Halfway Mark Pt 2: Fav Films & Craft Achievements (Thus Far)

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...

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Did you see 'The Dial of Destiny' or pass?

By Nathaniel R

The box office prelude to a mid-week Fourth of July (today) rested on Indiana Jones's 5th outing but he didn't truly deliver in The Dial of Destiny, a sequel that few people outside of Hollywood's money-obsessed board rooms  were asking for. Hollywood is discovering that it can't live on franchises alone. Problem is that's become Hollywood's ONLY strategy and all they've been investing in for some time now. Unfortunately for those of us who love the cinematic experience audience  increasingly lukewarm or chilly response to the big franchises isn't really morphinng into interest pointed at other moviegoing options. Hollywood has been training people to only care about franchises for years and now that they've "won", we're all losing!

Weekend Box Office (estimates? actuals? it's always a little fuzzy around holidays) June 30th - July 2nd  🔺 = new or expanding /  ★ = Recommended
WIDE (Over 800 Screens)	LIMITED / PLATFORM
INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY	EVERY BODY
1 🔺 INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY $60.3 *NEW* 4600 screens	1 🔺 EVERY BODY [doc] $150k *NEW* 255 screens

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Weekend Box Office: Spider-Verse Superiority

By Ben MIller

To absolutely no one's surprise, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse won the box office weekend.  The sheer amount of money the film made might have been a bit surprising.  With $120+ million, Spider-Verse had the second biggest opening weekend of 2023, only behind The Super Mario Bros. Movie.  What's even more impressive is the improvement over its predecessor.  Into the Spider-Verse only made $190 million its entire domestic run.  This sequel should easily surpass that number.

Weekend Box Office (actuals) June 2nd-4th 🔺 = new or expanding /  ★ = Recommended
WIDE (Over 800 Screens)	LIMITED / PLATFORM
SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE	PAST LIVES
1 🔺★ SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE $120.6 *NEW* 4,313 screens	1 🔺 ★ PAST LIVES $232k *NEW* 4 screens

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Abe’s Sundance Jury of One

We will have a few more Sundance reviews from Jason and Nathaniel who attended the festival virtually. Abe Friedtanzer was there in person so here's his wrap-up - Editor

Eve Hewson and Joseph Gordon-Levitt in Flora and SonIt was great to be back in-person at the Sundance Film Festival for the first time since 2020, when future Oscar-winning films Promising Young Woman, Minari, and The Father all made their debuts. It was also my first real taste of winter since the start of the pandemic, and it was quite chilly! But I had a wonderful time and there’s something very unique about this festival. I saw 33 films while in Park City, plus a few more online. I didn’t manage any days of five movies but averaged three or four. It was also a nice surprise to see two of the best films on the last two days. A few of these have distribution already, and if that’s the case, it’s noted. My favorites are after the jump...

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