Happy 2023, friends and readers!! Hope you have recovered from the New Year’s Eve festivities… I stayed up till 1:30 which wasn’t too bad considering I went to my friend’s disco-themed party, first NYE party I attended in a while, I barely stayed awake in front of the TV watching the ball drop in the past few years.
Well I took some time to rest yesterday but I ended up doing some cleaning and laundry so didn’t even have time to blog. I did watch my first movie of 2023 – White Noise, which is an odd one but still worth a watch because Adam Driver is in it!
In any case, here’s what I watched last month:
NEW MOVIES
Enola Holmes 2
Catherine Called Birdy*
The King’s Daughter
Decision To Leave
The Swimmers*
Who Killed Santa*
A Castle for Christmas*
I Used To Be Famous
Saint Omer*
TV SERIES
We tried to watch two series on Netflix: 1899, a multilingual German period mystery-science fiction set on an immigrant ship, and Treason, which is about an MI6 agent whose past catches up with him when he reunites with a former lover who happens to be a Russian spy. We gave up after only 1 episode as neither is interesting enough for us to invest our time in. So we decided to binge on this series instead:
Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan – Season 3
My hubby and I are such huge fans of this series and after two strong seasons, S3 is even more gripping with higher stakes! Love John Krasinski in the role and Wendell Pierce as his former boss-turned-ally. The fact that the adversaries are Russians is quite timely and it’s quite eerie given Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. I might do a quick review of it, but if you’re a fan of Tom Clancy’s espionage thrillers, I highly recommend this one!
I started the 52 Films By Women challenge on International Women’s Day a few years ago. Per Women In Film (WIF) organization, the basic rules are simple: watch 52 films directed by women within the course of one year. Share about the films you’re watching on social media, using the hashtag #52FilmsByWomen to spread the word, and get more people talking about the women filmmakers that don’t always get attention.
Well, in terms of new films, I fell short by 7 films as I only managed to watch 45 new movies directed by women, but including 5 rewatches (marked with *), I watched a total of 50 movies directed by women. Oh well, better luck next year! So here’s the list of female-directed movies I watched:
- Wine Country
- Atlantics
- Friends with Money
- Lady Boss: The Jackie Collins Story (doc)
- Petite Maman
- Together Together
- Queen of Glory
- The Novice
- Holler
- Marry Me
- Encanto
- Mothering Sunday
- Tall Girl 2
- Turning Red
- Embrace the Panda (doc)
- Book Of Love
- India Sweets and Spices
- Best Sellers
- Good luck to you, Leo Grande
- Miss Stevens
- A Call To Spy
- Mr Malcolm’s List
- Hollywood Stargirl
- Don’t Make Me Go
- Persuasion
- Luck
- Cléo from 5 To 7
- Honk For Jesus
- The Woman King
- Above All Else (doc)
- Don’t Worry Darling
- B+E (Breaking and Entering)
- Rosaline
- She Said
- Women Talking
- Wildcat (doc)
- Birds of Paradise
- Causeway
- Bergman Island
- Lady Chatterley’s Lover
- Catherine Called Birdy
- A Castle for Christmas
- The Swimmers
- Who Killed Santa
- Saint Omer
- Brave*
- Emma*
- You’ve Got Mail*
- Little Women*
- Sleepless In Seattle*
10 BEST NEW-TO-ME FILMS BY WOMEN WATCHED IN 2022
So in lieu of my fave movie(s) of the month, I’ll give you a list of 10 best movies directed by women that I highly recommend.
Click on the title to read my full review.
Women Talking
Catherine Called Birdy
Saint Omer
So that’s my recap folks, stay tuned for my list of BEST & WORST MOVIES of 2022!
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FLIXCHATTER FILM BLOG 
I was planning to ringing into the new year in NYC and I’m supposed to be in Hawaii right now. But the trips got cancelled, so I rung in the new year here in cold MN. Lol!
Only saw two new movies last month, Glass Onion and Avatar 2. I’m definitely more into TV series these days. I thought Jack Ryan season 3 was the best adaptation since The Hunt for Red October. For this season, the writers took inspiration from my favorite Jack Ryan book, The Cardinal of the Kremlin. A book that never got a film adaptation. There were talks of adapting that book after Clear and Present Danger in the late 90s. But Ford was getting too old and Russian wasn’t a real threat to the world then.
I enjoyed 1899 but the ending was kind disappointing, it just axed by Netflix. I don’t think it needs another season.
Oh bummer Ted! Were you supposed to be in Hawaii for vacation or work trip? Hopefully you get to go later this Winter.
Yeah I enjoyed JR S3 though there are some things that left me scratching my head. I didn’t know this was loosely based on The Cardinal of the Kremlin. Yeah crazy how Russia wasn’t a threat back in the late 80s when the book was written. It’s eerie to hear the word Ukraine uttered by the Russian defense minister!
Ok so glad I didn’t continue watching 1899 then!
It’s a vacation, we’re planning trips to NYC and then Honolulu since I got a week off from work and I decided to take another week off for Hawaii. But my GF got sick and then I hurt my foot this week. So, it’s kind of a blessing in disguise that the trips were canceled. Lol!
The Jack Ryan show were all loosely based on Clancy’s books. The first season has elements from The Sum of All Fears and the second season took inspirations from Clear and Present Danger.
I don’t think Netflix want to spend anymore money on 1899. It’s a high production show and it didn’t get that many views as they’d hoped.
With all the horror stories w/ flight delays/cancellations, it’s probably a blessing in disguise that you’re not traveling Ted!
Yeah, 1899 looks expensive, I think period pieces are always pricey to do. Btw, stay tuned for my full review of Jack Ryan S3 I’m about to post 😉
Yup, had we’re able to make the trips, I’m quite sure some of our flights would’ve gotten cancelled or delayed. We’re supposed to fly to NYC on the same day when it snowed really hard here.
I think Netflix thought they have another mind bending show with 1899 since it’s from the same people who created DARK for them. That show was very smart and kept me guessing. But 1899, i sort of predicted the “twist” at the end. I didn’t exactly get it right but I was pretty close.
I ended up doing WAY better this year than the last and I reached the 52 films goal which was a fucking relief and I saw a lot of good shit in that year. I’m definitely doing it again.
Oh good for you! I should’ve stepped up in Nov and Dec but things got pretty busy, and somehow I thought I had already watched at least 50 by December LOL
I managed to hit 60 films on my 52 Films by Women challenge for the year! Doing a trial run of Mubi definitely helped. I was able to see a lot of short films. I’m looking forward to Women Talking when my theater finally gets it, and I agree with a lot of the films on your Best list!
Wow, great job!! I should try Mubi which Steven has recommended. I need to review Women Talking soon, it’s a powerful film!
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