TOP TEN FILMS OF 2023

Honorable Mentions: Anatomy of a Fall (a slow burn on the stories we tell ourselves masquerading as a twist on the whodunit and courtroom genres); Reptile (a snazzy throwback to the thriller-noirs of the 80’s and 90’s); Godzilla Minus One (a surprisingly touching monster movie with a very pleasing, if quaint, visual style); Barbie (a movie more complex than both its critics and its fans realized); Jesus Revolution (the exception that proves the rule that Christian movies are terrible); Last Stop Larrimah (a riveting true crime doc where the tiny Australian town is as interesting as the mystery); Albert Brooks: Defending My Life (an insightful retrospective about a notoriously prickly artist); Leo (an animated children’s movie about a lizard and a turtle, voiced by Adam Sandler and Bill Burr, respectively, that I found very funny); The Killer (Michael Mann’s meticulously composed examination of a hitman, an unreliable narrator caught up in the quirkiness of the gig ecomony); No One Will Save You (a largely silent sci-fi/horror thriller that kept me riveted down to its philosophical Twilight Zone-esque ending); Extraction 2 (an incredibly watchable sequel that I hope is the first of many); Spider-Man: Across the Spiderman (which deepens the narrative scope and expands the cinematic horizons of its predecessor); and Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3 (probably the last good Marvel movie).

10. You Hurt My Feelings

What’s a creative type’s worst nightmare? Artist’s block? Rejection by publishers or promoters? Terrible sales? Bad reviews? None of the above. You Hurt My Feelings nails it. Imagine you discover the person you love the most doesn’t like your work. This Nicole Holofcener dramedy starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Tobias Menzies as a married couple suddenly threatened by the polite dishonesties that occupy many of even the best marriages, is a too-real film about vanity and honesty.

9. Air

The critics seemed to have turned on this movie, which showed some early promise as potentially many of their favorites of the year. I still rock with it. Ben Affleck had the audacity to slum it with a “men in rooms talking” movie that’s actually enjoyable. All the performances are great, especially the work of Viola Davis as the formidable Deloris Jordan and Matt Damon as the stubborn Sonny Vaccaro. Affleck’s Phil Knight is hilarious too. Who says these kinds of movies need to take themselves so seriously?

8. Leave the World Behind

This near-future post-apocalyptic meditation on class and culture is like Neil Postman’s Amusing Ourselves to Death meets Red Dawn. And while I assume it’s sort of about the culturally sedative effect of the Internet age, is it not consequently also a low-key ode to physical media?

7. John Wick: Chapter Four

I believe we may be living in the true golden age of the action movie. That’s difficult for me to say, as a child of the 80’s, the era of classic Stallone, Schwarzenegger, Norris, et.al., as well as the dawn of Die Hard and all its variations, but given that the latest franchises (Mission: Impossible, Extraction, etc.) only seem to get better as they go, it’s possible these are the “good ol’ days” of cinematic shoot-em-ups. The John Wick series is the gold standard. Every successive entry seems to improve on the choreography, set pieces, and general complexity of the ones before, and Chapter Four is no exception. One of the best orchestrated films of the year and a blast at the movies.

6. The Zone of Interest

Jonathan Glazer’s adaptation of the Martin Amis book is a film as measured as it is chilling. The focus on the daily life of the German family living just outside the high wall of Auschwitz shows us with patient care the banality of evil on casual display. It’s all in the atmosphere and audio. This is a highly effective film — and an innovative one despite its straightforward composition. And unfortunately, this is a very relevant film today.

5. The Iron Claw

Who knew Zac Efron had it in him? I didn’t. But now I do. If “father wound” was a category, this look at the Von Erich clan (of professional wrestling fame) would be a key entry. A surprisingly moving film that teeters on the brink of the maudlin and sentimental without ever quite tipping over. It’s a fine line to walk, but I found the performance of the whole work endearing, captivating, and ultimately very, very touching.

4. The Holdovers

Let’s be lonely together. If Wes Anderson hadn’t shellacked his heart and stuffed it in a diorama, he might be making films like Alexander Payne’s The Holdovers, which is a messy, awkward, wounded, sweetheart of a movie. Dominic Sessa is the discovery of the year, and Paul Giamatti and Da’Vine Joy Randolph are powerhouses.

3. Past Lives

Celine Song’s film is a quietly subversive take on Western romantic sensibilities. It is about as anti-Hollywood as a romance film can get. There is no cheating. There is not even any major conflict, except perhaps what is happening internally. Whatever pressures these characters may be facing, emotionally or even culturally, the result is a sweet ode to tradition, to commitment. As such, Past Lives constitutes a countercultural artifact within a broken landscape of expressive individualism. This is an anti-Hollywood “love story” that bucks subverts the lame-o trend of “Eat Pray Love”-esque romanticization of expressive individualism and infidelity and instead honors tradition and faithfulness.

2. Killers of the Flower Moon

Martin Scorsese’s adaptation of David Grann’s revelatory (non-fiction) book about the systemic injustice of the exploitation (and serial murders) of the Osage tribe in Oklahoma is a riveting work. Filled with a number of amazing performances, especially from the stalwart DiCaprio and the relative newcomer Lily Gladstone, who is a revelation, this film is hard stuff, but succeeds in Scorsese’s rejiggering of the historical narrative to highlight less of the federal investigation and more of the native disruption and despair. (I do also highly recommend the book)

1. Dreamin’ Wild

Imagine a musician with Johnny Cash-like gifting who never made it big but had a loving father who supported and believe in him anyway. Dreamin’ Wild, starring Casey Affleck and Walton Goggins, is a most uncynical movie about people haunted by or defiant against cynicism. Maybe the best Christian movie that isn’t a Christian movie, I was just overwhelmed by the sweetness and the sincerity of this film, the material of which would most certainly come across saccharine and unconvincing if not elevated by the performances (which also include great supporting turns from Beau Bridges, Zoey Deschanel, and Chris Messina). They don’t make PG-rated movies for grownups any more, so that’s another plus to this heartwarming achievement. My favorite film of the year.