What to Watch: The 7 best movies of 2023

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic In a world…where moviegoing isn’t what it once was…a great trailer gets audiences motivated to check out a film on opening weekend. But the very best previews are so much more than that: They hold up as short-form works of art in their own right. Keep in mind, marketing pros get just two and a half minutes to grab your attention and make their pitch.

King Charles III is set to deliver his annual Christmas speech. It marks only the second speech delivered by a king in nearly seven decades. The pre-recorded speech will be aired live across the UK on Christmas Day, December 25.

When Harry Met Sally fans! This Wednesday, Meg Ryan makes a rare TV appearance to honor her WHMS costar, Billy Crystal, when he is feted at the Kennedy Center Honors. The televised ceremony—which always airs during the last week of the year—recognizes artists who have made profound contributions to American culture through the arts.When Harry Met Sally is over 30 years old, but it is arguably the most quoted film in Ryan's and Crystal's movie careers, so it only makes sense that Ryan would want to pay homage to one of the greatest romcoms—and films—of our time.

Variety staffers reflected on some of the most standout scenes from the year’s top contenders. For 2023, there’s been no shortage of imaginative and inspiring storytelling crafted by both award-winning pros and newcomers — and each one has gifted audiences memorable scenes that have left us laughing, crying, and with plenty to think about long after the credits have rolled.

Oppenheimer”).During the simultaneous Screen Actors Guild and Writers Guild of America strikes, the sagging box office was boosted, like NFL ratings and the economy of East Rutherford, New Jersey, by Taylor Swift.Marvel Studios, which used to be the surest thing in Hollywood, began to underperform (“Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania”) and then downright flop (“The Marvels”).And DC was revealed to actually stand for Dud Central, with all of the studio’s comic-book films of 2023 (“Shazam! Fury of the Gods,” “The Flash” and “Blue Beetle”) turning out to be financial failures.In a win for Gen Z, studio execs determined Zendaya’s star wattage is so huge now that two of her movies — “Dune: Part 2” and “Challengers” — were delayed a year due to the strikes, so she can promote them to her hoards of fans. And baby boomers were dinged by the big-time tanking of the nostalgic “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” starring a now 81-year-old Harrison Ford who schlepped around New York and Europe.Despite all the madness — and a sea of schlock — some excellent films hit theaters this year.

Immaculate.Sweeney, who is known for her roles in Euphoria and The White Lotus, plays Cecilia, a woman of faith, who discovers frightening and sinister truths on her journey through the European countryside to an Italian convent.While the theatrical release date is still yet-to-be-determined, it has been confirmed that distributor Neon have acquired North American rights to the movie, which will be produced by Teddy Schwarzman of Black Bear, along with Sweeney herself, under her Fifty-Fifty Films name.The movie will see the reunion of several people also involved in creating The White Lotus, with Simona Tabasco starring, and David Bernad of Middle Child Pictures co-producing, who has worked previously with Sweeney on the HBO dark comedy-drama.Immaculate also stars Money Heist’s Alvaro Morte, The Hand Of God’s Dora Romano and Benedetta Porcaroli, known for the Netflix series, Baby.Principal photography for the psychological horror film took place in Rome, and concluded earlier this year.This will mark the second recent collaboration with Neon and Black Bear, following the release of Ferrari, starring Adam Driver and Penelope Cruz, which will open in cinemas on Christmas Day.Sweeney’s recent romcom with Glen Powell, Anyone But You, will open in UK cinemas on December 26.

Rob Kazinsky looks almost unrecognisable from his days in EastEnders, years after quitting the BBC soap to launch his career in the US.The former soapstar, now 40, left fans shocked as he shared a selfie to Instagram, which saw him sporting a beard and moustache, a rather different look to his days as Sean Slater. Since leaving the soap he has also had a change of hairstyle and has started wearing glasses, something he bemoaned in the new snap posted to his Instagram Story. Adding text to the photo, he wrote: "I have to wear glasses now.

told media outlets.“I had the pleasure of spending a lot of time with him in his last years, as he had no immediate family,” Garland said in a statement to Entertainment Weekly. “We spent much time outdoors, where Jack loved to sketch, read news articles, and recite Shakespearean sonnets.” Born on Jan.

One of the biggest nights in the TV calendar is here - the Strictly Come Dancing 2023 final. It's set to be a dazzling night in the ballroom as, after 13 weeks, this year's winner will be announced.

Netflix has become a go-to staple for Christmas entertainment.The quality of its Christmas-themed output, however, is far from merry. Between the exquisitely naff identikit rom-coms and bad adaptations of Charles Dickens’ classics, digging around to find any modicum of decent will likely end your relatives before they’ve even sniffed the sherry.So is it worth bothering at all? In its vast library, there are several (at best) worthwhile Christmas romps – so let’s cut straight to the search bar.As noted in a rundown of the streaming service’s best Christmas movies on Rotten Tomatoes, Klaus is easily the best festive film on the platform.

We don’t know about you, but we love a good Christmas tradition or two. Whether it’s decorating your tree together or watching the same film religiously on Christmas Eve, there’s nothing better to help get you in the festive spirit, and if there’s one tradition we can firmly get behind it’s matching Christmas pyjamas.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Anne Hathaway appeared on the latest “Happy Sad Confused” podcast and called it “lucky” that her iteration of the “Barbie” movie never got off the ground considering the phenomenon that Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” became over the summer. Back in July 2017, Hathaway was announced as the star of Sony’s “Barbie” movie. Comedian Amy Schumer was originally cast, but Hathaway took over the role after Schumer departed.

Barbie has topped a list of the top-trending Google searches across the year in movies.Greta Gerwig’s film, which is the highest-grossing movie of the year, came out on top of Google’s year-in-review 2023 lists for movie search data in the US and globally.The lists, released on Monday (December 11), track queries that had the highest spikes in traffic over a sustained period this year as compared with 2022.Unsurprisingly, due to the Barbenheimer phenomena, Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer placed in second across both lists.

After seeing his acclaimed Netflix series All the Light We Cannot See secure a Golden Globe nomination on Monday morning, director-EP Shawn Levy spoke with Deadline about his forthcoming Deadpool threequel and Stranger Things‘ final season, as well as his work on the aforementioned historical drama.

were announced Monday morning, and the biggest shocker is … that they still exist!Like a post-apocalyptic Twinkie, the 80-year-old ceremony has survived against all odds. There’s been scandal after scandal, the disbanding of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, a sale to Dick Clark Productions and a move from NBC to CBS.

Variety’s two chief film critics agree that Christopher Nolan’s portrait of the man behind the Manhattan Project is one for the ages — a “Lawrence of Arabia”-level feat about a turning point in human history, as seen through the haunted blue eyes of one of our finest actors. At the same time, some of the year’s best movies flew under the radar. Consider this a guide to the top cinematic achievements, large and small, whether shot on Imax cameras or hand-drawn by an artisanal French couple.

The list of the 10 films chosen for the prestigious AFI Awards is out, and it is good news for Barbenheimer.

Deadline’s Read the Screenplay series spotlighting the year’s most talked-about scripts continues with the Todd Haynes-directed May December starring Julianne Moore, Natalie Portman and Charles Melton. It made a splash at Cannes this year when the darkly comedic and complex feature, loosely based on the story of Mary Kay Letourneau, was picked up by Netflix in a splashy $11 million rights deal.

The National Board of Review is announcing their picks for the best of the best in film!

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor SPOILER ALERT: This story contains spoilers for Netflix’s “May December” In Netflix’s “May December,” one of the most memorable scenes features Joe Yoo (played by Charles Melton) arriving at the hotel to deliver a letter from his wife Gracie (Julianne Moore) to actress Elizabeth Berry (Natalie Portman). Their encounter leads to a brief yet intense sexual liaison on the floor, culminating in a conspicuous silhouette shot of Joe’s penis. Amid Samy Burch’s narrative brilliance and Todd Haynes’ tantalizing direction, one might imagine Melton — known for his role in The CW’s “Riverdale” — felt immense pressure acting opposite Oscar winner Portman, who also produced the film.