Halfway Mark Pt 2: Fav Films & Craft Achievements (Thus Far)
Tuesday, July 11, 2023 at 6:00PM by Nathaniel R
The Best of 2023 Thus Far: Spider-Verse, Of An Age, Are You There God?, Past Lives, Joyland, and Asteroid City
Somehow it's mid July so it's time to survey the first half of the cinematic year. We worry for Hollywood given the writer's strike and the possibilities of a tepid fall/winter slate (the big titles people are most looking forward to are this very month -- Barbie and Oppenheimer). But regardless we take stock every year at this time, no matter what the future might hold. The following list honors only films released between January 1st and June 30th, 2023. It's our way of insuring we keep track of early favourites so that we don't fall victim to the dread recency bias that generally makes awards-giving bodies look forgetful and lazy. The followlng lists are all in alpha order as its too soon for preferential ballots. Obviously we'd love to hear your own 'thus far' ballots in the comments. (We'll do the acting honors tomorrow).
Okay here we go...
PICTURE
- Air (Ben Affleck, US) Warner Bros, April 5
Not as good as the hype suggests, but very solid popcorn entertainment nonetheless. - Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. (Kelly Fremon Craig, US) Lionsgate, April 28th
This long-time coming adaptation does right by the classic YA source material. - Asteroid City (Wes Anderson, US) Focus Features, June 23rd
A stylish comedy with guffaw-worthy sight gags, expertly deadpan performances, and absurdly nested structural curiousities. - Joyland (Saim Saddiq, Pakistan) Oscilloscope, April 7th
Saddiq is a natural born filmmaker and this trans stunner from Pakistan is an amazing calling card. May his career be long and glorious. - Of An Age (Goran Stolevski, Australia) Focus Features, February 10th
A smartly concise and stirring gay awakening drama. - Other People's Children (Rebecca Zlotowski, France) April 21st
An insightful character drama starring the ever-watchable Belgian goddess Virginia Efira. If only Hollywood made movies like this. We have so many great actresses that deserve rich opportunities like this to shine.
PAST LIVES
- Past Lives (Celine Song, US/South Korea) June 2nd
A multifaceted drama with a slyly perfect opening gambit. Yes, what is their story? Do tell. I was personally late to Past Lives, but what an achievement from debuting writer/director Celine Song. So difficult to shake. It's like a veritable pandora's box of meaning and feelings. Please run to see it if you haven't yet! - Spider-Man Across the Spider-Verse (Dos Santos, Powers, Thompson, US) Sony/Columbia, June 2nd
Mainstream thrills rarely get more inventive than this. The cliffhanger ending prevents it from being a masterpiece of its medium/genre but still...Wow. - A Thousand and One (AV Rockwell, US) Focus Features, March 31st
A superbly acted family drama about a mother and son on the margins of society. - To Catch a Killer (Damian Szifron, US) Vertical, April 21st
With a primarily VOD release it didn't get much attention but it's an involving well executed entry in the (yes, overpopulated) serial killer genre from the director of Argentinian classic Wild Tales.
How many of these will stick around until the year end top ten list? That depends on the quality of the back half of the year. The best among these, and thus the likeliest to survive the upcoming prestige slate fo year end kudos are Asteroid City, Joyland, Of an Age, Past Lives, and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse...
Watchlist: We're all on different timetables with movies and which we happen to get to. But the six theatrical releases I really meant to see but haven't yet (for varying reasons) are the dance drama Carmen, the closet lesbian drama Blue Jean, the Danish Icelandic Godland, the indie The Starling Girl, the Italian film The Eight Mountains, Kelly Reichardt's Showing Up, and Nicole Holofcener's You Hurt My Feelings. Other films theatrically released in 2023 that I might still see but haven't gotten around to: Beau is Afraid, The Flash, Hidden Blade, L'Immensita, John Wick Chapter Four, Knock at the Cabin, M3gan, Revoir Paris, and Ruby Gilman Teenage Kraken. Which of those would you prioritize if you were me?
DIRECTOR
JOYLAND
- Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K Thompson, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
- Wes Anderson, Asteroid City
- Saim Saddiq, Joyland
- Celine Song, Past Lives
- Goran Stolevski, Of An Age
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
OF AN AGE
- Asteroid City - Wes Anderson
- Joyland - by Saim Saddiq
- Of An Age - by Goran Stolevski
- Other People's Children - by Rebecca Zlotowski
- Past Lives - by Celine Song
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
ARE YOU THERE GOD? IT'S ME, MARGARET.
- Are You There God, It's Me Margaret? -Kelly Fremon Craig
- Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves - Jonathan Goldstein, John Francis Daley, Chris McKay, and Michael Gillo
- Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse - Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, Dave Callaham
Yes Are You There God, It's Me Margaret is worth your time. Should have been a much bigger hit, and a must-see for parents to take their pre-teens to.
CINEMATOGRAPHY
A THOUSAND AND ONE
- Asteroid City - Robert Yeoman
- The Blue Caftan - Virginie Surdej
- Joyland -Joe Saade
- Of An Age - Matthew Chuang
- A Thousand and One - Eric Yue
Apart from Yeoman these are all newish DPs but so gifted. Big careers to follow if the Cinema Gods are kind and paying attention.
COSTUME DESIGN
RENFIELD
- Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. - Ann Roth
- Asteroid City - Milena Canonero
- Boston Strangler - Arjun Bhasin
- Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves - Amanda Monk
- Renfield - Lisa Lovaas
Still obsessing over Nicholas Hoult's sherbet sweater in Renfield and the way it contrasts with all the Dracula gothic finery tropes. Comedy costuming gets no respect, but it should!
PRODUCTION DESIGN
SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE
- 65 - Kevin Ishioka
- Asteroid City -Adam Stockhausen
- Renfield- Alec Hamond
- Punch - Iain Aitken
- Spider-Man Across the Spider-Verse - Patrick O'Keefe
FILM EDITING
ASTEROID CITY
- Asteroid City - Barney Pilling
- Joyland - Saim Sadiq and Jasmin Tenucci
- Past Lives - Keith Fraase
- To Catch a Killer - Damian Szifron
- Taylor Mac's 24-Decade History of Popular Music - Brian Johnson
MAKEUP AND HAIR
DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: HONOR AMONG THIEVES
- Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. - Therese Ducey, Kim Greene
- Asteroid City -Julie Dartnell, Ann Fenton, Claire Matthews
- Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves - John Blake, Alessandro Bertolazzi, Teresa Hill, Ryo Murakawa, Jennifer Mullins, Marta Roggero
- Of An Age - Marie Princi
- Renfield - Christien Tinsley, Daniel Crawley
Of an Age is here because it's one of the most convincing cinematic time jumps ever with only subtle hair and makeup changes to age the actors. The others are more obvious showy choices.
VISUAL EFFECTS
ELEMENTAL
So many big budget Hollywood movies have messy effects these days but these three were smart beauties in that department.
ORIGINAL SCORE
65
- 65 - Chris Bacon and Danny Elfman
- Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. - Hans Zimmer
- Dungeons & Dragons- Lorne Balfe
- Elemental - Thomas Newman
- To Catch a Killer - Carter Burwell
ADAPTED SCORE
AIR
- Air - various artists
- Asteroid City - Alexandre Desplat, Jarvis Cocker, and various artists
- Chevalier - Kris Bowers, Michael Abels, and various artists
- Other People's Children - Robin Coudert, Gael Rakotondrabe, and various artists
- Tetris - Lorne Balfe and various artists
SOUND
TO CATCH A KILLER
ORIGINAL SONG
THE LITTLE MERMAID
- "Dear Alien (Who Art in Heaven)" in Asteroid City
- "You Can't Wake Up if You Don't Fall Asleep" in Asteroid City
- "Steal the Show" in Elemental
- "For the First Time" in The Little Mermaid
- "Wild Uncharted Waters" in The Little Mermaid
Disclaimer: It's difficult to know which movie songs are "originals" unless it's very very obvious in promotion. So perhaps we missed a great new track somewhere. We hope we did because this group is pretty weak!
MUSICAL SCENE
NO HARD FEELINGS
- Asteroid City - "Dear Alien (Who Art In Heaven)"
- The Little Mermaid - "Kiss the Girl"
- No Hard Feelings - "Maneater"
- Punch (final scene)
- Taylor Mac's 24-Decade History of Popular Music (any scene)
We haven't talked about No Hard Feelings but we had a great time in the theater and the "Maneater" scene was top-tier in the way that good comedies can sometimes sideswipe you with smart dramatic beats while still being funny.
ACTION SEQUENCE
SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE
- Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves - Finale vs the Red Wizard
- Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny - parade
- Renfield - Ambush
- Spider-Man Across the Spider-Verse - Spot Battle, Round Two
- Spider-Man Across the Spider-Verse - Spider Society Chase
Honestly this could have been five entries from Spider-Verse but we're trying to be respectful to other movies!
KISS
CHEVALIER
- Chevalier - rehearsal
- Elemental -not so incompatible
- Infinity Pool - danger
- Joyland -starry bedroom
- Other People's Children -subway entrance
SEX SCENE
WILL-O-THE-WISP
- Infinity Pool - hallucinogens
- Magic Mike's Last Dance - lapdance foreplay
- Of An Age - backseat consummation
- Other People's Children - confessing love
- Will-o'-the-Wisp - forest 69
OPENING SCENE
- Chevalier - violin duel
- Past Lives - what's their story?
- To Catch a Killer - sniper attack
ENDING
CREDIT SEQUENCE / TITLE DESIGN
- Asteroid City - bold, flat, memorable
- Dungeons & Dragons -illustrated pop-up book
- Infinity Pool - multiples
- Spider-Man Across the Spider-Verse - never stops visually innovating
- Tetris - video game 8 bit
OTHER MEMORABLE INDIVIDUAL SCENES
ASTEROID CITY
- The Alien's Visit - Asteroid City
- Window Flirtation - Asteroid City
- Adopting a Puppy - No Hard Feelings
- Gwen's Backstory - Spider-Man Across the Spider-Verse
- Mall Massacre - To Catch a Killer
What have been your favourite movies from the first half of the year?
Reader Comments (12)
I think you'd love LAW OF TEHRAN (world premiered in 2019 as JUST 6.5), which got a small release earlier this year. Payman Maadi and Navid Mohammadzade are just terrific in it
YES to No Hard Feelings in Musical Moment. Honestly, that whole scene works not just because of Andrew Feldmen's vocals (which are pretty as all get out), but also JLaw's facial expression. Had me going "Yes, Jennifer! Show us this more often!"
The Blue Caftan should be in a lot more categories. Sick of Myself should also be in a lot of categories and be the outright winner for Makeup. Tori and Lokita, and Palm Trees and Power Lines also impressed me very much.
What should you prioritize? I still think about Eight Mountains and Showing Up A LOT - I'd love to know your take. And I think Beau Is Afraid is essential - if only for the Patti LuPone of it all.
You're right on about Past Lives. It's difficult to shake. I think about the framing of that last big scene all the time.
I'm curious what you'll think of Carmen (saw it over the weekend)... I really liked it, but think it's for a very specific type of viewer, though I do think Paul Mescal and Melissa Barrera make for a magnetic leads and it's always a treat to see Rossy de Palma in anything...
Beau is Afraid has a rather punishing runtime and a lot of very unpleasant scenes, but it's movie that needs to be seen at least once (I personally liked it quite a bit more than Midsommar, though not quite as much as Hereditary).
You must see BEAU IS AFRAID because it has some truly ingenious scenes (and some of the most clever production design you will see all year). Also: Patti LuPone, Nathan Lane, and Parker Posey who WILL make your lineup for best limited performance!
I recommend seeing Blackberry, which provides an interesting contrast to Air in that it doesn't sentimentalize the (much more significant) product it chronicles or the corporate culture that brought it to market. It's also just a much better made film in the same genre.
Air would have been so much more interesting if it centered around Viola Davis's character.
I loved ScarJo's Hitchcockian wardrobe. She reprises her Janet Leigh most of the time (blue shirt, high black skirt) but the best moment is the black and white sentence in which Canonero recreates that gray ensemble of Madeleine in Vertigo.
I doubt she will, but I hope Scarlett Johansson’s remembered at the end of the year for Asteroid City. She makes an absolute meal of what she’s given to work with, fills the (beautifully) stilted and shallow Anderson world with depth and humanity. The whole thing works because of her.
The films on your wishlist (the ones I have seen)
If I would put them in TOP list, then it would look like this (from the best):
1. The Eight Mountains (in my TOP20 in 2022)
2. Revoir Paris (in my TOP10 in 2023 so far)
Btw, hese 2 were far better then the others on this list!
But the next 5 had their moments or good roles or something else to still give them a go:
3. John Wick Chapter Four
4. You Hurt My Feelings
5. Godland
6. The Starling Girl
7. M3gan
Next ones unfortunately I suggest to pass (at least they were not for me at all):
8. The Flash
9. Knock at the Cabin
10. L'Immensita
11. Carmen
12. Beau is Afraid
Kris - i so appreciate the suggestions/comment!
DK -- i couldn't agree more. what a movie star.
Jules -- agreed on AIR's focus! Matt Damon was the dullest part of it, if only because it was so expected and corporate serving. would have been more challenging/interesting from Deloris' angle.
I feel like I haven’t seen many movies this season. I had no interest in some of the big budget movies, and I wasn’t fast enough to catch some of the others (like “Showing Up”).
I did like:
Past Lives
John Wick 4
Sisu
Master Gardener
If there’s a category called “action sequence”, John Wick 4 has to be there.