Another year of entertainment has come and gone so it’s time to look back at some of the very best that it had to offer. It’s been a wild and chaotic year for Hollywood and Cinema in general! From the near-year long strikes to financial bomb after financial bomb, there was a lot of negativity to take in with movies this year. However, despite all of that madness, there were still plenty of greatness that 2023 was able to offer with cinema! That’s why it’s now time to share my picks for the top ten best films of 2023 (that I actually saw)!
A few disclaimers is that I did not see EVERY film I wanted to see by the end of the year. These include films that have gotten rave reviews from critics and audiences such as Poor Things, The Iron Claw, Maestro, American Fiction, The Color Purple, and The First Slam Dunk. I’ll see them whenever I can but I couldn’t see them on time for this list. Perhaps in the future, I’ll make an updated list of the best films of 2023 and I might include them once I see them. But for now, just know that I couldn’t see every critically darling to come out in 2023.
As per usual, I will start off the lists of my typical unqualifiable mention and my special mention.
Unqualifiable Mention:
Rebel Moon- Part One: A Child of Fire
Ngl, I probably shouldn’t have this on here because I honestly don’t see this being a cult classic outside of the hardcore Zack Snyder fanbase, even when the Snyder Cut and Part 2 comes out. However, if there’s one thing I’ve learned when it comes to movies is to NEVER underestimate the sci-fi genre! There is plenty of interesting concepts and exciting moments throughout Rebel Moon. The visuals are as good as they can be for a Zack Snyder film, the worldbuilding while familiar is intriguing, the action is pretty damn solid throughout, and Sofia Boutella is awesome as Kora, the most compelling character in the whole film. It’s just a shame that it can’t escape the trappings of most theater cuts from Zack Snyder where a good chunk of it is left on the cutting room floor.
Even so, I still couldn’t help but be intrigued by Rebel Moon- Part One: A Child of Fire despite it’s major flaws. Maybe it’s because I’m just a sucker of the sci-fi genre and I’ll always just take whatever I can get with them. It lives rent free in it’s own sandbox and throws so many different ideas on the screen that it’s near impossible to be bored by it. I don’t know if this will gain any sort of recognition once time have had it’s day with it but in this case, I feel Rebel Moon is worth a mention.
Special Mention:
The Super Mario Bros Movie
Acting as the highest grossing animated film of 2023, The Super Mario Bros. Movie is the one video game movie that feels like it was 100% ripped straight from the games in terms of it’s animation, style, world building, and amount of fan service throughout. It even works quite well as a simple story of a complete zero turning into a complete hero along with the importance of brotherhood. It’s just so much fun seeing characters such as Mario, Princess Peach, Donkey Kong, and Toad kicking butt together on the big screen for the first time ever. Not even the common tropes from Illumination Animation that brought down their prior movies such as an obvious celebrity heavy voice cast and awkwardly inserted song tracks are able to bring this one down, which likely has to do with Nintendo’s influence. I don’t know how I would feel about this movie if I wasn’t a Mario but since I am, I couldn’t help but be very satisfied with this movie.
And now here are the honorable mentions (in no particular order):
- M3GAN
- Missing
- Creed III
- Air
- Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
- Evil Dead Rise
- Suzume
- Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret?
- Elemental
- Nimona
- Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning- Part 1
- They Cloned Tyrone
- Bottoms
- The Holdovers
- The Boy and the Heron
And now, onto the main top 10!
10.) Barbie
The highest grossing film of the year was also one of the year’s best! What easily could have been a by-the-numbers flick for little girls that would have been better off going straight to streaming, Greta Gerwig decides to go beyond that and craft a film about traditional gender roles, identity, and why there should be a proper balance between the matriarchy and patriarchy. Barbie is as clever, funny, and creative as you could expected given the talent involved, with Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling being a match made in heaven as Barbie and Ken respectively. The world-building is as strong as it could possibly be with a movie surrounding a toy brand that everyone is aware off, each cast member are clearly having the time of their lives, the soundtrack is one you are likely gonna have stuck in your head as soon as you leave the theater, and it feels so refreshing to see a new summer blockbuster that seems to have to same love and passion it does from both in front and behind the camera. It doesn’t all work 100% and there will certainly be plenty of folks that will take issue with the way it handles it’s themes and messages but for the most part, Greta Gerwig is able to make lightning strike a third time in a row and has made herself a new name to look out for. If you’re a woman, you probably already saw this movie and love it. And heck, even if you are a man, watch it yourself and you’ll probably have a good time as well!
9.) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem
Of all the feature films that have we have gotten so far involving the TMNT brand, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem is probably the movie that has gotten the most things right, aside from the 1990 original. While the animation and art style does take obvious inspiration from Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, it’s able to learn the right lessons from it by creating exciting set pieces and inventive visual storytelling. It looks amazing, the turtles themselves are all well-utilized, bounce off each other perfectly and actually FEEL like teenagers, the story feels fresh yet faithful to the turtles themselves, the score is absolutely killer, the action is a lot of fun to sit through, and it’s able to exist in it’s own sandbox as being the kind of thing that can stand proudly on it’s own two feet along with being among the best of what the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have offered throughout their history. While I won’t go as far to say that it’s a perfect film in it’s own rights, it’s certainly a perfect TMNT film and one that will likely be the one to get a new generation into this successful running franchise. And if the next film and the new 2D series that’s in the works is as good as Mutant Mayhem, then this next wave of TMNT fans will have plenty to be spoiled by!
8.) Godzilla: Minus One
Perhaps the most surprisingly film to come out in 2023. Who would’ve thought that after so many different Godzilla incarnations over several decades that the character and brand can still find new ways to craft great motion pictures? Godzilla: Minus One not only makes for an instant kaiju movie classic but it’s perhaps the best the character has been on screen since 1954 original. It’s able to pull off that perfect balance of offering exciting Godzilla action and a compelling story with human characters you actually care about, the aspects that many recent Godzilla films have failed SPECTACULARLY at! Even when Godzilla isn’t on screen, you don’t mind as much because of how compelling our main human lead is in Ryunosuke Kamiki’s Kōichi Shikishima. The visual effects are excellent, the sound design is off the charts, and the third act is so tense that it will have you on the edge of your seat. I have a few nitpicks that keeps this from being higher on the list (mostly the detour between the end of the second act and beginning of the climax that dragged for me) but this is DAMN good cinema regardless of those gripes! Between this film, the Monarch: Legacy of Monsters series, and the upcoming Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire movie next year, Godzilla fans have a LOT to look forward to in the future!
7.) Killers of the Flower Moon
Killers of the Flower Moon is once again another winner from the great Martin Scorsese. It’s an exceptionally well crafted and brilliantly acted picture that goes to show why Martin might just be the best when it comes to making these kind of period pieces. It’s as every bit of gripping, emotional, and impeccable as you heard, the 3.5 hour longtime while excessive is put to good use, and it’s another reminder why films like this are worth experiencing on the biggest of screens possible. And Lily Gladstone MORE than deserves that Oscar for Best Supporting Actress! I don’t know where this ranks among his very best but it’s certainly a film that will leave an impact on you, one way or the other. As we reach Scorsese’s final chapter of his 80-year old life, this plays out as the proper beginning of the end of one of our finest filmmakers who has ever lived. Because of that, it’s best to enjoy Scorsese pictures as much as we can while the man is still breathing! Let’s do that and STOP asking the man of his opinions on Marvel movies! Please and thank you!
6.) Talk To Me
No horror film this year was able to impact me and hit me harder than Talk To Me. This is a thrilling and frightening tale about a group of friends led by Sophie Wilde’s Mia that uses an embalmed hand as a way to talk to the dead, taking the cast on a wild journey that makes them connect to spirits in ways they would never imagine and will soon learn to regret. It’s able to take it’s genius horror premise and does just about everything you possibly can with it, creating haunting visuals and imagery that is guarantee to stick with plenty of horror fans alike. The story is gripping, the set pieces are incredibly inventive, the scares are absolutely heart-racing, the tension is felt in every second of the runtime, and the visuals metaphors still live rent free in my head to this day. A24 is certainly not the most mainstream friendly studio out there but when they deliver, they deliver HARD! So hard that even the mainstream audience that give their films a F ranking on CinemaScore have to appreciate it! Talk To Me doesn’t just stand as my favorite horror film of the year but I wouldn’t be surprised if I was able to make room for it on my favorite films of the year period. Just superb entertainment all around!
5.) John Wick: Chapter 4
John Wick: Chapter 4 is an exceptional achievement of not just the John Wick franchise but for the action genre in general. Not since The Raid movies has there been a series of action films that dares to go as big, bold, and as over-the-top as this film does. Yes, the action has never been better choregraphed and executed than it has been here. Yes, the cinematography and pure scope have never looked and felt better than it does here. Yes, just about every noteworthy person in the cast get a moment to shine and scenes that stand out so well you can’t wait until someone uploads them to YouTube. Yes, the near three-hour runtime does not feel daunting in any way. Working perfectly as John Wick himself getting pushed beyond his reasonable measures along with director Chad Stahelski and crew of pushing themselves to make the most unbelievable and badass film imaginable. Even if Chapter 4 does bring a logical stopping point to John Wick’s story, it leaves plenty of room of other characters in the series to have their stories to continue if anyone wants to go that route. I’m not one that likes to claim when a movie is “perfect” but when it comes to John Wick: Chapter 4 and is able to deliver the goods with an absolute bullet point, it’s hard to bring up any flaws that bring the experience down.
4.) Past Lives
Past Lives makes for a beautiful and touching tale about two friends, separated as children, being reunited as they confront destiny, their love for one another, and the choices they have made throughout the entire life. It’s a deep exploration of the connections we have with ourselves and the ones we care about along with our struggles that helps us define who we are. It’s about two dear friends that went their separate ways but might have an urge to try to relief the good old days in the here and now. It’s perfectly directed, beautifully acted, thematically relevant, emotionally engaging, and uses it’s slow-burn pacing to it’s absolute full potential. It’s a film where it’s ideas within the narrative are executed about as perfect as it could get. Even in an age where certain folks seem to decry the idea of films having important messages, Past Lives is a reminder why we need films like that, films that teaches us the true meaning of life and why we shouldn’t take or the ones we love for granted. If this is not a least nominated for Best Picture, then the Academy Awards can simply suck it. Give Greta Lee the Oscar right now!
3.) Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is able to successfully hit all the beats it needs to give fans and audiences a very satisfying ending to it’s trilogy of what is perhaps the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s most surprising and consistently great franchise, along with showing how Marvel can still find ways to deliver quality entertainment, even when it might seem like they’ve reached their limits. It’s able to be funny, dark, sad, engaging, and deliver the highest and most personal stakes of all the three Guardians films that helps make it stand out as possibly the very best in trilogy. I don’t think there was a scene that was as heartbreaking as Rocket watching his friends die right in front of him or as thrilling when the Guardians got together for that one kick-ass action scene with No Sleep ‘Til Brooklyn playing. I don’t know what the future holds for the MCU or what awaits for the team members that are still around to fight galactic wars but in the case of this movie, I don’t really care. All Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 needed to do for me was to deliver a conclusion that felt definite, right and satisfying all the same. And on those terms, it was no doubt able to deliver a famously huge third (Pun entirely intended!) I’m glad James Gunn was able to end his run with Marvel on a high note and leave me awaiting his future with DC. A fitting farewell to these lovable a-holes!
2.) Oppenheimer
To be honest, if were going by pure objective quality, this would probably be the very best film of the year for me. Oppenheimer is yet another masterfully made and directed film by the great Christopher Nolan himself, perhaps his biggest cinematic achievement to date. It’s able to tell exactly the kind of sprawling epic story that it aspires to be by acting as a character study first and a biopic second of the infamous man of J. Robert Oppenheimer himself. Every single member of it’s highly recognizable cast is able to completely disappear into their roles and captured their performances perfectly (RDJ better get that Oscar!), it does a great job of exploring the man of J. Robert Oppenheimer (played perfectly by Cillian Murphy) as not just “the destroyer of worlds” but as an impactful flawed man himself, the three hour runtime is put to near perfect use, the score is absolutely riveting and will haunt you in the best of ways, and is able to deliver fully on the theater experience in ways that no other filmmaker than Nolan can do. Even if this is Nolan going for his Oscar, he’s able to do it in such a perfect and organic way that it feels more earnest than forced (Take notes, Alejandro González Iñárritu!). While it’s not quite my favorite film from Nolan (Inception and The Dark Knight will always be very hard to top for me!), this might just be his most important one to date, showcasing why Christopher Nolan will always be a name to attract a mass audience. ! Speaking as someone that was underwhelmed by Dunkirk and Tenet, Oppenheimer is a glorious return to form for Christopher Nolan and perhaps might just be objectively the best film of 2023!
1.) Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
But yeah, this was still my favorite one of the year! Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse shows that the Spider-Verse could in fact make lightning strike twice! Everyone involved with the making of this movie wanted to take everything to the next level without holding anything back and they are able to exceed greatly with a sequel that manages to be as good as Into the Spider-Verse and in some ways, even better. The animation might be the very best I’ve ever seen in any film, the entire cast is perfect with everyone feeling like they are absolutely in LOVE with their roles, Miles and Gwen are some of the most best, engaging, and most layered protagonists in any comic book film, the themes and morals of the story still resonate and fits the core elements of Spider-Man perfectly, and there’s plenty of well earned fan service throughout that never gets in the way of the main central storyline. There has not been a film this year I’ve rewatched more than Across the Spider-Verse and I will certainly continue to do so in the future. While it does end on an obvious cliffhanger, it will no doubt make anyone excited to see how they will wrap up the story in the third and final installment. This is the kind of film that not only proves that superhero films are still important (even after the year the subgenre as had) but animation is as important as well! Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is my favorite film of 2023 and one of my favorite superhero movies of all time period! Bring on Beyond the Spider-Verse!
Also, to Phil Lord, Chris Miller, and the those at Sony Animation, PLEASE treat your animators right this time! Don’t put them through hell like you did with Across the Spider-Verse! We all can wait and be patience if it has to take a few more years for the next film to come out! Let’s not encourage crunch culture any longer and make sure the animators are treated with respect next time around! Please and thank you!
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