Best Films of Last Year! (Part 2)
And The Winner Is...
Hope you had an amazing New Years Eve! I’m back to finish out my best films of 2023… in 2024. So enjoy Part 2 of my Best Films of This Last Year!
Poor Things
Poor Things, Poor Things, Poor Things… how do I love thee? Let me count the ways. Is it the absolutely insane production design James Price and Shona Heath? The transformative performance by Emma Stone? The pee-in-your-pants comedic acting of Mark Ruffalo? The oddly gross ‘n strange score by Jerskin Fendrix. The scene-stealing, gasp-inducing sauntering of performance chameleon, Kathryn Hunter? Or just the pure brilliance of Yorgos Lanthimos who continues his legendary career as a trailblazer who rarely lets a big studio stop his big ideas. In a time where women’s bodies are controlled more and more, a bold film about the agency of women and how their bodies are terrorized by men, couldn’t be more relevant.
I chuckle when I hear the debate about there being too much Emma Stone nudity and not enough male nudity and I laugh and scream THAT IS THE POINT. An actress as big as Emma is not going to commit to that much nudity and sex without making a big point about her own agency. How she controls her body and can do with it what she will.
While its not the best movie of the year, its a goddamn excellent film with bold performances and an unwavering POV. Emma Stone in particular disappears into the part and I imagine will win the Oscar if the wind blows in the right direction (even if Sandra Huller is more nuanced and Greta Lee is more quietly heartbreaking). What I love about Yorgos films is that you never walk away bored. You are always left thinking about big ideas presented in big ways and this was by far his biggest, boldest idea yet. I loved it.
The Holdovers
Much like American Fiction — this a heartwarming(ish) film that balances comedy and drama. Unlike, American Fiction, The Holdovers is more slice of a life character-driven piece and less meta commentary of the state of culture. The film is about a cranky history teacher at a remote prep school is forced to remain on campus over the holidays with a troubled student who has no place to go. What we seen from there is a tale as old as time, unlikely folks spend time together and learn. While not groundbreaking in its approach, its a charming film, masterfully executed with top-tier actors.
Paul Giamatti continues his incredible career and may come back to take gold, after losing for his performance in Cinderella Man (and should have been nominated for his previous Payne work, Sideways).
Mostly, I loved this film because its something I can enjoy with my parents (and did). They aren’t getting any younger so finding movies where we can all enjoy and connect means a lot to me. NYAD was similar!
Zone of Interest
It’s hard to consider this in my Top 10 films because it didn’t really feel like a film. It felt like watching a strange, masterfully-shot documentary, set just outside the walls of Auschwitz. The Zone of Interest is impeccably directed by Jonathan Glazer, a slice of life but from a sliver you never wished to watch. It’s the Banality of Evil: The Musical! Inspired by a true story, the film follows Auschwitz Commandant Rudolf Höss, wife Hedwig (Sandra Huller again!!!), and their family as they live an idyllic life directly next to the Auschwitz camps. The terror of the camps is never shown directly but amongst the moments of quiet serenity, you see glimpses; the smoke from trains tracking across the screens, the glow of the ovens in the reflection of a window at night, the murky gray matter invading the river while Hoss and his family have a dip, even faint screams in the distance throughout the entirety of the movie… but the terror isn’t just implied, some times its in our faces in menacing and terror-fueled ways like Sandra Huller casually proclaiming “I’m the Queen of Auschwitz!” to her mother. There is not a lot that happens in the film because we all know everything that occured. Jonathan Glazer uses the opportunity to tell us that what has happened before, could (or will) happen again if we don’t acknowledge the terrors happening around us each and ever day. A short sequence towards of the film highlights this in menacingly quiet way. A worthy see and film that will sit with you uncomfortably for a while.
Spider-Man: Across The Spiderverse
Now I know my faithful readers (aka my friends and family) will probably clutch their pearls and say “A superhero cartoon made the top 10?!?!” And yes, it did.
I was watching the could-be nominated feature length animated films from 2023. They included Boy and the Heron (great), Elemental (awesome!), even Super Mario Bros (so fun) but I was absolutely gooped when I watched Spider-Man: Across The Spiderverse. Now the plot isn’t anything profound but the visuals from this movie are absolutely spectacular. It truly felt like I was watching a comic book come to life but on acid. It was truly wild. It’s hard to describe but I felt like I had never seen anything like it before. A must watch.
All Of Us Strangers
While some of the plot has been revealed in lead-up articles and reviews, All Of Us Strangers is best experienced fresh. As the NY Times wrote in their review, “All of Us Strangers acts as a prism through which loneliness and its manifestations are refracted, like colorful light onto a wall”. This film is really not about its layered reveal late in Act II but a mediation on the power of our memories, how that affects our everyday, and how we choose to move on.
There is a lot that is tremendous here; the stunning gradient saturation of Jamie Ramsay’s cinematography, the fantastic screenplay and direction by Andrew Haigh, and the haunting ever-present score by Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch. The performances are robust and textured but in particular, the star here is Andrew Scott. His take on Adam is tightly wound, cagey, aloof, and almost vibrating with a quiet intensity. He has deep chemistry with Paul Mezcal who can do no wrong in my eyes. Andrew seems to always be a second from bursting, as if his only catharsis is to write. That any other form of communication will break him. There is a gut-punching scene with Claire Foy (who solidifies her movie stardom with her role as Adam’s mum), where Andrew Haigh really puts Adam, Mum and the audience in a place of profound reflection; what if we all had a moment to speak to our past, in our present? What would you say? How would you feel?
All of Us Strangers is made for those grappling with loss whether near or far. It’s for gay boys who wish they could have five minutes with their past to say what was not said or take back what was. Past Lives made us consider what could be and All Of Us Strangers forces us to confront it now, not then. It’s heartbreaking. It’s quiet. It will sit with me for a bit.