{"id":12587,"date":"2023-01-01T12:18:56","date_gmt":"2023-01-01T17:18:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/?p=12587"},"modified":"2023-01-01T12:20:56","modified_gmt":"2023-01-01T17:20:56","slug":"weekly-movie-roundup-8","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/?p=12587","title":{"rendered":"Weekly Movie Roundup"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In the last two weeks of 2022, I watched a dozen movies. Some of them were among the best films I saw all year. Some of them&#8230;were not.<\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt13874422\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/1-203x300.jpg\" alt=\"The Eternal Daughter\" width=\"203\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-12589\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/1-203x300.jpg 203w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/1.jpg 486w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 203px) 100vw, 203px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt4554690\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/2-205x300.jpg\" alt=\"The Automat\" width=\"205\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-12590\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/2-205x300.jpg 205w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/2-701x1024.jpg 701w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/2-768x1121.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/2.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 205px) 100vw, 205px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt11564570\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/3-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"Glass Onion\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-12591\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/3-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/3.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<ul>\n<li>It&#8217;s like they always say: if you&#8217;re going to get someone to sell the conceit of the same actress playing dual roles in the same film, get Tilda Swinton. The less you know about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt13874422\/\">The Eternal Daughter<\/a> going in, maybe, the better, but it&#8217;s a haunting mystery, and Swinton delivers two very distinct, yet very connected, performances.<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt4554690\/\">The Automat<\/a> is an interesting, and arguably exhaustive, documentary on the once-popular vending machine restaurants. It&#8217;s benefited enormously by its selection of celebrity interviews, notably with Mel Brooks.<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt11564570\/\">Glass Onion<\/a> is more than a little self-indulgent, and it spins <i>much<\/i> further outside of reality than its predecessor. But it&#8217;s also enormous fun.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt11813216\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/4-197x300.jpg\" alt=\"The Banshees of Inisherin\" width=\"197\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-12592\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/4-197x300.jpg 197w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/4.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 197px) 100vw, 197px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt14208870\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/5-190x300.jpg\" alt=\"The Fabelmans\" width=\"190\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-12593\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/5-190x300.jpg 190w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/5.jpg 546w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 190px) 100vw, 190px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt9731598\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/6-2-169x300.jpg\" alt=\"Bros\" width=\"169\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-12607\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/6-2-169x300.jpg 169w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/6-2-576x1024.jpg 576w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/6-2-768x1365.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/6-2-864x1536.jpg 864w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/6-2.jpg 1080w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 169px) 100vw, 169px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<ul>\n<li>I wasn&#8217;t entirely sure what to expect from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt11813216\/\">The Banshees of Inisherin<\/a>. I generally like Martin McDonagh movies\u2014and I really enjoyed his previous outing with Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson but I also <i>hated<\/i> McDonagh&#8217;s last movie. This is definitely a return to form, a quiet and darkly comic meditation on kindness and what we&#8217;ll be remembered for, with some wonderful performances and beautiful Irish scenery.<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li>This kid Spielberg, he might be on to something here. I don&#8217;t know if <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt14208870\">The Fabelmans<\/a> is necessarily his best work, just by dint of it being the most autobiographical, but I really enjoyed it a lot.<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt9731598\/\">Bros<\/a> is just a really great romantic comedy. It&#8217;s also not one in which the characters &#8220;just happen&#8221; to be gay\u2014an idea Billy Eichner&#8217;s character pointedly refutes early in the movie\u2014which is refreshing, because then the movie is actually <i>about<\/i> these characters, not just fitting them into some other characters&#8217; story. It&#8217;s really funny and a lot of fun.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt15474916\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/7-203x300.jpg\" alt=\"Smile\" width=\"203\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-12595\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/7-203x300.jpg 203w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/7.jpg 486w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 203px) 100vw, 203px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt14444726\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/8-203x300.jpg\" alt=\"T\u00e1r\" width=\"203\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-12596\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/8-203x300.jpg 203w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/8-691x1024.jpg 691w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/8-768x1138.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/8-1037x1536.jpg 1037w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/8.jpg 1080w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 203px) 100vw, 203px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt10298840\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/9-203x300.jpg\" alt=\"Strange World\" width=\"203\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-12597\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/9-203x300.jpg 203w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/9.jpg 486w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 203px) 100vw, 203px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<ul>\n<li>You know what there isn&#8217;t a lot of in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt15474916\/\">Smile<\/a>? Smiles. And I don&#8217;t mean laughs, because the movie is obviously by design a tense and creepy little horror story. But the central conceit, of terrifying smiling strangers only the protaganist can see, is in surprisingly short supply. Maybe they just couldn&#8217;t get anyone to do it as well as Caitlin Stasey\u2014the one you see in the trailer and on all the posters\u2014but creepy visuals are kind of all the movie has going for it, certainly the only original things, and I really wish it had leaned more heavily into that.<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt14444726\/\">T\u00e1r<\/a> is a fantastically engaging character study and has a phenomenal central performance by Cate Blanchett. It&#8217;s probably my favorite movie of the year.<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt10298840\/\">Strange World<\/a> is a strange movie, whose premise feels both over- and underbaked. There&#8217;s some lovely visual animation, and the movie is mostly very good about how it treats representation, but it also follows very formulaic story beats.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt19770238\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/10-203x300.jpg\" alt=\"Aftersun\" width=\"203\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-12598\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/10-203x300.jpg 203w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/10.jpg 486w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 203px) 100vw, 203px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt10343028\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/11-203x300.jpg\" alt=\"Armageddon Time\" width=\"203\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-12599\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/11-203x300.jpg 203w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/11.jpg 675w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 203px) 100vw, 203px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt12477480\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/12-1-203x300.jpg\" alt=\"Decision to Leave\" width=\"203\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-12600\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/12-1-203x300.jpg 203w, https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/12-1.jpg 486w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 203px) 100vw, 203px\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt19770238\/\">Aftersun<\/a> is a lovely and heartbreaking coming-of-age story.<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt10343028\/\">Armageddon Time<\/a> is obviously a deeply personal film for director James Gray\u2014if not his own <em>The Fabelmans<\/em>, then certainly semi-autobiographical\u2014and there are some really great and nuanced performances in it, particularly from Hopkins, Strong, and Hathaway. It&#8217;s a period piece not tinged even a little with nostalgia, which is refreshing&#8230;just not exactly <em>enjoyable<\/em>. It&#8217;s a movie I may need to revisit, but one that didn&#8217;t fully work for me in the moment.<\/li>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<li><a href=https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt12477480\">Decision to Leave<\/a> is a hypnotic neo-noir with continually inventive editing and visuals.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the last two weeks of 2022, I watched a dozen movies. Some of them were among the best films I saw all year. Some of them&#8230;were not. It&#8217;s like they always say: if you&#8217;re going to get someone to sell the conceit of the same actress playing dual roles in the same film, get &#8230; <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/?p=12587\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12587","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12587"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12587"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12587\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12612,"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12587\/revisions\/12612"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12587"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12587"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12587"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}