Best Films of 2023

1. Dream Scenario
​Nicolas Cage gives the best performance of recent memory as a regular guy who becomes famous for being in people’s dreams until it all goes wrong. A brilliant film is every way.

2. The Holdovers
Paul Giamatti, Davine Joy Randolph, and Dominic Sessa are the ensemble of the year in Alexander Payne’s new Christmas classic.

3. Oppenheimer
Christopher Nolan’s opus is the Hollywood studio film of the year. A masterpiece political thriller, where the true tension stems from the internal battle to create something so drastic it changes the world and our protagonist.

4. The Iron Claw
Sean Durkin’s ode to territory wrestling, the Von Erich wrestling family, and true independent cinema is the surprise of the year. Zac Efron has arrived.

5. Theater Camp
The funniest comedy of the year is a mockumentary about a struggling theater camp filled with big laughs and a brilliant satirical musical worth applauding!

6. Poor Things
A true visionary feast for the eyes. Emma Stone is a 30 year old woman given the brain of a baby, and forced to deal with the patriarchy from a fresh angle. This is what brave filmmaking is all about.

7. American Fiction
Another satire makes my list. This one attacking well meaning white liberals who think they know what being black is all about. Jefferson Cord writes and directs a near perfect film.

8. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3
James Gunn wraps up one of the best science fiction/comic book trilogies of all time. This is the Star Wars Kathleen Kennedy couldn’t deliver. A funny, exciting, heart breaking, joyous film that will be cherished for years.

9. Freud’s Last Session
A rare intellectual film filled with ideas and theories about life, death, free will, God and sex. In this fan fiction about the meeting of Sigmund Freud and CS Lewis, the story is about facing fears and fighting for truth. In the vein of Doubt and The Two Popes, this is the film I hope you’ll seek out.

10. Super Mario Brothers
The most pure fun I had all year in the movies. While not inherently deep, this animated rollercoaster of a film digs deep into 40 years of nostalgia and gives us the Mario Brothers film us 80’s kids always wanted.

Runners Up:
Here are some films that tied for 11th. To be honest, I could have put any of them at number 10 and felt good about my list. All of them were funny, smart, and wildly creative in their styles.

The Color Purple
Past Lives
Godzilla Minus One
May December
Air
TMNT: Mutant Mania

Others worth watching:
These are the more experimental or niche films that will have both fans and haters, but I really enjoyed. This is a mixture of documentaries, true stories, and classic Hollywood tales of woe and redemption. What I can promise, is none of these films will bore you.

Defending My Life
Blackberry
Saltburn
Dumb Money
The Burial
Next Goal Wins
Creed III