2023 was a conflicted year for the movie industry. On one hand, it is the year that it finally found its post-COVID footing and audiences returned to theatres in droves. The year peaked with the dubbed “Barbenheimer” July weekend that saw the release of two major financial and critical hits, Barbie and Oppenheimer. On the other hand, it is also the year that Hollywood shut down for an elongated period of time due to union strikes by its writers and actors, causing great financial stress for the industry and its players.
Many good movies were released and succeeded in 2023, adding to the industry’s triumphant return to form. Many other good movies were released in 2023 and failed to find their audience, however, adding to the industry’s ongoing struggle with over-saturation of content. The best of 2023’s movies came from both categories. Whatever their reception may have been, the one thing these films all share other than being released in the same year is their exceptional quality that deserves to be remembered in the years to come.
10. Sound of Freedom
I freely admit that I have grown to be a bit ashamed of how much this movie moved me. How could I not be? Its story (which centers on a Homeland Security agent and his independent mission to rescue sex-trafficked children) is inspired by a man who may not have actually had the best of intentions in reality. It also had a rather manipulative and shady “pay it forward” ad campaign that helped it reach box office success. Not to mention, it has at least one notably corrupt producer behind it and, worst of all, it is endorsed by Satan himself (aka Donald Trump).
All that being said, it is still a greatly made and thought-provoking movie that raises awareness on a very troubling subject. Sound of Freedom may not be entirely true to reality and it may have partially tricked its way to success, but I can’t deny that the film itself is quite powerful and downright excellent. It tells its story without the agenda that the political right is finding within it because they’re looking for it/want to see it. Pure and simple, it’s a humanist film, not a political one. Director/co-writer Alejandro Monteverde is a name to watch.
9. Pamela: A Love Story
This eye-opening documentary examines the heart and intellect behind the world-famous sex symbol Pamela Anderson. It is intimately personal, heartbreakingly revelatory, and painfully honest. The film intelligently and sensitively gives humanity to someone whose career thrived by being repeatedly and thoroughly stripped of it.
Anderson may have had great success and worldwide fame in her prime, but it came at a complex price that is thoughtfully explored in the documentary. She is a fascinating subject who makes for a fascinating film. In a series of modern interviews looking back on her life, she always remains positive and in control, never succumbing to maudlin self-pity even while discussing moments where it might be justified. Pamela: A Love Story takes on the spirit and strength of its subject to convey a strong message about female perseverance and tell a strong story about maintaining both public- and self-respect while using one’s sexuality for empowerment and personal gain.
8. Godzilla Minus One
This Japanese-produced incarnation of the Godzilla creature is the rare escapist film that also succeeds as a meditation on deeply profound true-life issues. In the case of Godzilla Minus One, it is a monster movie on the surface that thrills, scares, and engrosses. However, it is also a subtle, sincerely heartfelt, and surprisingly insightful examination of the tragedy, destruction, and everlasting consequences of war.
Godzilla Minus One also showcases some amazing and deservedly Oscar-winning visual effects that add a whole new level of believability to the classic giant monster.
7. Albert Brooks: Defending My Life
This Rob Reiner-directed documentary about his lifelong friend, the endlessly brilliant comedian/actor/writer/director Albert Brooks, is a fantastic celebration of a unique career that, to date, has not received its due praise. Centering on an intimate conversation between Reiner and Brooks, the film examines Brooks’ work from a personal perspective that offers direct insight into its origins, execution, and public reception.
Also containing interviews with several well-known actors and comedians who cite Brooks as a major influence, Albert Brooks: Defending My Life is a must-see for his substantial cult of loyal fans. Those unfamiliar with his work will surely find themselves enlightened by the introduction, as this documentary opens the door to a high-quality filmmaker who exists in a class that is entirely his own.
6. Butcher’s Crossing
Set in the 1870s, this film examines the greed, corruption, and destruction found in the history and at the heart of American commerce. Centering on a dangerous and wasteful buffalo hunting expedition led by a ruthlessly sociopathic Nicolas Cage, the appropriately unsettling film refuses to compromise in its depiction of blind, capitalistic ambition.
Gorgeous nature cinematography, sturdy and inconspicuous filmmaking, and pitch-perfect performances all help make the film a grand and masterful accomplishment. Director/co-writer (based on John Williams’ book) Gabe Polsky has created a powerful depiction of America’s dark past that manages to astutely shed light on its highly troubled present.
5. Air
At first glance, a film about the challenging genesis of Nike’s Air Jordan tennis shoes doesn’t exactly sound like riveting subject matter. That being said, it is all the more impressive that director Ben Affleck was able to create a film as entertaining, engrossing, and inspiring as this one. The film consistently and surprisingly excels from beginning to end, telling an admittedly formulaic but still highly effective underdog success story.
The acting is naturalistically believable, the writing is intelligent and witty, and the filmmaking is subtle yet exemplary. All of its elements work congruently to create a truly memorable experience. Air is a feel-good film that follows a safe and familiar pattern, but it does so with such humanity and passion that it is impossible not to be won over by its many merits and charms.
4. Nyad
Annette Bening simply shines with her dedicated portrayal of Diane Nyad, a true-life woman who made multiple attempts in her sixties to be the first person to swim from Florida to Cuba. Jodie Foster is equally outstanding as her coach/long-suffering best friend. The two actresses share a marvelous and lifelike chemistry that makes all the surrounding events and hurdles all the more gripping and believable.
Directors Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and their filmmaking team execute the film with extraordinary heart and care. It is a passionate, intense, and wholly inspiring film that contains relatable and well-defined characters along with breathtakingly striking visuals. Nyad is an endlessly powerful filmgoing experience.
3. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Writer/director James Gunn’s conclusion to his Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy is a masterful though inescapably flawed work. It’s a great escapist film that centers on the theme of animal rights, providing both high entertainment and thematic grandness. It works on multiple levels and is ultimately an impressively massive accomplishment.
It’s a testament to Gunn’s talent that the film is able to thrive as it does despite being a part of the MCU at this point in time. Like all other recent MCU titles, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is far too reliant on other films and shows to be a complete and contained experience in and of itself. However, it miraculously manages to survive such an inherent fault and stand on its own as an inventive, unique, thoughtful, thrilling, and emotionally moving experience.
2. Cat Person
This intelligent and enlightening examination of the female experience with modern-day dating is an exceedingly impressive accomplishment. It refreshingly tells its story from a much-needed female perspective, but it does so while still being maturely and fairly open-minded towards the male perspective. It is a sensitive, edgy, and thought-provoking film that raises many important questions about the never-ending battle of the sexes without arrogantly trying to answer all of them.
Cat Person is a layered psychological thriller about women’s primitive and conditioned fears (both justified and not) towards men. It should be required viewing for everyone, as it is an important and highly revelatory piece of work that sheds light on a number of different realities. Director Susanna Fogel does the thoughtfully complex screenplay (by Michelle Ashford and based on the short story by Kristen Roupenian) justice, never allowing the film or the characters within it to be neatly, simplistically, or incorrectly labeled as any one thing.
1. Poor Things
This Yorgos Lanthimos-directed oddity is a marvel to experience from beginning to end. Something of an updated Frankenstein tale that takes place during a timeless period in an alternate universe, the film is a wholly original and extraordinarily ingenious effort. It’s like a thrilling melding of the sensibilities of Stanley Kubrick and Tim Burton: precisely and cleanly executed, dryly and absurdly humorous, wildly inventive, and colorfully designed.
The deservedly Oscar-winning lead performance by Emma Stone is top-notch and impressively detailed. The supporting cast (which partially consists of Willem Dafoe, Mark Ruffalo, and Ramy Youssef) is flawless. Poor Things is an all-around massive accomplishment that entirely belongs in a category in and of itself.
Top Ten Movies That Were Very Painful to Leave Off My Top Ten Movies:
Beau is Afraid, Master Gardener, May December, The Zone of Interest, BlackBerry, Rebel Moon: Part One – A Child of Fire, Jules, What Happens Later, All of Us Strangers, Sick
Honorable Mentions:
65, American Fiction, Barbie, Champions, Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget, The Covenant, Dream Scenario, Extraction 2, Genie, Gran Turismo, A Haunting in Venice, Jung_E, The Killer, Knock at the Cabin, Leave the World Behind, Luther: The Fallen Sun, M3gan, The Marsh King’s Daughter, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, Mr. Monk’s Last Case: A Monk Movie, The Mother, The Old Way, Oppenheimer, Pain Hustlers, Spy Kids: Armageddon, Sympathy for the Devil, Talk to Me, They Cloned Tyrone
