Reely Bernie’s Top Ten of 2023

I certainly had more favorite movies to choose from this year than last. I’m not sure if you will agree with me, but the quality, diversity, and creativity went up a level in 2023.

Still, I’m well aware of a current transformation I’m experiencing as the eccentric, polemic indies I once adored now annoy me, and the safer bets in mainstream theatre/streaming bring me peace. I just turned 45, and I’m an older dad with two wonderful, young daughters. That’s one of the reasons behind my new cinematic motives. (I also enjoy an occasional Hallmark movie with my wife.)

Some other reasons might include: I found critically acclaimed Poor Things to be smug, overly pleased with itself, and hypocritical in its so-called feminist statement (dare I say the same thing about Barbie?); Scorsese’s impertinent historical message was sidetracked by Leonardo and De Niro’s caricature acting in Killers of the Flower Moon; and, Wes Anderson has finally achieved picturesque nothingness with Asteroid City. Millennials can call me Scrooge, but their preferences couldn’t be any more cynical.

On the flip side, I found some honorable mentions in Air, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret., BlackBerry, The Equalizer 3, and Rye Lane.

On to my Top Ten of 2023…

10. Skinamarink, Directed by Kyle Edward Ball

Skinamarink is an exercise in visual and audible interpretation, viewer patience, and miniscule revelations. More an implied found footage trope, it is as if a four-year-old found a circa-90s RCA camcorder and recorded every nook and cranny of the house, including ominous shots into dark hallways.

For me, this is cinematic minimalism at its finest, stripped-down form. Every held shot down a hallway or under a bed reminds you of your childlike ability to suspend disbelief.

There’s that old saying, “If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?”

Skinamarink asks the question: “Ever wonder what goes on downstairs in your house while you sleep at night?”

While some of us imagine the intriguing possibilities to these questions, others walk out of the movie theatre.

9. Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie, Directed by Davis Guggenheim

You will find no self-pity in our suffering hero who charmed our hearts in the 80s from Family Ties to Back to the Future. By seamlessly tying archived footage to present-day interviews, we get to live by the side of Michael J. Fox and his bravery through the crippling of late-stage Parkinson’s disease. Michael’s ability to laugh at his challenges and pain baffles and inspires me.

8. The Creator, Directed by Gareth Edwards

The Creator successfully melds an urgent philosophical AI debate with state-of-the-art sci-fi action. Alongside some of the cleanest, contextually based CGI I have seen in a long time, Director Edwards somehow instills a heart within his humans and cyborgs alike. Any movie that can somehow incorporate Radiohead’s “Everything in Its Right Place” into its exposition knows what it’s doing.

7. Godzilla Minus One, Directed by Takashi Yamazaki

All movies should be evaluated according to their genre intention, and when it comes to the “monster movie,” Godzilla Minus One is a masterpiece. Without dwelling in canon exposition and just getting straight to the point, Director Yamazaki interweaves likable characters, a post-WW2 narrative, and a twist on the self-sacrifice motif. Oh yeah, there’s also a horrific and spectacular rendition of the infamous monster on a grandiose scale.

6. Past Lives, Directed by Celine Song

The miracle of love is that it can bookend time, distance, and space. What was love in the beginning can still be love in the end, despite the pragmatic truths that occur in the middle. In a way, Past Lives is an extraordinary spiritual film before its given descriptors in drama and romance. The most dynamic, poignant performance of the year goes to Greta Lee.

5. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, Directed by Christopher McQuarrie

Where Harrison Ford needs to hang up the hat and join a support group on acceptance, Tom Cruise needs to throw on another parachute and speed-fly through more franchise contracts. The pithy espionage/high-octane action formula not only still works, it goes to eleven quite gracefully. Tom defies gravity and CGI cheating, and the result is popcorn overconsumption approved. Oh yeah, 61-year-old Tom Cruise speed-flies on to a train in the Alps too.

4. Oppenheimer, Directed by Christopher Nolan

Commendably rising above biopic banality and staying true to trademark nonlinearity tendencies, Writer/Director Christopher Nolan is only missing Hans Zimmer and an intermission. By alternating between black-and-white objective and the subjective in color, we experience a JFK-like injunction in which viewer interpretation is just as captivating as the controversial focus.

Cillian Murphy’s role as J. Robert Oppenheimer is impeccable and fully fleshed out from the early 20s to the late 50s. However, the performance that blows your mind more than the bomb itself is Robert Downey Jr. as activist/naval officer, Lewis Strauss. Robert takes a laser to the scalpel on precision acting, seamlessly transforming into the “Salieri” of the world of physics.

Oppenheimer works because Christopher Nolan doesn’t get in his own way, and Robert Downey Jr. deserves the most praise.

3. Anatomy of a Fall, Directed by Justine Triet

By not lingering in Dateline whodunit territory, Anatomy of a Fall wisely unravels into a dissection of a malfunctioning marriage under a loose, melodramatic French court system. Using today’s accessibility into privacy via audio recordings and social media, a renowned family of three is placed under a microscope of brutal scrutiny. Yes, we want to know if it was a murder or a suicide, but we find ourselves more entranced by Sandra Hüller’s performance of the mother and wife fighting for her innocence and reputation. Much like Cate Blanchett’s portrayal in Tár (2022), Hüller plays a celebrated woman of power, facing her counteraction in envious cancel culture. The seismic phoenix is cornered in court, and the defensive tears end up being more effective than the claws. The question is: Are they sincere?

2. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, Directed by John Francis Daley, Jonathan Goldstein

This is a fantasy adventure that needs to be assessed as a fantasy adventure, and if you enjoyed Princess Bride, Willow, and The Lord of the Rings, you will understand why I bring them up.

Chris Pine is the comedic glue that keeps the laughs flowing amid the action with his under the breath glib (a la Jason Bateman in Arrested Development). Most impressive is the use of pyrotechnics, animatronics, and on-location shooting. Finally, we have a special effects movie that doesn’t rely so heavily on the chroma key screen.

The results are outrageously fun with less MCU Mad Libs fill-in and more scrappy charm geeky gamers know best.

1. The Killer, Directed by David Fincher

Sucking the cool out of James Bond and injecting formaldehyde into deadpan, this steel rail of a movie wisely adds humor to its calculations, the Reznor/Ross combo score defibrillates when needed, and Tilda Swinton brings the ice. Although I’m not a huge fan of excessive over-voiced narration, The Killer brilliantly merges its play-by-play with sinister commentary, and it’s wicked to get inside killer Michael Fassbender’s head. An absolute must for David Fincher and Dexter Morgan fanatics. Oddly (and concerningly), I found the entire experience meditative, engrossing, and calming. (This was my counteragent to all the Hallmark movies.)

Thank you for reading and be sure to share YOUR favorites of 2023!

Merry Christmas,

Reely Bernie