Movies & Other Culture, 2023

I don't think I saw any major live music, dance or theater performances in 2023. The only place "new" I went, as best I recall, was ITB (Institut Teknologi Bandung) in Indonesia, where I hope to be going more often in coming years. I did read my usual thirty or so books, listed over on Goodreads (but zero so far in December? I should finish a couple by the end of tomorrow to get to thirty...).

The other major cultural source of entertainment is, of course, moving images. I watched almost no movies on small screens, though my wife and I did watch and enjoy Ōoku (大奥) and Whatcha Gonna Do, Ieyasu? (どうする家康?). I watched a little of Star Trek: Deep Space 9, but it has so far failed to captivate me as much as it has many other people. Beyond that...I pay for a lot of media services and rarely find things I am eager to watch.

So, movies...I think I perhaps saw only seven in theaters this year? Loosely ordered by ranking:

• Oppenheimer: This really is as astounding as everyone says. Among other things, Nolan uses sound (and lack thereof) to isolate characters, in a technique that very much makes going to a theater worthwhile. Looking forward to it coming to Japan and seeing it again, hoping I can get my wife to go with me. There are one or two anti-Japanese lines in it, consistent with the times, and it does focus on the title character rather than the bombings in Japan, but that's its intent -- there are plenty of other movies about Hiroshima, Nagasaki, or the war in general.
• Everything Everywhere All at Once: This is good, and I always love Michelle Yeoh, but when I first saw it I didn't automatically think, "This is the best movie of the year." But it stayed with me.
• Godzilla Minus One: Also fully as good as the praise. My Godzilla-seeing pal and I saw this on the biggest screen in eastern Japan, and we are glad we did. It truly does have characters that resonate.
• RRR: The most AMAZING movie you will ever see! Well, maybe not quite, but pretty close. It's as over the top as can possibly be, and huge fun. Also, if you thought the volleyball scene in Top Gun was, um, gay friendly, wait until you see the leg squats here! Speaking of Tom Cruise...
• Mission Impossible: Worth seeing, but I think some of the editing choices around the money shot are a little odd.
• A Haunting in Venice: Branagh was born to play Poirot, but should have let someone else direct this one.
• Indy Jones: Even bringing up the bottom of my list, it was okay. But there really wasn't any need to make this, it doesn't really add anything. It is kind of interesting to see an aging Indy out of his time and place in the 1960s.

...I think that's all I saw? Partly it was working too much (seven days a week most weeks), partly it was just lack of access to both information and good showings. I don't often hear about smaller movies and non-English, non-Japanese movies that I would definitely enjoy given the chance.

Gotta do better on all these fronts in 2024!