2023 Wrap-Up
My year in film.
If you’re just interested in my top ten, you can skip my preamble and other categories by clicking here.
How quickly a year passes!
In my regular life, my year hasn’t been super eventful. It’s been pretty good, but for the first time in a while, it just kinda felt…quiet? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Movies are where all the action is!
I made a few relevant resolutions at the beginning of the year. I wanted to watch more new releases, averaging at least one a week. I wanted to watch more movies overall, averaging at least one a day. And to help offset the increase in consumption, I committed to writing a Letterboxd review for everything I watched - not just features, but shorts as well.
So how did I do?
Well, I decimated my goal for new releases: I managed to catch 148 distinct films, nearly three a week! This far outstrips any prior year by any metric. While a handful were on streaming or VOD, 122 of them were at the theater. Combined with re-watches and non-2023 movies, I’ve seen nearly 150 movies on the big screen this past year, which is probably as many trips as I’d taken to the cinema in the past decade. That was part of the point: I set this goal when I realized just how many big releases I missed last year, and how much I had to catch up come Oscar time. It’s been great: I love going to the theater, and the wide range of experiences it bestowed upon me, regarding both film and patrons.
For total overall movies, I barely got there: I watched my 365th unique film on New Years Eve (if I include rewatches, I reached it with eight days to spare). It’s tough to maintain that pace and also the rest of my life! I’ll speak more about that collection of films next week, in a post on the best I watched regardless of release year.
As for writing about them, I basically succeeded. But there are two exceptions. I watched a collection of about fifty early shorts (the first volume of The Movies Begin) back in March of 2023, and I only reviewed about half of them. Most are actualities less than sixty seconds long, so instead of traditional reviews, I tried to figure out what made them important enough to be in the collection. The other, more genuine omission was Burning. I watched it before I decided to review everything, and never returned to it. I intended a rewatch then to go back and fill it in, but alas, that never happened.
Oh right, and I also started this blog! Since beginning in March, I’ve reviewed 113 new releases, along with a handful of other posts: NHFF wrap-up, Wes Anderson’s Roald Dahl shorts, etc. I’ll have more to say when I hit the one year mark in two months, for which I’ll have a dedicated post.
That all sounds great! So I intend to keep up the pace next year, including writing reviews of everything I watch. Well, I may back off the goal of a movie a day. Although given my movie watching habits, it’s likely I get close by accident.
What about the year in film more generally?
I can’t compare to previous years: as mentioned, I’ve never seen this many new releases in a year before. But this year, I could do a top twenty-five and five runners up and still not mention some films I loved. Those omissions are unfortunate, but I couldn’t go through my whole list, now could I? I’ll be curious to see what gets the Best Picture nominations when the Oscars release their lists in a few weeks. To say nothing of the acting and craft awards, all of which have strong contenders.
With that preamble out of the way, on to the list!
The List
Given how many movies come out each year, one of my pet peeves is how samey critics’ top five or top ten lists can be. Sure, sometimes a movie is undeniable, so it has to be on everyone’s lists. In a good year, multiple movies might hit that level. But for people who watch so many movies, I find it hard to believe how much their lists overlap. Some of that might be my personal bias, as there’s often little overlap with mine. Which is part of why I started this blog. Sure enough, while I have a few of the expected films on my list, most of it consists of movies that haven’t gotten much year-end talk, even if they generated buzz during the year.
For the first time this year, I created my list as the year progressed, instead of compiling it at the end. Each time I watched a new release (in theaters or on streaming/VOD), I added it to a dedicated list, ranking them relative to each other. One nice benefit is that instead of relying on Letterboxd release years, which is based on the first time the movie was shown anywhere in the world, I can now more confidently determine what was truly a new release from the US average moviegoer perspective in 2023.
I’m borrowing the list format from the movie podcast Battleship Pretension. It starts with the single worst film of the year, then moves into overrated and underrated, five runners up, then the top ten. So it begins negative, and gets more positive as we go. For each one, I link to my full review (when possible), and share some brief thoughts here, too.
One note: I watched a handful of these movies in the first two months of the year, before I started this blog. For those, I link to my Letterboxd review. Be warned that they may (and often do) contain spoilers! I mark them as such, so Letterboxd will hide it from you by default, but if you intend to watch the film I suggest avoiding them. And for Perfect Days, which hasn’t yet received a US release, I link to its section in my NHFF wrap-up.
Worst
This category is pretty clear: what’s the worst movie I saw this year?
Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey
There was never a chance this was going to be good. It was clear the premise was simply a marketing tactic. Which is fine! If you have some talent or ideas you wish to display, but just need people to pay attention. So when I saw it was playing for one night at the theater, I thought “Why not? Let’s check it out.”
Unfortunately, this was a naked cash grab. There was no soul behind it whatsoever. The craft was absolutely awful in ever single way, and failed to lean hard enough into it to demonstrate it was at all in on the joke. The movie seemed to think it was a quality (if low budget) horror film, when it was really just a boring attempt at gritty Winnie the Pooh. It wasn’t exploitation, it wasn’t scary, it wasn’t funny, it wasn’t campy. It was just hot garbage.
Not only is this the worst of the year, it has the dubious distinction of being the worst movie I’ve ever seen. At least for now.
Most Overrated
When you call a movie overrated, people sometimes misunderstand. It doesn’t mean I hate it. I may even like it! But I’ve seen it receive heaps of praise, far above what I think it deserves.
The Holdovers
Maybe people are reacting to the very well done 70s aesthetic: a Best Production Design nomination would absolutely be deserved. Maybe they wanted a new Christmas classic. Maybe it’s just love for Paul Giamatti. I don’t know. But it’s truly surprised me the reception this film has gotten. By no means is it awful, but I just don’t see the same superb and engaging story or standout performances that others talk about (save for Da’Vine Joy Randolph: she’s wonderful). Granted, I had a similar reaction to the only other Alexander Payne directed film I’ve seen, Sideways. So maybe it’s something about the way he tells stories that doesn’t work for me.
Whatever it is, I don’t begrudge anyone for liking this movie, but it’s been placed on many year-end best of lists ahead of or instead of some far better films.
Most Underrated
Of course, this is the flip side of overrated. I don’t have to love my pick here, I just think it’s been unfairly trashed or misunderstood.
Magic Mike’s Last Dance
As of February, I’d never seen any of the Magic Mike movies. So to prep for the new one, I made a day of it: I spent the afternoon watching the first two, then capped off the evening with the newly released Magic Mike’s Last Dance. So while I was new to the series, I had them fresh in my mind. I knew what I thought would make a good entry in the series (more of the first movie), and how that diverged from what the die hard fans desired (more of the second).
So when the movie opened with a voice-over going over a brief history of dance, talking about it as tool for social cooperation, I knew that A) I was in for an excellent time, and B) everyone else would hate it.
It features an older, jaded, washed up Mike, given an opportunity to express his love of dance in a new way. And while we do get the hottest dance in the whole series, the movie is not so much about stripping as it is about what goes into staging a performance. Soderbergh took back his series to make an art film about making art, and no one but me appreciated that.
Runners Up
I almost expanded to ten runners up, but I have to make the cut off somewhere. So we’re sticking with five movies which fell just outside my top ten. When you see as many movies as I have, this isn’t a condemnation. But to set them apart, they only get a sentence or two of discussion.
15 (tie). Pinball: The Man Who Saved the Game
Declaring a tie might be cheating, but given how few people are talking about this one, and how high I am on it, it deserves a mention.
This could have been a hero story lionizing a guy whose impact on the world really wasn’t that large. Instead, we get a tale about a dorky dude who just wanted to play a game, how it brought him a relationship, and later was the source of conflict, and his active resistance to getting involved in the central legal battle until he was left with no choice. It also features one of my favorite moments in film this year.
15 (tie). A Thousand and One
Forced to choose, this would be my true number 15.
Far more than the sum of its already outstanding parts, this is such a beautiful and heartbreaking drama, packing more than its share of solid gut punches. The deft way it tells the story of what “tough on crime” policies means for certain people, how it ripples throughout neighborhoods, and then interweaves it with an incredibly compelling personal drama that builds and builds, is absolutely astounding.
14. Poor Things
This is an absolutely insane, ridiculous, crazy experiment of a movie, bold in its color palette and subject matter and presentation and production design and everything else. Yet somehow, it all came together and worked. Not only worked, but told a deeply layered story which is open to interpretation beyond what’s on the screen, had a lot to say and an interesting way to say it, and was incredibly funny from the very beginning. What an achievement!
13. The Unknown Country
What an absolutely gorgeous and unique meditation on what it means to patiently search for and eventually find your true joy in life. Gladstone’s performance, the docufiction stylings, everything is so completely up my alley, and wonderfully realized.
12. BlackBerry
This movie floored me for so many reasons, not least of which is managing to be good despite being a corporate biopic. It’s one of the funniest movies I’ve seen all year, has a ton of heart, and contains two performances which deserve to be nominated (although there’s no way they will). It also contains one of my favorite scenes from a movie all year: the pitch meeting at Bell Atlantic.
11. Anatomy of a Fall
I don’t know I’ve ever seen a movie so successfully craft a courtroom drama such that even when a verdict is reached at the end, you’re left going over and over the details in your mind, relitigating everything you’ve heard. Sandra Hüller absolutely deserves all the accolades she’s been getting, as well as an Oscar nom.
Top Ten
Here’s the meat and potatoes! My top ten favorite new releases of the year. It’s interesting to note that half of them are primarily in some language other than English.
10. Eileen
Much like its titular protagonist, the movie Eileen defies categorization. For much of the film, the story gently weaves between genres, never quite making it clear where we’re heading. It simply moves ahead almost begrudgingly, introducing us to the small and dreary world inhabited by Eileen. All the while, it feels like something is about to happen, like something is going to change, only for the moment to pass. The tension never completely dissipates, though, simply building bit by bit by bit. Until all of a sudden, there is a shift, and all the characters are forced to react, unleashing a fury of activity and resolution.
When I first saw it at NHFF, the audience audibly gasped and shifted in their seats at that moment. It was magic.
I am baffled by the overall muted response to this film. I’ve barely heard anyone talking about it, not even for Hathaway’s insanely great performance. It feels like the type of movie whose reputation could have built across video store rentals back in the day. As that doesn’t exist anymore, I don’t know where this movie will land in the public’s mind: probably nowhere. Which is a damn shame. But I’ll continue to sing its praises to anyone who will listen.
9. The Boy and the Heron
Going into my first Miyazaki film, I expected fantastical elements, sure. But I was ready for them to be presented in a grand adventure, kind of an epic, rather than the abstract and impressionistic way in which they were dispensed. I also was not prepared for just how incredible the animation was. Most of the 2D animation I’ve seen which stands out is achieved through stylistic elements. But here, his replication of the shot composition which would come from filming is impeccable, and lends the film an even more surreal feeling as the unreal elements are brought in. It all comes together beautifully to meditate on a career and a life.
#SubsNotDubs
8. Perfect Days
I love a well done slow cinema movie. That is, a film which is very plodding, very quiet, where not much happens, and yet captivates you in its world anyways. Done right, they’re almost hypnotic, lulling you into a meditative state, unable to tear your eyes away from the life on screen. They often involve following an individual’s life as they go through the rhythms of their day, and cut out none of the mundanity. It’s fair to refer to them as boring, which is part of the point. They reward patience and attention with a deeply human experience.
Wim Wenders’ Perfect Days is a remarkable example. We experience the world through the eyes of Hirayama, a public toilet cleaner in Tokyo. His days are marked by a never changing routine, one which we quickly come to know and find comforting. Despite that, any time some deviation is forced upon him, he takes them in stride, adjusts, and moves on. Always with a slight smile and warmth, always with as few words as possible. It’s a beautiful film that meditates on what our past means for our present and for our happiness, as well as cassette tapes.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t have a US release date yet, although it sounds like it will be released in early 2024.
7. Killers of the Flower Moon
What determines if a movie is too long is not its runtime but how engaging it is. Because if its magic is working, you won’t feel it, no matter how long the film is.
Despite its 200+ minute runtime, Killers of the Flower Moon feels shorter than some ninety minute films I’ve watched this year. How? Simple: compelling characters and a fascinatingly horrifying story that slowly ramps up the tension, as we keep thinking that Ernest has hit rock bottom, that there’s no way he could possibly go any further…only to be proven wrong every single time. It’s a demonstration of the depths of evil present in America’s not too distant past.
6. Oppenheimer
Statistically speaking, you’ve probably seen Oppenheimer. It’s the only one on this list to cross $100 million domestic, and is nearing $1 billion worldwide. So you probably don’t need me to tell you about the film.
What I can offer is that I find it incredibly rewatchable. At a time when I rarely watch a film twice in theaters, I saw it thrice. There are so many layers and character moments and stray lines of dialog that all hint at so much more going on in this story than just its focal point. On the second watch, I found a whole new lens through which to view the movie’s thesis, which served to bolster my initial read that Nolan is not staying neutral in his opinion on the man, despite also shining a light on all the shenanigans surrounding him. On the third, I just sat back and let it wash over me.
And that’s before mentioning how incredible the craft and performances are. I expect it to land quite a few Oscar nominations.
5. Enys Men
Additional Thoughts (from a second watch)
In a complete one-eighty from Oppenheimer, we have Enys Men, a minimalist, surreal folk-horror shot on 16 mm featuring limited dialog and an island on which time plays in mysterious ways. The terror is more visceral and unsettling than it is existential, and you feel transported back in time rather than being told you are.
Enys Men is more of a vibe than a narrative, a collection of ideas and imagery and symbolism explored in an experimental manner. There are undeniably some threads woven throughout which you sense, but become more apparent on a rewatch. Until you settle into the movie’s headspace, it’s hard to pick up on exactly what they mean, and yet it manages to be engaging and fascinating and creepy and affecting regardless. And once you do, those reactions ratchet up further, as the way it frustrates causality enhances the feel of something more at work on the island.
Folk horror isn’t always my jam, but this is a masterpiece.
4. No Bears
Jafar Panahi has rocketed up my list of favorite directors in the past year, as I experience more and more of his explorations of the boundaries between camera and reality. While 3 Faces might be the pinnacle of the audience being unable to discern exactly what’s real and what’s fabrication and what characters know, No Bears focuses in on how we inherently trust what we’re seeing on screen, despite the cameras’s well-documented ability not only to obscure but to lie.
The layers of metanarrative drive that home in a very literal and deliberate way. The opening scene of a couple arguing in the city about fake passports suddenly reveals itself as being filmed for a movie. Immediately after that we find out we’ve been looking at a computer screen this whole time, with its director (Jafar Panahi the character) miles away in a rural village. Later, we find the bickering couple in the movie is bickering about the same things in real life, as if to ask us to consider where the line between actor and character begins and ends. So it goes throughout, as cultural norms and beliefs are challenged, lives are upended, and themes emerge along with distant mirrors. All the while, we can never be sure what is organic, and what is the real Panahi playing with us.
3. Close
Additional Thoughts (from a second watch)
Close is a story about what society does to male friendships and affection, and how those who most readily enforce the status quo have no idea what they’re doing. You can read Leo and Remi as boys coming to terms with their own sexuality and reacting to it in different ways, but I’d argue the movie is more powerful when viewed through the lens of a purely Platonic yet incredibly close friendship. Because at its core, it explores the moment of schism, when kids hurl the term “gay” as an accusation, and it is received in the same way. And it is most interested in how they come to terms with the loss of that intimacy they once had, especially their coping mechanisms.
The story really takes its time, easing us into the rhythms of Leo’s life and relationships, such that as they begin to change we distinctly feel it. Even when bigger, more consequential events occur, we somewhat quietly move past them, experiencing their impacts as Leo does. And then slowly see that far from having no effect, its repercussions and implications start to completely and utterly consume him.
It’s an incredibly intense film, one that had me sobbing uncontrollably at quite a few moments, much to the chagrin of the person next to me on the plane, I’m sure.
2. Beau Is Afraid
Additional Thoughts (from a second watch)
This ended up being quite a polarizing film. It’s not an easy to understand, unsettling, creepy as hell arthouse horror like director Ari Aster’s first two. After my first viewing, a man in the audience stood up and asked the room “Did anyone understand what the hell we just watched?” It’s fair to say his reaction was not unique. Even many who like it point to certain pieces rather than the whole, which many summed up as “mommy issues, the movie”. I can’t deny that’s there: Beau’s relationship with his mother is a foundational aspect of the film and his life. But to reduce it to that single theme is to ignore all the other elements, to flatten out a rich experience, boldly presented. There’s a reason this was my favorite movie of the year for a few months.
From the moment Beau steps out into the world, Aster tells us it’s going to be heightened to absurdity. We’re experiencing everything from Beau’s perspective, and he is a man totally beset and defined by anxiety. And so of course to him, his neighborhood is full of the most aggressive people, fighting in the street and setting fires and stabbing each other and trying to get into his building to destroy his apartment. Beau lives in a sea of paranoia, where everything and everyone is out to get him in some way. Be it by framing him for some crime, or accusing him of being worthless, or depriving him of any real agency, his life seems to be driven by external forces he cannot see nor begin to understand.
To highlight this experience, there’s a lengthy sequence in the middle of the movie which is the one time he gets solace during this three hour odyssey. He experiences acceptance and warmth and joy, for more or less the first time. It’s the most emotional part of the movie, and includes one of the most incredible sequences in any film this year.
And in an instant, it’s all ripped away from him, as well as this view of a life he could have lived.
There’s so much going on here. I implore you to watch it and chew on it for yourself, and allow all its competing and complimentary thoughts exist simultaneously, rather than succumbing to the urge to sum it up as succinctly as possible. It makes for a far more rewarding experience.
1. Return to Seoul
From almost the first scene of this film, I knew I was witnessing something special. Freddie is unlike any character I’ve encountered before, and yet she embodies a feeling I relate to on a molecular level. She’s not in the least bit concerned with being likable, and yet if you really let her character and behavior seep into you, her motivations are sympathetic. While she is endlessly aggro and judgmental, it’s all in service of denial of her own pain, as beautifully captured by her chaotic but controlled dancing alone in the middle of a bar, in another one of the best scenes of the year.
I don’t know that I’ve ever seen another movie so perfectly capture the journey of a character through various stages of their life. She’s in a completely different place mentally and emotionally each time, as well as in her life-situation. She remains recognizably the person we’ve been spending time with throughout, while also going through an immense transformation. It’s through large and subtle ways, the manner in which she interacts with people, body language, everything. But as is true to life, even as she progresses, parts of her past will never fully leave her. A person is the sum of all their experiences, and she is no different. Freddie remains an enigma, one who has a foot in many different spheres, and the movie refuses to pass judgment on her.
Park Ji-min turns in one of the best performances I’ve ever seen, never mind just of the year. Neither she nor the film will be represented at the Oscars this year, as it had a micro-run for eligibility in 2022 and was completely passed over. But that’s okay: she gets my award.
As does this film. While all of them are great choices, there’s a reason Return to Seoul is my number one on the year.