At the end of every year, many outlets list the best new films that they saw. New releases only make up a fraction of the films that we all watch each year though, so here our Drink in the Movies team has decided to celebrate the rest of our viewings by putting together our top 10 favorite films that we experienced for the first time during 2023 that were not released during that year. Our selections are listed below.
10.
Alexander Reams: ‘Six Shooter’ (dir. Martin McDonagh)
Anna Harrison: ‘The Gay Divorcee’ (dir. Mark Sandrich)
Jeff Sparks: ‘Clouds of Sils Maria’ (dir. Olivier Assayas)
Livvy O’Brien: ‘Lymelife’ (dir. Derick Martini)
Michael Clawson: ‘Midnight’ (dir. Mitchell Leisen)
Nick McCann: ‘The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (dir. Andrew Dominik)
Patrick Hao: ‘We Are Little Zombies’ (dir. Makato Nagahisa)
What is the best way to process childhood trauma and the death of parents? The answer that Makoto Naghisa’s directorial debut, “We Are Little Zombies,” posits is to start a chiptune post-punk band with your fellow orphans. This is a movie with a lot on its mind and in true punk fashion throws balls to the wall, as if Ken Russell was transported to the 21st century and grew up playing the Sega Genesis. More sincere than a Sion Sono film and with all the visual and genre bending pizazz, Naghisa is able to anchor the teenage angst and nihilism with a sincere respect for these Gen Zers who do not know their place in the world. The four members of the Little Zombies as myopic representations of kids these days that an old fogey might have. Rather, they are presented as the natural progression of teens in the modern era. Abrasive and often funny, no other movie features a chiptune cover of the Zombies “This Will Be Our Year.” That must be worth something.
Raul Mendoza: ‘Red Beard’ (dir. Akira Kurasawa)
Taylor Baker: ‘The Maltese Falcon’ (dir. Roy Del Ruth)
9.
Alexander Reams: ‘Daddy Longlegs’ (dir. Josh and Benny Safdie)
Anna Harrison: ‘Mission: Impossible II’ (dir. John Woo)
Jeff Sparks: ‘The Future’ (dir. Miranda July)
Livvy O’Brien: ‘Stuart: A Life Backwards’ (dir. David Attwood)
Michael Clawson: ‘The Iron Rose’ (dir. Jean Rollin)
Nick McCann: ‘The Craft’ (dir. Andrew Fleming)
The year was 1996. Not only was Skeet Ulrich going in on creeper roles, but genre movies were taking aim to freshen up conventional premises. Prior to “Scream” kicking off a new wave of self-aware slasher thrillers and other horror tales for the future, “The Craft” had its hand blending witches and spell casting with female growing pains. Its quirks are matched by its heart, thanks to an energetic young cast and a script that’s giving the money’s worth in tropes while weaving them into an engaging character story. All the goth fashion, prominent spell circles and steamy cauldrons make it a certified mood by today’s standards. The kind of movie that binds women together and has men seriously consider their romantic tastes.
Patrick Hao: ‘Up the Down Staircase’ (dir. Robert Mulligan)
Raul Mendoza: ‘Apur Sansar’ (dir. Satyajit Ray)
Taylor Baker: ‘The Boy Friend’ (dir. Ken Russell)
8.
Alexander Reams: ‘A Dog’s Life’ (dir. Charlie Chaplin)
Anna Harrison: ‘Mission: Impossible’ (dir. Brian De Palma)
Jeff Sparks: ‘In Another Country’ (dir. Hong Sang-soo)
Livvy O’Brien: ‘The Lost Boys’ (dir. Joel Schumacher)
Michael Clawson: ‘Il Posto’ (dir. Ermanno Olmi)
Nick McCann: ‘The Sons of Katie Elder’ (dir. Henry Hathaway)
Patrick Hao: ‘The Rapture’ (dir. Michael Tolkin)
Raul Mendoza: ‘Pather Panchali’ (dir. Satyajit Ray)
Last year, one of my greatest accomplishments was starting my journey through the Indian auteur Satyajit Ray’s filmography. Ray started his career with this incredible slice of poor rural life in India with his 1955 film, “Pather Panchali.” The film is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by author Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay. “Pather Panchali” includes a cast of professional and non-professional actors, allowing the film to adopt an almost documentarian feel. What drew me the most to “Pather Panchali” is Satyajit Ray’s lack of precision in the technical filmmaking process. Ray aims to create his film with a cinematographer who has never shot anything and actors who have never been in a movie before. Yet, everything about this film feels like it works nearly perfectly with each other. It feels like this isn’t the first time that Satyajit Ray has made a film as his story is being told so fluidly. Ray takes us through the very harsh realities of poverty in India. What stands out is that throughout the whole film, Apu doesn’t lose his grip on his innocence. Tragedy strikes every corner of his life but Apu’s sense of wonder and curiosity grows more and more. Apu’s love of education and wanting a better life through visual motifs of trains passing him on a field reflect what is to come in the next two installments of Ray’s trilogy. “Pather Panchali” is one of the greatest films of all time and might be the best directorial debut I’ve ever seen. Akira Kurosawa was right when he said, “Not to have seen the cinema of Ray means existing in the world without seeing the sun or the moon.”
Taylor Baker: ‘The People Vs. Larry Flynt’ (dir. Miloš Forman)
7.
Alexander Reams: ‘Wildlife’ (dir. Paul Dano)
Anna Harrison: ‘Mission: Impossible III’ (dir. J.J. Abrams)
Jeff Sparks: ‘Onibaba’ (dir. Kaneto Shindo)
Livvy O’Brien: ‘The Green Butchers’ (dir. Anders Thomas Jensen)
Michael Clawson: ‘They Live by Night’ (dir. Nicholas Ray)
Nick McCann: ‘Fallen Angels’ (dir. Wong Kar-wai)
As a generally forgiving casual viewer most of the time, getting into arthouse cinema can be something of a challenge. Even with my best efforts to give my full dedication, it mostly ends up the usual reaction of bafflement or boredom. Wong Kar-Wai however still manages to pull me back in whenever I give him a shot. Originally conceived as part of “Chungking Express”, you can feel some of that D.N.A in this movie’s free-flowing and vague vibe. The frame-stepping cinematography certainly adds to that. All these blurry, warped visuals to touch upon emotional longing and loneliness, punctuated with staggering but explosive action scenes. Had John Woo gone a bit more experimental, I’d say this would damn near be the result.
Patrick Hao: ‘No Ordinary Man’ (dir. Chase Joynt and Aisling Chin-Yee)
Raul Mendoza: ‘Belle’ (dir. Mamoru Hosoda)
Taylor Baker: ‘The Caine Mutiny’ (dir. Edward Dmytryk)
6.
Alexander Reams: ‘Pain & Gain’ (dir. Michael Bay)
Anna Harrison: ‘Charade’ (dir. Stanley Donen)
Jeff Sparks: ‘California Split’ (dir. Robert Altman)
Livvy O’Brien: ‘Romeo & Juliet’ (dir. Simon Godwin)
Originally meant for the National Theatre’s live stage, this contemporary rendition of Shakespeare’s “Romeo & Juliet” not only breathes new life into the classic tale but also flawlessly adjusts to the challenges thrown by COVID. With the whole world shut down, the choice to film the production attracts an extra layer of intimacy, enticing the viewers to witness the raw emotions and nuanced performances that otherwise would have been less noticeable in a theatre setting. Starring Josh O’Connor as Romeo and Jessie Buckley as Juliet, their on-screen chemistry is downright thrilling, injecting a modern authenticity into the traditional tragic love story. While i’d have been curious to watch this live on stage, the decision to film this with only 17 days opens a door into the unbounded creativity that emerges when artistry and adaption intersect. This interpretation is a transcendent fusion of theatre and film with outstanding performances that resonate profoundly.
Michael Clawson: ‘Liverpool’ (dir. Lisandro Alonso)
Nick McCann: ‘Cowboys’ (dir. Anne Kerrigan)
Patrick Hao: ‘Lifetime Guarantee: Phranc’s Adventure in Plastic’ (dir. Lisa Udelson)
Raul Mendoza: ‘This Is Not a Burial, It’s a Resurrection’ (dir. Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese)
Taylor Baker: ‘Bad Day at Black Rock’ (dir. John Sturgess)
5.
Alexander Reams: ‘Italianamerica’ (dir. Martin Scorsese)
Anna Harrison: ‘Mission: Impossible – Fallout’ (dir. Christopher McQuarrie)
Once upon a time, I saw “Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol” in theaters without any prior knowledge of the “Mission: Impossible” series. It was so good that I thought to myself, “Man, I should really get around to watching those movies.” Fast forward over a decade later, and I have finally achieved that goal (though I still haven’t watched “Dead Reckoning”… sorry, y’all). “Mission: Impossible – Fallout,” the sixth film in the franchise, is not its strongest—though it certainly has the best trailer—as it veers a bit too much into the ridiculous even for this franchise when Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt commandeers a helicopter, but still maintains the confidence and competence that has marked the films post-“Mission: Impossible III” (my apologies to John Woo.) It even tries to do some actual worldbuilding as director Christopher McQuarrie brings back old flames like Julia (Michelle Monaghan) and Llsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson), as well as recurring baddie Solomon Lance (Sean Harris). Where before the “Mission: Impossible” films had only had the barest of threads connecting them, McQuarrie clearly wants the world Ethan Hunt lives in to mean something, and “Fallout” is stronger for it. But it’s not all nostalgia: franchise newcomers Vanessa Kirby and Henry Cavill inject a shot of adrenaline into the film, and I’m convinced that if Cavill had more roles like the one here, where he can coast on his impressive charisma and physicality, he would be a bonafide movie star. Now if only McQuarrie let Ethan do some real reflection on how his country treats him like shit, instead of the cursory glance in “Fallout” before tossing those qualms aside, we would really be cooking. Then again, would that even be a “Mission: Impossible” film if Ethan Hunt really changed? Part of their charm is knowing what to expect. Still, I would like to be surprised every once in a while.
Jeff Sparks: ‘Ema’ (dir. Pablo Larrain)
Livvy O’Brien: ‘Lars and The Real Girl’ (dir. Craig Gillespie)
Michael Clawson: ‘The Mother and the Whore’ (dir. Jean Eustache)
Nick McCann: ‘Akira’ (dir. Katsuhiro Otomo)
Patrick Hao: ‘The Killing Floor’ (dir. Bill Duke)
Raul Mendoza: ‘The Cranes Are Flying’ (dir. Mikhail Kalatozov)
Taylor Baker: ‘Manhattan’ (dir. Woody Allen)
4.
Alexander Reams: ‘Lucky’ (dir. John Carroll Lynch)
Anna Harrison: ‘As Tears Go By’ (dir. Wong Kar-wai)
Jeff Sparks: ‘The Naked Island’ (dir. Kaneto Shindo)
Without a single word spoken in the entire film, Kaneto Shindo’s “The Naked Island” is one of the most impactful films I have ever seen. In it Nobuko Otawa stars as a mother who lives with her husband and their two small children on a small island where they struggle to maintain the crops that they live off of. In a constant fight against the terrain and the restrictive living conditions that they’ve put themselves in, the family tirelessly works to maintain their way of life until a tragedy changes the way they look at their own existence. Instead of traditional dialogue Shindo allows the film’s breathtaking imagery along with the actors expressions and body language to convey the story to us. Accompanying their journey is the all time great score by Hikaru Hayashi that elicits an abundance of emotion throughout it’s multiple plays. A simple handful of notes, the music frames the families story as beautiful, sad, grandiose, and ordinary all at the same time. One of the rare films that deserves all the praise it’s received over multiple decades, “The Naked Island” accomplishes more than most without the entire component of dialougue.
Livvy O’Brien: ‘About Time’ (dir. Richard Curtis)
Michael Clawson: ‘Pierrot le Fou’ (dir. Jean-Luc Godard)
Nick McCann: ‘SubUrbia’ (dir. Richard Linklater)
Patrick Hao: ‘Gridlock’d’ (dir. Vondie Curtis Hall)
Raul Mendoza: ‘Shame’ (dir. Steve Mcqueen)
Taylor Baker: ‘Rumble Fish’ (dir. Francis Ford Coppola)
3.
Alexander Reams: ‘Heat’ (dir. Michael Mann)
I’ll admit, 2023 was the year I first saw the film “Heat.” A film that is considered essential in any cinephile’s filmography and general lexicon, one that gave so many iconic scenes to be aped by countless filmmakers, and a style that would lead to the modern superhero film look popularized by Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight” and with Nolan speaking many times on “Heat” being an inspiration to the film. So safe to say my expectations were high, and 170 minutes later my mind was blown. For a film I had heard about since I first saw it on my dad’s Netflix DVD queue (yes we were on Netflix when they sent out DVD’s) it lived up to every expectation I had all while it delivered an entirely different experience than I expected. For every iconic action sequence, there is countless time developed to the troubles of Detective Vincent Hanna (Al Pacino) or the bad choice in partners that cost Neil McCauley (Robert De Niro) and Chris Siherlis (Val Kilmer) invaluable time after a heist with no troubles into a heist with multiple dead security guards, and a lot more “heat” on the thieves. It might be nearly 30 years old, but it’s seldom that any modern film has as much constant thrill for as long a time as Mann’s Heat, it’s a marvel of filmmaking.
Anna Harrison: ‘Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation’ (dir. Christopher McQuarrie)
Jeff Sparks: ‘Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles’ (dir. Chantal Akerman)
Livvy O’Brien: ‘Flickering Lights’ (Anders Thomas Jensen)
Michael Clawson: ‘Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles’ (dir. Chantal Akerman)
Nick McCann: ‘Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai’ (dir. Jim Jarmusch)
Patrick Hao: ‘Chan is Missing’ ( dir. Wayne Wang)
Raul Mendoza: ‘Aparajito’ (dir. Satyajit Ray)
Taylor Baker: ‘Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!’ (dir. Russ Meyer)
2.
Alexander Reams: ‘Heaven Knows What’ (dir. Josh and Benny Safdie)
Anna Harrison: ‘Boogie Nights’ (dir. Paul Thomas Andersen)
Jeff Sparks: ‘Adoption’ (dir. Márta Mészáros)
Livvy O’Brien: ‘Blue Valentine’ (dir. Derek Cianfrance)
Michael Clawson: ‘Le Pont du Nord’ (dir. Jacques Rivette)
The city of Paris functions like a game board in Jacques Rivette’s delightfully inventive “Le Pont du Nord” from 1981, which reminded me of cinema’s boundless possibilities like few other films did this year. Streetways, roundabouts, stairwells and parks – all manner of public spaces throughout the French city are imbued with a playful spirit as Rivette spins a tale of urban mystery, political intrigue, and female friendship. Mother-daughter actresses Bulle and Pascale Ogier are enchanting as Marie and Baptiste, an ex-con and a drifter who meet by chance and get swept up in the untangling of a conspiracy involving a curious briefcase. Shot with the resourceful ethos of the French New Wave, Rivette applies an idiosyncratic touch to the two women’s adventure by mixing the realism of documentary with vibrant whimsy. Early in the film, Baptiste tools around Paris on her motorcycle, glowering at the marble lion statues at a traffic circle as if they might come roaring to life at any moment. Later, in one truly marvelous scene, she imagines she’s toe-to-toe with a fire-spewing dragon (she’s actually standing before a mechanical sculpture of one in a park.) These are just two of many examples of how Rivette imaginatively animates the city, rendering it as a labyrinth with tucked-way secrets and fairy tale-like, often menacing qualities. It was all the way back in January that I watched “Le Pont du Nord,” and since then, my adoration of Rivette’s vision hasn’t waned a bit.
Nick McCann: ‘The Quiet Earth’ (dir. Geoff Murphy)
Patrick Hao: ‘Camera Buff’ – (dir. Krzysztof Kieślowski)
Raul Mendoza: ‘Farewell My Concubine’ (dir. Chen Kaige)
Taylor Baker: ‘The Taking of Pelham One Two Three’ (dir. Joseph Sargent)
1.
Alexander Reams: ‘My Cousin Vinny’ (dir. Jonathan Lynn)
Anna Harrison: ‘Oldboy’ (dir. Park Chan-wook)
Jeff Sparks: ‘Nashville’ (dir. Robert Altman)
In Robert Altman’s masterpiece “Nashville” we follow 24 different characters that inhabit the titular city during the 1970s. From Gwen Welle’s waitress turned two bit performer up to Karen Black’s star singer each character deals with their own dilemmas underneath the over arching themes of political corruption and the rising tide of gun violence in America. Joan Tewkesbury’s brilliant script satiricaly examines the ignorance of our society while still giving us a grounded story with realisitic characters that immerse us into this place in time. Only taking place over the course of a few days, the city that we see in “Nashville” is a character in itself. Altman doesn’t do much world building with his camera, but rather with his characters. The breakneck pace of the first act throws us right into this city that’s always bustling and always moving. Early on we meet all of the two dozen people that we’ll follow in this journey. First it’s Gwen Welle’s aspiring singer who meets Geraldine Chaplin’s nosy reporter, then it’s Ronee Blakley’s ailing superstar and so on. Each have their own agenda that we see unfold over the course of this near 3 hour film. Altman’s grand story ultimately comes to a shocking close during a tragedy at a music festival that predicts a frightening future for America that has became increasingly more accurate the farther we get from the 1975 release of “Nashville.”
Livvy O’Brien: ‘On the Edge’ (dir. John Carney)
Michael Clawson: ‘Stray Dogs’ (dir. Tsai Ming-liang)
Nick McCann: ‘Stop Making Sense’ (dir. Jonathan Demme)
Patrick Hao: ‘Airport’ (dir. George Seaton)
Raul Mendoza: ‘War and Peace’ (dir. Sergery Bondarchuk)
Taylor Baker: ‘The Wages of Fear’ (dir. Henri-Georges Clouzot)