This week on Chasing the Gold, JD is joined by Shadan Larki and Joey Gentile to discuss our final Oscar nomination predictions for the 96th Academy Awards! We talk every category (minus the shorts) and walk through some nominees that seem locks while throwing in some risky picks we’re excited about.
On that note, check out this week’s show and let us know what you think in the comment section. Thanks for listening and for supporting the InSession Film Podcast!
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Indie auteur, and possible benevolent alien, Pete Ohs is back with a new film opening at Slamdance. Love and Work is an absurdist comedy and love story set in an alternate world where the government has decreed that to work or create anything of use is illegal. The warm-hearted satire stars Stephanie Hunt, Will Madden, Alexi Pappas, and Frank Mosely.
Ohs is an editor, director, cinematographer, and all-around legend of redefining Americana. His previous work includes Everything Beautiful is Far Away starring Julia Garner, Jethica starring Callie Hernandez, and Youngstown starring Stephanie Hunt.
Nadine Whitney spoke to Pete about his collaborative ethic, his workaholic tendencies, and why people seem to do ludicrous things.
Nadine Whitney: One of the first things Iโve noted in your work is that itโs often a process of collaboration. Stephanie Hunt who stars in Love and Work was also the backbone and star of Youngstown. Will Madden was in Jethica which also featured Andy Faulkner. Often you have your actors working as writers and improvising. How important are your buddies in shaping your films?
Pete Ohs: The entire reason for making these movies is because my favorite thing to do when I was fifteen was make videos with my best friends. Iโm just trying to recapture that feeling.
The actors are always extremely involved in the making of these films. They help with writing. They help pick out the costumes. They help name the characters they are playing. This collaborative aspect of filmmaking is what makes it special.
NW: Speaking of buddies, a through line in your films seems to be that if you find the right people, friends or lovers, you can get through almost anything. Everything Beautiful is Far Away features a trio of misfits (one a robot head) searching for a seemingly mythical crystal lake in an unspecified dystopia. Youngstown is about finding connection not only through place but through acceptance. In Love and Work two people find each other admits a strange utopia/dystopia. What do you like about oddball โcouplesโ?
PO: Connecting with another human is maybe the most meaningful thing we can do. Itโs something I constantly seek out. It can also be quite rare to find so itโs fun to spend time in stories where it happens.
NW: You have worked in many genres. Science fiction, ghost stories, dislocated realism, and the comedy and pathos involved in all of them. Through seeming absurdity, you are asking quite profound philosophical questions. Do you think of yourself as a comedic philosopher? Someone like perhaps Jacques Tati?
PO: I often feel more like an alien who observes humans and wonders why they do the silly things they do. And I prefer to work in genres because I get enough of the real world in everyday life, so filmmaking is an opportunity to play in a land of make-believe.
NW: You have a very specific relationship to oddball Americana. Whether that be a place, like Youngstown, or a version of rust belt decline which can also be seen in Love and Work. Your music videos also show the same aesthetic. How does the American landscape and the people that are often not seen resonate with you?
PO: I grew up in a small town in Ohio. Itโs who I am and where I come from so this is the perspective Iโm bringing to the work. Iโve also been on many, many road trips across America. For me, all these people and places are filled with nostalgia and evoke many different memories and emotions.
NW: Despite years in the business in some capacity, you have had to hustle to get things funded and distributed. Needing to work but not being able to create anything is part of the thesis of Love and Work. Is there something personal being said in the film?
PO: Basically, my one and only vice is that Iโm a workaholic. In our society, this is an acceptable, and even rewarded, dysfunction. At the same time, work provides more than income. It builds community and gives a sense of purpose. I want to work. I love to work! But it isnโt healthy when it becomes an extreme. The challenge is finding a balance.
NW: Other than a good cup of coffee and maybe a delicious donut, what gets you out of bed every day?
PO: Working gets me out of bed. It also gets me to bed early. I love a good full night of sleep knowing Iโll be waking up with a full day of work ahead of me.
NW: โQuirky sincerityโ is one of the ways people describe your films. Do you believe comedy is a way to explore truth?
PO: I literally feel tickled by ideas. When Iโm trying to figure something out and I start to laugh, it means a good idea is coming. I also think a sense of humor is a hugely useful quality to have while navigating existence. Laughing releases pressure which is essential for solving problems.
NW: What do you hope audiences will get out of their experience of watching Love and Work?
PO: Hopefully, Love and Work is fun to watch. And if it stimulates some meaningful reflections and conversations around what we want our world to be like, then thatโs great too.
Love and Work opens at Slamdance Film Festival on January 20, 2024
Director: Michael Crichton Writers: Michael Crichton Stars: Tom Selleck, Cynthia Rhodes, Gene Simmons
Synopsis: In the near future, a police officer specializes in malfunctioning robots. When a robot turns out to have been programmed to kill, he begins to uncover a homicidal plot to create killer robots… and his son becomes a target.
Thanks to his fear of heights, widower and single dad Sergeant Jack Ramsay (Tom Selleck) works the ridiculed Runaway Police Division โ chasing after errant robots with new Officer Karen Thompson (Cynthia Rhodes). Unfortunately, commonplace robots are now killing, thanks to elaborate microchips designed by Dr. Charles Luther (Gene Simmons), who is eliminating anyone who stands in his way in order to sell his chip templates to the highest bidder. Ramsay must now confront his fears and face a devious enemy who’s always one step ahead thanks to his high-tech weaponry.
Michael Crichton (Westworld) writes and directs the 1984 procedural Runaway, and from the cranky captain and the psychic working for the police department to the romantic conflict of interest between male and female partners, this is brimming with all the cop cliches. Sexy interrogations, stripping down in the de-bug scanning machine, police escort decoys, uniform disguises, and highway chases lead to a rising body count and the villain calling into the police station but hanging up before they can get a trace. We can predict when the baddie hacks into the department system and attacks our officers at home, yet there’s a deliberate comfort in this familiar framework. Runaway’s then contemporary safety makes it easier to go along with the clunky robot fantastics. Many computer terms and technobabble talk are out of date, but today we can certainly relate to the repetitive robot being yelled at to shut up when it isn’t being spoken to a la our ubiquitous echos.
While some special effects are understandably humorous, Crichton shrewdly keeps the focus on whether the people are relaxed over often errant robots or fearful of modified killing machines. Officers new to the Runaway department can ask audience questions and the robot explanations often come with internal jokes and good humor. This laughably serious mix works because we like the cops โ it’s both uneven now yet surprisingly self-aware of the silliness by the time our Sergeant is beating a rogue sentry robot with an office chair. Runaway wastes no time in getting to the rogue farming robot, helicopter fears, the farmers laughing at them, and the journalists who think a crying baby in peril thanks to a violent kitchen model is going to be a great shocker for the evening news. Noir shadows and light accent an eerie crime scene with bloody motorized prints on the floor, but Runaway doesnโt always keep up the suspense โ the early chuckles and chastising the housekeeper robot for giving a kid too many hot dogs allow us time to breath as this ride along builds naturally with each scene and set piece.
People reminisce about obsolete models that burned the toast, and entire construction sites are automated โ no breaks, overtime, union issues โ but there are insurance technicalities about who can turn off a stacker bot throwing blocks off the roof. If these unauthorized chips cause fatal malfunctions, it’s not a technical mistake but murder. Bullets that can go around corners and explode pursue our cops, and we see the very freaky point of view amid classified projects at the shady security company and damsels in distress that aren’t who they seem. The routine moments and breathers get shorter as the hotel stakeouts, dizzying stairwells, rooftop stand offs, shootouts, and bot sieges escalate.
Provocative questions about which terrorists or corporations would benefit from sophisticated, heat seeking devices postulate on the big picture while seemingly small bullet wounds are actually embedded explosives in need of immediate removal. The medical monitors are intense with very little as sweating humans would rather take responsibility than let the robots make a mistake and we believe the resulting pain. Runaway doesn’t need today’s excessive effects or suspense orchestrated in the editing room thanks to people in peril and the cop who left his glasses in the car but intends to see the job through anyway. Killer trackers and fiery lasers create highway perils as jumps from car to car escalate to restaurant hostages, public trade-offs, unaware crowds caught in the crossfire, and a memorable demise in the reflecting pool. Thunderstorms accent the spider robots climbing the bathroom walls, and the construction site finale provides elevator dangers and call backs to those earlier on high fears. The spider bots await below while the exposed lift is stuck in the air with no space to avoid the encroaching mechanical critters. Mano y mano battles lead to facing one’s fears, ironic justice, machine toppers, and eighties kisses.
There’s never a doubt that Tom Selleck’s (Magnum P.I.) widower Sergeant Jack Ramsay is a good guy. After losing a killer suspect thanks to his fear of heights, he chose to toil in the Runaway department so he wouldn’t be held back on the streets. Despite some robotics expertise, there are reasons why he doesn’t always trust machines and does things himself, including the brief mention of his wife dying in a car crash and the use of robot drivers. Ramsay says his house bot Lois thinks she is both his wife and his mother, but he’s a great dad when not somersaulting over the desks to impress a pretty lady and stop a sentry robot. Ramsay does get cranky, however, worrying as the case mounts. He knows they are up against too many variables once everything goes awry and he must confront his fears.
We briefly see Kiss hard rocker Gene Simmons early in Runaway as the juicy villain setting up his rival with a suitcase full of paper and an acid shooting robot. However, it’s better when he pops up as a repairman in disguise, lingering at crime scenes, or in the set ups gone wrong because he’s always one step ahead of the cops. His face looks eerie on their monitors, and we believe Luther will eliminate anyone who interferes with his plans. Luther also won’t be betrayed, and Simmons is bemusingly compelling as a chilling menace thanks to his nonchalant, almost camp stare. Cynthia Rhodes’ (Dirty Dancing) traffic transfer Karen Thompson has a wild first few days on the job in Runaway. She preposterously wears a skirt and heels for most of the picture amid the most daring stakeouts and injuries, but Karen’s easy to talk to and likable. We’re on her side as the outsider entering this goofy, increasingly dangerous robot pursuit. Though previously indecisive and overzealous, she admits this excitement is too much, making jokes and whimpering in pain. Viewers wouldn’t blame her if she quit, but Karen sticks by Ramsay โ even when she shouldn’t.
Despite the boxy suit jacket, the late Kirstie Alley (Cheers) is an alluring bad girl. Sassy Jackie is stunning in leather, smokes, and tries to remain cool despite her fearful association with Luther, the bugs he plants all over her clothes, and the whips marks on her back. She feigns innocence despite the femme fatale double cross, a vixen who doesn’t overstay her welcome but warns Ramsay his white knight posturing will get someone killed. Our son Joey Cramer (Flight of the Navigator), on the other hand, is a tad pretentious, seemingly too old to be asking golly gee questions. We don’t see him much, but it might have been more interesting to have Ramsay childless โ keep his motivation about overcoming his own fear, getting the bad guys, and even revenge for his damaged robot housekeeper. The Lois robot looks like a stack of ye olde stereo equipment on wheels but she makes the pasta al dente and damn if we don’t feel bad when she’s damaged and losing hydraulic fluid!
The tense Jerry Goldsmith (The Omen) score provides electronic notes that seamlessly match those gizmos and sound effects. Runaway does have some futuristic electromagnetic armor and cool weapons, however the overall look here is decidedly contemporary, gritty rather than sci-fi glam. The standard police uniforms, traditional cop cars, and good old .357 magnum (because of course) are fitting considering this is the early eighties when home computers were rare, microwaves were new to the kitchen, and mobile phones were massive. Retro computers, coding, graphics, big motherboards, and bigger monitors here are primitive. The robots are clunky โ nothing more than boxes with fancy lights or one that looks like a decorated overhead projector. Yet Runaway was ahead of its time with computers in the police cars, driver-less cars, clipboard looking tablets at the crime scene, reconnaissance drones, retina scans, voice controlled databases, and doorbell cameras. Understandably, the camera footage we see is old and fuzzy and can be rewound like a VCR, the squad room still has classic telephone rings and typewriter click clack, and these valuable microchip templates that everyone’s after are just a wallet full of old photo negatives.
Fortunately, high-rise camera angles that show the city buildings and grid streets looking not dissimilar to the machine circuitry add subtle visual interest while topless ladies, violence, and F-bombs push the newly created PG-13 rating. There’s a lot of tech talk with letters, dashes, and numbers to make things sound Z-22, 5000 model cool, which honestly we still do, and I would very much like to have that automated sushi machine! Runaway is a thriller crime drama that happens to have science fiction elements. It stands on its own, but it also unfortunately came out the same year as a little film called The Terminator and thus, bombed at the box office. Did you have to see Runaway then to enjoy it now? Perhaps. Does it falter in comparison to that other 1984 robot spectacle? Certainly. If you are expecting all out science fiction, Runaway could be disappointing, however there are a few frights, wild robots, and surprising set pieces that remain memorable. Once unavailable and obscure, now Runaway makes the rounds on FAST services, but for years everyone thought I was making this movie up with Magnum P.I., the lead singer from Kiss, and killer spider robots. There’s humor, mystery, MacGuffins, technology, protagonists to root for, and creepy villains to hate that keep Runaway bemusing, suspenseful, and worth a look today.
Director: Mahalia Belo Writers: Alice Birch, Megan Hunter Stars: Jodie Comer, Joel Fry, Benedict Cumberbatch
Synopsis: A woman tries to find her way home with her newborn while an environmental crisis submerges London in floodwaters.
โIf our lives were to flood, what are the moments that would float to the surface?โ โ Lucille Clifton.
Raven Jackson opened her extraordinary film of Black identity, family, and place All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt with Lucille Cliftonโs inquiry. Although vastly different films; Mahalia Beloโs The End We Start From asks the same question in a more literal manner. Jodie Comer plays an expectant mother (her name is โWomanโ). She is taking a bath, immersed in water and stroking her swollen belly. Outside it is raining. In a short space of time, the rain will become an uncontrollable flood which demolishes her London home. Her waters will break, and her husband R (Joel Fry) will rush her to the hospital where she gives birth to their son.
The flood that R and Woman are experiencing is a country wide crisis. London is no longer inhabitable, and people are fleeing to rural areas and higher ground. R is from a self-sufficient family and because he is returning to his home village and because Woman is cradling the newly born Zeb, the police and army manning the roadblocks let them through.
For a short while, R and Woman are safe enough with Rโs parents (Mark Strong and Nina Sosanya). However, eventually their supplies run out and the rot of the water seeping through the ground means that their garden is no longer flourishing. Leaving Woman and Zeb in the house, R and his parents seek food from emergency shelters and government facilities. Britain is in a state of ecological crisis and people have lost their sense of โcivility.โ R and his father return broken by the experience. The once gentle and sanguine R becomes hushed and bruised by trauma he cannot articulate. The audience and Woman become aware of the ferocious calamity happening in populated areas. Britain is a crisis zone and death, looting, and violence are all that awaits.
Yet, R and Woman must take Zeb with them and find crisis accommodation before they starve. Woman is no longer able to breastfeed as she is starving. R is disoriented. Jodie Comerโs seeking eyes take in the broken world with incomprehension. She was once a hairstylist living in London. She had no preparation for an apocalypse. But then again, who really does?
Separated from R at one of the emergency shelters, she becomes friends with O (Katherine Waterson) who is also a mother to a young child. They bond over not only the weight of the crisis they are witnessing but the pressures of motherhood itself. O is far more cynical and rebellious than Woman. Oโs embracing determination leads to Woman and O moving across the country to find a safe harbour commune run by a former financial scion. โRich people who make artisan bread,โ O quips. However, the island commune is somewhere they can raise their children safely and escape a world gone mad.
As Woman and O undertake their perilous journey to the commune, they come across those who would harm and those who will help. One person who helps is an unnamed man (Benedict Cumberbatch) who is going in the opposite direction. He feeds O, Woman, and their children. They dance and drink to find a small respite from the horrors they have faced. He tells the women that the commune exists, and it is the safest place to raise their children. When Woman asks why he isnโt there himself, he tells them it is because the commune wants to cut itself off from reality. It doesnโt want to remember. The only way he can honor his lost wife and family is to return to where they disappeared.
Essentially what Belo and screenwriter Alice Birch are asking is, what do you sacrifice to survive? What must you do to protect an innocent from the worst aspects of humanity? At times Woman is that innocent, at others it is Zeb, and it had formerly been R and his parents. Jodie Comer plays Woman with such a commanding presence. Every emotion Woman feels is expressed with complete legitimacy. When Comer is joyful the audience feels the tension slip away, even if it is only momentarily. When she is afraid, we are not only afraid for her but of the reality she is facing. The balance between Comer and Watersonโs personalities is exquisite. They both take turns of being mothers not only to each otherโs children but themselves.
As Woman flashes back to her life with R, we find out that she was revitalized by his presence. She suffered intense depression soon after they met because of the sudden death of her parents. Their quickly flirtatious romance became deeper because he was her caregiver. Her fear of death inspired her to have a child, โSomething I could protect. Something I would die for.โ
All of Womanโs decisions begin to have a logic to them. Leaving one place of protection to find a better one, even if that means extreme risk. She is fighting to safeguard her family. There is both a micro and macro reading of The End We Start From. In a time of disaster, everyone is fighting to stay alive. It can be a collective effort or individualist. On a smaller scale it is asking what a woman, specifically named โWoman,โ will do to keep those she loves safe and together. When the world floods โ what do you save?
Mahalia Beloโs debut feature is beautifully shot by Suzie Lavelle who points her camera towards not only the landscape of a waterlogged Britain, but also at Comerโs face which is perhaps the strongest narrative device in the film. It is modestly budgeted, and Belo uses her most expensive shots very well. Waterson, Fry, and side actors such as Gina McKee, Mark Strong, and Benedict Cumberbatch all turn in solid performances. However, without Jodie Comer there would be little to distinguish The End We Start From in relation to many other crisis-dystopia narratives.
The End We Start From is adapted from Megan Hunterโs novel of the same name. The novel itself was episodic and sparse and Birch has tried to fill in the ellipses of Hunterโs writing and translate them into an effective script. Ultimately, the film does get lost in places and begins to meander. The audience can understand the metaphors of water, motherhood, survival, and catastrophe. The idea of a world suddenly exploded both by a new life which requires constant care and the background of a land sinking beneath everyoneโs feet leaving them disconnected, desperate, and confused. The End We Start From is a little too concerned with telling the audience what is going on rather than letting them infer what is quite apparent. Ultimately, any time spent with Jodie Comer giving a serious dramatic performance is never wasted, and The End We Start From utilizes her prodigious talent.
Back when the cinema was male-dominated and observed, the female body was the only communication tool. Directors showcased their desires, perversion, fears, infatuation, or repulsion through the lens, the camera angle, and the shot. It always had a woman at the center of the tale and usually involved the woman whose face and body the camera โand the director- loved.
Until our female and queer directors became full-blown veterans, working their way through bigger and more solid projects, as they sank their feet into the land of filmmaking, framing the male body and face differently from how hardcore โheterosexualโ male directors did. Queer and female filmmakers not only gave a more sympathetic, less aggressive inspection of the female body and sexuality, but they deconstructed traditional masculinity by making men the object of desire, flamboyance, and dissolution of the conventional power dynamics.ย
Those thoughts and more came to me as I watched a young Harris Dickinson unravel in Beach Rats โdirector Eliza Hittmanโs beautiful meditation on poverty, sexuality, masculinity, coming-of-age, and existence in a small town in which time stretches forever.
Hittman accentuates Dickinsonโs aesthetics for the role, perfectly encapsulating his fragility, sensitivity, lack of solid acting chops, and his visible discomfort with being watched and seen all the time. Not only was Frankie an uncomfortable young man in his skin, but so was Dickinson, hurled on himself, hiding in bed, under the covers, or even using his cap as an armor to shield his features from the world, sometimes wearing it backward just to appear cool in front of his buddies, whose company he prefers to his girlfriend, or pulling a hoodie down to cover his face as he stays in bed next to a client after sleeping with him.
Hittman uses the female (supposed) protagonist role to emphasize the mystery that is Frankieโs body and sexuality. Madeline Weinstein plays the girlfriend, Simone, with such playful flirtatious beauty. Yes, she is a small-town girl as much as Frankie, but her self-reliance and accomplishment make her bolder and more assured than him. She knows she wants him, and what she wants him to do to her. When sheโs after something, she gets it. But Frankie is gay to the bone, fighting a reality that is becoming visible more and more as days go by. Heโs awkward and scared, unable to comprehend what to do with his body, not just with his girlfriend but with all the male clients that he picks online. All of his sex scenes are passive. He just lies down and waits for others to make a move, and take the steps necessary to access his body. He doesnโt complain or express a specific desire, heโs justโฆthere. Thatโs scary and makes Simone as frustrated as he is sometimes, unsure of what she can do with his body.
That body is Hittmanโs playground. Dickinson becomes the clay she kneads for transmitting Frankieโs submissiveness and fascination with the men he meets online, his wide-eyed wonder at them exploring his body, guiding him into a dark world heโs desperately trying to become part of. Hittman perfectly blocks Dickinson, going with the camera too deep into his face, making every blemish, every freckle visible. She shows his nudity without exploiting his body, always stopping at the moment when it would become too much, and she shoots him in all awkward angles, sometimes confining him to the farthest end of the frame as if heโs in a tight chamber that is slowly closing in on him.
Dickinsonโs existence there in the movie, as all those peopleโs sexual experiment, being caressed, kissed, held, touched, and traced, fingers clutched, grabbed, and stroked him, reminds me of another actor who has never been afraid to show flimsiness on screen, and whose beauty and sensitivity were used as a pinnacle on which an entire movie was built, River Phoenix as Mike Waters in Gus Van Santโs My Own Private Idaho.
Van Sant is one of the most prominent faces in the New Queer Cinema wave and among the most famous contributors to the queer gaze on the screen. Seeing Nicole Kidman or Uma Thurman โtwo of the sexiest, most sought-after stars of the 90s- through his lens was something else, his camera beautified them, glorified them, and hinted at their femininity but it wasnโt as fetishizing as how these two stunning women were seen through the lens of other more traditionally โheteronormativeโ filmmakers.
So when someone as beautifully fragile, as airy and transparent as River Phoenix stands in front of Van Santโs camera, itโs obvious how the result is breathtakingly different than anything heโs been in before. As his name describes, Phoenix is an artist who self-combusts and turns to ashes by the end of each role, then reemerges, alive and vibrant for the next. Unfortunately, his real-life sad story showed how much that burning out ate him up from the inside, that by a very young age, there was nothing left in him, but thatโs for another conversation. In My Own Private Idaho, Phoenix is a fragment, a tool in the hands of the director. He compounds his openness and presence by playing a narcoleptic who suffers constant blackouts โwhich might grimly allude to a past of sexual abuse- and gets lost inside his head a lot of times.
The unwilling sleepiness or the blackouts, the flashbacks here and there, Van Sant uses Mikeโs frail form to capture a sensation, to illustrate male vulnerability. Long shots enhance his smallness in the middle of a vast, collapsing world. Close-ups and blocking shots enhance his exposure, allowing the camera to linger on his beautiful, delicate features, especially in scenes when heโs mid-blackout, curled in on himself, carried around, hugged, touched, or even watched in fascination or awe, by his clients or the love of his life, fellow hustler Scott (Keanu Reeves). Although the film is tricky, giving us his subjective POV at times, Van Sant objectifies Mike, twisting and bending his body to become a mattress for what others choose to do with it.ย
While Hittman doesnโt get us inside Frankieโs thoughts in Beach Rats, Van Sant tries to show audiences the chaotic, jumbled mess that is Mikeโs head. The camera cuts between extreme close-ups of parts of his face, then interjects with random nature scenes or a mythical mother figure, Van Sant gets us inside his head, maybe even his body while Hittman keeps us strictly outward, with a โbody no soulโ rule. While Van Santโs hustler is more dreamy, and poetic, Hittmanโs is realistic and confused, eyeing the world in wonder but never from a contemplative POV. We see the world through Frankieโs subjective lens, but we get inside Mikey, which is not always a fun place to be.
Movies like Beach Rats and My Own Private Idaho dig at unconventional male sexuality and how the discomfort arising from denying oneโs truth or being haunted by the invisibility of it can lead to destructive repercussions for those young men. Mike is a less fortunate man than Frankie, but they are both sensual young men, exploited through harsh circumstances, poverty, and lack of proper guidance from an adult figure. They both grapple at whatever they can get from life, living small lives in small towns. Mike is a tumbleweed in the wind, with no roots, no origins, offering his body to strangers like a sacrificial monk. Frankie plays night games of roulette with strangers, seeking a truth he hides from everyone around him, compromising his safety and integrity, and even becoming a threat sometimes to those who seek pleasure from his youth. Itโs a strange entry into the land of masculinity, deconstructed and awkwardly brought together like puzzle pieces from hell, only in the hands of acclaimed directors like Eliza Hittman and Gus Van Sant, passionate actors like the late River Phoenix and Harris Dickinson, this hell becomes a fun place to watch.
This week on Women InSession, we talk about the Best Actress race and speculate on how it unfolds as the Oscar season continues! There are some compelling narratives this year and it will be interesting to see what happens come nomination morning.
Panel: Kristin Battestella, Zita Short
On that note, check out this week’s show and let us know what you think in the comment section. Thanks for listening and for supporting the InSession Film Podcast!
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Director: Nikolaj Arcel Writers: Nikolaj Arcel, Anders Thomas Jensen, Ida Jessen Stars: Mads Mikkelsen, Amanda Collin, Gustav Lindh
Synopsis: The story of Ludvig Kahlen who pursued his lifelong dream: To make the heath bring him wealth and honor.
I suppose one doesnโt have to be an experienced dramaturg to observe that it can be difficult to shape the struggles of farmers hoping to achieve agricultural development into conventionally entertaining drama. When films attempt to delve deep into the minutiae of collectivized farming or vernalization, it inevitably brings forth memories of early Soviet cinema. Filmmakers as diverse as Sergei Eisenstein and Oleksandr Dovzhenko were once encouraged to make films that would help to promote agricultural policies that were being enacted by the government. In many cases, these filmmakers chose to deviate from the propaganda playbook and turn what could have been a superficial celebration of the Party Line into a thoughtful meditation on the moral responsibility that farmers have to preserve the beauty of the natural environment. In their way, these were harsh, morally fraught pictures that exhibited a touch of misanthropy in projecting a vision of the natural environment as a pure vessel that will inevitably be corrupted at the hands of greedy humans. As cinema began to progress beyond this form of propaganda picture, this peculiar micro-genre began to fade away, but its influence continues to linger on.
Just look at Nikolaj Arcelโs The Promised Land (2023), which is far more conventional than the likes of Earth (1930) and The General Line (1929), in its form and content. In spite of all this, it still displays a similar interest in dramatizing the conflict between flawed, selfish human beings and their pledge to cultivate land on ethical terms. The script, which is loosely based on the story of real-life figure Ludvig Kahlen, opens in 1755 during the reign of King Frederick V of Denmark. Kahlen, portrayed by Mads Mikkelsen, is depicted as an ambitious army veteran who hopes to improve his social status by establishing a settlement on the barren Jutland moorland. The Royal Danish Court gives him permission to carry out his plans but, upon arriving in the region, he soon comes into conflict with Frederik de Schinkel (Simon Bennebjerg), a local nobleman who aims to prevent Kahlen from gaining influence over the local populace. Kahlenโs approach to cultivating the land initially fails to pay dividends but he begins to provide results when he takes on Romani travelers and former employees of de Schinkel as laborers. However, the rivalry between the two men quickly causes a breakdown in communication between Kahlen and members of the ruling class; placing him in the unenviable position of negotiating with his primary adversary.
The film is chock-full of what could charitably be called โold-fashionedโ storytelling devices and crams a considerable number of subplots into its relatively brief running time. It is, I suppose, admirable that Nikolaj Arcel still has a desire to make the sort of earnest, unabashedly cheesy historical epics that have largely fallen out of favor in the past few decades. His filmmaking sensibilities remain firmly rooted in the 1990s, in ways that are both charming and irritating. On the one hand, he does have an eye for stunning vistas and a willingness to indulge in sentimentality. On the other hand, he has a tendency to put too much on his plate and that doesnโt leave him the time to properly flesh out all of the components of the narrative that the film flirts with exploring. You can see why he wanted to make a film that happened to be a romantic tragedy and a tender domestic drama and a handsomely mounted period piece but he doesnโt fully succeed in stringing these disparate segments of the film together.
The Promised Land is arguably at its most interesting in its second half, when it threatens to wade into the somewhat murky debate over whether the ends justify the means when it comes to fortifying a recently formed community. Kahlenโs newly established settlement is strengthened when the government agrees to send fifty North German settlers to live and work on his land. They are shown to be hard-working and effective in legitimizing Kahlenโs settlement project but are also revealed to hold racist prejudices that put them at odds with the more progressive-minded Kahlen. Itโs at this point that the film dips its toe into previously uncharted waters and brushes up against thorny questions that it has no real intention of grappling with. As this is a feel-good drama, Kahlen is never fully placed in conflict with the German settlers and doesnโt have to make a choice that would force him to compromise his values. Itโs disappointing that Arcel chose to nip this under-explored plot development in the bud but it does hint at the fact that The Promised Land didnโt have to go down quite so smoothly.
Director: David Ayer Writer: Kurt Wimmer Stars: Jason Statham, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Bobby Naderi
Synopsis: One man’s brutal campaign for vengeance takes on national stakes after he is revealed to be a former operative of a powerful and clandestine organization known as “Beekeepers”.
Jason Statham is an action genre legend. Not only is that evident by his ever-expanding suite of movies including The Expendables series, Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels, The Transporter series, The Fast And The Furious series, and more, but he has somehow continuously improved his box office numbers year over year. Excluding sequel movies, The Beekeeper has an estimated $16.8 million opening weekend beating opening numbers from 2023โs Operation Fortune: Ruse De Guerre ($3.1 million) and 2021โs Wrath Of Man ($8.1 million). With all that being said, The Beekeeper stands on its own with a delightfully fun revenge tale that has surprisingly deep cuts toward socio-political issues plaguing the world.
The Beekeeper starts with a brief but profound interaction between Adam Clay (Statham) and Eloise Parker (Phylicia Rashad). Clay has been renting a barn from Parker and living quietly as a beekeeper. The audience gets the sense that he views her as a mother figure as he remarks that โnobody has ever taken care of me beforeโ after she invites him to her house for dinner. Immediately after, we see Parker fall victim to a phishing scam in a sequence that sets off the movieโs events. Not being tech-savvy, Parker hands her passwords to a data mining group that wipes her accounts, totaling over $2 million. Clay later explains that Parker was an educator who was a signatory for a childrenโs charityโs community bank account, and the guilt over being scammed leads her to end her life. Phylicia Rashad is captivating in this scene as she unwittingly talks to who she believes to be a good-natured IT specialist on the phone. She hesitates before completing the wire transfer that gives her password away, but her empathy for who sheโs talking to, possibly losing their job because of their โerrorsโ propels her to complete the transaction. Rashad is a living legend with almost as long of a career as Jason Statham has been alive. The entire interaction feels realistic as the scammers party while the phone is muted and exude empathy and kindness as they play their victim.
As Clay comes into Parkerโs house to have dinner with her, he discovers her body with a gun nearby. Almost simultaneously, he meets her daughter Verona (Emmy Raver-Lampman), an FBI agent hellbent on avenging her mother. She doesnโt realize, though, that her life has intersected with a Beekeeper. Yes, that is capitalized purposely as Clay is not just a beekeeper, but heโs a Beekeeper who happens also to be a beekeeper. We find out later that the Beekeepers are a classified program that operates outside of the law to maintain the hive of justice that the judicial system fumbles occasionally. This movie has some messaging to get acrossโstealing from the elderly is worse than stealing from children because they often keep their victimization to themselves or have nobody to care for them. Clay, however, cared about Eloise Parker and will avenge her death to the very top of the hive if he must.
The scenes that follow are various acts of violence that unfold in increasingly hilarious ways including burning the call center that called Parker down to the ground, the manager who spoke to Parker being embarrassed and killed alongside his murder-for-hire squad in Clayโs barn after they try to avenge their call center, and Clay not only killing a fellow Beekeeper after theyโre commissioned to terminate him by the CIA, but also incapacitating an FBI SWAT team and taking out a militia of former Seal Team 6 and associated veterans called in by Wallace Westwyld (Jeremy Irons). Westwyld is an interesting character in this movie as he represents someone who tries to separate themselves from the direct action by hiding behind droves of cannon fodder. He mentions that he has enough money, but he also scoffs when asked whether money or power are more enticing to him. We never get his answer, but this reminds me of the mindset of some corporate executives and politicians who exhibit Machiavellianism. Speaking of, while Westwyld is the hand behind various waves of forces going against, Derek Danforth (Josh Hutcherson) is the CEO who funds and propagates the web of deception throughout his company Danforth Enterprises, and its subsidiaries that Clay has his sights on. I should take a moment to acknowledge that this movie has a fair amount of humor including a healthy amount of bee puns that somehow even made the only confirmed dad in the movie Agent Wiley (Bobby Naderi) roll his eyes. I, however, love dad jokes and loved the humor in this movie! This movie not only gives us Statham in a full beekeeping suit, provides an overabundance of bee puns and facts, and boasts evil frat bro Josh Hutcherson, but the audience is also rewarded with a twist I wonโt spoil here. That twist, however, was so fun, and pretty much paid for my ticket to watch the movie a second time on its own. Without getting too much into the end of the movie and spoiling any specifics about the pain Clay inflicts on his targets, take these snapshotsโone pickup truck minigun, four amputated fingers, and many, many bodies hitting the floor.
The Beekeeper is a fun original action film that will make the audience writhe in their seats, but still want more. The action is delicious and the socio-political messaging is almost too real. Watching this movie, I found myself rooting for Jason Stathamโs character a bit more than I typically do, as within the past couple of years, my grandmother was the victim of a similar scam. She had a strong support system and most of the damage was able to be reversed, but not everyone has that outcomeโthis is why we root for movie vigilantes who target the corrupt and defend the helpless. Not only does Statham do a great job throwing punches and keeping bees during this movieโs very action-packed runtime, but if youโre a fan of standard action films, this is a solid entry that will make it into my comfort action movie rotation once released. Of course, I canโt let that statement go by without a last-minute reminder to support physical media as itโs never a bad thing to have a beautiful movie collection sitting on a shelf.
Director: Jeymes Samuel Writer: Jeymes Samuel Stars: LaKeith Stanfield, Anna Diop, RJ Cyler
Synopsis: Struggling to find a better life, Clarence is captivated by the power of the rising Messiah and soon risks everything to carve a path to a divine existence.
A comedic anachronistic film can be excellent. We all get a kick out of poking fun at the past or seeing a silly character wedge themselves into great historical events. It puts the past into a different perspective or makes us understand we shouldn’t take something from so long ago so seriously. If The Book of Clarence could figure out what it is and if it leaned harder into the comedy of its situation, it could have been a joy to watch. The film just never quite gets there.
It’s got a funny premise, a cast with some comedy bonafides, but it feels flat. Even with a strange scene of Clarence (LaKeith Stanfield) and Elijah (RJ Cyler) floating through the air after getting high, the concept of how to visually portray an idea that isn’t a light bulb, or the strange and beautiful group dance scene at a party. Other than that, the whole film really takes itself seriously from the title cards that look like they come from a ’50s or ’60s biblical epic to the close ups of unfunny faces. Even the parts with clear jokes in them just don’t land. They sit in long takes. It’s hard to tell if it’s the product of Jeymes Samuel’s writing, directing, or the often overwrought music he produced for the film. It’s a confluence that doesn’t make for a cohesive vision.
It’s obvious that The Book of Clarence is borrowing and paying homage to other genres. From Shakespeare to biblical epics to Black struggle films like Boyz n the Hood or Dope, Samuel attempts to put them all together in order to say something, but his film doesn’t say anything. Especially in the third act, which nearly loses all attempts at humor for a maudlin ending that then tries to subvert itself at the very end. It’s probably easiest to blame Clarence himself, who has no personality.
He’s a hustler and an atheist. He loves his mother and despises his twin brother, the apostle Thomas, for walking out on them. Other than that, we know very little about him. He is whatever he needs to be at the moment he is in the film. In one scene he’s suddenly an extremely skilled fighter, taking on Barabbas (Omar Sy) in the gladiator arena, but in a scene several scenes later he’s running scared of local crime lord Jedediah’s (Eric Kofi-Abrefa) henchmen. Even his smooth talk is just monotone and flat.
Even though the film doesn’t hit in every aspect, it is visually interesting. Samuel and cinematographer Rob Hardy create some great sequences. The fight scene in the gladiator arena is striking, but the opening scene is even more engaging. The Book of Clarence begins with a chariot race through the streets of Jerusalem. Clarence and his right hand man Elijah in one chariot, Mary Magdalene (Teyana Taylor), yes, that Mary Magdalene, in the other. They dodge merchants and pedestrians as well as street urchins trying to trip them up. It’s a lot of fun and exciting to boot. It also begins the incredible sub-subplot of the film. Without going into too much detail because it may affect the way the people see this third act surprise, but just to say, watch the beggar from the beginning of the race throughout the film, it’s a stroke of genius where his story ends up.
The Book of Clarence is going to be someone’s exact jam. They will love it from beginning to end. For the rest of us, it’s just kind of O.K. Unfortunately, Life of Brian it is not, so if you’re looking for that kind of a film, it’s best to avoid this one. The funny parts are few and far between and the message is lost somewhere around the half hour mark. The third act drags and has a near complete tonal shift, which it never really earns. It was a valiant effort toward a genre mashup that never finds the right balance.
This week on the InSession Film Podcast, we discuss our Top 5 Most Anticipated Movies of 2024! There are some compelling filmmakers, sequels and projects coming out this year and we had a lot of fun dive into a few of of the films we’re most looking forward to this year. Plus, we also have a rousing conversation about the current awards season and how it’s shaping up.
On that note, check out this week’s show and let us know what you think in the comment section. Thanks for listening and for supporting the InSession Film Podcast!
– Awards Season (2:20) This year’s awards season is beginning to take shape with the recent nominations of the DGA, PGA and SAG. Additionally, the Golden Globes and Critics Choice just had their ceremonies over the last week to add fuel to the fire. It appears that Oppenheimer, Christopher Nolan, Robert Downey Jr. and Da’Vine Joy Randolph, among others are locks for their respective categories. However, some are still up in there. We talk about this and more as we prep for Oscar nomination morning.
– Top 5 Most Anticipated Movies of 2024 (52:22) The InSession Film Awards is one of our favorite shows each year, but it’s a new year and that means new movies to look forward to as we turn the page. 2024 looks to be quite different from last year in terms of big blockbuster appeal, however it does seem to continue the trend of auteurs dominating the landscape. This year we’ll see the likes of Denis Villeneuve, Ridley Scott, Terrence Malick, Steve McQueen, Robert Eggers, Luca Guadagnino, Jeff Nichols, Ethan Coen, Bong Joon-ho, Joshua Oppenheimer and even Francis Ford freakin Coppola. Similarly to Oppenheimer last year, Gladiator 2 and Dune Part Two will bridge the gap between artistry and spectacle, and it should be fascinating to see if audiences respond the same way. There’s only one major superhero film this year in Deadpool 3. For everyone who wanted a reprieve, you’ll be getting one. In many ways, this could be reminiscent to the 2000s in how varied the year was on the whole. Should be really fun! That said, what would be your top 5?
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This week on the InSession Film Podcast, JD is joined by ISF Awards Editor Brian Rowe and Joey Gentile to discuss their reactions to the Golden Globes ceremony! We also talk about the nominations for SAG and DGA, and what they mean for the Oscars race. We’re inching closer and closer to Oscar nomination morning, and with so much happening lately, we had a great time debating how things are unfolding.
On that note, check out this week’s show and let us know what you think in the comment section. Thanks for listening and for supporting the InSession Film Podcast!
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Each year we do a Top 10 list for our awards show, and it’s some of the most fun we have on the podcast. This year was especially exciting as 2023 will go down as an all-timer. Partially because of how it’s defined by Barbenheimer and the successes of other auteurs, but just as noteworthy, its depth is unmatched. There will always be a debate regarding the top end of each year, and 2023 is no different (for reasons I’ll get to below). However; this is a year when 50 films were fighting for spots in my Top 20. It was an astounding year where we saw one gem after another, particularly in the fall season. It was a remarkable year for international cinema. It was an elite year for animation. Directorial debuts were, once again, spectacular. And then there were the auteurs. We saw films from Christopher Nolan, Martin Scorsese, Todd Haynes, Alexander Payne, David Fincher, Michael Mann, Greta Gerwig, Hayao Miyazaki, Wes Anderson, Yorgos Lanthimos, Sofia Coppola, among others. And they all delivered.
We do encourage you to listen to Episode 567 to hear more about our picks, but as we do every year, listed here (after the jump) are my Top 10 Movies of 2022.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse isn’t just the best animated film of 2023 (with all due respect to The Boy and the Heron, which I also love), but it’s probably the best of the decade, so far. Its visuals alone will evoke essays for years to come. The way it utilizes various forms of animation, to not only render evocative world building, but also feature different artistic designs among our heroes is nothing short of sublime. And as if that isn’t enough, the film’s intuitive visuals are deeply connected to its emotional core. It’s stunning. The writing of Miles and Gwen equally offers a great complexity. The way it deconstructs Spider-Man lore as it relates to responsiblity is one of its best traits. Daniel Pemberton’s magnificent score. So much to love and it’s endlessly rewatchable. Click here to listen to our full review.
9. May December
May December has been polarizing amongst audiences, and honestly it’s been strange to see. Sure, it’s tackling a topic that is sensitive, but the film is crystal clear on where it stands as it relates to its Gracie’s actions. I mean, did people not see how the film explores Joe and how he’s been affected? He’s one of the most devastating characters of the year. A little melodrama doesn’t eliminate the emotional backbone of Joe. Speaking of, however, no one weaves melodrama better than Todd Haynes, and boy is that incredible here. He loves examining the faรงade of suburban life. It’s at the core of a lot of his films, including May December, obviously. And for me, it’s some of his best work. Especially when you consider Elizabeth and how she exemplifies the impact of art mimicking the superficialities of real conflict. Click here to listen to our full review.
8. Anatomy of a Fall
Anatomy of a Fall is an engrossing deconstruction of a marriage that Justine Triet structures with remarkable precision. We get just enough detail to question Sandra in the opening scenes, especially over the “what” of it all. There’s debate over forensics, blood spatter, psychology, Daniel’s hearing, and more. Hell, even at the end of the trial we still don’t know for sure what really happened. Instead, the film emphasizes the “why” of it all. Why did these things happen? A question that highlights how often we live our lives without seeing the entire picture, but when it’s put under a microscope everything becomes scrutinized with a vivid clarity. The truth has nowhere to hide when it’s cross-examined in the public domain. To see how that plays out here is excruciating for Sandra, but dramatically gripping. Sandra Huller and Milo Machado-Graner are both astounding. Click here to listen to our full review.
7. All of Us Strangers
All of Us Strangers is my pick for the most moving film of 2023. It absolutely shattered me. We’ve all fantasized about reconnecting with those we’ve loved and lost. If we could see them again, what would we say? How would we react? There’s something about the film’s raw intamacy inside that idea here that just floored me. Adam’s conversations with his parents are full of captivating honesty and longing. You see him become a kid again all while still maintaining the complications of being an adult. Those scenes are tender and poignant. Then there’s everything with Harry and his yearning for connection. The past and the present colliding a deeply meaningful way. With all of his wounds out in the open. Cannot articulate enough how moving it is, featuring some of the best writing of the year in Andrew Haigh’s screenplay. And a cast where all four should be (they won’t, sadly) be Oscar nominated. Click here to listen to our full review.
6. Killers of the Flower Moon
The legacy era of Martin Scorsese might just be my favorite era of Scorsese. It’s remarkably fascinating how ruminative he’s become over the last decade with Silence, The Irishman, and now Killers of the Flower Moon. This is a film that firmly embeds itself within Scorsese’s distinctly patented crime drama formula. It’s not dissimilar to Goodfellas or The Wolf of Wall Street in terms of structure. However, like The Irishman and how it deconstructs legacy, Killers of the Flower Moon is a blistering dissection of tone. It might feature the same rapacious and predatory behavior we see in his other crime films, but it does not (in any way) feature the same diverting qualities. Instead, this lingers in a tragic pathos that is almost arduous to watch. It’s extremely well crafted, as always, however Scorsese is much more doleful and introspective, once again subverting himself. And when you add in the sad irony of the last scene, and you have one of the year’s best movies. Click here to listen to our full review.
5. The Zone of Interest
The Zone of Interest isn’t sophisticated in its concept. Jonathan Glazer simply exhibits a German Nazi family living their utopian life next door to Auschwitz while the horrors of the Holocaust unfold. It demonstrates, not just a coarse and inhumane apathy, but a profoundly disturbing complicity. It’s effective because of what Glazer chooses not to show us. We hear the screams. We hear the gun shots. We see the fires burning. The sound design and production is truly staggering. Additionally, Glazer sets up a dozen cameras around the place to capture the family as they move about freely. There are no close ups. Intimacy is removed. It’s all about capturing the unnerving normalcy of the Hoss family. And the results are harrowing. Click here to listen to our full review.
4. Asteroid City
It’s heartbreaking to witness the recent dismissal of Wes Anderson. Perhaps some are too caught up in the saturated color palette, distinct camera tricks and overall quirkiness of Wes, but his last three features have depicted a filmmaker who’s evolving right in front of us. Asteroid City, alongside The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (Dahl shorts) and The French Dispatch, are much more than aestetics. It’s Anderson at his most experimental. Asteroid City not only plays with structure, it helps inform the film’s ideas on cinema vs the theater, and how both mediums say something about art and interpretation. Additionally, the film features a sorrow we just haven’t seen since The Royal Tenenbaums. Its melancholy comes through on the page, but most notably it’s this remarkable cast and how they tap into that emotion that left me on such a high. It’s also weird. One of Wes’ most idiosyncratic movies to date, and that’s saying something. I hope more people come around on it in time. It’s a special film. Click here to listen to our full review.
3. The Holdovers
The Holdovers has a rigorous warmth to it that undeniable. Sure, it has some of that patented Alexander Payne cynicism, but these characters grow and bond in a way that leaves you with a blazing coziness. The journey, however, is certainly prickly. Paul is belligerent with the little power he has. Angus is volatile. A duality that leads some compelling friction between the two. Mary Lamb is a griveing mother who adds a great dynamic. The three of them found themselves in this unexpected circumstance, but they make the most of it. They start to understand each other in a deeper, more meaningful way by realizing how they’re driven by some sort of sadness. They don’t have much in common on the surface, but underneath they’re all hurting in their own way. And that brings them together. It’s an utter delight. Paul Giamatti with the best performance of his career. Click here to listen to our full review.
2. Past Lives
Past Lives is a tricky film in the sense that half of its production is international, but when you do the math, about 60% of it is spoken in English. So should it be considered for Best International film? Yes. At its core, it’s about two cultures, two languages, crossing paths and creating uncertainty. Nora considered a relationship with Hae Sung, but then decided against it because the literal international distance between them was too much. Then there’s her husband Arthur in one of the most heartbreaking scenes of the year declaring, “you dream in a language I can’t understand…it’s like there’s this whole place inside of you I can’t go.” It’s a moment born out of two cultures crossing paths. And of course, the great bar scene where Nora has to translate for both Arthur and Hae Sung. You can take Past Lives out of international but you can’t take the international out of Past Lives. Click here to listen to our full review.
1. Oppenheimer
Christopher Nolan’s masterpiece. His magnum opus. Oppenheimer isn’t just the best film of the 2020s so far, but of the 21st Century. It’s Nolan at his most operatic. His most ethereal. His most horrific. It’s also a reverberation of an artist who has become wholly consumed with time and its almost transcendent grip on our lives. Once again we see him play with time, weaving fission and fusion storylines into a tapestry of gripping dialogue and chilling stakes. Culminating in a final shot that recontextualizes the beginning of the film and leaving us on a doleful note with one simple phrase: “I believe we did.” It’s an engrossing work of art. Oppenheimer has the scene of the year (gymnasium speech). The score of the year. The best direction of the year. The editing of the decade (maybe 21st Century). And arguably the best leading actor performance of the year (although the whole cast is excellent). Oppenheimer is simply an all-timer. Click here to listen to our full review.
To round out my Top 20, here is the rest of my list: 11) The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (Dahl Shorts) 12) The Boy and the Heron 13) Poor Things 14) The Killer 15) Passages 16) Perfect Days 17) The Taste of Things 18) Ferrari 19) Barbie 20) Priscilla
Let us know what you think. Do you agree or disagree? We’d like to know why. Leave a comment in the comment section below or tweet us @InSessionFilm.
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When you watch hundreds of films a year, things inevitably blur together. What stands out about each title I chose is how vividly memorable they are. Whether it was a scene that continues to replay in my mind, a performance I’m still finding nuances in, the theatrical experience, or simply how the film made me feel, I constructed my favorites based on the movies I just can’t stop thinking about. Or talking about. Or recommending.
Some years, I struggle to fill out a list like this. But 2023 spoiled me rotten with choices. The order of this list of favorites has changed quite a bit, as have my sentiments about these films. Still, I know these are titles I’ll look back on in five or ten years with exceptional fondness. I’d be remiss not to include a few honorable mentions: Still: A Michael J Fox Movieโ My favorite documentary of the year, an honest and hopeful portrait of an icon.Taylor Swift: The Eras Tourโ This glitter-filled celebration of Taylor Swift had me dancing, singing, and swinging my friendship bracelet-arms all through my local theater. The most fun I’ve had at the movies all year. Joy RideโNo movie made me laugh harder than this outrageously funny comedy about a girls’ trip gone array. Elementalโ This Pixar animated movie about water and fire falling for each other is so sweetly charming. Killers of the Flower Moonโ Don’t let the three-and-a-half-hour runtime intimidate you. Martin Scorsese’s epic about a series of murders in the Osage nation is one of his very best. Lily Gladstone’s revelatory performance makes this a must-see.
10. Saltburn
Unlike Origin and Oppenheimer, Saltburn is very much a movie I would hesitate to recommend. It’s bizarre and, honestly, kind of gross. But I loved nearly every minute of it. Oscar-winner Emerald Fennell’s sophomore effort centers on Barry Keoghan, a college student who becomes enamored with a classmate (Jacob Elordi) and spends the summer with his new friend’s exorbitantly wealthy, morally corrupt, eccentric family. Think of Saltburn as a modern, twisted take on The Great Gatsby. (The lush party sequences would make Mr. Gatsby Emerald with jealousy). Every twist is crazier than the last, and Rosamund Pike steals the film with a delicious performance. Sure, Saltburn isn’t going to leave you feeling warm and fuzzy, but sometimes, I prefer to feel horrified and giggling to avoid my own discomfort. Buckle up for some fun.
9. Oppenheimer
After being bitterly disappointed by both Dunkirk and Tenet, I went into the second half of my Barbenheimer double-feature somewhat begrudgingly. While I do think the thin writing and character development are worthy of criticism, Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer is undeniably an otherwise finely crafted cinematic achievement with visuals that will, no pun intended, blow you away. But, the main reason I hold Oppenheimer in such high esteem and don’t hesitate to recommend it is Cillian Murphy’s enigmatic performance as the father of the atomic bomb. I have adored Murphy’s work for nearly 20 years. He is one of our finest character actors, and he has never been better, commanding nearly every frame of this three-hour drama. Yes, the movie boasts an absolutely stacked cast of A-listers, but the film suffers when Murphy is not on screen. He draws you in and keeps you invested, and keeps you guessing. Oppenheimer is ultimately a cautionary tale about ego, politics, and power, a true, modern epic.
8. American Fiction
The third directorial debut on my list, AmericanFiction introduced us to the film-making prowess of Cord Jefferson in a strikingly funny satire about the commodification of marginalized voices. Jeffrey Wright gives a career-defining performance as a long-overlooked author who finally gets the praise he’s been looking for. But only after conceiving of a book that leans into every Black stereotype he can think up during a drink-fueled late-night writing binge. Sterling K. Brown co-stars as Wright’s wayward brother in one of the year’s best ensemble casts.
7. Monster
Japanese master Hirokazu Kore-eda has long been one of my “I’ll see anything they make filmmakers.” And Monster might be my very favorite work of his to date. An accusation of bullying collides with the worlds of the mother, the teacher, and the communities involved. As always, Kore-eda fills in moral complexities with delicate shades of grey, each stroke adding nuance and complexity to a story and characters we think we have figured out. Then Monster switches to the perspective of the young boys involved in the incident and transforms into something else entirely, even more richly told than the drama that came before. Simply beautiful.
6. Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret
A wonderfully sweet adaptation of Judy Blume’s classic novel, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret delves into girlhoodโwith its epic firsts, discoveries, and lingering magic of childhood wonderโand the horrors of puberty and impending teenage angst. Rachel McAdams gives one of the best performances of the year and her career as a mother doing her best to support her daughter (Abby Ryder Fortson) while making mistakes and finding her own way. I loved how much empathy Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margarethad to offer all of its characters. I so desperately wish this movie was available to me as a lost 12-year-old. But, even as a somewhat put-together twenty-something, Margaret still had a lot to teach me, and for that, I am grateful.
5. Past Lives
Past Lives snuck up on me. The more time passed, the higher it climbed on my favorites list. I just can’t get this movie out of my head. Nora’s (Greta Lee) life in Toronto becomes unsettled when she reconnects with a childhood friend from South Korea (Teo Yoo). John Magaro is excellent as Nora’s sweet, unassuming husband. This trio of actors adds so much depth and warmth to Celine Song’s already rich directorial debut. As the daughter of immigrants, this story of fractured identities, dual cultures, and what-ifs deeply resonated with me. But there’s so much to dig into and relate to, regardless of your background. Past Lives is quietly devastating.
4. Poor Things
Given that Frankenstein ismy favorite book of all time, it’s no surprise that I ended up loving a movie about an eccentric scientist (Willem Dafoe) who reanimates a corpse (Emma Stone). In keeping with his delightfully weird sensibility, Yorgos Lanthimos has given us a bold cinematic feast of color, sex, and epic costumes. Stone is fabulous as a woman (re)discovering her zest for life, and Mark Ruffalo is a great, wickedly charming villain.
3. A Thousand and One
Teyana Taylor is magnetic as a young mother trying to do what is best for herself and her son against the tide of an increasingly gentrified New York City, many broken systems, and little support. A.V. Rockwell delivers a confident directorial debut; her script is packed with ideas about generational trauma, race, love, and family. A Thousand and One establishes Rockwell as a major film-making talent and serves as a loving ode to the quiet, fierce strength and loyalty of Black women.
2. Anatomy of a Fall
What stands out the most to me about my experience watching Anatomy of a Fall is how deeply engrossed I was, sitting at the edge of my seat, gripping the armrest, afraid to move, afraid to blink for fear that I’d miss a line of dialogue or a micro-expression that would give away a clue to the mystery. โSandra Hรผller gives the performance of the year as an author accused of murdering her husband, with much of the trial hinging on the testimony of her young, visually impaired son (Milo Machado Graner). Writer and director Justine Triet brilliantly explores the uncomfortable truths of marriage, motherhood, and sexuality in this riveting drama that you won’t soon forget.
1. Origin
I promised myself I’d only use the word “masterpiece” once throughout this piece, and it’s a word befitting of Origin, Ava DuVernay’s sweeping reimaging of Isabel Wilkerson’s best-seller, “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents.” I was awe-struck by how DuVernay moves through time to recontextualize our shared history in a deeply empathetic drama. Origin opened my eyes to a new way of storytelling, and to add to that, a film has not so profoundly moved me in a very long time. A cinematic magic trick that I encourage you all to see immediately.
This week on the InSession Film Podcast, for Part 2 of our InSession Film Awards, we discuss our Top 10 movies of 2023! It ended up being a very good year for film (maybe the best of the decade so far?) and we had a really fun discussion counting down the very best that cinema had to offer at the movies this last year.
2023 will go down as a defining year for movies. Between Barbenheimer and the success of other movies from auteurs, all while many conventional blockbusters suffered, there seems to be a shift in audience appetite. It was also the deepest year for film in the InSession Film era. The top end will always be debatable, but it had a depth that is unmatched. International cinema was remarkable. It was an elite year for animation. When the dust settles, we may be looking back at 2023 as an all-time year for film.
If you want to help support us, there are several ways you can help us and we’d absolutely appreciate it. Every penny goes directly back into supporting the show and we are truly honored and grateful. Thanks for your support and for listening to the InSession Film Podcast!
Directors: Samantha Jayne and Arturo Perez Jr Writer: Tina Fey Stars: Angourie Rice, Renรฉe Rapp, Jon Hamm
Synopsis: Cady Heron is a hit with the Plastics, an A-list girl clique at her new school when she makes the mistake of falling for Aaron Samuels, the ex-boyfriend of alpha Plastic Regina George.
Somewhere in between Mark Watersโ 2004 film scripted by Tina Fey there was a slew of high school comedies. High school comedies are a genre unto themselves. Musical high school comedies possibly reached peak popularity with Ryan Murphyโs television show Glee. In 2024, audiences are given the filmed version of the musical (book written by Tina Fey) and it is basically the Glee-ification of Mean Girls.
The baseline to any successful filmed musical has one primary element to consider; are any of the songs memorable? If the answer is no, then the movie hasnโt done its job. While the music written by Jeff Richmond and Nell Benjamin might be a great live experience, it doesnโt do much as it translates on screen, but it also doesnโt fail dismally. Directors Samantha Jayne and Arturo Perez Jr. have assembled a mostly talented cast (the standouts being Auliสปi Cravalho, Jaquel Spivey, Renรฉe Rapp, and whatever screen time is given to Avantika), but theyโve made the film so toothless it doesnโt capture what made Mean Girls 2004 so imminently quotable and relatable.
For anyone unfamiliar with the story, it goes as follows. Cady Heron (Angourie Rice) has lived in Kenya most of her life with her academic mother (Jenna Fischer). She was home-schooled in Kenya, and dreams of a new world where she can meet people her own age. That โdreamโ comes true when Mrs. Heron and Cady relocate to Chicago and Cady is enrolled in North Shore High School. Finding high school more impossible to negotiate than the open plains filled with predators and prey in Kenya, Cady soon finds out that cliques exist, and they are dangerous.
In the musical, the film is opened and closed by โnarratorsโ Janis ‘Imi’ike (Auliสปi Cravalho, also known as the voice of Moana) and Damian Hubbard (Jaquel Spivey), two openly queer outsider students. Their number โA Cautionary Taleโ is possibly one of the wittiest pieces of original music. On Cadyโs first day they notice that she has no idea how to fit in anywhere and ends up eating lunch in a bathroom stall. They take her under their wing and tell her to avoid, at all costs, The Plastics. Especially โQueen Beeโ Regina George (Rapp). The remaining two Plastics are the emotionally fragile but attention seeking Gretchen Wieners (Bebe Woods) and dumb as a box of hair Karen Shetty (Avantika).
Somehow, Cady attracts the attention of Regina and is given the opportunity to sit with The Plastics on a probationary period. Janis, nursing a long-standing wound about how her former friend Regina treated her, sees this as an opportunity for Cady to act as a double-agent and help destroy her nemesis and the schoolโs โApex Predator.โ Cady is torn because she thinks Regina and The Plastics might not be so bad after all, until she falls for Aaron Samuels (Christopher Briney) and Regina โstealsโ him from her. Thus, Cady becomes, over time, the person planning Reginaโs downfall and becoming her replacement.
Inevitably Mean Girls 2024 is going to be saddled with comparisons to the original film, especially as a lot of dialogue is recycled from it. Tina Fey and Tim Meadows reprise their original roles from the first film. Principal Duvall is still wearing a cast on his arm. Ms. Norbury is still trying to get students to engage with advanced calculus. They do adequate work in a film they are well aware is sanitized to the point of being toothless; there is a line when rapper and mathlete Kevin Ganatra (Mahi Alam) does his Beastie Boys x whatever performance at the school talent contest that makes it clear that everything needs to stay PG-13.
While the film is more openly queer and representative of high school in the 2020s (or 2017 when the musical was first performed) it loses the essential message of the first film by erasing most of the language that Fey was using to get her point across about the damage young female identifying students to others. Without the words โslutโ and โwhoreโ the basic premise is that if young women use these words to describe other young women it makes it okay for guys to also.
The thesis of Feyโs original adaptation becomes so watered down that it barely registers. Mean girls are supposed to be mean. They are supposed to be harmful. Renรฉe Rapp looks like she could physically snap anyone in two, but her mind games are played down. Her dissatisfaction with her Plastic Mom (Busy Phillips) is the excuse given for her behaviour. Gone is Rachel McAdamsโ pure vindictiveness and anger.
Unfortunately, the weakest link is Angourie Rice as Cady. Because the audience is supposed to follow her obsessional journey from nervous and pleasant outsider to Plastic through song and dance instead of written character development it just seems like a too quick pivot. Angourie is a talented performer and has managed to carve out quite a career for herself in America, but Cady is a role ill-suited to her.
By far, the best characters are Janis and Damian; with Jaquel Spivey outpacing his filmic counterpart Daniel Franzese. Damian singing the iCarly theme song en franรงais at the Christmas Concert better than Regina George landing with a thud after the โRockinโ Around the Poleโ number. And although Janis ‘Imi’ike might lack a little of the sustained rage of Janis (Sarkis)Ian (Lizzie Caplan) itโs her song โIโd Rather Be Meโ which is the best summation of the musicalโs themes.
It is possible to hold the opposing views that a film is both entertaining and disappointing. Mean Girls 2024 is a prime example of the phenomenon. It is entertaining. Most of the jokes still land and some of the new ones arenโt bad. The addition of โinternet viralityโ is apropos to the contemporary period. Hashtag #coolmom (like and follow) who is living through her daughter. The Burn Book still exists. The losers still get in the car to go shopping. You canโt sit with us, and hair is so big because itโs filled with secrets and there is that one person who still โDoesnโt even go here.โ There are some meta-textual flourishes and of the moment cameos (and one that will delight fans of the original film).
Gretchen Wieners is played so sympathetically that instead of just going to form another clique she can rule over she has the awakening that maybe sheโs actually deserving of more. Character growth is what the original film was about, but Gretchen was the example of a character who didnโt grow or change.
So, we circle back to the question, is Mean Girls 2024 successful? The answer is a tepid yes and no. There is some excellent choreography and staging, but it isnโt as impressive as one would hope for a big screen adventure. Does it do much more than remind us how the original film spoke to a generation of people? It really doesnโt. Mean Girls 2024 canโt be called a bad film per se, because thatโs underestimating the parts that are polished and fun. But if we consider Senior Year a Netflix original basically trod the same path in 2022 (and examined the same themes of internet popularity, teen competition, etc.), Mean Girls 2024 doesnโt do a lot to add to the ongoing conversation about bullying, personal responsibility and authenticity. Itโs fine โ but itโs not cheesy fries good and itโs not โbasically feminism.โ
This week on the InSession Film Podcast, we featured our 11th annual InSession Film Awards! During Part 1, we discussed the very best that 2023 had to offer in terms of film. We dove into everything from movie surprises, to overlooked movies, to the best acting performances and so much more!
For every category, we each listed our own nominations and winners. Winners are highlighted in bold.
Best Actor
Brendan:
Zac Efron, The Iron Claw
Paul Giamatti, The Holdovers
Koji Yakusho, Perfect Days
Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer
Teo Yoo, Past Lives
JD:
Jeffrey Wright, American Fiction
Paul Giamatti, The Holdovers
Cillian Murphey, Oppenheimer
Andrew Scott, All of Us Strangers
Koji Yakusho, Perfect Days
Jay:
Zac Efron, The Iron Claw
Jamie Foxx, The Burial
Paul Giamatti, The Holdovers
Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer
Andrew Scott, All of Us Strangers
Ryan:
Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer
Andrew Scott, All of Us Strangers
Christian Friedel, The Zone of Interest
Michael Fassbender, The Killer
Franz Rogowski, Passages
Best Actress
Brendan:
Greta Lee, Past Lives
Natalie Portman, May December
Alma Pรถysti, Fallen Leaves
Margot Robbie, Barbie
Cailee Spaeny, Priscilla
JD:
Cailee Spaeny, Priscilla
Sandra Hรผller, Anatomy of a Fall
Greta Lee, Past Lives
Natalie Portman, May December
Emma Stone, Poor Things
Jay:
Jennifer Lawrence, No Hard Feelings
Greta Lee, Past Lives
Margot Robbie, Barbie
Emma Stone, Poor Things
Cailee Spaeny, Priscilla
Ryan:
Greta Lee, Past Lives
Carey Mulligan, Maestro
Cailee Spaeny, Priscilla
Aunjunue Ellis-Taylor, Origin
Natalie Portman, May December
Best Actor Supporting Role
Brendan:
Jamie Bell, All of Us Strangers
Milo Machado-Graner, Anatomy of a Fall
Holt McCallany, The Iron Claw
Charles Melton, May December
Dominic Sessa, The Holdovers
JD:
Charles Melton, May December
Jamie Bell, All of Us Strangers
Ben Whishaw, Passages
Milo Machado-Graner, Anatomy of a Fall
Ryan Gosling, Barbie
Jay:
Robert Downey Jr., Oppenheimer
Ryan Gosling, Barbie
Holt McCallany, The Iron Claw
Charles Melton, May December
Chris Messina, Air
Ryan:
Charles Melton, May December
John Magaro, Past Lives
Robert De Niro, Killers of the Flower Moon
Ben Whishaw, Passages
Donnie Yen, John Wick: Chapter 4
Best Actress Supporting Role
Brendan:
Juliette Binoche, The Taste of Things
Sandra Hรผller, The Zone of Interest
Penรฉlope Cruz, Ferrari
Da’Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers
Rachel McAdams, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.
JD:
Danielle Brooks, The Color Purple
Da’Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers
Penรฉlope Cruz, Ferrari
Juliette Binoche, The Taste of Things
Rachel McAdams, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.
Jay:
Penรฉlope Cruz, Ferrari
Hong Chau, Showing Up
Minami Hamabe, Godzilla Minus One
Da’Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers
Rachel McAdams, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.
Ryan:
Rachel McAdams, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.
Sandra Hรผller, The Zone of Interest
Rachel McAdams, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.
Paula Beer, Afire
Julianne Moore, May December
Best Director
Brendan:
Todd Haynes, May December
Hayao Miyazaki, The Boy and the Heron
Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer
Aki Kaurismรคki, Fallen Leaves
Wim Wenders, Perfect Days
JD:
Wes Anderson, Asteroid City
Jonathan Glazer, The Zone of Interest
Martin Scorsese, Killers of the Flower Moon
Todd Haynes, May December
Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer
Jay:
Sean Durkin, The Iron Claw
David Fincher, The Killer
Todd Haynes, May December
Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer
Martin Scorsese, Killers of the Flower Moon
Ryan:
Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer
Martin Scorsese, Killers of the Flower Moon
Todd Haynes, May December
Jonathan Glazer, The Zone of Interest
Hayao Miyazaki, The Boy and the Heron
Best Original Screenplay
Brendan:
Nicole Holofcener, You Hurt My Feelings
Samy Burch, May December
David Hemingson, The Holdovers
Justine Triet & Arthur Harari, Anatomy of a Fall
Samy Burch, May December
JD:
Wes Anderson, Asteroid City
Samy Burch, May December
Celine Song, Past Lives
Justine Triet & Arthur Harari, Anatomy of a Fall
David Hemingson, The Holdovers
Jay:
David Hemingson, The Holdovers
Nicole Holofcener, You Hurt My Feelings
Paul Schrader, Master Gardener
Samy Burch, May December
Aki Kaurismรคki, Fallen Leaves
Ryan:
Samy Burch, May December
Wes Anderson, Asteroid City
Christian Petzold, Afire
Ira Sachs, Passages
Celine Song, Past Lives
Best Adapted Screenplay
Brendan:
Troy Kennedy Martin, Ferrari
Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer
Eric Roth & Martin Scorsese, Killers of the Flower Moon
Kelly Fremon Craig, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.
Andrew Kevin Walker, The Killer
JD:
Cord Jefferson, American Fiction
Andrew Haigh, All of Us Strangers
Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer
Eric Roth & Martin Scorsese, Killers of the Flower Moon
Sofia Coppola, Priscilla
Jay:
Sofia Coppola, Priscilla
Eric Roth & Martin Scorsese, Killers of the Flower Moon
Kelly Fremon Craig, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.
Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer
Takashi Yamakazi, Godzilla Minus One
Ryan:
Ava DuVerney, Origin
Sofia Coppola, Priscilla
Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer
Kelly Fremon Craig, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.
Andrew Haigh, All of Us Strangers
Best Cinematography
Brendan:
Ruben Impens, The Eight Mountains
Dariusz Wolski, Napoleon
Hoyte van Hoytema, Oppenheimer
Robert Yeoman, Asteroid City
Rodrigo Prieto, Killers of the Flower Moon
JD:
Lukas Zal, The Zone of Interest
Rodrigo Prieto, Killers of the Flower Moon
Maria von Hausswolff, Godland
Hoyte van Hoytema, Oppenheimer
Robert Yeoman, Asteroid City
Jay:
Mรกtyรกs Erdรฉly, The Iron Claw
Erik Messerschmidt, The Killer
Hoyte van Hoytema, Oppenheimer
Rodrigo Prieto, Killers of the Flower Moon
Maria von Hausswolff, Godland
Ryan:
Rodrigo Prieto, Killers of the Flower Moon
Erik Messerschmidt, Ferrari
Christopher Blauvelt, May December
Hoyte van Hoytema, Oppenheimer
Hans Fromm, Afire
Best Documentary
Brendan:
20 Days in Mariupol
Four Daughters
Beyond Utopia
JD:
Kokomo City
20 Days in Mariupol
Beyond Utopia
Four Daugthers
The Deepest Breath
Jay:
Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie
BS High
Ryan:
Four Daugters
Beyond Utopia
The Pigeon Tunnel
Best International Film
Brendan:
The Boy and the Heron
Godzilla Minus One
Fallen Leaves
Perfect Days
The Taste of Things
JD:
The Zone of Interest
Anatomy of a Fall
Past Lives
Perfect Days
The Taste of Things
Jay:
Afire
The Boy and the Heron
Fallen Leaves
Godland
Godzilla Minus One
Ryan:
Afire
Anatomy of a Fall
The Taste of Things
Godzilla Minus One
The Zone of Interest
Best Animated Movie
Brendan:
Suzume
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Robot Dreams
The Boy and the Heron
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem
JD:
The Boy and the Heron
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem
Elemental
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Robot Dreams
Jay:
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
The Boy and the Heron
Robot Dreams
Nimona
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem
Ryan:
The Boy and the Heron
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Robot Dreams
Best Original Score
Brendan:
Ludwig Goransson, Oppenheimer
Joe Hisaishi, The Boy and the Heron
Christopher Bear & Daniel Rossen, Past Lives
Daniel Pemberton, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Ryuichi Sakamoto, Monster
JD:
Jerskin Fendrix, Poor Things
Mica Levi, The Zone of Interest
Joe Hisaishi, The Boy and the Heron
Ludwig Goransson, Oppenheimer
Daniel Pemberton, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Jay:
Daniel Pemberton, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Ludwig Goransson, Oppenheimer
Joe Hisaishi, The Boy and the Heron
Robbie Robertson, Killers of the Flower Moon
Marcelo Zarvos, May December
Ryan:
Ludwig Goransson, Oppenheimer
Joe Hisaishi, The Boy and the Heron
Daniel Pemberton, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Mica Levi, The Zone of Interest
Christopher Bear & Daniel Rossen, Past Lives
Best Use of Soundtrack Music (Doesn’t have to be original. Closing and Opening credits count)
Brendan:
โThe Power of Loveโ by Frankie Goes to Hollywood, All of Us Strangers
“Tyrone” by Erykah Badu, They Cloned Tyrone
“Feeling Good” by Nina Simone, Perfect Days
โTom Sawyerโ by Rush, The Iron Claw
“September” by Earth Wind & Fire, Robot Dreams
JD:
“September” by Earth Wind & Fire, Robot Dreams
โPeaches” by Jack Black, Super Mario Bros
โDear Alien” by Asteroid City Cast, Asteroid City
โWhy May I Not Go Out and Climb the Treesโ by Daniel Norgren, The Eight Mountains
“Feeling Good” by Nina Simone, Perfect Days
Jay:
“1954 Godzilla Theme” by Akira Ifukube, Godzilla Minus One
The Smiths, The Killer
“Push” by Matchbox Twenty, Barbie
“I Will Always Love You” by Dolly Parton, Priscilla
“Le Monde” by Richard Carter, Talk to Me
Ryan:
โLive That Way Foreverโ by Little Scream โ The Iron Claw
โHow Soon Is Nowโ by The Smiths โ The Killer
โDance The Nightโ by Dua Lipa โ Barbie
โThe Power of Love” By Frankie Goes to Hollywood โ All of Us Strangers
โLast Train to San Fernandoโ By Johnny Duncan & The Bluegrass Boys โ Asteroid City
Best Opening/Closing Credits Sequence or Scene
Brendan:
Eileen (Opening Credits)
Evil Dead Rise (Opening Title Reveal)
Master Gardener (Opening Credits)
Peter Pan & Wendy (Opening/Closing Credits)
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Opening Credits)
JD:
Oppenheimer (Closing)
Past Lives (Closing)
Perfect Days (Closing)
The Zone of Interest (Closing)
Killers of the Flower Moon (Closing)
Jay:
Killers of the Flower Moon (Closing)
May December (Closing)
Past Lives (Closing)
Barbie (Opening)
Oppenheimer (Closing)
Ryan:
Oppenheimer (Closing)
Killers of the Flower Moon (Closing)
May December (Closing)
The Zone of Interest (Closing)
The Taste of Things (Opening)
Best Overlooked Movie
Brendan:
The Burial
You Hurt My Feelings
Flora And Son
Showing Up
The Eight Mountains
JD:
The Taste of Things
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (Dahl Shorts)
Passages
Godland
Showing Up
Jay:
Master Gardener
Rye Lane
The Covenant
You Hurt My Feelings
The Burial
Ryan:
Origin
All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt
Afire
Memory
The Royal Hotel
Best Surprise Movie
Brendan:
Bottoms
The Color Purple
Godzilla Minus One
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem
Scream VI
JD:
Wingwomen
Godzilla Minus One
Knock at the Cabin
Fallen Leaves
Perfect Days
Jay:
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
Godzilla Minus One
Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.
Poor Things
They Cloned Tyrone
Ryan:
Avatar: The Way of Water
Cha Cha Real Smooth
Confess, Fletch
The Eternal Daughter
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
Best Surprise Actor/Actress
Brendan:
Dave Bautista, Knock at the Cabin
Bradley Cooper, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
Patrick Dempsey, Ferrari
Marshawn Lynch, Bottoms
Melissa Barrera, Scream VI
JD:
Adele Exarchopolous, Wingwomen
Glen Howerton, Blackberry
David Krumholtz, Oppenheimer
Zac Efron, The Iron Claw
Rupert Friend, The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (The Swan)
Jay:
Charles Melton, May December
Cailee Spaeny, Priscilla
Harris Dickinson, The Iron Claw
Josh Hartnett, Oppenheimer
Benny Safdie, Oppenheimer / Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.
Ryan:
Benny Safdie, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.
Raven Jackson – Director, All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt
JD’s Individual Special Awards
Best Individual Score Track
“Falling Blocks” – Lorne Balfe (Tetris)
“Falling Apart” – Daniel Pemberton (Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse)
“The Sacred Pipe/Osage Oil Boom” – Robbie Robertson (Killers of the Flower Moon)
“Can You Hear The Music” – Ludwig Gorannson (Oppenheimer)
“Carmen Main Theme” – Nicholas Britell (Carmen)
Best Overlooked Performance
Teo Yoo, Past Lives
Rossy de Palma, Carmen
Mads Mickelson, The Promised Land
Alma Poysti, Fallen Leaves
Bradley Cooper, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3.
Biggest Laugh
Monk Being Stagg R. Lee – American Fiction
Theater Scene – Fallen Leaves
Paul Throwing the Football – The Holdovers
Football Players Wearing Full Gear – Bottoms
“You think you’re so great because you have boats!” – Napoleon
Best Directorial Debut
Cord Jefferson – American Fiction
Raven Jackson – All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt
A.V. Rockwell – A Thousand and One
Celine Song – Past Lives
Kyle Edward Ball – Skinamarink
Best Editing
Oppenheimer
The Holdovers
The Zone of Interest
All of Us Strangers
May December
Best Production Design
Barbie
Poor Things
Fallen Leaves
The Zone of Interest
Asteroid City
Brendan’s Individual Special Awards
Best Performance by a Non-Human, aka “Cheddar Goblin” Award
Messi the border collie, Anatomy of a Fall
Chaplin the dog, Fallen Leaves
Napoleon’s horse, Napoleon
Snoopy, Maestro
Best Movie About Connection Between Two Lost Souls
All of Us Strangers
Monster
The Taste of Things
Fallen Leaves
Past Lives
Robot Dreams
Godzilla Minus One
Best Insult
“I’m from Waterloo where the vampires hang out!” – Blackberry
“…you are and always have been penis cancer in human form.” – The Holdovers
You think you’re so great because you have boats!” – Napoleon
Best High Concept Wasted
Dream Scenario
Cocaine Bear
El Conde
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One
Renfield
Talk to Me
Best Performance by a Director NOT Playing Themselves
David Lynch, The Fabelmans
Best Performance by a Monkey in a Movie About the Exploitation of Movies
Gordy, Nope
Mitzi’s pet monkey, The Fabelmans
Jay’s Individual Special Awards
Great Achievement Of The Year
Jennifer Lame’s Editing in Oppenheimer
Movies You Most Forgot Came Out in 2023
Strays
You People
65
Hypnotic
Boston Strangler
Hat of the Year
Paul Giamatti’s Soft-Brimmed Hat
Oppenheimer’s Wide-Brim Fedora
The Killer’s Bucket Hat
The “Huh?” Award
Shailene Woodley in Ferrari
I Can’t Quit You Award
Guy Ritchie – The Covenant
The Tear-y (Most Tear-Inducing Film of 2023)
The Iron Claw
Past Lives
Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3.
Uh Oh Spaghettios Award
Whoever at Universal Brokered the $400 Million Deal For The New Exorcist Trilogy
Supehero Movies
We’ll Give You A Pass Award
Alden Ehrenreich, Cocaine Bear
Fever Dream Moment of the Year
Scuttlebutt – The Little Mermaid
Flash and the Babies – The Flash
Wonder Woman Shows Up at Funeral – Shazam: Fury of the Gods
Ray Liotta Has Guts Devoured – Cocaine Bear
Zach Galifanakis Without Beard – The Beanie Bubble
The โRetire Pleaseโ Award for Directors Who Have Lost It (AKA The Zemeckis)
Elizabeth Banks, Cocaine Bear
David Gordon Green, The Exorcist: Believer
Rob Marshall, The Little Mermaid
Ryan’s Individual Special Awards
Adam McKay “Please Stop” Award
Sam Esmail, Leave the World Behind
“Did That Come Out?” Award
Totally Killer
Missing
Renfield
65
Boston Strangler
Inside
Operation Fortune
Emily
Magic Mike’s Last Dance
Brendan Cassidy Best Movie Trailer Award
Argylle
Madame Web
Well, that’s it for our 2023 InSession Film Awards! Hopefully, you all enjoyed our nominations and winners. If you agree or disagree with us, let us know in the comment section below. We would love to hear how your nominations and winners would vary from our picks above. You can also email your selections to us at [email protected] or follow us on social media.
The new year has begun and that means the Sundance Film Festival is about to go into full swing. Itโs that time where independent movies make their shining debut for many new filmmakers, as well as bringing new debuts from A-list directors who dip back into the indie world. From here, thereโs usually that one film from the festival that carries itself into the Oscar conversation (Winterโs Bone, Minari), or go all the way and win Best Picture (CODA). But from the start, Robert Redfordโs desire was to show off more talent to the masses. Here are a few of those films coming out of Sundance this year.
A Real Pain – Directed By Jesse Eisenberg
Two cousins (Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin) travel to Poland to honor their deceased grandmother. Both have different personalities and they will clash along the trip when their family history unearths secrets. This comedy-drama is Eisenbergโs second film after When You Finish Saving The World, also a Sundance release, and is grounded in giving a human story on family bonding through uncomfortable moments.
DEVO – Directed By Chris Smith
This new music documentary from the director of Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond and Sr. tells the story of a radical band who were unlike any other college-based band. From Kent State, the โde-evolutionโ of music consisted of experimental music, performance art, and social commentary that has endured for decades. The documentary goes beyond their biggest song, โWhip It,โ but shows how far they push their own spectacle to attract a loyal following. Itโs going to be one freakishly fun ride through history.
Frida – Directed By Carla Gutierrez
Same title about the same person, but it isnโt another biopic. It is a documentary about the legendary Mexican painter Frida Kahlo told in her own words from archive interviews put together. Made in animation, Gutierrez, who directed the documentary RBG, has an innovative portrait of a unique artist whose work was not internationally renowned until after her death and is arguably of greater status than of her husband, Diego Rivera.
Hit Man – Directed By Richard Linklater
It debuted last year at the Venice Film Festival, but Netflix bought it up for release this year and is part of the Spotlight release. Linklater (Boyhood) wrote the script with his star, Glen Powell, a comedy about a college professor who takes up a role as an undercover hitman who suddenly has to help a woman in serious trouble. Itโs that dark humor with a Texas twist that Linklater has a grasp of and, using a true story as its basis, is charming and entertaining.
Rob Peace – Directed By Chiwetel Ejiofor
Making his second film after The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, Ejiofor also wrote this true-story drama about a young man who lives a double life. Coming from the roughest part of Newark, New Jersey, Rob Peace (Jay Will) is a biochemistry student at Yale while also making money as a drug dealer to help out his impoverished mother (Mary J. Blige) while his father (Ejiofor) is in prison. This split in his personal life leads Peace down a dangerous road and to a place beyond saving.
2023, what a year itโs been. So much learned, so much loss, so much laughter, so much pain, so much overhyped (ahem Barbie) and yet a top ten list is one of the easiest things I can do from this last year, so here ya go!ย
10. Totally Killer
Blumhouse movies are misses way more than hits and, surprisingly, this one is a hit. Not only is it really damn funny, but for a premise we have seen multiple times before (time travel) it blends a nice amount of humor with fun horror. Very rare win for the folks at Blumhouse with this one.
9. Airย
I hate sports, I hate sports with every ounce of my being and yet sports is on the back end of this movie about sports and the ultimate sports shoe. A movie that not only feels fresh and original but it hosts (in my humble opinion) Viola Davisโ best work on camera so far.ย
8. No Hard Feelings
Jennifer Lawrence is a mega star, a mega star who once was over saturated for a solid 4 year run in the 2010s, but she is back with one of her best performances since her breakout in Winterโs Bone. An original comedy that has a heart, and plays even better on a rewatch.ย
7. All of Us Strangers
I like men, I like sex with men, I like stories of men who have sex with men and I like stories of men who have sex with men and have their heart broken and mended by the power of love. A wonderful tear jerker of a movie.ย
6. Maestro
I loved this movie, itโs a passion project that is beautifully shot and you can feel the love that Bradley Cooper brought to this project. Itโs a nice biopic without โfeelingโ biopicky.ย
5. Anatomy of a Fall
Not since 2016โs Elle with Isabelle Huppert have I adored a French movie so much. This is an edge of your seat court case drama with a stellar duo of performances from Sandra Hรผller and Milo Machado-Graner, both of whom deserve to win the Academy Award for Actress and Supporting Actor this year.ย
4. Bottoms
A really damn funny and over dramatic comedy from the team that brought us Shiva Baby. This movie takes you down roads you never see coming and at a beautifully paced 93 minutes is a fun breeze of a watch.ย
3. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
As someone who went into this with zero expectations and with no knowledge of the game, this movie was not only the biggest surprise for me this past year but truly is a lot of fun as it balances comedy and fantasy action really really well.ย
2. Saltburn
A delicious, dirty, and Silkwood-shower inducing movie. A big step up and redeemer from Emerald Fennell and her first movie from 2020, Promising Young Woman. This movie is so much fun and Iโm so happy of the life it has found with the streaming platform this year.ย
1. Oppenheimer
Seeing this movie three times in a theater this year was a highlight each time. Itโs like a full body orgasm that continues to do its job post leg shaking. Christopher Nolanโs best film yet, from the score, to the cinematography, to the acting. Itโs truly the best film of 2023.
It’s strange to think of, but many of my favorite movies of 2023 were revivals or anniversary showings. This year I had the most fun just being with people who wanted to be there. They weren’t obsessively scrolling their phones, but looking at the screen with rapt attention, letting the outside world melt away from the opening studio logos and vanity cards to the closing credits.
So many of these screenings gave me the joy of film that the new releases couldn’t. This year, I often found myself in sparsely populated theaters, or even on three occasions as the sole viewer of that showing. As much as I often groan at the foibles of my fellow moviegoers, I suddenly missed their presence as my laughter or my sniffles of sadness echoed in the empty darkness.
For one fateful weekend, though, I got a taste of what it used to be to see a new release. The crush of humanity as we sat through and shared the experience that was Barbenheimer. It was annoying, smelly, hot, and riveting to know we were all experiencing something truly extraordinary for the first time. Our collective gasps, laughs, and tears at the screens in front of us gave me hope that something else is out there beyond the sequels, reboots, nostalgia, and endless parade of formulaic IP.
The films that I will take with me beyond this year have that kind of spark. They came off the screen in a way that makes me hope for the future, that I’ll be at a future screening for them and I can find the same kind of weirdos as me, who braved the silence of an apathetic audience and found something special on screen.
These are my favorite films released this year.
10. Asteroid City
It’s fitting that in the year I took on my passion project of writing about grief in Wes Anderson films, Anderson gave us a film that overtly describes and shows grief in wondrous ways. In many facets of it, Asteroid City is a bit overwhelming in its interlocking layers, but like all of Anderson’s works, it comes together in ways that transcend form. There’s a strange beauty in this film and it’s one I will have to revisit many times to see all that needs seeing about it.
9. Fremont
Fremont snuck up on me. It was only playing for a week in my city and a friend invited me on a whim. It didn’t take long for it to suck me in with its meditations on loneliness, companionship, and mental health. It’s beautifully shot in black and white and it’s a terrifically tender film that’s also laugh out loud funny in many unexpected ways. A surprise and delight from start to finish.
8. Saltburn
I love a devious queer character. I know I’m supposed to be mad because queer characters have historically been coded as villains, but there’s something deliciously intoxicating about it. Saltburn is so twisted and malevolent. It’s sexy and disturbing. I never want to look at another nude male body unless it’s from the camera of Emerald Fennell. More movies should have nude male dancing.
7. The Holdovers
The Holdovers has a perfect balance. Each of the main characters is full and fleshed out. Their stories interweave and balance in perfect ways. There’s no real schmaltz or false sentiment between the characters, but there comes a respect as these three people let each other in. It’s a story beautifully told and superbly acted.
6. Oppenheimer
There’s something truly invigorating about a film that’s a technical marvel as well as an intimate character study. Christopher Nolan is a dense, detailed filmmaker and it shows in his craftsmanship. He builds layers and worlds into his films that seem unfathomable and intangible as well as immediate and close. Oppenheimer is epic in every sense of the word.
5. Priscilla
I found beauty in Sofia Coppola’s treatment of her caged bird. The way that Priscilla evolves from someone who is grateful because everyone tells her to be to a woman who recognizes her own power is remarkable. The cast is perfect, the images are sublime, but it’s the texture of the film that lingers on your skin and makes your hair stand on end with a static you don’t want to go away.
4. Theater Camp
Theater kids are never not entertaining to watch. Grown up theater kids who refuse to let their dreams die are even better. It’s a mockumentary that doesn’t wholly rely on tired mockumentary tropes. It’s a funny movie about dreamers and the reality of chasing a career in the arts. The cast is perfect and the film is sublime.
3. Bottoms
I loved every single minute of Bottoms, then there was a dialogue free sequence set to Avril Lavigne’s “Complicated.” I began to cry because a movie filled with such satire and goofiness somehow actually uses the song in the perfect context. So many of us grew up with that song being a punchline, but here it’s used with the feelings it was always meant to evoke. It’s brilliant. This queer, horny, funny movie hits every single button I need it to. Just incredible.
2. Past Lives
I realized quickly that these characters are exactly my age now. In that moment, Past Lives took on another level for me. I began to see my own past lives as I lived through these characters. There was no doubt I was going to cry throughout the film, but it hit so much harder and so much more achingly in the right spots when I saw myself through someone else’s eyes. There’s a majesty in moments of silence and Past Lives is a master class in this incredible art.
1.Barbie
There’s a moment in Barbie when the goofiness, hilarity, and comedic existential crisis all slow down. Barbie sits on a bench and she just listens. She hears the gamut of human emotion and interaction. She sees happiness, sadness, stillness, and the sheer beauty of all that it is to be human. When she turns to the woman next to her, she tells the woman she’s beautiful to which the woman replies that she knows. It’s then that I knew Greta Gerwig saw an opportunity not for just another corporate IP piece of “content,” but for a film that actually says something about being human and what it means to want to experience all that means. It’s also incredibly funny and strange, which is exactly my wheelhouse.
Daniel Brรผhl discusses rivalries, rally cars, and motor racing for Race for Glory: Audi vs. Lancia also starring Riccardo Scamarcio.
Actor Daniel Brรผhl gets into gear for a different side of racing in Stefano Mordiniโs Race for Glory: Audi vs. Lancia. Here he plays German race car engineer Roland Gumpert as Audi battles it out with the Italian manufacturer Lancia during the 1983 World Rally Championship.
Here, Nadine Whitney interviews Brรผhl
How much do you know about cars and racing now? It must be quite a lot after also starring as Niki Lauda in Ron Howardโs Rush.
Well, I do know a bit but also I donโt. Iโve always been interested in cars but mainly old cars. I still have one, an old Peugeot that never works. Racing is something I was fascinated by, but I wasnโt a real buff. I was a bit more interested in Formula One. My brother was always a huge fan and he taught me a lot when I was growing up. The Rally Touring side of the sport was something my Spanish side of the family enjoyed. I would sit with my uncle and cousins when I was a child and remember being thrilled as I saw these cars flying through villages and towns. People were standing so close to it and I was thinking, โThis is so dangerous, this is weird.โ Yet, it was fascinating.
As an actor I did not look for existing in any particular genre and I didnโt see myself playing a figure in the motor sports world. When I got the script for Rush it was a no brainer โ it was so wonderfully written. It was a Mozart vs. Salieri competition between two drivers. I loved every minute working on that film. So, my first instinct when I was given the script for Race for Glory was to say no. I said to Riccardo Scamarcio (who plays Cesare Fiorio of Lancia) โNo, I donโt want to do another race film.โ
Because we are friends and we have been for a long time we wanted to work together again. Riccardo was really persistent, and you might have noticed in the film how insistent the Italians can be! Riccardo said, โDonโt worry, itโs a side part โ youโre not playing a driver.โ He said that โAll the fun we make of each other personally with him being an Italian and me being a German we can bring that to another level in the film.โ
So, I had another look at the script, and I loved it right away. It really is a different world to Formula One, Rally is a completely different sport. So when we shot Race for Glory I didnโt even think of Rush.
Iโm very impressed with what everyone did because with sports movies itโs always very important to translate the thrill of it cinematically on the screen. Itโs important that people donโt think โWatching a real race is more exciting than watching that film.โ
Everyone accomplished that translation. And there was a great feel for the 1980s. The audience is inside the 1980s. The film is visually stunning, and the dynamic of the races is amazing. You can tell they had real rally drivers. They pushed everything to the limits. It was safe, but you can see in the film that there were professionals behind the wheels.
Tonally, the texture, the soundtrack, the colours, the costumes โ everything is authentic. Itโs just a lot of fun to watch!
Race for Glory: Audi vs. Lancia also known as Play 2 Win is in select cinemas and PVOD.
