What Was The Last Movie You Watched?

[Frankie S]

Realise I’m a bit late to the party to post my 2023 movie highlights, but here goes anyway.

I began 2023 intending to post monthly updates of all the films I’d seen, with rankings and short reviews, but as the year wore on, my work commitments were such that there were months when I saw almost nothing, and even then, I didn’t have time to write or post reviews of the few films I’d seen.

Rather than try to catch up with the backlog, I’ll just post a list of the top 50 films that I saw in 2023, noting the platform, the medium, or the location.

I watched a total of 79 films in 2023, probably a record low (and a pathetic effort compared to 115 films in 2022, 149 films in 2021 and 171 films in 2020), 16 of them in cinemas.

These are my favourite 50 films that I watched in 2023.

1-La Haine (Matthieu Kassovitz, 1995) Criterion blu-ray

2-Beasts (Rodrigo Sorogoyen, 2022) Amazon Prime 

3-Cure (Kiroshi Kurosawa, 1997) Criterion blu-ray 

4-Beau is Afraid (Ari Aster, 2023) Vue Cinema, Ocean Terminal, Edinburgh

5-Nightcrawler (Dan Gilroy, 2014) Netflix 

6-Tár (Todd Field, 2022) Vue Cinema, Ocean Terminal, Edinburgh 

7-Metropolis (Fritz Lang, 1927) with live orchestral accompaniment - Kino Babylon, Berlin 

8-Watcher (Chloe Okuno, 2022) Amazon Prime 

9-Only the Animals (Dominik Moll, 2019) Mubi 

10-Holy Spider (Ali Abassi, 2023) Mubi 

11-Performance (Donald Cammell, Nicolas Roeg, 1970) Amazon Prime 

12-Gaslight (George Cukor, 1944) Criterion Channel 

13-Boom for Real: The Late Teenage Years of Jean-Michel Basquiat (Sara Driver, 2017) Mubi 

14-The Banshees of Inisherin (Martin McDonagh, 2022) Disney+ 

15-Beast (Michael Pearce, 2017) Amazon Prime 

16-Pacification (Albert Serra, 2022) Mubi

17-My Architect: A Son’s Journey (Nathaniel Kahn, 2003) Criterion Channel 

18-Bait (Mark Jenkin, 2019) Amazon Prime 

19-Chameleon Street (Wendell B. Harris) Criterion Channel

20-Beyond Time (Alex Turnbull & Pete Stern, 2012) Vimeo 

21-Flesh and Fantasy (Julien Duvivier, 1943) VSL blu-ray 

22-Enys Men (Mark Jenkin, 2022) + Q&A with director - GFT, Glasgow 

23-Aftersun (Charlotte Wells, 2022) Mubi 

24-To Leslie (Michael Morris, 2022) Amazon Prime 

25-Loving Highsmith (Eva Vitija, 2022) Criterion Channel 

26-In the Court of the Crimson King (Toby Amies, 2022) Amazon Prime 

27-Huesera: The Bone Woman (Michelle Garza Cervera, 2022) Shudder via Amazon Prime 

28-The Tenant (Roman Polanski, 1976) Amazon Prime 

29-Caveat (Damian McCarthy, 2020) Shudder via Amazon Prime 

30-Dead Reckoning (John Cromwell, 1947) Indicator blu-ray 

31-The Black Cat (Edgar G. Ulmer, 1934) Criterion Channel 

32-The Shout (Jerzy Skolimowski, 1978) Criterion Channel 

33-Let’s Scare Jessica to Death (John D. Hancock, 1971) Amazon Prime 

34-Holiday (Isabella Eklöf, 2018) Amazon Prime 

35-Penny Slinger: Out of the Shadows (Richard Kovitch, 2017) Amazon Prime 

36-Fallen Angel (Otto Preminger, 1945) Criterion Channel 

37-Infinity Pool (Brandon Cronenberg, 2023) Vue Cinema, Ocean Terminal, Edinburgh 

38-The Daytrippers (Greg Mottola, 1996) Criterion Channel 

39-Godzilla Minus One (Takashi Yamazaki, 2023) Vue Cinema Ocean Terminal, Edinburgh 

40-Spider-Man: Across the Spiderverse (Joaquim Dos Santos & Kemp Powers, 2023) Vue Cinema, Ocean Terminal, Edinburgh

41-Antiviral (Brandon Cronenberg, 2012) Amazon Prime 

42-Suddenly (Lewis Allen, 1954) YouTube 

43-Les félins (Rene Clement, 1964) YouTube 

44-Resurrection (Andrew Semans, 2022) Amazon Prime 

45-Daughters of Darkness (Harry Kamel, 1971) Criterion Channel 

46-Coup de Torchon (Bertrand Tavernier, 1981) Criterion Channel 

47-Triangle of Sadness (Ruben Östlund, 2022) Amazon Prime 

48-The Dark Corner (Henry Hathaway, 1946) Criterion Channel 

49-Man Hunt (Fritz Lang, 1941) Criterion Channel 

50-Messiah of Evil (Willard Huyck, 1973) Shudder via Amazon Prime 

Edited January 28 by Frankie S

[Flybhoy]

No Hard Feelings. 

 

Jennifer Lawrence is actually a pretty decent comedy actress, first time I've really noticed her in this type of role and she pulls it off quite well. 

Some of the jokes are a bit forced and predictable but some of the one liners and ad libs from the supporting cast are decent in fairness. 

Also J-Law is insanely smoking hot throughout, the phrase 'Till it fell off' springs to mind. 

[RuMoore]

When I was a teenager I used to love watching classic movies and critically acllaimed stuff, used to pride myself with expanding my list however over the years I've basically stopped watching movies. Always annoying because I've got loads I wanna watch but lack the commitment/attention span, the idea of a 3 hour film usually puts me off but then I'll spend the same time happily watching a series or shite on YouTube.

For a long time I've wanted to regain my love of films and cinema and this year I'm proud of myself as I've seen Napoloean in the cinema and watched, Barbie, The Truman Show and Joker for the first time. Probably more new films than the last 2 years combined. It's like when you cba to go for a run and then when you do it feels class after. Patting myself on the back as I type. 

Just finished the Joker and thought it was so good. Terrific acting performance. 

If I stay consistent I've got the Northman, Wolf of Wall Street, Asteroid City and All Quiet on the Western Front lined up also contemplating seeing Argyle in the cinema. 

Edited January 29 by RuMoore

[CraigFowler]

7 - Nimona

Watched this based solely on MSU's recommendation above as I hadn't heard the title before - though when I started watching the story sounded a little familiar so I must've heard it reviewed on Kermode and Mayo and forgot about it. Like MSU, I thought this was great. I would actually disagree slightly about the predictability part. Yes, there were bits that I expected to happen, but it didn't follow the typical structure you find in this kind of story and that kept me on my toes throughout the runtime. So I thought that was actually a strength of the film. Although, I would have preferred if the very final scene would either have not been there or left a little more ambiguous, which would've made for a better ending IMO. That and it not being quite as consistently funny for my tastes as I would've liked stopped this from being a 10/10 for me, but I still very much enjoyed watching it and would recommend it to anyone seeking this type of family-friendly-but-adults-should-enjoy-too film.

[Arch Stanton]

The Machinist (2004)

Excellent psychological drama about an insomniac machine operator (Christian Bale).

Bale lost an incredible 63 lbs (28.5 kg) by eating only 1 can of tuna and an apple a day for weeks; a result that shocked director Brad Anderson when Bale turned up for filming. All the more incredible since Bale knew he'd have to bulk up massively since he was shooting "Batman Begins" later the same year. Twice it's commented on that "if you were any thinner you wouldn't exist".

There are loads of clever wee bits of fore-shadowing and callbacks.

Spoiler

(for example, the time of 01:30 appears repeatedly and, bang on 1 hour 30 minutes into the film the big plot twist is revealed)

Perennial baddie Michael Ironside doesn't play a baddie (and he only loses one arm here unlike both in "Total Recall") and there a couple of familiar faces to fans of "The Wire" (Larry Gilliard and Reg E. Cathey).

One last thing, whoever wrote the score was a big fan of Bernard Hermann because it's so Hitchcock-esque.

Edited January 30 by Arch Stanton

[Scorge]

Just been to an unlimited screening of The Iron Claw - I'm not an afficionado of wrestling generally and had less than zero knowledge about the von Erich family before going in, but just like The Wrestler it's a film that should engage just about anyone. Has exactly the right blend of throwing around the ring stuff on one hand, and playing out the (extensive) drama on the other. I really liked it - any of the wrasslin' fans on here should find it a treat.

Edited January 30 by Scorge

[CraigFowler]

8 - Night Swim

This was... fine. Actually, it's quite rubbish but it passed the time and I was never bored. If you're happy enough with the premise going in that it's a swimming pool that kills people then you're going to get exactly what you paid for. I thought the dynamics between the family were quite realistic, especially the son feeling like he's living in the shadow of his famous father, and that father not knowing exactly how to connect with his son because the one thing he's good at his son isn't. Also liked how it asked the audience how far would you be willing to go to chase your dreams, or should you just accept reality. There's also good tension throughout the movie. As soon as someone said "pool party" my heart started beating faster and the dread didn't settle until that scene was done.

On the other hand, I didn't really care enough at the end about whether they made it out alive. Some of the pool spirits are quite creepy but a lot of them looked crap. And that was an issue with the film, it wasn't really that scary. The tension didn't pay off. Also, the ending is weak AF.

[BFTD]

1 hour ago, CraigFowler said:

8 - Night Swim

This was... fine. Actually, it's quite rubbish but it passed the time and I was never bored. If you're happy enough with the premise going in that it's a swimming pool that kills people then you're going to get exactly what you paid for. I thought the dynamics between the family were quite realistic, especially the son feeling like he's living in the shadow of his famous father, and that father not knowing exactly how to connect with his son because the one thing he's good at his son isn't. Also liked how it asked the audience how far would you be willing to go to chase your dreams, or should you just accept reality. There's also good tension throughout the movie. As soon as someone said "pool party" my heart started beating faster and the dread didn't settle until that scene was done.

On the other hand, I didn't really care enough at the end about whether they made it out alive. Some of the pool spirits are quite creepy but a lot of them looked crap. And that was an issue with the film, it wasn't really that scary. The tension didn't pay off. Also, the ending is weak AF.

Can't remember if I mentioned this one on here but, yeah, it's curiously unscary (if that's a word). Even the smattering of jumpscares didn't elicit a flinch from me, and that's involuntary. The ending was a weak version of dozens of other horror films like Mirrors and They.

Still a reasonable enough way to kill 90 minutes (or whatever), but you'd be missing nothing by waiting to see it at home. Quite like Wyatt Russell; has a bit of his dad about him.

[RuMoore]

Scream (1996) - I've watched this lots of times before but not since I wad a teenager, enjoyable as always but by god I don't know how on earth I never noticed all the implausible timing issues however given it's closer to comedy than horror it's clearly not meant to be taken very seriously

-7.5/10

30 Minutes or Less - Watched before once, extremely goofy, quite funny but definitely aimed at a teenage audience. That being side there's something about Danny McBride that has me laughing out loud every time. 

-6.5/10

Asteroid City - First time watching any film from Wes Anderson so wasn't sure what to expect but I've seen people view him as a very creative artsy sort of director, took me a while to settle into the film, the whole stage show element and everyone being hyper literal and meta was quite off putting, the framing was interesting but essentially what I imagined it would be like. I probably missed a lot and may have appreciated it more if I actually understood the wider idea it was going for, I mean I kinda got it and don't want to come across as reductive but it all felt a little bit "dumb guys idea of what a smart film should be" but again I'm probably missing something. Aside from my criticism it was enjoyable and an intriguing watch overall just not quite what I had expected from the trailer. Are all his films made in a similar self aware way?

-7-10

 

[accies1874]

4 minutes ago, RuMoore said:

 

Asteroid City - First time watching any film from Wes Anderson so wasn't sure what to expect but I've seen people view him as a very creative artsy sort of director, took me a while to settle into the film, the whole stage show element and everyone being hyper literal and meta was quite off putting, the framing was interesting but essentially what I imagined it would be like. I probably missed a lot and may have appreciated it more if I actually understood the wider idea it was going for, I mean I kinda got it and don't want to come across as reductive but it all felt a little bit "dumb guys idea of what a smart film should be" but again I'm probably missing something. Aside from my criticism it was enjoyable and an intriguing watch overall just not quite what I had expected from the trailer. Are all his films made in a similar self aware way?

-7-10

 

One of the biggest criticisms of Wes Anderson is that he makes the same film over and over again (which I disagree with) so yeah they're all quite similar to Asteroid City, though they have had a wackier story-within-a-story element lately. 

[RuMoore]

4 minutes ago, accies1874 said:

One of the biggest criticisms of Wes Anderson is that he makes the same film over and over again (which I disagree with) so yeah they're all quite similar to Asteroid City, though they have had a wackier story-within-a-story element lately. 

I can cope with the style and framing etc but if they're all self aware I can't see myself working through the entire catalogue, what would you recommend from him? Are there any that are complete stand outs? 

[accies1874]

6. All of Us Strangers - Cinema

Was gonna hold off on posting this until I was a bit clearer on what I was gonna say, but it's the kind of film that's probably lends itself to a more reactionary take. 

The first time I watched this, I was left with the same feeling of rawness that can be brought about by loss and that feeling stayed with me for the rest of the day, so you've really got to hand it to Andrew Haigh and the gang for creating a film that elicited such a real and specific emotion in me. In a weird way, I'm almost desperate to see it again just to experience those feelings. It's honestly like heroin. The same two scenes got me going on both watches, both in terms of making me think about deaths that have happened irl and those that will happen. It's something I think about pretty much every day - which can have positive and negative effects - so having it brought to the fore by such emotional performances and the intimacy of the camerawork was really quite overwhelming. 

I also felt like it was depicting something that I've been thinking about recently in terms of the allure of the past beyond sheer nostalgia, and I've come to the conclusion that the definitive endpoint of the past (i.e. the present) can be a lot more comforting than the undetermined conclusion to the present. Despite Adam being haunted by his past and specifically mentioning how things are "better now" in relation to homosexuality he still longs for childhood. 

There's a lot of holding on, letting go and letting in too. There's consistent imagery of characters talking through a doorway which gave off a sense of detachment, especially when Adam's talking to his dead parents, but also affection when characters are welcomed through the doors. The mirrors and reflections off windows also reminded me of Past Lives in terms of posing the idea of a different reality going on within the reflection. It actually reminded me of a lot of different films that I like - Charlie Kaufman scripts, in particular - and even the very best of Futurama, but it felt like its own thing alongside those comparisons. 

It does what so many powerful films do and conveys emotions that some might struggle to articulate, so what you're watching is a visual representation of something internalised which is why it resonated with me so much. One of those feelings is obviously loss, but the depiction of loneliness had just a profound effect on me. I believe only one other character outside of the main four (Adam, his parents and his boyfriend Harry) has a spoken role and her only line is something banal like "that's a lot of food" (which then turns into, imo, a quite original yet poignant metaphor) which speaks to how little Adam interacts with the living world. He finds connection in his parents - who he's now older than due to them now essentially being ghosts having died when he was 12 - and in Harry, seemingly the only other tenant in their new highrise block of flats in London. Just by those two descriptions it should be pretty easy to understand how loneliness plays a part in the film. 

I suppose the whole thing is a deep dive into loneliness; how it comes about and how it defines a person. It tells the story of someone who we all walk past every day and don't think anything of, and while I'm still not 100% sure about the meaning of the ending, that's what I took from it. Initially, I found that ending to be a bit of a downer, but on second watch it was more heartening. I think the initial reaction was to do with the understated nature of Adam's development: his parents celebrate him having "got through" life so far and his mum hopes that he becomes "a bit happier" - hardly dramatic character arcs but very relatable. Another contributing factor might have been that it felt like it was building up to an emotional climax which it executed perfectly, but then it still had another big emotional beat to come which was difficult considering I was still processing the previous one. Second time around, that subsequent scene felt very necessary, though the first watch did leave a more lasting effect on me. 

Despite feeling like an incredibly personal film, I do think it's one that you can easily discuss for a while after watching due to the somewhat ambiguous nature of how it all plays out - what is happening, why, how etc. I feel like there's still so much to unpack despite this mega post, which is testament to just how great it is. 

[accies1874]

28 minutes ago, RuMoore said:

I can cope with the style and framing etc but if they're all self aware I can't see myself working through the entire catalogue, what would you recommend from him? Are there any that are complete stand outs? 

Depends who you ask as I think most folk will have their personal favourites, but The Grand Budapest Hotel and Fantastic Mr Fox are mine. I reckon you could ask five other folk on this thread and they'd all give you different answers though. 

[Rodhull]

Saw The Iron Claw tonight and thought overall it was pretty decent. Pretty bleak as I expected given the subject matter.

Was interested on how they would show a lot of the events as I read up a lot about the Von Erich family back in the days I used to watch wrestling and  they condensed a lot of the time involved and the movie ended up feeling a little rushed. I honestly think the subject matter is interesting enough it could have been a decent mini-series for one of the US streamers rather than trying to squeeze it all into two and a bit hours.

[JustOneCornetto]

All of Us Strangers (2023) - GFT

A real emotional rollercoaster which plays out on a metaphysical level. Andrew Scott brilliantly plays Adam who is going through a period of loneliness, depression, grief and self awareness about his sexuality. Difficult to say much more about the plot without giving away spoilers but the performances from the other characters, Jamie Bell and Claire Foy as his parents and Paul Mescal as his mysterious neighbour really do make this such a personal watch as you start to think about your own feelings regarding loss and trying to hold on to the past. Great direction in the way the film is structured and cracking soundtrack with the songs adding to the emotion of the scenes. This is one of those films that you feel going round your head long after and really glad I picked this one as my first cinematic experience of 2024.

[Mark Connolly]

@Loki watched any good films today?

[Loki]

5 hours ago, Mark Connolly said:

@Loki watched any good films today?

I watched Groundhog Day. I forgot how good Bill Murray is in it. Listening to Sonny and Cher and having to meet Ned Ryerson everyday would drive me insane. A very good film, and quite possibly Egon Spengler's best work as a director. 8/10.

[MSU]

More catching up with Oscar-nominated movies this week. That's 25/53 now, and all of the noms for Best Picture done. 

015 20 Days in Mariupol -- I don't know if there's a difference between a documentary and a historical record, so let's call Mstyslav Chernov's film both. Either way, it's an unrelenting and depressing view of the first 20 days of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, detailing the atrocities and war crimes committed against a civilian population just looking to live in peace and quiet. You kinda get the idea after the first twenty minutes, but it doesn't let up. It's bleak and upsetting and a struggle to watch at times, but utterly vital. 8/10

016 Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse -- I don't remember all that much from the first Spider-Verse movie except that there were lots of Spider-Mans in it. There's lots in this too. Maybe too many. The artwork and the animation is very slick and impressive, the soundtrack is perfect, and I enjoyed lots of the clever dialogue but it just seemed to me that there was far too much going on and it took far too long to get going, and when that combined to deliver, after 140 minutes, a cliffhanger ending, it left me pretty frustrated. I really love Miles and Gwen as characters so I hope whenever they get around to finishing this seven-hour story, there's a bit more focus on them, less on all the others, and someone somewhere in whatever universe has figured out how to finish something that they've started. 7/10

017 Rustin -- I didn't know much about Bayard Rustin before this movie, which is extraordinary given his position in the civil rights movement as an out gay man, and the discrimination, hatred and violence he endured to make the March on Washington happen and, eventually, make a change in the world. This biopic of his weeks leading up to the march doesn't quite do the man or the movement justice as it's bogged down in a gloopy mess of exposition for long parts of it, but Colman Domingo's performance is quite incredible nonetheless while still not posing much of a threat in picking up Best Actor at the Oscars. Chris Rock also appears with a bit of salt and pepper and I'm still not sure what I think about that. It's fine, but when the march is over and the clean-up begins, it's hard not to feel the same way about the movie itself. 6/10

018 Golda -- It's bewildering that this is nominated for Best Make-Up Oscar, presumably for the prosthetics attached to Helen Mirren's face, because she looks like she's made of sponge. Luckily that sponge wasn't flammable because this is another biopic nomination and another nomination seemingly sponsored by Philip Morris and it's difficult not to be utterly distracted by the amount of smoking that goes on, and the reluctance not to be smoking at all times. The subject matter, the Yom Kippur War of 1973, was a diplomatic tightrope where were led to understand that not just winning, but winning just enough was of paramount importance, but the movie fails to attach any tension to the proceedings and we're left with the impression that Golda just marched on regardless while shouting at Henry Kissinger a bit. So very dull. So very much a movie that gets an Oscar nomination. 3/10

019 American Symphony -- I really like Jon Batiste, and the music in this documentary is amazing and heart-felt and overwhelming with emotion and history and heritage as it follows his work on a symphony while his wife, Suleika Jaouad, is undergoing treatment for her cancer. These famous creative types are a weird breed as I'm not sure many of us would be able to work on such a project in similar circumstances, but I get the feeling that this is how they work through their pain and suffering. From the outside, it can look a bit cold and that's really my main gripe with the documentary. As interesting as Batiste's symphony is, the main story is Suleika's cancer and maybe it would've been better told from that perspective. 7/10

020 The Zone of Interest -- The banality of evil, as it turns out, is pretty banal and therein lies the constant terror of Jonathan Glazer's adaptation of a Martin Amis novel that very deliberately focuses on Rudolph Höss and family and their beautiful home and not the extermination camp that sits right next door. You can hear it, though, which makes this maybe one of the most terrifying PG-13 movies ever made. Christian Friedel and Sandra Hüller star as Mr and Mrs Höss but this doesn't seem like a movie that requires a huge amount of acting chops. It's very much a case of pretending everything is normal while horror happens off-camera. The movie, though, looks perfectly framed throughout with bright vivid colors and flowerbeds that make the subject matter even more affecting. And it is affecting. When your eye finally lands on the wall at the bottom of the garden, and then the barbed wire that runs along it, and then the sentry tower, it does hit you, and when you realize the origin of the lovely fur coat Mrs Höss is trying on, that hits you too. Less effective, perhaps, were the moments where Glazer took some artistic license. There are lengthy scenes shot in negative, extended shots of a single color on screen that made me think of Mark Rothko, although the whole movie was making me think of Mark Rothko, and these didn't really work for me, and by the end, the banality of evil was getting pretty banal. There is a reminder, though, in a modern-day sting in the tail, that perhaps it doesn't take all that much effort to turn a blind eye, to look at things without seeing them, and maybe more of us are capable of that than we'd like to think. 8/10

Edited February 4 by MSU

[mathematics]

On 30/01/2024 at 18:23, Arch Stanton said:

The Machinist (2004)

Excellent psychological drama about an insomniac machine operator (Christian Bale).

Bale lost an incredible 63 lbs (28.5 kg) by eating only 1 can of tuna and an apple a day for weeks; a result that shocked director Brad Anderson when Bale turned up for filming. All the more incredible since Bale knew he'd have to bulk up massively since he was shooting "Batman Begins" later the same year. Twice it's commented on that "if you were any thinner you wouldn't exist".

There are loads of clever wee bits of fore-shadowing and callbacks.

  Hide contents

(for example, the time of 01:30 appears repeatedly and, bang on 1 hour 30 minutes into the film the big plot twist is revealed)

Perennial baddie Michael Ironside doesn't play a baddie (and he only loses one arm here unlike both in "Total Recall") and there a couple of familiar faces to fans of "The Wire" (Larry Gilliard and Reg E. Cathey).

One last thing, whoever wrote the score was a big fan of Bernard Hermann because it's so Hitchcock-esque.

It’s maybe the best thing he has done (that I’ve seen). Tremendous film.

[MazzyStar]

La Chinoise - The greatest movie ever made and anyone that says otherwise is a revisionist.