What to watch in 2023: The best movies of the year
Maestro (Netflix)
Split into two parts, Bradley Cooper’s Maestro – now available to stream after a quick theatrical run – is no mere checklist of Leonard Bernstein’s CV. There are many excellent, often funny musical cues that nod to his most beloved compositions, but mostly this is a tracing of a marriage, not a man. And it is inside that sometimes sturdy but often thorny relationship between Bernstein and his wife, Broadway actor Felicia Montealegre (Carey Mulligan), where Cooper finds the metronome of his story’s beating heart.
Cooper, who for much of the film sports the most convincing old-age makeup ever seen on-screen (including an already and needlessly controversial schnozz), does well conveying the ambitions and orbit-pulling charm of a generational talent. But it is his co-star who deserves the spotlight. A good and necessary debate can be had about hiring Mulligan to play the Costa Rican-Chilean Montealegre. But there is no question as to the strength – the tenacity and fragility – of the actor’s performance. Singing Mulligan’s praises is not enough. She deserves her own symphony.
Barbie (Crave)
Hi, Barbie! After conquering movie theatres, not to mention the entire cultural conversation, Greta Gerwig’s smash comedy is finally available to stream. While a rewatch – or, several dozen rewatches, thanks to my children’s enthusiasm for the film – reveals a few cracks in Gerwig and co-writer Noah Baumbach’s satire, the bubblegum-bright production is still something of a miracle to behold, with Margot Robbie absolutely nailing the assignment. And there are big bonus points for Ryan Gosling’s patriarchy-proud Ken, the most perfect casting of the entire year.
Saltburn (Prime Video)
After a brief theatrical run, the film that’s scandalized certain extremely online circles of the film world is making its streaming debut. While Emerald Fennell’s follow-up to her pseudo rape-revenge satire Promising Young Woman isn’t as atrocious as some critics have made it out to be, it is certainly a film that works stupidly hard at unravelling itself by the end. Up until its final 10 minutes, though, there is a certain gaudy charm to Fennell’s ripoff of The Talented Mr. Ripley, as it follows one friendless poor boy (Barry Keoghan, once again excellent at playing a creep) who latches onto the wealthy family of his Oxford crush (Euphoria star Jacob Elordi, who seems to be everywhere all at once these days). Even though Fennell has no real control over the monster she’s created, there are loads of worthy distractions, including Rosamund Pike as the most clueless of 0.1 per cent matriarchs, and Richard E. Grant as her even more daft husband.
Shaw Brothers: Wuxia Warriors and Kung Fu Masters (MUBI)
If the holidays have left you in a fighting mood, then instead of targeting your rage at your least favourite relative, may I suggest diving into the new 14-film Shaw Brothers collection hitting MUBI this week? Collecting the very best titles from the Hong Kong studio that introduced martial-arts movies to the world, the slate includes Jeong Chang-hwa’s King Boxer, Chang Cheh’s The One-Armed Swordsman, and Lau Kar-leung’s classic, still unbeatable epic The 36th Chamber of Shaolin. For those who have never seen a Shaw Brothers film, the catalogue is a deep-dive treat, one that will illuminate just where everyone from Quentin Tarantino to the Wu Tang Clan got their best ideas. For those who can already tell their Five Deadly Venoms from their Five Element Ninjas, well, then you’re probably already five films deep into this series.
Priscilla (on-demand, including Apple TV, Amazon, Cineplex Store)
Both the best and worst film to double-bill program alongside Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis, Sofia Coppola’s new drama Priscilla aims to set the Graceland record straight with a sometimes dreamy but mostly harrowing tour inside the private details of a hugely public marriage. Coppola also scores two central casting coups. Elordi (best known for HBO’s Euphoria) is a towering head case of contradictions as the King – a swooning lover and detestable egoist. And Cailee Spaeny, who plays the title character from a high-schooler to young bride to unprepared mother, makes every stage of Priscilla’s dream-turned-nightmare life seem wholly real. The actress, who deserves more attention than she’s currently receiving on the awards circuit, can project wide-eyed naiveté as well as she can play the scorned lover or overwhelmed parent. And the scenes in which she telegraphs both her lovesick desperation and simmering unease to her caring but clueless mother (Dagmara Dominczyk) are uneasy and tender in equal measure.
Barry Hertz