Beth's Top Films of 2023

It's the roundup, year-in-review edition and one in particular "goes to the mattresses"

It’s the yearly roundup of BEVP Film Bests, so here we go.

Top 3 Films

Barbie reimagined by Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird, Little Women)

Source: The Los Angeles Times / Barbies and Ken in Barbie Land at Beach

The themes of gender-based utopias, their problematic behaviors, their inequities, and their strengths are top of mind in this film.

The film poses the question: Is a life with feeling and meaning in the real world with all that it brings - its disappointment and joy - worth more than being a perfect product or idea in a non-real world?

Interspersed with the heavy existential questions, Gerwig and her partner, Baumbach, did a phenomenal job of bringing in dance numbers and funny cultural references to keep a balance there.'

Poor Things by Yorgos Lanthimos (The Lobster, The Favourite)

Source: NPR / Bella Baxter (Emma Stone) prefers books to sex as she reaches her intellectual awakening phase while on a boat.

This film is a revelation. At nearly 2.5 hours run time, there’s no getting bored. What’s certain is that like any visionary film, it has its critics divided.

This reviewer trashed it deeming it an “unreal mix of science-fiction and pornographic fairy tale by the loopy Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos, [which] may not be the worst commercially intended movie ever made. But it is unquestionably the filthiest.”

If such a quote only peeks your interest even more, then you’re in good company. I’m right there with you. Pish Posh.

One of the delights of Bella’s personality, among many endearing qualities, is her insistence on experiencing the world for herself and not relying on anyone else’s telling of events or sense of morality to dictate and steer her decisions. Imagine living a life not led by fear and driven by convention but governed by logic and reason, handled courageously. That’s the world of Bella Baxter.

Alise Chaffins

recently penned a thoughtful post calling out the lack of women biopics in 2023. In 2023, we had Oppenheimer (the bomb maker turned scapegoat) and Maestro (Leonard Bernstein’s life) gain a lot of public attention, but we also had lesser known female biopics like Golda (about Golda Meir and the Yom Kippur War) and Nyad (about the super athlete Diana Nyad, who at 60, decided to swim 110 miles from Cuba to Florida). To be fair, Golda wasn’t what I had envisioned or perhaps would have wanted from the story of such an influential historical and political character, but I salute the fact that the film was made and it carves out space in a louder male biopic landscape.

My argument here is that the biopic in its purest form doesn’t lend itself to female ways of storytelling. It assumes one person makes or breaks a series of fortunate events, gets all the credit for it, and generally that one person alone can do the miraculous. See any sports movie. Contrast this to teamwork and more collaborative forms of engagement.

In both Nyad and Golda, there is a deliberate inclusion and emphasis on the critical role of a good friend or assistant in being a invaluable thought partner, without whom the eponymous individual might not be able to accomplish the great feats that they do. Think Barbie if Barbie didn’t have her Barbie posse.

There is some promise. A recent movie whose trailer I’ve seen again and again called The Boys in the Boat (George Clooney) tells the story of the 1936 US mens’ rowing team and it very well could have been called the Joe Rantz Story after the male lead. Instead its title gives prominent acknowledgement of the role of multiple people in the success of one shared goal/dream and not just a Rudy or a Rocky.

Films like Poor Things and even Barbie, though more commercially attuned, are defying a societal norm. They are also smashing the biopic construct and the figurative box and with good reason. It’s shallow and outdated.

Where are the women-focused biopics?

Past Lives by Celeste Song

Source: The Denver Post / Hae Sung (Teo Yoo) and Na Young (Greta Lee) reunite in NYC

At a time when big-budget blockbusters that say little of anything monopolize American entertainment, it pays to notice some of the smaller, more poignant cinematic fare coming out of Asia, especially South Korea.

It appears I’m not alone in my tastes. In the December end of year Washington Post Netflix viewership report, popularity is noted in both South Korean cinematic fare and “shows about women struggling to make it”. The article highlights one show in particular that does both really well:

“The Glory,” the South Korean drama about a woman who dedicates her adult life to destroying the lives of her vicious high school bullies, is a megahit for a reason. There seems to be a real appetite for women who go to the mattresses.

In case you were looking for an urban dictionary definition of “go to the mattresses” it means “acting without restraint” or “being ruthless and showing no mercy.” (Think Dead to Me or Good Girls for example - two shows I like a lot.)

While Nora (Na) is not going to the mattresses in the film, she is doing a lot of self-reflecting and reconciliation of her former life within her existing one which makes for an interesting take, especially as she’s not afraid to lean into her past and present loves to do so. I guess it’s possible to lightly go to the mattresses, if you catch my drift, or ruffle sheets. And this film does it with tact and beauty. No pillow fights.

Check out this list too [Best Shows of 2023]