!! loving all these write-ups, seems like everyone's had a very cinephilic year
fave first-watches this year:
Adieu Philippine (Jacques Rozier, 1962) - plotless by design, a sprawl of shaggydogs and blind alleys, as if the narrative itself can't decide what it wants to be, held together through thrilling musicality, through rozier's bravura, through the weight of all there is yet to come. takes on an enormous degree of potency knowing this time that he captures has passed: everything is so real, so fierce in its realness, and so transient, too.
Fat Girl (Catherine Breillat, 2001) - possibly the most intense, stomach-churning film i've ever seen. ridiculously visceral, unapologetic examination of male entitlement, sisterhood dynamics, the desire to be liberated and the revulsion regarding how exactly to go about that. off-kilter in all the right ways, from the incongruous music cue to the dread-inducing drive back to that seemingly outta-nowhere ending. no straight answers: just brutal, glorious finality. horror film through and through.
(also went on a bit of a breillat kick w/ this year's LAST SUMMER and her debut A REAL YOUNG GIRL, the latter being barnstormingly brilliant)
Baxter, Vera Baxter (Marguerite Duras, 1977) - maybe my favourite use of non-diegetic music in a film ever: the backing track to centuries of stolen agency. boxy compositions of a mansion stripped of its decadence, now a home for apparitions to wander around in. silhouettes glowing against a pale sky, or caught in reflections. cuts to landscapes so empty and lonely that they can only compound the oppressive interiority. this film is extremely my shit --- the dialogue is often impenetrable but i don't think duras minds, she applies such a rhythm to what is essentially two extended conversations that i felt *everything* regardless. also, bit of a tangent but this film reminds me of when i was couchsurfing round a friend's in brussels last november and she insisted on playing the same song on repeat at 2am as she worked on her uni project while i was trying to sleep. anyway.
Other great non-2023 releases i've seen this year have been An Autumn Tale (Rohmer, 1998), Tropical Malady (Weerasethakul, 2004), and Spirited Away (Miyazaki, 2001)
In terms of 2023 releases, I'd put my current top 10 as this (yes i'm very aware most of these aren't 2023 releases but hey life has been hectic):
1. De Humani Corporis Fabrica
2. Saint Omer
3. The Girl and the Spider
4. Unrest
5. Falcon Lake
6. Skinamarink
7. Rotting in the Sun
8. MI7: Dead Reckoning Part 1 (glad to see everyone here is a fan of this one)
9. Godland
10. Asteroid City
other films i liked this year: Last Summer, Anatomy of a Fall, Club Zero, Killers of the Flower Moon, Bottoms
films i thought were just fine: Oppenheimer, They Cloned Tyrone, Spiderverse 2, Dungeons and Dragons, John Wick 4, Afire, Passages
films that were uhh not great: The Royal Hotel, Barbie, GotG 3, Knock at the Cabin
films that kinda sucked: No One Will Save You, Haunting in Venice, No Hard Feelings, Indiana Jones 5, Beau is Afraid, Past Lives, Infinity Pool
also not sure too much has changed w/ this list but here's my top 20 all time (changes every day though)
fave first-watches this year:
Adieu Philippine (Jacques Rozier, 1962) - plotless by design, a sprawl of shaggydogs and blind alleys, as if the narrative itself can't decide what it wants to be, held together through thrilling musicality, through rozier's bravura, through the weight of all there is yet to come. takes on an enormous degree of potency knowing this time that he captures has passed: everything is so real, so fierce in its realness, and so transient, too.
Fat Girl (Catherine Breillat, 2001) - possibly the most intense, stomach-churning film i've ever seen. ridiculously visceral, unapologetic examination of male entitlement, sisterhood dynamics, the desire to be liberated and the revulsion regarding how exactly to go about that. off-kilter in all the right ways, from the incongruous music cue to the dread-inducing drive back to that seemingly outta-nowhere ending. no straight answers: just brutal, glorious finality. horror film through and through.
(also went on a bit of a breillat kick w/ this year's LAST SUMMER and her debut A REAL YOUNG GIRL, the latter being barnstormingly brilliant)
Baxter, Vera Baxter (Marguerite Duras, 1977) - maybe my favourite use of non-diegetic music in a film ever: the backing track to centuries of stolen agency. boxy compositions of a mansion stripped of its decadence, now a home for apparitions to wander around in. silhouettes glowing against a pale sky, or caught in reflections. cuts to landscapes so empty and lonely that they can only compound the oppressive interiority. this film is extremely my shit --- the dialogue is often impenetrable but i don't think duras minds, she applies such a rhythm to what is essentially two extended conversations that i felt *everything* regardless. also, bit of a tangent but this film reminds me of when i was couchsurfing round a friend's in brussels last november and she insisted on playing the same song on repeat at 2am as she worked on her uni project while i was trying to sleep. anyway.
Other great non-2023 releases i've seen this year have been An Autumn Tale (Rohmer, 1998), Tropical Malady (Weerasethakul, 2004), and Spirited Away (Miyazaki, 2001)
In terms of 2023 releases, I'd put my current top 10 as this (yes i'm very aware most of these aren't 2023 releases but hey life has been hectic):
1. De Humani Corporis Fabrica
2. Saint Omer
3. The Girl and the Spider
4. Unrest
5. Falcon Lake
6. Skinamarink
7. Rotting in the Sun
8. MI7: Dead Reckoning Part 1 (glad to see everyone here is a fan of this one)
9. Godland
10. Asteroid City
other films i liked this year: Last Summer, Anatomy of a Fall, Club Zero, Killers of the Flower Moon, Bottoms
films i thought were just fine: Oppenheimer, They Cloned Tyrone, Spiderverse 2, Dungeons and Dragons, John Wick 4, Afire, Passages
films that were uhh not great: The Royal Hotel, Barbie, GotG 3, Knock at the Cabin
films that kinda sucked: No One Will Save You, Haunting in Venice, No Hard Feelings, Indiana Jones 5, Beau is Afraid, Past Lives, Infinity Pool
also not sure too much has changed w/ this list but here's my top 20 all time (changes every day though)
1. Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (Schrader, 1985)
2. A Summer's Tale (Rohmer, 1996)
3. Playtime (Tati, 1967)
4. I Knew Her Well (Pietrangeli, 1965)
5. Les Rendez-vous d'Anna (Akerman, 1978)
6. Man With a Movie Camera (Vertov, 1929)
7. House of Tolerance (Bonello, 2011)
8. 2001: A Space Odyssey (Kubrick, 1968)
9. Ratcatcher (Ramsay, 1999)
10. Adieu Philippine (Rozier, 1962)
11. The Aviator's Wife (Rohmer 1981)
12. 35 Rhums (Denis, 2008)
13. Dillinger is Dead (Ferreri, 1969)
14. Red Desert (Antonioni, 1964)
15. The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (Greenaway, 1989)
16. Woman in the Dunes (Teshigahara, 1964)
17. Inherent Vice (PTA, 2014)
18. Airplane! (Various, 1980)
19. The Naked Island (Shindo, 1960)
20. The Passion of Joan of Arc (Dreyer, 1928)
2. A Summer's Tale (Rohmer, 1996)
3. Playtime (Tati, 1967)
4. I Knew Her Well (Pietrangeli, 1965)
5. Les Rendez-vous d'Anna (Akerman, 1978)
6. Man With a Movie Camera (Vertov, 1929)
7. House of Tolerance (Bonello, 2011)
8. 2001: A Space Odyssey (Kubrick, 1968)
9. Ratcatcher (Ramsay, 1999)
10. Adieu Philippine (Rozier, 1962)
11. The Aviator's Wife (Rohmer 1981)
12. 35 Rhums (Denis, 2008)
13. Dillinger is Dead (Ferreri, 1969)
14. Red Desert (Antonioni, 1964)
15. The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (Greenaway, 1989)
16. Woman in the Dunes (Teshigahara, 1964)
17. Inherent Vice (PTA, 2014)
18. Airplane! (Various, 1980)
19. The Naked Island (Shindo, 1960)
20. The Passion of Joan of Arc (Dreyer, 1928)
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