Lost in America (1985): It’s rare to find a movie that can tell a truth about relationships and connection. Albert Brooks’s Modern Romance was satirical to the extreme, but his LiA is a revelatory experience about the deepest cravings two people can have and the unknowns unearthed when routine turns into adventure. Importantly, it also has the levity that’s the most important common ground two people can find in times of trouble. You would probably be better served to know as little as possible about the plot, beyond the fact that it’s about a couple trying to reach that point of being “set and happy” in their circumstances. The economic conditions and prices of the 80s make for bitter-sweet revelations, but that’s part of this movie’s fairy-tale charm. Just don’t expect ha-ha comedy. 8
This is the End (2013): I ended the year with a doomsday movie which was a very pleasant rewatch. The gang of Judd Apatow actors (Franco, Rogen, Baruchel, Hill) might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but this isn’t a movie that goes as hard on all the “we’re so high we could fly” humour. Instead, it finds some pockets of gold in the meta-personas of a bunch of actors we are so readily familiar with. That’s probably where the movie is the strongest, with a luminous Michael Cera stealing the show in the first part. Danny McBride joining the fray like a bulldozer offers some funny scenes as well, but it can become a bit much as the movie progresses – both McBride and the general concept. Then, of course, come upon the finale and TitE has one of the best final scenes in cinema history, so just for that it deserves praise and acclaim. 7
Time Bomb Y2K (2023): Talking of doomsday movies, what a time to be alive, the later 90s. This HBO documentary is a veritable time-capsule, made up only of archival footage, capturing the vibe of the Y2K crisis, moreso than its substance or the questions it posed. There’s a lot of focus on the way people react, rather than “the machines”, because that’s where it’s at, isn’t it? Hard to imagine what a Y2K situation would look like in contemporary society. Time Bomb captures the optimism in the successful aftermath of the event, heaped on top of the blind optimism as we entered the new millennium and Putin vowed to ensure a stable regime, with no imperialistic urges. What a time. 7
Saltburn (2023): I was on the verge with Emerald Fennell’s previous movie, the acclaimed Promising Young Woman. In the end, on the right side of it. Saltburn is on the wrong one. A very cynical movie about wealth, ambition and deceit, it features a handful of scarcely drawn out characters revolving around Barry Keoghan’s Oliver. His performance just about keeps Saltburn ticking along and Fennell’s flourishes also help bring it across the finish line. Although the eating-the-rich theme seems to be ever more present in mainstream cinema, I’m yet to have seen a movie that gets it right and actually proves existentially insightful, not just superficially identifiable. 6
Fast Charlie (2023): For a while, director Phillip Noyce was hot property around Hollywood. His career arguably peaked with The Quiet American (2002) and has gone nowhere (aka TV land) since. Fast Charlie marks a decent return to some form, a movie that feels like a Justified episode and stars a likable pair in Pierce Brosnan and Morena Baccarin. It’s also James Caan’s last movie, in a role that felt eerie to me, as it usually does when an old actors plays an aging, run-down character that is too close to home as to what you imagine their actual life might be life in its twilight. Anyhow, Fast Charlie doesn’t aim to subvert much, but it’s an entertaining crime story. 6
tributary stu 