#MoviesRecapped: The best blockbuster movies of 2023

‘Barbenheimer’, an industry on the picket line and a deep bench of great films, what a year it was at the movies!

After a slow start to 2023, the quality of films soon picked up and top10 lists around the world will no doubt have a number of honourable mentions.

This despite a few big titles being delayed until 2024 because of the industry strikes, particularly the box office frontrunner Dune Part 2.

Martin Scorsese made a movie this year, as did Christopher Nolan, Greta Gerwig, Yorgos Lanthimos, Todd Haynes, Alexander Payne, David Fincher and Wes Anderson, among many others.

A veritable glut of world class directors.

And for a brief, glorious few weeks, movies were at the centre of the culture again with the runaway smash hit success of ‘Barbenheimer’ (Barbie and Oppenheimer opened on the same day; the world retired back to TikTok soon after).

So join me in remembering the high points of the cinema experience over these past 12 months.

Horror (Number 10)

It was not a vintage year for horror fans in 2023, but cinema’s most bulletproof genre still managed to churn out some enjoyable flicks.

There were a few notable comedy horrors like The Pope’s Exorcist, The Blackening and Renfield which were funny enough and M3GAN and Skinamarink proved popular with audiences.

Infinity Pool was the most inventive horror idea of the year, while Saw X, Scream VI and Evil Dead Rise showed there was still life in the major franchises.

For flat-out scares and dread, Argentinean film When Evil Lurks impressed me – watch it at your own risk.

The most successful horror overall however, was Talk To Me, which managed to deliver terror, comedy and classic genre beats all at once.

It also contained one of the most memorably horrifying images of the year; a must see for horror lovers.

Action (Number 9)

Action was defined largely by franchise films, as always, but notably saw Marvel’s grip on the box office slip even further.

Guardians of the Galaxy 3 was the only Marvel film worth watching this year and even then, was still a bit of a CGI fest.

The Creator was the opposite and was easily the best looking science-fiction flick – its just a pity it was so underwritten otherwise it would be far higher on the list.

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One again proved M:I is the most reliable long-running action franchise and I just loved the deliciously dark Fincher film, The Killer.

But for sheer scale and unrelenting action, John Wick: Chapter 4 deserves all the plaudits going its way.

This is an epic through and through with some of the best on-screen fights in recent memory. Ridiculous? Yes. Awesome? Absolutely.

Comedy (Number 8)

Comedy movies brought laughs in force this year, with a few excellent ‘throwbacks’ to cater for teens.

Bottoms, a High School sex comedy for a Gen Z audience, made me laugh the hardest and No Hard Feelings felt straight out of 2007, in a good way.

Air was a straight down the middle ace while Dungeons and Dragons: Honour Among Thieves is the best game adaptation I’ve seen and hilarious too.

Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret could also fit in the drama category, but its family friendly light humour was excellent; the sweetest film of the year.

Where else could I go for number one than the brightest, pinkest, most impressively marketed movie in memory, Barbie.

It is certainly not perfect, but its highs are incredible and it was a female-centred project from start to finish that made almost $1.5-billion.

That’s a hell of a performance in anyone’s book.

Animation (Number 7)

Although the traditional powerhouses of Disney and Pixar had a disappointing animated slate, there were some excellent films produced by other studios.

The Super Mario Bros Movie was the surprise box office hit of 2023 and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem.

This year also included a Hayao Miyazaki film, The Boy and the Heron, his first since 2013.

And although it is not my favourite of Miyazaki’s, there is no denying the craft on show from the Japanese master which has made him one of the world’s most beloved animated voices.

But there was never going to be any other winner than Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, a quite incredible piece of art.

Fast moving and kaleidoscopic, Spider-Verse also contains plenty of heart, keep an eye out for part two in 2024.

Drama (Number 6)

It is going to be one of the best awards seasons in a long time this year, because there are genuinely 15 to 20 films in major contention.

Blackberry might seem an odd place to start – its winning no Oscars – but I really liked this small ‘biopic’ and its timeless tragedy of vision exceeding one’s grasp.

Asteroid City was a perfect outlet for Wes Anderson’s ultra-specific brand of filmmaking and May December matched Todd Haynes’ command of melodrama equally well.

Bradley Cooper showed that A Star is Born was no fluke when starring in and directing the wonderfully bold Maestro.

With Poor Things, however, Yorgos Lanthimos crafted an odd, misshapen Frankenstein story that is full of rudeness and debauchery and somehow it works.

He is truly one of the most original voices in cinema and Poor Things may be his best film to date.

Number 5

I have unfortunately seen precious few foreign language films this year, but catching a screening of Anatomy of a Fall was one of my personal movie highlights.

 

Justine Triet’s Palme D’Or winning, paranoid legal thriller is a fantastic watch.

A man falls to his death from a third story window in alpine France. Did he jump? Was he pushed?

Triet uses the central tragedy and ensuing court case as a window into the inner workings of a marriage and it is exacting in its autopsy of a love story.

Why does Hollywood not make court movies anymore?

They are such a good vehicle for tension and drama, particularly with the background of the frankly kooky French legal system.

If you are willing to read subtitles then this is one to wholeheartedly recommend.

Number 4

Now this might be a sentimental pick because we are so close to Christmas, but I could not stop smiling through the entirety of The Holdovers.

It is a period piece so well executed that you might think it was a 70’s film once lost to time that has recently been unearthed.

The Holdovers is a small, talky film that basically follows three characters, but will surely become required festive viewing in homes around the world.

It is a wonderful distillation of how it feels to be stuck somewhere you don’t want to, but also how you end up finding a way to get through and often end up enjoying the experience after all.

This is almost definitely going to be liked by the older generations, I just hope younger people will have the patience to stay with it.

Number 3

The South Korean film industry has grown to a point where it rivals almost any other country for quality of output.

Past Lives might be made by artists from Korean immigrant families rather than the homeland, but it carries the same cultural sensibility found in the movies of the Korean masters.

Is there any pain more existential than leaving the in-built support system of the country you grew up in?

Past Lives’ central romance is set across continents and faces that diasporic feeling head on.

I found it to be irresistible in its execution.

Watch it for some fantastic performances, an abundance of heart and a perfectly rendered ending.

Number 2

The second half of ‘Barbenheimer’ is one of the most breathtaking movies of 2023.

Oppenheimer has so much ground to cover in its runtime that it almost doesn’t let you stop to catch your breath.

The first two thirds in particular are a triumph in editing and feel like they whiz by much faster than the two hours you have just sat through.

Charting the creation of the atomic bomb and its swift usage to end World War 2, Oppenheimer tackles difficult subject matter but makes it undoubtedly exciting.

Perhaps that is why the final third is so pensive, because the movie feels like it needs to give weight to the tragedy it has depicted.

There are reasonable criticisms to be made of Oppenheimer, but there is simply no denying the craft on show.

For my money, the Trinity Test is the best 15 minutes of the year and would be enough to earn a spot on this list by itself.

Number 1

Killers of the Flower Moon may well be the movie I have thought the most about this year.

Martin Scorsese’s unsettling epic has a weightiness to it that deserves thorough evaluation and will likely reward the viewer on rewatch.

It’s probably unsurprising that I haven’t found the time to watch the three-and-a-half hour masterpiece again but the first experience was enough to firmly stick with me.

It feels like a core text explaining how the world became what it is in 2023.

There’s empire, greed, love and betrayal writ large across this vast canvas that could be a final major work from Scorsese.

Is it his last film? I sure hope not. But if it is, there is certainly enough to chew on for film scholars in generations to come.

It is undeniably long, but if you stick with it and avoid distractions, I have no doubt you will get something from it.

 

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