Welp, the rest of 2024 is ruined for me, because I don’t think any other film will top Dune: Part 2.
Dune is a triumphant achievement in filmmaking. Denis Villeneuve’s vision for this IP is fully realized in this film, and everyone brings their best to the table. Greig Fraser perfectly captures the sandy dunes of Arrakis and the muted and despondent atmosphere of Giedi Prime. Hans Zimmer’s score outdoes himself again and elevates the already otherworldly score from the previous film. Timothee Chalamet has already established himself as a star, and this may be his biggest role yet. The rest of the supporting cast play their parts brilliantly.
Every frame of this movie you could hang up in a museum. I’ve never seen anything quite like it. I generally love the sci-fi genre but I have surprisingly few sci-fi movies that I really, really adore. Dune: Part 2 is now the golden standard for how films in this genre should look like going forward. This film has a perfect mix of shooting on location along with really well-done CGI. There is a sense of scope and grandiosity that I haven’t seen in a sci-fi epic in a long time, probably since Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049.
While I didn’t completely feel the emotional resonance of some of the bigger plot points, I’m perfectly content with how Villeneuve concludes the first book of Frank Herbert’s series. There are so many memorable moments throughout Dune: Part 2 that leaves me wondering how Villeneuve is going to top this with the third film. While some have complained that the ending feels like a cliffhanger, I would disagree as it marks the end of an important aspect of Paul Atreides’s journey. There is definitely more to come, but I think they ended the film in a wholly satisfying way.
Every other filmmaker working in the sci-fi space should be taking notes right now. Villeneuve has nearly perfected both small-scale and large-scale filmmaking in this genre, and I’m so excited to see him continue to wow us with his upcoming movies. Hopefully WB and other studios start giving him a blank check to make whatever he wants, because he is a master in transporting us to distant worlds and taking us along for these crazy, epic rides.
What an absolutely phenomenal year for films 2023 was. It feels like it’s been ages since our pandemic laden year in which I wasn’t even able to get a top 10. This year I’ve recorded the most films I’ve reviewed a score of B+ or higher, so there’s a lot to get to. As usual, here are the honorable mentions:
Honorable Mentions
American Fiction
Biting and effective satire featuring a sublime performance from Jeffrey Wright, American Fiction is a fascinating look into how our society utilizes racial identity for profit. There are some genuine laugh out loud moments, but the message is poignant as well.
20 Days in Mariupol
A heartbreaking documentary. Mstyslav Chernov’s acceptance speech for receiving the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature was equally heartfelt, as 20 Days in Mariupol stands out as one of the toughest but necessary watches of 2023. The war in Ukraine is a result of only a few in power, yet it has a ripple effect destroying millions of lives and will continue to have a devastating impact on the world until it is over.
Beyond Utopia
Another documentary that really makes you reflect and realize how good you have it. Beyond Utopia not only explores the terrors of living under a totalitarian regime, but also the redeeming humanitarian efforts of Christian Pastor Sung-eun Kim. May God continue to work through him and his ministry of helping families escape North Korea and find new life in a place where they can be free.
Perfect Days
A refreshingly slow-paced and quietly intimate film that relishes in the mundane. Perfect Days is minimalist in the best ways, and Kōji Hashimoto wins over all our hearts with his sincerity and silent optimism. Above all, this film makes me really want to revisit Japan. Living a simplistic life over there seems way more idyllic than grinding away in America sometimes.
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar
I’m so happy this film finally got Wes Anderson his first Oscar. Roald Dahl and Anderson are a match made in heaven. Benedict Cumberbatch (who I loved in Sherlock but not so much his movies) turns in one of my favorite performances of his. The best thing about this 40-minute short film is that it made you wish there was another hour of it. Anderson does a fantastic job with making the most of his cast, as he usually does…except for you, Asteroid City.
Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret
Love a good coming-of-age film. Almost a year later, I’m still thinking about how Rachel McAdams is the best mom ever and dressed her daughter in the best outfits. How was Margaret not the most popular girl at school with those fits? Regardless, it’s a funny and heartwarming film that boasts some wonderful performances like Benny Safdie being a surprisingly good dad. I also can’t remember the last time I saw McAdams in something as good as this. This is only director Kelly Fremon Craig’s second movie, but I can’t wait to see more from her.
Monster
Monster is rich in subtext and expertly conveys its message without preaching at you. The narrative structure lends itself to telling a compelling and ambitious story and while it doesn’t always completely land, it leaves a lasting impression. Hirokazu Kore-eda is one of the best directors working today when it comes to films about family and identity.
The Teachers’ Lounge
One of the most stressful films of the year. Why come up with clever and innovative settings for a horror film when you can just use a classroom for middle school kids? Leonie Benesch delivers a fantastic performance filled with next-level patience and compassion, and highlights the difficulty in raising our youth in a world that is so quick to judge and label others.
John Wick: Chapter 4
The best John Wick film so far. The stuntwork is impeccable, the action is abundant, and the kills are just as glorious as they’ve been for the past three films. While Chapter 4 is unlikely to be the last film in the franchise, it is a sort of nice ending to a series that came out of nowhere and truly resurrected Keanu Reeves’s career. Between him and Tom Cruise, It’s kind of crazy that the best action stars are still the same people that those of us in the 80s and 90s grew up watching.
The Boy and the Heron
Hayao Mizayaki does it again. Will he truly stay retired? Who knows. No one can craft imaginative and transportive worlds like he can. I’m sure he couldn’t care less about winning a second Oscar and also the first 2D-animated Oscar since his first Oscar winner Spirited Away, but I’m thankful that he’s still out here giving us a window to peer into that genius mind of his. This is easily his most complex and thematically dense film, and unpacking it all would take a herculean effort. I foresee this getting better and better each time I rewatch it.
Fallen Leaves
I absolutely loved the charm of this working class romance. It kind of reminded me of a Finnish Napoleon Dynamite, but the deadpan humor worked much better for me in this movie. Few films are as aggressively depressing in its mood, which makes the awkward romance that much better. The film’s also got the runner-up for best dog performance, with the best belonging to a film further up this list.
10) The Holdovers
Paul Giamatti’s finest performance, and worthy of the Oscar nomination. Dominic Sessa’s DEBUT role is also incredible, as he carries himself with the aura of a seasoned veteran. Da’Vine Joy Randolph emanates warmth and sympathy. Everything about this movie is like a warm holiday hug, and cements itself as one of the best Christmas movies ever. Alexander Payne is so freakin’ good at dysfunctional family dramedies, and I hope he makes them forever.
9) The Killer
God, it feels so good to have another David Fincher film. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. Erik Messerschmidt. Michael Fassbender. The gang’s all here. The film might not be saying much or have much of a story, but that’s okay. The vibes are impeccable. Even though 2023 had some fantastic action films in John Wick and Mission: Impossible, The Killer has one of the most outstanding action sequences of the year. Please Mr. Fassbender, don’t ever go on acting hiatus again. You’ve been sorely missed.
8) A Thousand and One
Probably the biggest surprise out of all the films I saw this year. I had no idea who Teyana Taylor was, but now I hope she gets all the roles. I’m so excited to see her in Paul Thomas Anderson’s next film. This film had all the opportunities to be a conventional coming-of-age drama, but was completely subversive in all the best ways. It’s heartfelt and powerful in many ways, and deserves way more recognition than it got.
7) Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
This would have been, hands down, the GREATEST Spider-Man movie by a mile if it wasn’t for that ending. With that being said though, this is still an incredible technical achievement in animation. Seeing this in a theater was unforgettable. With the addition of the PS5 Spider-Man game, Spider-Man fans ate real well this year. Hopefully the sequel for this film won’t take 5 years to come out.
6) The Taste of Things
What a beautiful and delicious film. I want to see this movie again right now, but on a full stomach. Tran Anh Hung has such an eye for beauty in every frame of this film. I’m surprised it didn’t get nominated for an Academy Award, because it was certainly better than some of the nominees. Few things are as erotic as food, and this will go down as the food porniest movie of all time. This film is the cinematic equivalent of a five-course meal at a Michelin three-star restaurant.
5) The Zone of Interest
I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a film as disturbing as this without showing any actual unsettling images. This film deserved to win the Oscar for Best Sound, because the sound carries this film. Jonathan Glazer portrays the banality of evil to terrifying effect, and it’s a sobering reminder that while apathy and indifference are often an overlooked and even acceptable sin, it’s one of the most certain symptoms of human cruelty towards each other. This film also has the most harrowing ending of any film I’ve seen this year.
4) Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning
None of my friends liked this movie as much as I did, but I’m still holding out hope that Part 2 (no longer labeled as Part 2) will assuage all the fears I had about this film. On its own though, it’s still one of the best Part 1s I’ve ever seen. The story is clever and goes in a direction that a spy franchise on its 7th installment could really only go at this point, and the stakes have never been higher. Tom Cruise is still in his element, and the emphasis on actual spycraft was a great change of pace. I know we’re entering the twilight of Tom Cruise’s action-movie career, so I’m thankful that we’re able to have excellent films like this for the time being.
3) Anatomy of a Fall
Sandra Hüller has been Europe’s best kept secret, until this year. Her performance in Anatomy of a Fall is probably my favorite of the year, but it’s not just her that’s excellent. Milo Machado-Graner’s performance is quite underrated and one of the best young performances of 2023, and Messi the dog has easily the best dog performance I’ve ever seen. The writing is sharp, and highlights how the French legal system is ripe for courtroom drama movies. The “argument” scene will forever be engrained in my memory as some of the most brilliantly written pieces of dialogue, akin to Marriage Story and Before Midnight.
2) Killers of the Flower Moon
Scorsese is inevitable. His ability to pump out incredible films even at the spry age of 81 does not cease to amaze me every time I think about it. Killers of the Flower Moon is a very personal look into one of the dark corners of American history, and Lily Gladstone’s magnetic performance as Mollie Burkhart portrays the pain inflicted on the Osage with such nuance and depth. I also cannot believe that DiCaprio and DeNiro were often overlooked this past awards season, because their characters were essential in setting the tone and making this film the epic that it turned out to be. Few directors working today can make a career out of 3.5 hour films, but Scorsese is one that not only can, but is welcomed to.
1) Oppenheimer
Speaking of 3-hour epics, WTF? How did this movie end up making almost a billion dollars? Everything about this film goes against conventional box-office knowledge; it’s long, it’s got no action, and it’s centered around people talking. And yet, it was one of the most compelling films of the year, and certainly my favorite of 2023. Nolan never ceases to amaze, and his partnership with Cillian Murphy results in a beautiful culmination after 20 years of working together. Very film of Nolan’s films are known for their memorable performances (with the exception of The Dark Knight/The Dark Knight Rises) as opposed to the story, but the acting, the incredible script, and the masterful score from Ludwig Göransson make this an outstanding achievement in Nolan’s already treasured career. I know I’ve already felt this way for many years, but Nolan could literally make any movie and it would get me excited, even if it was about paint drying.
Happy Post-Oscars week! I know I generally have my top 10 films of the year out right before the Oscars, but Final Fantasy VII Rebirth has been keeping me thoroughly distracted. I am hoping to get that out by the start of next week. Congratulations to all of the winners at the Academy Awards, especially for my boy Christopher Nolan FINALLY getting the recognition he deserves. Time to give my final 2023 movie reviews.
Maestro
I did not vibe with this movie AT ALL. I think Bradley Cooper is a talented actor and a somewhat talented director, but he needs to take a break from the Oscar-bait films. This movie was supposed to be a biopic about Leonard Bernstein, but after two hours I still felt like I knew nothing about him. It was an interesting choice to highlight Bernstein’s marriage as opposed to the rise in his musical iconography, which I was hoping to see more of. A lot of the dialogue felt cringeworthy and a bit too artificial, trying too hard to be set in the 1950s.
The cinematography is quite good and you can tell that Cooper has a good eye behind the camera, but this makes me wonder if he might be better being the director of a film that he doesn’t star in. For a film that desperately tries to sell you on its importance and emotional resonance, it unfortunately lands quite flat.
Grade: C-/60
Rye Lane
Kind of watched this on a whim with a friend and had no idea what it was about. It’s hard to truly love a rom-com when you don’t believe the chemistry between the two leads. Unfortunately that’s how I felt about Rye Lane, even though tonally it was great, and the movie really popped with its bright visuals. The premise of the film was great too, paying homage to similar films like the Before Trilogy, where a relationship begins to bud after one long hangout. It’s also quite funny at times too, but again, hard to truly get invested when you can’t buy into the two leads’ relationship.
Also, can I just say, I HATE the fisheye lens cinematography. I find it so distracting and 99% of the time it is such an eye sore. Unfortunately, this movie has so much of it, and I found it really annoying.
Grade: B-/73
Blackberry
Blackberry tries its hardest to emulate the magic of The Social Network, and mostly pulls it off. The story about the rise of the Blackberry phone is mostly interesting, with Glenn Howerton providing some truly dazzling Dennis from It’s Always Sunny energy.
Films like this one are always fascinating because everyone loves a good underdog story. Most of the dialogue is pretty snappy similar to Aaron Sorkin’s work, but every now and then it veers a bit too much into the fantastical where people start to become more like caricatures rather than real life people. Overall, it’s a pretty fascinating look into an often forgotten piece of hardware that was once at the top of the world for a brief moment in time.
Grade: B/79
Anyone But You
Sydney Sweeney’s rise to stardom has been quick and widespread, and I have been a willing participant. I first heard of her through the HBO show Euphoria, which I refuse to watch because I don’t want to see adults playing teenagers struggling with sex and drug addiction. I used to think that Sweeney was just a very marketable actress with limited range, until I saw her in Reality, which left me quite impressed with her. Naturally, a rom-com featuring her and Glen Powell seems to be a match made in heaven. Two hot people being hot and doing hot things? What’s not to love?
Well, I think the film is pretty good! The premise is perfect for the genre, and it scratches that itch that people will want to see in a rom-com. I gotta say though…while Glen Powell is great, Sweeney is…not as great. A lot of her line delivery seemed quite lifeless to me, which is a complaint that I’ve heard about her in the past.
Regardless of her acting, it’s hard to deny the chemistry between the two. It’s a fun movie that passes the time quickly. Anyone But You has also made quite a lot of money as well, so it’s nice to see that people are going to theaters to check it out, especially for a genre that hasn’t been entirely profitable for a while especially because it’s more likely to go straight to streaming nowadays. I know that there are rumblings for a sequel and I don’t know how that would happen based on the premise, but I’ll most likely be tuning in.
Grade: B/76
American Fiction
Jeffrey Wright leads a clever satire about black people “selling out” in American Fiction, and is one of the funniest films of the year. It’s got a lot of interesting social commentary about “blackness” and themes of identity.
While I don’t think the ending is quite as satisfying as I hoped and at times it gets a bit too overambitious in its messaging, this is definitely a film worth watching. I think there are a lot of films out there made by black filmmakers that try to capture the nuance in social commentary that American Fiction largely achieves, but come short. This is a refreshing story bolstered by some solid performances, especially from Wright who absolutely earns that Oscar nomination.
Grade: B+/81
The Taste of Things
If you decide to see this film, be warned: you must not watch it on an empty stomach. If the opening of Saving Private Ryan is an all-out assault on the senses when it comes to the hellishness of war, The Taste of Things‘ opening scene is an all-out assault on the senses with food for a legit 20 minutes.
Watching this film reminded me that there are few things more erotic than food. I mean, this is the food-porniest of all food-porn movies. The sights, the sounds, the smells. I know you can’t smell a movie, but you can pretty much smell this movie. It’s one of the most beautiful films of 2023, a celebration of French cuisine and the French expression of love. I’ve never seen a movie directed by Tran Anh Hung before, but I’ve certainly developed an appetite for his work and I definitely want to see more. Finding a good romance movie seems very few and far between nowadays, but 2023 gifted us with Fallen Leaves and The Taste of Things, so I am quite content with how things have been going this past year for a genre I’m not as well-versed in. I can’t wait to watch this movie again sometime at home, in front of a huge assortment of dishes ready to eat.
Grade: A-/86
Perfect Days
Ah yes, toilet cleaning ASMR: the movie. Perfect Days is a quiet and slow paced slice of life film that is heavy on the vibes and light on the story. I’ll admit that the first half of the film felt a tad repetitive and slightly boring to me, but things really turned around in the second half. Not necessarily because a lot of exciting things happen in the latter half, but more because of the character finally clicking for me, leading to more meaningful character interactions. Kōji Yakusho is wonderful as Hirayama, a man of very few words but with a simplistic and optimistic outlook on life. It’s always fascinating to see films through the eyes of an everyman, and it certainly helps that it takes place in the beautiful backdrop of Tokyo. It’s nice to see a movie where loneliness isn’t portrayed as a bad thing, because there are a lot of people out there in the world who enjoy time to themselves and living a quiet lifestyle. However, I do wonder how happy-go-lucky Hirayama would be if he had to clean American public toilets instead of Japanese ones. He might be really depressed then.
Grade: B+/81
Poor Things
Yorgos Lanthimos’s newest Emma Stone collaboration is stunning in its artistry and beautifully filmed. Remember how I said earlier that 99% of movies with the fisheye lens aesthetic are an eye sore? This is the 1%. I’m now convinced that Lanthimos is the only director who can pull off fisheye lens. The production design is immaculate in Poor Things and the title cards for each chapter are perfection; I wish I could have them framed in my house.
With all that being said, I did not enjoy this movie, and found it quite frustrating. Without giving too many plot points away, the film is essentially about a character named Bella Baxter (played by Emma Stone) who experiences her sexual awakening and spiritual enlightenment in her journey across Europe. As she becomes more exposed to the world and the philosophies that shape those around her, all those influences slowly begin to form her worldview as she becomes more independent in thought. I found the world of Poor Things to be very fascinating, and Emma Stone’s performance is certainly a very bold one worthy of the accolades she’s received. However, whenever Bella would become curious about the world, it would always revert back to that of a sexual nature, something that the film is overly indulgent in. I felt like half of the movie was of Bella having sex, which got really repetitive and uncomfortable for me. The movie could have benefitted a lot more from having different types of intellectual stimulation with situations that broadened Bella’s mind, but too often the director confined the viewer to the bedroom instead.
It’s hard for me to give Poor Things a bad grade, because objectively speaking it’s quite fantastic on all fronts. It’s a shame that the narrative doesn’t hold up as well because I really would have liked to love this one. Lanthimos continues to be a very divisive director for me, and after giving a number of his films a shot, I’m not sure I want to keep sticking around, no matter how many awards his movies get.
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