It’s that time of year again – the 96th Academy Awards are tonight! The celebration of films from 2023 is anticipated to bring more excitement and viewership than previous years, thanks in part to “Barbenheimer”, the internet sensation around Saltburn, and the animated Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. 2023 had movies from acclaimed directors, such as Greta Gerwig (she should have been nominated), Christopher Nolan, Ridley Scott, Ben Affleck, Paul King, Yorgos Lanthimos, and Martin Scorsese, just to name a few. The acting category is likewise stacked, with performances from Emma Stone, Bradley Cooper, Robert De Niro, Lily Gladstone, Colman Domingo, Jeffrey Wright, Leonardo DiCaprio, Margot Robbie, Cillian Murphy, Paul Giamatti, Robert Downey Jr., and Da’Vine Joy Randolph.
I saw 113 movies, documentaries, and shorts in 2023 so here’s my Top 10 List!
(If you’re curious, I posted which nomination I believe WILL win each category here and which ones I think SHOULD win here).
But first, let’s look at all the movies I saw that are not included in my Top 10 or Honorable Mentions (64):
80 For Brady; Anatomy of a Fall (France); Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantomania; Anyone But You; Asteroid City; Bama Rush; Barbie; A Beautiful Life (Denmark); Bird Box: Barcelona (Spain); Blood & Gold (Germany); Boston Strangler; Bottoms; The Boy and the Heron (Japan); Champions; Clock; Cocaine Bear; El Conde (Chile); The Covenant; The Creator; Dream (South Korea); Dumb Money; Extraction 2; Flora and Son; Ghosted; A Good Person; Haunted Mansion; A Haunting in Venice; Heart of Stone; The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes; Hypnotic; Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny; Kandahar; Knock at the Cabin; The Last Voyage of the Demeter; The Machine; Maestro; May September; Midnight Run; Mrs. Chatterjee Vs Norway (India); Nimona; No Hard Feelings; The Nun 2; Once Upon A Studio; Pain Hustlers; Past Lives; Peter Pan & Wendy; Polite Society; Pricilla; The Rat Catcher; Reality; Reble Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire; Renfield; She Came To Me; Stephen Curry: Underrated; Strays; The Super Mario Bros. Movie; The Swan; Tetris; Transformers: Rise of the Beasts; Unknown: Killer Robots; Unknown: The Lost Pyramid; Untold: Johnny Football; Wish; The Zone of Interest.
Movies I wish I would have seen (17):
A Thousand and One; Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret; Ballerina (South Korea); The Boys in the Boat; Blackberry; The Expendables 4; Forgotten Love (Poland); John Wick Chapter 4; Lee; Luxembourg, Luxembourg (Ukraine); Scrapper; Sisu (Finland); Society of the Snow (Chile); Strange Way of Life; The Taste of Things (France); The Three Musketeers: D’Artagnan (France); Toxic Avenger.
The Worst Movie of 2023:
Skinamarink – I’ve never included my worst movie of the year, but this movie was so bad it’s in a league of its own. Imagine the worst movie you’ve ever seen. Now imagine dying and being forced to watch that movie on repeat for an eternity in hell while sitting next to Elon Musk explaining why he’s actually a nice guy. That experience is still better than spending 15 minutes watching Skinamarink and yet I stayed in the theater watching all 100 minutes because I like ~cinema~
Honorable Mentions (38):
20 Days in Mariupol (Ukraine); The ABCs of Book Banning; Air; AKA (France); American Fiction; BS High; Creed 3; David Holmes: The Boy Who Lived; The Deepest Breath; Dream Scenario; The Color Purple; Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves; Eileen; Elemental; The Exorcist: Believer; Ferrari; Flash; Godzilla Minus One (Japan); Kelce; The Killer; Killers of the Flower Moon; The Last Kingdom: Seven kings Must Die; Leave the World Behind; The Marvels; Mixed By Erry (Italy); Napolean; No One Will Save You; Ordinary Men: The “Forgotten Holocaust (Germany); Poison; Scream 6; Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie; Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour; Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem; They Cloned Tyrone; Totally Killer; Unknown: Cave of Bones; Unknown: Cosmic Time Machine; The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar.
Now the Top 10!
10. The Iron Claw
Well, this may be the biggest movie surprise for me in 2023. The Iron Claw is emotional and raw – beautiful, and yet tragic. Zac Efron and the entire cast are phenomenal and their portrayal of the real-life professional wrestling Von Erich family deserved numerous Oscar nominations. Each scene is powerful and the grief this family experienced is conveyed at every level of the filmmaking process. The Iron Claw is the type of movie you don’t easily forget and one in which you may not need to watch is again, it’s that powerful. Make sure you bring some tissues when you watch as there were no dry eyes in my theater.
9. Saltburn
What even was this movie?! Whatever it was, it was nothing short of memorable. Saltburn has such a unique plot, intriguing characters, and takes so many twists and turns I didn’t know where we would end up. It’s no wonder the Saltburn discourse on social media exploded and TikTok videos swarmed my For You page. There’re numerous shocking scenes with each moment deserving its own analysis. As always, Barry Keoghan is absolutely brilliant as the lead actor, proving once again that he should earn several acting awards in his career. But whatever you do, it’s probably a bad idea to watch this movie with your parents…
8. Voleuses (Wingwomen) (France)
I can’t believe a French movie is on my Top 10 List But in seriousness, this is a great well-balanced action-comedy that doesn’t have the over-the-top action or comedy that plagues this genre. At its core, it is a beautiful story of female friendship that incorporates a fun plot and interesting characters. The best comparison I can provide is a mix of Ocean’s 11 and Charlie’s Angles, but I’m not sure that does this film justice. I was impressed from start to finish, wanting more yet satisfied with a complete story. Mélanie Laurent proved her skills as a director, writer, and actress and I’m excited to see her next projects!
7. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Once again this Spider-Man series doesn’t disappoint. Just like the first film of the series, the animation style is beautiful and by far the most impressive feature of the movie. But that’s not to discredit the other aspects of filmmaking. The camera shots and cinematography are excellent and showcase the immense talents of the filmmakers. Sequels generally disappoint audiences for a lack of vision or a repeat of plot points. Thankfully, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse tells an interesting story that and kept me guessing from scene to scene and the comedic moments cannot be overlooked. The third installment has enormous standards to maintain and surpass.
6. The Holdovers
The Holdovers is an absolute delight to watch. It’s rare to watch a film and instantly think it’s worthy to be rewatched every Christmas, but The Holdovers delivers on this notion with every scene. More movies should simply be set at Christmastime. The movie is incredibly well-written with a moving and relatable plot many viewers will appreciate. The Oscar-worthy acting performances by all three leads is a much-needed refresher in Hollywood that generally sees studios turn to investing more into CGI than well-made and acted dramas. Paul Giamatti proves again that he is an exceptional actor that may win the Academy Award. Likewise, Da’Vine Joy Randolph delivers an unforgettable supporting actress performance that will probably and deservingly win her an award tonight. Dominic Sessa also gives a brilliant performance made even more impressive as this is his first movie role.
5. Wonka
Wonka is delightful and exactly what it should be. The music is fun, the sound mixing is excellent (you can actually hear individual words instead of overpowering instruments), and everything from the sets to the costumes from director Paul King is wonderful. Timothée Chalamet was the absolute perfect casting choice. Seriously, this is such a great movie and a great musical that I am honestly surprised how much I enjoyed it. I’ve been singing along to the soundtrack for weeks which further increases my request to Hollywood executives for more musicals to be released. Wonka reminded me of the first season of Ted Lasso, it’s really just a good movie and who wouldn’t love Hugh Grant as an Oompa Loompa.
4. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
A perfect and deserving ending for the Guardians. I understand the Marvel Cinematic Universe has generally disappointed fans the last few years and that criticism is not unfounded, but this last entry of the fan-favorite superhero team from director James Gunn makes us forget our grievances. Vol. 3 is everything we love about the franchise that delivers such an emotional conclusion. Concluding superhero stories is a tough task and doing it with such high expectations is even more difficult. I’m so glad Vol. 3 pulled it off and left a legacy as a remarkable ending. Vol. 3 gave us some of the best character arcs in the MCU, well-timed humor, unforgettable action sequences, and a love for characters that only 10 years ago most people never knew existed. I’m sad to see the end of the Guardians but so glad we were along for the ride.
3. Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning
I knew this latest installment in the Mission Impossible franchise would be good, but this exceeded my expectations. I understand franchises that span almost 30 years experience a decline in quality and audiences grow annoyed that original ideas from Hollywood seem like a forgotten art. I generally agree with this sentiment, but Mission Impossible is an outlier, delivering successful film after successful film. Dead Reckoning continues that rarity and takes a great franchise to the next level from start to the very end. It’s tough to find a fault in the movie as the plot, performances, characters, and action are all superb. Like him or not, Tom Cruise knows how to make good movies and deliver moments audiences love. I know I’m not the only one excited to see the next installment of the franchise.
2. Poor Things
I was initially very excited for Poor Things and to see director Yorgos Lanthimos and actress Emma Stone reunite (The Favourite from 2018 was my top movie), but after the first trailer released, I was concerned the film would be a bit too weird or artistic for my taste. Fortunately, I had no need to be worried as I was dead wrong. Poor Things is fantastic and Emma Stone is phenomenal, possibly her best work yet and clearly excellent enough to possibly earn Stone her second Oscar. Everything about the film was fantastic – the cinematography and musical score were amazing, and the writing was brilliant. It’s easy to see the love the filmmakers had for this movie as Poor Things is truly unique.
1. Oppenheimer
It’s really no surprise that Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer would be my top movie from 2023. Based on the book, American Prometheus, the story of Robert Oppenheimer, also known as the “Father of the Atomic Bomb”, was always sure to be memorable, but the hype around Oppenheimer (and Barbie) created something special and unlike anything us film lovers have seen in pop culture. Thankfully the hype was deserving, having already won numerous awards and expected to win a few Oscars. Cillian Murphy was the perfect casting decision, as well as Robert Downey Jr., both of which are expected to win awards tonight. The film is compelling, well-written, and thought-provoking. Like all of Nolan’s films, the manner in which he tells his stories are distinct and accomplishes his vision to create exceptional movies that challenge traditional storytelling.
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