The Best Films of 2023

What a year! 2023 saw new music from the Beatles and The Rolling Stone - it was 2023! And the movies, wow! Canada 🍁, well done. So many great films this year. I watched 290 movies to bring you this list (about half were from 2023) - and I still haven't seen everything I want to. Here are my favourite 15 films and everything else which made the blog. It's got to be an "A+" to an "A-" to make it. Followed by the honourable mentions/guilty pleasures. Then we have the best of last year I only watched this year, followed by the worst and biggest disappointments of 2023. You can click the links for the full reviews. 

The Best 15 Films of 2023

1. Beau is Afraid

2. The Creator

3. Mob Land

4. Talk to Me

5. Leave the World Behind

6. American Fiction

7.  Poor Things

8. Joyland

9. The Killer

10. Riceboy Sleeps 🍁

11. Brother 🍁

12. Air

13. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

14. Cat Person

15. Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One

And here is everything else and none of these films would be a waste of your time (in no real order)

16.  Plane

17. Enter the Drag Dragon 🍁

18. Knock at the Cabin

19. Infinity Pool 🍁

20. I Like Movies 🍁

21. Smoking Causes Coughing

22. The Lost King

23. Evil Dead Rise

24. How to Blow Up a Pipeline 

25. The Covenant 

26. Blackberry 🍁

27. The Boogeyman

28. Reality 

29. Bones of Crows 🍁

30. Without Precedent: The Supreme Life of Rosalie Abella 🍁

31. The Flash

32. Lynch/Oz 

33. Oppenheimer

34. Barbie

35. Sympathy for the Devil

36. Shortcomings

37. Lola

38. Jules

39. Passages 

40. Birth/Rebirth

41. Fair Play

42. Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person 🍁

43. The Holdovers

44. She Came to Me

45. Dream Scenario 

46. Dumb Money

47. Godzilla Minus One

48. Rebel Moon: Part One - A Child of Fire

49. Squaring the Circle: The Story of Hipgnosis

50. How to Have Sex

Honouralbe Mentions/Guilty Pleasures

Horror Films:

Megan - the best dancing killer doll movie every made

Renfield - Nic Cage is great in this one, would love to see him get a best supporting nomination

The Nun II - full confession, I thought it was great (almost blog worthy - definitely an honourable mention on the Marquee). This one gets my blessing.  

Dark Nature - 🍁Canadian horror film. Reminiscent of  "The Descent." You might need therapy after this one. 

Influencer - Take a selfie in Thailand, this one is a boat ride of fun

Slotherhouse - a killer sloth in a sorority - the jokes move quickly

Appendage - reminded me of Malignant - a basket case of fun! 

Totally Killer - Back to the Future meets Scream

The Exorcist: Believer - I loved the first 2/3 of this film. A somewhat disappointing third act caused it to just miss getting a full entry on the Marquee.   

Action Films

The Equalizer 3 - I loved this series, better than the 2nd, almost as good as the first

Gran Turismo - the best underdog sports film about car racing this year

Dramas/Drama-Thriller:

Hunger - reminiscent of films like "Chef," "Burnt," and "The Menu," this Thai film looks amazing but left me hungry for a little more- catch it on Netflix  

Dreamin' Wild - Casey Affleck stars as a man finding musical fame 30 years later (think "Sugar Man")

Punch - New Zealand boxing movie staring Tim Roth

Sanctuary - be submissive and let this fun drama dominate your time for 90 minutes - it's a love story

The Passenger (2023) -  Kyle Gallner's performance was so outstanding for me. Similar to  Sympathy for the Devil (also this year). 

Priscilla - Almost got a full blog entry. I thought the performances of Cailee Spaeny and Jacob Elordi were both fantastic. People said it was boring - I was glued to it. 

Documentaries: 

Still - Catch this on Apple+ documentary about Michael J. Fox.

Once Upon a Time in Uganda - This documentary is about Isaac Nabwana making action movies in the slums of Uganda. So great!

Sly - Catch the documentary on the life of Sylvester Stallone (writer, actor, director, painter) - amazing. 

Satan Wants You 🍁 - This documentary on the Satanic Panic of the 1980s is as fascinating as it is bananas. 

The Mission - the story of American missionary John Chau as he tried to bring Jesus to the people of Sentinel Island. It didn't go so well! 

Great Films of 2022 I only watched in 2023

1. All Quiet on the Western Front - this would have made my top ten of last year. The soundtrack! 

2. Turn Every Page - The Adventures of Robert Caro and Robert Gottlieb

3. To Leslie

4. REVIVAL69: The Concert that Rocked the World 🍁

Worst Films of 2023

1. Cocaine Bear - there was 10 minute of fun, the rest was rather dull, like cocaine itself.

2. Skinamarink - stare up at the corner of your ceiling for 90 minutes, that's the movie 

3. Enys Men - throw this one down a well

4. The Black Demon - Bad, bad shark movie

5. Showing Up - Don't show up

6. Asteroid City - Wes Anderson, please stick to animated movies

7. Joy Ride - Looking for a funny Asian comedy, this isn't it. Watch Shortcomings instead.  

8. Don't Look Away - Look away

9. The Adults - grow up and write something worth watching

Biggest Disappointments of 2023

1. Killers of the Flower Moon - It's not that bad but it's way, way too long. I wanted to love it and didn't. Hence it lands on this list for being one of the most disappointing films of the year

2. Napoleon - another film which I didn't hate but was hoping to love and didn't. Meh. 

3. May December - didn't care for it at all. Not funny. Not interesting. I expect much more from Todd Haynes 

4. John Wick 4 - endless gunfire ballet where you care about nothing and no one. More fun to watch your friend play video games.

5. Ferrari - Through the forensic analysis of the crash it was determined that a lack of dramatic tension, boring car races, and not a single character to care about were the factors responsible for the catastrophic accident, which is this film.

Mob Land

"Dog Day Afternoon," "The Silent Partner," "Heat," "Blood Simple," "No Country For Old Men," "Hell or Highwater," "Good Time.," "Dragged Across Concrete" - these are some of my favourite heist pictures. Now "Mob Land" is on that list. I said it before (when I reviewed "Old Henry") and I will say it again, "I will watch anything Stephen Dorff participates in. If he feels like it's a worthy project, I'm in." This is co-writer and director, Nicholas Maggio's debut feature film and he has exploded onto the screen like a shotgun blast. The plot: Shelby (Shiloh Fernandez), who is scrapping to get by, is convinced by his brother-in-law Trey (Kevin Dillon) to rob a dodgy Oxycodone clinic in their small town. The problem is the dodgy clinic is owned by the mob and they send Clayton (Stephen Dorff) to get the money back. Travolta plays the town sheriff and is the uncle of Shelby. Dorff is absolutely riveting every single time he is on screen and is worthy of a best supporting nomination. Hell, so is Travolta - I loved him in this. And the dialogue in this movie is like Tarantino meets Jean-Paul Sartre. I am simply jealous of how good the writing for this movie was. And the music choices! Bravo. I'm certain this film will make my top ten of 2023. Catch it on streaming services or in a rep theatre near you.