A list of 2023 releases seen this year at theaters in SF and Sydney, and on VOD.

Initial tweet thread-reactions to the higher rated films included. In alphabetical order, by star rating…

– 5⭐ –

Anatomy of a Fall
The credits could’ve rolled after the first five minutes and I’d have left happy.

Inspired, instantly memorable use of 50 Cent’s P.I.M.P!

Justine Triet has directed and co-written a gem that surprises in and out of the courtroom. Sandra Hüller makes a clear case for why she’s up there as the best going around.

The Fabelmans
Spielberg takes his craft and applies it to the most personal of places, giving us a special ode to making and showing movies. Michelle Williams crushes it, delivering some real emotional daggers.

Joyland
It’s exceedingly rare for a film to be so generous with its heart and technically virtuoso at the same time. Flawless. Will go down as a monument of South Asian cinema.

Past Lives
Longing and acceptance are delicately played off against each other in this supremely assured *adult* love story that gets better with every turn.

Return to Seoul
Freddie is the coolest, saddest character you’ll meet all year. An immense performance from Ji-Min Park in her acting debut (WHAT⁉️). The screenplay handles identity delicately, with a singular confidence.

Skinamarink
It’s fine until it’s not! Four bone-chilling words and I was covering my eyes, cowering in my seat, sweating through the rest…and laughing at how brilliant the sound design, and precise and restrained the direction is. Haven’t seen anything scarier.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Frame after frame of astonishing cinema. The amount of craft, creativity, and soul put into this!!

A list of 2022 releases seen this year at theaters in SF and Sydney, and on VOD.

Initial tweet-reactions to the higher rated films included. In alphabetical order, by star rating…

– 5⭐ –

A Love Song
A gentle, pure, mighty love story, aged just right. Kinda shocked a relative youngster wrote and directed this! Also the best Wes Anderson film of the last decade.

All That Breathes
Forget the other bird drama and take this majestic act of selflessness in. An urban nature documentary in the truest sense, and un-Attenborough in the best possible way.

Ambulance
Somebody call 911, because Michael Bay is back, better than ever. Seriously! His frenetic, hyper-stylised, idealised version of America makes for peak action comedy. Gyllenhaal goes ham. The screenplay is above its pay grade.

Avatar: The Way of Water
You know how every Marvel movie has a meaninglessness, unsatisfying large battle at the end? This is the opposite of that. Cameron has set the new benchmark for a movie-going experience, and his purposeful use of technology to achieve that is front and centre.

The variable framerate makes current cinema look like a relic. I hated it to date, but I’m a believer now. There are entire ecosystems created, the actors faces and emotions are right there, and the spirituality feels honest and earned.

Drive My Car
A tranquil, soul-soothing ode to language and stories. A call to keep on keeping on. More than happy to let you think along the way with its moments of visual silence. Hamaguchi’s sensibility makes it what it is. Repetition does not spoil the prayer.

Moonage Daydream
Witnessing such personal evolution and growth feels like an act of self-care, and against the tide of how most artist docos go. The archival concert footage slays. Thought the speakers were going to explode at the start!

Nope
Jordan Peele has created a landmark sci-fi film, Black owned and operated. Love that he said nope to a bunch of normal plot devices that accompany the UFO genre. And those Gordy scenes!

RRR
My feeble, Hollywood-centric, physics-abiding mind has been opened to the real meaning of a bromance blockbuster. As wholesome as Paddington, but with a slaughter you’ll relish as much as marmalade. I think I counted 15 rounds of applause throughout the screening!

TÁR
Cate Blanchett is a one of one generational talent and my goodness does this confirm things. Who else could have even come close to playing this? A luxurious, assured flex from both her, and a director who hasn’t had a film come to light in 16 years.

A list of 2021 releases seen this year at theaters in NYC, SF, Sydney, and on VOD.

Initial tweet-reactions to the higher rated films included. In alphabetical order, by star rating…

– 5⭐ –

Collective
One of the most remarkable stories I’ve ever seen told on film. The sheer openness and access, the bone-chilling footage, the thrill of investigative journalism. Forget WaPo and NY Times, SPORTS GAZETTE is where it’s at.

Dune
I imagine this is how spice feels. Monumental, lush, intricate, sight and sound overload. Every aspect is on point. Most importantly, does the book justice! Villeneuve is undefeated.

In & Of Itself
They say a magician never reveals their secrets but Derek Delgaudio’s magic trick of storytelling and identity goes all in. A wondrous experience, in some ways more powerful as a film to see the reflections and reactions across many audiences.

The Lost Daughter
A murky, cruel, specific kind of special. Motherhood ain’t for everyone! Can’t believe this is Maggie Gyllenhaal’s debut!

Nine Days
It’s no easy feat to make a life-affirming film this good. Winston Duke is a powerhouse. That bravura, breathtaking ending is my making my all time top 5.

Nomadland
Honestly, this is as good as it gets. Frances McDormand embodies grief and vulnerability. Chloe Zhao is an extraordinary storyteller! Getting the kinds of performances she does out of non-professional actors is the rarest of gifts.

One Night in Miami
It is a pleasure, pure and simple, to take in the words and witness the friendship, delivered by four amazing actors. I smiled every time they did. What can’t Regina King do??

Pig
Men being vulnerable and talking it out is as excellent as it sounds. The best anti-revenge film I’ve seen, at least given my expectations with the logline. Kudos to the screenplay, Cage, and Wolff!

Spencer
For a film about inevitability and tradition, Larraín makes interesting choice after interesting choice, and I liked nearly all of them. Kristen Stewart continues her ascent. So does Jonny Greenwood. A grand ol’ fable.

The White Tiger
Snarling under that subservient smile, Adarsh Gourav is delightfully captivating in this tale of classist India. Love where the story ended up, given how these normally go.

Writing with Fire
A pure, stripped down, reflective window into what journalism really is. The risks and fear these women take daily, in a society completely stacked against them, while adapting, helping each other, and still “running the house” is inspiring.

A (paltry, compared to previous years) list of 2020 releases seen this year in NYC, on VOD after March. RIP my 222 weeks in a row at movie theatres.

Initial tweet-reactions to the higher rated films included. In alphabetical order, by star rating…

– 5/5 –

The Assistant
The loneliness and weariness across Julia Garner’s face is something to behold. And the sad realisation that those small, scattered compliments will keep her enduring this for a lot longer.

Clemency
Silence speaks volumes, and by golly, Alfre Woodard and Aldis Hodge’s looks crush you over and over. Direction and script are spot on. Why this isn’t all over awards season is beyond me.

Dick Johnson is Dead
The loss of memory. The loss of life. Confronted openly, with love. A breathtaking final scene. I am jealous of Kirsten Johnson’s ability to make this on many levels.

Emma
The costumes, the hats, the dancing! Splendid attention to detail, a lot of fun, and true moments of feeling that get you.

First Cow
The kind of male friendship and characters you never see on screen. Blissfully patient by Kelly Reichardt.

Let Them All Talk
Oh, the conversations! Utterly delightful. Candice Bergen, Meryl Streep, and Lucas Hedges are fun, fun, fun. The moving set being a giant working cruise ship is so Soderbergh.

Lovers Rock
Captures such a colourful, music-filled vibe of a night. The dancing, singing, MCs (!) and soundtrack are the stars, a bit of plotting is sprinkled throughout. A welcome departure from what I’ve associated McQueen with, almost experimental.

Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Vulnerable, reserved, and unbelievably caring and gentle. That goes for both the actors and film itself. The camerawork felt so apt too.

Soul
HOW DO THEY MAKE YOU FEEL SO MUCH? Another masterwork from Pixar building on the risks from Inside Out. An art style all of its own, new voices at the helm, and a warm, bustling NYC didn’t hurt either.

There’s a 3 second shot of a fork going into pecan pie that did extraordinary amounts. Damn do they know how to montage.

Sound of Metal
The year of Rizwan Ahmed continues as he throws himself into the deep end and thrives. Loved the insight into deaf culture beyond deafness as a disability, and moving forward, albeit not in Hollywood fashion.

A list of 2019 releases seen this year across the U.S., Sydney, and occasionally, VOD and mid-air. As a result, there are some late 2018 releases, and it’s a week late so I could get to the late 2019 releases I missed.

Initial tweet-reactions to the higher rated films included. In alphabetical order, by star rating…

1917
To execute with such precision at its monumental scale is a high stakes, technical magic trick that made me feel like I’m experiencing something entirely new in cinema. Would watch an 8-part series on the making-of.

Ash is Purest White
A sweeping look at how China is modernising over the last 20 years, with the one constant being a commanding, captivating Zhao Tao, and her journey through it all. The kind of film you’re happy to let wash over you.

Avengers: Endgame
Unprecedented in scope in what it attempts to cap off. Does so in utterly satisfying fashion time and time again, while not being afraid to look back. Big character moments, laughs, and comic book fan service. Bravo, Marvel.

Capernaum
Veritably despairing and pointed. An astonishing set of performances, the young lead in particular. Don’t quite know how the director managed to conjure it up.

The Chambermaid
A beguiling, methodical Gabriela Cartol puts you through the wringer in a mighty performance that carries this coldly-observed portrait.

For Sama
A crushing decoction of human emotion from the ground in Aleppo, captured with a fearlessness and purpose that is unimaginable. By far the most essential film of the year.

Honeyland
All that you can ask for and more in capturing the human existence, and our relationship to nature. The beekeeper is the best of us.

There’s a scene where she looks on with the joy of a proud mother, as a kid enjoys a piece of honeycomb she extracted, and then it cuts to a gluttonous family feast that’s been bought with basically ruining nature. It’s perfect.

Honey Boy
LaBeouf uniquely bares his soul and the trauma of his life. Noah Jupe is nothing short of astonishing.

Joker
A dangerous film, practically devoid of light. Joaquin is peerless, and this is a performance for the ages, finely attuned on many a level. The movement of the camera and score are excellent in building the mood too. Loved the homage at the end.

The Last Black Man in San Francisco
Boisterous and brimming with confidence right from the get-go, casting a golden gaze on the city; not so much the current inhabitants. Top notch musical choices.

Little Women
The warmth, loving, laughter, and sense of family that comes with these characters streams out of the screen and gives you a hug. Timmy is a dream, the costume designs are a treat.

Long Day’s Journey into Night
A film lover’s dream, playing with the visual building blocks of cinema in spectacular ways. There are shots of water and glass that are godly. Oh, and then let’s throw in a one-hour single take.

Luce
A scintillating screenplay about race and White guilt in America, paired with a wickedly-good Kelvin Harrison Jr! Kept me afraid and uneasy until the very end. Glad to see Naomi Watts back to her best, and lord is there a lot of reading to do now to process it all.

Monos
The most striking opening to a film in recent memory. Cinematic in the truest sense, exploding with rawness. The Q&A after illuminated how carefully put together it actually was.

Parasite
A non-stop rollercoaster of entertainment, empathy, and incisive class commentary, morphing wildly in tone. Executed with consummate confidence. Can’t get over how well it evokes and uses smell to say so much.

Portrait of a Lady on Fire
A heart-swelling crescendo that is all art.

Shadow
Elegant, ingenious, purposeful. How often can you associate that with an action film? Sublime set design, framing, and use of slow-motion as well.

Toy Story 4
Has no right to be the best of the bunch, but here we are. The adults were laughing way more than the kids. Large parts of it are plain dark and odd (in a good way). The animation is mind-bogglingly gorgeous!

Wild Rose
Gets exponentially better as it goes along, culminating in ALL the heartstrings being tugged. Grounded in reality, and makes the small moments matter. Jessie Buckley is the real deal.

Uncut Gems
A symphony of screaming and raucous energy, orchestrated by two maestros in the Safdies, propelled by Adam Sandler at his very best. It’s also the greatest NBA film of all time.

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A list of 2018 releases seen this year across the U.S., Sydney, and occasionally, VOD and mid-air. As a result, there are some late 2017 releases, and it’s missing late 2018 U.S. ones.

Initial tweet-reactions to the higher rated films included. In alphabetical order, by star rating…

Blindspotting
If it takes jabs at gentrification, it unloads a gun of seething, stylistic anger at race and identity. The climax alone is worth the price of admission.

Burning
Wickedly mysterious in its writing and pacing, with some of the best character interplay of the year that left me wanting way more than 148min. Steven Yeun is a charming devil!

Cold War
The soft, ravishing camera and framing is sheer bliss to take in, supporting the cyclical romance dealing mostly in extremes. Its musical core is felt throughout, with the choreographed numbers and songs adding plenty to the mood.

First Man
Directed by the steadiest of shaky-cam hands, this is perfect, immersive storytelling for me, utilising all cinema has to offer. The music is SO SO good.

Minding the Gap
Comprehending the scope of what this young filmmaker is pulling off as it grows in importance and courage by the minute gave me chills. I’m so glad Bing Liu got to tell his story, and it has me hopeful for other storytellers out there. A must-see.

Mission: Impossible – Fallout
Seeing Cruise, a 56 year old man, push the limits of practical action sequences in film with every new outing is a wholly unique thrill. The plane jump, the motorcycle, hell, even him just god damn running!

Phantom Thread
A PTA-constructed game is one I’m always willing to play and relish, no matter the rules. Adorned with Greenwood’s score and DDL to complete the holy trifecta.

Roma
A miracle of a movie, and certainly one I didn’t think would come from Cuaron. He’s taken his beautiful eye for cinema and movement, marrying it with the richest of milieus, and the actress of the year.

Shoplifters
Another multi-generational, humanist gem of the highest grade from Kore-eda. More pointed than I can recall his other work, particularly with the ending and its structure.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse
A masterpiece in animation. In awe of how it was conceived and put together. Luckily it doesn’t stop there. Plenty of heart, action, humour, and hope, like the best of the comics.

Summer 1993
It’s as close as I’ve come to understanding and realising the complex emotions of a child. Deeply attuned writing and direction. The highs and lows all revel in nuance.

The Rider
The kind of pure, human cinema and story that is astonishing to think about when the credits roll. Easily 2018’s best to date. Hooray for Chloe Zhao. There’s so much to unpack in those taming scenes, but you know it’s special in the moment.

Won’t You Be My Neighbor
“Paddington 2 is so wholesome.” Mr Rogers: HOLD MY MARMALADE. The theatre was in danger of flooding by the end due to all the tears. Truly bittersweet given mass media today.

You Were Never Really Here
If it’s not mindless violence, is it mindful violence? Distinctive and considered in its vision by Ramsay. Joaquin is carnal and caring.

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A list of 2017 releases seen this year across the U.S., Sydney, Bangalore, and occasionally, VOD and mid-air.

If I had to pick a favourite, it’d be a tie between Call Me By Your Name and Toni Erdmann.

Initial tweet-reactions to the “5 star” films included. In alphabetical order, by star rating…

A Ghost Story
How Lowery makes you consider time and evokes sorrow is nothing short of genius. A profound gem, despite that misstep of a monologue.

All These Sleepless Nights
Misplaced, simple, reckless youth in all its glory, one beat/high to the next.

Call Me By Your Name
Hopelessly romantic on so many levels that it made me forget 2017. Love the way the music teases, love *that* monologue I’d heard lots about.

Columbus
Lu Richardson’s character and the writing of it is so brilliantly realised and resonant. How can this be your debut, Kogonada? Also loved the sound editing, and of course, the subject of Architecture doesn’t hurt.

Good Time
A bravura, alternate reality Coen Brothers-esque, moody adventure. The writing and Pattinson are top notch.

I Am Not Your Negro
Apathy and ignorance. This is the world. This is especially America. Baldwin’s truths eviscerate.

Icarus
An astonishing story. Makes you wonder if the truth is really worth it, given the consequences and broader powers at play.

Lucky
Surprise of the year? A remarkable performance that I can’t see anyone else giving. Lovely, affecting writing.

Nocturama
From the near-wordless, precision first 40 min, to that merciless ending, and all the moments of individual madness in between, this is going to stay with me a while.

The Florida Project
Ends as it begins; a perspective from Sean Baker that’s childhood at its best.

The Killing of a Sacred Deer
Lanthimos has perfected cold and off-kilter. The way he twists and twists after that is trauma for the mind.

The Lost City of Z
Epic to behold, in the old-school cinema sense of the word. Surely a labour of careful love. The cinematography is right now my favourite of the year. Hunnam and Pattinson make a damn good adventurous couple.

The Square
Ostlund delightfully and scathingly provokes, especially exploring where we draw the line on inaction as society. Art and masculinity are on the chopping board too. A film for this year.

Thelma
Haunting and evocative, right from that genius of an opening! All the little details come full circle and pay off rewardingly.

Toni Erdmann
An astounding balancing-act in tone. Fearless performances make it the relationship of the year.

War for the Planet of the Apes
We don’t deserve Matt Reeves’ quality & care in predominantly mediocre tentpole times. The score being the clearest example of how it doesn’t settle.

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