Check out our favourite films of 2022 below:

Honourable Mention: Dracula: Voyage of the Demeter

The horror genre had another great year in 2023, and one film that was uniquely frightening was the gothic horror of André Øvredal’s Dracula: Voyage of the Demeter. Øvredal explored the fresh territory of the vampire genre with this picture, and it delivered on the sheer shock and terror of its horror moments. This Dracula was a beast of the abyss, and the blood and dread that followed made for a terrifying experience. Audiences were sure to feel a ghoulish shiver run up their spines with this horrorfest, and Dracula: Voyage of the Demeter delivered on its promise to leave you with plenty of sleepless nights.

10. Napoleon

Sir Ridley Scott brought his immense talent for world creation to life on the big screen once again with his colossal epic Napoleon, and it was an awe-inspiring watch. With two fearless performances from Academy Award winner Joaquin Phoenix as ambitious general Napoleon Bonaparte and Vanessa Kirby as Josephine, the woman he would conquer the world for, Napoleon was a rousing and ambitious project that chronicled the age of the Napoleonic Wars and the man who re-shape the destiny of Europe. With its gigantic battle scenes, beautiful costumes and set pieces and intense emotional drama at the heart of its story, Napoleon made for an incredible sight on the big screen.

9. Killers of the Flower Moon

Martin Scorsese is a living legend of cinema, and he brought an incredibly profound and deeply heart-wrenching tale of love and betrayal to life in Killers of the Flower Moon. With its scale and majesty, Killers of the Flower Moon could be considered to be the great director’s magnum opus, and in every frame, you felt the director’s pull to his characters and this American story that was so deeply personal to him to tell. Leonardo DiCaprio shocked audiences with a completely left-facing turn as the slow-witted and malignant Ernest Burkhart, while Lily Gladstone brought a dynamic bravery to the role of Burkhart’s wife Mollie, who served as the voice of the Osage people and the terrible troubles that this picture documented. Everything of Scorsese as a filmmaker was present in Killers of the Flower Moon, and it’s an utterly triumphant work.

8. Air

A true underdog story awaited audiences in Air, and this true-life story of ‘hustle and grind’ and the decisions that would help turn a floundering Oregon-based shoe company called Nike in the late 1980s into a gigantic powerhouse brand was on show for everyone to see in all its glory. Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Chris Tucker, and Triple Crown-winning actress Viola Davis only added to the star power of this picture, and Air was a fun, enjoyable and ultimately uplifting story of why sometimes you’ve got to ‘just do it’.

7. Barbie

Barbie went blockbuster in 2023, and this prancing, dancing and neon-pink whirlwind of cinema was an utter pop culture phenomenon that saw audiences lining up in their ‘think pink’ wardrobe, and this was fun for everyone to enjoy. Margot Robbie shines in this ‘fish out of water’ story, as Barbie finds her way into the real world, and things get real. Then there was Ken. Oh, Ken, and Ryan Gosling was completely addicting to watch in his performance, and man-o-man, could he hold a tune. Barbie was a pure party of delight, filled with every shade of pink imaginable, and it was the perfect film to groove out to with your girlfriends…and maybe a Ken or two.

6. What’s Love Got to Do with It?

My feeling is that 2023 is bringing back the rom-com, and one of the year’s best was the fabulous, fun and poignant watch of What’s Love Got to Do with It? Directed by celebrated British filmmaker Shekhar Kapur and written by socialite turned screenwriter Jemima Khan, this was a poignant and layered film that explored the very construct of love and how it grows between two people, and the result made for a film that was both sassy and serious. Lily James again shows that she’s a serious talent to keep an eye on, and the end result was a charming picture packed full of joy that audiences were sure to fall in love with.

5. John Wick: Chapter 4

Keanu Reeves and director Chad Stahelski have forever changed the landscape of action cinema with their work on the John Wick franchise, and it got gnarly in the fourth chapter as the legendary assassin John Wick (Reeves), the ‘Baba Yaga’ himself, declared war on the High Table itself, and the result was utterly explosive. Big action met big drama in John Wick: Chapter 4, and the result was an utter rush that had your adrenal gland working overtime in one of the year’s best action pictures.

4. The Equalizer 3

As the culminating chapter to one of the decade’s greatest action franchises, much expectation was levelled on Antoine Fuqua’s The Equalizer 3 and the return of Denzel Washington as Robert McCall. And the two-time Academy Award winner didn’t disappoint in this dramatic, edgy and visceral action film. Operatic in its construction and delivery, Fuqua and Washington delivered this final chapter for this modern-day ronin who had to deliver justice at all costs. Violent and instinctive, The Equalizer 3 made for an intense and bold watch, and it was undoubtedly one of this year’s best cinematic events.

3. Saltburn

Emerald Fennel shocked audiences with her debut feature, Promising Young Women, and its follow-up, the fantastical gothic thriller Saltburn, which was a film of shocking INSANITY! Fennell invited audiences into a lavish experience of debauchery and excess with this psychodrama, and its twisting, edgy and shocking narrative made for one of the most intense cinematic experiences of the year. Barry Keoghan and Jacob Elordi cemented their position as two stars worthy of the A-list, and the Saltburn made for an experience of pure, unadulterated hedonism with the volume turned all the way up. Saltburn was a cinematic experience that set your senses on fire, with its narrative left to spin around your mind for days.

2. Living

Bill Nighy is an absolute treasure of an actor, and he gave the performance of a lifetime as Mr Rodney Williams in the tranquil and deeply moving Living. An emotional rollercoaster exploring the very necessity of life and what makes it meaningful, Living was an emotionally rousing, beautifully filmed piece of cinema, and by its end frame, you were sure to be wiping away the tears. Powerful in its construction and delivery, Living was an incredibly special watch, and its story was sure to find its way into the hearts of all audiences who basked in its beauty.

1. Oppenheimer

Christopher Nolan is a giant of the cinematic craft, and he turned his attention to one of the most significant moments of the 20th century in the discovery of the Atomic Age and its long-lasting consequences in Oppenheimer. Large and operatic in its spectacle, Oppenheimer was a film of cause and effect, action and consequence, and how innovation can lead to both discovery and destruction in the same moment. Nolan’s narrative was a masterwork of story, and his assembled cast, including Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Florence Pugh, Robert Downey Jr and Kenneth Branagh, led an incredible group of players and built an atmosphere of total immersion. Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer was an utter cinematic masterpiece and is likely to be one of the most important narrative events of the 21st century.

The post SpicyPulp’s Top 10 Films of 2023 appeared first on SpicyPulp.

After being expelled from the utopian Barbie Land for being less-than-perfect dolls, Barbie (Margot Robbie) and Ken (Ryan Gosling) go on a journey of self-discovery together to the real world.

For more than sixty-four years, Mattel’s Barbie has provided little girls with a heroine who showed that they could be anything they wanted to be. As an icon of femininity itself, Barbie inspires love and happiness in the minds of so many people, and now her story arrives on the big screen. And it’s everything. Filmmaker Greta Gerwig jumps into the plasticised world of primary colours, stylish fashions and beach party-dreamhouse fun and delivers audiences a cinematic feat that is both everything they would hope for and incredibly thought-provoking at the same time. With its self-aware narrative and fully rendered vision, Barbie is the story of one doll’s journey to discover self-love and the acceptance of who she is, and her story will touch your heart.

Gerwig’s vision for Barbie is enormous, and she takes the famed doll and her hapless boyfriend, Ken, on a massive voyage of self-discovery. This is a narrative that works on so many different levels, and Gerwig takes a focus that is not only celebratory of Barbie and the phenomenon that she is, but also dissects the manufactured illusion that surrounds her. A key source for the story, and Gerwig’s direction, is Mary Pipher’s Reviving Ophelia, which accounted for the effects of societal pressures on teenage girls in the 1990s, and its text has a big impact on the direction of the story. This narrative is filled with unexpected surprises and smart thematic touch points which resonate with all of the audience, and Gerwig has crafted a film for everyone.

In a piece of perfect casting, Margot Robbie is Barbie. With her flowing platinum blonde hair, shapely figure, flawless smile, stylish wardrobe, cheerful and exuberant personality and sublime life in Barbie Land, she’s the doll with everything. She is everything. And that’s where it gets interesting. When her perfect life suddenly takes a not-so-perfect turn, we see this Barbie undertaking a mission to enter the ‘real world’ and come face to face with reality, and it leads into the most transformative arc for this iconic character.

Robbie’s portrayal of Barbie is her seminal performance. Initially shaped by ideas of beauty, fun and exuberance, it soon becomes clear that there’s a lot more going on for Barbie. And she’s in for a wake-up call in the real world. This narrative pushes Robbie in every direction, and her concentration and commitment to the character is flawless. We see the world through her eyes, and she offers the audience a reflection of our own reality that none of us is expecting. Robbie’s an actress with her finger on the pulse of what her audience wants, and she delivers an incredibly powerful presence as Barbie that will resonate with all who watch her.

He might be a 10, but he’s just a Ken, and Ryan Gosling is a piece of genius casting on behalf of Gerwig to bring this plasticised doll to life. As the egotistical, vain, narcissistic, and thoroughly idiotic Ken he excels. But even though he might be ‘perfect’, Gosling’s Ken is completely insecure, desperate and needy for Barbie’s love and attention, and Gosling’s performance is addicting to watch. Like Robbie’s Barbie, he goes on quite a journey in this story, and he sure brings the ‘kenergy’. He also shares a natural chemistry with Robbie, and their back-and-forth only adds to the energy and fun of the picture.

A key part of the joy of Barbie is its fully realised world-building, and there’s a whole host of Barbies and Kens that make up this picture. Issa Rae, Kate McKinnon, Hari Nef, Alexandra Shipp, Emma Mackey, Sharon Rooney, and Dua Lipa bring a considerable level of energy as our Barbies, while Simu Liu, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Scott Evans and Ncuti Gatwa make for plenty of fun as the Kens. Michael Cera acts as a touchpoint for normalcy as Allan, and then there’s Emerald Fennell as Midge. Poor Midge. Of vital importance to the film’s narrative is America Ferrera as Gloria, who serves as a reflection for the audience and whose sense of self as the ‘every woman’ leads to the film’s key revelation. All of these performers bring such jubilation to the film and make it that much more special.

As an experience, Barbie is a film with serious style and Gerwig and her production team fully embrace a sense of real ‘authentic artificiality’ that is mirrored in a sense of nostalgia and memory. Barbie is a film of contrasts, with the plasticised, almost Technicolor presence of Barbie Land, which finds its inspirations in the classic Americana of the 1950s, the French Riveria of the 1960s, and the pumped-up consumerism of the 1980s with our own world. Set designer Sarah Greenwood and decorator Katie Spencer have permission to dream with this picture, and what they realise is spell-bounding. Costume designer Jacqueline Durran’s work on the film is out of this world, and she takes inspiration from Barbie’s collected wardrobe and pairs it with unique Chanel pieces that express different ideas of femininity throughout the picture.

Barbie is a pure, dazzling party of delight, and the film’s music has a major influence on the audience’s interaction with the narrative. Gerwig and producer Mark Ronson bring together a ‘guilty pleasure’ mix of fun and sound in the music of Barbie and artists including Dua Lipa, Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice with Aqua, Charli XCX, Karol G and Aldo Ranks, Sam Smith, Tame Impala, Haim and Billie Eilish bring their unique talents to a fabulous soundtrack. The music of Barbie is a unique character within the film, and you’ll be grooving in your seat with this funky jukebox of hits.

With its clever narrative, fun characters, stylish costumes and a production filled with every shade of pink imaginable, Barbie has everything that audiences could want. But within its story is a deep and layered thematic story that examines the very idea of womanhood itself. Gerwig balances the light, energy and whimsy of Barbie with her beach days, girls’ nights and dance parties with a serious exploration of the female self and spirit. This film offers a touching exploration of femininity in today’s age, and Barbie’s place within it, and audiences will find themselves extremely moved by it.

Barbie is a cinematic experience of pure happiness and joy that will get audiences dancing in their seats. You can’t help but embrace the enchantment of this magical movie experience, so grab your girlfriends and maybe a Ken or two, and head along for the best day out at the movies EVER!

Image: Warner Brothers Pictures

The post ‘Barbie’ – Review appeared first on SpicyPulp.

Watch the brand-new trailer for Barbie NOW:

Check out our thoughts on the new Barbie trailer here:

Here’s the full synopsis:

To live in Barbie Land is to be a perfect being in a perfect place. Unless you have a full-on existential crisis. Or you’re a Ken.

As one of our most anticipated films of 2023, this new trailer for Barbie has us hyped and it gives audiences a terrific impression of what audiences can expect from the film. Building off of the recent teaser trailer, this full trailer for Gerwig’s Barbie showcases Margot Robbie’s Barbie living the perfect life in Barbie Land. Until she starts to get real. With reality closing in around her, she has to undertake a journey to the ‘Real World’, with her happy idiot boyfriend Ken (Ryan Gosling) in tow, and it’s there they find equal parts trouble and fun.

Gerwig’s focus with the Barbie film is to craft a film that will appeal to a wide array of viewers. And with you’re a Barbie-made fanatic, or someone who has given up on the beloved doll, you’ll be very pleased with this movie. With its neon colour palette and fun-loving vibes, Barbie looks like a rollicking good watch, but set against this is a considered intellectualism and a great sense of satire that will bring a smile to audiences’ face. Both drama and comedy appear to have the perfect match in this film, and there’s a good dash of romance and adventure that will bring a smile to audiences’ faces.

From the very beginning, Margot Robbie was perfectly cast as Barbie, and she shines in this new trailer. And paired with Ryan Gosling as the goofy and hapless Ken, we have a pair that will level the experience of this film up and it all leads to plenty of laughs. As a performer, Robbie is never one to shy away from a challenging role, and her performance as Barbie appears to give her the most complex role of her career to date. And we can’t wait to see what comes next with it.

Along with its colourful and chirpy characters, it’s the sense of Barbie’s greater ambience, colour palette and design that draws audiences in. This clash of the manufactured plastic illusion of Barbie Land with that of our real world was a conscious decision on behalf of Gerwig who drew inspiration from classic musicals including The Red Shoes and The Umbrellas of Cherbourg for the film’s aesthetic in what she calls ‘authentic artificiality’. Audiences will want to get down and party with the Barbie movie and following the release of the trailer, pop star Dua Lipa, who portrays Mermaid Barbie in the film, has released a brand new song from the film’s soundtrack with ‘Dance The Night’.

Check out the full video for ‘Dance The Night’ below:

We’re ready for the pastel-coloured, Barbiecore fun that awaits with Barbie arrives in cinemas on July 20, and this is a cinematic experience you’re not going to want to miss out on.

Image: Warner Brothers Pictures

The post Barbie springs into the real world in new ‘Barbie’ trailer appeared first on SpicyPulp.

Watch the new trailer for Barbie here:

Here’s the official synopsis:

To live in Barbie Land is to be a perfect being in a perfect place. Unless you have a full-on existential crisis. Or you’re a Ken.

Noted filmmaker Greta Gerwig is ready to spin the world’s best-known doll, Barbie, for a loop with her brand new movie that finds a Barbie (Margot Robbie) who is not quite perfect and is seemingly kicked out of Barbieland, with her dim-witted boyfriend Ken (Ryan Gosling), who suddenly find themselves in the real world and it gets crazier from there.

This first trailer for Barbie is just wild and Robbie and Gosling appear to be in their element. While the first teaser trailer gave us a taste of what was to come, this new teaser trailer really highlights the aesthetic, tone and comedy that the movie is about to give to audiences and it’s just pure fun.

Gerwig promised audiences something different with the Barbie movie and with its pink aesthetic, accessories galore and back and forth banter between Barbie and Ken, along with an expanded world of Barbie’s and Ken’s, the Barbie movie is going to be something that is going to truly surprise audiences.

So make sure you’re fully Barbiecore ready for all kinds of fun, laughter, surprises and hi-jinks when Barbie arrives in cinemas on July 19.

The post It’s time to party with the brand new teaser trailer for ‘Barbie’ appeared first on SpicyPulp.

Check them out below:

10. Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre

We’ve been waiting a long time for Guy Ritchie’s cinematic return and we’re finally on the eve of the release of his long-awaited spy-action-comedy Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre. Re-teaming again with long time collaborator after their masterful work on the intense and driven revenge thriller Wrath of Man, Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre will allow the two of them some space to play around with the spy genre and it looks like it’s going to be a lot of fun. With a packed-out supporting cast including Aubrey Plaza, Josh Hartnett and Hugh Grant, Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre is a film you won’t want to miss out on.

Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre will arrive in cinemas on January 12, 2023.

9. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

Marvel Studios fans will be in for a very big treat this year with some absolutely stellar releases coming our way and one of my most anticipated Marvel releases is Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Marvel Studio’s Ant-Man films have long been some of my favourite entries in the MCU and I’m excited to see how director Peyton Reed pushes the envelope with this new entry. My MCU tastes lean more towards the spectacular and the cosmic so I’m incredibly excited to see how we get to explore the Quantum Realm and how the new big bad Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors) is about to change the MCU forever!

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania will arrive in cinemas on February 17, 2023.

8. Babylon

When it comes to rising auteur cinema voices, one man leading the charge is writer-director Damien Chazelle and he’s about to make the silent movie era loud in Babylon. With a cast including Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie, Babylon is shaping up to be one of my must-watch movie events of the year and this film looks sexy, glamourous, seductive, and utterly wild.

Babylon will arrive in cinemas on January 19, 2023.

7. Killers of the Flower Moon

When it comes to cinema legends they don’t come with more talent or respect for the craft of cinema than the legendary Martin Scorsese. And this cinematic visionary is ready to bring an incredible sense of drama with his high-profile historical-dramatic-crime-epic Killers of the Flower Moon. Based on the horrendous true-life murders that occurred in Oklahoma in the early 1920s, Scorsese along with his cast that includes Leonardo DiCaprio, Jesse Plemons and Robert DeNiro will no doubt bring about an intense and suspenseful watch, and Killers of the Flower Moon could very well end up being one of 2023’s best releases.

Killers of the Flower Moon will be released on Apple TV+ in 2023.

6. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One

When it comes to Hollywood movie stars they don’t get much bigger than Tom Cruise, and now the king of blockbuster cinema is returning as super spy Ethan Hunt for one hell of a thrill ride with 2023’s must-watch action picture Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One. This first chapter in what will be a two-part epic will be the culmination of the Mission: Impossible franchise and Cruise is going all out with this action epic and is pushing the limit when it comes to stunts and action. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is shaping up to be pure cinematic action fun and audiences will be in for a rush when it releases later this year.

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One will arrive in cinemas on July 13, 2023.

5. John Wick: Chapter 4

Keanu Reeves is back as super-assassin John Wick and he’s ready to bring the wrath to the members of the High Table and bullets and blood will be spent. This fourth entry in what is one of Hollywood’s best new modern franchises continues to turn up the dial on the excitement and intensity of the cinema craft and both Reeves and director Chad Stahelski are ready to bring it with this one.

John Wick: Chapter 4 will arrive in cinemas on March 23, 2023.

4. Barbie

When it comes to 2023 releases one of my standout must-watch films of 2023 is undoubtedly Greta Gerwig’s Barbie. With Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling in the lead, this is an absolute must-watch 2023 and the recent teaser trailer certainly got my excitement up for this pastel-coloured extravaganza, which will deliver audiences a serious twist with its narrative. Bight, colourful and packed full of fun, Barbie will get its audience grooving.

Barbie will arrive in cinemas on July 24, 2023.

3. Dune: Part Two

In 2021 visionary filmmaker Denis Villeneuve brought the grandest of science fiction epics to the big screen with Dune. Realising the mighty deserts of the world of Arrakis, Villeneuve is ready once more to transport audiences back to this far-off galaxy as he continues to the story of Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) and his journey to becoming the mighty Muad’Dib. With his incredible returning cast including Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem and Stellan Skarsgard, alongside new actors including Florence Pugh, Austin Butler and the legendary Christopher Walken, Dune: Part Two is an epic that will be a must-see big screen event.

Dune: Part Two will arrive in cinemas on November 3, 2023.

2. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3

The penultimate chapter of Marvel Studios’ Guardians of the Galaxy is set to arrive this year, and I couldn’t be more excited to hang out with my all-time favourite MCU characters. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3 is shaping up to be an epically fun watch, and James Gunn is once again ready to work his magic on the galaxy’s greatest-ever group of outlaws. From the first teaser, it’s clear that the emotions are going to run high with this one and I can’t wait to hear the playlist and catch the action on this must-watch MCU film.

Guardians of the Guardians Vol.3 will arrive in cinemas on May 5, 2023.

1. Oppenheimer

But when it comes down to it there’s one film that tops my list of must-watch feature films for 2022 and that’s Christopher Nolan’s WWII historical blockbuster epic, Oppenheimer. Bringing to life the genius and terror of J. Robert Oppenheimer’s creation of the atomic bomb and the dawn of the nuclear age, Oppenheimer is Nolan firing on all cylinders and this is shaping up to be a monumental achievement in cinema. Shot exclusively with IMAX cameras, Oppenheimer is a film that audiences will want to see on the biggest screen possible and its epic scale, scope, cast and narrative make this my most anticipated film of 2023.

Oppenheimer will arrive in cinemas on July 21, 2023.

The post SpicyPulp’s Most Anticipated Films of 2023 appeared first on SpicyPulp.

Watch the full teaser trailer below:

Directed by Greta Gerwig, Barbie will bring to life the story of the famed doll like never seen before, and celebrated performers Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling are stepping into the story as Barbie and Ken. But this isn’t the film you think you’ll be getting with Gerwig and Robbie working to subvert the expectations of audiences and give them something wild and crazy and something they didn’t quite expect.

This first teaser trailer is exactly in that mould as Gerwig riffs off of the famed opening to Stanley Kubrick’s seminal science fiction work, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and announces the arrival of Robbie’s Barbie. It’s a snapshot of what is to come, but this film looks loud, bright and wild and audiences will be in for a hell of a lot of fun with Barbie!

So find your best outfit, ready your favourite accessory and get ready for some fun when Barbie arrives in cinemas on July 20, 2023.

Images: Warner Brothers Pictures

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