Last week we took a gander at some of the bigger releases heading to theaters in 2023. All of those movies I listed are ones you should definitely be able to catch at the multiplex near you, regardless of where you might live. This week, it's only fair that we look at some of the smaller, indie, arthouse and international releases that might not even play on a big screen, but instead will be relegated to Apple or Amazon or even streaming on Netflix, Peacock or some service that lies between. Let's get into it.
TBD: "No Bears" Writer/director Jafar Panahi is currently imprisoned in Iran, serving a six-year sentence, basically for being an artist. Since 2011, he's officially been banned from making films in his home country (he depicted his house arrest in the stunning "This is Not a Film") and continues to make them anyway. "No Bears" is another fearless act of protest as film and deserves to be seen by the largest audience available.
LIMITED RELEASE 1/27/2023: "Infinity Pool" Brandon Cronenberg (son of body horror maes-tro David Cronenberg) has such a distinctive and haunting style of filmmaking that his movies deserve to be seen on the biggest screen available. His new one stars Mia Goth and Alexander Skarsgard as a rich couple on vacation that gets pulled into a dangerous fight for their lives outside the safety of their resort gates. With a score by the ambient genius Tim Hecker, this is one of my most anticipated new releases.
2/17/2023: "Return to Seoul" From Davy Chou comes this restlessly intense adoption drama that spans almost a decade in its two-hour running time. Chou has explored Cambodia in such hauntingly beautiful ways with "Diamond Island" and "Golden Slumbers" that I can't wait to see how he sees South Korea.
3/30/2023: "Master Gardener" One of my favorite films of the last decade is "First Reformed" from writer/director Paul Schrader, and his follow-up, "The Card Counter," wasn't too shabby either, so a new film from the man who wrote "Taxi Driver" and "Raging Bull" is a reason to rejoice. There isn't a ton of info about the film other than it stars Joel Edgerton as a master horticulturalist with a dark past working for a wealthy dowager played by Sigourney Weaver. Sounds pretty Schrader.
4/28/2023: "Polite Society" From Nida Manzoor, the brilliant mind behind the best show you should be watching, "We Are Lady Parts," comes a martial arts comedy about a wedding heist and sisterly affection. This has a good chance of being this year's "Everything Everywhere All at Once."
TBD: "Showing Up" The new film from Portland filmmaking royalty Kelly Reichardt stars Michelle Williams, Hong Chau and Andre 3000, and focuses on the Portland art scene. The film looks like it walks that beautifully bittersweet line between deeply sad and hilarious, which is absolutely my comfort zone, so I'm here for it.
TBD: "Civil War" Alex Garland has been behind several of the most fearless films and shows over the last few years, all of which have flopped fairly hard at the box office or no one really watched on TV. The mind behind "Men," "Annihilation," "Ex Machina" and "Devs" brings us lucky folk his new vision of the future with "Civil War," starring Kirsten Dunst and Wagner Moura. There isn't much info about it, but new Garland is something to rejoice.
TBD: "I Saw the TV Glow" There was a little movie that came out last year that no one really saw called "We're All Going to the World's Fair" from first-time filmmaker Jane Schoenbrun and I was, to put it mildly, a bit obsessed with the film. Schoenbrun's sophomore feature comes out this year about two teenagers whose reality starts to disintegrate after their favorite show is canceled. Also, Fred "Limp Bizkit" Durst is in it. I need to see this now, please.
This year should be amazing for arthouse cinema. I mean, just look at what indie darling distributor A24 has on the docket: New films from Ethan Coen, Sean "Martha Marcy May Mar-lene" Durkin, "MaXXXine," the sequel to "Pearl" and "X" from Ti West, Nicole Holofcener's new film "You Hurt My Feelings" starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus, as well as ones a little further on the horizon like Rose ("Saint Maud") Glass' new film, "Love Lies Bleeding," Steve McQueen's "Occupied City," Sofia Coppola's "Priscilla," and Jonathan Glazer's first new film since 2013's "Under the Skin."
It's impossible to predict whether all of these will be great films, but I can guarantee they will, at the very least, make you feel something. Isn't that what we want from movies in the first place?
