Movie Review: Showing Up (2023)

Title: Showing Up
Release Date: April 7, 2023
Director: Kelly Reichardt
Production Company: FilmScience
Summary/Review:

Showing Up is a film that shows the life of an artist can be as soul crushing as any other career. Lizzy (Michelle Williams) is a sculptor in Portland, Oregon who works as an administrative assistant at an art school to pay the bills.  All she wants is some time to work on her sculptures before an upcoming show at a gallery. But she has to deal with her landlord and fellow artist Jo (Hong Chau) failing to fix the hot water in her apartment, an injured pigeon, and her family members who are all delusional in their own ways.  It’s a quiet, vérité that explores the absurdities of everyday life and is often laugh out loud funny.

Rating: ***1/2

2023 Year in Review: Favorite Albums

2023 in music was a reunion with old friends as a lot of my favorite artits of all-time released new music including Algiers, Björk, Bonobo, Chuck D, Fishbone, The Go! Team, Alex Lahey, The Linda Lindas, Mitski, Janelle Monáe, The New Pornagraphers, Olivia Rodrigo , Sigur Rós, Sufjan Stevens, Yo La Tengo, and Young Fathers. Heck, even The Beatles and Rolling Stones released new music in 2023!  But it wasn’t always the old friends who made my favorite albums in 2023 and this list includes several new or “new to me” artists.  I reviewed 39 albums this year (see the end of this post for the full list)and probably listened to just as many I didn’t review. The following is my favorite ten albums from 2023 in alphabetical order by artists.

Check out my lists of favorite albums from 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022 as well.

 

100 gecs – 10,000 gecs

boygenius  – The Record

Julie Byrne – The Greater Wings

Fishbone – Fishbone

Peter Gabriel – i/o 

Little Fuss – Girls at Parties

L’Rain – I Killed Your Dog 

Olivia Rodrigo – GUTS

Sufjan Stevens – Javelin

Yo La Tengo – This Stupid World

---

2023 Album Reviews

February

• Young Fathers – Heavy Heavy – ***1/2
• The Go! Team – Get Up Sequences Part Two – ***1/2

March

• Yo La Tengo – This Stupid World – ***1/2
• Algiers – Shook – ***
• Little Fuss – Girls at Parties – ****

April

• boygenius  – The Record – ****1/2
• The New Pornographers – Continue as a Guest – **1/2
• Nia Archives – Sunrise Bang Ur Head Against tha Wall – ***
• 100 gecs – 10,000 gecs – ****

May

• Ali McGuirk – Til It’s Gone – ***

June

• Alex Lahey – The Answer Is Always Yes – ***
• Bully – Lucky for You  – ***
• Janelle Monáe – The Age of Pleasure – ***1/2

July

• Caroline Polachek – Desire, I Want To Turn Into You – **1/2
• Jessie Ware – That! Feels Good! – ***1/2
• Kelela – Raven – ***1/2
• billy woods & Kenny Segal – Maps – ***1/2
• Wednesday – Rat Saw God – ***1/2
• Yaeji  – With A Hammer – ***
• JPEGMAFIA & Danny Brown – Scaring The Hoes – No rating
• Water From Your Eyes –  Everyone’s Crushed – ***
• Kali Uchis – Red Moon In Venus – No rating
• Lana Del Rey – Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd – **1/2
• Liv.e – Girl In The Half Pearl – **1/2

August

• Chuck D as Mistachuck – We Wreck Stadiums – ***
• Fishbone – Fishbone – ****
• Sigur Rós – Átta – ***1/2
• Julie Byrne – The Greater Wings – ****
• Various Artists – Barbie: The Album – ***1/2

September

• Hozier – Unreal Unearth – ***1/2

October

• Olivia Rodrigo – GUTS – ****
• Romy – Mid Air – ***
• Mitski – The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We – ****

November

• Sufjan Stevens – Javelin – ****
• Rolling Stones – Hackney Diamonds – ***1/2

December

• Kara Jackson – Why Does the Earth Give Us People to Love? – ***1/2
• noname – Sundial – ***1/2
• L’Rain – I Killed Your Dog – ****
• Peter Gabriel – i/o – ****