Happy 2023!

Happy 2023, everyone! This year's film watching was a lot of fantasy, adventure, and some truly amazing series. Probably my favorite film I saw this year was The Northman (closely followed by The Batman), favorite show was Andor: Season 1.

Other highlights were finishing my all-time favorite drama series, Peaky Blinders, an epic Season 4 of Stranger Things, Obi-Wan and Boba Fett--wow, what a year of excellent shows!

I'm hoping to keep watching new and old films in 2023 and doing a few more marathons: Mel Brooks films, revisiting Hercule Poirot BBC series, and a list of good films/shows about sailing/navigation (starting with the Horatio Hornblower series). I'll also be watching lots of classic 1940s-1960s adventure films I haven't seen before.

Best wishes!

The Northman

The Northman (Robert Eggers, 2022)

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Rating: Q=8, P=8 / Obsession

Scale 1=4, Scale 2=4, Scale 3=4, Scale 4=4

Action, Adventure, Vikings, Dark Ages, Based on Shakespeare

WOW. Robert Eggers has done something truly amazing. This is the most immersive and realistic film I've ever seen depicting the Dark Ages, and specifically the Vikings. Every moment of this film is both beautiful and disturbing. And finally a film that shows the reasons behind the violence--the culture, myth, rites and traditions. Yes, it is bloody and gruesome, but I felt like I understood why.

Such expansive and also intimate cinematography! The natural lighting is simply breathtaking--the glow of firelight in the great hall, the eerie moonlight in the forest, the sprays of lava. I've always thought that directors sometimes don't realize the enormous effect that lighting can have on their film. Eggers knew. Each scene feels so real. This is a film worth watching again for the artistry alone. But the acting and story makes it even more worthwhile.

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