Top 10 of 2023
10) No Hard Feelings/Joy Ride
This is a bit of a cheat, but I put these two here because I wanted to use the number ten to celebrate the return of R-rated comedies. Both of these movies luxuriate in being unapologetically raunchy comedies. I see them as throwbacks to movies like "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" or "Animal House." They also succeed at being surprisingly heartwarming and very satisfying stories.
9)The Deepest Breath
I raved about this one earlier this year and still think about it. It is one of the best documentaries I have ever seen. I was blown away by the story it told, the subject matter it covered, and the depths to which they managed to get a camera. My only real nitpick is that we only hear from one of the subjects at the very end. It was a cheap storytelling trick, but it didn't take away from how incredible this documentary is.
8) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem
This was my biggest surprise of the year. The Ninja Turtles have always had some television shows or movies out but haven't been the cultural phenomena they were in the 80s, so while this looked like it had potential, I did not expect it to be this good. The animation style is unique, and casting actual teenagers as voices for the Turtles is both genius and obvious. Seth Rogan, who wrote and voiced Bebop, is just the person to shepherd this franchise.
7) Oppenheimer
July 2023 will be remembered for one thing; "Barbenheimer." We will get to the first half of that in a bit, but first up is "Oppenheimer." It is hard not to be impressed by what director Christopher Nolan did with this story. He wove together the development of the bomb and Oppenheimer's hearing on his security clearance brought about by accusations of communist party sympathies. I have a few issues with this movie; Nolan has never written women very well, and there was no attempt to deal with the human cost of this weapon.
6) Godzilla Minus One
This recently became the highest-grossing Godzilla movie and the highest-grossing Japanese movie in the United States, and with good reason. Having never watched the original movies, the only real reference point I have is the American versions, and this is so much better than any of those (especially the 1998 one). It did what none of those movies could: make the human characters as compelling as the giant lizard. "Godzilla Minus One" also serves as a reset to the Godzilla timeline, and I hope to see this one continue.
5) Barbie
With "Oppenheimer," I knew what I was going to get. "Barbie" could have been anything: a two-hour commercial for Mattel products, a shallow, cheap attempt to cash in on the Barbie IP, or a complete waste of time. It turned out to be something that used Barbie and told an interesting story that challenged both Barbie's world and our own. Greta Gerwig, the writer and director, took this well-known quantity and did something clever.
4) The Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3
The "Guardians" movies have been the most consistent in the MCU. James Gunn, now in charge of the DC movies, took these oddball characters and made them some of the best in the MCU. This is the final movie Gunn will make for Marvel (barring some earth-shattering deal with Warner Brothers/DC), and it is a worthy sendoff. He was allowed to finish off the character arcs for all these characters in a satisfying way. I saw this twice in theaters; it's a rarity these days. The focus on Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper) and his past as an experiment made the movie one of the most emotional Marvel movies. That, combined with an incredibly satisfying ending, makes "Volume 3" one of Marvel's best.
3) Past Lives
There is a lot of spectacle in the other movies on my list: sequels, known IP, well-known directors, and characters. "Past Lives" is the quietest movie on my list. It is focused on these two characters and how they relate to each other over 24 years. There is an idea at the center of this movie of in-yun is explained as if two strangers pass one another on the street and their clothes accidentally brush, it means there is a connection between these two people in a past life. Do all of their near misses in this life mean that they were together in a past life? This is the first movie Celine Song wrote and directed, and it is a masterpiece.
2) Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse
I also watched this one twice in the theaters and was blown away both times. The animation, the story, the voice acting, everything is impressive. The different animation styles for the various spider-people and dimensions continued to be a breath of fresh air in a world of animation where everything feels/looks the same. The only note I have, and it is one I have for more movies as of late, is that even if it is part two of a trilogy, it needs to feel like a complete story.
1) Anatomy of a Fall
Once I decided this would be my No. 1 movie of the year, there was no way it was getting knocked out of this spot (sorry, "Past Lives" fans). When I saw it in the theater, I was blown away. Those courtroom scenes were brilliantly acted and written. The way the story unfolded made it the most compelling movie I watched this year; you are never entirely sure that Sandra is innocent, and even if you are, there is a lot of doubt that she'd be found not guilty. It is one of the rare instances where a 2-hour plus movie did not feel like it.
