Marvel isn’t wasting any time giving fans of What If…? exactly what they want. With the season two finale set to air tomorrow, Marvel has already dropped a teaser clip from season three! It’s like Kang has reached into the future and brought this footage to us in the present.
The clip features Winter Soldier and Red Guardian hitting the road until they are confronted by law enforcement. Of course, a chase ensues and one has to figure the two Super Soldiers are going to have the upper hand in that.
We’ll get a chance to see the two characters meet in live-action when the Thunderbolts movie arrives. They’ll be played by Sebastian Stan and David Harbour, respectively, although I’m unsure if they’re providing the voices in this What If…? clip. I would think so?
Check out the clip below, and tune in to Disney+ tomorrow for the season two finale of What If…? Following that, new episodes will begin “streaming soon”, whatever that means.
The whole conceit of Sony Picture Classics’ latest Oscar bait offering is that groundbreaking neurologist Sigmund Freud hosted an Oxford professor in his London home in 1939. It was the start of World War II and two weeks before the psychotherapist would take his own life. While it is unknown who this visitor was, Freud’s Last Session imagines this encounter as a religious and verbal match of wills between beloved British author C.S. Lewis and the atheist Freud.
Based on Mark St. Germain’s stage play (which was based on the nonfiction book The Question of God: C.S. Lewis and Sigmund Freud Debate God, Love, Sex, and the Meaning of Life), the film opens with Freud (Anthony Hopkins) waking up from his infamous therapy couch by his daughter, Anna, who readies him for the day. Hopkins plays the older man with commanding zeal, letting his arrogance guide the conversation.
As Anna (Liv Lisa Fries) leaves him for the day, she runs into C.S. Lewis, who has been painfully aware of Britain’s impending war involvement on his journey into London. His introductions with Dr. Freud cut short as they quickly enter a debate over one of Lewis’ books.
You can feel the film’s stage play origins when Freud and Lewis are sparring. Matt Brown doesn’t do much cinematic in those moments. However, when characters recall dreams or inner fantasies, he draws up some of the most beautiful images of the year. From forest scenes to the blueish hues of prewar London, Brown knows how to immerse his audience into the story. Those moments don’t seem to happen enough, as the story feels weighed down by the logos of their debate and not the pathos.
Matthew Goode proves himself as a reliable character performer as Lewis. Squaring off against Hopkins is no easy feat, but the actor holds his own with quiet determinedness. Hopkins is at his most interesting when his character wrestles with his daughter’s lesbian relationship with fellow academic and future life partner, Dorothy Burlingham (Jodi Balfour). Holding on to the now-antiquated idea that her sexuality is due to a failing on his part, the veteran actor plays up the character’s struggle to balance his insecurities with his psychoanalytical knowledge.
While the debate about God’s existence has been made before, Freud’s Last Session intellectualizes it in an accessible that humanizes these looming figures. In an overcrowded Oscar race, it’s doubtful this British period drama will grab any of the nominations but for a contemplative, quiet, and thoughtful drama that’s perfect for the Christmas season, Freud’s Last Session is just what the doctor ordered.
Freud’s Last Session is playing in theaters. Watch the trailer below.
Could you imagine if Donald Trump listed his favorite movies? How many times could he list Triumph of the Will?
Fortunately, we have Barack Obama who actually loves movies and is keen to share his favorites every year. Now that he’s a movie producer, an award-winning one at that, some of his picks are self-serving. But at least he can cop to his own biases when naming American Symphony, Rustin, and Leave the World Behind, all films he produced for Netflix through his Higher Ground label.
He tweeted, “I’m biased since these movies were produced by Higher Ground, but these are in fact three of the best films I saw this year.”
Others on Barack Obama’s list include a few favorites of my own, such as the biopic Blackberry, starring Jay Baruchel as founder of the once-popular smartphone device. Also Cord Jefferson’s American Fiction, which stars Jeffrey Wright as a frustrated author. Celine Song’s heartbreaking story of romantic destiny Past Lives also found favor with Obama. There’s also Ben Affleck’s Nike Air Jordan drama Air, about the launch of the Michael Jordan shoe line.
Alexander Payne’s holiday dramedy The Holdovers was also on Obama’s list of favorites. He also chose A.V. Rockwell’s acclaimed film A Thousand and One, about a mother who rescues her son from the foster care system and goes on the run.
The highest-grossing movie on Obama’s list is Oppenheimer, a clear contender for the Best Picture award at the Oscars. Polite Society and Anatomy of a Fall were also named. Obama and I share a love for Hirokazu Kore-eda movies, too, and this year he chose Monster among his list of favorites.
A late addition was The Color Purple, which Obama added shortly after seeing it.
The list was preceded by a short message in which Obama acknowledged the writers and actors strike in Hollywood earlier this year.
“Earlier this year, writers and actors went on strike to advocate for better working conditions and protections. It led to important changes that will transform the industry for the better.
Update: I just saw The Color Purple and loved it. I'm adding it to this list as one of my favorite movies of the year.
It’s easier than ever to put together this list of the most overlooked movies of the year. I actually haven’t done this one since 2020, the first year of the pandemic, when more movies than ever were skipping theatrical and going to streaming. There were hundreds of movies coming out back then, and now that number has only increased as digital-only platforms become the norm, rather than the exception. It’s easier than ever for a movie to get distribution, and that means more movies are out there. That’s a good thing, if you ask me.
These movies are overlooked in the sense that I feel some didn’t get the distribution they needed, or the attention they deserved. There will likely be movies on here that you’ve heard about, maybe a few that you haven’t, but all could use a few more eyeballs on them. And I’ve made it a point not to use anything that I may have already put on my Best Movies of 2023 list. For instance, I could’ve easily put Rye Lane and If You Were The Last on here, too.
So check it out, my list of 10 Great Overlooked Movies of 2023.
For better or worse, Adam Driver is always going to be associated with Star Wars and his role as Kylo Ren. The character went through a lot of changes across three movies, as JJ Abrams and Rian Johnson had different ideas for his direction, but even so, Driver played the part as well as can be expected. With Daisy Ridley returning for a new movie centered on Rey, rumors have been flying that Driver might also reprise his role as Kylo Ren. But would Driver be up for it?
Appearing on the Smartless podcast (via SFFGazette), Driver confirmed that something is happening at Lucasfilm, but it ain’t with him…
“They’re doing stuff, but not with me. I’m not doing any more.”
Driver confirmed to the hosts that it’s because Kylo Ren’s story is finished. Of course, you and I both know that no character as crucial as Kylo Ren will ever be truly done, especially given his arc. Beginning in The Force Awakens as the attack dog of Supreme Leader Snoke, Ren aka Ben Solo fully turned to the Dark Side, killed his father Han Solo, and rejected his mother Princess Leia Organa. He became more like his grandfather, Anakin Solo, who also fell to the Dark Side and became Darth Vader.
After that, Kylo Ren would rise to become the new Supreme Leader of the First Order, leaning into his evil side during Johnson’s The Last Jedi. However, when Abrams took over again with The Rise of Skywalker, Ren was turned back to the side of good so he could make a heroic, redemptive sacrifice. His story arc mirrored that of Vader/Anakin, but also felt like the result of conflicting visions rather than natural storytelling.
Driver has fully moved on from Star Wars at this point, and hasn’t expressed any interest in returning. He can be seen right now in Michael Mann’s Ferrari in the lead role of Enzo Ferrari.
It’s so much worse to be a disappointing movie than a straight-up bad one. To be disappointing means to have let down people who expected more, to have underwhelmed to such a degree that assholes like me take time to put you on a damn list. All of these movies I went in expecting a lot from, and they pulled the rug right out from under me with how mid they were. Let’s go.
THEATER CAMP-Just watch Todd Graff’s 2003 film Camp. It’s so much better, has more to say about drama kids, has better jokes, more talent on display, and it didn’t need a bunch of favors called in to friends who could be doing better things.
Directors: Molly Gordon and Nick Lieberman
Cast: Molly Gordon, Ben Platt, Ayo Edibiri, Jimmy Tatro, Patti Harrison
ANT-MAN & THE WASP: QUANTUMANIA: An awful year for Marvel Studios was led by this dubious sequel, an utterly charmless piece of blah that now has the unfortunate distinction of being associated with Jonathan Majors. Scott Lang can’t shrink himself small enough to get away from this one.
Director: Peyton Reed
Cast: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Kathryn Newton, Jonathan Majors, Michael Douglas, Michelle Pfeiffer
CREED III-The second of two Jonathan Majors movies on this list, Creed 3 shows all of director Michael B. Jordan’s inexperience behind the camera. The punches hit hard but little else does.
Director: Michael B. Jordan
Cast: Michael B. Jordan, Tessa Thompson, Jonathan Majors
RENFIELD-How do you fuck up Nicolas Cage as Count Dracula? Give all of the screen time to Nicholas Hoult so he can suck all of the blood from this lifeless horror comedy.
Director: Chris McKay
Cast: Nicholas Hoult, Nicolas Cage, Awkwafina
BEAU IS AFRAID-Ari Aster should keep all of his mommy issues and personal anxiety to himself rather than inflicting it on us for three hours.
Director: Ari Aster
Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Patti Lupone, Amy Ryan, Nathan Lane
MEG 2: The Trench-Jason Statham, welcome to your Jaws: The Revenge moment.
Director: Ben Wheatley
Cast: Jason Statham, Wu Jing, Cliff Curtis
VACATION FRIENDS 2-The first Vacation Friends was a summer treat. This pathetic sequel, with the worst Rotten Tomatoes score in over a decade for John Cena, is less funny than unpaid overtime.
Director: Clay Tarver
Cast: Lil Rel Howery, John Cena, Yvonne Orji, Meredith Hagner, Steve Buscemi
NEXT GOAL WINS-Taika Waititi proved that Thor: Love & Thunder was no fluke, it was the start of a mediocre trend.
Director: Taika Waititi
Cast: Michael Fassbender, Elisabeth Moss, Will Arnett, Rachel House, Oscar Kightley
WISH-Maybe Disney should invest in more blue genies?
Directors: Chris Buck and FawnV eerasunthorn
Cast: Ariana DeBose, Chris Pine, Alan Tudyk
EXPEND4BLES-I love The Expendables franchise no matter how often it lets me down, and this terrible sequel, likely the last one, was so bad Sylvester Stallone had one foot out the door before a single frame was shot. It's almost like he didn't think things would improve by adding Megan Fox and 50 Cent! Perish the thought.
Director: Scott Waugh
Cast: Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Megan Fox, 50 Cent, Dolph Lundgren, Tony Jaa, Iko Uwais
Black stories take the spotlight in this episode of Cinema Royale! I’m joined by Jamie Broadnax of Black Girl Nerds to talk about two of the biggest films of the year! First is Ava DuVernay’s Origin, a stunning adaptation of Isabel Wilkerson’s Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents, starring Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor.
Next up is a film that people have been buzzing about ever since it was first announced. The Color Purple, a big screen version of the Broadway musical starring Fantasia, Colman Domingo, Danielle Brooks, Taraji P. Henson, and many more! When I say people have been buzzing, I mean equal parts excited and worried whether it can live up to the 1985 classic, or the Tony Award-nominated stage show. Big shoes to fill, for sure, especially when Steven Spielberg, Oprah Winfrey, and Quincy Jones are watching over your shoulder as producers!
We also ponder why NEON isn’t pushing Origin as an Oscar contender when it’s the entire reason they acquired it in the first place.
All of this and more on a new episode of Cinema Royale!
2023 kicked off with a ton of uncertainty about the future, but for me, just a guy who loves movies, it all remained the same. It seemed that last year, studios were content to deliver the meat and potatoes that was needed to lure audiences back. In 2023, they were open to taking more risks, some of which paid off, like the Barbie phenomenon, and some that didn’t…like basically everything Marvel and DC did.
Like I always say; every year is a good one if you love movies. And there was a lot to love in 2023. So much that I struggled for days trying to wittle down to my top 20, ultimately leaving off films I adore such as Barbie, Saltburn, Poor Things, The Creator, and Killers of the Flower Moon.
In their place are the movies that stuck with me the most. Some of them strike at the romantic softie that I’m quickly becoming with old age. There are multiple animated films on this list and very easily could’ve been more. My love of bare-knuckle action is fairly represented, as well as the introduction of a couple of new voices with fresh perspectives on love and life. There’s even a damn Godzilla movie and I never thought I’d say that.
As usual, this list comprises the films that had the biggest impact on me. You might’ve felt different. Hell, I’m sure you did and that you won’t hesitate to let me know how wrong I am. Just keep in mind that just because a film isn’t on my list it doesn’t mean I hated it.
Once again, there will be only one favorite and the rest are in random order. Enjoy! And do let me know what some of your favorites of 2023 were!
Travis Hopson's Best Movies of 2023
1 of 20
GUY RITCHIE'S THE COVENANT- In a year that was lousy with incredible action flicks, Guy Ritchie surprised all of us with the most thoughtful of the bunch, exploring the true meaning of American exceptionalism. A mesmerizing story of brotherhood between a US sergeant and his Afghan translator (Jake Gyllenhaal and Dar Salim) trapped behind enemy lines, this is a side to Ritchie that we've never seen from him before.
Director: Guy Ritchie
Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Dar Salim
PASSAGES- Ira Sachs’ Passages, about a doomed love triangle that we can’t turn away from, features Franz Rogowski in one of the year's finest performances as someone we love to hate, an egotistical destroyer of hearts. Deserving of our contempt, Rogowski finds pathways to our sympathy in Tomas' loneliness, fear, and need for acceptance.
Director: Ira Sachs
Cast: Franz Rogowski, Ben Whishaw, Adele Exarchopoulos
THEY CLONED TYRONE- Pimps, clones, conspiracies, existential crisis; Juel Taylor’s directorial debut is a lot to take in, but it’s also the most fun movie of the summer and one of Netflix’s best this year. A sci-fi mystery with a heavy dose of jive-talkin’ blaxploitation, the film features go-for-broke performances by the unbeatable trio of John Boyega, Teyonah Parris, and Jamie Foxx who quietly had the best year of his career since winning the Oscar for Ray.
Director: Juel Taylor
Cast: John Boyega, Jamie Foxx, Teyonah Parris
NIMONA- To think that we nearly missed out on this stunning gem of a film when its original studio was shuttered by Disney. Nimona, a deft blend of medievel fantasy, superheroics, and sci-fi, follows a heroic knight framed for an assassination of the queen. Forced to flee, he teams up with the titular, pink-haired rebel shapeshifter, who he has been sworn to destroy, in an effort to clear his name. Utilizing a cutting edge 3D animation style only topped by Across the Spider-Verse, this film’s story about friendship and looking beneath the surface beautifully adapts the original webcomic.
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3- Saying goodbye has never hurt quite as much as when James Gunn’s beloved team of a-holes were going their separate ways. Whatever Marvel’s problems were this year, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 was as hilarious and heartfelt as ever, and the MCU won’t be the same without them.
Director: James Gunn
Cast: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Sean Gunn
IF YOU WERE THE LAST- Not enough people saw this little diamond of a film when it streamed on Peacock, and that’s a shame. It’s not an exaggeration that I fell in love with this DIY-styled rom-com starring Anthony Mackie and Zoe Chao within the first minute. Their chemistry as stranded astronauts and best friends navigating the “should we or should we not bang?” question, is stratospheric and unlike any pairing you will see this year.
Director: Kristian Mercado
Cast: Anthony Mackie, Zoe Chao
FAIR PLAY- Power, passion, money, and ego drive Choe Domont’s provocative thriller that explores gender and workplace dynamics in a post #MeToo society. Alden Ehrenreich is imminently punchable as the struggling analyst who sees his fragile male ego shattered when his wife fiance, played by a fearless Phoebe Dynevor, excels in the cutthroat world of high-stakes finance, leaving him behind.
Director: Chloe Domont
Cast: Phoebe Dynevor, Alden Ehrenreich, Eddie Marsan
THE SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE- Nintendo just set themselves up as a Hollywood powerhouse with this pitch perfect animated Mario Bros. movie, taking full advantage of a partnership with Illumination to bring the lush video game world to life. In a year that has been something of a comeback for the franchise this billion-dollar movie was the catalyst, and now fans are dreaming mushroom dreams of a Nintendo cinematic universe, and of course, more “Peaches”.
Directors: Aaron Horvath, Michael Jelenic
Cast: Chris Pratt, Anya Taylor-Joy, Jack Black, Keegan-Michael Key, Charlie Day, Seth Rogen
PAST LIVES- And to think I skipped out on Celine Song’s quietly enchanting Past Lives when it premiered at Sundance, then put off watching it until days ago. It would’ve been to my eternal regret to not catch this captivating tale of fate, destiny, lost love, heartbreak, and hope. Soulful performances by Greta Lee and Teo Yoo as Korean-born childhood best friends separated by distance, who reconnect later as adults when their lives are very different, will leave you considering the missed connections in your own life and how they still leave an impact.
Director: Celine Song
Cast: Greta Lee, Teo Yoo, John Magaro
FLORA AND SON- John Carney doesn’t make typical love stories. He makes movies about the power of music to help people find love in one another. His latest musical masterpiece, Flora and Son, might be his most rewarding yet as it centers on the love between Flora, a single mother, played with a winning attitude and resourcefulness by Eve Hewson, and the rebellious teen son (Orén Kinlan) she hopes to reconnect with. Meanwhile, a long-distance romance is teased between Flora and a washed-up American guitar player (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) teaching her lessons over the internet. Hewson’s Flora might be Carney’s most lovable character yet, while the connections forged between these three people are so real and true you might burst out into song yourself.
Director: John Carney
Cast: Eve Hewson, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Orén Kinlan, Jack Reynor
Director: Ava DuVernay
Cast: Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Jon Bernthal, Niecy Nash-Betts, Vera Farmiga
INFINITY POOL- In a year that saw Alden Ehrenreich humiliated like few men have before in Fair Play, it was still a distant second to the shame heaped upon Alexander Skarsgard in Brandon Cronenberg’s delightfully weird and fucked up Infinity Pool. This perverse, hedonistic mind fuck about a third world country’s bizarre use of human cloning as a form of capital punishment, features Mia Goth in another awards-worthy performance as Skarsgard’s chief tormenter, stripping the muscular, masculine stud down to a blubbering, pathetic mess. You won’t be able to look at him the same way after.
Director: Brandon Cronenberg
Cast: Alexander Skarsgard, Cleopatra Coleman, Mia Goth
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE-DEAD RECKONING PART ONE- As summer blockbusters go, they don’t get much bigger than Mission: Impossible-Dead Reckoning part 1. The audacious title matches the audacious runtime and audacious plotline, involving the global threat of AI which somehow necessitates Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt riding a motorcycle off of a mountainside. Hey, whatever works! The visual spectacle somehow gets more incredible with each film cooked up by Cruise and his partner-in-crime, Christopher McQuarrie. This film, the first chapter of a two-part epic, continues to make us feel something for Hunt and his little IMF team of rogues. No matter how ludicrous the threat, the personal stakes are never in doubt.
Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Cast: Tom Cruise, Rebecca Ferguson, Hayley Atwell, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, Vanessa Kirby, Esai Morales, Pom Klementieff
JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 4- The purest kick-ass movie of the year, John Wick: Chapter 4 saw Keanu Reeves’ lethal practitioner of gun-fu face his biggest challenge yet. No, it’s not Donnie Yen although he comes close; it’s franchise exhaustion. But Reeves and director Chad Stahelski destroy that notion with an epic 2 1/2-hour masterpiece that sees John Wick unleash such beautiful violence it’ll leave you awestruck. There’s debate whether John Wick will return but can there ever truly be peace for him when there are faces to be kicked, and bullets to be fired?
Director: Chad Stahelski
Cast: Keanu Reeves, Donnie Yen, Ian McShane, Bill Skarsgard, Laurence Fishburne, Hiroyuki Sanada, Lance Reddick, Shamier Anderson
RYE LANE- My year was made a whole lot brighter by the introduction of Rye Lane into my life. A vibrant story of heartbreak and recovery set to the rhythms of British rom-coms and ’90s hip-hop, director Raine Allen-Miller’s film centers on Dom (David Jonsson) and Yas (Vivian Oparah) who get over recent breakups by sharing a wild trek through South London’s Peckham and Brixton. Along the way, they’ll learn about one another, and themselves, while discovering that new love will find you when its least expected.
Director: Raine Allen-Miller
Cast: David Jonsson, Vivian Oparah
SOCIETY OF THE SNOW- We’ve seen less authentic retellings of the Uruguayan flight 571 that crashed into the Andes Mountains in 1979, but director JA Bayona pays tribute to those who survived and those who died by staying true to their culture and the ordeal itself. Featuring an ensemble of Uruguayan and Argentine actors, the film is more than the horrific details (although the crash itself might be the most graphic ever captured on screen) of the things the survivors had to do to sustain themselves through months of starvation and frigid temperatures. It is about the faith they clung to, the friendship they relied on, and the hope they held on to win thins were at their darkest. An incredible movie that cements Bayona as the best director of survival thrillers working today.
THE IRON CLAW- After attending the world premiere of The Iron Claw, I thought to myself that Sean Durkin has made the best wrestling movie ever. A tragic, true story of brotherhood, family legacy, and the true cost of professional wrestling. It is a business that takes more than it can ever give back. After seeing it a handful of times, I can say now that The Iron Claw isn’t just the best wrestling movie, it’s one of the year’s best movies, period, with Zac Efron giving a heartbreaking turn as Kevin Von Erich that will change the way you think of him as an actor.
Director: Sean Durkin
Cast: Zac Efron, Jeremy Allen White, Harris Dickinson, Stanley Simons, Holt McCallany, Maura Tierney, Lily James
Is there anything better then an intentionally weird B-Horror movie? I mean really weird, early Peter Jackson weird. Actually…that’s probably the most apt comparison to my feelings after watching the trailer for Destroy All Neighbors, it really felt like I was watching early Peter Jackson. For the uninitiated the Lord of the Hobbits actually started his career with the most out there, b-level horror you can imagine with films like Bad Taste, Meet The Feebles, and Dead Alive. That’s exactly the vibe Josh Forbes seems to have captured with his tale of a struggling musician whose life takes a turn for the weird when a ultra-odd new neighbor moves in next door.
Films like these are hit or miss, it really takes skill to tread that thin line between so bad it’s good and just so bad. While the trailer can’t make that determination for us, the inclusion of people like Kumail Nanjiani, Thomas Lennon, and Alex Winter (as the titular neighbor to be destroyed) make me think they have something here.
Check out the trailer below and let us know where you think this one will end up.
Destroy All Neighbors premiers on Shudder January 12th, 2024
Official Synopsis:
When prog-rock musician William Brown’s worst mistake meets his worst neighbor, Vlad, it’s a killer nightmare come to life. Don’t miss the premiere of DESTROY ALL NEIGHBORS, coming to Shudder January 12.
Critics be damned, Zack Snyder’s space epic Rebel Moon-Part One: A Child of Fire was exactly the hit Netflix hoped it would be. The film was a viewership juggernaut for the streamer, scoring 23.9 million views during its debut week. That easily surpassed the 19.7M views of buzzy post-apocalyptic film Leave the World Behind. Remaining high on the list with 7.2 million views after five weeks is Adam Sandler’s animated film Leo, which actually debuted to bigger numbers than Rebel Moon.
It remains to be seen if Rebel Moon can crack Netflix’s all-time top 10 for the year. A lot of that will depend on word of mouth, and if the film can hold on to viewership in its second week. The current #10 for the year is Chris Hemsworth’s Extraction 2.
After years of secrecy, Netflix’s decision to start revealing viewership stats has led to some interesting discoveries. For instance, also in the top 10 for last week is the John Cena action movie from 2006, The Marine, with a ridiculous 5 million views. What in the world brought that one?
But back to Rebel Moon, if these numbers remain strong, it’ll bode well for the upcoming sequel, The Scargiver, which drops in April 2024. A trailer for that film was released just days ago.
