Well, it’s that time of year again, ladies and gents. Time for us to assess the year that’s nearly entirely in the rearview mirror and put into some kind of context, I’ve already been on the record about what a great year this has been for film (and actually TV as well, for that matter), but I’d yet to break it down for the purposes of ranking stuff. So let’s rectify that little oversight right now, shall we?
Here are my 10 best for both movies and television shows for 2023, in ascending order.
FILM
10. “The Color Purple” – The bold new take on the somewhat old classic, to paraphrase the marketing campaign, has been underappreciated in the runup to its wide release early this week (on Christmas Day). It’s powerfully directed (by Blitz Bazawule) and packed with significant performances, particularly Danielle Brooks (who is a shoo-in for an Oscar nomination and may well take home the thing).
9. “Barbie” – Inventive, stylish and whip-smart, Greta Gerwig’s blockbuster popcorn flick is beautiful to look at and a blast to watch. It had the added benefit of bringing a reluctant public back into movie houses en masse, proving there is nothing this doll cannot do. Pretty nifty performances from Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, too.
8. “Air” – The story of Nike and its billion-dollar association with Michael Jordan makes for a surprisingly colorful and intriguing film under director Ben Affleck’s steady hand and Matt Damon’s nuanced performance that may be the best thing he’s ever done. A smart film that really delivers.
7. “Maestro” – Multihyphenate Bradley Cooper’s tuneful and enthralling quasi-bio is not the Leonard Bernstein movie anyone expected, but that doesn’t make it any less entertaining and that’s very much worthy of the legend it depicts, As Bernstein’s wife Felicia, Carey Mulligan’s may be the best performance any actress has given in a motion picture in five years – yet in The Year of the Actress, it may not be enough to win.
6. “American Fiction” – The winner of the coveted People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival is an understated gem that features a typically flawless performance from Jeffrey Wright as a depressed, cranky novelist who finally finds success once he agrees to become a stereotypical sellout. Cord Jefferson’s directorial debut is flush with great writing and memorable moments that has a lot to say about race and class.
5. “Oppenheimer” – A story of a bomb – something Hollywood knows a thing or two about – “Oppenheimer” is at its core the tale of a conflicted man whom history has radically shortchanged. Props to Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt and Robert Downey Jr. for exceptional work, and of course to director Christopher Nolan for what’s like to to be his overdue Oscar. He deserves it simply for making a highly profitable movie about a physicist.
4. “The Zone of Interest” – This German-language gem is a Holocaust film like no other, telling the story of Nazi butcher Rudolf Hess and his family as they live a pastoral family life just outside the gates of Auschwitz as Jews are being systematically exterminated mere meters away. It’s chilling and intense and almost unbearable, and a brilliant piece of moviemaking.
3. “The Holdovers” – Paul Giamatti is incapable of turning in a bad performance, and he doesn’t here portraying a curmudgeonly teacher who is forced to stay on campus at an elite East Coast boarding school during Christmas break along with a trouble student (Dominic Sessa) and a cafeteria worker (Da’Vine Joy Randolph). Director Alexander Payne’s latest has heart and soul to burn and is sublimely funny and poignant.
2. “Poor Things” – Yorgos Lanthimos helms this wildly imaginative, candy-coated confection of a comedy star that stars Emma Stone as a woman-child given a second chance at life who has the curiosity and attention span of a toddler because that is in fact what she is. Her stellar, riveting performance is matched by the work of Willem Dafoe and especially Mark Ruffalo.
1. “Killers of the Flower Moon” – One of director Martin Scorsese’s finest films – which is saying something – “Killers” powerfully renders the real-life story of the slaughter perpetrated on the Osage Nation indigenous people in the 1920s. Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro and the exquisite Lily Gladstone boost the storytelling into the stratosphere, more than justifying the movie’s nearly 3 1/2-hour length.
TELEVISION
10. “Shrinking” – I liked this freshman Apple TV+ comedy series a lot. Jason Siegel is terrific as a grieving therapist, as is Jessica Williams as his office partner and Harrison Ford as a therapy mentor. The show pulls off the very difficult trick of being simultaneously empathetic and genuinely funny, and it has the added benefit of being about the stuff that matters in life.
9. “Hijack” – Idris Elba is a badass corporate negotiator in this tense and intense Apple TV+ thriller about a hijacked flight from Dubai to London. The fact the drama plays out in real time adds to the action, which only occasionally bogs down into absurdity. For the most part, it’s a riveting thrill ride from start to finish that it’s pretty much impossible to turn away from.
8. “Abbott Elementary” – The Quinta Brunson comedy ramped up to even greater heights in its second season, though viewers tend to be so fickle that the prevailing wisdom is it had already lost a step after a bravura rookie campaign. Don’t believe it. “Abbott” was still as hilarious as ever, packed with outrageous situations and brilliant comedic acting.
7. “The Diplomat” – In this smart and sassy Netflix drama, the brilliant Keri Russell portrays an American ambassador to Britain who is desperately struggling to keep several balls in the air at once – both personal and professional. It’s a political thriller that knows its subject backwards and forwards but never devolves into just another overly talky procedural. In fact, it’s magnetic.
6. “Reservation Dogs” – Sterlin Harjo’s series about indigenous life presents a much more nuanced, dramatic and contemporary examination of the life of that community than “Killers of the Flower Moon,” following four teenagers in rural Oklahoma who steal, rob and save in order to get to California. Its third and final season was its best.
5. “Poker Face” – Natasha Lyonne is a revelation in this Peacock dramedy about an on-the-lam Vegas casino worker who has an uncanny ability to detect when people are lying. Inspired by “Columbo,” its quality bursts from every frame – and Lyonne has an effortless believability about her. Beyond that, it’s just a huge amount of fun to watch, exceptionally well written, directed and performed.
4. “Jury Duty” – There is a reason that this comedy exploded into a viral phenomenon: it was hilarious and spectacularly inventive. It didn’t hurt that the “star,” a fellow named Ronald Gladden who answered a craigslist ad looking for someone to participate in a documentary about the jury system, was a charismatic sweetheart while simultaneously becoming a dupe in a fake trial. Add James Marsden, stir, and you have comedy magic.
3. “Succession” – There was so much pressure on the cast and crew of this HBO drama to nail it in the show’s third and final season that it seemed an impossibly onerous task. And yet they successfully stuck the landing in one of the most memorable wrap-ups in television annals. It didn’t hurt that they had people like Sarah Snook and Kieran Culkin there to help.
2. “Beef” -It’s difficult to remember a more darkly amusing and purely cathartic limited series experience on television than Netflix’s “Beef,” which told the story of a raging feud between two people whose road rage transforms their lives. Blessed with masterful work from stars Steven Yeun and Ali Wong, it’s a tale of anger and sexism and racism and classicism and Asian American culture wrapped in a tasty comedic shell.
1. “The Bear” – After this FX series broke from the gate in June 2022 as a surprise hit extraordinaire, the immediate question became how it could possibly match the raw intensity and compelling storytelling of its first season while still advancing the plot. It succeeded in Season 2 beyond anyone’s measure, enriching the characters and adding breathtaking support from the likes of Jamie Lee Curtis and John Mullaney to boot. One of entertainment’s true treasures.
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