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It's incredibly frustrating how many great movies still haven't been released wide yet. I don't want to dip into past years of film but I also don't want to make a list before I've seen Zone of Interest, Taste of Things, or The Holdovers.
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Dec 18, 2023 04:16
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That's from the drive my car dude right
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Dec 18, 2023 05:18
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Escobarbarian posted:08. The Cook, the Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover (1989) Escobarbarian posted:I’ve decided I want to keep the list that actually counts towards this poll strictly to 2023 films, as otherwise a lot of great films from this year would get swallowed by old classics. However, I also made a separate list of my favourite older films I watched for the first time this year, so here’s that. with a reminder to Shoog that this is not my list for the poll: I understand why people don't give the film more love. Bad release, expectations for something more action oriented, the unmoored nature of the narrative, the brutality. Even with all that said the extended cut is not only my favorite Leone, it's my favorite gangster movie. It so effectively kills any lingering romanticism or glory in the career. It does a lot of what Scorsese has been trying with Killers and Irishman but in my opinion Leone managed it so much more beautifully and elegantly. I want nothing more in my life than to see the full vision that was planned.
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Dec 22, 2023 07:53
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Top Five Rewatchables The top five films that are endlessly rewatchable, throw any of these on and I’ll plop myself in front of the screen and finish it. 5.La Jetee It’s hard to think of another film this short but this impactful. Never before or since have I seen such a beautiful joining of simplicity and theme. When I close my eyes I can often see her smile peering back at me; that, that is cinema at its finest. 4.Collateral No matter how many times one watches one can always find something new to latch onto. The constrained nature of the cab lends itself to searching for more in its interior, match that with the film itself. Every time I see it I create new mental frameworks with which to gauge its principal participants. Cruise’s darting eyes and coyote like sniffing, Jaime’s disaffected perfection, the resignation he holds regarding his dream; the sheer attainability of it in reality versus the difficulty he pretends it represents, his mother issues that underlie much of his actions, all great. 3.Under the Silver Lake Puzzle box movies can get a bad rep, but this one earn’s its place among the pantheon of great “what the gently caress” films. On one level a surface level critique of Hollywood, and billionaires using and abusing young women who know not better. On a second and lower level a bizarre delving into esotericism in its traditional sense, symbols and figures are myriad and nearly inscrutable. Does it mean anything? Probably, but not for you. Few films manage to make rewatching as entertaining as this, the first watch almost feels necessary so one can dispense with Plot and focus solely on the codebreaking, and that in itself might be one of the problems revealed in the film, searching for answers to questions that didn’t need solving. 2.Miami Vice Go Fast Boats Mojito You either get this movie or don’t 1.HEAT Name a more perfect film. Mann spends the first half of this film slowly inching daggers below your skin, each imperceptible at time of penetration yet just conscious when one thinks of the strange feeling in their guts or groin that they feel when the action ceases for a second of respite. The second half is the grabbing, and twisting of each of these knives in turn until the pain runs through each limb and extremity into the head and eyes. Each subtle pause causes the sense of dread to increase because you know the next dagger shall soon be twisted. No good guys, no bad guys, grey on grey. Each action by a character is celebrated and denigrated in equal amounts. One simultaneously holds that Hanna should succeed and Neil should succeed despite both being impossibilities together. The purest form of double think creation. Top Five New Watches 2023 Falling outside the 2023 release date that I set for the real list, these films need love too! The best films I saw for the first time this year, not released in 2023 5. The Color of Pomegranates Few films can claim the title of being poetry, this film can. Undeniable and beautiful in the purest sense. 4.Carol My only regret is not watching it during the Christmas season. Never has the subtleties of a relationship been more intriguing to me. 3. Silence “Lord, I fought against your silence.” “ I suffered beside you. I was never silent.” “I know. But even if God had been silent my whole life, to this very day, everything I do, everything I've done... speaks of Him.” The closest I’ve ever come to crying during a film. 2.Ad Astra I just have to give it to Grey, I didn’t rate the man at all and this year I watched so many bangers from him. There’s so few films that go deep into men’s relationships with their father’s, and less so in delving into the disappointment one feels when they realize their father is not just a man, but not a great man. Aside from that the movie is also just wonderfully thought and conceptualized. Ping Pong space battles on the moon to comaing yourself to make a deep space trip, there is a level of care put into the creation of the film that something like Interstellar simply doesn’t have. 1 Red Desert Antonioni decides to make a color film and in the process makes all other color films look like a loving joke. Everything is perfect, every color, every emotion, every frame and movement. Monica Vitti’s complete mental breakdown feels as well executed as the beginning sequence that might as well be Dante entering Hell. Only PTA has managed the sheer terror and overwhelming cacophony of existing next to grand machinery the way Antonioni does in this film. The power Vitti puts into the performance when her son pretends to be sick just for a laugh is a masterclass, there isn’t a single second, not one that I’m not entranced by this film. And to be fully honest, I probably could have filled this whole list with just Antonioni’s work; the man is nearly incomparable as an artist. We're talking about greats, we are talking about transcendent artists; the Kubricks, PTAs, Ophuls, Welles, Tarkovskys and Kons of the world. Top Ten of the Year These are the Top Ten of the Year in consideration for the grander list. Some may have had earlier releases in other countries but in my area they were all first time, 2023 releases. Honorable Mentions. Asteroid City - The film was great, and I immediately went back to rewatch it, but it has had zero lasting impact on me. Shout out Maya Hawke, she's cute as hell. Past Lives - Someone compared this to Before Sunrise, and that wiggled its way into my brain and ruined it's chance at being on my list. The movie is good, but it's not that good. Oppenheimer - Same as Asteroid City, it was a great film that I loved but the lack of interest I have in nuclear war and the fact that a better great man biopic dropped killed it’s chances. Tiger 3 - The fact that they took the character who is saved from being a ISIS suicide bomber, have him raised as a surrogate son, and then have him “redeem” himself by becoming a suicide bomber for India is the funniest thing I’ve seen in films this year. Movie just cannot edge out Paathan when Salman feels so much less invested compared to SRK, even if Katrina Kaif is going for it. 10.The Eight Mountains  Few films do as good a job explaining the unspoken bond between men who are friends. Nor are there as many willing to do a deep psychological dive into men’s drives when not at the peaks of existence but rather the ebbs. It has some major flaws, but goddamn did it make me feel. 9.Afire  If I was on a deserted island with a TV, Blu Ray player and a filmography of one Director my answer for who would be Scorsese or Mann, regardless of who I chose though if I had two to pick the second would be Rohmer. Few are willing to make movies that aren’t earth shattering, cataclysmic or otherwise intense in the way Rohmer did. His movies were intellectual, pondering, and atmospheric. Petzold doesn’t manage to match Rohmer, but he does a good enough job that the film makes the list. One wouldn’t think the tale of an rear end in a top hat artist being confined with a bunch of other bohemians and learning that he is in fact the rear end in a top hat that he rails against would be as entertaining but after coming away thinking the ending was baffling after my first watch I’ve come to respect the daring direction it took. One considers the character a totally un-self- aware rear end in a top hat only for the finale to reveal he is very aware of who he is, and that is part of the problem. As many great authors found out, only being able to relate or express in your art is a blessing and a curse, but for human relationships it is always toxic. Hopefully our protagonist is able to reconcile with this to gain some measure of happiness for himself. 8.The Killer  Never has the gulf between people streaming and theatre goers been deeper. I saw this in a packed house with The Smith’s blaring and loved how irreverent, comedic, and incisive it’s critique of the modern disposable rent to rent society is. Many who watched it came away with a “lesser Fincher” opinion. The thing is, I think the blaring music, overwhelming the space when it cuts in and feeling tinny and out of place is necessary to get yourself into the headspace Mr.Killer is in in the film. If you cannot make yourself into a rambling, competent but not that competent, pseudo educated, depressed-repressed and denying killer for higher than the movie will not hit, especially the eye twitch at the end. 7.Paathan  I was a Bond fan, massively so. Or, I should rephrase, I theoretically still am, but the Craig era’s dour dullness and pseudo spycraft leaves me colder than a cubed ice. On a lark I decided to go see Paathan when I was bored, and instantly I was reminded of how much FUN one could have at a theatre. The film is unabashed in stealing from anything and everything spy or action related, in having totally outlandish fights and gunplay, and goddamn it just makes the genre fun again. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqu4z34wENw Just watch that and tell me you don’t also feel embarrassed for the Broccolis. Jai Hind 6.Radiant is the Blood of the Baboon Heart  I loving love Venture Bro’s so much it’s unreal. I can guarantee you this will be the most rewatched films of all of these. The only thing stopping this from being the tops is that I have full faith in another season coming. 5.Suzume  Gotta give some representation to the best Japanese Animated Film of this year, even if it’s technically last year's release. Suzume is an overlooked gem that manages to capture the spirit of a changing Japan, the generational divide, the trauma of living through disaster, and the desire to put right the mistakes of the past all in a beautifully sculpted, directed, and animated package. I had zero thoughts going into this and walked away blown away by what I’d seen. It’s a shame that great works like this are going to be buried under the bones of dinosaur’s who should’ve given up the director’s cap long ago. 4.Ferrari  Mann loving does it again. I was stunned by how great this film was. Enzo Ferrari is such an on paper piece of poo poo, but the film does an amazing job of framing how tormented he is on a day to day basis, and why he would shut himself off from the world, caring only for speed, glory, and winning. Driver’s small scene in Dino’s Mausoleum might be my favorite Driver performance I’ve seen. Cruz is bringing absolute fire to the vicious, spurned and mourning Laura; a role that is up there with the best of the year despite getting much less hype. There is some shoddy CGI and budget strains visible, but goddamn nobody understands the masculine drive better than Mann, and nobody can shoot how damaging the fallout to that drive is the way he does. I’m going to be seeing this again asap. 3.May December  First off, the funniest of the live action films, easily. Haynes took what should be a horrifying story of a woman predator turned shunned domestic and turned it into a hilarious farce; although one that is also cutting. It’s amazing to me that you can make a film about a woman who slept with a teenager and still manage to make another character feel more abhorrent. The punchline of Portman’s character managing to throw a handgrenade into Gracie’s life and yet still understand nothing about the woman or her wants and why’s is hilarious as it is sad; at least you have the lisp to lean on. An incredible work that uses the camp and comedy to back door in themes and messages that are still incredibly difficult to talk about in modern society. 2.Killers of the Flower Moon  Tremendous, Incredible, one of the most complicated and denigrating portrayals of the rapacious nature of America ever filmed. The only film, in my opinion, as convinced and convicted in its portrayal is Once Upon a Time in America. Lily Gladstone running in Best Actress instead of Supporting is baller as gently caress and goddamn do I hope she wins. Not often do you see an elderly director so thoroughly school the new kids on the block in what is and isn’t great about cinema. Scorsese has zero compunctions at this point about making something utterly dark. There’s a lot of directors willing to go “dark” but few willing to grab you by the skull and drag your nose through the mess you’ve made of this country the way he does in this film. Every single piece of this is perfect, if you’re looking at this list for recommendations then watch this twice before you touch a single other film above it, it’s that superior, we may not acknowledge Scorsese with accolades but his place in the cultural memory is nearing Kubrick with this entry. 1. Across the Spiderverse    I’ve seen this film Eight times in theatres. There is no doubt in my mind that this is the best film released this year. From the first thirty minutes following Gwen to the last twenty following Miles and Miles, I was enraptured. THIS is what animation should be, creative, beautiful, unorthodox, funny, willing to break the mold. I loved the first film, but the depth of the character in this makes the former seem like a joke. Mile’s dad gets some love, but his mother becomes such a beautifully real character, you can feel all her hopes and disappointments in her view of Miles. One cannot help but think of their own relationship with their mother and how you’ve let them down or surprised them. People denigrating this film for not being complete or ending on a cliffhanger can lose my fuckin’ number. This is a complete film, it was complete when Rio ungrounded Miles. I can imagine the kind of tedious, cynical gently caress who doesn’t love this film, but I refuse to engage with that mental exercise, only pity is reserved for them. This was the greatest film of this year, and nothing, nothing comes close. God willing I’ll say the same of the sequel and God willing others will take the viewing of this film to heart and start putting their souls back in cinema instead of just their backs.
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Dec 26, 2023 08:18
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Heavy Metal posted:Do you like the Miami Vice show? Some terrific stuff, even has some interesting directors like Abel Ferarra. I'm a big fan, especially the first 2 or 3 seasons and some highlights after that. Had a great rewatch of Heat lately too, looking forward to Heat 2, heard Mann on a podcast talking about that. You know I had no idea Ferarra worked on the TV show but it absolutely tracks, Mann's work and King of New York share a lot of DNA. Never seen the show though, thought about grabbing abox set but i'm not really a TV guy and I think it would be a bad time. Hyped as hell for HEAT 2, film is going to be insane, and hearing Mann talk on podcasts the man is ready to go back to the world of Heat. ShoogaSlim posted:i know i give you poo poo in other threads for liking michael mann movies but drat this is a HELL of a post! replying now before reading it but i'm excited to dive into all the words you wrote. lmao, you're gonna hate the most rewatched list. If I was being fully honest the whole list would be Mann.
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Dec 26, 2023 11:29
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This year is one of the worst in backloading all the good films, I'd probably place Zone of Interest, Holdovers, Taste of Things, Iron Claw, and The Hamaguchi films on my list but I am not going to get a chance to see any of them before January at the earliest. Incredibly frustrating that movie companies are still pulling this poo poo.
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Dec 27, 2023 02:52
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They need like a second string, third best performance of the year category at the Oscars for Bautista to clinch. Man isn't blowing anyone away, but it was a hell of a lot better of a performance then I'd expect of someone of that persuasion. Also makes the Rock look even more pathetic
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Dec 30, 2023 07:14
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Erin M. Fiasco posted:It was a hell of a year for me and movies, and it was super difficult to narrow down my list to just ten. This order is roughly correct but if I think about it more I'll probably second-guess myself so I'm getting it out there and just saying that all ten of these have become some of my favorites of all time. In reverse order...
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Jan 1, 2024 12:45
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Completely unsurprising but still warranted. Hardly a year where Scorsese made a film that it didn't deserve the crown
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Jan 1, 2024 23:38
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ShoogaSlim posted:i personally feel like it would be more to the spirit of an end of year list and crowning a "victor" if everyone were limited to only movies that came out in the current year I think two lists is the way to go. When we are only getting less than thirty participants and the tend is towards the recent then the addition of past movies can only morph the list at the end while not seeing in actual placings. For example if I put just one of my older favorite movies onto the list and moved up Spiderverse as a result perhaps then Spiderverse moves up to 3 the former 3 spot moves to 2 and we have a different end of year ranking despite the films in the list changing not at all. If you are interested in compiling something like an Oscar's list then splitting it into two is preferable. If you are interested in introducing people to new or interesting films of the past or of current year than two list is preferable from the additional space you gain from having twice as many spots. I'd personally prefer to see a top ten with Zone of Interest, the new Hamaguchi or Iron Claw taking up a ninth or tenth place than it being filled with a Scorsese everyone has already seen or some Kubrick masterpiece that tomes have been written on. Gaius Marius fucked around with this message at 07:05 on Jan 2, 2024 |
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Jan 2, 2024 06:59
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For Suzume at least the movie didn't get a wide release in the US until 23. I also wouldn't count on more participants, intentions and reality rarely meet.
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Jan 2, 2024 07:46
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The Oscars being bad is not relevant. You're letting your hatred of a horse race cloud your judgement of a purely voluntary celebration of film.
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Jan 2, 2024 07:49
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The point being that one of the most popular choices for out of year release was released this year in every major market that has a large amount of SA users.
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Jan 2, 2024 08:05
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I'm not talking about the stats. I've brought it up contextually to the splitting or not of the lists next year.
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Jan 2, 2024 09:24
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