My 10 favorite movies of 2023
Intros for these lists are pretty unnecessary. So let’s just say that it turned out to be a pretty good year for movies. Fun!
Tie: 10. Mission: Impossible–Dead Reckoning Part One and Air
I didn’t love most of the time anyone was talking, and high-ranking conspiracies will never feel fresh ever. But the action in “M:I 7” is so extraordinary (and surprisingly, at times, really really funny) throughout this epic, gasp-inducing global adventure that any hesitation to recommend would be a disservice to the spirit of excitement that movies so rarely achieve anymore. “Fast X” is plenty lame on its own; next to “M:I-DR1,” it’s nearly nonexistent.
As for “Air,” it’s paced like a fast-break and directed by Ben Affleck with the smooth confidence of Steph from 10 feet beyond the arc. Don’t mistake this true story-based drama’s breeziness (and unavoidable degree of defused tension) for a lack of depth; Alex Convery’s airtight script is immensely precise in bringing meaning to Nike’s courting of Michael Jordan, which highlights the human side of business and the business side of sports. This story mattered and still matters for a lot of reasons, and “Air,” which is easily one of the year’s most rewatchable films, really understands that no bet is guaranteed, but “no risk, no reward” was a fact before it became a cliche. And spotting something great never goes out of style.
9. The Teacher’s Lounge
When a teacher (Leonie Benesch, excellent) tries to do her own detective work to identify a thief at her school, good intentions and small decisions turn into chaos and stress for pretty much everyone in the building. A bit like a German version of an Asghar Farhadi film (and all the anxiety and complexity that suggests), director/co-writer Ilker Catak’s drama turns the disintegration of truth and trust into a thriller that never suggests everything is going to be OK. This is an upsetting look at interpersonal dynamics and conflict resolution in 2023, with accuracy that doesn’t need to be in a classroom to feel educational.
8. The Holdovers
Reuniting with Alexander Payne (“Sideways”) for another lovably salty grump, Paul Giamatti, as well as breakout roles for Da’Vine Joy Randolph and newcomer Dominic Sessa, turn what might have felt a tad contrived into a holiday-season movie that’s awfully hard to deny. Stuck at a northeastern prep school for winter break 1970, a widely disliked professor (Giamatti), a bummed student (Sessa), and a cafeteria manager (Randolph) mourning the loss of her son predictably yet meaningfully become chosen family, even just for a little while. Payne finds beauty in relationships that matter, no matter when or how they happen, and becomes the uncommon movie these days that really does earn laughs and tears.
7. You Hurt My Feelings
Did Joanna Newsom like “That’s My Boy”? Did Florence Pugh enjoy “Wish I Was Here”? “You Hurt My Feelings,” the latest from writer-director Nicole Holofcener (“Lovely and Amazing,” “Friends with Money”), isn’t about celebrity couples, of course, but the role of taste in relationships, the relationship between feelings and words, and the words that so often seem insufficient. After Beth (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) overhears her husband Don (Tobias Menzies) confess that he doesn’t like her new book, the frequently fantastic Holofcener dials into complicated ideas about support and honesty, and creative understanding within love and compatibility. I wish it were funnier, but there’s a lot to enjoy, and more to think about.
6. The Burial
A few scenes in which the lawyers seem to have forgotten about the concept of trial prep really make no sense. Otherwise, “The Burial” is that rare thing, a delightful crowd pleaser that also has a lot to say about something that matters. Pairing Jamie Foxx in his best role since “Ray” with a locked-in Tommy Lee Jones, this ‘90s-set, real-life-inspired courtroom drama mustn’t be dismissed as a conventional story about an underdog (Jones’ character’s funeral home business) taking on a massive corporation (led by CEO Bill Camp, the possible orchestrator of a shady deal). Both directly and subtly, this easily recommendable treat (which deserves a few nominations despite its occasional over-eagerness to be liked) deals with racist microaggressions as a systemic and persistent issue that exists across state and international lines, from the past into the present and future.
5. The Saint of Second Chances
Extremely likable and deceptively layered, this documentary about the son of Chicago baseball legend Bill Veeck doesn’t require you to be a baseball fan or have any prior knowledge of or interest in Mike Veeck. Without getting sappy, “Second Chances” authentically tells a story of a real life that eerily lined up with a Hollywood narrative, with all of the imagination, heartache, and redemption that implies. Come for new perspective about Disco Demolition Night; leave with big ideas about innovation and how to see your life every day.
4. Priscilla
The lights! The pizzazz! The energy! None of those are part of Sofia Coppola’s version of the other Presley’s story, and thank goodness. Rather than Baz Luhrmann’s misguided, unfocused whirlwind about Col. Tom Parker (Tom Hanks), Coppola doesn’t even include Parker as an onscreen character and remains close to Priscilla (a fantastic Cailee Spaeny) as she meets Elvis (Jacob Elordi of “Saltburn,” great again) not long after starting high school on an army base in Germany and winds up spending the next several years waiting and frustrated, even after she moves to Graceland. “Priscilla” is so finely attuned to the emotional swell of new relationship infatuation that you can almost hear the water as the wave of excitement recedes and reality sets in. Mumbly and controlling, Elvis is only the idea of a dream life, and the film is a quiet triumph about the difficulty in confronting an abusive relationship and the loneliness of being an accessory instead of a partner. This is a movie about a suppressed identity, and the strength in deciding to bet on yourself.
3. Poor Things
If you haven’t yet come around to the sensibility of Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos (“The Lobster,” “The Favourite,” “Dogtooth”), the prickly, endlessly quotable “Poor Things” is very much not the time to jump on board. At times feeling like a personal greatest hits, the filmmaker’s latest still characteristically challenges from the outset and then continually finds new ways to warp what it’s doing until you consider how extreme behavior can so beautifully distill human experience. There’s no point in offering the plot; Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo, Willem Dafoe, and everyone, really, give all they have to a sometimes-hilarious, sometimes-horrifying baffler, begging for discussion with any other courageous souls up for the task.
2. Robot Dreams
Earning a spot near “The Triplets of Belleville” and “Mary and Max” as one of the century’s best of its kind, this wordless animated marvel had me squealing with laughter, not necessarily because it’s so funny but because the quantity of sweetness and detail became overwhelming. In exploring a lonely Dog’s new friendship with Robot (and what happens when Robot gets stuck on the beach, unable to be retrieved for months), Spanish writer-director Pablo Berger’s story bursts with playful unpredictability, abundantly kind but also not without difficult feelings or experiences. The title refers to some of what Robot imagines while waiting for rescue; or maybe it speaks to underlying ideas about companionship and separation, and how to handle the unexpected and how love and relationships can modify with time. Touching on the highs and heartbreak people bring with them into whatever’s next, the terrific “Robot Dreams” gets awfully close to bittersweet euphoria.
1. Sanctuary
Forget about the indeterminate games of “May December.” Like a cross between “Some Velvet Morning,” “Secretary” and “Hard Candy,” “Sanctuary” plays mental pinball and sexual chess and psychological sudoku set to expert. Christopher Abbott and Margaret Qualley are exceptional as a soon-to-be-CEO and a no-touch dominatrix, and let’s not say anything more than that about the storyline. Just know that if you’re able to have fun with this kind of dizzying erotic thriller, the high-wire “Sanctuary” can inspire questions about control and motivation and intimacy and connection and knowledge and potential and power and performance while smashing laughs into fear. Is the danger here physical? Financial? Romantic? Maybe all, and maybe none? So much to debate in this weird, zigzagging blast with brains.
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