Since its premiere at Fantasia last year, micro-budget horror Skinamarink has generated some of the most enticing indie-horror buzz this side of The Blair Witch Project. It follows two young children who wake up alone in their house, where the doors and windows begin disappearing. Jeepers. “Taps into the primordial fear… of being a child having to go to the bathroom at 3 a.m. with a gnawing feeling that there’s someone/something waiting for you in the shadows” promises Hungkat. “Skinamarink is a highlight for a subgenre and movement that is already bursting with creativity and passion, and as younger generations of filmmakers,” writes Freyr. (Now in US theaters and on Shudder.)

His dad reasserted himself in 2022 with Crimes of the Future, but second-generation Canadian auteur Brandon Cronenberg is back to taunt those of us still traumatized by his gnarly 2020 film Possessor with an equally provocative follow-up titled Infinity Pool. Alexander Skarsgård and the gloriously-monickered rising Australian actor Cleopatra Coleman lead the film as a couple at a luxurious holiday resort who get mixed up in some bloody business potentially involving clones. Mia Goth also features, which seems appropriate. Chingy Nea warns/promises: “The humiliation fetish is strong with this one. Incredibly wet film.” Katie Rife recently spoke to Cronenberg and Skarsgård about the film for Journal. (Now in US theaters.)

Amidst all the streaming-era doom-and-gloom surrounding movies being canceled after they were shot, shows being unrenewed and cartoons disappearing, there is one good news story: Magic Mike’s Last Dance, which was originally set to premiere on HBO Max, has been upgraded to a theatrical release. Given that its plot is inspired by the Magic Mike Live show, it only seems fitting that we get to enjoy Steven Soderbergh’s six-pack-infused swansong with a crowd. (Now in US theaters.)

Seemingly not content with owning both the box office and the doubters with Avatar: The Way of Water, James Cameron has gifted us a remastered version of one of his earlier water-centric films, Titanic. You may have heard of it. Cited in many reviews of TWoW—which also climaxes with a big sinking boat and someone handcuffed to a rail—Titanic represents but one example of the many times Cameron delivered when the prognosticators suggested he wouldn’t. It topped the all-time box-office charts for a decade until Cameron himself displaced it with the first Avatar. Maybe it’s time we started taking this guy seriously. (Now in US theaters.)

Australian filmmaker Goran Stolevski follows his haunting 2022 feature You Won’t Be Alone (number six in the horror category in our 2022 Year In Review!) with ’90s-set romance Of An Age, in which a seventeen-year-old ballroom dancer experiences an intense 24 hours with the older brother of his dance partner. “Heartbreakingly beautiful coming of age film set against a late-’90s suburban Australian backdrop that feels so real I can taste it,” writes Lasagne Cakes in one of many raves that emerged after the Of An Age premiere at the 2022 Melbourne International Film Festival. (In US theaters February 7.)

Marking the first film in Phase Five (yeesh!) of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania sees the return of Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas, Michelle Pfeiffer, director Peyton Reed (one of only two Marvel directors to do three-in-a-row of anything), and most importantly, On Cinema at the Cinema co-host Gregg Turkington, as Scott Lang’s Baskin Robbins boss. The presence of Turkington (and in the last one, OCatC host Tim Heidecker) is indicative of this sub-franchise’s status as the slightly weird cousin within the MCU. The slightly weird cousin with a proclivity for trippy CGI. (In wide theaters February 17.)

Rising star Emma Mackey (from Netflix’s Sex Education, Death on the Nile and soon to be seen in Greta Gerwig’s Barbie), plays Wuthering Heights author Emily Brontë in this reimagined biographical drama that marks the directorial debut of Australian actor Frances O’Connor (Mansfield Park, Bedazzled). “Finally a version of Emily Brontë for Fleabag fans,” promises Emma. “It’s gothic, it’s spicy, it’s sad, it’s not historically accurate. I LOVED IT,” gushes Sam. (In US theaters February 17.)

The trailer leans into its own absurdity to quite a degree, but hopefully Cocaine Bear, an inspired-by-real-events tale of a bear on a cocaine-fueled rampage, can find the right balance of pathos and humanity. It’s certainly an eclectic mix of talent: Elizabeth Banks directs the likes of Alden Ehrenreich, Keri Russell, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Margo Martindale and in his final screen appearance, Ray Liotta, who has his own cinematic history of cocaine-fueled shenanigans. Instant cult classic or a damp squib like Snakes on a Plane? Find out when it opens wide in the US, UK and beyond on February 24.

Michael B. Jordan takes control of his Rocky-spinoff franchise with Creed III, which he directs as well as stars in, and which notably does not involve Sylvester Stallone. The plot sees Jonathan Majors (who’s having a big couple of weeks with antagonist roles here and in Quantumania) playing a childhood friend of Adonis Creed’s who is released from prison and has something to prove in the ring. Boxing movies are always better when jail is involved. By this point, Jordan has earned the right to lead a sequel without Sly, but the Italian Stallion’s absence from this film (related to Stallone’s ongoing public dispute with the Rocky rights holders) cannot help but seem jarring on some level to long-time Rocky fans. (In theaters March 3.)

Filmmaking collective Radio Silence, composed of Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett and Chad Villella, did an impressive job of breathing life back into the Scream franchise with last year’s confusingly (albeit typically) titled Scream, the fifth film in the series. Real actual numbers—roman numerals, no less—are back in the picture for Scream VI, which comes from the same creative team, and is releasing just fourteen months after the previous film. Original final girl Neve Campbell bowed out over money, but in the horror world that just sets her up for a triumphant return in Scream VII. Part VI does contain the return of Hayden Panettierre’s Kirby, last seen in Scream 4. (In theaters March 10.)

As mentioned earlier, Sundance properly came back in person for 2023 and we were all over it with several of our crew in attendance. Others watched virtually, alongside many Letterboxd members who also took advantage of Sundance being one of the few fests to carry on a pandemic tradition. There was a lot to love, but we managed to whittle our favorites down to ten narrative and ten documentary features containing leaping luchadors, chaotic bisexuals, and much more. In chats with Sundance filmmakers, Adesola Thomas caught up with Milisuthando director Milisuthando Bongela, about growing up under Apartheid without knowing it; and Leo Koziol settled in to listen to prize-winning Against the Tide director Sarvnik Kaur talk about slow cinema and lowering our ambitions.

It’s okay to like films that other people consider lame. In fact, that’s one of our driving passions around here: making sure you know that this is a safe space for all tastes. Kyle Flynn was curious, specifically, about the movies we rate one star, yet still pound the heart for, so he went digging into the phenomenon of low-rated high-likes for us. As you’ll read, it’s a little more complicated than “so bad it’s good”.

Among the filmmakers our team have spoken with for Journal recently is French-Senegalese documentarian Alice Diop, who moved into narrative filmmaking with Venice breakout Saint Omer. With her star Guslagie Malanga, she talked with Adesola Thomas about their challenging and impactful film. In London, Ella Kemp talked with the filmmaker and stars of BAFTA-nominated Thatcher-era drama Blue Jean for its UK release, to documentarian Laura Poitras about her Nan Goldin film, and to Lukas Dhont about his heartbreaker, Close.

Our West Coast editor Mia Vicino recently spoke to Claire Foy, Judith Ivey and Sheila McCarthy, all cast members of Sarah Polley’s devastating, Oscar-nominated drama Women Talking, about the importance of laughter. Our Shelf Life editor Katie Rife interviewed writer-director Nikyatu Jusu about her highly rated horror Nanny, and got into it with lead actor Song Kang-ho and director Hirokazu Kore-eda about their new collaboration, Broker. And Rafa Sales Ross went to the Cornish coast with folk-horror filmmakers Mark Jenkin and Mary Woodvine.

There’s comfort in the familiar. There’s also anxiety, heartbreak, comedy, cringe and thirst, which is why it wasn’t very difficult to come up with a list of the 100 most obsessively rewatched love stories. These are the narrative feature films where a romantic relationship is central to the plot that have been logged five or more times by the most Letterboxd members. Here’s to the ones who dream!

To mark the VOD debut of their latest film Something in the Dirt, reliable mind-benders Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead provided us with a list of their favorite films with unreliable narrators. At least, they say they did.

“While we may sometimes be able to achieve a consensus, rarely is the adoration for any film in a collection absolute,” writes Adam Davie in his ode to the Criterion Collection, upon completing a personal mission to watch every spine. “But that’s okay. Because you’ve also shown me that one of the joys of the collection is the search for my next favorite film. And once it’s discovered, I realize that I’ve traversed the world due to the selections. I’ve defined what’s important to me when it comes to what I love about cinema.”

Runtime arguments are fun! Why are movies so long? Why are they too short? What is the perfect duration for sitting in the dark with strangers, being absorbed into a different world? Well, Jacob Klemmer has a theory: “70-79 minutes is the best runtime.” Suggestions are welcome.

It’s time for Dom’s Pick! Each month, Call Sheet editor Dominic Corry ends with a recommendation for your watchlists. This month: Purple Noon (1960). Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about the upcoming Ripley television series starring Andrew Scott and Johnny Flynn in the roles played by Matt Damon and Jude Law in 1999’s iconic The Talented Mr. Ripley. René Clément’s earlier, less-seen French adaptation of the same book makes for a fascinating comparison to the Anthony Minghella film. Alain Delon, perhaps the most handsome man who ever lived (see above), is hypnotic as the agile Ripley, and Clément structures the story in a manner that helps separate it from the 1999 version. We can never have too much Tom Ripley.