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.

Top Ten Films of 2022

Honorable Mentions: Cyrano (a touching adaptation with a great performance from Peter Dinklage); Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (the first MCU horror film and the best MCU of the year with Sam Raimi at his Raimiest); The Fabelmans (an uneven cinematic memoir with some nevertheless great moments); Father Stu (the best and edgiest faith-based film of the year); Hustle (a funny and inspiring sports film with another impressive performance from Adam Sandler); The Menu (a genre film masquerading as social commentary that stumbles at the end but still delivers some tension); The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (wild, manic, and utterly enjoyable)

10. Prey

This straight-to-Hulu addition to the Predator film universe really deserved a theatrical release, because it was a crazy fun time at the movies, albeit in front of the television. Set on the American plains in the early 1700’s, Prey focuses on a young Comanche girl (and her dog) as she battles the strange arrival of the now-legendary alien hunter. The first film to have a full Comanche dub — and you should watch it in that language with English subtitles for the full effect — this unabashed popcorn flick is really sharp.

9. Amsterdam

Generally panned by critics and ignored by audiences, David O. Russell’s latest film stars Christian Bale, Margot Robbie, and John David Washington as unlikely (but close) friends navigating a complex political conspiracy in 1933 New York. Loosely based on a true story, Amsterdam seemed to scare off audiences with its bewildering plot and off-kilter characterization. But for all its “kookiness,” it’s actually a very sweet movie about friendship and the power of kindness. I liked it precisely for its being different.

8. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

For some reason, it’s fashionable among the social media conservatives to hate this movie, but I have no idea why. As social commentary, it’s a pretty evenhanded indictment of all kinds. But who cares about all that? Rian Johnson has delivered another clever, twisty puzzle-story with solutions right in front of you and just out of reach. Just when you think it’s going one direction, it doubles back and funhouse mirrors your whole understanding. More, please.

7. Top Gun: Maverick

I would not have guessed before I saw this movie that it would even be near my Top Ten for the year, but Tom Cruise’s patience paid off, as he’s brought us perhaps the best pure genre movie in years. Somehow managing to capitalize on the nostalgia of the (in Hollywood years) now ancient original while not getting mired in it, the new Top Gun is wall-to-wall entertaining.

6. Sr.

Robert Downey, Jr.’s gentle and insightful tribute to his ailing father, a legend of outsider filmmaking, is deeper than it seems and rather affecting. With sober (but non-bitter) acknowledgment of the elder Downey’s flaws as a father — and the impact of his lifestyle on the younger Downey’s own drug and criminal troubles — this film is less about Sr.’s greatness and more about Jr.’s graciousness. I was moved.

5. Everything Everywhere All at Once

Yes, it’s a very flawed movie — especially in its final “message” — and it’s definitely 20 minutes too long, but EEAaO is probably the most uniquely frenetic thing you could see at the movies last year. Ke Huy Quan’s comeback is something to relish, as his performance transcends Gen-X nostalgia; he gives a heartbreaking, transcendent performance. Michelle Yeoh is great too. Just some bananas stuff in this film that made it outshine so many other works.

4. All Quiet on the Western Front

This painstaking, riveting adaptation of the classic German novel on the horrors of WWI is a difficult watch and a haunting one. I couldn’t look away. It is terrifying, maddening, at times very moving, and in the end, a deeply resonant reflection on the hopelessness of war.

3. Living

Bill Nighy’s performance as an aging British bureaucrat who discovers he is dying of cancer is marvelous. I’ve never seen the normally over-the-top comedic Nighy like this. An adaptation of Kurosawa’s film Ikiiru, Living is the first movie in years to bring a tear to my eye. Just a gentle, lovely film about a very sad thing.

2. The Banshees of Inisherin

What’s it really about? Who knows. The incomprehensibility of war? The fragility of friendship? The insanity of artistry? All of the above? All I know is all the performances are stellar, the story is rich, and the end result is the kind of thing that keeps echoing in the memory and in the emotions. Farrell deserves the Best Actor Oscar for his performance, as likely does Barry Keoghan for Best Supporting Actor.

1. Nope

Jordan Peele’s challenging sci-fi/psychological terror is, I think, ultimately about American consumption of media, but even moreso about media’s consumption of us. There are so many layers to this deceptively complex UFO tale, including the racist history of Hollywood, the enduring desire for fame, the Ahab-like obsessions of cinematic gurus, and the cannibalizing effects of pop culture. It’s also just a crazy fun time at the movies. I saw it three times in the theater and would love to talk your ear off about the monkey, the shoe, the “impossible shot,” etc.