Film Buffa: The best and most disappointing movies of 2023
It was a solid year at the movies, improving upon the last couple.
The strength in a year of film is always connected to the desire to watch the awards shows that celebrate them. If the right movies were nominated, the movies I loved and want to see awarded something for striking a chord, then I’ll be tuning into the SAG and Oscars. While last year’s fleet didn’t make me tune in, 2023 certainly will.
Maybe it was the pandemic, the aftermath of the chaotic release date shuffle, or the prelude to a strike in Hollywood, but the last two years weren’t the best. Granted, there were good movies, even great ones, released during that time. But how many times can one consume Banshees of an Inisherin or the wild Everything Everywhere All at Once over and over? Once was enough, and the opinion was fleeting. Until this minute, I hadn’t thought of them much. Maybe the pond I’m on with this thinking could be small, or perhaps the sentiment is shared.
2023 didn’t blast out of the gate, but it struck the bell at the right moments. March saw a mesmerizing and quite satisfying completion of the John Wick franchise. Barbie and Oppenheimer made it a July to remember. Two completely different films connecting deeply with audiences. The winter season didn’t disappoint one bit, so let’s get into what stood far above good and memorable, and what dropped down from a promising launch point to something less.
*Disclaimers: Nine of the ten movies carry no real order, and will be listed alphabetically before the last and best (aka my favorite) movie. This list belongs to this brain only, a movie fanatic hub that runs these creations through his own personal bullshit and experiences, hoping for a connection. If some of your faves aren’t listed, remember movies aren’t meant for everyone. It’s impossible not to start at a point of subjectivity and stray far from that position watching these human made make believe sessions, so the art doesn’t hit exactly the same for all. Long way of saying please don’t get butthurt by my picks and exclusions; it’s just the movies.
AIR
Ben Affleck’s Jordan tale was a smooth operator, powered by a perfectly assembled cast and a script that saved its biggest punch for last. It carried elements of The Post and Ocean’s Eleven due to the powerful history element and the underdog status that Nike had before they signed the biggest player in sports history, but it gathered all the power it needed when Matt Damon delivered that legacy speech. The movie was an 80s baby that didn’t waste a single minute of our time. Full Review
AMERICAN FICTION
It’s an easy task to watch Jeffrey Wright or hear his voice in just about any project, but this movie gave him the center stage that has long ran from him. Whether he’s narrating Marvel’s What If? or playing a part in Max’s dizzying Westworld, he makes a dent but has never led the fray. Playing a novelist who uses the unfortunate but current publishing system to gain a popularity that was previously fleeting to him, Wright is at ease with a confidence that allows him the screen time explore a complex character. Sterling K. Brown is exceptional as Wright’s brother who reconnects with his sibling as they find suitable care for their ill mom. Myra Lucretia Taylor and Tracee Ellis Ross offer up signature work.
Like an Alexander Payne film, the film says a lot without preaching. Full Review
BARBIE
There wasn’t a bigger plate of “I was wrong” lettuce than the plate of magic I ate that Greta Gerwig delivered to the big screen this past summer. From a phenomenal cast and indelible screenplay to a finale that punched the heart in its tiny chest, the movie was an emotional roller coaster that made us laugh and cry. Weeks before its release, all I could shout on social media like an old man princess was my lack of desire to see a movie based around a doll. When I realized Gerwig was using that popular toy like a Trojan horse in the central cavity of our personal movie houses, the effect was overwhelming.
When Rhea Perlman’s Ruth tells Margot Robbie’s Barbie to “feel it,” that’s all I could do, swallowed up by the real video footage of the cast’s families. Full Review
EXTRACTION 2
Taking the lead of Mr. Wick’s maker, these Sam Hargrave/Joe Russo juggernauts are a whole lot of fun. Rebelliously made action/adventures don’t land on a lot of top ten lists, but the Chris Hemsworth-powered sequel leaned harder into what made the first Netflix original hit: stellar stunts with more story.
Characters merely referenced or pushed into a smaller supporting role find more room to breathe, and we care more for Hemsworth’s (such a unique actor) Tyler Rake. Plus, an excellent oner with a train top helicopter shootout touches The Raid-type greatness. Full review
FERRARI
Michael Mann’s first film in eight years had the peace of mind to center its Italian race car tale around a single year in time with Enzo and Laura’s life as the car maker faced a moment of professional and personal crisis. Adam Driver and Penelope Cruz are stunning, and the racing scenes are aptly visceral. Mann paints a sexy coat of emotion across a car maestro at his lowest, once again keeping his scope planted on the many ways that gifted men can attempt to destroy themselves while chasing something that doesn’t exist. The crash scene near the end is the most brutal ever depicted on film, and Patrick Dempsey is a pleasure to watch. Full review
JOHN WICK: CHAPTER FOUR
If I had my way, the book on Keanu Reeves’s assassin should stay closed for a while. In a nine year frame, Chad Stahelski and company delivered four terrific action operas. They threw the kitchen sink and everything near it at the wall in the franchise’s run, which will take a spinoff detour with the Ana de Armas-led Ballerina coming out in 2024. It’s not about whether or not Wick is dead; it’s not wanting him to wear out his welcome with audiences, even if the box office receipts would say otherwise.
It was Donnie Yen’s soulful gunman who raised the roof on how hard emotionally a Wick film could hit. The two hour, 40 minute runtime hasn’t felt like a bore after three viewings. Staying power of penthouse action cinema. Full review
THE KILLER
Thank you, David Fincher, for the character study about a chatty (internally at least) assassin who suddenly becomes the prey after a botched mission. Michael Fassbender is dynamic, Tilda Swinton has one helluva scene, and the final hour never lets up. Everything from the well timed, pulse pounding action to the nondescript ending fit the bill of gem. Cynical has never looked so sexy. The Killer was Kenough! Full review
OPPENHEIMER
Even after an honestly dull and underwhelming Tenet, the faith was there for another Christopher Nolan film that reignited cinema. His bittersweet epic about the father of the atomic bomb confirms that he still has the boomstick resting comfortably in his hands. Cillian Murphy gives the performance of the year and a rock solid cast (Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr.) isn’t far behind him. Easily one of Nolan’s best scripts, it moves like a Sorkin bullet train but knows when to slow down and smell the coffee. That scene with Albert Einstein near the end about what it all means individually and how being a hero can undo it all makes the whole movie land. Full review
SOCIETY OF THE SNOW
Catching this one right before I voted on film awards sent a small but pivotal shift through my ballot, but that was nothing compared to the Andes-sized deficit faced by the survivors of a plane crash. If the wreckage didn’t kill you quickly, the deadly cold would the slow way. Rugby players and their families in 1972 have to battle a glacier and the elements in a movie that lacks a traditional movie star but doesn’t really find it necessary with the constant tension. I was cut off from the world for two hours with it. There’s something endlessly alluring about humans surviving undermanned in brutally cold weather, but a true story cements it as a must watch.
And the best or most favorite movie of 2023 is… THE HOLDOVERS!
It took three viewings, but this film takes the cake. In the end, it’s all about how a film makes you feel. A feeling I had with David Ayer’s End of Watch, David O. Russell’s Silver Linings Playbook, Jon Favreau’s Chef, Michael Sarnoski’s Pig, and Bradley Cooper’s A Star is Born.
That’s the subjective element I referenced earlier. Payne’s movie said a lot without preaching about lonerism and the binding consequences of living a life mad as hell at everybody. Paul Giamatti and Dominic Sessa playing teacher and student, a pair of black sheep stuck on campus during Christmas in 1970 with the kitchen manager, a grieving inferno of a woman in Da’Vine Joy Randolph’s Mary. She is experiencing her first Christmas without her son, who was killed in Vietnam. The two men, depressed and raged-filled angry souls, merely have to put up with each other.
What The Holdovers, written superbly by David Hemingson, puts together with a lived-in aesthetic, the surroundings fitting the cast and crew like a tailored tweed jacket, makes for poignant and thought-provoking cinema. It never felt too long, shallow, or overzealous. The movie just existed, slowly casting its spell with a trio of misfit souls trying desperately to hang onto the relentless wheel of life amid a yearly celebration that most think is only a jolly time.
Christmas is the whole ball of wax, for better or worse. Payne’s film took the classic late year path—sneaking up around a land of bomb-makers, complex conductors, and toys with souls, and fast cars to deliver a blow that provoked the mind and connected with the heart. We’ve all found ourselves in a restless skin, trying to figure out what life wants with us.
Movies that connect us with that feeling never get old. Here are a few that carried expectations that weren’t met. The disappointments:
Mission: Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One carried too long of a title (the next sequel is losing the reckoning), a bloated run time, a series of stunts that were overhyped before release, and an extended pandemic schedule that didn’t help the movie. While it was good and serviceable, the Tom Cruise vehicle failed to wow me. That’s their job.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny carried a James Mangold stamp of approval, but the script was a laughable goof and waste of time. Harrison Ford looked amusingly aloof, and even a villainous Mads Mikkelsen couldn’t help. I could have done without this one.
Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret ties M:I for extremely long title and gathered a censusus of love that befits a 94% on Rotten Tomatoes. While I applaud Rachel McAdams’ performance like I do Lily Gladstone’s work in Killers of the Flower Moon, there was nothing in this film that brought me to the floor. When I hit play, there was a feeling of excitement that was gone by the credits. The movie’s main plot point revolves around a teenage girl get her period, amid the trials and tribulations of changing neighborhoods and schools. Maybe I’m not the target audience, but this one didn’t move me.
Killers of the Flower Moon did what only Clint Eastwood’s J. Edgar could do to Leonardo DiCaprio: give him such a bland and underwritten role that he gives an underwhelming performance that hinders the whole movie. Leo’s Ernest was a straight-laced war vet with little sense who is easy to manipulate. That’s a Dane DeHaan role, not The DiCap.
Robert De Niro makes for a fine conniving uncle and Gladstone soars, but the running time is a huge bloat that spends most of its time with the not that intriguing white guys instead of the true heart of the matter. That’s the Osage Tribe that sought refuge during a time it should have held power. Martin Scorsese didn’t seem out of his element at all; he brought his element to this place. It just wasn’t as interesting as the masses make it out to be.
Here’s a few honorable mentions before I drift off for the evening before the work grind returns tomorrow.
The Creator, Maestro, Reptile, Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie, The Equalizer 3.
So long until next time, movie fans. Whether you’re a fan or fanatic, there’s something at the cinema for everyone. Please consider subscribing, and you’ll make this Film Buffa very happy.