At the end of the year, it is time to reflect what is truly important: family; our contributions to society; and cataloguing every movie we saw in the last year.
As usual, my lists are not necessarily in order of best to worst. Movies that have the same number of stars can probably be reordered depending on how I feel and what kind of day it is. But a four star movie is unambiguously better than a two star movie. If you disagree with me, let me know. There is no shame in being wrong!
2023 movies
In 2023, I saw 20 movies in the theaters. Many of the great ones you have already heard plenty of people talk about, so I don't feel like I need to add anything. But it may be worth pointing out a few great movies you probably didn't hear about, or heard things that were just wrong:
The Flash is actually really good! It is funny and has some great character moments. The story has real stakes and characters grow and change throughout the film. It is a superhero multiverse movie that gets it right, and forces characters to make difficult choices about things that we actually care about. To me, it is the third best DC Extended Universe movie, after only Wonder Woman (2017) and Shazam! (2019).
Don't believe the bad press about The Flash. It's not a perfect movie,
but it is better than most of the new movies I saw this year.
The Sea Beast is one you probably haven't heard about. Netflix released it directly to their streaming platform in 2022, along with a bunch of straight-to-DVD-level garbage, so it was easy to overlook. If it had a more substantial theatrical release, it really would have stood out (I see a lot of movies in theaters and didn't hear about this until months after its release).
Directed by Chris Williams (Big Hearo 6, Moana), The Sea Beast is about a sea monster hunter and a young orphan girl who joins him on their search for an elusive menace to shipping in a fictionalized 17th century European setting. This movie has some fascinating world building, interesting plot twists, and only a few minor Kristen Visbal-esque missteps. But otherwise is one of the best recent new releases.
The biggest disappointments of the year were Shazam! Fury of the Gods and Disenchanted. I loved the first Shazam! film, so this dramatic drop-off in quality was heartbreaking. Disenchanted was a sequel to 2007's Enchanted. Unfortunately, the parts of Enchanted that worked least well were on full display in its sequel, while few of the charms of the original remained.
Older movies
A few of the older movies that I watched this year were favorites that I had seen before, like American Graffiti, My Cousin Vinny, and Big Trouble.
This year, I read Conversations with Wilder by Cameron Crowe, an interview book with the great film director Billy Wilder. I have been trying to make a point to watch Billy Wilder movies, since I haven't seen one I don't like.
I watched the excellent Sunset Boulevard (1950) and the very good film Sabrina (1954). Kiss Me, Stupid (1964) is a bit of a misstep, although it was still very interesting. I will continue to be on the lookout for more Wilder movies into next year.
Didn't finish
New this year, I have included the movies that I started but was unable to finish because I disliked them so much. Note that I gave these films zero stars, but the rating is not as certain as a zero star rating for a movie I completed, since I guess it is possible that these movies could turn around in their second acts.
Flamin' Hot started out like an episode of Cake Boss, with Buddy Valastro going around saying "I just did that thing I just did because I'm Italian!". It's shallow. It's stupid. And it probably would have set back Mexican-American relations a few decades had anyone actually seen it. Its makers had good intentions. And I love a good movie about people inventing something great. But this movie was not doing it for me.
The Out-Of-Towners should be a great movie. Jack Lemmon is one of my favorite actors. Neil Simon is a great writer. But Lemmon's George Kellerman character is always complaining, unreasonable and unfunny. It is like if Planes Trains and Automobiles (1980) just had a shallower, more unlikeable version of the Steve Martin character. Give it a miss.
As is the tradition, I was not able to see all the movies I wanted to see this year. But I did see 78 movies, an increase from 2022's 73 movies. But still well short of 2021 when I saw 113 movies. I really need to get my priorities straight.
Did I miss anything I should have seen?
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