2023: in movies & TV
The best viewing of the year in my not so humble opinion.
Aaaand we’re back with another 2023 wrap-up post. Is it a cliché to do a bunch of these? Perhaps. Do I care? Not at all. I’m lumping together all the things I watched this year, no matter when they actually came out. This list is shorter than my books list, because in 2023 I watched noticeably less than usual, partly because I was enjoying my reading so much, partly because of trying to honor my need to get to sleep earlier in the evening. But of what I watched, these were ones I truly enjoyed and would recommend.
Good stuff: TV
Bodies - Netflix. This 8-part adaptation of the Si Spencer comic series of the same name blew me away! Four different cops from four different eras in London (1890, 1941, 2023 and 2053) discover the same dead body in the same out of the way corner of Whitechapel. Could time travel, dystopia, a nuanced critique of policing and a bunch of brilliant depictions of marginalised identity of various kinds be in store? Oui! If you were a fan of the comics: fair warning, this adaptation strays quite a way from the original, but is better for it.
The Fall of the House of Usher - Netflix. Mike Flanagan’s latest was a Poe-fest for the Poe-philes out there, of which I count myself amongst the least. So many Poe easter eggs. Some solid jump scares, but the horror in this was less about the jump scares and more about the overall unease and gothic vibes. Gory commentary on greed and ambition in the pharmaceutical industry. The episode that was based on The Masque of the Red Death gave me actual nightmares.
The X-Files. Not going to lie, the majority of TV I watched this year was seasons 3-6 of the X-Files. Is every episode the best viewing ever? No. But I am very happy to have spent most of the year in the intermittent company of Mulder & Scully.
Lupin, series 3 - this is such a good French TV series! Set in Paris, it’s one part Sherlock, one part Bond, one part Oceans 11.
Good stuff: movies
The Fall of the House of Usher (1928) - As part of the ever-excellent ‘London Month of the Dead’ programme, I had the pleasure of seeing this silent film with a live instrumental accompaniment, preceded by a reading of the Poe short story, ‘The Oval Portrait.’ This adaptation is a bit of a mash-up of ‘The Oval Portrait’ and the titular ‘Fall,’ so that was rather helpful.
Where Life Begins (2023) - I saw this film at the closing night gala of the UK Jewish Film Festival and it was gorgeous. The adult daughter of an ultra-orthodox Jewish family traveling to Italy to harvest lemons forms a friendship with the owner of the lemon farm. Faith and doubt, rules and rule-breaking, understated & fleeting connection between individuals were lushly depicted. Lou de Laage and Riccardo Scamarcio were both great as the daughter & the farmer.
Asteroid City (2023) and The French Dispatch (2021) - dammit, Wes Anderson. Both of these were 10/10 for me. No notes. I continue to be an Anderson devotee. In brief: Asteroid City was about grief, credulity, and lockdowns/isolation (of one kind or another), and The French Dispatch was about the admirable audacity of Americans trying to connect to, understand and take some place within the social, political and cultural upheavals of Europe in the 20th century.
Renfield (2023). I will watch basically anything that is Dracula fan-fiction, but this was hilarious. Nicholas Hoult as Renfield and Nicholas Cage as the Count - brilliantly cast.
Past Lives (2023) - I was prepared not to like this movie but it was actually a rather stunning combination of complex emotional reality and simple, dialogue-based storytelling. It was honest and heart-wrenching and beautiful.
Independence Day (1996) - Before you come for me, I have seen this movie many, many times. But my husband had not, so I decreed that we must watch it on the Fourth of July. Guys, it really does hold up. Will Smith punching the alien and saying ‘Welcome to Earth!’ after the aliens have just obliterated most of the world’s major metropolises, is, well, the spirit of ‘merica.
The Lost King (2022) - I love watching Steve Coogan play roles with emotional depth! As hilarious a comedian as he is, it’s wonderful to see him play against the Alan Partridge type. And lovely Sally Hawkins, can she do anything wrong?
Honorable mentions
Herewith: a list of things I watched that were fine, but I wasn’t raving about.
Barbie. Yes, I liked it, but I didn’t think it was the generation defining movie that everyone seemed to think. (And no I have not yet seen Oppenheimer.)
The Witcher (series 3). Perhaps what was worst about this series was the knowledge that it is Henry Cavill’s last. I actually really enjoyed it, not as much as the first two, but Geralt ‘Ye Olde Grumpy Dad’ of Rivia was super fun.
Wednesday (series 1). I didn’t hate this, but as someone who grew up on previous versions of The Addams Family, I felt really old watching it. Also I felt there were lots of potentially great side-plots left unexplored, and the whole thing felt like it was trying a bit too hard to cater to the Harry Potter crowd.
Actually bad but in a watchable way
This December I was seemingly not up for sobbing about all the Christmas Classics into a cup of non-alcoholic mulled wine (Prancer, The Waltons, and Christmas Eve on Sesame Street, I’m looking at you…). Instead, what I was craving in film was the same thing I was craving in food: utter and complete rubbish. So I indulged in half a dozen truly awful Hallmark-channel-style Christmas films. They were all pretty formulaic and badly done, which made them excellent fodder for making fun of with friends. But one stood out:
A Great North Christmas (Amazon Prime) - is described as: ‘Workaholic attorney Caroline is prepared for another lonely Christmas. But when two friends surprise her with a ski vacation in a charming Canadian town, she finds herself swept away in the pursuit of winter sport…and perhaps a little Christmas romance?’ This film was terrible: predictable with mediocre acting, its light plot filled with holes. But what was great about it was that the script…seemed kind of written by AI? So much so that my friends and I took to ChatGPT afterwards to mock it and re-write scripts of our own? It was a great night in?? Who even am I???
(header image via Matt Towers / Netflix)