Skip to main content

YEAR IN REVIEW: 2023

    Confession: I spend all year waiting specifically to design the annual collage for my "Year in Review." What can I say? I really like commemorating things. And there was a lot to commemorate this year for Films and Feelings because, even if my overall post count was slightly lower than usual, I did on occasion experience that fleeting sensation of being proud of the work I put out.

    My lower review count is probably the biggest reason for my desert of posts. I only put out nine reviews in 2023, and only three in the last half of the year. This is only barely over half of what I pulled off two years ago. (I was going to review The Color Purple to get me into the double digits, but Christmas day ended up being a busy one for me.) This year's top-performing review was for this summer's live-action remake of The Little Mermaid, as it should have been--I doubt whether I have ever subjected a film to more intense scrutiny before, or ever will again. I'd say that I'll try harder next year, but with the Hollywood landscape looking so dry over 2024, I don't know if that'll be possible.

    My essay count also came a little short in 2023. A part of this is a direct result of me trying to allow more time to elapse between premiering essays so that they each benefit from the extra attention, and of course wider cuts means fewer pieces of pie. I also just dropped October's essay too late to come up with a suitable replacement. This more than any other year has been plagued with essays that died halfway through development. Strands of some of these may find their way into future installments, so I don't want to give away what any of these ghost essays actually were (though one of them might have talked extensively about Die Hard, and that's all I'm gonna say... ). But take from this the assurance that the essays I ultimately landed on survived multiple screening processes and are much stronger for it. Rounding them up, this year's essays included the following: 

    -Are We in Another Golden Age of Musicals? - A survey of recent Hollywood musicals, probing the possibility of a modern creative and commercial resurgence of the genre. 

West Side Story (2021)
    -Lamb: The Controversy of Vulnerability - An in-depth study of the motivations behind the controversial film centering the precarious friendship between an older man and a neglected pre-teen girl.

    -A Thousand Words for Mamoru Hosada's Belle - A deconstruction of the common argument, that a film's visual splendor is at best a tertiary concern in film analysis, featuring the anime film Belle by Mamoru Hosada. 

    -The Night of the Hunter: Redefining Childhood Innocence - A look at the paradox represented by children's films through the lens of 1955 noir-classic, The Night of the Hunter

    -Bright Young Women: The Legacy of Ariel and The Little Mermaid - A celebration of Ariel, the titular heroine of Disney's The Little Mermaid, in the context of female representation in and out of Disney.

    -Where Are All the Netflix Classics? - An exploration of why Netflix's bounty of exclusive films leave little to no cultural impact. 

Netflix's The Old Guard (2020)
    -Making Room for Classic Movies - An advocation for the continued viewing and discussing of classic films even in the modern age.

    -I Will Not Forget that Power Rangers Reboot - A retrospective on the 2017 feature film reboot of "Power Rangers" and why it deserves far more attention and enthusiasm than it found upon release.

    -Hating Disney Princesses Has Never Been Feminist Pt. 1, 2, 3 - A three-part dive into the backlash against Disney Princess culture, weighing its motivations, truthfulness, and repercussions. 

    -Changing Film History With a Smile--and Perhaps, a Tear: Charlie Chaplin's The Kid - A tribute to Charlie Chaplin and the way his body of work shaped the development of film's place in popular culture, with special emphasis on his 1921 film, The Kid.

    I took to heart many of the goals I expressed in years past. For last year's Year in Review, I aired an idea of perhaps putting out pieces that tracked ideas or concepts within the film discussion that weren't themselves anchored to any specific film or series. I was able to get out more of those out this year than any year previous. This helped expand the total range of films that got attention, though I would be remiss to not acknowledge that I do feel most at my elements doing deep-dives into just one or two films at a time. 

The Docks of New York (1928)
    I had also long wondered when I would finally have the gumption to premiere an entire essay about a silent film, and so I was really happy when things finally came together for one such film, and it didn't really surprise me that this film ended up being Charlie Chaplin's The Kid. I wonder when I'll get around to adding more to the roster.

    A common theme through this year's run of essays had a lot to do with how we define "classic," how films and audiences interact to create this thing called "the zeitgeist," and what happens when a film even gets there. I believe that is ultimately why we even discuss film in the first place. The whole conceit behind even throwing my hat into this oversaturated market of online self-appointed film critics is the urgent need to keep film literacy alive, and the foolhardy notion that I could ever be a link on that chain. Film criticism as an institution, across its many manifestations, is only valid to me if we accept the existence of a pantheon--if we abide by the notion that films and film have relevance beyond the transient window in which they premiere, which is why I believe we need to deliberately engage with films that aren't favored by an algorithm.

It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
        I have said before that the essay I am proudest of is always the one I just finished. I consider that to be an honest reflection of the love I have for my process and my ever-expanding body of work, but from this vantage point, I think I can identify one specific essay from this year that has perhaps served my ends more than any other: my piece on the necessity of viewing and discussing classic cinema. I invested a lot into the development and promotion of this essay, which is perhaps why it ended up being my most popular piece, even in a year where a lot of my posts performed exceptionally well.

    The last two years, I also gave some passing notion about spotlighting more niche films in this space. I was able to cash into that early this year with my piece on indie-film Lamb and anime-film Belle. And while I certainly enjoy tossing my hat in on why superhero movies are struggling as much as the next guy, I do feel a special urgency to try to give coverage to underappreciated movies of today. Because while I do think all media commentators have some obligation to keep the verified classics alive in the conversation, consideration also needs to be afforded to newly hatched classics that are just trying to crawl to safety before being erased. Earlier this year, director Richard Linklater bemoaned a certain loss of interest among contemporary film journalism surrounding niche films, saying, 

“There were these outlets that were very curious about what was going on in the avant-garde and the underground. And at some point, I don’t know if it’s just Hollywood or capitalism in general, the equation became, ‘Well, that thing’s small, no one’s going to see it anyway.’ Instead of amplifying this cool thing. It doesn’t qualify to be written about in our pages because it’s just not culturally relevant. And I think indie cinema has fallen prey to that. You don’t see a lot of serious writing about it.”

Ben is Back (2018)
    And there used to be better resources for tracking this sort of thing. IMDb used to have an indie-film spotlight on their main page that I actually referred to regularly. That is how I discovered Lamb, among many other films. I have seen many other critics of all pedigrees share similar anxieties, not only about the state of cinema, but of the frightening notion that maybe there's just nothing anyone can do about it. The inability for viewers to engage with niche cinema is only outpaced by their growing antipathy toward it. This year has shown that we can't even lay the blame on tried and true targets like superhero movies. 

  In this riptide where media is everywhere yet media literacy is just kind of out the window and basically every kind of film is in desperate need of attention, I'm honestly still trying to figure out what my specific obligation is in this circle: What is the appropriate rate for niche essays? How do I even draw that line? But these are also things I am willing to figure out. 

    Anyways, to get this ball rolling, I'll be closing out this "Year in Review" with a non-comprehensive reference list of movies that desperately deserve more coverage. Here's hoping that they will be the happy recipients of many more conversations. 

    -Dave Made a Maze (2017): Discouraged by years of failed ambitions, a struggling artist retreats into a giant cardboard maze-fort he built in his living room; when his friends attempt to rescue him, they discover his maze is a lot bigger (and more dangerous) on the inside. 

Skeleton Twins (2014)
    -
Skeleton Twins (2014): After a failed suicide attempt, a man is reunited with his twin sister he hasn't seen in ten years, opening up old wounds for both of them but also posing an opportunity for genuine healing and reconciliation.

    -Beautiful Girls (1996): In the days leading up to their ten-year high school reunion, a group of friends with very specific ideas about love, reflect on their romances, their failed hopes, and their relationship with one another. 

    -Ben is Back (2018): A mother is surprised when her son, a recovering drug addict, shows up on her house on Christmas to spend the holiday with his family, but his demons aren't far behind him. 

    -Pieces of April (2003): An estranged daughter and her family prepare for what might be their last Thanksgiving dinner together before the mother succumbs to her terminal illness, a reunion that none of the parties are actually looking forward to.

    -Time Out (2001): A man who was let go from his job over six months ago spins increasingly elaborate deceptions to hide the truth of his unemployment from his wife, children, and friends. 

Running on Empty (1988)
    -
Running on Empty (1988): A teenager raised by two runaway fugitives starts to yearn for a life with roots and stability. 

    -Millennium Actress (2001): Two television reporters interview an aging actress and are swept up in her journey of self-reflection and self-discovery. 

    -April and the Extraordinary World (2015): In an alternate timeline where all the scientists of the early 20th century have been kidnapped, a young girl searches for her parents among the missing scientists and uncovers an elaborate conspiracy.

    -In Your Eyes (2014): Two strangers living on opposite sides of the country discover a telepathic bond that allows them to feel and sense each other's experiences.

    This world of film can be a fantastic thing when we bring our hearts and our heads with us and create the zeitgeist together. Let's keep doing this for a long time, folks, and let's make room for a lot of people at the table. 

                       --The Professor

The Holdovers (2023)

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

REVIEW: Lilo & Stitch

       By now the system errors of Disney's live-action remake matrix are well codified. These outputs tend to have pacing that feels like it was okayed by a chain store manager trying to lower the quarterly statement. They also show weird deference to very specific gags from their animated source yet don't bother to ask whether they fit well in the photorealistic world of live-action. And combing through the screenplay, you always seem to get snagged on certain lines of dialogue that someone must have thought belonged in a children's movie ("Being gross is against galactic regulation!).      These are all present in this  summer's live-action reinvention of "Lilo & Stitch." But mercifully, this remake allows itself to go off-script here and there. The result may be one of the stronger Disney remakes ... whatever that's worth.     The 2002 animated masterpiece by Dean Deblois and Chris Sanders (who voices the little blue alien in bo...

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind: Do Clementine and Joel Stay Together or Not?

                    Maybe. The answer is maybe.             Not wanting to be that guy who teases a definitive answer to a difficult question and forces you to read a ten-page essay only to cop-out with a non-committal excuse of an answer, I’m telling you up and front the answer is maybe. Though nations have long warred over this matter of great importance, the film itself does not answer once and for all whether or not Joel Barrish and Clementine Krychinzki find lasting happiness together at conclusion of the film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Min d. I cannot give a definitive answer as to whether Joel and Clementine’s love will last until the stars turn cold or just through the weekend. This essay cannot do that.             What this essay can do is explore the in-text evidence the film gives for either side t...

REVIEW: The Legend of Ochi

    This decade has seen a renaissance of movies claiming to be "this generation's ET ," but you probably can't remember their names any better than I can. We could have all sorts of debates why it is no one seems to know how to access that these days, though I don't think for a moment that it's because 2020s America is actually beyond considering what it means to touch that childhood innocence.      But A24's newest film, The Legend of Ochi , does have me thinking this mental block is mostly self-inflicted by a world whose extoling of childhood is more driven by a dislike of the older generation than anything else.  Fitting together narratives like How to Train Your Dragon with Fiddler on the Roof and tossing it in the sock drawer with 1980s dark fantasy, The Legend of Ochi is intermittently enchanting, but it's undermined by its own cynicism.     On an island stepped out of time, a secluded community wages war against the local population of ...

An Earnest Defense of Passengers

          Recall with me, if you will, the scene in Hollywood December 2016. We were less than a year away from #MeToo, and the internet was keenly aware of Hollywood’s suffocating influence on its females on and off screen but not yet sure what to do about it.       Enter Morten Tyldum’s film Passengers , a movie which, despite featuring the two hottest stars in Hollywood at the apex of their fame, was mangled by internet critics immediately after take-off. A key piece of Passengers ’ plot revolves around the main character, Jim Preston, a passenger onboard a spaceship, who prematurely awakens from a century-long hibernation and faces a lifetime of solitude adrift in outer space; rather than suffer through a life of loneliness, he eventually decides to deliberately awaken another passenger, Aurora Lane, condemning her to his same fate.    So this is obviously a film with a moral dilemma at its center. Morten Tyldum, direc...

Millennium Actress: How Personal IS Art?

So here’s a question: how much do you really know about your favorite actor?  Follow-up question, do you sometimes wish you knew less? It is a truism that the people making the magic onscreen are not necessarily mirror reflections of the heroes they are bringing to life. The players in your favorite romantic drama have cheated on their spouses. Your favorite action hero has enabled abuse. Or, he’s just a loser. And all of us lost at least one favorite to #MeToo.  But just the same, we cannot deny our fascination with those people on the big screen. Film historian, Ty Burr, described in his book, Gods Like Us ,  Gone with the Wind (1939) “The fascination with stars is in large part a desire to unlock the nagging puzzle of identity—who are these people who we know so well and not at all? ... The violence done to Mary Pickford and Charlie Chaplin by the mobs in the public square was on some level a rapacious desire to unclothe them, flay them, burrow to their essence....

REVIEW: Belfast

     I've said it before, and I'll say it again: the world needs more black and white movies.      The latest to answer the call is Kenneth Branagh with his  semi-autobiographical film, Belfast . The film follows Buddy, the audience-insert character, as he grows up in the streets of Belfast, Ireland in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Though Buddy and his family thrive on these familiar streets, communal turmoil leads to organized violence that throws Buddy's life into disarray. What's a family to do? On the one hand, the father recognizes that a warzone is no place for a family. But to the mother, even the turmoil of her community's civil war feels safer than the world out there. Memory feels safer than maturation.      As these films often go, the plot is drifting and episodic yet always manages to hold one's focus. Unbrushed authenticity is a hard thing to put to film, and a film aiming for just that always walks a fine line betwe...

Meet Me in St. Louis: The Melancholy Window of Nostalgia

I don’t usually post reviews for television shows, but it feels appropriate to start today’s discussion with my reaction to Apple TV+’s series, Schmigadoon! If you’re not familiar with the series, it follows a couple who are looking to reclaim the spark of their fading romance. While hiking in the mountains, they get lost and stumble upon a cozy village, Schmigadoon, where everyone lives like they’re in the middle of an old school musical film. She’s kinda into it, he hates it, but neither of them can leave until they find true love like that in the classic movie musicals. I appreciated the series’ many homages to classical musical films. And I really loved the show rounding up musical celebrities like Aaron Tveit and Ariana Debose. Just so, I had an overall muddled response to the show. Schmigadoon! takes it as a given that this town inherits the social mores of the era in which the musicals that inspired this series were made, and that becomes the basis of not only the show...

REVIEW: Materialists

      In seminal romantic comedies or dramas, the mark of great writing was in artfully burying the lovebirds' insecurities and hangups in artifice. Pretense. The lovebirds didn't know how to honestly approach their own feelings at first. The distortion revealed the personality of both the situation and the relationship. What's more, it was just fun. The film would slowly thaw this facade until Cary Grant and Irene Dunne finally had, what Materialists calls, the ugliest parts of themselves laid bare for one another. Only then were they ready to embrace.       Yet with Materialists , out this weekend, even in moments when the situation calls for vulnerability, the characters are oddly empirical and clinical with describing the things about them that they are ashamed of. These players might as well be performing a passionate reading of a Walmart receipt. Yes, Materialists is very obviously about the transactionality of the dating scene, but the movie ...

JAWS: The Father of All Blockbusters Turns 50

  The saga of Hollywood lives and dies on the ripples of a thousand different choices. Hundreds of movies each year from hundreds of artists serving hundreds of markets creates a complex, interconnected ecosystem that can never really be explored in its totality. Still, if there was one film, one moment, that trampolined Hollywood from one era into the next, it was in 1975 with Steven Spielberg’s Jaws .      Moviegoing had naturally been a part of the global industry since moving pictures stole everyone’s attention at the start of the century. Tentpole films were also very much a part of the program. But the treatment of movies like The Sound of Music and Ben-Hur was done with an eye for prestige, more comparable to how Oscar hopefuls handle things today.  Theaters at this time were still generally accustomed to having sporadic releases across the country over a period of several weeks. Limited roadshow releases were how you signaled that a movie’s importanc...

REVIEW - The Little Mermaid

     There's been a mermaid on the horizon ever since it became clear sometime in the last decade that Disney did intend to give all of their signature titles the live-action treatment--we've had a long time to prepare for this. (For reference, this July will mark four years since Halle Bailey's casting as Ariel made headlines.)       Arguing whether this or any of the live-action remakes "live up" to their animated predecessor is always going to be a losing battle. Even ignoring the nostalgic element, it's impossible for them to earn the same degree of admiration because the terrain in which these animated films rose to legend has long eroded. This is especially the case for The Little Mermaid . Where this remake is riding off a years long commercial high for the Walt Disney Company, the Disney that made The Little Mermaid in 1989 was twenty years past its cultural goodwill. Putting out an animated fairy-tale musical was not a sure thing, yet its suc...