IAN SCHULTZ’S 2023 IN FILM – FROM BEST TO WORST

Posted on by Ian Schultz

2023 was a complicated year for me from having the break-up of a long-term relationship, getting accepted on and completing the Beyond Brontës course, “retiring” as a film critic and volunteering at Hyde Park Picture House since it reopened in July. I did however watched a lot of films with a new record of 222 new releases. I’m counting Wes Anderson’s Roald Dahl shorts as one film and Pedro Almodóvar’s gay cowboy short Strange Way of Life which I saw theatrically at Hyde Park Picture House. Unlike the last few years, I watched less TV but like everybody, I devoured and loved The Bear and I also greatly enjoyed The Fall of the House of Usher, I’m a Virgo, The Last of Us, Poker Face and White House Plumbers. I’m a little behind on The Curse but I’ve been impressed with what I’ve seen so far. I also need to watch the Steven Soderbergh mini-series Full Circle which I will binge in the new year.

2024 is shaping up to be an impressive year in cinema. Some 2024 releases I’ve psyched for are Beetlejuice 2, The Brutalist, Civil War, Drive-Away Dolls, Dune: Part Two, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, Joker: Folie à Deux, Love Lies Bleeding, MaXXXine, Megalopolis, Mickey 17, Nosferatu, Oh, Canada, Queer to name just a few. Hopefully, Terrence Malick’s long-awaited Jesus film tentatively titled The Way of the Wind may come out but I’m not holding my breath. Fingers crossed Terry Gilliam can get the funding for his next film The Carnival at the End of Days. Finally a few things I wasn’t able to see this year because they only played festivals or have opened in the US but there isn’t a digital release yet that I’m looking forward to are American Fiction, The Beast, DogMan, Hit Man, The Iron Claw, Late Night with the Devil, Perfect Days, Poolman, The Toxic Avenger and Wildcat. All of these films will now be in my 2024 ranking. Hopefully, I might also get a job on a film in the new year too.

* Indicates I saw it theatrically

LOVED THESE FILMS, THE ZONE OF INTEREST IS PROBABLY BETTER BUT I LIKED POOR THINGS MORE!

  1. Poor Things *
  2. The Zone of Interest *
  3. Killers of the Flower Moon * x2
  4. Oppenheimer * x2
  5. Godzilla Minus One *
  6. Dream Scenario *
  7. Fallen Leaves *
  8. Beau Is Afraid *
  9. Infinity Pool *
  10. Babylon *

GREAT

  1. John Wick: Chapter 4 * x2
  2. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse * x2
  3. The Boy and the Heron * x2
  4. May December *

BEST USE OF MUSIC GOES TO

  1. The Bikeriders * x2
  2. Barbie *
  3. Master Gardener
  4. Eileen *
  5. Asteroid City * x3
  6. All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
  7. Rock Hudson: All That Heaven Allowed

VERY GOOD

  1. Priscilla *
  2. The Holdovers *
  3. Maestro *
  4. El Conde
  5. The Killer * x2
  6. All of Us Strangers *
  7. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 *
  8. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves * x2
  9. Ferrari *
  10. Fancy Dance
  11. Sanctuary
  12. Please Baby Please
  13. The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar / The Swan / The Rat Catcher / Poison
  14. Freaks Out AKA. Freaks Vs. the Reich
  15. Napoleon *

IT ACCOMPLISHED IT’S MISSION

  1. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny *
  2. The Innocent *
  3. Passages
  4. Fremont *
  5. BlackBerry *
  6. Bottoms *
  7. Pacifiction
  8. Sick of Myself
  9. Strange Way of Life *
  10. Daaaaaali! *
  11. Unrest
  12. Shin Ultraman
  13. Afire *
  14. Cassandro

DOCUMENTARIES/CONCERT FILMS

  1. Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour
  2. STILL: A Michael J. Fox Movie
  3. The Dream Syndicate: How Did We Find Ourselves Here?
  4. Mutiny in Heaven: The Birthday Party *
  5. Little Richard: I Am Everything
  6. Personality Crisis: One Night Only
  7. Squaring the Circle: The Story of Hipgnosis

PRETTY GOOD!

  1. How to Blow Up a Pipeline *
  2. Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret *
  3. The Adults
  4. Fingernails *
  5. Blue Jean
  6. Linoleum
  7. Knock at the Cabin *
  8. The Creator *
  9. Dreamin’ Wild

NAZIS FUCK OFF DOUBLE BILL

  1. Blood & Gold
  2. Sisu *
  3. The Last Voyage of the Demeter
  4. Chupa
  5. Showing Up
  6. The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial
  7. Renfield *
  8. Air *
  9. Evil Dead Rise *
  10. Extraction 2
  11. Boston Strangler
  12. Fair Play
  13. Totally Killer
  14. Wonka *
  15. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem *
  16. Scream VI *

THE FILM I’VE SEEN THAT WILL PROBABLY NEVER COME OUT

  1. Magazine Dreams
  2. The Archies
  3. To Catch a Killer
  4. Swallowed
  5. Reality
  6. D.O.A
  7. Anatomy of a Fall *
  8. Leo *
  9. The Three Musketeers: D’Artagnan *
  10. The Three Musketeers: Milady *
  11. Io Capitano
  12. Double Blind *
  13. Past Lives *
  14. The Flash *
  15. L’immensità *
  16. La Syndicaliste *
  17. Smoking Causes Coughing *
  18. Fairyland
  19. LOLA
  20. Mami Wata *
  21. Sick
  22. Finestkind
  23. Tetris
  24. War Pony *

DOC-DOC-DOCUMENTARIES

  1. Albert Brooks: Defending My Life
  2. A Compassionate Spy
  3. A Disturbance in the Force: How the Star Wars Holiday Special Happened
  4. Eldorado: Everything the Nazis Hate
  5. Kim’s Video *
  6. The Pigeon Tunnel
  7. The Stones and Brian Jones
  8. Superpower
  9. To End All War: Oppenheimer & the Atomic Bomb

THEY ARE ALRIGHT!!!!

  1. Dalíland
  2. Thanksgiving *
  3. No One Will Save You
  4. M3GAN *
  5. Sympathy for the Devil
  6. Butcher’s Crossing
  7. The Equalizer 3 *
  8. NYAD
  9. The Burial
  10. The Pope’s Exorcist *
  11. They Cloned Tyrone
  12. The Boogeyman *
  13. The Marvels *
  14. You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah
  15. The Pale Blue Eye
  16. The Unknown Country
  17. Silent Night
  18. Sharper
  19. Gran Turismo
  20. Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget
  21. Blue Beetle
  22. The Wrath of Becky
  23. Meg 2: The Trench *
  24. Cocaine Bear *
  25. The Great Escaper
  26. Peter Pan & Wendy
  27. A Haunting in Venice
  28. Creed III
  29. The Marsh King’s Daughter
  30. Sometimes I Think About Dying
  31. 65 *
  32. The Covenant
  33. Divinity
  34. Maggie Moore(s)
  35. In the Land of Saints and Sinners
  36. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania *
  37. The Old Way
  38. A Man Called Otto *
  39. The Lair
  40. Champions *
  41. Batman: The Doom That Came to Gotham
  42. The Pod Generation
  43. Sly

I WASN’T A FAN… SORRY!

  1. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One *
  2. How to Have Sex
  3. Hypnotic *
  4. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom *
  5. Blood
  6. God Is a Bullet
  7. Dumb Money *
  8. Reptile
  9. No Hard Feelings
  10. Foe *
  11. Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre
  12. Talk to Me *
  13. The Five Devils
  14. Flora and Son
  15. Magic Mike’s Last Dance

NOT A FILM IT’S A PLAY AND A BORING ONE AT THAT!

  1. Women Talking

NOT GOOD

  1. Leave the World Behind
  2. Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire
  3. A Good Person *
  4. Pain Hustlers
  5. Shazam! Fury of the Gods
  6. The Lesson
  7. I Used to Be Funny *
  8. Inside
  9. Landscape with Invisible Hand
  10. Empire of Light *
  11. The Good Mother
  12. A Little White Lie
  13. Rustin
  14. Rotting in the Sun
  15. Corner Office
  16. Mafia Mamma
  17. You Hurt My Feelings
  18. Five Nights at Freddy’s
  19. Zombie Town
  20. Haunted Mansion *
  21. Marlowe
  22. The Retirement Plan
  23. Mutt
  24. Blueback

THE BIGGEST WASTE OF TALENT GOES TO…

  1. She Came to Me

THE THINGS YOU DO FOR ANYA-TAYLOR JOY

  1. The Super Mario Bros. Movie *

REALLY BAD

  1. Spy Kids: Armageddon
  2. Ghosted
  3. Manodrome
  4. The Sweet East *
  5. The Inspection
  6. Shortcomings

I NEARLY GOT BEATEN UP IN THE THEATRE FOR LAUGHING!

  1. Sound of Freedom *

ABYSMAL FILMS

  1. Bad Behaviour
  2. Enys Men
  3. Next Goal Wins *
  4. Padre Pio
  5. The Kill Room
  6. Pet Sematary: Bloodlines

I LOVE YOU PIERCE BROSNAN BUT GET A NEW AGENT!

  1. Fast Charlie
  2. The Out-Laws

TERRIBLE FILMS

  1. I Like Movies
  2. The Resurrection of Charles Manson
  3. Cat Person

THE EXPERIENCE OF SEEING SOUND OF FREEDOM WAS MORE ENJOYABLE AND FUNNIER

  1. Saltburn *
  2. The Exorcist: Believer
  3. The Son
  4. Skinamarink
  5. Left Behind: Rise of the Antichrist

Published by Ian Schultz

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