The Last Duel
rating: *****
review: You can tell how lousy critical standards have gotten when a movie that would've been universally acclaimed twenty years ago, been hailed as innovative, and boasted career-defining performances is instead derided, ignored, shunned. This is a masterpiece. Besides Matt Damon and Adam Driver you've got Jodie Comer in a career-making role as each of their perspectives is tracked, separately, until the truth (Comer's) closes out Ridley Scott's spectacle (no one has come remotely close to matching him in terms of consistent achievement in historic epics).
The French Dispatch
rating: *****
review: Wes Anderson's most laconic film is basically a glorified anthology, in which he's clearly indulging himself. Another great film that in any other era would've been celebrated as such. This is what you get when the pandemic is still happening and streaming services are hogging all the attention. No perspective.
The Courier
rating: ****
review: My biggest surprise discovery of the year would've been standard acclaim material in any other era: Benedict Cumberbatch in a spotlight as he suffers the depravities at the height of the Cold War. If I hadn't randomly decided to watch it in the theater early in the year, I probably would never have known it happened at all.
The Green Knight
rating: ****
review: David Lowery has been one of the premier artistic directors of the modern era, but it somehow took for this for the mainstream to notice, and even then it wasn't hailed as the huge achievement it really is. A classic retelling of a classic tale.
No Time to Die
rating: ****
review: The second and only other time critics actually liked Daniel Craig as Bond (Skyfall, basically a desperate attempt to justify Judi Dench in the franchise) is basically also the only time I didn't. The audacity of No Time is that it dares to complete the story, which Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace had originally suggested was this version of the character's hallmark. This, then, is the first time the story has an ending, that James Bond has an actual arc. It's the Dark Knight Rises of 007. It's a new wrinkle in the mythology.
Boss Level
rating: ****
review: Qualifying as one of the miracles of the pandemic was the actual release of the much-delayed Boss Level from Joe Carnahan, which was the first of a one-two punch from him for the year. A classic example of the time loop genre.
Snake Eyes
rating: ****
review: If not quite The Dark Knight, this is probably the closest we're liable to see anytime soon to G.I. Joe being taken seriously as a cinematic property. Another unfairly dismissed film from the year.
Die in a Gunfight
rating: ****
review: What I'd like to consider an easy candidate for cult status, a retelling of Romeo & Juliet that also recasts the gang film genre into something more artistically ambitious.
Last Night in Soho
rating: ****
review: A spellbinding time travel experience that combines the unique charms of Edgar Wright and Abya Taylor-Joy.
Settlers
rating: ****
review: For my purposes I include only cinematic releases. I'm not sure this was, but I don't really care, as it's worth the exception. A fine space western centering around a young girl struggling to survive terrible circumstances. Worth considering for cult status for anyone who bothers to seek it out.
Needle in a Timestack
rating: ****
review: Another genre spectacle, this time from John Ridley, involving more time travel hijinks in innovative ways, someone changing the timeline trying to find their perfect reality, and finding poignant results.
Judas and the Black Messiah
rating: ****
review: Explosive drama featuring a standout lead performance from Daniel Kaluuya that would have been instantly iconic in any other...
The Mauritanian
rating: ****
review: The trilogy of great historic dramas concludes with this look at Guantanamo Bay. Add Tahar Rahim to the list of those robbed of their just acclaim from the year.
Free Guy
rating: ****
review: This was basically Ryan Reynolds' audition for the Disney version of Deadpool. A very rare original blockbuster idea for the modern era.
Belfast
rating: ****
review: Kenneth Branagh has been successfully navigating an era in which his kind of career shouldn't still exist, so he got to make a personal film along the way, a throwback to the kinds of movies they were doing back in the '90s.
Dune
rating: ****
review: Denis Villeneuve has stepped away from his solo auteur status to embrace his unique role as a successful director of auteur blockbuster adaptations. An incredible ensemble of acting talent came along for the ride in this first installment.
Pig
rating: ****
review: The very rare exception to the modern rule that you probably won't personally be interested in Nicolas Cage's further career if you liked him in his earlier stages when he was doing serious material.
Zola
rating: ****
review: I found Taylour Paige to be exceptionally magnetic in this small-scale drama based on a series of tweets.
Copshop
rating: ****
review: If you loved Robert Rodriguez's early films you'll probably enjoy this second Joe Carnahan romp from the year. Both are also excellent showcases for Frank Grillo, by the way.
Sing 2
rating: ****
review: I came for U2, but it was actually Coldplay that stole the movie for me. Also some typical but enjoyable animated material around the music.
Death of a Telemarketer
rating: ***
review: Silly and yet enjoyable. Haley Joel Osment pulls in a supporting role! He looks like a teddy bear these days. Put a few more years on him and I think he can use that for a career revival.
Chaos Walking
rating: ***
review: Spider-Man and Rey help each other survive a weird planet. I think this was interesting.
Venom: Let There Be Carnage
rating: ***
review: Maybe if they make enough of these they'll just let Tom Hardy exist on his own wacky terms with his goop doppelganger.
Old
rating: ***
review: M. Night Shyamalan rediscovering his classic footing. A minor but welcome addition to his filmography.
Every Breath You Take
rating: ***
review: A nice actors' drama revolving around Casey Affleck, Michelle Monaghan, and Sam Claflin.
The Little Things
rating: ***
review: Denzel Washington, Jared Leto, and Rami Malik in another throwback to the '90s. Well worth watching these guys work alone.
House of Gucci
rating: ***
review: Come for a much more odd Leto turn in a supporting role, stay for Adam Driver and Ridley Scott in a second, minor triumph to bracket the year together. Marvel that Lady Gaga doesn't seem as wildly out of place as she did, when not singing, in A Star Is Born.
King Richard
rating: ***
review: Destined to be known as the movie that led to the Oscars moment, this is also Will Smith's latest attempt to be taken seriously as an actor. He got the Oscar to show for it. But he kind of blew the moment anyway.
Our Friend
rating: ***
review: Affleck again, this time with Jason Segal, whose star potential is once again lost in a year that saw no point in paying attention to cinematic releases.
Space Jam: A New Legacy
rating: ***
review: If anything, this gimmick-infused belated sequel knew even better how to be frivolously enjoyable than the first one.
City of Lies
rating: ***
review: Well, it was still mandatory to shun Johnny Depp at this point, so there was no way anyone would admit this Biggie Smalls movie was worth anything.
F9
rating: ***
review: Very surprisingly for me, since I kind of got over John Cena and his shameless mugging years ago, but I think he proved a worthwhile addition to the series.
The Matrix Resurrections
rating: ***
review: I love the original trilogy, all of it. This is a worthy and clever coda.
Spider-Man: No Way Home
rating: ***
review: Basically this whole era of Spider-Man only exists because the MCU was looking for a boost of interest. Otherwise it's really had no clue how to justify itself. This incredibly gimmicky third entry finds it in shamelessly bringing back characters and actors from the prior two. But it works.
In the Heights
rating: ***
review: No one has a better grasp of smug self-satisfaction as Lin-Manuel Miranda these days. The storytelling is decent. He needs to work on writing actual songs. He's capable. He just doesn't want to.
A Quiet Place Part II
rating: ***
review: I still haven't seen the first place. Presented no discernable problem to enjoying this one.
Mortal Kombat
rating: ***
review: A fine pivot into a more serious direction for the franchise.
Profile
rating: ***
review: Far more movies than you'd think believe the gimmick of presenting themselves solely from the lens of social media exist. This one's worth watching. It revolves around the horrors of terrorists recruiting unwitting victims. This one is using herself as bait.
Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard
rating: ***
review: Both of these films are enjoyable throwbacks with excellent casts.
Voyagers
rating: ***
review: I'm not overly fond of material that actively seeks to make its audience uncomfortable, and so that's the weakness of this one (it costars Colin Farrell, although he's dispatched relatively early) about teenagers stumbling over themselves to survive a long journey in space.
Black Widow
rating: ***
review: The much-much belated solo film from one of the characters who debuted earliest in the MCU is fairly standard material for the franchise(s).
Nomadland
rating: ***
review: Periodically the Oscars insult the demographic it otherwise abhors by lavishing praise on movies that star Frances McDormand.
Wrath of Man
rating: ***
review: I wasn't really into Guy Ritchie earlier in his career, but I am now, and this was a fine way to help segue to what I consider 2023 being a career year.
Naked Singularity
rating: ***
review: I'll be honest; I really just need to watch this one again. Mind-bending spotlight for John Boyega.
Reminiscence
rating: ***
review: Between this and The Fountain, Hugh Jackman seeks to corner the market in sleepy high concept dramas. But it's nice to see him in something, anyway. Always likeable.
State Like Sleep
rating: ***
review: I actually liked this one starring Katherine Waterston.
Lansky
rating: ***
review: A fine minor mob movie featuring Harvey Keitel and Sam Worthington.
Spiral
rating: ***
review: To get me interested in the Saw franchise again, you really do need an infusion of Chris Rock.
The Virtuoso
rating: ***
review: A nice spotlight for recent Star Trek renaissance actor Anson Mount. His narration as the start of the movie is itself worth watching to experience. I guess I just like his voice.
Ghostbusters: Afterlife
rating: **
review: Really, even before the climax proves to be an exact copy of the original, I wasn't as wowed as I expected to be by this.
The Suicide Squad
rating: **
review: I'm hoping James Gunn isn't as enamored with his weirder tendencies with his further DC duties than he allowed himself to be with this one.
Till Death
rating: **
review: Proof that Megan Fox is still hot even if she's handcuffed to a corpse. So there's that. Really not that bad. Just not much compared to other movies.
Those Who Wish Me Dead
rating: **
review: There's really nothing wrong with this Angelina Jolie vehicle, either. Just needed more, I guess.
Godzilla vs. Kong
rating: **
review: I actually haven't seen the whole thing, but from what I did see it seemed much more interested in continuing one of the two monster movies series than both. But it's both anyway.
Midnight in the Switchgrass
rating: **
review: The latter-day Bruce Willis has now been explained, so we all understand what's happened to the quality of his acting and career. I caught this one since it was filmed and had its premiere here in Tampa, and has an interesting title. Will watch again at some point to see if it's worth anything.
Lady of the Manor
rating: **
review: For years now critics have been trying to convince me that Melanie Lynskey is worth more than the character of Rose in Two and a Half Men. I think this movie officially convinced me otherwise.
Crisis
rating: **
review: An excellent cast. Not the firebrand it otherwise wishes it were.
Licorice Pizza
rating: *
review: I'm just not a fan of Paul Thomas Anderson, I guess. I find him needlessly indulgent. This particular version of his work stars the son of Philip Seymour Hoffman, who is no Philip Seymour Hoffman, but Paul Thomas Anderson will indulge his belief that he is anyway.
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