In 2023 I watched over 140 films I had never seen before, according to my Letterboxd diary. While this is a bit of a step down from my over 230 last year it feels like a colossal number and I'm ecstatic I got to engage with so many stories. The 147 films I watched in 2023 is a combination of the 58 films I went out to see in theatres or as new release streaming; while the rest of that number comprises the recommendations I viewed from a range of people in my life.
This past year has seen a lot of change for me, some of which I embraced and some I'm still learning to accept. What I like about change is that it makes you reflect on yourself and your place in the world. When things changed for me this year the constants that I valued were family and friends, it was rainfall and parties. It was also storytelling, which has always been extremely close to my heart - particularly cinematic storytelling. Watching a film and seeing how differently the visual medium can be used to tell a story is one of the most fascinating aspects of the way we tell stories in this day and age. I always have tremendous time for the cinema, more than most other storytelling formats.
In 2023 I felt like that love of cinema was challenged somewhat. We're all aware of the writers' and actors' strikes of last year, a moment that highlighted aspects of pay disparity these creatives face. It spotlighted just how much of a Wild West frontier streaming can be currently, with pay and how it's received finally getting a much needed spotlight. Most significantly, creatives were campaigning for security against how A.I. is either being used or will be used in this industry. There were many projects last year that looked ghastly because A.I. had a heavy hand in the writing process or the post-production process. There is a point where turning cinema into an efficient machine that treats itself entirely as a product becomes somewhat self-destructive. Audiences already proved their dissatisfaction with a number of these projects last year. While I'm not so narrow-minded as to reject the benefits of A.I., I do see the costs in a creative-fuelled industry and am curious as to what the next couple of years will have to show.
In saying all that, I felt like this year was really varied. I have had some split viewing experiences before but this year really yo-yoed in a way that was very unpredictable. Overall, the highs really earned their spot on my 'Best' list and the lows really are just...the Worst. Let's kick into it, starting with my faves of 2023...
The Best:
5. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse - 8.5/10
I know the world seems a bit tired of superhero films right now, but I'm unapologetically not. At least not when they look like the Spider-Verse films. These features have tested the boundaries of animation in recent years and in Across the Spider-Verse they up the ante by designing each visited universe with a different animation style. This means four main settings throughout the film have an entirely unique design and a whole host of minor universes do too. I adored this story of one hero standing up against what destiny has in store for him and choosing his own path, Miles Morales has become his own fixture in recent years and I'm loving it. But it is Gwen Stacy in this that really sets this animated feature ahead. Hailee Steinfeld delivers some extremely powerful voice work, the story arc is melancholy and her musical theme? Headphones on, volume up.
4. Wonka - 9/10
Paul King has really just cornered the market for me on good family feature adaptations, he had me locked in with Paddington but now he has knocked it out of the park with Dahl. This is a movie not afraid to be musical when musical films aren't selling. It's not afraid to let the whole ensemble share the screen, when any other production would have made the whole thing about Chalamet. It's not afraid to be kind, when so many movies are dour these days. I liked Wonka if nothing else because it knew how to have authetic genuine fun. Granted, I can point to the wonder and splendour of a well-oiled production with perhaps one of the best depictions of a Roald Dahl character brought to screen. But don't count out what really makes it: humour, joy and kindness.
3. Uproar - 9/10
I'm the first to admit that I never give New Zealand cinema as much of a chance as I ought, but the past two or three years I have really done my best to turn that out look around. I have seen some delightful examples of New Zealand media: Rūrangi, Cousins, This Town and Savage immediately spring to mind. But this year we got Uproar and it left a mighty big impression on me. One of the defining aspects of New Zealand history I remember being taught in high school was the 1981 Springbok Tour, it's interesting how one feature film can really illustrate how little you actually know. A very moving narrative that shows a young Māori boy claim his heritage and learn more about his identity, all to the backdrop of the Springbok tour. The Māori view examined around the Tour was fascinating and a big learning moment for me personally. This is one of those must watch New Zealand films, an important piece of cinematic history for us.
2. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 - 9.5/10
Something that has gone right in the Marvel Cinematic Universe almost consistently over the years and that's the Guardians of the Galaxy series. This feels like a final chapter, with the creative talent behind this series, James Gunn, parting ways. Yet it ends on the most spectacular of high notes, delivering a closing chapter that feels like the team's best yet. Guardians of the Galaxy shows a range of humour, adventure, tension and emotional highs and lows. The visuals are so unique and joyful, while the accompanying soundtrack marks one of the best of 2023. These characters have grown a lot over their films and I've enjoyed every moment of that journey along the way.
1. Killers of the Flower Moon - 10/10
I don't normally rate a movie 10/10 on my blog, it's only truly happened once before and I still wonder if that one deserves it. But this one leaves me with no doubt. This is a beautifully crafted film with a rotten narrative at play, in my mind it is Scorsese's finest piece of work. There are many films out there with a Native American story to tell, fewer are the ones that talk about their land and very culture being stripped of them. This film is very damning of white America and all that was ripped from the Osage people. It felt like a horror at times because it was so blunt and candid about all the wrongs that had been visited upon others. I felt shaken from watching such a brutal feature but I wouldn't trade that experience, it was one of my best from 2023.
I'm sure my usual audience isn't too surprised to see a couple of superhero blockbusters up on my best list, I sure had fun with them. But seeing a musical, a NZ feature and a Scorsese epic make me feel like I really watched a decent range this year. A range I'm sure will be equally reflected in my list of the worst of 2023...
5. Shazam! Fury of the Gods - 3/10
This year had some absolute standout superhero features in my Top 5 but overall there were a significant number of forgettable or downright bad superhero blockbusters. The king of them all being Shazam! Fury of the Gods. There were a number of things wrong in this movie, and I'm not just referencing skittle-eating unicorns. This film really recycled entire major elements of its plot from the original 2019 feature, in some ways I thought I might have been caught in a time loop watching this one. This film really zigged around, failing to prioritise the lead role but never really elevating the sub-plots either. Shazam 2 especially struggled with that balance of tone, a problem that has plagued it since the first film - it really failed to blend horror, comedy and adventure at most points. Also the fact we got a lot of jokes or an entire subplot around underage romances with individuals older than the kids wasn't it.
4. Retribution - 3/10
Liam Neeson solo leading outrageously awful B-grade action or thriller films has become such a disappointing career trajectory. If I bother watching one of these on any given year he is almost certainly circling my bottom 5 for the year, as demonstrated this year. My issue with Retribution is that I don't really know who it's for. The lead character is a stock broker, a 'champion of capitalism' as he is proclaimed early on - call me crazy, but that's not normally someone I'd root for as my lead role. But watching the whole film devolve into a money fight between two greedy partners just feels so hollow, I really lost my whole sense of who would be engaged by this. The film is a slow plod in which you rarely feel the stakes. I also couldn't really stand the characters here, they aren't written to be very nice or redeemable people which just distanced me entirely from Retribution.
3. Ghosted - 2.5/10
Never thought I'd rate a Chris Evans/Ana de Armas team-up lower than a Liam Neeson film but that's just the year 2023 was. The whole driving thing behind Ghosted was just how romantic things were meant to feel between our two protagonists but this almost always falls flat on its face. Evans' role is a little creepy and obsessive and de Armas' role is cold and not reciprocating. But together? Well apparently hurling argumentative and abusive dialogue back and forth at one another is a new love language because that is all this film had to offer. If you told me the script of this film was mostly generated via A.I. I would believe you; there was no heart behind this production at any step along the way.
2. Family Switch - 2/10
For those at home keeping track, Family Switch marks one of two streaming original features on my Worst list this year - a decline in quality notable from streaming year round. Family Switch was such a busy mess to watch; it set out to be a comedy film, a body swap film and a Christmas film all in one bundle. A talented script would have struggled to present all of that, but this isn't a talented script: this is Family Switch. The comedy was nothing but easy, low-hanging fruit while the body swap treads little in terms of new ground; instead opting to reference bigger, more successful features that have already walked the path. Also, for a holiday family film that included the family body swapping with one another, why so many incest jokes/references?
1. Cocaine Bear - 1.5/10
Good as a meme, bad as a film. Cocaine Bear sat and waited at the bottom of my Worst list since February and there never really was a theatre experience I disliked more. None of the characters in this feature were especially interesting, in fact there weren't really performers in this film that could even stand out as a leading performance. This felt like a shoddy ensemble stoner comedy, just missing all of the...comedy, really. This film stumbles around from joke to joke, hopeful for a laugh but just falling upon it's face at every turn. The worst part of all? The visual effects on the bear looked absolutely awful. The movements look phony and it clips over scenes in a way that becomes difficult to watch. I enjoy Elizabeth Banks, but this isn't a great indication of where her directing talents are currently at.
So winds out another year! I'm cautiously looking forward to 2024, I'm hoping to find a few more hits this time around. To see where all of the films I watched in 2023 placed, I have them ranked below:
- Killers Of The Flower Moon – 10/10
- Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 – 9.5/10
- Uproar – 9/10
- Wonka – 9/10
- Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse – 8.5/10
- Polite Society – 8.5/10
- Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves – 8.5/10
- Scream VI – 8.5/10
- Barbie – 8.5/10
- The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes – 8.5/10
- Dracula: Voyage of the Demeter – 8.5/10
- John Wick: Chapter 4 – 8.5/10
- Air – 8/10
- Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One – 8/10
- Tár – 7.5/10
- The Marvels – 7.5/10
- Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom – 7.5/10
- Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania – 7.5/10
- A Man Called Otto – 7.5/10
- Cat Person – 7/10
- Joy Ride – 7/10
- Haunted Mansion – 7/10
- Operation Fortune: Ruse De Guerre – 7/10
- Babylon – 6.5/10
- M3gan – 6.5/10
- Mafia Mamma – 6.5/10
- Anyone But You – 6.5/10
- The Creator – 6/10
- Five Nights At Freddy’s – 6/10
- The Nun 2 – 6/10
- Creed III – 6/10
- Next Goal Wins – 6/10
- The Little Mermaid – 6/10
- Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny – 5.5/10
- Knock At The Cabin – 5.5/10
- The Burial – 5.5/10
- The Beanie Bubble – 5.5/10
- Blue Beetle – 4.5/10
- The Flash – 4.5/10
- Fast X – 4.5/10
- The Super Mario Bros. Movie – 4.5/10
- Transformers: Rise of the Beasts – 4.5/10
- Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken – 4/10
- No Hard Feelings – 4/10
- Magic Mike’s Last Dance – 4/10
- Strays – 4/10
- Meg 2: The Trench – 3.5/10
- Hypnotic – 3.5/10
- Rebel Moon: Part One – A Child Of Fire – 3/10
- Shazam! Fury Of The Gods – 3/10
- Retribution – 3/10
- Ghosted – 2.5/10
- Family Switch – 2/10
- Cocaine Bear – 1.5/10
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