2023 Review

 All the films I've watches this year: in bold are my favourites, italics at the cinema 

January

• See How They Run - convoluted crime caper bit too clever and fleeting
• Prey - like the original Predator but feminist not macho
• Whisky Galore (2020) - surprisingly entertaining very light comedy
• Shadowlands - good repressed Hopkins not as good as Remains of the Day though
• Legend - Classic East End gangsters you've got to have a crazy unpredictable one to make you tense
• Banshees of Inisherin - low-key and a bit disturbing thing there's a lot to it
• Crazy Heart - like A Star is Born but a bit rougher apart from ending
• My Summer of Love - enjoyably slow low-key film like the Goob
• A Cure for Wellness - spooky big institution like Shutter Island
• A Bigger Splash - unusual sprawling atmospheric ramble playing on charism of Ralph Fiennes
• Trance - too much noise smashing in my face but a nice idea
• Nomadland - felt like a documentary
• He Got Game - better than ever
• Remember the Titans - too bombastic do they really take school sports this seriously in America
• Miracle - sports story I didn't know and found moderately interesting, like that they taught hockey players to act not other way round

February

• Amsterdam - fast talking detective thriller unconvincing Taylor Swift
• Aftermath - good idea for a film slow burner
• King of Thieves - classic caper into character study, Jim Broadbent a baddy
• The Menu - fun, like See how they run, with food, bit of a leap at some parts
• The last Duel - Ridley scott history turns into MeToo movement
• The Black Sheild of Falworth - Tony Curtis Knights romp
•   Enchanted
• White Men Can't Jump - Classic Wesley and Woody at their best
• The Man Who Knew Infinity - quite enjoyable predictable story

March

• Courage Under Fire - classic same story from different angles
• Vice - depressing anti-Republican semi-doc
• Match Point - enjoyable high life
• Get Back 1 - amazing footage I didn't realise existed
• Entebbe - good story simply told, except the chair dance
• The Beach - classic Danny Boyle
• Two faces of January - interesting rambling disintegration of Viggo in Greece
• Wedding Planner - Not as bad as I remembered. Actually it was quite bad.
• The Fountain - immersive epic with three moving strands
•   Coco - quite fun Disney
• Mr Jones - they all chuckle when Mr Jones talks about danger of Hitler, but of course he was right! Seems very relevant now talking about how evil Stalin was
• Kingdom of Heaven - thought I'd seen this, hadn't, solid epic minus Bloom. Nasty French Guy is good
• Pretty Woman - never seen this either, not missing much

April

•   Long Pond sessions - nice songs but they talk a lot of rubbish about lockdown
•   San Andreas - absurd and exciting
• Tigerland - good as ever, lots of training
•   The Binge - like the Purge but even worse though has Vince Vaughn
•   High Fidelity - enjoyable sort of rom-com

May

• Narrow Margin - classic 70s train drama with Gene Hackman
• The China Syndrome - good tense informative drama
• The Martian - excellent practical and fun
• Ladybird - great Mum and she isn't too annoying
• Easy A - a bit too self-knowing but still very enjoyable
• The Thing from Another World - low budget and low quality but a great plot
• Moonlight - quite enjoyable slice of life
• Frequently asked questions abouit time travel - fun premise characters not quite believable
• The Sound of Music - good songs, sickly sweet but I enjoyed it
•   Monsters Inc
• Mercy - classic boat yarn with Colin Firth

June

• Colette - rollicking Parisian story
• Monuments Men - pretty light warfare
•   Supernova - Stanley Tucci and Colin Firth as aging gay men pretty good
• The Heart of the Ocean - not as good as The Bounty but similar ideas
• Miseducation of Cameron Post - good story always heading one way but I liked that way
• Olympians at Heart - TV movie about happy teenage gymnasts, utterly predictable

July

• Baby Done - Gentle NZ comedy nice gender role reversal with male husband straight guy
• Hell and High Water - predictable but fun Western great quiet stand off in the ending
• The Last Right - Irish funeral comedy
• Mary Queen of Scots - gritty historical drama seems like Mary was hard done by
• Count of Monte Cristo - what a story would have loved to read it 150 years ago. Good film too
• Heartbreak Kid - weird 70s film about chancer falling in love with someone else on honeymoon
• Elemental - disappointing Pixar
• Nighthawks - poor but fun stallone cop film from the 80s
• Oppenheimer - intense character study but misses out on being good

August

• Wild Men -craacking comedy with surprising tone throughout
•   Eight Bells Toll - vintage Hopkins as unconvincing spy
• Love + Hate - moody Northern tale
• The Others - good tense horror film
• The Good Liar - interesting old pereson flashback fest with some duping

September

• The Mule - classic Clint being grumpy not sure he's even acting
• Radioactive - biopic of Marie Curie with more in the story than I thought
• Relic - unusual horror film without much gore but lots of tension
• Not Going Quietly - old person crime caper not much to recommend
• Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert -
• The Lady Vanishes - early Hitchcock very safe still some good moments
• Tulip Fever - atmospheric Tudor piece got quite into it
• Past Lives - boring but good I suppose Korean drama

October

• The Half of It - excellent nerdy teen drama
•   Space Jam 2 - action is OK but comedy terrible
• Enough - J'Lo running away not very good
• The Holiday - surprisingly engrossing but obvious RomCom
• Fair Play - tense and engrossing thriller tough viewing but compelling
• The Creator - epic SciFi with some surprises
• The Infinite - good idea but not very good film, like that Charlize Theron film but worse
• Licorice Pizza - I really thought this waas from the 70s
• The King - grim historical epic played straight. Best is mocking Dauphin played by R Patz
• The Mother - older JLo verson of Enough, she is better at acting tough and never lets up
• Adam Project - very light scifi Reynolds sets the tone

November

• Prisoners - excellent tense drama Gyllenhal looks so tired
• Gravity - nice floating scenes but not very realistic
• White Tiger - entertaining insight into India and poverty
• Americana Taylor Swift
• Don't Look Now
• The Unforgivable - not as gritty as I feared and with a well-paced plot
• The Nest - starts off being the most boring film ever but gains pace with a breakdown
• The Whole Nine Yards - Matt Perry quite funny but plot a right mess
• The Equalizer - excellent Denzel I can't wait to watch the secon one
• Everything everywhere all at once - good family drama but SciFi disappointing
• Extraction 2 - impressive action scenes
• The Green Knight - consistently dark tone
• Reputation Taylor Swift - "It's time to get real"
•   My Neighbour Totoro
• Kicking and Screaming - The best Will Ferrel sports comedy
• The Whale - good character but his choices upset me

December

• Dune - better than ever
• Bend it like Beckham - not aged well but still fun
• The Nice Guys - fun
•   All the Presidents Men - good fast paced drama about what is actually quite a boring story
•   The Grinch - OK Christmas fare
• The Hunt - you can see the bad things coming
• Life - interesting sci-fi idea
• Deep Water - great mood of darkness enjoyed it
• Massive weight of unbearable talent - silly Cage vehicle
• Leave the world behind - slick but slightly irritating
• Flying Like Birds - basketball drama not my favourite
• Pain Hustlers - good story rags to riches etc.
• The Wonder - Irish child stops eating mystery
• Maestro - over the top documentary but good characters
• Baahubali 1 & 2 great epics