Sunday, 7 January 2024

2023 in film: favourites

2023 in film: favourites

In no particular order, these are my favourites of this year. Of course, any list is going to tell you more about my taste than anything, but these are the films that if you disagree, I’m going to think you’re wrong. As opposed to something like, say, ‘Cocaine Bear’, which I went to out of curiosity and ended up enjoying but I really wouldn’t defend much. On the other hand, I found ‘Barbie’, to be far more middling provocation than expected. Etc. And I didn't get to see heavy hitters 'Oppenheimer' and 'Killers of the Flower Moon' (yet).

Anyway, I have

Seven favourites of 2023

 (in no particular order):


Eo

Godland

Godzilla Minus One

Anatomy of a Fall

Spider-man: Across the Spider-verse

Past Lives

Close

Honourable mentions: ‘The Beasts’ and ‘Pamfir’ and 'When Evil Lurks'.

 

Three films that knocked me for six:


·         Close
·         Past Lives
·         Love Life

Honourable mentions: ‘War Pony’ and ‘The Damned Don’t Cry’.

 


Individual scenes of the year:

These were moments where, suddenly, my antenna went up and I thought “Now you have my attention” regardless of how I felt about the rest of the film:

·         Godzilla Minus One: Godzilla does ‘Jaws’
·         Cocaine Bear: bear vs. ambulance
·         Love Life: nuns at karaoke, and then.
·         Past Lives: discussing insecurities and things in bed
·         Passages: opening scene/Tomas directing
·         John Wick chapter 4: God’s eye view of a shootout through a building
·          When Evil Lurks: what do they say about animals and children in film?
·         Godland: scenery
·         Guardians of the Galaxy volume 3: space corridor fight
·         Return to Seoul: the early café scene
&     ‘Mission Impossible – Dead Reckoning part one’ : the final train set piece.

 

And I think I should mention the ‘Saltburn’, because throughout the bathwater scene the man next to me was making amused sounds of disgust and mumbling “aw no…” and “argghh” through his discomforted giggles.

 


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