Millions and millions of people are going to tune in to watch the 2024 Super Bowl, but millions of other people are going to choose to do something else with their time. If you’re not interested in the ongoing madness around the 49ers, the Chiefs, and Taylor Swift, you do not need to worry. There are other great things you can catch on your TV.
We’ve rounded up three great movies from 2023 that you can catch up on while the big game is airing. From some of the year’s most acclaimed films to one title that slipped mostly under the radar, these are three great movies you can watch instead of tuning in to the Super Bowl.
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The Burial (2023)
The kind of uplifting courtroom drama we don’t get enough of anymore, The Burial tells the story of a prominent Black litigator who decides to help an aging funeral parlor owner defend his business from corporate vultures. The movie largely paints inside the lines, although its ’90s setting does provide it some opportunity to make sharp statements about race in America.
What makes the movie work, though, are its hugely compelling courtroom scenes coupled with some career-best work from Jamie Foxx (star of the underrated 2023 Netflix movie They Cloned Tyrone) and Tommy Lee Jones in the central roles. The Burial might not feel essential, but there are few movies you’re going to see this year that are more fun.
The Burial is streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
Oppenheimer (2023)
If by some miracle you missed Oppenheimer during its summer of dominance, this three-hour movie is exactly the right length to be viewed instead of the Super Bowl. Christopher Nolan’s epic tells the story of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the man who invented the atomic bomb and led the Manhattan Project.
Although the film certainly has its moments of celebrating the brilliance of the men it depicts, it strikes a delicate balance, constantly reminding its audience about the devastation their weapon unleashed. Featuring one of the best casts ever assembled, Oppenheimer might be the movie that finally gets Nolan some Oscar love.
Oppenheimer can be rented or purchased on Amazon Prime Video and will stream on Peacock on February 16.
May December (2023)
A fictionalized version of the true story of Mary Kay Letourneau, May December tells the story of a marriage between two people who got together when the wife was 36 and the husband was just 13. When an actress comes into their home with the goal of studying to play this woman ina film, their whole lives undergo a period of upheaval that makes the husband in particular question everything that’s happened to him.
May December is both hilarious and tragic, and its strength is in its refusal to be just one thing or the other. Featuring a trio of superb performances from Natalie Portman, Julianne Moore, and Charles Melton, May December was one of the best movies of 2023 and seems destined to be remembered for years to come.
May December is streaming on Netflix.
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