Coming off of a very strong year for movies in 2022, the film industry was faced with several obstacles (some avoidable & others unforeseen). From the impact of the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes on the fall movie season to the box-office juggernaut of the “Barbenheimer” phenomenon this summer, I found 2023 to be quite a whirlwind of a year for movies. Some critics & commentators are celebrating the comic book movie “bubble” bursting (signaled by films like The Flash and The Marvels bombing at the box office). Clearly, audiences were more excited to watch acclaimed directors like Greta Gerwig and Christopher Nolan tackle untapped IPs (Barbie) for the big screen or show off original takes on somewhat unknown historical figures (Oppenheimer). Such talk, however, has caused many good & great flicks to be overlooked and underpraised. Thus, as I do every year, I want my final blog of 2023 to give some love to films that you may not have seen or (unfortunately) even heard of.
Admittedly, I have yet to see many of what are considered to be the year’s best films, including (but not limited to): Celine Song’s Past Lives, Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, and Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things. Still, I want to use this opportunity to shine a light on some of my favorite movies that I haven’t blogged about before. While some are familiar among moviegoers (casual or otherwise), there may just be one or two on this list you’ve never heard of that are nonetheless worth checking out. That being said, here are my thoughts on some of my favorite movies of 2023. A Man Called Otto Having seen the bulk of director Marc Forster’s filmography, I can’t say that I’m the biggest fan of his work. While I do think that his fantasy-comedy Stranger than Fiction starring Will Ferrell is great and I enjoy his version of World War Z starring Brad Pitt (despite not being remotely like Max Brooks’ modern classic book on which it’s based), I find myself in the minority when it comes to the movies he’s made that are considered his best, including Monster’s Ball and The Kite Runner. And don’t even get me started on Quantum of Solace! So when I saw the somewhat positive reviews for his Tom Hanks vehicle A Man Called Otto, I was cautiously optimistic. Maybe it would turn out be another really good (or perhaps even great) movie from Forster. Fortunately, my tempered expectations paid off in full. In remaking Swedish filmmaker Hannes Holm’s Oscar-nominated movie A Man Called Ove (itself based on Fredrik Backman’s novel of the same name) for an American audience, Forster manages to deliver one of my favorite movies of this year (and one of his best films). That being said, I do think that much of the heavy lifting here is done by Forster’s cast (and not just the obvious answer of his lead performer). To be clear, Hanks is the well-deserving star of A Man Called Otto. Like some of his darker performances in films like Road to Perdition, he plays against type by summoning an emotional vulnerability that exists beneath a cold, hard exterior & must be peeled back layer by layer throughout the film. While he’s no machine gun-wielding gangster in the Great Depression, his portrayal of Otto Anderson as a lonely and curmudgeonly widower feels like it’s ripped from the same cloth. In that regard, I found Hanks’ presence in the movie refreshing. To be sure, his more typical work is more than welcome when he does it. However, I tend to really enjoy when he does movies like this because he simply doesn’t do them that often. Unlike so many of his most acclaimed roles, from Forrest Gump to Sully, he doesn’t primarily rely on his signature charm as both an actor & as a person. And that makes his turn as Otto (in my humble opinion) one of his better roles in the last fifteen years. While I expected to at least enjoy Hanks’ turn in A Man Called Otto, I was pleasantly surprised to be swept away by much of the supporting cast that successfully elevate his lead performance. There are many actors from the film that I could spotlight, but I want to emphasize my favorite Hanks co-star: Mariana Treviño, who plays his nosy yet endearing & well-intentioned new neighbor Marisol. Not only is she a strong female presence in a (somewhat) male-dominated story, but the way that her undeniable charm plays off of Hanks’ anti-sociable tendencies as Otto makes for a pretty compelling central character relationship. The “tough love” that Marisol shows Otto from very early on after meeting him keeps what could’ve been a predictable narrative overly reliant on a tropey friendship. Instead, though, Forster (along with screenwriter David Magee) gave Hanks and Treviño the material & flexibility to shine in telling a thematically relatable & rich story about letting go of the past to accept new people into your life & live for a brighter tomorrow. Even if you’re not a fan of some of Forster’s other flicks, I strongly encourage you to give A Man Called Otto a chance. You’ll at the very least find something to enjoy about Hanks’ performance, and (hopefully) be sucked in by the rest of the cast around him that make the two-hour runtime more than worth it. Missing A relatively new approach to cinematic storytelling is “screenlife” which emphasizes a distinct aesthetic meant to emulate using computers, tablets, and/or smartphones as the means of telling the story. Somewhat inspired by the “found footage” subgenre that was popularized by films like The Blair Witch Project, “screenlife” initially found its stride in horror with movies like The Den and Unfriended before expanding its reach to tell stories in different genres. Arguably, a big turning point in “screenlife” cinema was the critically & commercially successful release of the mystery thriller film Searching in 2018. Directed by Indian-American filmmaker Aneesh Chaganty (who co-wrote the screenplay with Armenian-American producer Sev Ohanian), the film grossed more than 75 million dollars on a less-than-one-million-dollar budget. Five years later, after Chaganty and Ohanian teamed up for Run (the “spiritual sequel” to Searching) in 2020, they co-produced the directorial debuts of Will Merrick and Nick Johnson (the editors of Chaganty’s previous two films) for a third entry in this blossoming series of “screenlife” flicks. And, just like Searching and Run, I thoroughly enjoyed Missing for what it was despite its flaws. As a big fan of both Searching and Run, I was somewhat disappointed to learn that Chaganty and Ohanian would not be as hands-on with Missing. With the former no longer being the writer-director and the latter not co-writing the screenplay, I wondered if another “screenlife” thriller with them only as producers would work as well as Searching. Fortunately, since Merrick and Johnson worked intimately on both Searching and Run as editors, much of the visual flair & storytelling sensibilities of Chaganty and Ohanian remained intact. Working off of a story that Chaganty and Ohanian thought up, Merrick and Johnson seamlessly translate it to the screens of iPhones, laptops, security cameras, and many more innovative avenues into the life of teenager June Allen (Storm Reid) as she tries to solve the mystery behind her mother Grace’s (Nia Long) sudden disappearance. With Chaganty and Ohanian’s story (adapted by Merrick and Johnson who wrote the screenplay), Missing offers an intricate web of story threads for the viewer to unravel. And, much like Searching, it’s incredibly fun for the audience to go along with some of the crazier places that this mystery takes us. While this may seem like a turn off, it’s a movie that gives you what you give it. In other words, go with the story being told even if some of it’s a bit implausible or outlandish because it makes up for any flaws in the screenplay by consistently engaging you from start to finish. And much of that value comes straight from the solid cast assembled for Missing. So much credit goes to Storm Reid in the leading role of June. She immediately feels like a genuine teenager whose evolving mental & emotional state while unraveling the mystery about her mother helps invest the viewer in her struggle. When put next to her incredible, single-episode performance as Riley in HBO’s incredible adaptation The Last of Us, Reid had a great year showing some range as an actor. While her chops certainly carried the film, I was pleasantly surprised by Joaquin de Almeida’s performance as Javier. Playing a Colombia gig worker who becomes an unexpected sidekick in June’s investigation, de Almeida initially put me on edge because I found him a little suspect and (potentially) untrustworthy. However, he successfully kept me guessing in his first couple of scenes before ultimately proving his worth as both a capable investigator & source of emotional support to June despite being a total stranger. With her mom missing, June’s changing dynamic with Javier makes for a strong core relationship of the narrative that I was entirely taken by. If you’ve seen Searching, you’ve pretty much seen Missing. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t also watch Missing. Despite essentially telling the same story with flipped roles, it’s a thoroughly entertaining mystery thriller that doubles down on the screen gimmick to tremendous results. And if Searching or Run didn’t solidify my interest in Aneesh Chaganty and Sev Ohanian as a storytelling/filmmaking duo, then Missing easily did. All I can say to them is: KEEP MAKING THESE MOVIES! 😊 Air Despite having only directed a handful of movies in the last quarter-century or so, Ben Affleck has a fairly strong filmography to his name (having not seen Live by Night, I can’t say I’ve seen him make a bad movie). And while many film fans seem to remain committed to arguing that his Best Picture winner Argo (which I did thoroughly enjoy) is still his best movie, I think he outdid himself this year with Air. As someone who cares not one iota for watching or knowing sports but quite enjoys many sports movies, I think Air is one of the best modern examples of the genre. Even though it’s not a traditional sports movie (which makes it all the better). For the uninitiated, Air tells the story of the incredibly lucrative 1984 business deal between Nike and then-up-and-coming basketball star Michael Jordan. The deal itself was spearheaded by Nike’s talent scout Sonny Vaccaro (Matt Damon) and backed by its co-founder and then-CEO Phil Knight (Affleck), the former being taken with Jordan’s potential & raw talent to the point that he successfully convinced the latter to devote the company’s entire basketball division’s budget to courting Jordan to be their spokesperson. The film also spotlights the work of Nike’s lead shoe designer Peter Moore (Matthew Maher) in conceiving of the “Air Jordan”—a shoe worthy of Jordan’s talent—and the lengths that Vaccaro and Nike had to go to assure Jordan’s mother Deloris (Viola Davis). I’m pretty stunned that Amazon Studios delivered my favorite movie of the year for two years straight (Ron Howard’s Thirteen Lives being my top film of 2022 which YOU MUST WATCH if you haven’t; it did not get near the amount of love last year that it deserved). I never would’ve guessed that Jeff Bezos’ company that began as an online bookstore would emerge decades later as one of the leading film studios in terms of consistent quality (and not just in movies; the success of The Boys is evidence enough of that). Perhaps the most impressive thing about Air is that it’s essentially a dramatized Nike commercial/full-throated love letter to Michael Jordan. In the hands of another, less skilled filmmaker, it easily could’ve felt like that. However, Affleck does an incredible job (along with screenwriter Alex Convery) of injecting just the right amount of engaging drama & inspirational pathos into the movie’s narrative to overcome any kind of perceivable pap. Which, in my humble opinion, makes the achievement of this film all the more impressive. Of course, much of its success (aside from the team behind the camera) is thanks to the strong cast. Beyond just the solid supporting performers, from Marlon Wayans and Jason Bateman to Chris Tucker, our three leads do an incredible job of focusing the story of Jordan’s emerging partnership with Nike on the affirmation of mutual respect between people. Part of that is unquestionably due to Damon and Affleck’s worthwhile chemistry. The former’s more curmudgeon and grounded, yet quietly hopeful, take on Sonny Vaccaro does wonders playing off of the latter’s ever-so-slightly zany personality as Phil Knight (a dynamic that Ridley Scott tried, but somewhat failed, to capture in his film The Last Duel from two years ago). On top of that, their passion for securing the deal with Jordan—equal in measure (if not always evident in Knight’s reluctant business instincts)—keeps the viewer invested in both their “love-hate” relationship & the progress of Nike’s deal with Jordan. While it’s great watching Damon and Affleck play off of each other on screen, Viola Davis undeniably steals the show from both of them. I can’t imagine it being controversial for me to assert that she’s one of the best actors living today given her incredible turns in films like Tate Taylor’s The Help and Gina Prince-Bythewood’s The Woman King (not to mention her Oscar-winning role in Denzel Washington’s Fences). Surely, her role as Deloris Jordan in this movie is quite different from those others in terms of time, place, and narrative context (she isn’t lopping off leads in 19th-century Africa or confronting verbal & emotional abuse as a housekeeper in the Jim Crow South). However, she effortlessly brings a strength, grace, & tenacious spirit to Deloris whose protective motherly instincts and unyielding pride & belief in her talented son shine through within minutes of her appearing on screen. Furthermore, her presence in the latter half of the movie helps spice up the cast of (mostly) male corporate suits (albeit some with strong personalities). Ultimately, Air was clearly a labor of love for Affleck as well as his cast & crew. Fortunately, that love produced a great movie that manages a very tricky proposition of balancing real-life events about a business deal with drawing the audience’s interest & focus to a cinematic version of those events. I can’t stress enough to sports movie fans, lovers of sports history, and just cinephiles generally that Air is one of the best movies of the year. Even if it doesn’t get recognized with a Best Picture nomination at the Oscars next year, it certainly deserves it. Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. By the time the credits rolled on The Edge of Seventeen, I knew that I was utterly enamored by the filmmaking of writer-director Kelly Fremon Craig. In teaming with old-school director and producer James L. Brooks (Terms of Endearment, As Good as It Gets), she crafted one of the best coming-of-age movies of the 21st century (and, arguably, one of the best in the genre. Period.). Thus, when I heard that her sophomore feature would adapt the 1970 novel “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.” by the acclaimed novelist Judy Blume for the big screen, it instantly became one of my most anticipated films of this year. As expected, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. did not disappoint. In telling a story set in about Margaret Simon (Abby Ryder Fortson) wrestling with puberty, relationships, and religion, Fremon Craig beautifully captures the universality of growing up without generalizing or minimizing the utter specificity of a girl becoming a young woman. As a writer, she effortlessly humanizes all of her characters (not just the three leads) by leaning into & highlighting their flaws without villainizing or demonizing them. As a director, she seamlessly brings the audience into Margaret’s interpersonal world (on top of the homey, idyllic atmosphere of mid-20th century suburbia) by relying on the talent of her actors to drive a character-focused narrative with ease. While Fremon Craig’s attention to detail and solid director of her cast make the film very good, it’s the performances of the cast themselves that (in my humble opinion) makes it great. Starting with our lead performer, who is a somewhat unknown (despite excellently playing Scott Lang’s adorable & charming daughter Cassie in the first two Ant-Man films). Abby Ryder Fortson is an utter delight as Margaret. She develops her acting chops by showing more emotional range with Margaret being put in several uncomfortable situations (some more embarrassing, while others more unnerving). Furthermore, her ability to draw the audience into Margaret’s journey through the early stages of puberty demonstrates how effective her creative choices are as an actor. Beyond the immediate empathy that she evokes as a young person figuring out her identity (an experience we all go through at that point in our lives), Fortson gives a solid performance as the lead alongside the likes of an Oscar nominee and an Oscar winner. Which brings me to the other two shining stars of this movie’s cast. To hopefully nobody’s surprise, both Rachel McAdams and Kathy Bates kill it in their respective roles. The former plays Margaret’s sweet and sensitive yet tough mother Barbara who is constantly there for her daughter while being on her own emotional journey facing her past & her strained relationship with her fundamentalist Christian parents. Simply put, McAdams gives one of her most mature & amazing performances to date. By showing restraint in how Barbara expresses her inner turmoil to Margaret (particularly in the dinner table scene), McAdams exemplifies how much she knows this character. It also works as a refreshing contrast from Fortson’s material that’s immersed in the melodrama of adolescence. The least (and, somehow, most) surprisingly pleasant performance comes from Kathy Bates as Margaret’s grandmother and Barbara’s mother-in-law Sylvia. In this role, Bates presents the nuances of generational relationships in how tough she can be on Barbara and her son Herb (Benny Safdie) despite her incredible love & protective instinct for Margaret. And she performs this duality incredibly well. Even when she becomes a bit of an antagonist in the film’s third act, Bates never lets the character come off as a straight-up villain. Instead, she elevates Fremon Craig’s dialogue for Sylvia by portraying this lonely older woman as an understandably flawed person whose motives for her actions are relatable & human. She also has some of the funniest lines & line deliveries in the whole movie, which is just the cherry on top. If you happened to sleep on this film, either because you didn’t know about it or felt turned off by the seemingly exclusive premise, please give it a shot. Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. is another solid film from Kelly Fremon Craig that only cements my love for her sensibilities as an artist. Without a doubt in my mind, she’s up there with Greta Gerwig, Marielle Heller, and Gina Prince-Bythewood as a relatively young & new female filmmaker to look out for. I’ll certainly be watching whatever she makes next, and you should, too (after seeing this movie, of course)! Joy Ride Adele Lim, an accomplished television producer, screenwriter, & editor of Malaysian descent, has only recently made a name for herself in film. By co-writing Jon M. Chu’s Crazy Rich Asians and the underrated Disney animated flick Raya and the Last Dragon, Lim cemented herself as an emerging talent in Hollywood. Thus, it was only a matter of time until she directed her own film. Coming out early this July to strong reception but ultimately being overshadowed by “Barbenheimer,” Joy Ride is a comedy flick that deserves more attention than it received this year. Instead of writing her directorial debut herself, Lim developed the story with frequent writers on Seth Macfarlane’s shows (Family Guy, American Dad!, and The Orville) Cherry Chevapravatdumrong and Teresa Hsiao. Together, these three women succeeded at their mission of making a film starring Asian-American women who are “messy and thirsty, but have so much heart.” With their screenplay, they deliver a breezy triumph of raunchy comedy that puts cultural representation at its center without letting the story’s heart or celebration of female friendship distract from the many laughs they invoke in the audience. And there are many. With a solid screenplay to work off of, the film’s four leads work wonders to humanize their characters while also making them the butt of dozens of jokes over the course of the runtime. To begin with the two best friends that are the focus of the story: the ambitious lawyer Audrey (Ashley Park) and the aimless freeloader yet passionate artist Lolo (Sherry Cola). As the evolution of their relationship makes up the heart & soul of Joy Ride, these actresses play off of one another incredibly well in both the comedic & more dramatic moments. In moments, both of them are unlikeable (albeit for different reasons). However, their coming to understand & accept each other despite starting to grow apart works well enough as the emotional climax of the third act. Furthermore, I appreciated Cola not overplaying her rivalry with one of the other lead characters to the point of it feeling cartoonish. The more overt sources of comedy are Audrey’s college roommate Kat (Stephanie Hsu), an aspiring actress who’s trying to overcome her highly promiscuous past, and Lolo’s socially awkward cousin “Deadeye” (Sabrina Wu), who just wants some real friends. Coming off of her Oscar-nominated performance in last year’s Best Picture winner Everything Everywhere All at Once, Hsu demonstrates a greater range here by playing into her comedic timing to great effect (particularly as her life starts falling apart). Wu, on the other hand, deftly maximizes their screen time with some superb line delivery & strong instinct for physical comedy (particularly during the K-pop music video sequence). This is especially impressive given the fact that Wu hasn’t really acted before. Simply put, Joy Ride is frickin’ hilarious! It doesn’t overstay its welcome thanks to great pacing & plenty of even greater jokes that occur often. On top of that, the cast is quite charming as they elevate the screenplay to make it thematically universal despite the cultural specificity that exists on the narrative’s surface. Like the next film I’m going to discuss, this movie is proof that comedies can still work with modern audiences if they’re well-written & have something to say. Needless to say, if you’re in the mood for a really fun, raunchy comedy whose message enhances its jokes (as opposed to detracting from them), check out Joy Ride. You’ll likely have a coke-infused blast!! 😉 Barbie Due to how big of an impact that it had on cinema & pop culture this year, I couldn’t write this blog and not address at least one half of the “Barbenheimer” phenomenon. And while I commend the ambitious endeavor that was Oppenheimer (particularly Jennifer Lame’s well-paced editing & the awards-worthy performances from Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey, Jr.), I simply enjoyed Barbie more. Which surprised me considering my cautious optimism for it going in. Despite loving Lady Bird, Greta Gerwig’s solo directorial debut, I wasn’t as taken with Little Women as many others were. Thus, I sat down in the theater for Barbie hoping to like it but being prepared to be disappointed. Fortunately, the opposite happened. Not only did I thoroughly enjoy my first viewing, but I liked Barbie even more the second time around. As not only the director but also the co-writer of this film, Gerwig delivers an incredibly entertaining romp that (in my humble opinion) proves comedies are by no means dead if they can transcend the constraints of being “just a comedy” & having something to say…while also still making you laugh a ton. 😊 Without question, Barbie doesn’t work without the insanely talented cast bringing life, humor, and humanity to the screenplay (which Gerwig co-wrote with her partner & fellow filmmaker, Noah Baumbach). And our two leads couldn’t have been cast better. First, our titular Barbie played by Margot Robbie (who also produced the film). She is pitch-perfect in front of the camera, which isn’t at all surprising considering her stellar performances in films like I, Tonya and Babylon. She embraces the character’s stereotypical, surface-level plasticity in the first half of the narrative (both physically & emotionally). However, the amount of nuance she brings to many of her facial expressions, much of her body language, & most of her dialogue reflects a meticulously prepped & crafted performance that effectively feeds into the themes of Gerwig and Baumbach’s script. The way she plays Barbie’s journey to discovering her own humanity could’ve easily played as cheesy or overly sentimental, but in Robbie’s capable hands the arc for the character is compelling for the entire film. And while Robbie is great in the lead, I do think that Ryan Gosling kind of steals the film from her (my rewatch only reinforced this belief). As the primary Ken, he goes all-in on the “himbo” archetype from the get-go which ensures the dichotomous relationship between him and Robbie’s Barbie works the whole movie. Perhaps this was more surprising given my association with Gosling’s career being more driven by dramatic & serious roles in films like Drive and Blade Runner 2049. However, by playing into some more of his well-timed comedic tendencies that he’s exhibited in past roles (from The Big Short to The Nice Guys) & dialing them up to eleven, Gosling delivers not only one of the best performances of cinema this year. He has secured his place in the Academy Award conversation (and may very well win his first Oscar after two nominations). We’ll just have to wait & see, but I think he will deserve it if he wins because of how deftly & delicately he balances his innate charm with his character’s off-putting personality while ensuring that Ken’s arc to starting his journey of becoming a better person feels earned & genuine. Fortunately, both Robbie and Gosling are propped up by an impeccably talented supporting cast who do very well maximizing their screen time without ever overshadowing the two lead characters. While many of them deserve the spotlight, I want to focus on a few of them that resonated with me above the rest. Of all the Kens, I think Simu Liu is easily the standout as the direct rival to Gosling’s Ken. Their interplay early in the film perfectly sets up the ultimate showdown on the beach in the third act (while amazingly intermixed with the “I’m Just Ken” musical number). Regarding the Barbies, I found Kate McKinnon’s take on Weird Barbie exceptionally fun (particularly her introduction in the first act). Luckily, this film is not filled only with Barbies and Kens to entertain. Michael Cera perfectly delivers as Allan (Ken’s friend) by doing what only he can do best: be a pale, awkward (both in sound & action) “normie” who unexpectedly (but hilariously) kicks ass when needed most. Without a doubt, the best human character is Gloria thanks to a relatable & empathetic performance from America Ferrera. Of course, everyone who’s seen Barbie knows the moment that she shines most is delivering her climactic monologue in which she lays out the mind-bending paradox at the heart of the female experience. Despite being a passable plot device to propel the film into its resolution where the Barbies take power back from the Kens, Ferrera’s incredibly believable performance keeps Gerwig and Baumbach’s on-the-nose lines from feeling unearned or overly distracting. And, while never once seen on screen, Helen Mirren deserves some praise for her fitting narration & laugh-inducing delivery of some of the movie’s best lines (specifically, calling out using Margot Robbie to comment on unrealistic beauty standards for women). While the whole cast is fantastic, the unsung hero of Barbie is the technical craft on display. In particular, the way that Oscar-nominated cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto (who’s collaborated multiple times with filmmakers such as Martin Scorsese and Alejandro Gonzáles Iñárritu) shoots the breathtaking sets. The amount of detail in the production design, combined with Prieto’s camerawork, perfectly immerses the audience in Barbieland right away. In addition, Gerwig’s reliance on practical sets as well as old-school special & visual effects (rather than relying on CGI, which she easily could’ve done) demonstrates the amount of care & creativity that went into this production. Simply put, Barbie deserves to be the highest-grossing film of the year. It’s a very well-crafted piece of crowd-pleasing cinema with something on its mind that doesn’t let its message obstruct or deter from the entertainment value of its story. By allowing the actors to fully embrace the more eccentric absurdities of the screenplay while ensuring that they can carry the more dramatic & emotional scenes, Greta Gerwig has proven to me that she’s a filmmaker worth following for years to come. Besides, the film also taught me that…I AM KENOUGH!! 😊 Godzilla Minus One As this year came to a close, none of the Hollywood blockbusters releasing in December enticed me enough to head to the theater one last time. Meanwhile, I kept hearing such immense praise befall the newest Godzilla movie from Japanese studio Toho. Thus, I took a chance & went to go see Godzilla Minus One at my local movie theater. Fortunately, it was well worth my time & money by not only being one of the best monster movies I’ve ever seen but also surpassing so many big-budget American movies coming out these days. For many reasons, Minus One surpasses all of Legendary’s “MonsterVerse” movies for several reasons. One big reason for this is the fact that its writer-director Takashi Yamazaki prioritizes investing the audience in the human characters’ stories & relationships. As such, when its titular kaiju does appear in all his glory I felt appropriately terrified for the fate of the people. As much as I enjoy films like Godzilla vs. Kong, I rarely care about the people in those movies out of a desire to just see the monsters fight. In the case of Minus One, it was the opposite. I was very much invested in the interpersonal journey of our lead character—traumatized pilot & veteran Kōichi Shikishima (Ryunosuke Kamiki)—and the inner circle of friends & family he assembles over the course of the immediate years following World War II. I simply cannot express the same sentiment for any of the human characters in any other kaiju (or kaiju-adjacent) flick that I’ve seen. Admittedly, I haven’t seen the overwhelming majority of Toho’s Godzilla movies. In fact, aside from Legendary’s version of the nuclear monster, I’ve only seen Ishirō Honda’s original Godzilla flick from 1954 and this year’s Minus One. With that in mind (and the fact that I don’t like Honda’s movie all that much), I found Yamazaki’s subtle nods to the movie that kicked off this 69-year franchise fitting & fun. Whether it was the design of the monster echoing back to the “man-in-the-suit” look of the older movies or the stinging musical cue that was utilized to punctuate the onset of Godzilla’s destructive antics, I liked those little nods to honor a well-regarded & culturally significant film franchise that’s been around for so long. Another cherry on top of the goodness that is Minus One is how it maximizes its budget to deliver some great visual & special effects. Not only does Godzilla himself look very convincing ninety-five percent of the time that he’s onscreen. The creative ways that Yamazaki & his creative team shoot the various set pieces (notably the sea battle & the attack on Ginza in the second act) are shining examples of how to capture entertaining action that should serve as a model for big-budget Hollywood action movies going forward. Ultimately, the heart of why this movie is good is its story & themes. Which utterly shocked me about it when I left the theater a few weeks back. BUT IT’S TRUE!! Minus One is an emotional rollercoaster ride that uses action & special effects to enhance its narrative instead of the other way around. Furthermore, its exploration of overcoming trauma & survivor’s guilt by finding purpose along with a strong support system is such universal groundwork for a great story despite being set at a very specific time in Japanese history. In other words, this story could be told in several different times, places, and cultures & be just as good because of how resonant & relevant it is to the human experience in general. Please trust me when I say that Godzilla Minus One is worth going to see in theaters. If you’re a big fan of Toho’s Godzilla movies, it offers a “back-to-basics” take on kaiju storytelling without forgetting what makes this kind of film great. And if you’re a general moviegoer without any history of watching monster movies, it tells a compelling & emotional story with some interesting, relatable characters and great action sequences. Somehow, it works for pretty much everyone which (in my humble opinion) to just how good of a movie it truly is. So, those are my thoughts on some of my favorite films of 2023. Of course, there are plenty of other movies that came out this year that are worth checking out: Alexander Payne’s The Holdovers, Gerard Johnstone’s M3GAN, Nick Bruno & Troy Quane’s Nimona, Raine Allen-Miller’s Rye Lane, George C. Wolfe’s Rustin, and Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer. Just to name a few. 😉 For my thoughts on some other 2023 films, click on any of the titles below:
What are some of your favorite films from this year? What movies are you most excited to come out next year? What opinions of mine do you find absolutely ridiculous? Let me know in the comments below. Until next time, this has been… Yours Truly, Amateur Analyst
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Darren Aronofsky is perhaps the epitome of divisive filmmaking. From his antitheist commentaries Noah and Mother! to his latest film, the Brendan Fraser vehicle The Whale, Aronofsky does not make crowd-pleasing movies with mass appeal. And while I don’t love all of his movies, I greatly appreciate his auteur sensibilities for one reason and one reason alone: he gave us The Wrestler.
Released fifteen years ago today, the film stars Mickey Rourke as middle-aged, washed-up professional wrestler Randy “The Ram” Robinson who struggles to relive his glory days in the ring due to his failing health while also attempting to reconnect with his estranged daughter (Evan Rachel Wood) and kindle a romance with local stripper “Cassidy” whose actual name is Pam (Marisa Tomei). Not only is The Wrestler my favorite Aronofsky flick, but it’s easily one of the best sports movies ever made & one of my favorite films of the 21st century. Why? I guess you’ll have to keep reading to find out… 😉 [NOTE: This blog contains spoilers for “The Wrestler.” You have been warned.] The Good For a character-driven drama film, The Wrestler has an exceptional lead cast. Of the three main actors, Wood’s performance is certainly memorable despite her minimal screentime compared to the other two. Having most recently played a fantastical version of Madonna in Eric Appel’s satirical biopic Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, comparing these two roles demonstrates the range she has. Going from exploring the emotionally complex dynamic between a neglectful father & his resentful daughter to embodying the toxic end of a romance between music sensations makes for some solid goalposts for what Wood can do as a performer. And she doesn’t disappoint in this movie. As Randy’s daughter Stephanie who’s written him off due to countless mistakes he’s committed in the past, Wood brings an edge & coldness to the character without falling into the (unfortunately) too-common narrative trap of coming off as wholly unlikeable. By the time we meet her in The Wrestler, we’ve seen enough of Randy’s self-destructive & selfish behavior that accepting him as a failed parent who missed out on much of his daughter’s coming-of-age is pretty believable. Thus, Stephanie is instantly sympathetic in spite of her somewhat aggressive personality. Easily her best scene is when she finally warms up to Randy again as they spend the day together on the boardwalk in New Jersey. We get to see a taste of what a healthy version of their relationship could’ve been and it’s ultimately bittersweet. Unfortunately, Randy (due to problems in another aspect of his life) messes it up again by missing a dinner date. And then Wood brings some of the most authentic grief & rage on display in the entire movie. As she explicitly states, she’s not even mad at her father anymore as she prefers to simply move on with her life without him in it ever again. At a critical point in Randy’s story, one of the only people that could give him solace & comfort in his middle age writes him off completely. Thus, the stage is set for his ultimate downfall (or ascendence, depending on your interpretation of the ending). Yet, I never once felt like Stephanie was too hard on Randy or mercilessly unforgiving. Her responses to his actions were consistently justified & relatable, which is mostly thanks to Wood’s solid performance. The other person to credit for this story, as with how any movie starts, is the screenwriter. Robert Siegel, who directed his own screenplay Big Fan & wrote the Ray Kroc biopic The Founder (both after The Wrestler), laid a great foundation for this film. In his exceptional characterization, Siegel never fails to make the viewer believe in how these people act towards one another nor in the decisions they make. Furthermore, his minimalist dialogue gives the actors what they need to ground the film in a suitable kind of human depth & emotion that keeps the story engagingly nuanced. Simply put, like any film, it goes nowhere without some good writing. And Siegel’s writing for The Wrestler is damn good. The Great While Evan Rachel Wood does a very good job, it’s our two leads that make The Wrestler what it is. And one side of that equation is the vivacious & effortlessly talented Marisa Tomei. An Oscar-winning actress for My Cousin Vinny, she received her third nomination for her role in this film which is more than deserved. Her portrayal of Pam, or “Cassidy” when on the clock at the strip club that Randy frequently patronizes, serves as a lovely foil to Mickey Rourke’s titular character. They are quite similar in that they’re stuck in dead-end jobs that worked for a time but they’ve both hit a point in their lives that they want something more. The difference, however, is that Pam actually commits to getting a worthwhile future (namely for her son) while Randy can’t overcome his flaws to get the same thing with his daughter. Consequently, his journey is tragic because he remains trapped in the same circular motion of trying to recapture his past wrestling fame & damns the fallout for anyone that he cares about (including Pam). Even when Pam comes to the climactic match to profess her love for Randy, he rejects her because the superficial admiration he gets in the ring is more important to him. None of this love story works without Tomei’s graceful, honest, and respectful performance that injects so much humanity into her character. Particularly given the fact that female strippers in movies & television can too often be objectified, stereotyped, and/or bereft of any emotional nuance, her ability to break that mold by fully leaning into Siegel’s writing & her own talents more than proves that she earned her Oscar nomination. Of course, the artistic conductor of this cinematic train is the director who keeps the film on track (😊) with a specific & effective creative vision. In that respect, Darren Aronofsky does some of his best filmmaking to date. He brings Siegel’s grounded character to life with a tactful combination of the talents of his cast & crew. From the intimate cinematography (which I’ll elaborate on later) & immersive location shooting to the efficient editing & delicate guidance of his performers, Aronofsky’s merits as a filmmaker cannot be doubted no matter what you think of his other, more controversial movies. Even if you hate Mother! or Requiem for a Dream, his work on The Wrestler is masterful. And while his talents are on display from start to finish, I found the boldness of his approach to the ending one of the best creative choices of the whole film. It reminded me very much of Damien Chazelle’s Whiplash, my second-favorite movie of all time, because it similarly refuses to provide the audience with moral closure. In other words, Aronofsky never judges Randy’s actions to the point of either wholly agreeing or condemning him. Instead, he lets the viewer decide whether his midlife crisis ultimately culminates in a tragic, existential loneliness or a profoundly empowering commitment to what one loves in life. Of course, the cherry on top of this fantastic ending is the original Bruce Springsteen song that we get during the end credits. Sharing its name with the movie, “The Wrestler” is a hauntingly beautiful elegy that (depending on how you interpret the ending) either laments or celebrates the significance of Randy’s life. By extension, it has something to say about what it truly means to live for what makes you happy in all its complications & crossroads. Undeniably, The Wrestler would not be the movie it is without Aronofsky’s unique & inspired hand on it. While some may think that’s for the worse, I clearly think it’s for the better. The Groundbreaking The obvious standout performance in this movie is Mickey Rourke, which is a bit ironic considering he was supposedly reluctant to accept the part at first. However, The Wrestler simply wouldn’t be what it is with someone else in the lead role (including Nicholas Cage, who was in the running at one point). Not only did Rourke bring his own experience as a professional boxer to portray the character impeccably, but Aronofsky also let him rewrite all of his dialogue to make a dying star of an athlete more realistic. With how much Randy is dragged down by indulgences (from alcohol to cheap, meaningless sex), Rourke brings a grace to this character that not every actor could’ve pulled off so well. The soul of “The Ram” is one inhibited by his own flaws making him go around in a circle of self-destruction. And Rourke’s tough exterior adds a fitting layer of enticing yet raw sentimentality to Randy’s character that ensures he remains the heart & soul of The Wrestler the whole way through. Undoubtedly, he’s one of the (if not THE) best lead character in any of Aronofsky’s films (although Nataline Portman in Black Swan might give him a run for his money). As such, he's one of the groundbreaking elements of the film. The unsung hero of The Wrestler, however, is the cinematography by Maryse Alberti. A French native and New York urbanite, Alberti’s filmography is primarily centered on documentaries & independent narrative flicks. Her “cinéma verité” approach does wonders for this movie. Specifically, her breezy use of closed frames superbly captures Randy’s emotional turmoil feeling boxed into his life whenever outside the ring. Furthermore, her intimate & excessive tracking shots keep the audience constantly engaged in the minutiae of Randy’s day-to-day existence by ensuring that we follow every detail of his steps through life without crossing the line into parody or pretension. As such, Alberti’s work on this movie unquestionably remains one of its most signature & memorable components. Even if you’re not a die-hard cinephile or knowledgeable about Mise-en-scéne, you simply cannot watch The Wrestler & not feel the harsh, gritty, and unforgiveable visual style that would make the film feel incomplete without it. Conclusion Need I say more? The Wrestler is, in my humble opinion, a champion of the sports genre with terrific performances & technically brilliant work going on behind the camera. From top to bottom, it remains an impressive feat of filmmaking and is more than worth 100 minutes of your time if you have yet to ingratiate yourself to its mesmerizing spell of dramatic realism & deft clairvoyance about the ups and downs of the human experience. What do you like or dislike about Darren Aronofsky’s masterful drama The Wrestler? Do you hold it in as high regard as I do? What opinions of mine do you find absolutely ridiculous? Let me know in the comments below. Until next time, this has been… Yours Truly, Amateur Analyst |
Austin McManusI have no academic or professional background in film production or criticism; I simply love watching and talking about movies. Archives
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