Goodbye 2023

Another year is coming to an end. Today, we all say goodbye and farewell to 2023. It has been a whirlwind of a year with notable highs, tragic lows, and shocking surprises. Even tonight — the last night of the year — the people of Denmark (including myself) were shocked to find out that Queen Margrethe II, who was the longest-serving monarch in Europe following Queen Elizabeth II’s death, is stepping down. In her annual New Year’s address, the Danish Queen announced that on 14 January 2024, she will abdicate after 52 years as the Queen of Denmark. At that point in time, Crown Prince Frederik will become King Frederik X. Although we all knew it would happen one day (and had thought it might’ve happened sooner at one time), tonight was the night. Shocking news. A historic announcement. Thank you for your service, Queen Margrethe II. “Mange tak,” as we say in Denmark. Sending her love and wishing her well.

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Saltburn (2023) | REVIEW

Barry Keoghan as Oliver Quick with his back to the camera in Emerald Fennell’s SALTBURN — PHOTO: MGM and Amazon Studios.

Directed by Emerald Fennell — Screenplay by Emerald Fennell.

There are shades of dark comedy, satire, and horror in Emerald Fennell’s gothic erotic thriller Saltburn. The film is set in 2006 and follows Oxford University student Oliver Quick (played by Barry Keoghan), as he struggles to make friends and fit in among several snobbish borderline celebrities on campus. One day, he befriends Felix Catton (played by Jacob Elordi) when he offers to lend him his bicycle and walk back Felix’s bike with a flat tire. The immensely popular, posh, and privileged Felix proves to be more pleasant than you might expect, and he takes a liking to the nerdy, needy, and neglected ‘Ollie’ who is very polite and whose stories about being from a less fortunate and troubled family intrigue Felix. Ollie, meanwhile, seemingly lusts for both Felix and his status. Eventually, Felix invites Ollie back home to the Catton family castle — known as ‘Saltburn’ — for the summer, so that Ollie can get his mind off tragic news from back home. Once there, he becomes an object of fascination for Felix’s rich family, who, among other things, seem to be taking some pleasure from hearing about the struggles of the less fortunate, until, at some point, they find them boring. This is the case with their ‘hanger-on’ Pamela (played by Carey Mulligan). When he realizes that one day the family may lose interest in him too, Ollie sets out to make himself very popular in the family country house by any means necessary.

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Fast X (2023) | REVIEW

Jason Momoa in Louis Leterrier’s FAST X — PHOTO: Universal Pictures.

Directed by Louis Leterrier — Screenplay by Dan Mazeau and Justin Lin — Story by Dan Mazeau, Justin Lin, and Zach Dean.

Louis Leterrier’s Fast X follows Dominic Toretto (played by Vin Diesel) and his team — which consists of family, friends, and former villains (all of whom Dom considers to be ‘family,’ of course) — as they are put in danger when an unknown crazy enemy from their past named Dante Reyes (played by Jason Momoa) seeks vengeance.

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The Family Plan (2023) | REVIEW

Mark Wahlberg and Iliana Norris in The Familly Plan, now streaming on Apple TV+.

Directed by Simon Cellan Jones — Screenplay by David Coggeshall.

Simon Cellan Jones’ The Family Plan follows Dan Morgan (played by Mark Wahlberg), a car salesman who lives in Buffalo, New York with his wife Jessica (played by Michelle Monaghan), as well as his children Nina (played by Zoe Colletti), Kyle (played by Van Crosby), and Max (played by Iliana Norris and Vienna Norris). They seem like a normal family, but, in reality (and unbeknownst to his family), Dan isn’t the patriarch of the family’s real name and he is actually hiding from his associates from his past life as a hired assassin. When, one day, a picture of him is posted to the internet, he and his family are targeted. In an attempt to keep his family safe, he makes up an impromptu family vacation and has to keep hitmen off their backs on-the-go. Dan has to work up the courage to tell his family the truth, and, while they are on their road trip, he sees new sides of his beloved family.

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Nattevagten – Dæmoner Går I Arv (2023) | REVIEW

(L-R) Emma (Fanny Leander Bornedal), Jens (Kim Bodnia), and Martin (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) stop by the forensic institute in Ole Bornedal’s NATTEVAGTEN – DÆMONER GÅR I ARV — PHOTO: Nordisk Film.

Directed by Ole Bornedal — Screenplay by Ole Bornedal.

The long-awaited sequel to the once locally groundbreaking Danish horror hit Nattevagten (international title: Nightwatch — though not to be confused with the American remake of the same name also directed by Ole Bornedal) starring Nikolaj Coster-Waldau — long before he became a part of a global sensation with Game of Thrones — is finally here. Back then Ole Bornedal shook audiences with a fresh horror film that showed the local film industry that, of course, strong Danish filmmakers have it within themselves to make competent horror films, even though the Danish film industry only rarely shows that it is capable of such things. Even today effective Danish horror films are few and far between. So, has Ole Bornedal caught lightning in a bottle yet again with his horror sequel? Well, to a certain extent. While Nattevagten: Dæmoner Går i Arv (international title: Nightwatch – Demons Are Forever) admittedly does suffer from familiarity, it is still a fairly entertaining sequel about the next generation trying to clear up their parents’ mistakes.

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Sorcerer (1977) | CLASSIC REVIEW

An image of one of the film’s two trucks almost falling off an unsafe bridge in the jungle in William Friedkin’s Sorcerer — PHOTO: Universal Pictures and Paramount Pictures.

Directed by William Friedkin — Screenplay by Walon Green.

Based on Georges Arnaud’s French novel Le Salaire de la peur, William Friedkin’s Sorcerer follows four very different individuals from all over the world– the Mexican assassin named Nilo (played by Francisco Rabal), a Palestinian militant named Kassem (played by Amidou), a French investment banker named Victor Manzon (played by Bruno Cremer), and an Irish-American gang member and driver named Jackie Scanlon (played by Roy Scheider) — as they all eventually find themselves in a remote village in Colombia. Here they are all trying to hide away from their old lives, and they desperately want to build new lives for themselves. However, their wages are insufficient. However, one day a lucrative job becomes available as an oil well has exploded. An American oil company now needs four drivers to risk life and limb by driving highly unstable dynamite through the unpaved jungles of Colombia. Of course, the film’s four leads line up to take part in the risky endeavor.

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Nattevagten (1994) | RETRO REVIEW

Ulf Pilgaard and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau in NATTEVAGTWN — PHOTO: Thura Film.

Directed by Ole Bornedal — Screenplay by Ole Bornedal.

In a couple of days, the long-awaited sequel to the Danish cult horror film Ole Bornedal’s Nattevagten will be released. The original film, which later resulted in the English-languaged remake (also directed by Ole Bornedal) Nightwatch starring Ewan McGregor, is one that I hadn’t seen in several years, so I was curious whether or not it would still hold up. Is the Danish cult genre film still as good as I remember it being? Well, yes and no.

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Passages (2023) | REVIEW

Franz Rogowski and Adèle Exarchopoulos in PASSAGES — PHOTO: SBS Distribution.

Directed by Ira Sachs — Screenplay by Mauricio Zacharias, Ira Sachs, and Arlette Langmann.

Ira Sachs’ Passages follows Tomas (played by Franz Rogowski), a German filmmaker who lives in Paris, at the end of the production of his latest film. At the subsequent wrap party, Tomas’ partner Martin (played by Ben Whishaw), an English printer, refuses to go out on the dance floor with him, but Agathe (played by Adèle Exarchopoulos), a young primary school teacher, would very much like to dance with Tomas. In the heat of the moment, Tomas and Agathe lock eyes, share a connection and go to Agathe’s home where they have sex. The next morning Tomas arrives back at his and Martin’s apartment, and, though his instinct is to initially be deceitful about what had happened, Tomas fairly quickly decides to come clean (and quite directly) to Martin about what had happened and how he feels about it. An inwardly upset Martin kisses Tomas, and they continue their relationship, which only seems more doomed when Tomas carries on with his dalliance with Agathe. As Tomas’ relationship with Agathe intensifies, whereas his relationship with Martin deteriorates, Tomas tries to control his love life in a way that doesn’t take the emotional well-being of others into account. 

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The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (2023) | REVIEW

Tom Blyth and Viola Davis in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes — PHOTO: Lionsgate Films.

Directed by Francis Lawrence — Screenplay by Michael Lesslie and Michael Arndt.

Everything gets a prequel nowadays. There was a time when the word ‘prequel’ when brought up in daily conversation with film fans would usually be followed up by some criticism of the Star Wars prequel trilogy, which has since been reclaimed by the community that once turned its nose up at it. Now, however, prequels are to be expected. There is a whole trilogy of so-so-to-disappointing Harry Potter prequel films, the Hobbit trilogy (that often feels like it was explicitly designed to be a prequel to the Lord of the Rings films, instead of letting it be its own standalone thing), and, eventually, this trend would, of course, make its way to popular young adult fiction like Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games. The original film adaptations (or at least the first two) are immensely popular as they launched Jennifer Lawrence into stardom while, at the same time, making an American popcorn version of Kinji Fukusaku’s Battle Royale. For what it’s worth, I quite liked both the original Hunger Games adaptation and the first sequel subtitled Catching Fire, but when they then split the trilogy-capper Mockingjay into two parts, I wasn’t as interested. What I will say, though, is that watching the Hunger Games prequel reminded me why I really liked the franchise in the first place.

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Blue Beetle (2023) | REVIEW

Xolo Maridueña as ‘Jaime Reyes’ holding the mysterious blue scarab in BLUE BEETLE — PHOTO: Warner Bros. Pictures.

Directed by Ángel Manuel Soto — Screenplay by Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer.

Blue Beetle isn’t just the live-action debut for the titular character, it also happens to be the 14th film in the DC Extended Universe (15th, if you count Zack Snyder’s Justice League), as well as the penultimate film in the very same cinematic universe, which is being remade or rebooted by James Gunn. This act of announcing that they are starting all over again has made this year’s DC superhero films essentially lame-ducks that fans and the general public don’t take seriously because people, naturally, don’t expect them to figure into the storyline going forward. It’s also a really sad thing because, one, this was meant to be the big screen debut for a lesser-known character that DC die-hards are excited about, and, two, this also happens to be the first DC live-action Latino superhero. In spite of the lame-duck nature of its story, it is a hugely important film precisely because it makes sure an underrepresented group in film now finally gets to see someone who looks like them as a great, big superhero in a feature film built around said hero. But they really deserved better because Blue Beetle is a stale superhero flick that has very little going for it in terms of originality.

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