Current:Home > My2023 was a great year for moviegoing — here are 10 of Justin Chang's favorites -AssetLink
2023 was a great year for moviegoing — here are 10 of Justin Chang's favorites
SignalHub Quantitative Think Tank Center View
Date:2025-04-06 04:15:50
Film critics like to argue as a rule, but every colleague I've talked to in recent weeks agrees that 2023 was a pretty great year for moviegoing. The big, box office success story, of course, was the blockbuster mash-up of Barbie
and Oppenheimer, but there were so many other titles — from the gripping murder mystery Anatomy of a Fall to the Icelandic wilderness epic Godland — that were no less worth seeking out, even if they didn't generate the same memes and headlines.
These are the 10 that I liked best, arranged as a series of pairings. My favorite movies are often carrying on a conversation with each other, and this year was no exception.
All of Us Strangers and The Boy and the Heron
An unusual pairing, to be sure, but together these two quasi-supernatural meditations on grief restore some meaning to the term "movie magic." In All of Us Strangers, a metaphysical heartbreaker from the English writer-director Andrew Haigh (Weekend, 45 Years), Andrew Scott plays a lonely gay screenwriter discovering new love even as he deals with old loss; he and Paul Mescal, Claire Foy and Jamie Bell constitute the acting ensemble of the year. And in The Boy and the Heron, the Japanese anime master Hayao Miyazaki looks back on his own life with an elegiac but thrillingly unruly fantasy, centered on a 12-year-old boy who could be a stand-in for the young Miyazaki himself. Here's my The Boy and the Heron review.
The Zone of Interest and Oppenheimer
These two dramas approach the subject of World War II from formally radical, ethically rigorous angles. The Zone of Interest is Jonathan Glazer's eerily restrained and mesmerizing portrait of a Nazi commandant and his family living next door to Auschwitz; Oppenheimer is Christopher Nolan's thrillingly intricate drama about the theoretical physicist who devised the atomic bomb. Both films deliberately keep their wartime horrors off-screen, but leave us in no doubt about the magnitude of what's going on. Here's my Oppenheimer review.
Showing Up and Afire
Two sharply nuanced portraits of grumpy artists at work. In Kelly Reichardt's wincingly funny Showing Up, Michelle Williams plays a Portland sculptor trying to meet a looming art-show deadline. In Afire, the latest from the great German director Christian Petzold, a misanthropic writer (Thomas Schubert) struggles to finish his second novel at a remote house in the woods. Both protagonists are so memorably ornery, you almost want to see them in a crossover romantic-comedy sequel. Here's my Showing Up review.
Past Lives and The Eight Mountains
Two movies about long-overdue reunions between childhood pals. Greta Lee and Teo Yoo are terrifically paired in Past Lives, Celine Song's wondrously intimate and philosophical story about fate and happenstance. And in The Eight Mountains, Felix van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch's gorgeously photographed drama set in the Italian Alps, the performances of Luca Marinelli and Alessandro Borghi are as breathtaking as the scenery. Here are my reviews for Past Lives and The Eight Mountains.
De Humani Corporis Fabrica and Poor Things
Surgery, two ways: The best and most startling documentary I saw this year is Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Véréna Paravel's De Humani Corporis Fabrica, which features both hard-to-watch and mesmerizing close-up footage of surgeons going about their everyday work. The medical procedures prove far more experimental in Poor Things, Yorgos Lanthimos' hilarious Frankenstein-inspired dark comedy starring a marvelous Emma Stone as a woman implanted with a child's brain. Here is my Poor Things review.
More movie pairings from past years
veryGood! (45299)
Related
- San Francisco names street for Associated Press photographer who captured the iconic Iwo Jima photo
- U.S. Secret Service member robbed at gunpoint in California during Biden trip
- China blames Philippines for ship collision in South China Sea. Manila calls the report deceptive
- That cool Tony Awards moment when Jay-Z joined Alicia Keys? Turns out it wasn’t live
- See you latte: Starbucks plans to cut 30% of its menu
- Wisconsin Supreme Court will hear a challenge to governor’s 400-year school funding veto
- Former MLB infielder, coach Mike Brumley dies in car crash at 61
- Taylor Swift marks 100th show of Eras Tour: 'Feels truly deranged to say'
- Grammy nominee Teddy Swims on love, growth and embracing change
- Team USA's Uniforms for the 2024 Olympics Deserve a Gold Medal
Ranking
- Current, future North Carolina governor’s challenge of power
- “Fortunate” Céline Dion Shares Sweet Onstage Moment With Son René-Charles at Documentary Premiere
- Justin Timberlake Released From Custody After DWI Arrest
- Billy Ray Cyrus Files for Temporary Restraining Order Against Ex Firerose Amid Divorce
- Trump's 'stop
- First tropical storm warning of hurricane season issued as coastal Texas braces for possible flooding
- Quavo hosts summit against gun violence featuring VP Kamala Harris on late rapper Takeoff’s birthday
- Céline Dion Makes Rare Red Carpet Appearance With Son Rene-Charles Angelil
Recommendation
California DMV apologizes for license plate that some say mocks Oct. 7 attack on Israel
Hillary Clinton gets standing ovation in surprise appearance at Tonys: 'Very special'
Columbus Blue Jackets fire coach Pascal Vincent after one season
Quavo hosts summit against gun violence featuring VP Kamala Harris on late rapper Takeoff’s birthday
'Kraven the Hunter' spoilers! Let's dig into that twisty ending, supervillain reveal
RHOBH's PK Kemsley Shares Sobriety Journey Milestone Amid Dorit Kemsley Breakup
Uncle Howdy makes highly anticipated return to WWE on Raw, continues Bray Wyatt's legacy
Boston Celtics are early betting favorites for 2025 NBA title; odds for every team