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The Best Movies of the Year Are Finally Hitting Theaters

Everything we can’t stop loving, hating, and thinking about this week in pop culture.

This week:

Get Thee to a Movie Theater

It’s the time of year when you can finally see all the really good movies film writers have been raving about.

Fall film festival season and award season can be awkward, almost like a tease. For months, all these breathless reports come in from all over the world about how great these movies are and how your favorite actors are absolutely going to win Oscars for them, and you think, “Great! I’m gonna go see this!” Only to find out that, in some cases, it will be months before normal people can watch them at their local cinemas.

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It can be dejecting, and a testament to the blessing and curse of this time of year both for movie fans and the films themselves: The hype over time and awards buzz are key to getting the public excited to see these smaller, non-blockbusters; the letdown when you learn you can’t head right to the theater to watch them makes it easier to lose interest when they’re finally released and divest from all the award season hoopla.

This weekend, however, the rollout of these films starts in earnest, and continues throughout the month. I’ve spent the last week holed up in movie theaters across New York watching them, so I that could earnestly recommend the ones worth watching. So plan accordingly.

Fjord, out this weekend, stars Oscar nominees Sebastian Stan (The Apprentice) and Renate Reinseve (Sentimental Value), and is a good one to see for several reasons: both actors are back in the race this year for their transformative performances; the film was shot on location in a small town on a Norwegian fjord, and the scenery is absolutely breathtaking; and there’s fiery discourse that you’re going to want to weigh in on, should you find yourself at a cocktail party with some cinephiles.

In the film, a conservative Christian couple—he is Romanian, and she is Norwegian—have their kids taken away when it’s discovered that they have occasionally punished them with light spankings, which child services and Norwegian law consider potentially criminal abuse.

At a time when progressive attitudes are being codified into law and people with traditional values, particularly religious people, question the justice—and perhaps even the persecution of this—there’s a lot to debate when it comes to Fjord...not to mention the current cultural climate. Even though it’s been branded a “MAGA movie” by some people, suffice it to say, the film doesn’t deliver easy answers.

This weekend also sees the release of The Social Reckoning, Andrew Sorkin’s follow-up to his blistering Facebook origin story, The Social Network. Starring Mikey Madison, Jeremy Allen White, and Jeremy Strong, the latter filling in for Jesse Eisenberg as Marc Zuckerberg.

The Social Network is a perfect film—I’m not being hyperbolic—so the chances of a sequel living up to it were slim. In fact, the biggest detractor to The Social Reckoning is the comparison to The Social Network: the film stands on its own as an investigative drama about a whistleblower, more in the vein of Erin Brockovich or The Insider.

The schedule only picks up next week when La Bola Negra hits theaters. The film is being pegged as the most likely spoiler to dethrone The Odyssey in this year’s Best Picture race. I honestly can’t remember the last time I was so stunned and bowled over by a film. It is an emotional epic in every way that The Odyssey is an action one.

A tale spanning generations of Spanish men, it is tender and alarming and romantic and heartbreaking, told with astonishing visual flair by directors Los Javis. Netflix is giving this its biggest theatrical release window ever before it hits the streaming service, speaking to its belief in the film—and, sure, how desperately it wants that elusive top Oscar.

Also in theaters next week is You Can See Every Thing, the much-talked-about documentary on Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes from master provocateur and weirdo (complimentary) Nathan Fielder. This is a “the less you know” situation, as the unfurling of every new bonkers twist—not to mention gigantic swing in filmmaking—is part of the wild ride. Don’t be surprised when this becomes the first documentary to ever jump into the Best Picture race.

My week at the buzzy movies also took me to the New York Film Festival to see Pedro Pascal rocket-launch into the Best Actor race with his exceptional star turn in Behemoth! and see Julianne Moore all but sew up her future Best Actress win with The Debut, even earning a mid-movie round of applause for one of her incredible monologues. And Mike Leigh’s Tender Loving Care instantly became one of my favorite movies of the year.

I’m now a part of the problem, though: a tease. Those don’t hit theaters until December. Something to look forward to?

No Soggy Bottoms

The fall air is invigoratingly crisp, my favorite salad is back on my lunch place’s menu, and The Great British Baking Show is back on our screens. The vibes are finally good.

When it’s airing, the series is my weekly balm. I’m more transported by a tent in the British countryside, where amateur bakers are just trying their hardest to perfect 12 identical shortbread cookies, than by any superhero or fantasy universe. This is where I go to escape. This is where I am soothed.

This season, celebrity chef Nigella Lawson joins the show as a judge, bringing not just authority but unbridled, contagious enthusiasm. She continues the show’s track record of permuting its hosts or judges without losing the indelible niceness and watchability that wafts out of that tent like the decadent scent of soufflé.

It’s tempting to be cynically amused by the show’s casting this season, an admirable if somewhat aggressive sprint towards inclusivity. But, please, one can’t be cynical about Baking Show. Especially when the cast still embodies the show’s true, singular appeal: a desire to come in and just do their best.

When was the last time a reality TV competition was utterly devoid of cravenness? Like any time I try to bake something I see in an episode and it turns out remotely edible, The Great British Baking Show is a miracle.

How Is This Real?

The resurgence of Dancing With the Stars may be one of the more surprising pop culture comebacks in the last few years, but it’s a welcome one: the show has quickly become one of the most entertaining series on TV.

Case in point, I’m certainly not having this jaw-plunging-through-the-basement kind of reaction when I’m watching The Voice. Look at this pose struck by Olympic figure skater Amber Glenn in this week’s episode:

It’s even more stunning in this video clip.

Apparently, there is now a TikTok trend where couples are trying to execute the move at home. I hope their health insurance is up to date and the emergency room is a short drive away.

All Hail the Queen

I have caught up on the last episodes of The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip, and have to say that, from her hilarious drunken monologuing to her Norma Desmond-esque crashout and her heartfelt, grateful finale appearance, the series accomplished one undeniable thing: cementing Luann de Lesepps as the greatest Real Housewife of All Time.

Good to Know

Ben Affleck released a new film he directed and starred in this week, and in an interview, he detailed the specifics of his production venture with Matt Damon that could really, truly change—and maybe even save—the motion picture industry as we know it. Yet, whether as a condemnation or maybe an endorsement of how the news biz works, all anyone can talk about is that his massive hog is real.

More From The Daily Beast’s Obsessed

I interviewed Lance Bass from NSYNC for a new episode of Obsessed: The Podcast. Watch here.

I was surprised by how much I loved chatting with this once-ridiculed Real Housewife. Read more.

Florence Pugh continues to prove she’s one of the best actresses working now. Read more.

What to Watch This Week:

The Lowdown: TV’s most exhilarating series gets even better. (Wed. on FX)

Cupertino: From the creators of The Good Wife, The Good Fight, Evil, and Elsbeth. That’s the endorsement. (Now on CBS and Paramount+)

Other Mommy: Our critic Nick Schager says this is good. I absolve myself. (Now in theaters)

What to Skip This Week:

Animals: Even your favorite actors sometimes star in bad things. (Now on Netflix)

Below: Sometimes ridiculous plots can be fun. Sometimes they’re just ridiculous. (Now on Netflix)

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Kevin FallonEditor-at-Large, Obsessed

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