cinema.

5) OPPENHEIMER - On one had this is probably the most “well-made” movie of 2023 cinematically speaking. Christopher Nolan does not hold back in using his typical non-linear way of storytelling, with the film weaving narratives and different time periods seamlessly as it explores the profound depths of a man who’s actions altered the world’s trajectory forever, for better or worse. It’s an incredible historical piece of cinema, and the movie gets extra points for the whole ‘Barbenheimer’ phenomenon, but the reason this film is not higher on the list is due to the fact that I believe it is overrated. Cause every single person raved about how bloody amazing this thing was, I became tired of the positivity. Yeah, I know, I’m being a Scrooge but what you gonna do about it?? Oppenheimer is stuck at No. 5!

4) KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON - When a movie forces you to stay in the cinema for over 3 hours, it better be one epic film, as your man here was straining his bladder to health threatening levels. However this is a Martin Scorsese picture, as such this is event cinema! And this one may be up there with one of his best. Killers of the Flower Moon is a major saga of greed, murder, corruption and despair, told through the eyes of a filmmaker who somehow is still managing to mature more as a director even though he’s already over 80 years of age.

3) THE HOLDOVERS - The Holdovers is very much a vibes movie. It has that old-timey retro feel to it from how it is shot to make it look like it’s from the 70s (reminiscent of John Hughes films and Dead Poets Society). You also have the constant snow falling and the Christmas music just really delivers that cozy winter feel. It’s a wholesome Christmas movie through and through. Paul Giamatti gives a career-best performance and the writing is absolutely stellar, as such The Holdovers is destined to become a holiday classic.

2) BEAU IS AFRAID - A. 3-hour long anxiety attack that A24 spent $30 million to produce. For a movie studio to spill out such a massive amount of cash on a completely original IP that is divisively out-there and wild is such a unique thing to happen in Hollywood in this day and age, that like the film or not this act needs to be applauded. It just so happens that Beau Is Afraid is batshit bonkers and truly an act of madness, yet one that I will forever cherish. I bet David Lynch had the biggest hard-on when he watched this movie - you betcha!

1) SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE - Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is, put simply, brilliant! It’s everything that made Into the Spider-Verse great dialled up to 1000%, and the result is honestly fantastic. Look, I watch a lot of movies. And yeah, movies are great and I love them deeply. But in watching so many films I have in a way lost that magic of being in awe every time I go to the cinema. Cliches and repetitiveness in films stick out like sore thumbs. However with Across the Spider-Verse I felt like a kid again, purely stunned in amazement at every single frame, engaged with the characters and story-line, not knowing where it will go next. Like I cannot reiterate how much fun I had watching this movie! The animation is phenomenal, the narrative so rich, a pulse-throbbing music score (I even have Pemberton’s score on vinyl now just cause I love it so much!) superb character development and so many fun and unexpected twists and turns. Across the Spider-Verse is THE movie of 2023 for me and I believe this is the first time ever an animation took a top spot on my list. Here’s hoping Part 3 of the Spider-Verse saga will play out like The Return of the King!

There you have it - my favourite films of 2023. Naturally I don’t expect my list to be the same as yours, so don’t go throwing a tantrum if I missed out a movie you loved. Or do throw a tantrum, see if I care. But also don’t, cause like we’re all friends here, right? Right??!

[haveyouseenthis2023film]

Summary: James and Em Foster are enjoying an all-inclusive beach vacation in the fictional island of La Tolqa, when a fatal accident exposes the resort's perverse subculture of hedonistic tourism, reckless violence and surreal horrors.

Release Date: January 27, 2023

Director: Brandon Cronenberg

Rating: R

While this wasn’t my favorite film of 2023 (I was hoping to love it more), I think it’s worth seeing! It raises interesting questions about ethics, hedonism, tourism, and humanity’s addiction to violence and spectacle. And Mia Goth gives a delightfully unhinged performance as usual.

reblog for larger sample size :)

[filmografie]

Favorite films watched in June & July 2023 (pt. II):

The Novelist's Film (2022), dir. Hong Sang-soo

Eight Deadly Shots (1972), dir. Mikko Niskanen

Right Now, Wrong Then (2015), dir. Hong Sang-soo

Rock Hudson: All That Heaven Allowed (2023), dir. Stephen Kijak

Autumn Tale (1998), dir. Éric Rohmer

Everything Went Fine (2021), dir. François Ozon

Aparajito (1956), dir Satyajit Ray

Apur Sansar (1959), dir Satyajit Ray

[feeling-through-film]

Living (2022) 

If I could be alive for one day...but I realized I don’t know how. 

[punster-2319]

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