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mylifeincinema · 4 months

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My Best of 2023: My Top 10 Films!

Finally! It’s time for My Top 10 Films of 2023! 2023 was another weird year for me in terms of film. As usual, I had a few I championed, but, yet again, a lot of the big guns didn't land the way I'd expected or hoped. As a quick reminder - My Top 10 Films isn’t necessarily a list of the ‘best’, or ‘my favorite’, but rather a mix of the two that takes both sides of the A&E into as equal consideration as humanly possible. Definitely keep that in mind, especially the fact that how re-watchable each film is weighs in significantly. So, in terms of all that, this list nails my 2023.

First, here are some Honorable Mentions (in no real order), most of which spent at least a little time in the Top 10: Jonathan Glazer's The Zone of Interest (which really deserves that 10 spot, but it's about as far from re-watchable as it gets); David Fincher's The Killer; Sofia Coppola's Priscilla; Kelly Fremon Craig's Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.; and Takashi Yamazaki's Godzilla Minus One. Any of these could easily claim that 10 spot on another day. As for Martin Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon? Sorry, y'all, but it barely cracked my Top 20. No matter how incredibly well-made it was, it was still a solid hour too long. And worst of all, it felt it!

Okay, without further ado, here they are…

My Top 10 Films of 2023!!

10. Danny & Michael Philippou's Talk to Me

Damn. This was fantastic. I’m still really pissed I missed it in cinemas. Such a super creepy, perfectly executed premise fueled by surprisingly good performances and genuinely terrifying moments, throughout. I especially love that it never heavily relies on jump-scares and just how brutal these spirits get. The desperation and hopelessness of the third act is just the cherry on top.

9. Greta Gerwig's Barbie

Hilarious. Bold. Heartwarming. And not at all subtle. Margot is perfection, which doesn’t always work in the film’s favor, but it knows and acknowledges that, and becomes more interesting by doing so. Gosling is hilarious and interesting and delivers one of the most absurdly audacious performances of the year. Gerwig’s vision, here, is dazzling not only in its use of practical effects, but also its brazen approach to the film’s message.

8. Christopher McQuarrie's Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1

Tom Cruise is out here doing the important work in a time when said important work is more essential than ever. This is a big-screen spectacle of an action film with exciting fights and chases and stunts that get more and more impressive, wild and outlandish throughout. As to be expected from the franchise, the cast all deliver rock-solid performances, and McQuarrie’s work behind the camera is every bit as good as Fallout, despite Fallout still probably being the better of the two films, overall. The plot, action, and editing here are all perfectly intense, working beautifully together to create a truly jaw-dropping piece of action cinema. Once again Cruise and friends prove decisively that popcorn flicks can be art, too, folks. Big, loud, crazy, fun art. So damn good.

7. James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3

Loved it. Every single moment is earned. The needle drops get better and better and build up to a joyous, cathartic, downright amazing moment at the end. James Gunn directs the hell out of his pitch-perfect script, allowing these characters to evolve in a manner as interesting as it is entertaining as it is organic. The Winter Soldier is still the best single film in the MCU, but this trilogy is its heart and soul. Finally… Cosmo is such a Good Dog.

6. Wes Anderson's Asteroid City

There’s good reason why Wes Anderson is one of my very favorite living directors. Asteroid City is a fine example of pretty much all of them. It’s visually stunning (How the f*ck did that production design not get nominated?!) , superbly acted, and written with as much quirky humor as it is raw emotion as it is perfectly balanced existentialism. I may still not quite be fully sold on the framing device, but all-in-all, this is a purely Andersonian oddity, and I loved every minute of it. Plus, I really want to be friends with that roadrunner.

5. Alexander Payne's The Holdovers

Genuinely hilarious and sneakily heartfelt. The tender moments play out so naturally that they pack an emotional wallop, then the brilliant Paul Giamatti or Da'Vine Joy Randolph lets out a perfectly delivered line that’ll absolutely floor you. And I just love the look of it, every single piece of this film looks and feels like it’s straight out of the ‘70s. So good. Probably my favorite Payne?

4. Yorgos Lanthimos' Poor Things

Despite being significantly overlong, Lanthimos' Poor Things is still just so damn good. I hate that Emma Stone’s odds are going down, as she delivers what will likely remain a favorite ‘til the end of the decade. Mark Ruffalo is also a blast, and is very much the upset I'm hoping for most come March 10. I honestly didn’t think he still had a performance like this in him. Dafoe is magnificently weird, and every time he graced the screen was a treat. Yorgos went off, here. This is probably his best work yet. It’s also one of the most visually interesting films of the year. I absolutely loved how this movie was shot. And it’s very easily better than the book. So, y’know, there’ that too.

3. Dos Santos, Powers & Thompson's Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

A masterful amalgamation of animation styles, narrative ideas and next-level voice performances. As visually breathtaking as it is emotionally ambitious as it is structurally exciting and entertaining. This is the exact type of comic book movie that still has me excited for comic book movies.

2. Wes Anderson's The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar & Three More

I'm kinda cheating, here, as this is technically a collection four individually released short films, and not the originally planned anthology feature. But I don't care. These are all fantastic; masterclasses in adaptation, blocking, production design and acting, the lot of 'em. I want so badly for Wes Anderson to just adapt Dahl's entire bibliography. Head HERE for my full thoughts.

And The Best Film of 2023 is…

1. Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer

A truly staggering achievement. As ambitious and bold a biopic as we’ve gotten in a very long time. Nolan understands the mechanics of this man and his story in a way that's so philosophically nuanced, and directs scene-after-scene of characters discussing physics and politics in a that makes it edge-of-your-seat shit.

Thank you for reading!

-Timothy Patrick Boyer.

More of My Best of 2023...

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365filmsbyauroranocte · 9 months

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Films watched in 2023.

Top 10 July.

Manhunter (Michael Mann, 1986)

Working Girls (Lizzie Borden, 1986)

Suzume (Makoto Shinkai, 2022)

Born in Flames (Lizzie Borden, 1983)

Jane B. par Agnès V. (Agnès Varda, 1988)

What Places of Heaven, What Planets Directed, How Long the Effects? or, the General Accidents of the World (David Gatten, 2013)

Lucifer Rising (Kenneth Anger, 1972)

How Do You Measure a Year? (Jay Rosenblatt, 2021)

Elvira, Mistress of the Dark (James Signorelli, 1988)

Blue Collar (Paul Schrader, 1978)

(My list on Letterboxd -click here-)

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teex · 4 months

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my favorite 2023 films

11. Saltburn 12. Evil Dead Rise 13. Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves 14. Priscilla 15. The Holdovers 16. Shortcomings 17. The Killer 18. Killers of the Flower Moon 19. Dream Scenario 20. When Evil Lurks

#i still havent seen fallen leaves tragically i think that would prob disrupt the top 10!!#this was fun what a fun year for movies #across the spiderverse #all of us strangers #theater camp #past lives #the boy and the heron #poor things #talk to me #passages #barbie #anatomy of a fall #films #film #2023 film diary #top 2023 films

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reflections-in-a-critical-eye · 5 months

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top ten first watches of 2023?

I assume you mean films, right? Anyway, top 10 in no particular order.

Crash was a long time coming, but it took a podcast I used to listen to weekly to finally get to this Cronenberg classic. Bodily modifications? Violent eroticism? Body as a machine? Death & eroticism? It has it all and much more.

For those of you in your 20s and 30s (or even older) who feel alienated in the urban landscape, surrounded by crowds whilst feeling lonely and yearning for any type of human connection, this film is for you.

It's no secret that Brian de Palma wanted to be Hitchcock since he was a baby (I assume, but it sure does look so). You can see it in so many movies of his and Body Double is a perfect example. It even has the misogyny down to a T. But it's also really good and I'm a fan of voyeurism in cinema (from a critical position mostly). This is like Rear Window and Vertigo mashed together, but with 80s hair.

Now this was probably the highlight for me this year. Editor by day, sex worker by night, Kathleen Turner is a force in this film, alongside Anthony Perkins, the perverted priest. But if that is not enough to do the trick, the cinematography and that anal sex scene might do the trick 😉

Who knew Joan Crawford had such a big issue with wire hangers? Not me, but I sure found out in that crazy scene that has one of the most memorable meltdowns in cinema. Every shot of Faye Dunaway screams "I want that Oscar, god damn it!"

Fedora is the late 70s version of Sunset Boulevard and it has the same director. Not as good as that classic, but my god, the clothes! I'd watch it again just for the clothes, particularly that white suit Fedora is wearing in the garden of her villa when she receives that honorary Oscar.

I don't think there's any Paul Schrader film that I didn't like. It wouldn't make sense to call him underrated, but he's better than others from that 1970s gang (cough *de Palma* cough). In Hardcore, a father finds out his daughter went to Los Angeles and started acting in porn. He gets the confirmation when he actually sees her in one film in some shady movie theater. It's a weird and very uncomfortable scene and by comparison, not much, knowing how it will unfold later.

Of course Madonna is always in control of her image and what she allows to be seen or how she comes across. But that doesn't mean there's nothing genuine there, on the contrary. And the camera captures that. The backstage, the everyday conversations, the relationship with the dancers. Real people with real emotions and the more darker parts are allowed to slip in through the cracks. On top of that, it has footage from her tour in 90-91, a reminder of how Madonna is one of the best performers out there, making me wish there'd be a time machine so I can see her live during that time.

For anyone who is a fan of Sex and The City, how about a late 1930s version? Fast pace dialogue, outfits to die for and a cast made almost entirely of women.

The second Cronenberg on the 2023 list. I watched M. Butterfly after seeing Madame Butterfly at the opera. The film is slightly different and it deals with some of my favorite themes in fiction and media lately: gender identities, criticism of colonialism, orientalist fantasies that obscure realities and so much more.

#m thoughts #top 10 films in 2023 #crash david cronenberg #m butterfly #body double #hardcore 1978 #fedora billy wilder #mommy dearest #women 1939 #in bed with Madonna #crimes of passion #vive l'amour

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agentnico · 5 months

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Top 10 BEST Movies of 2023

Happy New Year everyone! Hope you all partied hard and are now surviving a dreadful hangover by sitting with your family or friends and enjoying a well deserved marathon of Lord of the Rings. 2023 - what a year! In the movie biz alone there were those little minor events known as the strikes of the actors and writers. Just when we thought COVID was over and stopped affecting releases, these strikes were like “errr no, actually..!”. To be fair, the way the streaming services were underpaying their actors and the studios enforcing AI so much into the media, it was good that these artists stood up for themselves and showed it to the man so to speak! Anyway, we’re not here to talk Hollywood politics, but to celebrate all the quality filmmaking that was exhibited this past year. I’d say in all honesty this year felt weaker compared to 2022. To be fair last year gave us Everything Everywhere All at Once, Top Gun: Maverick and of course the legendary RRR, so the bar was high for 2023. That being said, I still enjoyed some solid films, so let’s rank my Top 10 favourite movies of 2023, but first some honourable mentions…

HONOURABLE MENTIONS:

Evil Dead Rise - one heck of a gore fest, and the best opening title card of the year hands down!

Past Lives - a simple yet brutally honest love story.

The Boy and the Heron - Wanna hear Robert Pattinson sound like not Robert Pattinson?!

The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar - Wes Anderson and Roald Dahl are a match made in heaven.

Barbie - I’m Just Ken…need I say more??

Wonka - Timmy makes for a good Willy.

Right, with that, let’s get into the actual fun stuff - The Top 10 Best Movies of 2023!…

10) GUY RITCHIE’S THE COVENANT - The least Guy Ritchie film Guy Ritchie has ever directed and I mean that in the nicest way possible. Away with the rough East End and grizzly jokes, and instead what we have is a very reserved and straight-faced war thriller. Honestly I was so surprised with how much I was engaged and invested in The Covenant - it is a thrilling pulse-racing story of survival that adds to the dread that elements of it are true to many people’s reality. Truly, this is a well-made movie!

9) TETRIS - You hear of a movie titled Tetris and one has to wonder if we have another Emoji Movie on our hands, where we get little tetra shaped characters goofing about in some animated mathematics world trying to force an unfunny joke upon our poor heads. Luckily that’s not the case, as instead this is a behind-the-scenes look at the legal drama behind the ownership of the game rights, and though that may not sound that fun, the movie is surprisingly very entertaining with some visual pixel tricks, a great soundtrack, delightful nostalgia, a fast-paced ante-upping narrative set in the backdrop of the Soviet Union and an adorable Taron Egerton in the middle of it all. Honestly, I’m shocked at how much I digged the Tetris movie!

8) GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3 - Marvel is evidently in a rut, but a rare bright spark in recent memory was the final instalment of James Gunn’s take on the fun dysfunctional space family. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is a wonderful ride, bringing lots of great humour, character dynamics and emotion, and gets you hooked on a feeling…one last time. Oh, and Gunn finally managed to properly show Nathan Fillion’s face in a Marvel movie, and that in itself is a win!

7) MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: DEAD RECKONING - PART ONE - Tom Cruise - what a guy! I mean yes he’s a Scientologist, has a constant death wish by breaking his ankles on film sets and also guilty of jumping on Oprah’s sofa like a monkey, but my my is he a charmer! You guys know the drill with these Mission Impossible movies - Tom Cruise throws his body around like a potato fearing not for his life nor broken limbs, but you have to respect the man for wanting to give the audience their tickets’ worth of entertainment, and Dead Reckoning not disappoint! There’s never a dull moment, the action is constantly inventive and exciting, and honestly with how consistent the quality of these films are, I say keep ‘em coming, Cruise-man!

6) DREAM SCENARIO - Anyone who knows me knows how much I love me some Nicolas Cage! The guy’s an acting legend, and he’s had it rough a decade ago when he got stuck paying off hi tax money and starring in crappy B-movies, but recently he’s been on a hot streak of great original content, and Dream Scenario adds to that. I love this idea of a random dude suddenly appearing in people’s dreams for absolutely no reason. It’s so rare to have a new original conception in a film in our day and age, and the execution here is great. As a bonus, the movie features possibly the best fart joke in the history of the cinema.

5) OPPENHEIMER - On one had this is probably the most “well-made” movie of 2023 cinematically speaking. Christopher Nolan does not hold back in using his typical non-linear way of storytelling, with the film weaving narratives and different time periods seamlessly as it explores the profound depths of a man who’s actions altered the world’s trajectory forever, for better or worse. It’s an incredible historical piece of cinema, and the movie gets extra points for the whole ‘Barbenheimer’ phenomenon, but the reason this film is not higher on the list is due to the fact that I believe it is overrated. Cause every single person raved about how bloody amazing this thing was, I became tired of the positivity. Yeah, I know, I’m being a Scrooge but what you gonna do about it?? Oppenheimer is stuck at No. 5!

4) KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON - When a movie forces you to stay in the cinema for over 3 hours, it better be one epic film, as your man here was straining his bladder to health threatening levels. However this is a Martin Scorsese picture, as such this is event cinema! And this one may be up there with one of his best. Killers of the Flower Moon is a major saga of greed, murder, corruption and despair, told through the eyes of a filmmaker who somehow is still managing to mature more as a director even though he’s already over 80 years of age.

3) THE HOLDOVERS - The Holdovers is very much a vibes movie. It has that old-timey retro feel to it from how it is shot to make it look like it’s from the 70s (reminiscent of John Hughes films and Dead Poets Society). You also have the constant snow falling and the Christmas music just really delivers that cozy winter feel. It’s a wholesome Christmas movie through and through. Paul Giamatti gives a career-best performance and the writing is absolutely stellar, as such The Holdovers is destined to become a holiday classic.

2) BEAU IS AFRAID - A. 3-hour long anxiety attack that A24 spent $30 million to produce. For a movie studio to spill out such a massive amount of cash on a completely original IP that is divisively out-there and wild is such a unique thing to happen in Hollywood in this day and age, that like the film or not this act needs to be applauded. It just so happens that Beau Is Afraid is batshit bonkers and truly an act of madness, yet one that I will forever cherish. I bet David Lynch had the biggest hard-on when he watched this movie - you betcha!

1) SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE - Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is, put simply, brilliant! It’s everything that made Into the Spider-Verse great dialled up to 1000%, and the result is honestly fantastic. Look, I watch a lot of movies. And yeah, movies are great and I love them deeply. But in watching so many films I have in a way lost that magic of being in awe every time I go to the cinema. Cliches and repetitiveness in films stick out like sore thumbs. However with Across the Spider-Verse I felt like a kid again, purely stunned in amazement at every single frame, engaged with the characters and story-line, not knowing where it will go next. Like I cannot reiterate how much fun I had watching this movie! The animation is phenomenal, the narrative so rich, a pulse-throbbing music score (I even have Pemberton’s score on vinyl now just cause I love it so much!) superb character development and so many fun and unexpected twists and turns. Across the Spider-Verse is THE movie of 2023 for me and I believe this is the first time ever an animation took a top spot on my list. Here’s hoping Part 3 of the Spider-Verse saga will play out like The Return of the King!

There you have it - my favourite films of 2023. Naturally I don’t expect my list to be the same as yours, so don’t go throwing a tantrum if I missed out a movie you loved. Or do throw a tantrum, see if I care. But also don’t, cause like we’re all friends here, right? Right??!

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radishprincesss · 5 months

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my top 10 of 2023 <3

add me on letterboxd:

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oceancentury · 5 months

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My Top 10 ‘original’ posts of 2023.

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thefilmsnob · 3 days

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Glen Coco's Top 10 Films of 2023

Hello, lovely reader. I had a really well-written intro about blockbusters and art house films, but the more I read it, the more I doubted its validity, and after spending hours writing the rest of this article, I couldn’t be bothered to do research to support it. And it’s already $&@%ing May 2024.

ANYWHO! 2023 was a great year for movies and you’ll also have a great time reading about my picks for the top 10 films of 2023...after the runners-up and the standard bonus track...there’s always a bonus track.

RUNNERS-UP

-Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.

-Bottoms

-The Holdovers

-Nyad

-Past Lives

#10b. (Bonus Track) The Zone of Interest

Director: Jonathan Glazer

Starring: Christian Friedel, Sandra Hüller

A film that's not exactly easy to recommend, The Zone of Interest follows Rudolf Höss, commandant of the Auschwitz concentration camp during WWII, and wife Hedwig, living with their five children on a property adjacent to the camp. And like the fence that divides the family's idyllic home from the very horrors of the camp which they enable, I'm still divided about the ethics of this production. Yet, there's no denying Glazer's boldness and craft, using simple yet crisp framing, mundane dialogue, sparse music and an aura of indifference to juxtapose the family's living conditions with those within the camp, whose faint sounds of screams, gunfire and hellish machinery may as well be the the chirping of birds and rustling of leaves to their ears. It's a rare film that's undeniably disturbing yet bereft of explicit violence, nudity or even harsh language, omissions that accentuate the chilling nonchalance of evil on display. What remains, especially the quietly profound finale, will surely stay with you and, considering the implications, it should.

#10. Maestro

Director: Bradley Cooper

Starring: Carey Mulligan, Bradley Cooper

Maestro follows the familiar biopic template about brilliant artists who excel professionally but struggle personally, yet writer/director/producer/star(!) Bradley Cooper has crafted a richer, more stately product than so many other paint-by-number biographies. Having already showcased his film making prowess with 2018's A Star is Born, a film that also explored the complex relationship among love, artistry and stardom, Cooper continues this analysis with his examination of iconic composer Leonard Bernstein. In the process, he stages some breathtaking scenes, especially one involving a heated argument between Cooper's Bernstein and wife, Felicia (Carey Mulligan), that's devoid of cuts and full of passion, or another in a grand cathedral where Bernstein triumphantly conducts his orchestra like a force of nature, sweat dripping down his feverish visage. Primarily, though, this is a vehicle for two sensational performances from Cooper and Mulligan who capture an enticingly complicated and fraught relationship in the shadow of a legendary career.

#9. Beau Is Afraid

Director: Ari Aster

Starring: Joaquin Phoenix

Wikipedia describes Beau Is Afraid as a 'surrealist tragicomedy horror film', so, if nothing else, it's...different. Some may find Ari Aster's film insufferable, but if you view it as one big, absurd metaphor for crippling anxiety (GAD, specifically) and familial guilt, it becomes a mesmerizing fever dream of a journey that will resonate with anxious people in general but also with certain ethno-religious groups who are inclined to satirize themselves (think Seinfeld and Curb). Here, Joaquin Phoenix plays Beau, a meek, neurotic soul, living alone in a dingy apartment on an impossibly dangerous street overrun with miscreants he must avoid at every turn just to go to the corner store. Sadly, he must travel farther than 50 feet to bury his mother while facing utterly bizarre threats and situations along the way, even venturing into a fantasy world made of felt at one point, concluding with one of the most outlandish yet oddly perfect endings you'll ever see. It's not quite on the level of Aster's milestone achievements Hereditary and Midsommar, but it's unquestionably original and a further sign of the film maker's boundless potential.

#8. Asteroid City

Director: Wes Anderson

Starring: Jason Schwartzman, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, Jeffrey Wright, Edward Norton, Bryan Cranston, about a dozen other actors you'll recognize

My description of Wes Anderson changes with every film he releases, oscillating between 'insufferable' and 'genius'. With Asteroid City, I lean toward the latter. His latest film is more fun and inviting, less fussy and pretentious. That's surprising for a film whose plot involves a retro-futuristic 1950s in which we're shown a documentary about the production of a play called 'Asteroid City', which actually is presented like a film and forms the majority of the narrative. The black & white, box-screened documentary contrasts the widescreen, brightly coloured 'play', which features a youth astronomy convention held in the titular desert town and the stories of its equally colourful attendees. It's a tad convoluted, but the final product is a visual and structural wonder, every scene composed of delectable sets filled with objects meticulously arranged and photographed to appear at once realistic and fantastical. And, though ample attention is placed on aesthetics, there’s plenty of room for the surprisingly touching story. Anderson also concocts one of the zaniest scenes you'll see, involving a surprise guest that, inexplicably...works.

#7. The Killer

Director: David Fincher

Starring: Michael Fassbender

On its surface, The Killer might seem unoriginal, superficial or repetitive, with the stereotypical soulless assassin routinely taking out one target after another. But, this deliberately crafted film from David Fincher challenges these perceptions in two major ways, one obvious, the other delightfully subtle. The first occurs at the end of the opening act in which Michael Fassbender’s Killer stakes out a hotel room, awaiting his target while describing the life of an assassin and his routine like an art in chilly voice-over, enlivening an otherwise inert sequence. But, when the time comes to take the shot…he misses. This is where the Killer goes into survival mode, hunting down his associates before they can get to him and 'clean up his mess'. What once seemed like a straightforward survival story, however, slowly reveals itself as an assassin's quest to prove to his employers that he is, indeed, the elite killer they hired. Fassbender’s deft performance is invaluable to this development within a broader story about humans' insatiable need for purpose.

#6. Air

Director: Ben Affleck

Starring: Matt Damon, Viola Davis, Ben Affleck

There's a quirky trend lately of making films based on popular products like Barbie dolls, Cheetos, Tetris, Pop-Tarts and, in the case of Air, Air Jordan sneakers. And, although the origins of a shoe may not seem like prime material for a feature length film, the result is both fascinating and exhilarating. It may also feel strange cheering for a corporate giant like Nike and one of its executives (Matt Damon) as if they were underdogs, but the veteran Damon, alongside co-star and director Ben Affleck, sells us on his effort to sign Michael Jordan as Nike’s new spokesman and save their basketball shoe division. Affleck wisely keeps the tone light, but the characters’ endeavors are still gripping as is the dialogue from this superb cast; they make shoes sound riveting, in the same way The Big Short did for credit default swaps. This is exemplified in the climactic negotiation between Damon’s character and Jordan’s mother, played by Viola Davis, who’s fiercely protective of her son's interests. Sure, capitalism drives this story, but scenes like this, a battle of wits and emotions between two acting greats alongside their industrious counterparts, remind us there are still human beings amidst all the bar graphs and quarterly reports.

#5. Poor Things

Director: Yorgos Lanthimos

Starring: Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo, Willem Dafoe, Ramy Youssef

Director Yorgos Lanthimos has become one of the most unique cinematic voices of a generation. With Poor Things, his latest curiosity, he recalls elements of Frankenstein, breathing new life into those ideas to tell a modernized story about Bella Baxter (Emma Stone), who's resurrected by the eccentric Dr. Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe), replacing her brain with that of her fetus, creating a woman with an infant's mind. Within Lanthimos's wondrous re-imagining of the Victorian Era, Bella embarks on a journey to discover both the world at large and herself. As she travels from London to Lisbon, Alexandria to Paris, she's confounded by this augmented world's beauty--its unique colours, textures and geometry-- but also its cruelty, all facets that help form her character. These elements are produced with vivid digital and practical effects to create a dream-like, absurdist environment like something out of a children's book, ensuring the audience shares in Bella's astonishment. Stone's performance is equally astonishing, depicting a metamorphosis from awkward, naive, dependent child to assertive, autonomous, curious young woman, combating the pettiness and insecurities of overbearing men in the process. It's an empowering story as effective as the striking costumes, sets, score and every other element that floods our senses.

#4. Anatomy of a Fall

Director: Justine Triet

Starring: Sandra Hüller, Milo Machado-Graner

Anatomy of a Fall might seem like a conventional legal drama and therefore easy to overlook. The premise is simple: a boy (Milo Machado-Graner) finds his father dead below the attic window of their family’s French chalet. Sandra, (Sandra Hüller), the boy’s mother, is the prime suspect considering her turbulent relationship with the husband and the fact she was the only other person home. We see the responses to the death, the investigation and the trial while questioning if it was a murder, suicide or accident. It’s a basic procedural, but the execution by director Justine Triet and her incredible cast elevates this story immensely. Through the enthralling dialogue and gradual revelations, we learn things when the characters do; the audience isn’t omniscient like with similar films, even after the verdict. It’s also decidedly non-sensational which paradoxically piques our interest even more in this story that mirrors reality and a solid but imperfect legal system. Hüller’s performance is crucially ambiguous; there're no winks or telling looks at the audience. Essentially a prestige version of Law & Order, this is one of the strongest legal dramas you’ll see, demanding and earning your complete attention.

#3. Killers of the Flower Moon

Director: Martin Scorsese

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Lily Gladstone, Robert De Niro

At 81, the legendary Martin Scorsese is still churning out masterpieces like his historical epic Killers of the Flower Moon. With its grand scope, sweeping cinematography, heartbreaking but essential story and an eclectic score that infuses a variety of genres with Native American sounds, this is pure cinema. The criticized 206 minute runtime is necessary to do justice to the injustice suffered by the once prosperous Osage Nation at the hands of ingratiated white folks through a calculated, systematic and prolonged series of heinous acts. In 1920s Oklahoma, the despicable William Hale (Robert De Niro) instructs his nephew (Leonardo DiCaprio) to marry an Osage girl, Mollie, (Lily Gladstone) in order to inherit her wealth, and also kill her family members to maximize the payout. Scorsese's go-to leads give appropriately slimy performances, especially De Niro, but they don't overshadow the tragedy orchestrated by greedy, duplicitous, small men. The Osage people and their rich culture remain in the spotlight, especially Mollie who exudes a quiet dignity and stoicism, transcending the typical victim plot device. You may know how this story ends, but its presentation is completely unexpected with an inspired denouement that summarizes the unforgivably lenient consequences for those complicit in this very American nightmare.

#2. Oppenheimer

Director: Christopher Nolan

Starring: Cillian Murphy, Robert Downey Jr., Emily Blunt, Florence Pugh, Josh Hartnett, Matt Damon, and the rest of Hollywood

Following his rare misfire, the loud and grinding Tenet, Christopher Nolan’s back in top form with Oppenheimer, a perfectly balanced film that showcases his many strengths as he tempers his occasional indulgences and somehow turns a scientist’s biopic into a blockbuster that’s gained a Marvel-sized audience. That’s partly due to his propulsive style that pushes the story forward at a brisk pace despite the three-hour runtime, as well as his signature sharp cuts, short scenes, temporal shifts and layered narrative strands. But, it’s also due to a doomsday scenario not unlike those in comic book films, except grounded in reality and, thus, scarier. Specifically, it examines the man responsible for that potential scenario, J. Robert Oppenheimer: ‘Father of the Atomic Bomb’, played in a rare leading role by the underrated Cillian Murphy who crafts a complex portrait of a man whose ambition was often at odds with his conscience, a man who had to live with decisions that resulted in so much death in WWII and quite possibly beyond. Complicating the story and adding to its urgency are several tense hearings that underline the political ramifications of these actions and the motives behind some of the most important decisions in history. Yet, wisely, no one’s portrayed as simply good or evil, certainly not Oppenheimer; life’s too ambiguous for that. Essentially, the film is people talking in nondescript rooms, but with such a stellar cast realizing Nolan's singular vision, it's as exciting as any Avengers flick—hell, it even features Robert Downey Jr giving his career best!

#1. Barbie

Director: Greta Gerwig

Starring: Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, America Ferrera

This may surprise people since I don't include many comedies on these lists nor box office juggernauts; if you look back at my last two #1s, you'll understand. But, Barbie isn’t just a cultural phenomenon, it’s truly an extraordinary film. It says a lot about writer/director Greta Gerwig that my favourite movie of the year isn't even my favourite movie she's made. It also says a lot that she's turned a plastic doll into a coherent and wildly entertaining feature length story with sympathetic characters and profound themes, whose opening sequence alone defies expectations of what this film could be.

Possessing otherworldly beauty and exceptional acting skills, Margot Robbie is a no-brainer for the role of Stereotypical Barbie who lives in a hot pink utopian society where the Barbies, composed of various races, body types and gender identities, hold all positions of power while the Kens, including a priceless Ryan Gosling as Beach Ken, chill at the beach and try to woo the ladies. This occurs on a meticulously constructed set, built on a solid foundation of whimsy and completed mostly with stunning practical effects in place of tempting CGI, resembling a colourful diorama, at once fantastical and tactile just like the toys that inspired it. However, Barbie's sudden preoccupations with mortality lead her on a quest into the real world to find the girl who's controlling her and it’s around this point when the story shows it has more on its mind than just brand promotion, exploring a myriad of social issues with the same fervor used to entertain. Without tying up everything in a neat package, Gerwig's story has feminist underpinnings but a kind that is sympathetic to male struggles as well, even though the patriarchy and bro culture are rightly judged via the impressionable air head, Ken. There's even an admirable amount of criticism toward Mattel. We’re not only treated to hilarious, candy-coated entertainment but a smart film for adults that kids will also enjoy and whose insight will benefit both.

At the center is Robbie, whose role is deceptively complex, requiring an actor with more than just beauty to be at once effervescent and existentially preoccupied. Both her performance and the story are capped off with one final word that recalls—fittingly—the final word uttered by Nicole Kidman in Eyes Wide Shut, appropriate considering Barbie begins with an explicit reference to another Stanley Kubrick masterpiece. It’s a word that Robbie announces with aplomb when it would otherwise be whispered with embarrassment; a word she wields like a weapon, charging forward into a new life in the name of unapologetic femininity.

#top 10 films 2023 #2023 #movie review #movie list

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