We live in a peculiar, in-between era, in which movie studios and other content creation concerns have yet to figure out exactly how things will shake down for them in the new world order of ubiquitous streaming platforms.
As ever, Hollywood is throwing money at things and peering through their fingers to see if any of it still works like it used to before the covid year. To that end, this summer promises to be an acid-test, as it were, of different cinematic options, from the superhero epic ("The Flash"), and the action-tentpole ("Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning, Part 1"), to the return of the raunchy comedy ("No Hard Feelings").
Whether any of this works is anyone's guess -- though things are decidedly not looking good for "The Flash" at least, so far -- and I can well understand why Hollywood is quaking in its collective designer boots at the prospect of not luring all those movie audiences back to the cineplex.
Still, the state of cinema at large, even in these confusing, off-kilter times, remains eternally viable. In the past six months, there have been a myriad of powerful releases (albeit less so from the big studios), the best of which propel the art form forward, as they prove, over and over again, the potency of the form. Here are the 10 best films I have seen so far in 2023. Many of these will be seen again in my final list at the end of the year, but who knows what will come next?
10 "You Hurt My Feelings": While not quite as deeply rewarding as Nicole Holofcener's previous film with Julia Louis-Dreyfus ("Enough Said" from 2013), this one still packs an agreeable punch, stripping down a long-term marriage to the studs in order to show how a couple can survive over the years. Turns out, yeah, "communication" is pretty key -- no breaking news on that one -- but, also, genuine empathy. Slyly funny, and told in Holofcener's elliptical story-telling style, it's actually greater than the sum of its subtle parts.
"You Hurt My Feelings" is now available to rent or buy OnDemand.
9 "Infinity Pool": The bloodied apple doesn't appear to have fallen far from the many-tentacled tree in Brandon Cronenberg's freak-out fantasia involving a very wealthy couple (Alexander Skarsgård and Cleopatra Coleman), who run afoul of the, shall we say, punishingly unforgiving legal system on the small, fictional resort island upon which they are vacationing. Filled with body-horror, bloody eruptions, and a scene in which Skarsgård, on a dog leash, does battle with a copy of himself, the film offers effective, shredding, satire.
"Infinity Pool" is now available to rent or buy OnDemand.
8 "The Blackening": Not since the original "Scream" has a meta-filled horror comedy struck with such gleeful fury against the conventions of the genre. Tim Story's sendup of the persistent racist tropes of horror flicks (the film's brilliant tagline: "We Can't All Die First") involves a group of black friends from college, who agree to meet up at a particularly creepy Airbnb, somewhere in the woods, where they encounter an insanely racist gameroom, and a super-creepy white dude in a pickaninny mask, who makes sport of trying to hunt them down. Clever and riotously funny, it's also a movie theater showcase, making the case for watching such films with a large audience shrieking along with you.
"The Blackening" is currently in theaters.
7 "Showing Up": Kelly Reichardt doesn't ever work in definitive primary colors -- everything is in shades and abstruse tints -- but her work remains all the more richly satisfying for it. Michelle Williams plays Lizzy, a sculptress from a family of artists, about to open a new gallery show in downtown Portland. As Lizzy goes about her own work, she's beset with the various distractions and detritus of her daily existence -- everything from the continued lack of hot water in her apartment, to the care of her cat. There's nothing at all romantic about her life, but the art persists anyway, a testament to her resolve.
"Showing Up" is now available to rent or buy OnDemand.
6 "Radical": A fact-based drama from Kenyan director Christopher Zalla, about a schoolteacher in Mexico, played by the wonderful Eugenio Derbez, who returns to his poor, dangerous Cartel-dominated town in order to try a new method of teaching children involving their self-empowerment that proves hugely successful. It speaks to the idea of teaching, to be certain, but also the way we can all learn from the simple act of taking our ego out of a given equation. The film might be what's traditionally called "heartwarming," but it more than earns it.
"Radical" is tentatively scheduled to have a theatrical release on Oct. 30.
5 "Sanctuary": A classic two-hander -- under covid-19 rules, no less, largely set in a single hotel suite -- that somehow still manages to surprise and delight you with its snappy patter. This is largely due to the engaging intricacies of Micah Bloomberg's taut script, about the meeting of a young, very wealthy heir to a fortune, and the extremely high-end dominatrix that he routinely hires, but also the jumping-jack charisma of its two leads, Margaret Qualley and Christopher Abbott. Within this fast-paced frame we have enough sneaks, feints, reveals and realizations to keep us moving without ever noticing the ticking clock.
"Sanctuary" is now available to rent or buy OnDemand. It's streaming for free on Pluto.
4 "Past Lives": The Sundance sensation from first-time director Celine Song operates on a different frequency from most narrative dramas. There aren't exactly peaks and valleys, so much as rolling hills, dotted with small pockets of deep forest. Essentially, the film concerns a pair of former South Korean schoolmates (Grace Lee and Teo Yoo) and crushes, who meet up again first 12 years later (virtually), and then again a dozen years after that. It's a simple enough concept, but Song isn't crafting a goofy rom-com. Instead, it's an even-tempered meditation on the nature of fate (the Korean concept of in-yun), and, more appreciably, perspective.
"Past Lives" is currently in theaters.
3 "Beau Is Afraid": No one can accuse Ari Aster of not going hard enough with his latest film, a sort of contemporary odyssey that follows its hapless hero (Joaquin Phoenix), as he attempts to visit his enormously wealthy mother from his murderverse apartment in a city hellscape. Divided into three pieces (the first soaked in the darkest comedy ink; the middle, a free-form fantasia; and the third, a final appraisal and condemnation), Aster's film reveals the artist's naked psyche at its most perplexingly verdant.
"Beau Is Afraid" is now available to rent or buy OnDemand.
2 "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse": Such a welcome return to the multiplex it was that at times when I was watching this fantastically creative and energizing animated film from directors Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers and Justin K. Thompson, I couldn't help but break out in a wide, dog-with-his-head-out-the-passenger window sort of grin. A sequel every bit as good -- and, artistically, even more outlandishly wonderful -- as its celebrated predecessor. For fans of animation -- if not of comics in particular -- it's pure delight.
"Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" is currently in theaters.
1 "Skinamarink": There is no better experience for a film lover than to randomly happen to catch a movie you know nothing about, and have it be extraordinary. Kyle Edward Ball's incredibly affecting film manages to turn the fact of its limited budget, like other horror opuses such as "The Blair Witch Project" and "Paranormal Activity" before it, and turn it into a feature rather than a limitation. Through the inventive use of camera angles, and copious amounts of atmospheric dread, Ball captures the feeling of being young, helpless, and scared out of your mind. There might not be a better technical achievement this cinematic year.
"Skinamarink" is now streaming on Shudder and AMC+.
Sculptor Lizzy (Michelle Williams) prepares for a fast-approaching exhibit in Kelly Reichardts "Showing Up."
There are around 630 iterations of the Spider-Man character in the multiverse-spanning "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. "