#25: end of year
five movies from 2023 you shouldn't miss
No spoilers ahead for any of the films discussed, just your usual end-of-year wrap up!
It’s been a big year for movies. The box office rebounded with Barbie and Oppenheimer in a way we haven’t seen since pre-pandemic. Gerard Butler released not one but two movies. Martin Scorsese joined Letterboxd. Bradley Cooper finally fulfilled his dream of cosplaying Leonard Bernstein. Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach got married.
In all seriousness, it’s been a real movie year, even as the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes ground Hollywood to a halt. Although I didn’t love every movie that came out (I am, unfortunately, below consensus on many of them), I’d still like to continue my tradition of calling out the movies I did love instead of putting down those I didn’t. Especially in this year of historic pessimism in Hollywood - strikes, layoffs, cost-cutting, streaming despair - I’m more grateful than ever for the incredible writers, directors, producers, actors, and movie-makers for creating art that moved me.
Whether you practically live in an AMC theater or you only see a few movies per year, these are the five movies you shouldn’t miss from 2023. They might not have been the biggest box office hits or even the most critically acclaimed, but these are movies that will have an impact on me far beyond this year. These are the ones I’m confident will be remembered and returned to again, and again, and again.
P.S. I’ve only chosen films that are currently available for viewing, so I hope you have a chance to see them during the holidays!
Anatomy of a Fall
available to rent/buy on most streaming services
Sandra Hüller stars as a woman on trial for the murder of her husband. The joy of this film is how genuinely thrilling it is— it will keep you guessing without sacrificing its nuance on the altar of titillation. Hüller is as good as everybody says, and you’d better believe that these are hands-down the best performances given by a child (Milo Graner) or a dog (Messi) this year. Anatomy of a Fall is probably this year’s most fun movie to discuss with other people. I recommend watching it, then having dinner immediately afterwards so you can swap theories, assumptions, and praise of how beautifully written and beautifully executed this screenplay is.
Bonus points for this hot French lawyer.
Godzilla Minus One
now playing in theaters, soon to be re-released in black and white
I just wrote an emergency issue on Godzilla Minus One, so I won’t rehash everything I’ve already said, but this movie is wonderful, glorious proof that you don’t need a big budget or even big stars to make a blockbuster. What you need is good writing, a strong story structure, and a real emotional core, all things this movie has in spades. The biggest, scaliest, scariest lizard we’ve seen in a long time doesn’t hurt either.
How Do You Live? / The Boy and the Heron
now playing in theaters
Many are speculating that How Do You Live? (the original Japanese title) is Miyazaki’s last film, and it’s true that it feels like a swan song of sorts. How Do You Live? is a kaleidoscopic walk through many of Miyazaki’s most iconic works - Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle, Ponyo, etc. - but with an autobiographical streak and WWII setting that give this movie real gravitas. This movie is both fantastical and grounded, childish and painfully mature, familiar and completely new. The imagery alone is worth the price of admission, but as usual, it’s Miyazaki’s story and themes that leave my chest tight and my cheeks wet.
Past Lives
available to rent/buy on most streaming services
Having come out in the spring, Past Lives has a long awards season road ahead, where I hope and pray it won’t be forgotten among this year’s big names. This is a real New York movie, and while it’s much more bittersweet than that other famous New York romance When Harry Met Sally, there’s just something beautiful about putting the minuscule but monumental drama of one person’s life against the backdrop of this massive city. Past Lives knows the dramatic weight of things unsaid, so that when the unspoken finally begins to be spoken, it’s nothing short of sublime.
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar
available to stream on Netflix
Wes Anderson hasn’t charmed me this much since The Grand Budapest Hotel, a movie I’m horrified to realize came out nearly a decade ago. Roald Dahl meant a great deal to me growing up, and the particular whimsy and edge of his children’s stories still unlock a pure and irrepressible delight. Anderson has always understood Dahl and his short adaptation of The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar brings content and director together in perfect union. Anderon’s usual tricks - frame narratives, visual gags that remind you this is all a construction - are in full force. Almost miraculously, instead of undercutting Dahl’s narrative, they only remind you that the joy of Henry Sugar isn’t in being convinced that it’s a “true” story without artifice— it’s in the act of being told a story at all, like a child being read to before going to sleep.
Movies I still have to watch this year:
Anyone But You
All of Us Strangers
The Holdovers
The Iron Claw
Perfect Days
Saltburn
…and no doubt many more!
And, just for fun, here are both my top ten movies of the year and my top ten of movies I saw for the first time this year that were not released in 2023 (doesn’t that roll off the tongue?)
Culture Crumbs
Ken says: Merry Kristmas Barbie
David Lynch and I have something in common: a love of hot cheetos. Per the director: “Well, Cheetos, number one, I love them. And any chance I can, I get them. But I know that they’re not exactly health food. So when I do leave the house and I get a chance to… But I don’t get them that often, honestly. If I do get them, I want a big bag. Because once you start… you need to have a lot before you could slow down and actually stop. Otherwise, with a small bag, then you’d be prowling for days to find more […] It’s incredible flavor”
moviegrid.io, a fun little daily movie game that has me 100% hooked
The trailer for my most anticipated movie of next year, Furiosa. I have to admit I haven’t watched it for fear of spoilers— can someone brave tell me if it looks as incredible as I hope it does?
These no-face plushies at the Studio Ghibli store
That’s it for 2023! Thank you so much for reading. Wishing everyone a joyous new year!