MY 2023

A year of contrasts with a statistically correct big middle section. The ones I put in the middle are not films I necessarily dislike, I enjoyed most of them. It's just that they didn't have that extra element that took them higher. Similarly, the ones in the top list are not necessarily impeccable: they just all had that element, whatever it was. And the ones at the bottom are more likely disappointments than outright stinkers. This is because, as an amateur critic, I pay for my cinema tickets and tend not to pay to hate watch anything. It's most likely that I'll outright rail against things I've taken a chance on at MIFF as there's usually less or no hype about them and it's hard to tell in advance whether they're worth my time (this is an acceptable gamble with festivals, though). These aren't all the movies I saw this year, just the ones I wanted to comment on.

TOP

TALK TO ME - Now this is how you get away with a possession story after decades of Exorcist knockoffs (which continue into the new century). Making the danger of it drug-like was inspired and it still gives beyond that innovation. Outstanding. Film of the year.

THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN -  Takes the cute Irish tale and turns it into an eviscerating fable of friendship. Extraordinary.

WOMEN TALKING -  Women who have been barred from education have to establish the language to use in order to make one of three cases in response to a local crime. Does what it says on the tin but what it says on the tin is extraordinary.

EMILY THE CRIMINAL - In which deadpan comic champ Aubrey Plaza loses herself in a thankless character role and comes out intact and more. 

PEARL - If Mia Goth was the one to watch in several small roles she bursts through the screen in this afterthought sequel that outdoes its original. Can't wait for Maxxxine.

INFINITY POOL - Oops, Mia Goth again, this time in a thrill kill cult (or are they?) finding a violence high in a fable like magical arrangement. Cronenberg Jr fell close to the tree.

LATE NIGHT WITH THE DEVIL -  Australian made but with American sensibility, this works a treat in pushing the post Nixon America into the post Exorcist culture. A delight.

BOTTOMS -  Funniest film of the year as gay teens start a fight club to lure their cheerleader crushes. It works but that's only the beginning. Funniest film of the year.

GODZILLA MINUS ONE -  From the gleaming Toho logo to the end credits, this proves that only a drop of originality is needed to lift a remake into the lofty realm of its original. Thrilling in its execution and sobering in its anti-war message.

PAST LIVES - Minimalist tale that takes a little too long to get to its quietly devastating final zinger but that is so strong that the dragginess in the middle feels like waiting rather than boredom.

WALK UP - Another Hong Sang-soo mini wonder of personal histories and the effects of impulsive decisions.

DREAM SCENARIO - A fable of fame for the social media aeon that fleshes out its satire with real warmth. A kind of Being John Malkovich for next week. Stellar turn by Nic Cage.

POOR THINGS - Lanthimos extends his already rich psychosocial pallet with this magical realist trek. Outstanding performance by Emma Stone.

MIDDLE

BARBIE - Great fun with satirical punch and a warm hearted message. I kept wanting more cultural pushback in Barbie's trek to self-actualisation but then, the satire and big numbers kept me laughing too hard to care much. Maybe a trim here and there.

OPPENHEIMER - First hour of three wasted in a needless "previously on Buffy" sequence and then an overlong vindication sequence with a spectacular story of the atomic bomb retelling in the middle. Nolan makes the package bigger than the product again.

SANCTUARY - Clever powerplay two hander gets bogged in its own process in the second act. The final moments redeem this but the drag lingers in the memory after the credits roll.

BROKER - Heart rending but satisfying road movie about how the idea of family can transcend blood ties.

EGO: THE MICHAEL GUDINSKY STORY - A decent enough document of a cultural giant that tends to glide over the more troubling aspects and deeds. That said I'd watch it again if it came up on streaming.

FOE  - Black Mirror episode stretched too far but redeemed by good performances.

THE ROYAL HOTEL - Well wrought scenes of toxic masculinity served positively with nuance but lacks a second act to render the finale as powerful as it should feel.  

YOU'LL NEVER FIND ME - Overlong reveal of the situation drags a good tight and atmospheric two hander.

MONOLITH - Thoroughly enjoyable fable of who gets to control the narrative with clever use of humanity's darker urges accelerated by communication technology.

FORBIDDEN PLAY - By the numbers J-horror revisit by the genre's inventor is perhaps one notch above okay.

IMMERSION - A coodabeen from another J-horror master moves too sluggishly to fulfil its promises.

BEAU IS AFRAID -  I liked this a lot better than everyone I talked to who saw it. It is self-indulgent and overlong but does make sense for anyone with the patience to think it through.

OF AN AGE - Decorous love story doesn't outstay its welcome. Perhaps a little overserious.

TAR - Great star turn by Cate Blanchett in a tale that works well but lacks power in the delivery of its narrative cataclysm.

M3GAN - Fun but feels too slight, even for its more general rating.

KNOCK AT THE CABIN - The twist is there's no twist. It's ok.

SCREAM VI - Some good sequences but the adherence to the rules is long overstretched by now. 

TOTALLY KILLER - Back to Friday the 13th. 

GODLESS: THE EASTFIELD EXORCISM - Kept wanting this one to explore the differences between the supernatural and scientific side. It does come down on one over the other but by that time it feels less powerful than it might have. That said, very good performances and production.

BOTTOM

TRIANGLE OF SADNESS - Hot shot Swedish auteur seeks to dazzle with a diminishing stock of tricks which amount to the insertion of disruptive motifs. It's a windscreen wiper, it's a lift door closing, it's a cleaner's trolley bashing against a wall, it's a wave bashing against the beached lifeboat, it's ... it's any other damned thing available that distracts an audience from the low substance count on screen. Bullshit from start to finish.

THE BOOGEYMAN - By the numbers conventional Stephen King adaptation from the guy who innovatively used the zoom meeting as a horror setting during COVID. I hope he gets trusted to do something more original next.

EVIL DEAD RISE - Great effects showreel with a few bones thrown to the franchise. It's ok.

IT LIVES INSIDE - Potentially strong monster entry dilutes its cultural assimilation theme until it's just a boogeyman figure scaring people.

THE MENU - If you're going for satire, try respecting your audience's intelligence. Could done iwth a massive edit of every obvious statement in it. Then again, you might not have a movie left. Smug rubbish.

THANKSGIVING - By the numbers '80s-style slasher set in the present does what it says on the tin. I will struggle to remember it.

DRACULA THE LAST VOYAGE OF THE DEMETER - Over-conventional and unscary waste of a good idea.

IT'S A WONDERFUL KNIFE - Soft and over-conventional waste of a good title.

ASTEROID CITY - Didn't bother but put it here, anyway.