Poor Things Best of 2023

[00:00:00] Footcandal Films.

[00:00:05] Film news and reviews from two guys who really like movies.

[00:00:10] This episode is brought to you by the Footcandal Film Society.

[00:00:14] For a schedule of upcoming screenings and membership information, visit the society's

[00:00:19] website at www.footcandal.org. of 2023, and that is what we're gonna do later in this episode. Chris and I will both be sharing with you our top five favorite films of 2023, as well as sharing with you our biggest disappointment in a film and our biggest surprise in a film experience we had this past year. So that'll be happening a little bit later in the episode.

[00:01:41] Plus, we're also gonna talk a little bit

[00:01:42] about the North Carolina Film Critics Association,

[00:01:45] recent winners and announcements. is good. Wonka color purple. There may be one or two others, but yeah, in general, this is probably one of the last. Okay. All right. That's true. There are a couple films that were 2023 releases we haven't discussed yet and may squeeze in a review here in the next couple of weeks. But more than likely, I think we're moving onward and upward as we go after this episode. But our

[00:03:01] first review is the film Poor Things. It is the latest things, his latest film has Lanthamaz re-teaming with Emma Stone to play Bella Baxter, a young woman who's brought back to life by an unorthodox scientist played by William DeFoe.

[00:05:25] again, it's in the stone again. I like the concept, the premise, it's like, you know, from what I saw in teasers and trailers, the visual style of the film looked really interesting. I'm like,

[00:05:30] I think I'm on board for this. And it met my expectations and I actually thought this was a

[00:05:35] really, really fun, good. Also interesting, I mean, had a lot to say and set it in a way that was

[00:05:43] in entertaining and engaging, but also had some of this film is a pretty sweet story, pretty almost a little fairy tale-ish story. I think that it's a very adult fairy tale. And I think that's kind of the best way to look at it. And visually it was what I expected.

[00:07:03] It was, I think, very visually interesting.

[00:07:05] I think it can give it even a little more depth of the plot without spoiling too much. It's

[00:08:24] Basically, yes, it is a woman

[00:09:26] It opens up a lot of troubling questions and problems about the male gaze and the way that men

[00:09:29] Treat women and I think it film has a lot to say about that Yes, and it says it in a very very tellish parable ish kind of way. I think through this

[00:09:35] While also throwing in a lot of sex and a lot of button pushing so you know

[00:09:40] yes, and I think

[00:09:43] There again, I think if I'd been able to watch it from start to finish in one sitting that would have helped but kind of I

[00:10:47] tend to. Look, the film has gotten some criticism from people about some of the, I'm trying to think of a more technical term for it, but a little bit of the quote ickiness of the film. I mean,

[00:10:52] the fact that you are talking about a story of a woman that, you know, is being used by many men

[00:11:00] around her and kind of place and situations that someone with, we got to be uncomfortable about something. Yeah. You know, just because of his films, they are challenging. He doesn't make ordinary films that go from A to B. You know, it's always something a little odd and often dark humor. So I think, you know, this film in some places

[00:12:21] is being listed as a comedy and drama, you know?

[00:12:24] Yeah.

[00:12:25] And there are funny things in it,

[00:12:26] but it's always, you kind of cringe

[00:12:28] at why they're funny. got there so I found some real value to it. Can we talk about some of the... This film has a lot of people in it. As you mentioned the film is kind of a journey, a little bit of a journey film, so there's like three or four phases of her journey. So of course along the way she's meeting different characters and we have different people appearing. Oh, okay. Yeah, yeah. I liked her performance. Yeah. It was something, you know, we've talked about MSN's performance and I liked how Margaret kind of tweaked on that. But what was impressive to me with MSN's performance is, I mean, she's good.

[00:15:00] She's been nominated for Academy Awards.

[00:15:01] I mean, MSN's good.

[00:15:03] But something as simple as working on how she walks

[00:15:07] throughout the film, like you said, I mean, I assume the course of this film, the story was over, I don't know, a couple of years, maybe, I guess so. Maybe so? I mean, it wasn't like multiple years. I I will forever be indebted to this film for giving me the line. Excuse me, I have to go punch this baby. That is. That happens to be my favorite line, I think I've had in a film this year. It made me gut, what do you call it?

[00:17:43] Belly laugh.

[00:17:44] Belly laugh, yeah.

[00:17:45] The most in the screening there. elements in this film it's like he takes the whimsy of Tim Burton using the color palette of Wes Anderson or like or like a Barbie movie but still maintains the dark edge to it which is kind of hard to do you like make a Barbie looking color movie with the whimsy of like Tim Burton but still it's pretty no that's actually a pretty good pretty good way to describe it. It's a blend of that. Such a

[00:19:02] different looking film that he's made so it's like I would, supposedly, kinds of kindness, and it will star Emma Stone again, as well as William Defoe. And apparently, if I'm understanding, things can change before this thing's released, the title's already changed. But it is telling three different stories using the same set of actors, but they play different roles.

[00:20:22] Or maybe it's telling the same story,

[00:20:23] three different ways with the actors

[00:20:25] like switching roles they play in or something.

[00:20:27] Sounds very meta, I dislike it even more or better, whichever it may be. But I'd like to hear your feedback on it. I'm anxious to watch again. And but I do think like between, I will admit, I never saw a killing of a sacred deer. That's the one length most filmed I have not seen. OK, I've seen an interesting one.

[00:21:41] I have seen that one.

[00:21:42] I think I've actually seen all of his feature films.

[00:21:44] I think I'd seen dog tooth and I get there. I know it's going to be of a certain, I know there's going to be a certain tone or style to it, but I just don't know where the story is going to take me and that's exciting. But blending a visual style of having a certain look and feel to a film, which I do think

[00:23:02] in a way, yes, this one's different, the family, with the kids in the room or not? No, no, please do not. This one is is about as an adult fairy tale as you can get. And they do not shy away from a lot of content and

[00:25:24] here on the mesh.tv podcast network. Chris and I just finished our review of Poor Things on the first half of the show, but now we're moving our attention to

[00:25:28] the recap of 2023. Chris, you and I are part of the North County Film Critics

[00:25:35] Association and we got to take part as we have for the last several years in the

[00:25:39] year-end, both nomination process and the final balloting and very proud to be a

[00:25:46] part of this. This is their 12th we've moved a little bit in the least in the last few years where a single film takes is a more dominant force when it comes to awards. Yeah sometimes you have awards years where the awards are spread across many many films and all there's no one film that really kind of

[00:27:02] dominates and then you have that year is like nope that film just kind of steam

[00:27:06] rolled over everything. And then this for that was still a Michael J. Fox movie. I will say Oppenheimer was not the top choice I gave on the narrative film, but still a Michael J. Fox movie was my choice for best documentary. Was your top choice for narrative film? Did it make it in the nominees

[00:28:22] at least? Just curious. Yes. Okay. Yes, it did. What was why, but if I'm understanding correctly, even though it won it can, and it's got a lot of award, including the Wisconsin. So it wouldn't be eligible for the Academy Awards, best foreign picture. Because the country has to kinda like it. Right, they have to put it up. Apparently, it's not being, which I don't really understand. So they're submitting it, it's just gonna be consideration for best picture. Yeah, and I guess they've got something else,

[00:29:41] which I think there's a film, The Taste of Things.

[00:29:45] Oh, right, yeah.

[00:29:46] Maybe that's the one they're putting,

[00:29:47] I don't know, weird, all the categories were very competitive. I could argue, yeah, Robert Downey Jr. I don't even remember right now what I voted because for me, it was very tight between Robert Downey Jr. and Ryan Gosling.

[00:31:01] I think I went ahead and went with Ryan Gosling

[00:31:03] because I don't wanna go on so many things came out in a rush, because it was one of the first things to come out if people will kind of not forget about it,

[00:32:20] but just not, it won't weigh as high in their estimation.

[00:32:23] Yeah, but remember Oppenheimer was actually a summer move.

[00:32:25] That's true, and Opp Color Purple was really good as well. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. So that's just a taste of the winners. You know, there's a much longer list of winners that we announced as a Film Critics Association. We do encourage everybody to go check out all the list of winners. You can see it at ncfilmcritics.org.

[00:33:43] That is the website for the. This is it. This is what all the letterbox ranking star ratings build to. This is what it comes down to is we have to be able to walk away from the year 2023 and say definitively, Alan Jackson has said, these are the five best films. And definitively, this is what Chris Fry says are the five best films

[00:35:01] that were released last year.

[00:35:02] Are you ready to get into this?

[00:35:03] Sure.

[00:35:04] How about we start from five and go up. top five, but I will say that I'm going to say, hey, I'm going to do it in alphabetical order. There is no ranking. Oh, there's no ranking for you. And being here's the other thing. This is films that people did Barbie and Oppenheimer on this list. Okay. So I doubt you and I are going to have any overlap. I'd be very surprised if we did. So my number five film is The Iron Claw. Okay. That was the one that we spoke about. I think one or two episodes ago. I don't remember exactly Sean Durkin's film about the true story of the Von Eric brothers, a wrestling family. We talked about back in the early 1980s.

[00:37:42] This one, I knew I was going to like but the ending was kind of limped out. But no, I love a lot of my endings. Actually, I think a lot of the films I'm picking today, I really like their endings and that makes a big difference. So anyway, the Iron Claw is my number five. Yeah. So I mentioned I mean they should be in every movie together. But they're great. So that's American, American fiction. Very good. I will go ahead and say I have two films on my list that are two films on my watch list I did not catch up with in time. One of them is American.

[00:40:20] Only two. That's amazing. Two that I felt like I needed to see and one is the color a very mysterious neighbor called Harry played by Paul Myscal, Andrew Scott Place, Adam, the screenwriter. And this is all pretty revealed. I don't think it's spoiling to say that Adam has conversations with his parents who, yeah, I mean, in a very odd kind

[00:41:40] of unique way that's really driving this story.

[00:41:44] And it's all about someone of the year and I crammed it in to the end of the year and I liked it. But I think I would have appreciated more if I would have had time to kind of slow down and think about it some more. But it is everything you mentioned about it, I'm on board, I did like the film.

[00:43:00] No, I think it was really good.

[00:43:01] And I just saw it yesterday.

[00:43:04] So honestly, I'm like, wow I think I want to squeaked in a put in a nomination acting nomination for for Andrew Scott for this. Anyway, all of the strangers. That is my number four. Okay. So the next one on my list alphabetically would be this.

[00:44:21] I guess if there's going to be a film that you already mentioned

[00:44:24] you you haven't seen, but this is the one that most people have

[00:44:27] seen some not really shining a light.

[00:45:23] as she's the lead, but then you've got Tsuraje P. Henson, Daniel Brooks, Coleman Domingo.

[00:45:26] I mean, it is a murderous row of a good cast,

[00:45:30] just so many good people.

[00:45:32] So, yeah, I think that's why it makes it under my list.

[00:45:35] And I feel like, I guess there again,

[00:45:37] because of the floodgate that kind of opened up,

[00:45:40] I feel like this may have gotten,

[00:45:42] at least it feels like to me kind of swallowed

[00:45:44] by everything else that came out.

[00:45:46] It did. It did. Love it. I think we've talked enough about it. I don't need to say anymore. Just your girl goes like the most poor things is my number three film of the year. Okay, okay, so just leave it at that.

[00:48:25] I need to rewatch it. So therefore maybe it as a film snob critic that I appreciated was the couple goes to see the dead don't die on a date. And that's the Jim Jaramooch film. Yeah, I wasn't actually that high on, but it's just odd that they go see this film. And the film one, I doubt it, but there's a chance because alphabetically it's still in the running with you. Okay. But we'll see. My number two, and I know we're going to disagree on this film because we've talked indirectly about it and I've seen your star rating. And my number two is past lives. I still love past lives.

[00:49:41] We talked about it a while back.

[00:49:43] We showed it.

[00:49:47] It's okay.

[00:49:48] This is one the life. You know, it's, I've heard some criticisms about the film that it's pretty slight. There's not a lot to it. It's true. It is a very small film. It is a very small story. It's really centered around

[00:51:01] three characters. You have Nora, you have Hays're all just kind of smaller films and other than poor things, poor things is the one that just kind of goes all over the place. But so far I like I like the type of films we're saying this year and this is a good example of that. So yeah, poor thing. Sorry, past lives directed by

[00:52:24] Celine Song is my number two film and I knew it was okay. Perfect days, I knew very little about except it was subtitled. You know, and you know, and you know, and then. I'm the director. Sure. But not, I wouldn't say like it's not that this film has a lot happening in it. The guy goes around and cleans toilets.

[00:53:42] So but just the way it was done, the way point of this show is to end 2023 in where I don't look backwards and now you've given me four films already that I still have to see that are 2023 films. What are you doing to me here? So this is rough.

[00:55:00] But thank you. I had heard of the film. I was intrigued. I honestly did not know

[00:55:05] anybody who had seen it. So now I doements it as your number one. I mean, you like it that much. And look, and somebody even asked me the other day, like when I recommended it to somebody, and they were like, well, why do you like it so much? I'm like, you know, I can't really give you a, there's not like one specific reason. It's not like the acting is off the chart better than anything I've seen this year.

[00:56:21] It's not like the story is revolutionary

[00:56:23] or something really unique or creative to it. who won the supporting actress award with the North Carolina Film Critics Association. Well, they served. Yep. As kind of the head of the cafeteria and on campus to kind of provide food for them while they're there. But the three of them, their relationship, their bond, their experiences together, just so good. And just when you think the film is trying to be a little more playful and it has, it

[00:57:40] is all about just, just when you think it's going to try to be a dead poet society rip

[00:57:46] off. My number one. I'm when formulating my list, I kind of, you know, just to try to make it interesting. So you know, I didn't have repeat list. I went ahead and blocked off Oppenheimer. I blocked off Barbie and it was tough, but I went ahead and blocked off holdovers because I feel, but all three of those I liked. The only one I've had a chance to see twice was Barbie.

[00:59:03] And I would say that's definitely not my favorite family of the year.

[00:59:05] I do like it.

[00:59:06] Yeah.

[00:59:07] It's not my favorite I feel this need to want to spend time again in that world where these five I do, absolutely. And yeah, I think it

[01:00:24] is interesting. Well, I haven't heard your number one yet. Okay, go ahead and tell me So one of my, you know, it's very much a movie geek's movie because one of the things that there's a lot in there, did you hear that theory that Snowpiercer is a sequel to Willy Wonka? That's just amazing on several levels. And yeah. That's good. So you just, you know, it's like, if that's your kind of humor, then you're like, do what?

[01:01:40] But you know, it's just, it's funny.

[01:01:43] So it's a directorial debut.

[01:01:46] It's not, the of that. And plus again, I really feel like this year my year was,

[01:03:01] I really just gravitated more to where I felt like I could really spend time with characters. out of cold or so some you will have already heard, but we've got American fiction, anatomy of a fall, Barbie, color purple, fallen leaves, hold over, iron, claw, Oppenheimer, perfect days and shortcomings. So the ones that didn't make my top five was basically because I was trying to go for the lesser known, because yeah, I do have Barbie and Oppenheimer in my top 10 soon.

[01:04:20] Yeah.

[01:04:22] It's good stuff, very, very good stuff.

[01:04:26] Yeah, so Chris, that was promising young woman It was I just couldn't find a lot to really latch on to a salt burn. So that was my biggest disappointment

[01:05:44] Okay, and fair enough I I like You know, it's not great, but not as good as once or Sing Street But man Sing Street was so much fun such a good film really enjoyed it So hearing he was gonna be doing another film that was gonna be an Apple TV plus film

[01:07:02] That was gonna be Eve Eve Houston, which is you know, Bono's daughter

[01:07:05] And I've really liked her and the stuff I've seen it's not one that was on our list of best films of the year or is yours. Well, I'll go ahead and say what my heart is. You want to go ahead and tell us. Yeah, so my biggest surprise of the year was Barbie.

[01:08:22] Okay, all right.

[01:08:22] Moving once again, you can't judge a film by its IP,

[01:08:25] Pirates of the Caribbean, Barbie was actually, it was good. Yeah, no, it really was. It was just outside my top 10. I've seen it a couple times. I think it's really, really good as well. I love the fact that the film has, like you said,

[01:09:41] has more to say than what you see on the surface.

[01:09:45] And I actually think packs a pretty emotional power-up and it missed me when I was growing up. It came much years later than me when they started King Popular. I think I was already in college when they started getting popular. So I wasn't really into it. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I don't know how many films they've put out. I think I've maybe only seen one, maybe the original one. Is that the one with the new eyes? No, I never saw that one.

[01:11:01] That was the second one.

[01:11:01] That was, yeah.

[01:11:03] The Secret of the Oos was the second one.

[01:11:05] I never saw that.

[01:11:06] I think I just the reason I even watched it. It's like, well, I got to re we got to watch this for the show. And about halfway through, I'm like, huh, I actually want to rewind and kind of watch this part again, because it was really good. And that doesn't happen often

[01:12:23] with an animated film based off of a long standing franchise of was the turtles film. So not that Spider-Man still didn't do some new things, but both films really good, but I think if I had to vote one or the other, it may tend a little bit towards the turtles because of that, because of that technique of animated, but looking almost like claymation, which I found unique. Yeah, I kind of wonder if we really have evolved

[01:13:40] in the animation field, where we've kind of moved past

[01:13:44] where all the Pixar and Disney CG, last 20 years. So yeah. Okay. Well, that is our list of everything kind of interesting. A few big films that we did not mention at all anywhere in this conversation. Ashroyd C didn't come up. I know it didn't come up from you. No, it's in it barely didn't quite make my top 10. It was close, but not quite

[01:15:00] there. Got you. Mystro, the didn't have any didn't get

[01:15:04] anything from any either of us or anything on the film critics the one in my top five. I normally at least have one or so blockbuster big action superhero something or another because normally I do find at least one or two of those a year to be one of my favorite films this year. Not really. I mean, I think the best quote action film I saw if you

[01:16:20] want to even call it that. I mean, it's hard candle film. And Alan and I are also on Letterbox where you can try to track what we're seeing. And sometimes we leave quick takes. Do us a favor. Give us a star rating, writer reviews, share with friends or whatever service you received your favorite podcasts on because it'll help us reach new listeners. And we would

[01:17:41] appreciate that. All right. Well, that wraps us up for today. So thanks everybody for listening.