It’s the Media Boat 2023 Year-End Wrap-Up! Today we’re taking a look back at the year in Movies! First we’ll recap the year in news, choosing one story that defined the year. Next, we’ll give our individual Top Five Movies, followed by choice for Media Boat’s Movie of the Year!

Matt’s Top Five Movies of 2023

Wes Anderson’s style can be like a strong cup of coffee; it’s perfect when you need a particular kind of pick-me-up, but off-putting if you’re not prepared for it. For some, it’s not their taste at all. That’s fine! Personally, I’m a late comer to the director’s work, but I can’t deny that some clicked for me and others did not. Asteroid City feels like one of his most balanced films, full of his trademark eccentricities, but teeming with emotional depth. It’s beautiful to look at, of course, but even more interesting to think about after the fact. What it has to say about isolation and the art of acting feels important in a year where acting and labor were more connected than ever.

Speaking of acting, can we talk about Charles Melton? His performance alone makes May December an automatic recommend. The film itself is a fascinating look at a depressing true story, one that doesn’t pull any punches, but tells its own twisted version. The three centerpieces of the story (Melton, Julianne Moore, and Natalie Portman) are incredible to watch as they each navigate a fraught situation. The cinematography and score make an already tense story feel like it could shatter at any moment, even when the stakes are just how many hot dogs are on the grill.

What, you think a concert film doesn’t belong on this list? Too bad, because The Eras Tour was one of the most fun experiences I had in a theater in 2023, and I think that counts! The film version of Taylor Swift’s record-destroying concert tour brings all of the electricity of the live show to a cheaper, more manageable venue. While the sing-along camaraderie of the AMC version cannot be easily replicated at home, I still look forward to having a 4K copy of this in my home so I can relive the Eras magic whenever I want. You can make friendship bracelets anyway, if you want!

I never should have doubted Greta Gerwig; of course she’d bring the same pathos she explored in Frances Ha and Lady Bird into her movie about a doll. Barbie really goes places, folks, and not the places you’d expect. It’s pure surprise, taking you into a musical theater dream ballet one second and a gender studies class the next. It’s fun, colorful, provocative, and genuinely funny. Knowing everything I do about how the movie industry works in 2023, this shouldn’t have happened, and will likely never happen again, so let’s all enjoy the cultural moment together. We have so few of those these days.

For every major studio surprise like Barbie, it’s good to be reminded that smaller, independent studios still exist and are still producing films that get caught up in the industry’s churning machine. Nimona nearly didn’t get made, but thankfully it did, because persevering in a world that doesn’t want you to exist is its whole point. At its surface, it could be easy to dismiss Nimona as another animated fantasy story, but it’s so much more than that. The characters are effortlessly charming, the story heart-wrenching, and the animation punches well above its weight. It’s equal parts riotous energy and deep pain, and the cathartic release of its ending was the most emotional I’ve felt all year. Nimona reminds us that life is often difficult, but being our true selves is the only way we can truly survive.

Mike’s Top Five movies of 2023

Weird is good and it doesn’t get any weirder than Juel Taylor’s They Cloned Tyrone. It’s a weird mix of mystery, comedy, sci-fi, and social commentary under the guise of a blaxploitation film. Absolutely nothing prepared me for this film's wild ride and even when it ends, you’re left with one final twist. John Boyega and Jamie Foxx shine in this hilarious twisted world that hits hard as they fight for their own individuality.

There are so many layers to unpack in this film, it’s hard to know where to start. Between the amazing art style and charismatic characters lies a story of identity, deception, and heart between the antagonist and their sidekick. The medieval/futuristic setting provides the perfect backdrop to whimsical chaotic fun that never stops. Nimona is a film you have to watch to appreciate because something like this just doesn’t get made anymore.

Christopher Nolan is back to making historical dramas set around WWII. Oppenheimer, as the name suggests, follows the story of J. Robert Oppenheimer and his role in the development of the atomic bomb and the fallout thereafter. But since this is a Christopher Nolan film, it’s not always told in sequential order but rather a story in 2 parts. The first is the true story backed by facts and painted in a stark monochromatic stature. The second is the dramatic storytelling where things aren’t so clean cut with wide swaths of color filling the frame. It all boils down to the ripple effects of one man’s quest to make the leap from theory to practice without fully understanding the consequential actions one man can have on the world.

I was all ready for the Barbenheimer memes, but I had misplaced my trust in which one would be the superior film. Margot Robbie shines as Barbie in this pink concentrated world created by Greta Gerwig. It’s filled with homages to the entire history of Barbie while not just being a corporate marketing vehicle. And then there’s Ryan Gosling's Ken that quite literally steals the show with his charm and musical ability. Barbie is all about finding your identity and declaring that you are indeed (K)enough.

2018 was filled with great superhero movies from Black Panther to Avengers: Infinity War, but there was one animated film that surprised me with its technical prowess that kept it on my radar for a hopeful sequel. So, when it was announced that Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse was happening as the second film in a planned trilogy, I was ecstatic to say the least. Every frame is a painting and every action leads into the next. It has the unique approach to posit two main characters as this is as much a Gwen Stacy story as it is about Miles Morales. It builds off the film that came before it while also recontextualizing some scenes to improve upon the foundation already laid. If this is the height at which Sony Animation is swinging, then I will be first in line for the eventual conclusion.

2023 Year-End Wrap Up: Movies

Matt’s Top Five Movies of 2023

Mike’s Top Five movies of 2023