Favorite movies of 2023

 

Star ranking is objective, the ranking is subjective.

Best...nah Favorite Movies of 2023

 

Honorable mentions Got lots of hate but I liked it fine:

65

Rebel moon. (yes dumb as rock salt but I was entertained)

Flash

Silent night

Extraction 2

Dark Harvest

The Night of the Assassin

 

 Biggest disappointments

Suitable Flesh

Hypnotic

The Hidden Fox

 

15: The Creator 2023 ***

First I thought it was a good movie, and if we want to see more original non-franchise Science Fiction movies you should go see this one. I would give the movie 4/5 stars. It looked amazing, the visual world-building was good, Without Spoilers I will say it is a well-written movie, but poorly written Science Fiction. It needed a proper Science Fiction writer to fill in some gaps in the future tech and the future world-building. It need one simple change to take it from a good movie to a great movie. but that is a SPOILER. So go see it and only read on if you saw it.....

Spoiler Warning....

Odd that when all of Hollywood is working together to fight AI, that Garth Edwards made a movie about Sympathetic robots and AI. I get there are 100 movies when the AI are the villains. Really the movie would have been better if both sides of the war had super weapons and Josh and Alphie had to save both sides. The AI child shouldn't have been so childlike, that is not how robots work. It would have made movie sense for the AI kid to act like a child to manipulate, All nit-picks as the movie was good, even if I think it needed a re-write.

14: Saltburn   2023 ★★★★★

Saltburn is a slow-burn psychological thriller, the whole cast is amazing but Barry Keoghan and Rosamund Pike are just straight amazing. There are certainly WTF moments and some uncomfortable moments, but if you have a problem with slow pace you might not want to watch. For me I was on the edge of my seat most of the movie. Emerald Fennell is such an exciting filmmaker.

13:Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny 2023 ★★★★

 

Watched Jul 01, 2023 I am pro-Dial of Destiny! I watched all 5 Indiana Jones movies in the last 36 hours. It is not perfect, but I had lots of fun I thought the ending was super bold. There is also an argument for the prologue happening at the same time as my novel "The Last Night to Kill Nazis." - and this movie hates Nazis. It treated Indiana Jones like a real person in his 80s. I enjoyed it. I did miss a little of the Spielberg vibe, but the movie got me in the feels a few times. My Dr, Jones adventure ranking is 1,3,2,5, and 4. I like all 5

12: Detective vs. Sleuths ****

Sean Lau plays a former detective who was falsely accused of being a serial killer, survives a shooting, and now wanders the street talking to delusions of the victims and still trying to solve the crimes. The story is bananas, something that would never get made in Hollywood

 

11. Triangle of Sadness Triangle of Sadness 2022 ★★★★½

If I had seen Triangle of Sadness last year it would have made my best movies of the year list for sure. It is a dry at times, talky, slowly paced arthouse film but it is funny and the cutting look at class division is pretty brutal. Was it perfect, almost. There are a few scenes that are a bit on the nose (intentionally) and the movie could've easily came in under two hours. I like the point of the final act, but it could have been made quicker.

 

10 They Cloned Tyrone 2023 ★★★★★

a new Science Fiction movie on Netflix starring John Boyaga, Jamie Foxx, and Teyonah Parris (who were all amazing). The less you know going into the better. It is funny, with excellent rapid-fire dialogue, Parris and Foxx were aces on the dialogue. Great design, acting, message, and fun. The complete package. The only nitpick I have maybe 15 minutes longer than it needed to be. Still 5/5 One of the best movies of the year.

 

 

9: Holdovers: The Holdovers 2023 ★★★★★

This is a charming holiday season movie about found families. All three main actors are great but Paul Giamatti is so great in this movie. His dialogue was my absolute favorite thing about this movie. A few tiny moments of injustice drove me nuts, but that was the point. sounds corny to say but heartwarming for sure.

 

8 No One Will Save You 2023 ★★★★★

This high-concept horror film is about alien abduction. I will give it points for being less expensive and more effective than Nope (your milage may vary). It benefits from having to stay tight to the concept. Kaitlyn Dever really puts in a star performance, but anyone who saw her in Dopesick or Unbelievable is not surprised. As a fan of little suspense beats, this movie is positively loaded with them. Sad I didn't see this in a theater with an audience.

 

7: JUNG_E 2023 ★★★★

From the director of Train to Busan this is a cyberpunky action movie with some pretty dark moments and a cartoonishly over-the-top villain. The first 15 minutes was boring seen it a thousand times CGI Sci-fi battle, but the story in the center was pretty solid, with some good emotional beats. Part of the power comes from knowing the lead actress died shortly after filming. Super sad. The bad guy felt like a Gary Oldman character in a Luc Besson movie.

 

6 Master Gardener 2022 ★★★★

starring one of my favorite actors Joel Edgerton. It is a slow-brooding movie. Schrader trademarks like sometimes amazing sometimes awkward dialogue, and shot framed from way to far away are there. It is powerful and philosophical at times, and fits with his fills First Reformed, and The Card Counter into a thematic trilogy.

 

5 How to Blow Up a Pipeline 2022 ★★★★★

We watched How to Blow up a Pipeline - amazing that a movie with this title, concept etc was on Hulu but of course I am glad. One of the best movies of the year for sure. I don't want to say too much, but it is a rare case where I could have use a more on-the-nose explanation of the global stakes of climate change. I hope this is Gen Z inspiration. It is their future at stake.

 

4 Godzilla Minus One 2023 ★★★★★

it doesn't hold a candle to Roland Emmerich's Godzilla. Just kidding It lived up to the hype, it was the best Kaiju movie in a long time. Great war drama, and excellent subtle commentary on the end of WWII in Japan. Great monster design, excellent characters, and action set pieces. You have a week to see it on the big screen...do it.

 

 

3 Luther: The Fallen Sun 2023 ★★★★★

Luther: The Fallen Sun - Look I am the target audience I would watch Idris Elba do almost anything, and I am a Luther enough that I read the prequel novel. Coming off his performance in Andor Andy Serkis plays a great Luther foil, he certainly made some choices. The prison fight was worth watching the whole thing and almost on par with the Old Boy hammer fight.

 

 

2 Bird Box Barcelona 2023 ★★★★★

Not to sound hyperbolic but it was one of my favorite movies of the year so far. I am huge of the novel and the sequel Malorie. The movie was OK but it lost one of the elements of the first novel that I thought made it genius. It is a spoiler why but this film regained it with a new twist that totally got me in this film. I got invested in the characters, the movie looked incredible and expanded the Birdbox universe. I am ready for Birdbox Kyoto, or Bird Box Sau Palo whatever. BB ranking - 1.OG novel. 2. Malorie novel 3. BB Barcelona 4. The first movie.

 

1 Vesper 2022 ★★★★★

Watched Jul 22, 2023 European SF ecological horror film, with hints of body horror. This is an intensely grim character-based movie that reminded me of Brian Evenson's best post-collapse surrealist nightmares. On a side note, this filmmaking team would make a great movie of Immobility. Fantastic design elements for a movie that clearly didn't have a Hollywood budget. The characters all had haunting and painful moments that made my stomach churn. From epic scope of the destroyed landscape to small moments of cringe-inducing body horror that did more than ick'd me out. This is powerful film, I hope people find it on Hulu.

 

 

 

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