In the year of Barbenheimer, 6 Hollywood movies you may have missed

It’s been a very big year for Hollywood. They were so huge that audiences were spoiled for choice, and the theaters were transformed into fantastic carnival spectacles.

Although #Barbenheimer certainly stirred up the worst storm, 2023 was filled with several other great releases as well, including Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City, and Christopher McQuire’s Mission: Impossible – Part 1 From Dead Reckoning and Ferrari by Michael Mann and Sofia Coppola. Priscilla and Maestro Bradley Cooper. When a menu is this lavish, it’s easy to miss the quiet, unpretentious delicacies. They may not take up the lion’s share of the dining table, but they are often the most satisfying, with a lingering aftertaste that will keep you thinking about them for days.

Like most cinephiles around the world, I took a cinematic road trip this year. So, as we all prepare to bid farewell to 2023, I implore you to watch these six funny, dark and frothy films if you haven’t already. From a sunny coming-of-age film to the story of a British prince and an American president’s son falling in love to how a major sneaker company closed its most important deal of the 1980s, it’s a complete mixed bag. Enjoy!

Are you there, God? It’s me, Margaret

The stunning film adaptation of Judy Blume’s 1970 novel captures the perils of adulthood in all their disorienting, messy, and frustrating urgency. The film features earnest, wide-eyed debutante Abby Ryder Fortson as 11-year-old heroine Margaret, and also stars the wonderful Rachel McAdams as her sensitive and supportive mother Barbara.

Don’t be fooled by the abundant sunshine that this film so wonderfully lavishes. Despite his superficial buoyancy, he deftly tackles such thorny topics as teenage angst, the desperate need to fit in, and the need and meaning of religion. Watching it, I couldn’t help but think of my many firsts growing up and my ever-evolving relationship with my mother. Are you there, God? It’s Me, Margaret is sure to remind you of some of the best coming-of-age movies you’ve ever seen. It brought me back to Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird (2017) and Charlotte Wells Afternoon (2022).

Available on: Netflix

Polite society

How far will you go to save your brother? Written and directed by first-time director Nida Perspective, Polite Society is a smart and sharp commentary on all the ugliness that money often hides. Set in London, it is the story of British-Pakistani teenager Raya Khan – who aspires to be a stuntwoman – who bends over backwards (pun intended) to prevent her older sister from marrying a mama’s boy prince with evil intentions.

Polite Society is as smart and packed with pop culture references as Vasan Bala’s films are, but in its exploration of societal malaise, it will remind you of Jordan Peele. It’s a joy to watch Khan break a leg (or two) and dance to the most fun interpretation of Maar Daala, Madhuri Dixit’s iconic love song from Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Devdas (2002).

Available on: JioCinema Premium

air

It’s the story of how in 1984 Nike closed its most important deal in the face of insurmountable odds, serendipitously disrupting the market and dismantling the status quo of the sports business.

Starring Matt Damon, Ben Affleck (who also directed the film), Viola Davis, and Jason Bateman, Air could have been as drab and dreary as the outfits of Sonny Vaccaro, the Nike basketball talent scout played by the wonderful Damon, but Affleck chose. To bring the film’s indefatigable lead man to the film instead.

He tied the story together in a series of conversations that Sonny had with various stakeholders in his quest to acquire Michael Jordan. Affleck’s decision to frame these conversations on a one-on-one basis gives them a rare intimacy and urgent urgency, allowing a person to find space and thrive even within a dull office space. Air is a great reminder that movies about facts and business can be fun too, just put people front and center.

Available on: Prime Video

Red white royal blue

Based on Casey McQuiston’s beloved 2019 novel that flew off the shelves and straight into the hearts of many readers, Red, White & Royal Blue is the kind of effervescent love story you’ll want to cozy up to with a glass of wine and your favorite dessert. After a particularly long and unforgiving day.

The feature debut from Tony Award-winning playwright Matthew Lopez is a dreamy two-hour fairy tale starring Taylor Zakhar Perez and Nicholas Galitzine, two love-struck lovers. The film is set in a highly ambitious world, where the United States has a female president up for re-election, and England has a black female prime minister, where the most luxurious of British royalty and the White House are thrown into the mix. Can’t you love him?

Available on: Prime Video

A man named Otto

Directed by Marc Forster, the film tells the story of an elderly man who mourns the death of his wife, angry at everything and everyone, and unwilling to move on with life. Starring Tom Hanks in the titular role of the irascible sexpot, it’s a tender and poignant commentary on love and loss, coping with change, and opening your heart and life to possibilities again.

Adapted from Frederic Backman’s 2012 best-selling novel A Man Called Ove, the film addresses many current and timeless themes such as grief, elder caregiving, ableism, gender fluidity, social media journalism, the importance of community, and the uncompromising . Reckless real estate construction disguised as development. If you’ve recently been feeling disillusioned or inexplicably bored, this is the movie for you.

Available on: Netflix

Wonka

The origin story of the genius chocolatier, Wonka, is a prequel to the 1964 children’s classic Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl. Directed by Paul King and starring the charming Timothée Chalamet as the eccentric protagonist, this musical is a wild, whimsical ride into the open, so satisfying that it almost sends you levitating, just like tasting one of Willy Wonka’s chocolates, the chocolate that looks like an egg, inside insect. Also starring Olivia Colman, Hugh Grant and the wonderful Sally Hawkins, it’s the perfect holiday movie you’ve been looking for.

It’s not available online yet.