Movies 2023

I really didn’t write about movies much this year, but I did see some, so let’s catch up…

In theatres

We most recently (on Boxing Day) saw The Holdovers—appropriate timing, as the movie does take place at Christmas. It’s a story about a boy’s boarding school where a few students, “the holdovers”, are not able to go home at Christmas. One teacher, played by Paul Giamatti, is tasked with watching over them.

The movie is directed by Alexander Payne, who also directed Sideways, which also starred Paul Giamatti. It’s similar to that movie only in that it’s also a character-driven story focused on male relationships. I did enjoy it, even though it didn’t particularly pass the Bechdel Test. Jean liked it well enough also, though he prefers plot-driven movies.

Whereas Barbie…

of course passed that test with flying colours. We did see Barbie in the summer, several weeks after the big Barbie-heimer weekend. That Barbie nearly lived up to the hype built up around by then is a testament to it. It was funny. It was chock-ful of ideas. It was surprisingly emotional. The actors were great. And it looked amazing.

I watched it again recently on Crave, and found it stood up. Jean joined in partway through. He had completely forgotten the whole Mattel storyline, to the point he was no longer sure he’d even seen the movie before. Once it got back to the Barbies, he did recall it.

Hey, did you know the two main Kens, and Allan, were all portrayed by Canadian-born actors? A bit of a weird thing there. Whereas the fact that Blackberry features a mostly Canadian cast is entirely expected; might have been a bit of a scandal had it been otherwise. This movie takes place not only in Canada, but in fact in my home town, and offers a fictionalized account of the rise and fall of the Blackberry phone (and company, though they are still around).

While based on some stuff that actually happened, it’s not what actually happened, as it was going for fun and zip over documentary realism. Fortunately, it did end up being fun and zippy, and I’m currently rewatching it as well (the slightly longer CBC version).

At home

I’d hoped to see Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret in theatres, but that didn’t work out. So home rental it was. The movie was quite a lovely adaptation of the novel. Fun fact: Jean thought I was kidding when I said it was largely about a 12-year-old girl getting her period. I was not, so kudos to him for sticking it out.

Air was harder to get Jean to sit down for, because he could tell that I was serious that it was about Nike’s efforts to sign Michael Jordan to sponsor their shoes. I had to agree with him that this didn’t sound like anything either of us would be interested in, but spurred on by the good reviews, we finally did watch it, and you know, it was quite good, even for those with no interest in basketball.

Guardians of the Galaxy 3 took less convincing, as we’d both liked the previous films. Jean had a point, though, that this one did a little too much tugging at the heart strings. Ultimately, it’s hard to beat that very first Guardians movie. But, it was still an enjoyable enough superhero movie.

Alice, Darling was a subtle little movie about a subtle little form of partner abuse. Anna Kendrick is really good in it. Worth your while.

But to end on a happier note, Flora and Son is by the director of One, and is yet another movie where relationships are built through music. But if that’s your strength, you should run with it, and I don’t know anyone else who does this type of movie better than John Carney. Stars Eve Hewson (daughter of Bono) and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.