Ryan's Top 12 Films of 2023
Honorable Mentions
Past Lives
Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem
May December
Peter Pan and Wendy
Renfield
Evil Dead Rise
Batman: The Doom That Came to Gotham
Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
John Wick 4
Movies I Couldn’t Get To But Would Like to Watch in 2024
Basically some movies are either still in theaters or just came on streaming that I didn’t get to watch in time before the end of the year but will hopefully see in January or February
Napoleon
The Iron Claw
Dream Scenario
Maestro
Poor Things
Ferrari
Saltburn
The Holdover
Anatomy of a Fall
Beau is Afraid
All of Us Strangers
Talk to Me
Finally! The Actual Top 12 List
12. Nimona - This was an animated movie that was quietly released earlier this year on Netflix. Originally produced by Blue Sky, a subsidiary of 20th Century Fox, but was shelved mid-production thanks to the Disney/ Fox merger. Thankfully, in a rare cool move by Netflix, they paid for the rest of the movie to be made and to release it on their streaming service. I didn’t get around to watching this until around November this year but this movie stood out from a lot of other animated movies this year as it dealt with actual subjects bigger studios would shy away from like LGBT romance, self-loathing, etc. The story and the art style were so refreshing. Hopefully, people start to discover this movie in the next few years.
11. Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One - These movies have started to become the joke that this is where we will see Tom Cruise kill himself on screen one day but besides that running joke these are the few franchises that I think will stand the test to time, maybe even more so that Indiana Jones or Fast and Furious. While this latest chapter wasn’t the best, it showed again why we need movies in this style. Not because it’s the smartest version of an action movie but because it still shows what stakes are like in big action movies and what putting your heart into making a product this massive but still the care shines through from Tom Cruise and the rest of the crew and cast.
10. Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3 - While almost every other “superhero” movie this year seemed to stumble both financially and critically, GOTG 3 seems like it got in under the wire before we got tired of this genre completely. It helps that James Gunn wanted to finish the story he created almost 10 years ago with these characters correctly and without the burden of the rest of the MCU. The music, the acting the story, and the characters popped so much more than any other MCU movie in the past 4 years and it was an ending we were all waiting for and deserved.
9. Blackberry - There was some discourse this year that we were starting to get too many of the “Corporate Origin” movies the past couple of years. This year alone we saw “Air” and “Tetris”, both movies I skipped seemed fine but uninterested in the overall story they were trying to tell. Blackberry is a product I give 0% about but this movie was all the more captivating. Jay Baruchel and Glenn Howerton lead the cast and give amazing performances. They are both hilarious, as they usually are, but the characters are nuanced and unique as well. It may be a case of the larger public knowing where the story ends but the performances make everything worthwhile.
8. Asteroid City - 2023 is a year where we not only got a feature-length film from Wes Anderson but also 4 Roald Dahl shorts on Netflix, so Andersons are eating well this year. I wasn’t a huge fan of his last movie “The French Dispatch” as I thought it seemed like he was becoming the parody of himself that some people always assumed he was. Thankfully, Asteroid City was a good return to form. While quirky and off-putting as usual for some, this had such a fun and odd story yet plenty of heart that we’ve come to know from lots of Wes Anderson’s movies.
7. Godzilla Minus One - “Minus One! So there’s less than a Godzilla in this movie?” said my wife as I explained to her the title of the latest Japanese Godzilla that came out this year. Despite the confusing title, this Godzilla movie does indeed have at least one Godzilla in it, and does he/they/it pack a punch?! Not only are the action scenes involving the titular Godzilla incredible and realistic, but the scenes involving the puny humans are heartwarming and life-affirming as well.
6. Barbie - The first half of the summer phenomenon “Barbenheimer” that rejuvenated theaters, “Barbie” surpassed all expectations on what a movie based on a 50+ year old doll people thought could be like. Not only did the movie have lots of Pink but lots and lots of humor, touching moments, and beautiful insights into culture.
5. The Boy and the Heron - This is the latest in a long line of masterpieces from creator Hayao Miyazaki, director of “Spirited Away” and “Princess Mononoke”. Much like “Spirited Away”, this is another story that seemingly blends real life with a fantastical world of fantasy, forcing the viewer to ask what is real and what may be in a dreamscape. The less said about the plot the better, best for everyone to go in blind and see what the world has to offer themselves.
4. The Killer - David Fincher teaming up with one of my favorite actors, Michael Fassbender, was always destined to make an all-time classic, in my opinion. Although a little bit of a different movie than people expected, it still showed off Fincher’s precise filmmaking talents and Fassbender’s control as a dramatic actor.
3. Oppenheimer - The second half of the greatest marketing trick of the summer, “Barbenheimer”. Honestly, a biopic about the person who created the atomic bomb during World War 2 isn’t something that would have my utmost attention but knowing the lengths director Christopher Nolan would go to tell this story, made me want to go opening day. Nolan handles this delicate story with care but also adds great suspense even in scenes you would not expect to have any.
2. Killers of the Flower Moon - The modern king of cinema, Martin Scorsese, is starting to get up there in age but he isn’t letting that slow him down in creating one of the greatest movies this year and of his career. While others his age tend to slow down or refuse to change their ways, Scorsese proves that he is always learning and wanting to tell stories that not only affect him but he knows needs to be told to a wider audience.
1. Spider-man: Across the Spider-verse - I give this list a lot of thought every year. It’s not the most important thing I need to do but it is something I find fulfilling and fun so I tell myself I need to be as honest as possible. Although there may be arguably better movies made this year and on this list, I had to give the latest Spider-verse movie the top spot on the list. A movie with its flaws, especially near the end but nevertheless an amazing time and one of the greatest Spider-man movies ever made, let alone one of the best superhero movies ever made.
For more information on Movies I liked and disliked this year, check out my LetterBoxd account at https://letterboxd.com/Elscorcho177