I saw Killers of the Flower Moon three times in the theater and loved it each time. Just got better and better. All of the acting is superb, Robbie Robertson's score was my favorite of the year, and the camerawork's excellent. Another Scorsese masterpiece and my favorite movie of 2023. Rooting for Lily Gladstone and Robert De Niro. Special shout out to Ty Mitchell
I'm a sucker for a good culinary flick and The Taste of Things is a delectable arthouse foodie film. I loved the performances from Juliette Binoche, Benoît Magimel, and Bonnie Chagneau-Ravoire, and the calm, deliberate, sensuous direction from Tran Anh Hung. Despite being a picky eater who wouldn't eat most of the fudge they make in the movie, I know it will join the other culinary classics I often revisit like Big Night, Eat Drink Man Woman, Chef, Mostly Martha, Soul Kitchen, Tampopo, The Ramen Girl, East Side Sushi, The Hundred Foot Journey, The Lunchbox, Ratatouille, and Dinner Rush.
Wim Wenders' Perfect Days is my jam. Worth seeing in a theater if you have the opportunity. Kōji Hashimoto gets my vote for Best Actor for his portrayal of a quiet, toilet cleaner in Tokyo.
I love Godfrey Reggio's Qatsi Trilogy, especially Koyaanisqatsi, and when we learned that Once Within a Time, his first film in a decade (and another collaboration with Philip Glass), would play in Austin, but not Houston, my wife and I took a road trip. Austin Film Society got Reggio on the phone after for a Q&A. We really enjoyed the screening and after a nice meal, we drove back to Houston and caught a late screening of The Holdovers. Really enjoyed that one too. Paul Giamatti, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, and Dominic Sessa all do a fine job and I like the vibe director Alexander Payne achieves with the cinematography and the soundtrack. The movie (and the vinyl) will probably make the yearly holiday rotation. Memorable movie day.
Yorgos Lanthimos' Poor Things is bonkers and it worked for me. The script is fire, all the performances are excellent, and the movie makes its points without being overly preachy. I love the Gilliamesque look of the world created and have a hard time picking a favorite performance between Emma Stone as Bella or Lily Gladstone in KOTFM.
Thanks to Pizza Hut's Book-It program, I was devouring books in the 80s so I could devour personal pan pizzas. Everything from Encyclopedia Brown and The Hardy Boys to The Boxcar Children and The Babysitter's Club. This included some Beverly Cleary and Judy Blume books. I was pleasantly surprised by the big screen version of Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. Kelly Fremon Craig did not get enough attention for so deftly bringing Blume's well-known book to life. Abbey Ryder Fortson carries the pic, Rachel McAdams performance is heartfelt, and the "we must, we must, we must increase our bust" scene was one of the year's funnier cinematic moments.
There was a lot of talk about Greta Gerwig getting snubbed for best director, but I think Kelly Fremon Craig (Are You There God?), Celine Song (Past Lives), and A.V. Rockwell (A Thousand and One) were all more deserving. Past Lives isn't a film I need to revisit often, but it's really well done. Same for A Thousand One, which completely took me by surprise. Teyana Taylor, you have my attention.
Pawo Choyning Dorji's The Monk and the Gun is a small film that probably deserves a bigger buzz. I really liked it.
My favorite animated movie of the year is Robot Dreams. I'm a sucker for New York movies (see Past Lives & A Thousand and One) and this mostly-silent film takes place in 1980's NYC. It's an absolute charmer and it plays well as the second part of a double feature with Past Lives. Looking forward to seeing it at Alamo in the near future.
The last film I'll shout out also takes place in New York and it follows a young graffiti artist; Story Ave directed by Aristotle Torres, featuring legend Luis Guzmán. I recall liking the title track that plays over the end credits and seeing it credited to Rome Streetz, but not being able to find it on youtube or anywhere. Decent little flick.
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