In 2022 it felt like moviegoing came (almost) all the way back (for the seemingly dwindling number of people who were willing to go into the theaters). As the year winds to a close, we’re sharing lists of our favorite films we’ve seen (so far).
Category: Reviews
Josh’s Favorite Films of 2023
In 2022 it felt like moviegoing came (almost) all the way back (for the seemingly dwindling number of people who were willing to go into the theaters). As the year winds to a close, we’re sharing lists of our favorite films we’ve seen (so far).
On holiday screens, Great Men Biopics: The Iron Claw, Maestro, and Ferrari
The holidays are always a crowded time at the multiplex. This year brings a slate of movies begging for your attention, including three biopics of great men vying for your attentions.
All of Us Strangers heals and haunts with a modern ghost story
It’s by no means A Christmas Carol, but in the grand tradition of holiday movies featuring spiritual visitations, Andrew Haigh works through familiar queer traumas in All of Us Strangers, his gorgeously realized vibey ghost story that arrives in wide release just in time for the holidays.
The Boys in the Boat paddles into theaters to assuredly please local crowds
The holiday film with the most local relevance is almost certainly The Boys in the Boat. It tells the inspirational true story of the UW eight man crew team that improbably dominated better funded collegiate competition, made it to the 1936 Olympics, and showed Hitler the power of good old fashioned American determination.
On screens for the holidays: secret musicals Wonka and The Color Purple
The holidays are always a crowded time at the multiplex. This year brings a slate of movies begging for your attention, two of which are musicals even though their trailers try to keep that fact under wraps. Brief reviews of The Color Purple and Wonka below.
Poor Things rapturously reinvigorates the Frankenstein myth
In a relentlessly inventive take on the Frankenstein myth, a sexually-insatiable experiment stumbles out from a Goldbergian laboratory into a vibrant Ozlike world. Based on Alasdair Gray’s illustrated novel, Yorgos Lanthimos tells a coming-of-age story unlike any other, set amid some of the richest and most dazzling production design captured on film this year. With tremendous and daring performances across the stellar cast, Poor Things earns a must-see spot for holiday season moviegoers and well-deserved recognition on year-end lists and award nominations.
Frederick Wiseman gets you the best seat in the house with Menus-Plaisirs—Les Troisgros
Frederick Wiseman’s newest documentary runs for exactly four hours, probably about the amount of time you’d spend enjoying a dinner service at Le Bois sans Feuilles, the three Michelin starred restaurant run by the Troisgros family at their inn in the French countryside in Ouches. While the price of admission for the film is substantially less than even the a la carte menu at the celebrated restaurant, the intricately observed documentary is nevertheless a sumptuous immersion in the highest levels of new French cuisine.
The Boy and the Heron swoops into theaters this weekend.
The Boy and the Heron (2023 | Japan | 124 minutes | Hayao Miyazaki) In what might be his final film, master Japanese …
Ridley Scott’s Napoleon is an epic production, not a history lesson
The life and times of Napoleon should give plenty of fodder for a biopic. He rose from humble beginnings on his way to becoming one of the most powerful people in the world’s history. The tagline on posters says “He came from nothing; he conquered everything.” It’s quite the story! Sure, several million people died along the way, but who’s counting?