5 Movies I Missed In 2023 (And 5 I'm Looking Forward To In 2024)
2023 was a pretty good year for movies, although not great for box office returns, but we all know no one has time or money to see everything. Plus it always seems as if the most interesting stuff goes everywhere but our local screens. Who can relate? I lost count of how many times I would find something fun on Fandango, only to see that it was being shown in Sacramento or Vacaville or something. Granted, Sacramento isn’t that far away from me, but a lot of the best art house and repertory screenings are at the Tower Theatre and I’m just not crazy about the idea of traversing Downtown Sac at night by myself.
I digress, of course. As promised, here are…
Five movies I missed in 2023 (in no particular order):
White Bird
Starring Helen Mirren as a grandmother and artist, this movie combines the Second World War with a bit of magic. It was originally supposed to come out in 2022, but then was teased for July of 2023 but disappeared, and now it’s apparently slated for October of this year. Argh. We’ll see it sometime, I guess.
The Haunting of the Queen Mary
I’ve visited the Queen Mary, which is, of course, a fixture in California and Long Beach, and naturally I’ve heard about the supposed hauntings, so a movie on the topic sounded fun. Unfortunately, despite Fandango teasing the film in its Coming Soon section, no movie times popped up. Apparently it can be rented or bought on Amazon Prime, though, so I’ll have to give it a gander someday.
The Unknown Country
The Unknown Country stars Lily Gladstone as Tana, a Native American woman who travels back to her family’s home in Texas after her grandmother’s death. From what I saw in the trailers it might be a great character study with gorgeous scenery. However, it was yet another case of Fandango dangling a movie and not posting any showtimes.
Aurora’s Sunrise
An animated film about a young woman, Arshaluys Mardiganian, who flees the Armenian Genocide and eventually makes it to America, Aurora’s Sunrise seems to be a beautifully made, little-told story and even includes an interview with the real Aurora. Too bad it was, yet again, a case of a film being advertised with no times or theaters posted. Fortunately, Aurora’s Sunrise can be seen on the PBS website as part of their POV series, but be warned that it’s not for children.
The Woods Are Real
Based on the Book of Job, The Woods Are Real follows a Brooklyn couple who are made an offer they can’t refuse and learn a lesson they won’t soon forget. What got me interested was the cast, especially Campbell Scott, but unfortunately this movie seems to have been buried. No reviews, no showtimes, no streaming and almost no press, although it premiered at the Lower East Side Film Festival in New York last May. What the heck? And what a shame.
And five movies I’m looking forward to in 2024 (again, in no particular order):
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire
Frozen Empire looks like Ghostbusters had a head-on collision with The Day After Tomorrow and might be goofy as all get-out. With Paul Rudd and three of the four original Ghostbusters involved, it can’t help being goofy. If we have to have remakes, we want to have remakes like this. At least I hope so.
Dune 2
Oh, this one is a long time coming. Denis Villeneueve did a bang-up job with Part One, and unlike certain other filmmakers we can mention, he knows how to set a scene. The visuals alone were *chef’s kiss*. When it comes to Part Two, all I can say is, “Let’s go.”
Argylle
Argylle seems absolutely adorable. A mystery writer is hard at work on her latest novel when she finds her characters coming to life and herself embroiled in one of her own plots. Starring Jessica Chastain, Owen Wilson, Henry Cavill, Dua Lipa, and a cast of character actors, well, except for John Cena, who plays, as always, John Cena, it looks refreshingly sly and satirical. I hope it’s fun. I really hope it’s fun.
Bob Marley: One Love
Every time the One Love trailer pops up I get excited. Bob Marley was pretty popular at my high school, even among those of us who weren’t reggae fans per se, because we liked his laid-back coolness (More on that later). Among the many bits I find intriguing about the film is that it seems to tease Marley’s talent for on-the-spot composing.
Shelby Oaks
This one’s kind of a long shot because it’s an independent film and probably not going to be given a wide release, but here’s hoping it at least comes to Prime or something. I’ve been hearing about Chris Stuckmann’s first feature credit as a director for years now and it’s going to be interesting to see what it looks like. There’s no release date as yet, but knowing Mr. Stuckmann it will probably be worth the wait.
Now, I can already hear some of you asking, “Where’s Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning, Part Two? Well, it was firmly on the list until I found out it got pushed back to 2025. Never mind that the film is already shot and nothing’s stopping Paramount from pulling the trigger, but either way, we’re all going to have to wait at least a year longer to find out what that mysterious key unlocks. Dumb, Hollywood. Very dumb.
And let’s be clear: I didn’t set out to make a screed against Fandango, but I wish they would show movie times for all the movies they advertise even if they’re not close to a user’s set zipcode. I hate to keep using the word, “tease,” but that’s what these show time-less movie pages feel like. Anywhoo…
What films are you looking forward to this year? Leave a comment below! Have a good one, all…
Loved this! I actually hadn’t heard about Chris Stuckman before but I was a big LonelyGirl15 and Blair Witch Project girlie back in the day and it sounds like the intersection of my teenage interests! Definitely going to check it out.