Top Ten of 2023

This year started slow for me. Up until July, my favorite movie of the year was Dungeons and Dragons. Nothing against that movie (it’s still in my top ten), but I was getting worried about how I was going to fill up a list of ten. But then all the heavy hitters started coming out, and I could have easily made this a top twenty, which I kind of did by including ten honorable mentions. Aside from the top two films, I could see this list being completely different every time I write it, so this is just what it is today. There’s something about all of these movies that I loved, and I thought this was one of the better years for film in recent memory. As always, I want to remind the twenty or so people who read this that these are my favorite films of the year, not the “best” films. Finally, there were a few movies I wanted to watch that I didn’t get to yet, but I can’t put off this list any longer. They are: Godzilla Minus One, Saw X (I will get to this one and update my rankings for the whole franchise, too), and Thanksgiving. There’s a ton of stuff I didn’t watch, but these three are the ones that I felt could possibly make my list. 

Oh, and I’ve done this differently from year to year, but the last few I’ve been starting with the number one film and working down from there. I think most people do more of a countdown style, but I don’t for whatever reason. Anyway, here you go:

1. Poor Things

I’ve already written a full review of this, so I’ll just add this: every year there’s a movie that is seemingly universally beloved that doesn’t click with me. Some stuff just isn’t for me, no matter how well made it is. That’s nothing special. What is special is when something like Poor Things comes out, because it’s one of those movies that I immediately love so much that I simply cannot understand how literally every one who sees it doesn’t think it’s the best film of the year. Normally, I come away from a film I love thinking, “Well, I liked it a lot, but I’m a weirdo.” With this one, I think you’re the weirdo if you don’t love this movie. 

2. Oppenheimer

I wasn’t crazy about this the first time I watched it. I knew it was good, but it didn’t click with me. I thought it was like Dunkirk for me, a movie I know is good, but I didn’t love. Then I watched Oppenheimer five more times. The acting, the structure, the mood, the music, it all just came together for me. It’s like when Niels Bohr asks Oppenheimer if he can “hear the music.” At first I couldn’t, but now I’m hearing it, in typical Nolan too loud fashion. In any other year, this is my number one, but the sheer joy I get from watching Poor Things changed that. Still, this is a movie I love, and maybe after watching it four or five more times I’ll feel prepared enough to write a full article about it.

3. Killers of the Flower Moon

It’s Scorsese, and it’s a big sweeping story about horrible things people do in the name of greed. Of course, I’m going to love this movie. And I’m really enjoying this later stage in his career in which he makes sure no one can claim he’s glorifying any of the terrible behavior of the criminals in his films. These are horrible people and are presented as such. What made this stick with me long after watching it was how successfully Scorsese was able to show how these people didn’t even consider the Osage as fellow humans. This is a terrible moment in history, and Scorsese presents it as such.

4. The Zone of Interest

No other movie on my list has stuck with me after a single watch as much as The Zone of Interest has. Initially, I thought the idea of the movie was more effective than the movie itself, but that’s not true because it stuck with me so strongly. It’s not a movie that I would typically want to watch again, but I feel like I have to because it keeps popping up in my mind, and I feel the need to watch it again. Much like the title of writer/director Jonathan Glazer’s previous film, this one just gets under your skin.

5. The Iron Claw

This is another one that stayed in mind long after watching it. The tragedy of this wrestling family is compelling, and the performances are great across the board, but it’s the mood of the film that worked most for me. The wrestling is treated with such seriousness, despite the innate silliness of the profession, that it creates the perfect tone. 

6. John Wick: Chapter 4

Enough with the miserable stuff, the John Wick franchise is a perfect example of what I want from action movies: a good time. This is somehow still fun four movies in and nearly three hours long. This is a fitting swan song to the most dependable action franchise in recent memory.  

7. The Holdovers

This was going to be in the honorable mentions, but I watched it again the other night, and it made its way into the top ten. Giamatti is great as always, but I mainly appreciate that a story that could easily delve into weepy melodrama stays funny and touching throughout.

8. The Killer

I’m a Fincher fan, so this was right up my alley. It’s also quite funny, as Fassbender keeps repeating rules like a mantra throughout despite breaking every one of them. Good stuff.

9. Barbie

Next to Poor Things, I found this to be the funniest movie of the year. The sequence in which the Barbies conspire to take down the Kens cracked me up and also hurt with how accurate it was (fun fact: I would be the type of Ken who could be distracted by asking me about The Godfather).

10. Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

Next to Poor Things and Barbie, the funniest movie of the year. I had to watch it again to make sure I legitimately enjoyed this movie and it wasn’t just that I enjoyed it because I was expecting it to be garbage (thanks to the disastrous previous live action adaptation). But this is just awesome, even when you don’t compare it to crappier versions of it. The talking to the dead soldiers sequence put me over the top with this one.

Honorable Mentions - I also really liked all of these, and I’ll explain why in one sentence or phrase or name for each.

The Boy and the Heron - Miyazaki is a blindspot for me, so maybe this isn’t as good as his best, but I wouldn’t know, so I loved it.

20 Days in Mariupol - Should be required viewing for people like me who tend to ignore the news because it’s too depressing; yeah, it’s depressing, and the least I could do is be aware of it.

Leave the World Behind - I know this one made a lot of people big mad with the ending or whatever, but I had a lot of fun with it.

Napoleon - I am so happy that Ridley Scott is still out there making classic epic action movies with a touch of weirdness; looking forward to the director’s cut.

The Promised Land - Mads fucking Mikkelsen growing potatoes.

Robot Dreams - The most delightful surprise of the year for me.

Dream Scenario - Amusing metaphor for fame in our shitty digital world.

Beau Is Afraid - This one is wild, but it makes the list for the perfect encapsulation of anxiety exhibited in the first act.

Smoking Causes Coughing - So weird, so funny.

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom - Saved this for last because people would probably stop reading if they knew this made my list, but fuck it, I love these stupid, crazy movies; I’m sick of superhero movies for the most part, but if they’re willing to be this goofy and weird, then I’m in.