My Top 10 Movies of 2023
I love doing top 10 lists, and since movies are my favorite form of storytelling, I wanted to make a list of what I think best represents my 2023 in film. The order can change day by day, but if you had to ask me what I enjoyed this year, these are the 10 that come to mind.
Also, I haven’t seen everything that came out in 2023, but at some point I need to make a list (for myself, at least) and I give myself until the Oscars to see as much as I can. A few omissions that have a chance to shake up this order are Wonka, The Boy and the Heron, Priscilla, and Poor Things.
A few honorable mentions would include:
- Elemental, which I loved, but has a rough first half and isn’t my favorite Pixar film
- John Wick Chapter 4 was a great time, but I didn’t like it as much as Chapter 3
- Infinity Pool is the gross out movie of the year
- How to Blow Up a Pipeline was really excellent
10. When Evil Lurks
When Evil Lurks is a horror flick that makes my list for getting straight to business, really freaking me out, and having the most horrifying gore gag of the year.
9. Talk to Me
Talk to Me is everything I want in a horror movie, and I genuinely loved the concept and creative execution on that idea.
8. Evil Dead Rise
This may not be my most popular opinion, but Evil Dead Rise is my favorite film in the Evil Dead franchise.
7. Asteroid City
Wes Anderson really is unlike anyone else in Hollywood, and while some seem to think he makes the same movie over and over again, I don’t agree and think he’s shown real growth over the years both in terms of style and storytelling. Asteroid City was a joy.
6. Oppenheimer
Oppenheimer is likely to clean up at the Oscars tonight, and it’s well deserved for one of the greatest filmmakers of our time. Nolan gets a reputation for being a director “bros” like, but I think to dismiss him so casually is to deny his undeniable craft and unrelenting desire to create new and interesting things we haven’t seen before.
5. Barbie
I think the best thing I can say about Barbie, the biggest movie of 2023, is that this so easily could have gone off the rails and been a joke, but it’s a credit to Gerwig, Baumbach, Robbie, Ferrera, and Gossling that this thing was an incredible film.
4. Killers of the Flower Moon
Killers of the Flower Moon is easily one of my favorite Scorsese movies. It’s the longest film I watched this year and it earned its runtime in my opinion. Lily Gladstone will likely (and rightly) win the Oscar for Best Actress tonight, and I would have voted for Robert De Niro as Best Supporting Actor, as he delivers a truly evil, terrifying performance.
3. The Holdovers
A new holiday classic, The Holdovers left me in tears of joy.
2. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
I do not understand how they managed to make a film greater than the first Spider-Verse film in every way. Much like Barbie should not have worked, Across the Spider-Verse breaks so many rules and ends on a cliffhanger that should make it feel incomplete, but it’s an absolute masterpiece that weaves everything together masterfully.
1. Past Lives
Listen, Past Lives won’t be everyone’s favorite film, and I’m sure many people will say it’s too small a story to be “the best” of the year, but I say to hell with all that. Past Lives is a huge human story that doesn’t need special effects or complex plot lines to capture exceptionally human emotions better than anything else this year.
And as a quick stinger, a few 2023 films that just didn’t hit the mark for me were:
Sorry if you liked these, but oof, these were tough for me.