Good Movie Season™
The best films of the year are bold, maximalist and sometimes crude.
Earlier this week, I went to my first Hollywood party in years. It wasn’t a glitzy, red carpet affair or some bacchanal at a house in the hills, but rather a much more enjoyable affair: a festive reunion with former coworkers from the world of movie marketing.
Somehow, four years have passed since I worked with this team. Being reunited with them felt so comfortable, as if tomorrow I could find myself back at my studio lot cubicle decorated with Cher tweets and other digital bon mots, realizing that the past years in London have all been a very convincing, surreal dream. And I do miss the Hollywood shoptalk—debates on how a rival studio’s movie is tracking, rumors of which actors are not cooperating on set, whispers of how a certain film hadn’t scored the nominations that were hoped for.
Now, I see movies in a different way: as a layperson. I go to the cinema, watch the film, and think about what I liked (or, these days, more often didn’t like). Especially this time of year, when we’re overindulged with some proper good films after stagnant months of mediocre releases. My take on this year’s season? The standard fare feels too safe. This year’s best films are bold, maximalist and sometimes crude.
Here are some more thoughts, if you’re so inclined :
AFTERSUN
A knockout, quiet father/daughter drama. Unpretentious and moving, with a stand-out pair of performances. One of the year’s best.
THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN
Certainly great performances here, but I’m somewhat surprised to see this near the top of a lot of best-of lists. I thought the premise was great, but for me, the story fell into a slightly tedious spiral of trying to one-up itself, leading to a resolution that felt forced. On the other hand, it really made me want a donkey.
BONES AND ALL
I loved this cannibal road trip love story, but I by no means would tell everyone to see it. It’s divisive, grisly, uncomfortable, horrific… and yet, I also found it tender and deeply stirring. One of the film’s final shots is still burned into my mind.
DECISION TO LEAVE
I’m guilty of going into this Korean neo-noir with extremely high expectations. It’s not bad in any sense of the term, but it doesn’t come close to the heights of Park Chan-Wook’s previous film, THE HANDMAIDEN—which I think is one of the great films of the last decade. I found DECISION TO LEAVE slightly disjointed: its first half works better than the second. That said, Tang Wei gives one of the best performances of the year.
LIVING
A very pleasant film! Not particularly groundbreaking territory, but it’s still a treat to get a script from Kazuo Ishiguro.
MATILDA THE MUSICAL
Such a delight! Preserves the earnest magic of the Royal Shakespeare Company musical and gives it that big-screen treatment to great effect. Still waiting for Hollywood to catch onto the fact that Lashana Lynch is an outstanding, versatile and scene-stealing actress (see also THE WOMAN KING, below).
THE MENU
See TRIANGLE OF SADNESS instead! (Although the always-great Hong Chau has an iconic reading of the line “It’s a tortilla.”)
SHE SAID
I have a soft spot for the investigative journalism sub-genre. SHE SAID sits nicely next to films like SPOTLIGHT. But this is a tough film from a story perspective: we know the narrative beats, and we know where the film is going to end—unlike SPOTLIGHT, where most of us knew the headline but not as much of the context. With the rise of #MeToo still such a recent moment, I wonder if this film would’ve benefited from more hindsight. Nonetheless, a great showcase of acting talent, especially Carey Mulligan.
TRIANGLE OF SADNESS
This crude yacht journey-gone-wrong is one of my favorite films of the year. It’s a crude, boisterous, absurdist BELOW DECK & LOST cross-over episode. More than other 1% satire films of late (see: The Menu), amid the laughs, Triangle of Sadness is smart enough to play with complicity and the many layers of social power. Dolly De Leon for Best Supporting Actress, please.
THE WOMAN KING
This action-drama set in the West African kingdom of Dahomey is the kind of studio movie I’d love to see Hollywood make more of. Yes, there’s undoubtedly some convenient glossing over of historical realities… but this is the Hollywood treatment of the Agojie, and it’s done to engrossing and enjoyable effect. Also: this film is Exhibit B in my argument that Lashana Lynch deserves to be a A-List star.
…AND I CAN’T WAIT TO SEE…
CORSAGE — which is very up my alley, but also has had a superb marketing campaign.
WOMEN TALKING — which I’ve heard nothing but great things about.
and, most of all, TÁR — which I’m fully ready to become my new obsession.
… but I must remain patient as these films have yet to release in the UK!!!
AND, YES, I’LL EVENTUALLY GET AROUND TO WATCHING…
THE FABELMANS — I’m guilty of unfairly projecting my lingering disappointment in Spielberg’s WEST SIDE STORY onto his latest film.
RRR — it’s long, so it’s on my Christmas watch list!
THE WHALE… although, sight-unseen, I’m not very inclined to see it after reading the always-excellent Roxane Gay’s New York Times op-ed on the film.
INELIGIBLE FOR CONSIDERATION:
I’m sorry, but nothing will make me want to sit through 3+ hours of AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER (even Kate Winslet!) now that the Greta Gerwig BARBIE trailer is online.
BUT, AT THE END OF THE DAY…
Has anything in this year’s Good Movie Season been more moving, inventive, and full of love for cinema than EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE? I think not.
