Best movies of 2023

[Chris Knipp]

BEST MOVIES OF 2023

As before I'll include as many other people's lists as seem interesting. Unlike the mainstream media, I won't try to say what kind of "movie year" it was. "Terrific," raves Manohla Dargis of the Times, who claims she's seen "hundreds" of films this year (rather vague: Mike D'Angelo could tell us exactly how many). It was good year for me simply because after a long break I got to attend the press screenings of the New York Film Festival, whose Main Slate is always a compendium of the year's best.

What follows first is just a first working list (I'm late this year) - starting from the NYFF, from which these come:


SANDRA HÜLLER IN ANATOMY OF A FALL

ANATOMY OF A FALL (Justine Triet)
THE ZONE OF INFLUENCE (Jonathan Glazer)
POOR THINGS (Yourgos Lanthimos)
PERFECT DAYS (Wim Wenders)
MAESTRO (Bradley Cooper
KIDNAPPED (Marco Bellocchio)
ABOUT DRY GRASSES (Nuri Bilge Ceylan)
PRISCILLA (Sofia Coppola)
MAY DECEMBER (Todd Haynes)
THE BEAST (Bertrand Bonello)

Sandra Hüller is the actress of the year: starring in both ANATOMY OF A FALL and THE ZONE OF INFLUENCE. I like all of these, especially the top five, but also like others not in the festival and may pare this down, and juggle them around.
Note: in the NYFF I did not get to see ALL DIRT ROADS TASTE OF SALT and EVIL DOES NOT EXIST. They don't schedule the press screenings so you can see everything anymore, and I haven't caught up. Didn't like, or grasp, MAY DECEMBER that much, but think maybe I missed something, and should rewatch. If you have not seen the films listed above I suggest you do so, if you can.

OTHER TITLES I RATE HIGHLY:

THE HOLDOVERS (Alexander Payne) is another strong American candidate.
OPPENHEIMER (Nolan), or youu could call it BARBENHEIMER, and include Gerwig's BARBIE. Nolan's film is both grand and boring, and introduces us to one of the most exciting American men of the twentieth century.
PAST LIVES (Celine Song), an Asian-American triumph, full of longing and disappointments, attempts to cross barriers, to come home.
PACIFICTION (Albert Serra): "Pacifiction is by far Serra’s most serious and sombre film to date, an epic of neutered power and human expendability – a death-knell for humanity rendered as a tropical daydream," David Jenkins, Little White Lies.
JOYLAND (Salim Said). From Pakistan, a fascinating amalgam of original storytelling and visual delight, it tells of a married man's unexpected falling for a trans woman.

OTHER LISTS
There is usually a documentary list, sometimes separate English language vs. foreign list. A foreign list should include AUTOBIOGRAPHY (Mubarak), THE BLUE CAFTAN (Maryam Touzani 2022) GODLAND (Hlynur Palmason); I've already listed PERFECT DAYS (Wim Wenders).

STILL TO COME - NEED TO SEE
There are big movies still coming out before year's end, including WONKA (with Timothee Chalamet, THE BOY AND THE HERON (by Miyazaki, a big hit at TIFF, and ORIGIN (Ava DuVarnay, about class and race), THE PROMISED LAND (Nikolaj Arcel, a Danish epic).
Need to see: LITTLE RICHARD: I AM EVERYTHING, RUSTIN (George C. Wolfe). THE COLOR PURPLE (Blitz Bazawule), on awards lists, not out yet, and other Dec. 25, 2023 releases.

DELIBERATELY LEFT OUT:

I usually leave off big epics and blockbusters, which dontn't need my publicity. Will not include Martin Scorsese's KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON because I hated it. I'm a big Marty fan except for his movies. No NAPOLEON. This could be a special list, because I did love SPIDER MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE. Wes Anderson's ASTEROID CITY was disappointing, and made little sense, despite my love of Wes. SALTBURN (Emerald Fennell) Ditto AIR (Ben Affleck), which is a commercial for Nike.