32 Movies (and 5 Indictments) I'd Like to See in 2023.
A cantankerous look at the year ahead.
In many respects, the upcoming movie year looks like a continuation of Hollywood’s blockbuster business as usual. There will be a new “Hunger Games,” a remake of “The Exorcist,” a Willy Wonka origin story (“Wonka”) starring Timothée Chalamet. There will be superhero extravaganzas from Marvel/Disney and DC/Warner Brothers, the two corporate behemoths locked in a battle to keep us locked in eternal adolescence. There will be sequels – oh, boy, will there be sequels. You can tick them off on both hands: “Dune Part 2, “Creed III,” “John Wick Chapter 4,” “Scream 6,” “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning” (a.k.a. “M:I 7”), “Fast X” (a.k.a. “The Fast and Furious 10”). I’m afraid some producer out there is planning to buy the rights to “Catch-22” assuming it’s a franchise.
But there will also be a great many movies that sound … fun. Or interesting. Or challenging. Or just, you know, good. Having sifted through the list of films already set for theatrical release this year, as well as likely 2023 movies that don’t yet have a date, I’m looking forward to the following 32 titles. Some have trailers, others don’t. In many cases, my interest is piqued by the talent involved: A nervy director, adventurous casts. Sometimes the premise is the hook. And sometimes it’s not: The upcoming “80 for Brady,” which stars Jane Fonda. Lily Tomlin, Sally Field, and Rita Moreno as geriatric New England Patriots fans, has me ready to run in the opposite direction.
And the following list doesn’t even include movies that may emerge from the upcoming Sundance Film Festival as unexpected heavy hitters. For now, though, here’s what I got.
(After the list is a short roster of politicians and public figures I greatly look forward to being called to account for their actions over the past few years. A fella can dream.)
“When You Finish Saving the World” – A year after its Sundance premiere, Jesse Eisenberg’s feature writing-directing debut is recognizably Eisenbergian in its focus on a neurotic single mother (Julianne Moore) and her son (Finn Wolfhard of “Stranger Things”), an awkward wannabe social-media influencer. (In theaters January 20.)
“Infinity Pool” – Brandon Cronenberg is an apple that has fallen very close to the tree of his father, David Cronenberg, and his third feature (after 2020’s thoroughly unnerving “Possessor”) is a freaky-deaky tale of crime, comeuppance, and cloning. (In theaters January 27.)
“Magic Mike’s Last Dance” – The third in the seriocomic saga of a man who just wants to take his clothes off for a living. Star Channing Tatum and director Steven Soderbergh have maintained a devilish tongue-in-cheek tone that now embraces the let’s-put-on-a-show genre. (In theaters February 10.)
“Emily” – Emma Mackey, the secret weapon of the Netflix series “Sex Education,” gets her shot at big-screen stardom in a biopic of Emily Brönte, directed by actress Emily O’Connor. (In theaters February 17.)
“Cocaine Bear” – This looks to be either the stupidest movie of 2023 or the most stupidly inspired. Elizabeth Banks directs a horror comedy based (very loosely) on a 1985 incident in which a black bear ingested 75 pounds of the white stuff. The real bear died; the movie bear kills people. (In theaters February 24.)
“Inside” – Calling all Willem Dafoe fans: The mercurial actor’s the whole show as an art thief trapped in a high-rise apartment for weeks while he loses his marbles. (In theaters March 10.)
“Mafia Mamma” – The invaluable Toni Collette as an American woman called back to her late grandfather’s Italian village, where his dying wish is that she take over the family crime business. This looks very silly, which we’ll all probably need around tax time. (In theaters April 14.)
“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-verse” — At the end of the day, the animated, antic, endlessly inventive 2018 “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” may be the only Marvel movie really worth a damn, and the sequel adds more alternate-universe Spideys to the mix: Issa Rae voices Spider-Woman, Oscar Isaac is Spider-Man 2099, Daniel Kaluuya is Spider-Punk. (In theaters June 2.)
“Asteroid City” – The latest Tinkertoy confabulation from Wes Anderson, with stock-company regulars (Tilda Swinton, Jason Schwartzman, Adrien Brody) and some new recruits to Andersonville (Tom Hanks, Margot Robbie, Steve Carell, Hong Chau). The director also has a Roald Dahl adaption in the works for 2023: “The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar,” with Benedict Cumberbatch. (In theaters June 16.)
“Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” — At 80, Harrison Ford is two decades older than Sean Connery was when he played Indy’s dad in “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade,” but does anyone doubt that Ford can still snap a mean bullwhip? Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Mads Mikkelsen co-star and James Mangold (“Logan”) directs, with producer Steven Spielberg looking over his shoulder. (In theaters June 30.)
“Barbie” – Who knows what director Greta Gerwig (“Ladybird”) has up her accessorized sleeve in this comedy based on … on … the doll, but the trailer is both very promising and very funny. Margot Robbie stars, with Ryan Gosling as Ken, Issa Rae and Kingsley Ben-Adir as Black Barbie and Ken, and Hari Nef as (I’m guessing) Trans Barbie. (In theaters July 21.)
“Oppenheimer” — It’s a Christopher Nolan movie, so you know it’ll be a heavyweight event. Cillian Murphy takes a break from “Peaky Blinders” to play the father of the atomic bomb. And look at that gallery of support: Robert Downey Jr., Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Florence Pugh, Kenneth Branagh, and Rami Malek. (In theaters July 21.)
“Challengers” – A lot of reasons to be excited about this one. Luca Guadagnino (“Call Me By Your Name”) directs Zendaya in her first real starring feature as a tennis coach on the net between an old lover and a new, with Mike Faist – so electrifying as Riff in Spielberg’s “West Side Story” remake – as the latter. (In theaters August 11.)
“Next Goal Wins” – Taika Waititi (“Jojo Rabbit”) directs a soccer comedy based on the true story of coach Thomas Rongen (Michael Fassbender), who tried (emphasis on tried) to make a championship squad of American Samoan footballers. Elisabeth Moss and Will Arnett co-star. (In theaters September 22.)
TBA Town: Here are movies that don’t have a set release date as yet.
“The Bikeriders” – A midwestern motorcycle club evolves over a decade from a hangout hobby to something darker in a drama from the gifted writer-director Jeff Nichols (“Take Shelter”), with a powerhouse cast that includes Michael Shannon, Tom Hardy, Austin “Elvis” Butler, and Jodie Comer of “Killing Eve.”
“Blitz” – Saoirse Ronan stars in a historical drama set in World War II-era London, directed by the estimable Steve McQueen (“Twelve Years a Slave”), who will also be releasing “Occupied City,” a documentary about Amsterdam under Nazi rule.
“Ferrari” – Michael Mann directs a biopic of Italian car manufacturer Enzo Ferrari, with Adam Driver (above) all too appropriately in the lead. Penelope Cruz and Shailene Woodley co-star.
“The Governesses” – An adaptation of Anne Serre’s 1992 cult novel of shame and erotic abandon, with a stellar cast of bright young things: Lily-Rose Depp, Hoyeon (of Netflix’s “Squid Game”), and Renate Reinsve, breakout star of Norway’s “The Worst Person in the World.”
“The Holdovers” – Admit it, ever since the 2004 wine-disaster comedy “Sideways” you’ve been waiting for director Alexander Payne and actor Paul Giamatti to re-up. Their new film, with the star as a prickly private school teacher marooned on campus over the holidays, wowed audiences as a late addition to the Toronto festival in September.
“I Saw the TV Glow” – The second film from Jane Schoenbrun, who landed with a splash in 2022 with the eerie micro-budget “We’re All Going to the World’s Fair.”
“The Killer” — Director David Fincher (“Se7en,” “Zodiac”) returns to scenes of crime with an adaptation of a graphic novel about a hitman (busy Michael Fassbender) gaining a conscience and losing his grip on reality.
“Killers of the Flower Moon” – Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio, together again for the sixth time, in a 1920s fact-based drama of murders on an oil-rich Osage Nation reservation. The cast includes indigenous actors Lily Gladstone (above with DiCaprio) and Tantoo Cardinal, Jesse Plemons, Brendan Fraser, John Lithgow, and – in his ninth film with the director – Robert De Niro.
“Love Lies Bleeding” – Another sophomore outing from a talented young woman filmmaker: Rose Glass (“Saint Maud”), here directing Kristen Stewart in a tale of “ego, desire, and the American Dream.” And female bodybuilding, apparently.
“Master Gardener” – The latest obsessive drama about an obsessive anti-hero from the ever-obsessive Paul Schrader (“First Reformed”). Joel Edgerton (above left) plays a repressed horticulturalist with dark secrets his employer Sigourney Weaver (above right) doesn’t know about.
“May December” – A new Todd Haynes movie is always cause for joy in these quarters. The director (“Far From Heaven,” “Carol”) casts Julianne Moore and Charles Melton as a couple whose marriage once scandalized the nation and Natalie Portman stirring the pot as an actress cast to play Moore’s character in a new movie.
“Megalopolis” – Francis Ford Coppola’s dream project, four decades in the making, about a New York City architect who wants to rebuild a new utopia after a disaster. The massive cast includes Adam Driver, Forest Whitaker, Aubrey Plaza, Giancarlo Esposito, and Dustin Hoffman. Will it be released in 2023? Coppola is still filming, so don’t hold your breath.
“Nightbitch” – “A stay-at-home mom worries that she may be turning into a dog” – sometimes the elevator pitch is all you need to whet a moviegoer’s appetite. Amy Adams stars for director Marielle Heller (“A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood”), who adapts Rachel Yoder’s 2021 novel.
“Poor Things” – A suicidal abused wife (Emma Stone) is brought back to life with her brain replaced by that of her unborn child. In other words, just another day at the office for director Yorgos Lanthimos (“The Favourite,” “The Lobster”). Willem Dafoe, Mark Ruffalo, and Margaret Qualley co-star.
“Showing Up” – The fourth collaboration between director Kelly Reichardt and actress Michelle Williams, about rivalries at an art colony, with juicy roles for Hong Chau and Judd Hirsch, among others. The movie’s been bumping around the festival circuit since last May; release it already, A24.
“Silent Night” – Hong Kong’s formalist master of mayhem John Woo (“Hard Boiled,” “Face/Off”) hasn’t been heard from in these parts for a long while, and his latest, an action film about a vengeful grieving father (Joel Kinnaman), is told without a word of dialogue.
“The Sympathizer” – The great Park Chan-wook (“Oldboy,” “The Handmaiden,” “Decision to Leave”) adapts Viet Thanh Nguyen’s 2015 novel about an undercover agent in 1970s Vietnam into a 7-episode HBO series produced by and co-starring Robert Downey Jr.
“What Happens Later” – The reluctant queen of romcoms finally directs one herself: Meg Ryan is behind the camera and in front of it as a traveler stranded overnight in a snowed-in airport with an ex-lover (David Duchovny).
Bonus section — Five people overdue for indictment in 2023, in alphabetical order:
General Michael Flynn
Matt Gaetz
George Santos (I’ll accept extradition to Brazil.)
Ginni Thomas
Donald Trump
I know the wheels of justice grind slowly but come on already.
As always, your comments are welcome here.
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