“Are Movies Back?” is a question Josh and I pondered after Barbenheimer weekend, and I think the jury has definitively come back and said “Yes.” Despite lengthy strikes from the Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA, it seemed like there was an embarrassment of riches with regard to good-to-great films in theaters and on streaming services. No matter how much time I tried to devote to catching up on all of the movies I found intriguing, it wasn’t enough. Moreover, 2023 had a lot of big movies from noted auteurs. David Fincher, Martin Scorsese, and Christopher Nolan all released great movies (and Ridley Scott released a pretty good one) with plenty of up-and-coming filmmakers who seem to have limitless potential like Celine Song and Cord Jefferson.
At least half a dozen of my favorite movies of 2023 felt like they were drawn from my imagination and my tastes. A close examination of my dearly-departed Twitter (please don’t make me say X) would likely reveal that I’d like to see adaptations of my favorite immersive thrillers, documentaries about mysterious authors, satires that ruthlessly mock the gatekeepers of fiction, biopics of scientists, and legendary comedians talking shop. My cinematic cup clearly runneth over. Next year I’m getting a 100 gallon drum.
10. Eileen (William Oldroyd)
It was always going to be a tall order to recreate the creepy vibes of Ottessa Moshfegh’s masterful debut novel but this film comes as close as possible. With a script by Moshfegh and her husband Luke Goebel, it stays pretty true to its source, but holds up on its own as a thriller. The major plot twist managed to surprise me even though I already knew what it was and when it was coming.
Eileen will arrive on VOD on January 2, 2004
9. Albert Brooks: Defending My Life (Rob Reiner)
I love watching retrospectives like this. One of comedy’s true geniuses (he was really born Albert Einstein) goes through much of his legendary career while being gently interrogated by a dear friend, a dear friend that also happens to be another comedy genius and capable filmmaker.
Albert Brooks: Defending My Life is streaming on Max.
8. The Pigeon Tunnel (Errol Morris)
Before I watched The Pigeon Tunnel, I had never read a John le Carré novel, but I had a copy of The Spy Who Came in From the Cold on my Kindle before the credits wrapped up. One of the most fascinating modern day authors tells his life story as a spy named David Cornwell turned novelist to documentarian Errol Morris before his December 2020 death. Can it be fully trusted? Is Cornwell a reliable narrator of his own life? I don’t know and I don’t care. Their conversation is riveting.
The Pigeon Tunnel is now streaming on AppleTV.
7. Past Lives (Celine Song)
Celine Song’s note-perfect film had me in tears through most of the film when it was the opening night movie at SIFF this year. It’s a beautifully-told tale of an deep, adolescent friendship that puts “Best Friends Forever” to the test when one half moves across the world and the other tries to reconnect years later when they’re both two very different people than they were as children.
Past Lives is available on various VOD platforms
6. Poor Things (Yorgos Lanthimos)
Poor Things is unquestionably the most inventive movie I saw this year, and also one of my favorites. I’d describe it as what would happen if Gabriel Garcia Marquez rewrote Frankenstein and Guillermo del Toro adapted that into a movie with L. Frank Baum and Salvador Dali involved somehow, which sounds like it came straight from my stoned dreams. It’s a wonderfully weird fairy tale for adults. Moreover, “Furious jumping” is the best new euphemism for sex that I’ve heard since I was like 14 (which must’ve been “boinking” back then). Lastly, can we just give Emma Stone the Oscar now?
Poor Things is currently in theaters.
5. American Fiction (Cord Jefferson)
Cord Jefferson’s satire is one probably the funniest movie I saw all year, and it hits its target with a bullseye. Jeffrey Wright stars as a well-regarded Black novelist whose well-written books languish unread until his frustration gets the best of him and he writes a book as full of stereotypes and slang that the white people, readers and gatekeepers can’t get enough of. The opening and final scenes are perfect works of absurdist satire.
American Fiction will be in Seattle theaters on January 5, 2024.
4. Confessions of a Good Samaritan (Penny Lane)
I’ve long been an admirer of Penny Lane’s offbeat documentaries that have subjects as diverse as Nixon, Kenny G., the Church of Satan, and a quack doctor who injected Area Men with goat testicles. This time she turns the camera around and documents her journey as an altruistic kidney donor. It’s deeply moving and also quite funny. It also might actually save a life.
Confessions of a Good Samaritan is not yet streaming but may be soon.
3. Killers of the Flower Moon (Martin Scorsese)
Martin Scorsese’s epic is a masterful adaptation of David Grann’s true crime book of the same name. It’s 1920’s Oklahoma and lots of indigenous people start dying under mysterious circumstances in a troubling pattern that suspiciously beneficiaries. Leonardo DiCaprio is good (even if a little miscast) and Lily Gladstone is a revelation. The movie runs three and a half hours, but it’s a brisk three and a half hours.
Killers of the Flower Moon is streaming on AppleTV.
2. Anatomy of a Fall (Anatomie d’une chute)(Justine Triet)
When a man in the middle of rural France falls to his death, his wife is the obvious suspect. Their relationship has turned toxic and she certainly had the means, motive, and opportunity to do it. But can prosecutors prove it? And what if the only witness is the couple’s blind son? Anatomy of a Fall is overflowing with tension and moral quandary, and light on answers. It’s brilliant.
Anatomy of a Fall is available on VOD.
1. Oppenheimer (Christopher Nolan)
I agonized over a lot of choices on this list, but not this one. It was easy. Christopher Nolan’s biopic of nuclear physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer is the best movie I’ve seen this year. It’s also the best movie I’ve seen this decade. Cillian Murphy plays the scientist tasked with leading to the creation of the most destructive bomb ever made. It’s a tragic story that led directly to the deaths of some 125,000 (or likely more) people. It lives up to its scale and place in history.
Oppenheimer is available on VOD.
Special Mention:
A Strange Way of Life (Pedro Almodóvar)
At this point it seems like I’ve turned the SunBreak into a fan page for Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar. His newest film is his first in Hollywood: a thirty-one minute short western with Pedro Pascale and Ethan Hawke. The less I say about the plot, the better. It’s beautiful. It also doesn’t need another hour to tell its story about love, honor, family, and duty.
A Strange Way of Life does not appear to be on VOD or streaming at this time.
All of the Sunbreak’s Year-end lists: Josh | Chris | Morgen | Tony