The Writer’s Strike Best Picture Frontrunners: Top 10 Movies of 2023 So Far
I fortunately had modulated expectations for the first half of 2023. The stupendous first half of 2022 was not repeatable. And with a really weird superhero slate, I was fully expecting a mediocre 6 months of stuff.
Thankfully to my surprise, the first half of the year still managed to exceed expectations! That’s because of a few unexpected surprises: the resurrection of long forgotten movie genres because of the weak superhero slate. R rated comedies burst back onto the screen, completely welcome in those exciting summer months. Live action adult and family dramas, usually reserved for fall, showed up earlier than expected, providing a nice storytelling jolt. And the action boon we saw in 2022 continues into this year: we might be in a new age action renaissance I hope continues for years to come.
So be ready to add these movies below to your ever expanding list of things you “have to see”! Especially because the writers strike is going to delay a lot of the best films at the end of the year. Happy watching!
Here are the Honorable Mentions: all solid in their own right:
Teyana Taylor is incredible in this movie, giving one of the best performances of the year. As single mother Inez, Taylor steals back her child who was taken from her by the state/systemic forces. What results is a complicated triumph of the human spirit in the face of a world stacked against you, subtly but expertly working its way into your heart.
Canada’s Social Network. Matt Johnson applies the age old rise and fall arc to smartphone creation. What results are possibly career best work from Jay Baruchel and breakout Glenn Howerton, channeling DENNIS system energy inside a capitalist dickbag. Blackberry is an incredible tale as old as time about modern times, that you’ll laugh at and then be riveted by as you start buying what its selling.
Genres always need new blood. In this case, the action/martial arts genre gets Ria Khan (Priya Kansara) aka “The Fury” on her YouTube channel. No movies are made about Pakistani British women who desire to be stuntwomen. So director Nida Manzoor makes up her version of what a movie like that might be like. It be like one of the best takes on a martial arts/spy movie, as Ria tries to stop her sister from going “Full Jane Austen” and giving up her life for a boy, filled with all sorts of incredible humor and inspired action that will have you giddy with delight at what you’re seeing.
I would have been fine with 3. But Chad Stahelski and Keanu Reeves decided three John Wicks wasn’t enough. In turn, they give us a David Lean action epic, as John attempts to complete his tale of redemption. Incredible newcomers like Donnie Yen, Hiroyuki Sanada, Rina Sawayama, Bill Skarsgard and Shamier Anderson inject a grander scope to the incredible world Stahelski has built. In addition, the action sequences are truly incredible, including a final hour of mayhem that had me pulling my hair out of sheer exhausted ecstasy.
Oh R rated comedies, how I missed you. Jennifer Lawrence’s No Hard Feelings walked so Ashley Park, Stephanie Hsu, Sherry Cola, and Sabrina Wu could do drugs and f*ck all over China. The movie feels familiar and original at the same time, in part because we’ve never seen 4 women like this onscreen before doing insane sh*t we have seen before. I was laughing beginning to end, including a couple montages that had me in laughing tears.
This is very much in the Christopher Nolan wheelhouse, but that’s a good thing. Adapting the story about J. Robert Oppenheimer and the atomic bomb, Nolan masterfully wrangles in the complex science of the movie into an immersive feast for the senses. You don’t just watch that bomb drop, you FEEL in in your every being. Cillian Murphy delivers on his big chance as Oppy, a complicated genius after Nolan’s own heart who experienced multiple lifetimes of experiences. This is as rich of an experience you’ll have in a theater in 2023.
Judy Blume’s wonderful novel should be read by 11 year old girls (and probably boys too) everywhere, as it deals with rites of passage all women have to go through. Kelly Fremon Craig’s movie adaptation thankfully does service to the important novel, smartly translating it to a movie medium. Abby Ryder Fortson and Rachel McAdams give girls everywhere hope that they’re not weird or strange, and teaches everyone that an open heart makes the world a more wonderful place for everyone. As well as some tips for how to increase your bust.
Daniel Goldhaber’s ticking clock thriller will have you on edge beginning to end. In addition to being an exciting heist movie the film also doubles as a scathing indictment on the oil and gas industry, which makes money at the expense of the poor and disenfranchised. Incredible acting, a perfectly modulated script, and a purpose? Sign me up everytime.
Achingly beautiful. Like the all time great movie love stories, Celine Song’s romance for the ages is almost equally forlorn and hopeful. Capturing connections at ages 12, 24, and 36, Song’s tale is a sweet, beautiful study about how time and location could be factors in how people fall in love with one another. The movie asks big questions like “are we falling in love with the person or the idea of that person?” and “Can anything stop someone’s romantic fate?” while making us swoon on Skype and through New York City with Greta Lee, Teo Yoo, and John Magaro.
Despite the precarious state superhero movies are in right now, the best movie of the year rises above all that fear and anxiety. That’s because Phil Lord and Christopher Miller just exude creative magic. Their sequel to the surprise of 2018 Into the SpiderVerse is even better: a dazzling real life moving comic book as miraculously animated any movie I’ve ever seen. Plus, Miles Morales’s story is even more emotional and exciting in this one, challenging the very nature of how heroes become who they are but doing it while having a million laughs and fun stuff for kids, parents and everyone to enjoy. If Beyond the SpiderVerse sticks the landing, this becomes a straight masterpiece.
