The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

• Director: Francis Lawrence
• Writer: Michael Lesslie, Michael Arndt
• Starring: Tom Blythe, Rachel Zegler, Peter Dinklage, Viola Davis, Jason Schwartzman, Hunter Schafer, Josh Andrés Rivera

Grade: B+

The Hunger Games franchise was a major part of my childhood. I sat in the theater opening weekend for every film in the now decade-spanning series, from the very first The Hunger Games in 2012 to Mockingjay – Part 2 in 2015. It was my gateway into franchise films, and I enjoy each movie in this series in its own way. That said, I was not excited to see The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. 

Next Goal Wins

• Director: Taika Waititi
• Writer: Taika Waititi, Iain Morris
• Starring: Michael Fassbender, Elisabeth Moss, Kaimana, Chris Alonso, Rhys Darby, Will Arnett, Taika Waititi

Grade: B

Next Goal Wins is the latest polarizing film from writer and director Taika Waititi. It stars Michael Fassbender, Elizabeth Moss, Kaimana and, as is often the case, Waititi himself. The film follows Thomas Rongen (Fassbender), a down-on-his-luck soccer coach, who takes a job to coach the American Samoa soccer team, the lowest-ranked team in the FIFA world rankings. 

May December

• Director: Todd Haynes
• Writer: Samy Burch
• Starring: Natalie Portman, Julianne Moore, Charles Melton

Grade: A-

In a year when films have explored difficult subject matter like Native American genocide (Killers of the Flower Moon), artistic fortitude (Asteroid City), and tangled romance (Past Lives), May December may be the most complex of them all. It’s a film that deals with topics like identity, our American fascination with scandal, and personal authenticity – all while being one of the darkest comedies of the year.

The Marvels

• Director: Nia DaCosta
• Writer: Nia DaCosta, Megan McDonnell, Elissa Karasik
• Starring: Brie Larson, Teyonah Parris, Iman Vellani, Zawe Ashton, Lashana Lynch, Samuel L. Jackson

Grade: D

It’s far from a secret that the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2023 is a rudderless ship, veering from film to film with no real greater sense of purpose, and coasting on the goodwill it built up in its first 10 years of box office dominance – even with the critical and financial success of Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3. A great number of think pieces have already been written about the mess that Kevin Feige is dealing with, and a great deal more will surely be written as long as Marvel continues to churn out content without any palpable quality control. So going in to The Marvels, even the most die-hard MCU fans would be forgiven for lowering their expectations. Even considering the moderately positive reactions to Captain Marvel from 2019, which survived a wave of misogynistic trolling to gross a billion dollars in receipts, The Marvels perhaps represents the worst instincts of the MCU, and perhaps could solidify the final nail in the superhero coffin.

NYAD

• Director: Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin
• Writer: Julia Cox
• Starring: Annette Bening, Jodie Foster, Rhys Ifans

Grade: C-

The phrase “Oscar Bait” gets thrown around a lot around this time of year, sometimes as a derogative and sometimes as a backhanded compliment. There’s no specific formula for what constitutes good or bad Oscar bait, but it essentially boils down to whether the film itself is good or not. Biopics of real, famous people overcoming adversity are like catnip to the Academy, so why not play into their hands and make a by-the-numbers drama that overlooks many of that character’s major struggles?

The Holdovers

• Director: Alexander Payne
• Writers: David Hemingson
• Starring: Paul Giamatti, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Dominic Sessa

Grade: B+

Comedy equals tragedy plus time. It’s a well-worn adage in the world of comedy, and comedic writing, the notion that the best comedy comes from a place of pain, not joy. It’s an adage that Alexander Payne has honed throughout his career as a writer and director, and it applies to his latest film The Holdovers.

Pain Hustlers

• Director: David Yates
• Writers: Wells Tower
• Starring: Emily Blunt, Chris Evans, Andy Garcia, Catherine O’Hara, Brian d’Arcy James, Jay Duplass

Grade: D+

The Placebo effect: when a concentrated, harmless pill produces the same intended effects as the real thing because of the psychological belief that it is the real thing. You can’t get sick from a placebo, and you can’t take too much of them but it won’t make you any better (here’s my disclaimer that I am not a licensed physician – I just play one on TV). Why mention placebos in a review of Pain Hustlers, the new film directed by David Yates, beyond the film’s medical subject matter? Because, much like a placebo, the Netflix film functions as a concentrated, harmless piece of content that produces the same intended effects as a real film with something – anything – interesting to say.