A Best Of 2023 List in Defiance of Joe Russo
or: "Bird App Man (or The Unexpected Virtue Of Ignorance)"
Howdy folks
I hadn’t planned on doing a top ten list this year. To be honest I was kinda feeling a little bit dissatisfied with my film watching. I felt like I missed too many new releases to really be able make a definitive list. Part of that is just down to the release schedule and my own quirk of preferring to keep in line with the Oscars’ definition of release year which naturally excludes a few films which just haven’t been released here in Ireland yet. As such, films like Poor Things, The Holdovers, All Of Us Strangers and The Iron Claw won’t be represented here.
I also just feel like I haven’t been quite on top of things as I usually am, there’s still a fair few 2023 releases I just haven’t gotten around to seeing yet. This includes Passages, Enys Men, Ferrari, Priscilla, Perfect Days, Infinity Pool and a whole lot more.
So, you might ask, why put together a top ten list at all? I have after all just admitted to having a far from complete stock from which to make my selection. Is the entire point of a top ten list not that it comes from a place of authority? Of certainty?
Well, if you’ve been hanging around Film Twitter this holiday season you probably know where this is going. A man over there by the name of Joe Russo (no, not that one) has been making waves for his inflammatory tweets on the topic of year end lists. His first wading into these turbulent waters came on December 27th when he posted that anyone making a Best Movies Of 2023 list and excluding Godzilla Minus One either a) had not seen enough movies to make a valid list or b) was too dumb to understand why Godzilla Minus One was “one of the best movies of the decade”.
The following day Russo doubled down on his snobbish pontificating and offered some tips on the subject of Year End Movie Lists. These were as follows, 1) a best of list is not valid unless the critic has seen every movie released that year, otherwise it is merely their favourite movies, 2) Don’t post your own movies (it’s tacky) and 3) Worst Of lists are not “helpful criticism” and reviewers would be better off “lifting up movies” instead.
He later went on to provide very helpful dictionary definitions of the words “best” and “favourite” just in case there was any confusion there. Unfortunately it appears a definition of the word “subjective” was not on hand.
I found Russo’s holier-than-thou, arrogant declarations not only grating but deeply childish. So, being the mature grown up boy I am, I figured I should put together my own 2023 list afterall, defying every one of his “tips” in the process. Here now are my Best and Worst films of 2023.
THE 3 WORST MOVIES OF 2023
This section of the essay is dedicated to “unhelpful” criticism, making movies is really hard and as such viewers should be content with the content they get! Why ask for more? Why spread word of bad movies? Why provide a public service and potentially save someone from some misspent time? Why not just trust the well-heeled money holders and distributors to amplify the best product? I mean, The Flash was one of 2023’s most heavily marketed and buzzed about films, it surely stands to logic that it is good, right? I mean I can only judge it based on its many billboards and trailers as well as that strange endorsement from Tom Cruise. Discounting all the mean spirited criticism, it must surely be a good time, I had better check it out!
3. The Flash
Nope. It’s bad. God awful even. The Flash is an uncanny pile of CGI gunk with almost no redeeming qualities (Sasha Calle as Supergirl innocent). A more thorough review would delve into the film's many mishaps including rubbery action scenes, a fundamental misunderstanding of many of the core characters, a juvenile sense of humour and an almost morbid parade of digitally puppeteered cameos. But frankly it is suffice to say The Flash is one of the worst movies of 2023. Let’s leave it at that.
2. You People
Eddie Murphy. Every time the man has a new movie out I go in with an open mind and heart and every time he lets me down. He was once so good! Watching back his old SNL sketches you see he had a presence that was electric. But for too long now he’s phoned in performance after performance and You People is no exception. It is perhaps the most turgid film I’ve ever laid eyes on–– 90% of the film consists of people standing or sitting in the same spot, hardly ever moving. Director Kenya Barris tries to liven things up with a regular overly edited transition sequences featuring boring establishing shots of road signs, motorways and street art but they only bring further attention to how lifeless and stagnant the actual body of the film is.
1. Candy Cane Lane
Yep, another Eddie Murphy movie. I won’t belabour the point, only to say that in addition to You People’s lack of personality Candy Cane Lane grafts on a ridiculous amount of lore, worldbuilding and fantastical stakes. What starts out as a typical Keeping Up With The Joneses style escalating Christmas decoration war (see: Deck The Halls) morphs into a bizarre fantasy story about a mystical Christmas store, an evil elf, a model village of incarcerated innocents, a yuletide deal with the devil and Nick Offerman saying “gov’na”. Bleak.
THE 10 BEST MOVIES OF 2023
Now for the fun, “useful” stuff. Though perhaps I ought to preface this section with a few Russo inspired disclaimers. No, I have not seen every film released in 2023, if you ask me that is literally an impossible task. After all, what constitutes a “film” these days? Surely not a theatrical release. Award eligibility? That old classic, “cultural influence”? Don’t be silly.
Just as it’s impossible to truly define how many movies were released in 2023, it isn equally impossible to evaluate films objectively. We know this though. I’d hope that the readers of this newsletters are somewhat familiar with my taste and interests and I endeavour with all my writing to communicate my viewpoints effectively and with good reasoning. That’s truly the best we can hope from criticism. With that in mind, here are my Best Films of 2023.
10. Wonka
Paul King’s latest is fun and fluffy, delightful and delicious. Wonka might actually be my favourite theatrical experience on this list. It was very (I apologise) sweet to sit in a crowded theatre and hear gaggles of families reacting to seeing Rowan Atkinson on screen, I swear he got a laugh from pure recognition alone. So to was it lovely to hear some kids behind me unable to resist singing along to Pure Imagination. In a year where the superhero industrial complex showed its first real signs of fragility, Barbie caught lightning in a bottle but Wonka showed there might be a real alternative emerging in terms of family entertainment at the cinema.
9. Maestro
Yeah, I said it. I dug Maestro. And I’m all set to be proven correct in the fullness of time. Two decades from now when Cooper is doing a masterclass for the AFI and you’re all buying Criterion editions of his “misunderstood masterpiece” I’ll refer you all back here, where I called it. Maestro is a beautiful portrait of the tug of war of artistry and celebrity, truth and fiction, love and acceptance.
There’s a lot of huff and puff around Cooper’s seeming self-importance but I mostly see it as an incredibly strong commitment and earnestness. He approaches the work of directing with utmost reverence and pulls out all the stops. Perhaps he’s guilty of doing “the most” but damn it, he does it well. His dedication leads to gut punching edits and profound moments of clarity. Bravo.
8. Anatomy Of A Fall
Let me explain this one. I think I like it for different reasons than most. If you want to avoid spoilers just skip this entry altogether and head on down to number seven.
Alright, so, slight disclaimer, I have no interest in this film’s ambiguity. If you ask me it’s an open and shut case. The dad killed himself. I don’t see this film as being some Gone Girl-esque treatise on the fucked up nature of marriage or some knotty unanswerable riddle about the people we’re doomed to love and the truths we’re forced to tell. No, the film is far more interesting to me as one long exploration of grief. Dad killed himself. How the hell did God let this happen? Did he love me? Can I forgive him?
There’s a certain point in the film where all of this came into view for me. I think it was when the novels began to be discussed in court. Unlike another very good French film, Saint Omer, Anatomy is uninterested in systemic verisimilitude. It instead jumps the shark and becomes (in my eyes) almost purely allegorical. The trial is a reckoning with the injustice and inconsistencies of the world. It brought to mind the story of a famous writer’s suicide (I hope you don’t mind me keeping them anonymous, I’m almost certain it’s a matter of public knowledge but it somehow feels gauche just to cite the story wantonly), their partner’s first response upon finding them dead was shock. The writer had booked a massage for later that week, why book a massage and kill yourself beforehand? There is, unfortunately, no good answer. The court scenes in Anatomy to me were like the inquisition into that massage booking. And on that level, the film succeeds magnificently.
7. May December
May December aren’t just two of my favourite months of the year! They’re also the title to one of my favourite films of the year!!
Ok but seriously, I thought May December was excellent. A finely tuned melodrama about what happens when the the salacious is allowed become the banal. Charles Melton and Julianne Moore are an ostensibly happy married couple with a troubling scandal in their past. Moore seduced Melton when he was a young teenager and the affair made national news. Having served her time in prison Moore is now free and the couple continue their warped romance. But what sort of life do they lead?
When Natalie Portman, an actress playing Moore in an upcoming film about their scandal, visits the couple in study for her role, the unspeakable truths they’ve been ignoring come to a head in unpleasant, painful ways. I especially love the strange twinges Haynes adds to the reality of the film, there are some odd cuts and edits throughout. The added sense of artificiality is one more layer of occlusion between the characters and the audience, just as the tabloid stories were their own layer, the in universe film adaptation another. Haynes’ calibrated distortions achieve an uncertain, paranoid disposition which complements the coarse screenplay excellently.
6. Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.
Kelly Fremon Craig deserves a little bit of the Greta Gerwig energy, frankly. Their careers are quite similar really, Edge Of Seventeen is her Lady Bird (a high school coming of age story) and Are You There God? is her Little Women (an adaptation of a landmark young adult fiction book about girlhood). Fremon Craig has yet to have the major breakthrough success that propels her to wider name recognition but I have no doubt it’s coming soon, her talent is undoubted.
Are You There God? is big hearted and soulful, a gentle exploration of adolescence the like of which I haven’t seen before. Rachel McAdams is phenomenal as Margaret’s mother, a small role with deep emotional reservoirs. James L. Brooks is a producer on the film and true to his work in Broadcast News and Terms of Endearment, Are You There God? made me both laugh and cry, it is a genuine sweeping sentimental roller coaster the likes of which we rarely get.
5. The Boy And The Heron
I’m a big Miyazaki nerd and just getting to see a new release of his was one of my highlights of 2023. The Boy And The Heron just feels totemic. Partly because it brought Miyazaki out of retirement, watching it you can’t help but try and unlock some deeper understanding, asking yourself “what is he trying to tell us?”
Of course, you eventually have to get past that pretence and meet the film on its own terms. In which case it is a very sweet, contemplative tale about grief, growing up and letting go of the past. Every frame is gorgeous and the plot is delightfully ephemeral, drifting between realities and storylines with a confidence only an old master can wield. All I can say is it’s damn good to have Miyazaki back and I look forward to his next film with bated breath.
4. Killers Of The Flower Moon
Much like Miyazaki, Scorsese is an old master at work and every film of his we get ought to be relished. Killers is no exception, a sprawling exploration of a brazen murderous plot enabled by white privilege and the dehumanisation of Native Americans.
At certain points the film feels like a black comedy such is the shameless depravity on show. Scorsese observes and documents this corruption thoroughly, but from a certain distance. It all builds up to a late scene though that feels as crucial to Scorsese’s filmography as the last frame in The Irishman. Killer Of The Flower Moon feels at both times an encapsulation and expansion of his long, storied career.
3. Past Lives
Celine Song’s Past Lives is my kinda sad boy romance story. It’s not a tale of sweeping gestures or grand proclamations, it is instead rueful and tinted with anguish. Which, if you ask me, is much truer depiction of love.
It’s a love story but really it’s primarily a story of yearning, of “what if?” and “if only”, of writhing against circumstance in search of something better.
If I’m being honest, I feel my life has largely been defined by inaction, by opportunities not pursued, by things left unsaid. It felt like Past Lives was addressed to me personally at times, I think I’ve known for a long time what I would do with a thousand lives, the different careers and people and locations I’d experience. Past Lives expressed this feeling so well, so unlike anything I’d seen before. It left me with an awful lot to think about, chiefly what it is exactly I want to do with this one life I have right now.
2. Oppenheimer
We maybe don’t appreciate Oppenheimer enough. A three hour long, nonlinear, partly black and white, true story, shot on IMAX, talkie movie that captivated audiences, launched countless memes and grossed damn near a billion dollars? It’s a bloody unicorn.
It feels almost foolish to elaborate, Oppenheimer is undeniable. My undisputed Best Picture Winner, a tour de force, a triumph. Enough said.
1. Glass Onion and the Golden Ratio
That’s right, I’m defying Russo one last time and plugging my own work in my Best Of The Year List. Joe Russo thinks it’s tacky but Paul Schrader seems ok with, and I know which one of them I trust more.
To be quite honest I am pretty proud of this video (despite repeatedly calling the Parthenon the “Pantheon” 😬) and as I argued above, what really constitutes a film these days anyways?
No matter what I plan on making more videos this year and I hope you’ll stick around to support them and this newsletter and me. I’m very thankful for your support in 2023 and wish you all a great new year.
THE END
Hey, thanks for reading this far! Hit me up on Twitter or NGL (anonymously!) if you wanna gimme feedback, head pats or general recognition. Love you all. Bye for now.