Oh nooooooo I never kept my list! What happened in 2023?!? Here’s what I can remember off the top of my increasingly forgetful head…

On the big screen, in general:

• Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning part 1 Loved it. One of the funniest action movies I’ve seen in ages. They definitely try to bring the drama, but so much of it made me laugh. That chase scene!!!
• Asteroid City This was just a very Wes Anderson-y Wes Anderson movie. There were moments I enjoyed, but I would not put it in my top five Wes Anderson movies.

At home, but came out in 2023:

• Cocaine Bear Unbelievably good, given its title. I would watch this a billion times.

At the Chicago International Film Festival: Yes, I finally made it back to the CIFF! After maybe a decade? I was soooo happy, but one movie every single day for 11 days was a LOT during the teaching year, heh.

• All Happy Families Fun, good performances, but not a lot of plot. More a “moment in time” movie.
• Eric LaRue I thought this movie was a COMPLETE MESS. I see some of the things it wanted to do or criticize, but I didn’t think it did a great job. Also Michael Shannon in the Q&A afterward seemed messy as well.
• The Love Stories of Liv S. It was an enjoyable watch but not something I’ve thought about a lot since.
• The Delinquents This was a WILD ride (and maybe I should check how long a movie is before I buy a ticket for 7:15 on a school night!!!) and very long but I definitely enjoyed it, even though the plot takes a lot of goofball leaps.
• Only the River Flows I sat next to the most lovely people at this show and one is a film professor who really helped me decipher the ending! This movie was like a fever dream.
• Solo This Solo, not Star Wars. This movie was gorgeous. Sad, frustrating (Don’t make that decision! Don’t do it!), beautiful songs, costumes, makeup, etc.
• All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt Beautiful. Possibly the slowest paced movie I’ve ever seen. The atmosphere is amazing. But I think you definitely come away with unanswered questions as to what and why. Here’s a hint I would have liked to have known going in (took too long to figure it out!): it’s jumping back and forth in time. Those are meant to be the same girl at different ages! The pacing and contemplativeness (and overall experience of being in the theater) really reminded me of Tree of Life, but this one is much more realistic.
• The Bride This was a rough movie to sit there. Nothing is explicitly shown, per se, but some really crappy handling of the main character, her agency, and her body. 🙁
• The Taste of Things Bring a LOT of snacks to this movie, you are going to be sooooo hungry. It was beautiful, wildly intriguing and engaging if you know anything about cooking, and an interesting peek into a different world. Binoche was gorgeous in this flick.
• Hard Miles Matthew Modine was at the screening and WHOA I had no idea what a total goofball he is. Also hats off to the dude who yelled VISIONQUEST as they started the Q&A. This was an engaging watch, the acting by all the boys was really good.
• Perfect Days Another one of those movies that has almost no plot, just this weird repetition of this dude’s highly scheduled life and a few occasions where something happens to throw off his balance.

OK, I paged through the first 100 on IMDB’s list of movies that came out in 2024, and didn’t notice any others that I saw. So… maybe? that’s it. Sigh. Not a great year for Duff at the Movies.