Why Narrow It Down to Just 10?
2023: a year of products, greed, put-upon employees, and artificial intelligence—and not just in the actors’ and writers’ strikes! In the more than 130 releases I watched this year, the plots (both literally and allegorically) kept coming back to corporations using and abusing the humans who give them life, machines becoming too great for their makers, and people trying to break out of the systems that limit them. And don’t forget all the titles inspired by games, toys, and flamin’-hot snacks! 2023 was also a stacked year, finally making that pandemic feel like it’s truly behind us. Between Barbenheimer weekend in July and streaming services hitting inevitable bumps, the theatrical experience is regaining a foothold in our culture even as superheroes struggle.
There were so many good releases I couldn’t limit my annual recommendations to 10, so here’s hoping you have time for my honorable mentions as well, including 6 tough cuts that almost made the final tally. And like last year, inspired by Roger Ebert, I’m acknowledging 11 films of artistic merit and 11 movies full of fun that aren’t top 10-worthy but are still worthy of your time. As for my top picks, they’re one of the most exciting, genre-diverse collections of 10 films I’ve selected yet. Killers of the Flower Moon and Oppenheimer may be “objectively” the greatest films of the year, but I’m done believing personal taste isn’t a factor in every Best Of list, and because I’d rather read something with a distinct viewpoint than crafted by an algorithm, I’m quite alright that mine may not match the aggregate. These are my 10 favorite films of the year, and if you ask me tomorrow, any in my top 3 might be my top pick of the moment.
10. Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.
Special in the way that the best coming-of-age movies are—is it too much to ask for more nostalgic, sweet, and honest stories as well-made as this one? I suspect Margaret’s insecurities about boys, bras, and besties will feel relatable to Gens Z and Alpha if for no other reason than this depiction felt scarily accurate to my own experience in the mid-2000s.
9. Killers of the Flower Moon
Is it too long? Is Leo too old for this role? Even as I ask, I know those questions pale in comparison with the power of Lily Gladstone and Martin Scorsese. Killers of the Flower Moon is less about murder and more about the lies we tell ourselves, about talking about both sides of our mouths, and about the discrepancy between our public and private lives. Even more impressive than watching the slow-burn unraveling of Fargo-esque crimes is Gladstone, whose quiet command is no easy feat next to scenery-chewers Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio.
8. Oppenheimer
On average, me every 7 minutes: “Oh hey, I love that guy!” This cameo-packed historical epic/biopic is a clearer-eyed A Beautiful Mind, and perhaps most impressively, doesn’t feel three hours long. Like every Christopher Nolan project, Oppenheimer is comprised of both spectacle and knotty ideas in a final product no one else would have been able to envision.
7. BlackBerry
Is the explosion and the demise of the BlackBerry a comedy or a tragedy? Why choose? BlackBerry owes a lot to The Social Network, but it learned all the right lessons, using this tech as a conduit to a character study and a near-thriller with the tension it ratchets up. Jay Baruchel, Glenn Howerton, and Matt Johnson (also directing) capture the joy, stress, and disillusionment of the corporate machine, and the punk/hip hop/New Wave/rock soundtrack captures the rage-at-that-corporate-machine angst.
6. The Iron Claw
The official Ugly Cry of Taylor Blakes everywhere in 2023. I have zero interest in wrestling, which may be one of the reasons this drama floored me—who knew a movie about one of the silliest, needlessly dangerous sports would break my heart? Like Oppenheimer, The Iron Claw is a case for adding an Oscar for Best Ensemble or Best Casting—no one (Harris Dickinson, Zac Efron, Lily James, Holt McCallany, Stanley Simons, Maura Tierney, Jeremy Allen White) can be cut, and in the right year, any one of them could campaign for individual awards.
5. Asteroid City
Something Wes Anderson does not get enough credit for: The man has never made a film longer than two hours. He is a master at making despair go down with a spoonful of museum-worthy framing, and his attention to detail when blocking actors in the golden ratio, designing perfect mushroom clouds, and using color theory to select his palette deserves the big screen. When you never overstay your welcome, you only leave your audience wanting more, and this is true as ever for Asteroid City.
4. Air
Nothing will likely supersede Good Will Hunting in the legend of Matt Damon and Ben Affleck’s friendship (though you should give The Last Duel a chance!), but is it controversial to say their collabs only get better? Yes, Air is about selling shoes—and I’m certain Nike would love for you to buy a pair of Air Jordans after watching—but it’s also about finding inspiration when the odds are against you. Like one of the best sports movies of the 2010s, Moneyball, Matt and Ben’s latest team-up is about finding creativity within constraints of corporate world, as well as taking risks to save your own humanity when the bottom line keeps chipping away at it.
3. Barbie
Is Barbie an instant classic? This new representation of the archetypal battle of the sexes made me laugh so hard I cried (thanks, Ryan Gosling!), and it also just made me cry (thanks, Margot Robbie and America Ferrerra!). Barbie is questioning the consumerist (and sometimes violent) embellishments we use to define our femininity and masculinity, but its optimism isn’t questioning whether men and women can live together in a world where everyone can thrive. We may not live in Barbie Land, but how fantastic it is to live in a world with Barbie!
2. Priscilla
Sofia Coppola again proves herself again to be the patron saint of lonely women—hallelujah for her return! In her best-looking feature since 2006’s Marie Antoinette, the Presleys’ romance lives in an eternal autumn, never blooming but always dying in a brilliant display. The makeup, hairstyling, costume, and production design departments have outdone themselves, and not just in recreating Graceland and the couple’s well-known looks. Priscilla’s transformations across the decades are so remarkable I didn’t always recognize her, which is also thanks to actress Cailee Spaeny, who chameleons into every emotion and look with ease. I was a fan of Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis, but Coppola’s version, peppered with Gothic literature motifs, is a needed (and superior) companion.
1. Past Lives
This bittersweet romantic drama makes me want to call up my boyfriend who moved away the summer after seventh grade and the guy I never dated in college who studied abroad and then transferred and that boy I met at a party a few years ago who said he was moving next week to sail boats in Delaware and then be disappointed none of them are as I remember or imagined who they would become.
Celine Song’s feature debut thrives in its paradoxes. The script hides deep emotion just beneath the surface of its reserved characters but never turns emotionally manipulative. Greta Lee keeps Nora cerebral but never indecipherable. John Magaro, as her husband, is deferential, but never passive. Teo Yoo, as her childhood sweetheart, is plagued with what the Portuguese call saudade, but his melancholy never irritates. (See Ryan Gosling in Barbie for the entitled version of this character.) Most of all, it thrives in the paradoxical intersection between fate and choice. Many (if not most) films with this premise indulge in voyeurism or sensationalism, acting out fantasies they suspect their audience is too timid to try themselves. There’s a place for Dangerous Liaisons and The Great Gatsby, but our critic Paul Hibbard describes the conflict best in his review: “The most wonderful thing about Past Lives is how all the characters are not only good people, but the conflict only causes them to be better people.” Past Lives has been compared to Casablanca for a reason, and like that classic, it’s the best film of its year.
Honorable Mentions: Tough Cuts
When drafting, these films (in alphabetical order) were contenders in earlier versions of my top 10 list.
1. Creed III rules. In the middle I found myself wanting to scream, “This is what Hollywood entertainment for adults should be!”
2. Leave the World Behind suggests Sam Esmail may be the heir apparent to M. Night Shyamalan’s ‘00s hot streak. Releasing this taut thriller on Netflix robbed us of experiencing the twists and turns with an audience.
3. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One echoes the original 1996 Mission: Impossible in all the best ways. Whatever you think of Tom Cruise, you can’t deny his commitment to the audience experience.
4. Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, her newest magnum opus, is the closest I’ll ever get to the intimate show I want from an artist who has inspired me for 15 years.
5. You Hurt My Feelings reminds us not every movie about marital woes must push the commitment to the brink. Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Tobias Menzies recreate the medium-sized fights we have with people we love and find the comedy in career malaise.
6. The Zone of Interest, like Dunkirk, finds a fresh perspective on Hollywood’s most-depicted war. You wouldn’t think a concentration camp setting could keep a PG-13 rating, but Jonathan Glazer’s Auschwitz drama doesn’t dilute the emotional devastation by limiting the violence onscreen. Reminding us that evil is not incongruent with people who are kind to dogs and horses, who tend gardens, who feel pressure to live up to their mother’s expectations, and who are trying for a promotion only makes it more upsetting—we’d feel more at ease if we had nothing in common with them.
Honorable Mentions: Great Films I’ll (Probably) Never Watch Again
These Oscar hopefuls were all artistic standouts, but I doubt I’ll revisit them after this Awards Season. (Feel free to prove me wrong!)
1. American Fiction‘s biggest lesson is we should put Jeffrey Wright in everything.
2. Anatomy of a Fall made my daughter-of-a-lawyer brain work overtime.
3. Beyond Utopia isn’t just full of unreal (but actually, too real) footage—this documentary following escapes from North Korea is an introduction to one of the most complex human rights crises of our time.
4. Ferrari extends Adam Driver’s insane hit rate. (It wouldn’t be my Best of the Year list without him somewhere!)
5. The Holdovers is the rare four-quadrant film that sends you away smarter than when you started it.
6. The Killer isn’t just for people like me, but it definitely is for people like me, which is to say that yes, I also am a fan of The Smiths.
7. Maestro doesn’t hit every note on key, but I’m already buying tickets to Bradley Cooper’s next feature.
8. May December delivered one of my biggest laughs of the year with that line about hot dogs.
9. Napoleon doesn’t reach the heights of The Last Duel or House of Gucci, but Ridley Scott is still cookin’ in his 80s!
10. Perfect Days is a hushed meditation on loneliness, but this winsome character study is never dull.
11. The Teachers’ Lounge shows us that though teaching has always been hard, rearing children in the 21st century comes with unique challenges.
Honorable Mentions: Fun Movies I’ll (Probably) Watch 100 Times
These titles vary in quality, but all of them are a blast. I’ve re-watched several of them already, and I don’t think I’ve seen any of them for the last time. (No need to prove me wrong!)
1. The Boys in the Boat, one of director George Clooney’s best, is a straight-down-the-middle victory for sports movies.
2. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, like Return of the Jedi, ranks last in the trilogy, but the first two were such highs that’s hardly a disappointment.
3. The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes doesn’t deserve to be compared to the year’s umpteenth action sequels. Thematically, it has more in common with Oscar contenders like Killers of the Flower Moon and Oppenheimer, and I’d take 72 more Hunger Games like this one.
4. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is for people who love to feel nostalgia or to be surprised, people who like old school action or newfangled special effects, and people who enjoy historical adventures or stories about modern issues. Since Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Last Crusade are two of the best adventure movies (or perhaps, just movies) of the 20th century, it’s no insult to say The Dial of Destiny ranks third in Indy’s canon.
5. John Wick: Chapter 4 demonstrates stunt work can be choreography as inventive and athletic as the tap dancing in Singin’ in the Rain. I’ve always been cool on this franchise, but because Chad Stahelski and Keanu Reeves insisted on going for broke with visual flair, this nearly-three hour epic won me over.
6. Meg 2: The Trench tastes like a trans-fatty snack, but a genre movie starring Jason Statham opening with a giant shark eating a T-Rex is a special brand of comfort food.
7. My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 maxes out on storylines, but it’s still a step up from the Netflix/Hallmark purgatory that rom-coms and family comedies have been stuck in the last 10 years. The biggest compliment is it’s the movie I saw most in theaters this year because three different sets of girlfriends didn’t want to miss it.
8. Polite Society is like if Get Out went harder on the comedy or if Sense and Sensibility added stunts.
9. Renfield is a silly action-horror-comedy, but any project that lets Nicolas Cage and Nicholas Hoult do their things is a win.
10. Sisu pulls off pretty much the same feat as the original John Wick in only 90 minutes.
11. Wish flopped at the box office, and my diagnosis is the marketing. Those who did see the under-saturated advertising campaign were promised a tribute to 100 years of Disney animation, which is an experience no single film can deliver. Since I missed that memo, I went in with zero expectations, and thanks to a killer villain song and those silly animal sidekicks, I left with my new favorite Disney fairy tale since Tangled.