U.S. Release Date: 2023-12-15
MPAA Rating: "PG-13" (Adult Themes)
Genre: Drama
Director: Hirokazu Kore-eda
Cast: Sakura Ando, Eita Nagayama, Soya Kurokawa, Hinata Hiiragi, Yuko Tanaka
Challenging but neither inaccessible nor impossibly dense; director Kore-eda invites intellectual engagement but does not leave the viewer unrewarded.
U.S. Release Date: 2023-12-08
MPAA Rating: "PG-13" (Violence)
Genre: Animated/Fantasy
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Cast: Soma Santoki, Masaki Suda, Aimyon, Yoshino Kimura, Takuya Kimura, Shohei Hino, Ko Shibasaki
"The Boy and the Heron" is a wonderful gift for everyone who expected "The Wind Rises" to be the swansong of legendary Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki.
U.S. Release Date: 2023-12-08
MPAA Rating: "R" (Sexual Content, Nudity, Profanity)
Genre: Fantasy/Comedy
Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
Cast: Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe, Ramy Youssef, Mark Ruffalo, Kathryn Hunter, Christopher Abbott, Margaret Qualley, Hanna Schygulla, Jerrod Carmichael
Challenges the kind of by-the-numbers approach that has dominated multiplex fare this year; it is brave, unconventional, and unique.
U.S. Release Date: 2023-10-20
MPAA Rating: "R" (Violence)
Genre: Drama/Western
Director: Martin Scorsese
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, Lily Gladstone, Jesse Plemons, Tantoo Cardinal, John Lithgow, Brendan Fraser, Cara Jade Myers, Scott Shepherd
This is epic filmmaking and a reminder that the kinds of characters who have long fascinated Scorsese do not exist exclusively on the mean streets of modern-day America.
U.S. Release Date: 2023-09-29
MPAA Rating: "PG-13" (Violence, Profanity)
Genre: Science Fiction
Director: Gareth Edwards
Cast: John David Washington, Madeleine Yuna Voyles, Gemma Chan, Allison Janney, Ken Watanabe, Sturgill Simpson
It may rely on numerous common science fiction concepts but it blends them in a way that feels original, offering a satisfying ending that does not demand additional installments.
U.S. Release Date: 2023-06-02
MPAA Rating: "PG-13" (Profanity)
Genre: Drama
Director: Celine Song
Cast: Greta Lee, Teo Yoo, John Magaro
"Past Lives" is quietly powerful – an understated examination of longing, connection, and unconsummated love.
U.S. Release Date: 2023-04-28
MPAA Rating: "R" (Violence, Gore)
Genre: Action/Thriller
Director: Jalmari Helander
Cast: Jorma Tommila, Aksel Hennie, Jack Doolan
It glories in the excesses of gore and violence with an exuberance rarely experienced this side of Quentin Tarantino.
U.S. Home Release Date: 2023-04-11
MPAA Rating: "PG-13" (Adult Themes)
Genre: Drama
Director: Oliver Hermanus
Cast: Bill Nighy, Aimee Lou Wood, Jamie Wilkes
"Living" is not quite as good as "Ikiru" (of which it is a remake), but it is a damn good re-interpretation.
U.S. Release Date: 2022-11-23
MPAA Rating: "PG-13" (Violence, Profanity, Sexual Content)
Genre: Mystery/Comedy
Director: Rian Johnson
Cast: Daniel Craig, Edward Norton, Janelle Monae, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr., Kate Hudson, Dave Bautista, Jessica Henwick, Madelyn Cline
Funnier than almost any other 2022 film and more entertaining than many of the bloated would-be blockbusters dotting the release schedule.
U.S. Home Release Date: 2023-01-17
MPAA Rating: "PG-13" (Implied Violence, Racial Epithets, Adult Themes)
Genre: Drama
Director: Chinonye Chukwu
Cast: Danielle Deadwyler, Jalyn Hall, Whoopi Goldberg, Sean Patrick Thomas, John Douglas Thompson, Frankie Faison, Tosin Cole, Haley Bennett
Movie-going is not a civics assignment but "Till" is a sufficiently powerful motion picture that it offers more than a history lesson.