40 | Menus Plaisirs
Frederick Wiseman, apart from being an excellent filmmaker, is a brilliant teacher. Who else could make one of the greatest sequences of 2023 out of the forming of a dinner menu? The everlasting stereotype that will follow Wiseman to his grave is that he is never able to find a conference he didn’t like. But, the bare fact of the matter is that Wiseman loves to see human beings relate to each other in whatever milieu in which they are placed. I won’t be petty and suggest that Wiseman’s choice of subject matter, a Michelin 3-star restaurant, was in any way guided by the fact that he would be assuredly comped gourmet meals during his filmmaking. In any case, that’s an indulgence I’ll grant to a nonagenarian who has performed more than any citizen’s fair share of public service. But he finds in what might be upper class snobbery a drive towards excellence, towards being the best in the biz. Fitting given that is what Wiseman is: a superlative in the art of documentary. -J.S.
39 | Jawan
In a year featuring a triple helping of Shah Rukh Khan in theaters, Jawan clearly stood above the rest with heists, elite commandos, and prison riots giving it an action-packed edge. So much action in fact, that Khan splits the action between two characters, playing father and son in a dual role to shoot, slash and bash his way through past and present. As any great masala film should be, Jawan is hard to pin down to any one specific genre or tone, oscillating wildly between action, comedy, crime, and melodrama. Essentially, picking whatever’s needed to get to the next grand set piece of action or musical choreography. Of course, there’s a fair bit of narrative complexity here to get wrapped up in, as our protagonists root out government corruption amidst melodramatic scenes that give the shared cause some emotional heft. There’s certainly something for everyone here, and it serves as the perfect showcase for Shah Rukh Khan’s ability to please. – N.A.
38 | Monica
A quiet, refreshingly unsentimental take on the sort of broken family melodrama so often found in American independent cinema, director Andrea Pallaoro’s Monica is gripping and gorgeously photographed. Newcomer Trace Lysette’s performance is also worthy of effusive praise – her bold and deeply moving performance as the titular Monica is the film’s lynchpin. – R.J.
37 | They Cloned Tyrone
Released the same July weekend as the movie-going double feature of the year, it’s a pity that such a loving homage to Blaxploitation and science fiction didn’t receive a bigger spotlight. A compelling premise surrounds the seemingly ordinary day-to-day life of a drug dealer, who inexplicably comes back to life after being shot and killed. This leads a central trio of stereotypical Blaxploitation characters, played perfectly by John Boyega, Teyonah Parris, and Jamie Foxx, to investigate the mystery and eventual conspiracy surrounding their neighborhood. Like great science fiction before it, the film asks questions about how the status quo remains the status quo and the forces that aim to keep it that way, putting a fantastical face to an all-too-real problem. The level of craft already on display certainly makes this a directorial debut to be proud of for Juel Taylor, who hopefully has more on the way. – N.A.
36 | Theater Camp
They are the most insufferable and needy amongst us peons, the theater folk. Their inherent undesirability begs within them an insatiable amount of attention. Such is the dilemma of the folks enrolled in Theater Camp. Enclosed within the cloisters of their own freaks and geeks is the only place in which they can find salvation. And it is in these reveries of theatah (intentionally italicized) that Theater Camp finds its resonance and abiding good humor. It helps to have such luminaries as Ben Platt, Molly Gordon, Jimmy Tatro, and Ayo Edibiri and in a crucially small role, Amy Sedaris, to bolster the proceedings. Theater Camp is all about what it means to make a show of one’s life. And what a farce it is. -J.S.
35 | Birth/Rebith
In a year of horror conventions and genre staples being flipped on their heads, none were more shocking and downright thrilling as Birth/Rebirth. Giving Frankenstein a retooling, the film dually focuses on the cold & clinical aspect of reanimation with the warmth and determination of a mother’s love, all while aging down the monster to make any parent in the audience squirm. Marin Ireland and Judy Reyes work perfectly in this dialectic, managing to show new and harrowing sides to a story over two centuries old. And, as with the trend of Shudder releases this year, the blood & guts shines through with a final sequence that’s truly the most disturbing final image and dialogue of the year. -N.A.
34 | Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
Overcoming middle school bullies and satanic panics, D&D made another great leap to mainstream acceptance with Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, this year’s big budget adaptation of the now widely-beloved role-playing game. Focusing on a charismatic and mismatched band of heroes (of questionable moral character per the title), the film eschews questing for heisting, keeping the high fantasy of the Forgotten Realms in its characters and setting, a refreshing change of pace for one of the elder IPs of the genre. Throw in some spectacular practical creature effects and a homage to Army of Darkness, and you’ll have every fan of vintage fantasy ready to join the party. – N.A.
33 | De Humani Coporis Fabrica
Is there any occupation more thankless than that of a frontline healthcare worker? The brilliance of De Humanis is that it allows an unvarnished view of such saints. They curse, gripe, and express unhappiness with their lot in life. But to the chagrin of many a squeamish viewer, they still do the work. In a society where witnessing is tantamount to understanding, we bear witness to many procedures and states of life that we would not typically be privy to or even desire to see. A cleansing of the penile cavity and the RoboCop-esque treatment of a scoliosis-ridden individual are amongst the pleasures and pains taken by the Sensory Ethnography Lab. Consider it a form of exposure therapy; that which you are not to see, you are inclined to believe is not real. – J.S.
32 | Beau is Afraid
After delivering two of the more commercially successful “arthouse” crossover hits of the last decade, Ari Aster applied his knack for provocation to a freewheeling (and presumably at least somewhat autobiographical) dark comedy, a Portrait of the Artist as a Nebbish Middle-Aged Man with Mommy Issues. Beau is Afraid features the best Joaquin Phoenix performance of recent years, thrusting our intrepid hero into a number of screamingly funny nightmare scenarios (I still chuckle about the results of Beau’s Google search every time I pull up WebMD). The hit ratio on Aster’s 180 minutes’ worth of anxiety-inducing episodes is somewhat variable, but all is forgiven in the final hour, in which Parker Posey (!) and Broadway icon Patti LuPone (!!) arrive to send Beau through the final ringer, resulting in what can only be described as an elaborate Defending Your Life homage presided over by Richard Kind. You leave the theater feeling that the preceding three hours were something of an elaborate troll, but…not in a necessarily unproductive way, for my money. – R.J.
31 | Poor Things
Yorgos Lanthimos seems to have had the trouble of finding his place between the world of Merchant/Ivory and Ingmar Bergman. With Poor Things, unlike The Favourite, he bridges the gap. Within the film, there exists both the shockingly taboo and the utterly refined. Indeed, inside the main protagonist Bella, as portrayed by the preternaturally talented Emma Stone, exists the world of Lanthimos’ finest film, Dogtooth, in miniature. It begs curiosity on what Lanthimos’ future endeavors might be, but within the world of Poor Things we are thankfully enveloped in the work of an artisan engaged with the work of yesteryear (Fassbinder’s Querelle, James Whale’s Bride of Frankenstein) as he is with his voguish visioning. – J.S.
30 | Maestro
Bradley Cooper, hold your head high. This wildly original and unprecedented take on the biopic was widely lambasted as a case of Hollywood Ego Run Amok, an embarrassment of a film that Didn’t Even Tell Me That Much About Leonard Bernstein. Well I’m here to say – who gives a flying fuck? If I wanted to learn about the life and times of Leonard Bernstein, I could pull up his Wikipedia page; I came here for cinema, god damn it, and Bradley Cooper gave it to me – in ways, I might add, that I don’t think anyone has ever given it to me before. I came out of this film thinking about names like John Cassavetes and Paul Thomas Anderson; Cooper is grasping, reaching into the darkness and attempting to find new ways of making a motion picture. I don’t know that he entirely succeeds here, but the moments when he comes close electrify; the performance of Mahler’s 2nd at Ely Cathedral is quite obviously the best five minutes of any film released in 2023 (I’ve cried all three times I’ve seen it), but there are other moments here that overwhelm and confound and inspire me in ways very few other movies have been able to. The horrifically mundane treatment of Felicia’s medical appointment; that lengthy Thanksgiving Day argument, in all its horror and humor; the sheer nerve to end the film on the brazen note that Cooper chooses to; this is a bona fide auteur statement, the result of an artist desperate to make something unlike anything else that has been made before. What I would give for more people to try! – R.J.
29 | Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning – Part One
Tom Cruise remains at the top of his game when it comes to putting incredible stunts center stage on his beloved silver screen, with no better film this year encapsulating this than the latest installment in Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One. Mixing a race-against-time spy thriller with current day fears of the future of artificial intelligence, Ethan Hunt and company test their mettle against The Entity, forcing us to confront that even the best of the IMF may not be able to best a non-human opponent. Make no mistake, this is the sort of narrative ripped from sci-fi or Metal Gear Solid. Thankfully, Christopher McQuarrie makes sure to keep this at the series regular breakneck pace and combined with a charming cast, it’s hard not to fall under its spell. Adding to it of course, is Cruise’s seeming deathwish, still alive and well, in performing his own stunts, which this time around sees our star motorbiking full speed off of a cliff before gliding away from the very real rocks below. Unfortunately, you’ll have to wait another year before we can witness the thrilling conclusion to Dead Reckoning, all with its own death-defying feats. – N.A.
28 | The Iron Claw
Professional wrestling, by its very nature, is larger-than-life, featuring competitors playing extreme versions of themselves to make the crowd come alive, so it’s always fascinating to see the layers stripped back and see the people behind the personas. In the case of The Iron Claw, a biopic about the Von Erich wrestling family, we’re treated to the camaraderie and simple joys of brotherhood, portrayed effortlessly by Zac Efron, Jeremy Allen White, Harris Dickinson, and Stanley Simons. All seems well on the surface of the brothers’ lives in a lovingly recreated Texas of the early 80’s, but the real “Von Erich curse” bubbles beneath the surface as tensions rise amidst the need for approval and masculine validation via success in the ring. There’s an air of melodrama in how it all plays out, with tragedy after tragedy visiting the brothers until a tragically touching finale (and admittedly hokey but no less effective visit to the afterlife) breaks the curse and shows that there may be a better path for the future. -N.A.
27 | John Wick: Chapter 4
With three films preceding it, and a cornucopia of imitators trying to put their own spin on the basic formula, the fourth John Wick film had its work cut out for it. How can the world’s favorite out-of-retirement boogeyman continue to add to his, in-the-hundreds by now, bodycount while still remaining high-octane on the action and compelling on the story? By powering through even more inventive and punishing set pieces, where the sets and locations are just as much of an adversary as any henchman or assassin. The John Wick of this iteration seems to finally feel the weight of three previous chapters of wear-and-tear, finding equals in Donnie Yen’s blind assassin and a near Sisyphean set of stairs. Only time will tell if we’ll see Keanu Reeves come back to continue the carnage, amidst more sequels, spin-offs, and television series, but if this is the end for this incarnation of the character, it makes for an excellent final chapter. -N.A.
26 | Showing Up
Hong Chau’s performance as the most insufferable landlord of all time forms a perfect foil to Michelle Williams’ stubborn, struggling artist in this pleasantly low-stakes meditation on what it means to be a “creative” in the modern age. A dynamite supporting cast (Judd Hirsch! Andre 3000! Good ol’ John Magaro!) fills out the ranks of yet another beautifully-photographed winner from Kelly Reichardt. – R.J.
25 | How to Blow Up a Pipeline
Choosing an attention grabbing title to match the righteous fury with which this film is charged, How to Blow Up a Pipeline is easily the angriest thriller of the year. Structured like a heist film, we’re slowly introduced to each character in a split-chapter style, following each of them as we learn the part they’re destined to play and just how someone would become embroiled in ecosabotage. While the titular plan is a bit different from a bank robbery or museum theft, the setup and execution are no less thrilling, as everyday people take the place of supercriminals and homemade explosives (ready to blow the team to kingdom come at any moment) replace the cunning gadgets. It’s the rare thriller that asks its audience to consider questions like “How far should we be going to protect the environment?” or “When are such destructive acts justified?” in addition to how clever the writers were to come up with such a plot. You may not come away with a clear step-by-step, but you will come away with a pretty different view of environmentalism. -N.A.
24 | The Adults
A precise, insightful, and frequently hilarious portrait of a very real breed of irony-poisoned millennial, one that can only successfully communicate under the veil of innumerous layers of sarcasm and “bits”. Michael Cera gives probably the greatest performance of his career here, the dorky grin on his face failing to hide years’ worth of grief and resentment; fellow leads Hannah Gross and Sophia Lillis are just about as good, filling out the central trio with their warm, memorably loopy turns as his younger sisters. Is this the best mumblecore film? – R.J.
23 | Knock at the Cabin
The maestro Shyamalan is back with yet another absolute banger! Knock at the Cabin is a thrilling chamber piece with exceptional performances, grisly violence, a terrifying concept, and the funniest directorial cameo of all time. Loosely based on the book of Revelation (The Bible, ever heard of it?), M. Night Shyamalan’s latest follows a family who seemingly encounter the four horsemen of the apocalypse and are faced with an impossible choice to avert the apocalypse. A thrilling 100 minutes that culminates into one of the most effective endings of Shyamalan’s career, Knock at the Cabin is one of the many masterpieces of 2023. – C.W.
22 | Anatomy of a Fall
Justine Triet’s Palme-winning courtroom drama is a knockout, a 2.5-hour epic that manages to balance gutting Cassavetes-esque marital fisticuffs with a fascinatingly detailed legal procedural. Sandra Hüller’s headstrong, at times boldly unsympathetic lead performance ranks among the year’s very best, and Triet’s laser-sharp, casually gorgeous direction ensures that the proceedings remain gripping throughout the film’s mammoth runtime. – R.J.
21 | Afire
Christian Petzold’s Rohmer-indebted tale of seething beta male rage is a knockout, an incredibly taut almost-thriller full of crackling dialogue and dynamic characterizations. Paula Beer’s enrapturing performance is one of the year’s best, but it’s the quiet sense of genuine menace at the core of this ostensible “romantic comedy” that truly makes it special. – R.J.
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