Partying the old year out

Well, goodbye 2023. And a grand bash with a bang to end it all; not a whimper, well, apart from me whimpering about the cost of this extravaganza.
And I’ve got to recognise that it’s been an awful year out there in the world for so many from the continuing war in the Ukraine to a new horrorshow in the Middle East.
Kind of puts a dampener on saying that it’s been a good year for us twosome - apart from our usual Med location we saw some terrific places we’d never seen - from Nashville to Memphis, New Orleans and Montgomery. Not to mention Liverpool and Tromso.
And although we missed out in the Glastonbury lottery, we saw some terrific gigs. Hamish Hawk at St Luke’s, Belle and Sebastian at the Usher Hall, and a great comeback gig by the Bathers at the Wee Red Bar.
But, yes, yes, I know why you hungry hordes are thronging here - MrP’s top films of the year! Sound the bugle!!


12
The Pigeon Tunnel
What a tremendous film - simply an interview by Errol Morris with John le Carré. But so much more - utterly absorbing.
11
The Fabelmans
A Spielberg tour-de-force which grows in strength throughout its 151 minutes. You’ve got to say, he can make a decent movie, that fellah.
10
Past Lives
An often quoted top film of the year which has been getting great reviews. And I concur. It’s slow and the narrative minimal but quite beautiful.
9
One Fine Morning (Un Beau Matin)
Blimey, a film where everyone acts like real people would act. Of course, being French, the old guy suffering from dementia is a Professor of Philosophy, as are most people in Paris.
8
Saltburn
With that strange little Keoghan character and a wonderful turn by Rosamund Pike. It’s a most enjoyable and amusing film with some sharp dialogue, though some critics are pretty down on it. Makes the list for that ending alone.
7
The Night of the 12th
A French film which is very satisfying and realistic. Yes, realism. People AND dialogue.
6
Oppenheimer
Oh my word it’s good. That’s film making. Sure, it’s heavily stylised - it’s not a documentary and you are subjected to an alarming number of tropes but they’re all done with such, well, panache. And Cillian Murphy is quite astonishingly good.
5
1976
A thing of beauty and artfulness. A very fine film indeed; perfectly paced, it slowly builds in tension in a subtle, understated, but very real way.
4
Dream Scenario
Starring Nicolas Cage. I’ve got to say it’s quite terrific. When it began to morph into a parable on cancel culture it became wonderfully dark and yes, dare I say Kafkaesque?
3
Fallen Leaves
Fallen Leaves, a wonderful little Finnish film made by one Aki Kaurismäki who is a celebrated guy over there. And it’s most lovely. Lynchian. Though maybe that’s just what Finns are like.
2
Maestro
I’ve got to say, I totally loved it. What an astonishingly great watch. Just beautiful and blimey, it hits hard when you least expect it. Bravo!! Encore!
1
Napoleon
It’s a treat. Forget all that historic quibbling. It’s clearly not Napoleon, though the hat looks quite authentic. No, no, it’s those great landscapes, and low camera angles as riders gallop past. And horses charging. It’s terrific - the best film since Lawrence of Arabia, haha. Yep, a Dad film. Fan-tas-tic!!! No1!!!

And no, I’m afraid I didn’t get to see Barbie. Tsk.
Happy Hogmanay, all.