Movies Update: The absolute best movies of the year

Plus, all is not calm in John Woo's "Silent Night."
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Movies Update

December 1, 2023

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By Mekado Murphy

Movies Editor

Hey, movie fans!

Just as you've completed your Thanksgiving meal, along comes a heaping serving of movie awards and Top 10 lists to digest.

This week, the Gotham Awards were handed out, and the New York Film Critics Circle made its selections. As well, our critics, Manohla Dargis and Alissa Wilkinson shared their picks of the year, with Martin Scorsese's "Killers of the Flower Moon" taking the lead slot on both lists. "Oppenheimer" made the cut on each Top 10, while "Barbie" made neither. The two critics also shared a love for the four-hour French chef documentary "Menus-Plaisirs — Les Troisgros" from Frederick Wiseman and praised the work of a variety of female filmmakers, including veterans like Kelly Reichardt, and newcomers like A.V. Rockwell, Celine Song and Anna Hints. These should give you some vibrant options to add to your what-to-watch list.

Out in theaters this week, we have one word: Beyoncรฉ. Her new concert movie, "Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncรฉ" is grooving into the multiplex. If you missed this summer's concerts (and even if you went, perhaps multiple times), here's a chance to have an up-close experience.

But if all you want to do is check out holiday movies, we've got you covered there. Elisabeth Vincentelli dashed through the multiple films spreading Christmas cheer across the streaming services, and featuring stars like Eddie Murphy, Melissa McCarthy, Jennifer Garner and Ludacris. Maybe one holiday, they'll all be in the same film!

Enjoy the movies and enjoy the season.

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CRITICS' PICKS

Two women in dark sunglasses and wispy white dresses stand on a football field slyly smiling.

Netflix

Critic's Pick

'May December' Review: She'll Be Your Mirror

In Todd Haynes's latest, Natalie Portman is an actress studying the real-life model for her character, (Julianne Moore), a woman with a tabloid back story.

By Manohla Dargis

Two women wearing dresses dance in front of a jukebox. Other people are dancing in the background.

Jeong Park/Neon

Critic's Pick

'Eileen' Review: Sudden Fire, Sudden Danger

Thomasin McKenzie and Anne Hathaway star in a period thriller that brings cathartic nastiness to a cold New England Christmas.

By Alissa Wilkinson

A man holding a gun and wearing a bullet-proof vest waits in front of a wall covered in graffiti.

Carlos Latapi/Lionsgate

Critic's Pick

'Silent Night' Review: On the First Day of Christmas, Kill.

John Woo's latest is as violent and merciless a revenge thriller as you can imagine.

By Glenn Kenny

A woman in a sweater smiles as a man looks over her shoulder, laughing.

Netflix

Critic's Pick

'American Symphony' Review: Intimate Harmony

This portrait of the musician Jon Batiste and the author Suleika Jaouad follows an artistic couple through ambition and adversity.

By Ben Kenigsberg

A woman reads a newspaper as it sits on a row of files.

Tyler Graim/Bad Press

Critic's Pick

'Bad Press' Review: Defending Journalism in the Muscogee (Creek) Nation

The battle to claw back press freedoms is the nerve-racking subject of this civic-minded documentary.

By Nicolas Rapold

ANATOMY OF A SCENE

Two women stand looking into a mirror, one woman holding a notepad, the other holding makeup that she's applying.

Francois Duhamel/Netflix

Anatomy of a Scene

Watch Natalie Portman Study Julianne Moore in 'May December'

The director Todd Haynes narrates a sequence from the film where Portman, playing an actress, gets makeup tips from the woman (Moore) she's portraying.

By Mekado Murphy

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MOVIE REVIEWS

A woman wearing glasses and a dark coat stands, center. In the background, people in white suits wear helmets.

Kino Lorber

'La Syndicaliste' Review: Power Plays

Isabelle Huppert plays a union representative swept up in a byzantine conspiracy in this French movie, which is based on a true crime.

By Manohla Dargis

A large lizard-style creature wreaks destruction, with debris flying around it.

Toho Co., Ltd.

'Godzilla Minus One' Review: Bigmouth Strikes Again

Japan's famous monster franchise returns with an appetite for destruction but also a notably sober outlook.

By Nicolas Rapold

A man in a lavender dress shirt stands near a woman in a black T-shirt. She is holding her hands upward.

HBO

'South to Black Power' Review: Back to a Future

In a new documentary, the opinion columnist Charles M. Blow calls for Black Americans to move to the South to gain political footholds.

By Lisa Kennedy

A woman wearing a black face mask walks in a march.

Array Releasing

'Who We Become' Review: Interrogating Identity and Injustice

Three young Filipino women self-document difficult conversations with their families and friends during the first year of the pandemic.

By Natalia Winkelman

In a close-up, a woman looks at herself in the mirror.

Utopia

'The Sweet East' Review: All-American Girl

Starring Talia Ryder and Simon Rex, this shape-shifting satire about modern American subcultures is a curious, and occasionally delightful, object if you can handle its flippant treatment of taboos.

By Beatrice Loayza

A family -- from left, a teenage boy, a teenage girl holding a toddler, a mom and a dad, with a French Bulldog strapped to his chest in a baby carrier -- standing in a row by a car, all looking a bit shocked.

Colleen Hayes/Netflix

'Family Switch' Review: Out of Body Experiences for Everyone

Even Pickles the dog gets to trade places in this movie directed by McG, but there are no revelations or bursts of originality here.

By Claire Shaffer

NEWS & FEATURES

A man in a black sleeveless shirt and pants leans a musclebound arm on a ledge above him and looks down at the camera. Palm trees wave behind him.

Ryan Pfluger for The New York Times

The Projectionist

Meet Charles Melton, the Breakout Star of 'May December'

The ex-"Riverdale" star transformed himself for Todd Haynes's new drama. As an actor, he's caught between wanting to be seen and wanting to disappear.

By Kyle Buchanan

Article Image

Ryan Pfluger for The New York Times

John Woo Has Seen a Lot in Hollywood. He's Finally Back for More.

The director reflects on why he left in the first place, how he was able to work with Tom Cruise and what's next for action films.

By Brandon Yu

Article Image

Thea Traff for The New York Times

The Projectionist

Emma Stone and Yorgos Lanthimos Have Nothing and Everything in Common

"I'm a girl from Arizona and he's a guy from Athens. I don't know how this worked," she says. Their latest project, "Poor Things," may be Oscar-bound.

By Kyle Buchanan

A woman in a high-necked blue outfit poses in front of a backdrop of greenery with the word "awards" partly visible.

Jamie Mccarthy/Getty Images

The Projectionist

'Past Lives' and Lily Gladstone Win Big at the Gotham Awards

The movie prize season kicks off with honors for the A24 drama and for the star of "The Unknown Country" (who's better known for "Killers of the Flower Moon").

By Kyle Buchanan

In a scene set inside a cinema, a woman  and a man sit in red seats in front of a handful of other people. The man is looking quizzically at the woman, who seems concerned.

Malla Hukkanen/Sputnik

Critic's Notebook

Can a Rom-Com Make Sense in Dark Times? Yes, When It's From This Master.

Aki Kaurismaki's "Fallen Leaves" is both magical and despairing, born of what the Finnish auteur's stars say is an unusual shooting approach.

By Esther Zuckerman

A woman in a black sleeveless top is surrounded by dancers. They're viewed as if through a fish-eye lens, an image projected over a stage.

The New York Times

Beyoncรฉ's 'Renaissance' Film: 4 Takeaways From the Premiere

The star skipped the red carpet and slipped into the celebrity-filled screening on Saturday night. But the movie pulls back the curtain — a little.

By Kyle Buchanan

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STREAMING RECOMMENDATIONS

In close-up, a woman and man embrace, with their heads touching.

The Criterion Collection

Three Great Documentaries to Stream

This month's picks include two disturbing looks at domestic dysfunction, and — on a brighter note — a portrait of a brilliant Leonard Bernstein protรฉgรฉe.

By Ben Kenigsberg

Three boys in school uniforms that are written on, each wearing corsages, stand expressionless in a room facing forward.

Netflix

Five Action Movies to Stream Now

This month's picks include devious teen mayhem, female superhero stories, anticapitalist anarchy and more.

By Robert Daniels

Eddie Murphy, in pajamas and a robe, stands outside next to swans swimming and sunning next to a pool.

Claudette Barius/Prime Video

The Best Movies and TV Shows Coming to Amazon, Disney+, Hulu and More in December

Holiday fare arrives, with "Candy Cane Lane," and "Dr. Who" and "Shape Island" specials. "Percy Jackson" and "Culprits" also land this month.

By Noel Murray

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