2023 survived a Hollywood writers’ and actors’ strikes, the onslaught of “Barbenheimer,” and, worst of all, the ongoing crush of algorithm-based streaming services that are now forcing ads upon their prey . . . ahem, I mean customers.
Because of the strikes, some movies were moved back to 2024. Still, this has turned out to be a good year so far.
I say “so far” because the other major problem is that the movie industry is stuck in its old delivery system. While phone apps increase their domination of users’ time and attention, most movies are requiring us to travel to see them in theaters still. That’s in spite of the fact that the ultimate delivery system, the Internet, has been able to share new releases to anyone anywhere since the late 1990s.
I don’t mind movie theaters, but living in a remote place means I don’t see what NYC and LA people can. The 2023 movies I want to see but didn’t because they weren’t accessible to me include: “The Zone of Interest,” “Fallen Leaves,” “Poor Things,” “American Fiction,” “Hit Man,” “Ferrari,” and “The Iron Claw.”
No doubt that one or more of those may eventual break into the list below.
Therefore, this list is for fun only.
Movies that Weren’t For Me
10. Spider-man: Across the Spider-Verse
Possibly the best-looking movie of the year, I confess it was like watching something on 2x speed, only it really was normal speed. The action sequences merge comics and cinematic art, flashing by while the boom-boom soundtrack shakes walls. This is both a revolutionary work of art to me and a sign that the TikTok-ification of cinema is going to continue apace.
Movies that Were More Fun to Ponder than Watch
9. Dream Scenario
Nicolas Cage plays a guy with my last name, who looks like my uncle, who is a college professor like me. It’s the schlubiest character I think I’ve ever seen, a pathetic smart man who ends up being in the dreams of people worldwide, for no good apparent reason. The scenario is science-fictional, while the consequences of it for the ubiquitous dream-subject are uber-relevant. Probably anything that combines evolutionary biology, Carl Jung, and modern marketing has something good to say, and that’s my bias talking.
8. Asteroid City
A movie where no one absolutely ever smiles is hard to take. But I’m a sucker for Asteroid City’s color scheme and setting, the American desert in the 1950s. Wes Anderson’s quirky tastes can help or hurt his works, yet he’s made two of his more complicated movies recently, this being one of them. I am liking this phase of his career.
The Blockbuster that Apparently Only I Loved
7. Mission Impossible 7: Dead Reckoning, Part 1
I have no idea why this movie did poorly at the box office. Perhaps the clunky subtitle? Yet yf you liked MI5 and MI6, as I did, #7 provides the same one-upping action stunts that make this series a strong homage to the best silent-movie makers, who are among the greatest movie-makers. The series also delves into science-fictional problems with AI, with the great Esai Morales playing the villain to perfection.
The Provocative and Complex
6. May December
Todd Haynes’ Netflix movie has provided a seemingly infinite number of interpretations. I bet most people will watch this as a biting drama. Yet it’s been nominated for a Golden Globe in the *comedy* category, and maybe it is a satire. But a satire on what? Perhaps method-acting, as I initially thought, or perhaps on the desires of viewers. Perhaps even on itself. However you watch it, you should know that you can always watch it very differently next time.
5. The Eight Mountains
Since all sites list this as a 2022 movie, you may think I’m cheating. No sir. This one was widely released to everybody in 2023, and that’s why I’m counting it for this year. “The Eight Mountains” is both somehow expansive and intimate, massive by scenery at times and yet subtle always. Rarely does a film seem to be both at the same time. It features two Italian men, two childhood friends, Pietro and Bruno, whom we watch grow together yet apart over decades. The entire movie deals with tensions that might or might not be there in such a longstanding relationship, and the ever-massive question of “what is friendship” that spans decades looms larger than the Alps.
4. Anatomy of a Fall
I haven’t seen a courtroom drama ever get so much out of so little. A simple case of a French husband dying leads to a long trial for his German wife, accused of murdering him. The performances in this film are the years’ best in my view. Chief among them is Sandra Hüller, who achieves the rarest of cinematic performances: she seems to have walked onto the set and played herself, naturally. I believe this is a masterful work.
3. Beau is Afraid
Why do others dislike this film? I think I know: it’s just plain bizarre. Perhaps then you have to be me, with a weird sense of humor who digs Philip Roth and Philip K. Dick, both of whom influenced this movie about a paranoid man’s false guilt. I did not understand perhaps 20% of this movie, yet I didn’t have a better time watching a new movie than I did this one — it was poignant and hilarious. I laughed almost endlessly, and I felt its situations entirely. Director Ari Aster has finally come into his own. I believe this will become a cult classic or a misunderstood masterpiece. Just know it’s not for everybody.
2. Killers of the Flower Moon
I conclude with two octagenarian filmmakers, though truthfully I could switch any of the top 5 movies on this list into any top slot and be very happy still. Martin Scorsese somehow innovates on top of familiar content he’s dealt with, including conspiracies and mob-like activity. He came up with a striking ending to this disturbing tale based on real-world Oklahoma in the early 20th century. This is the ultra-rare 3.5-hour movie that’s truly worth its runtime. I believe this will be one of the great movies of this decade.
1. The Boy and the Heron
One of the great living artists produces an adventure tale that combines Eastern and Western folklore, while also being an intimate story that may also be semi-autobiographical. People may complain that this movie is derivative of his past work. I strongly disagree. He’s innovating on top of them, creating a magical work of supreme imagination that combines a thousand aspects of existence. There’s no end to possible way to look at this movie. On top of that, the surprises uniquely combine the weird, the delightful, and the devastating. I would rather rewatch this movie than any on this list, so it achieves the top spot.
Yesterday, I found my kids drawing pictures of this movie, unprompted by me. They hadn’t seen this movie in weeks. Which movie from 2023 do you think will last in our imaginations for the longest?