Best Films 2023 Critics Lists (1 Viewer)

[titch]

The end of the year is rapidly approaching:

Movies - Year-End Lists

A hand-curated, browsable index of notable year-end lists. Follow the link for each list to see essential commentary from its author, at the source.

www.yearendlists.com

I traditionally rate print media critics. The BFI's Sight and Sound published their list today. As usual, I've only seen a small fraction of the 50 films, as many have yet to receive a theatrical, streaming or physical media release. But it's always interesting to read through. No mention of Napoleon - the list obviously closed before the film premiered.

The 50 best films of 2023

Our annual round-up of the best films reflects a year of remarkable achievements, from arthouse blockbusters to small-scale heartbreakers

www.bfi.org.uk

EMPIRE's was published yesterday:

The Best Films Of 2023

Empire counts down the best movies of 2023 – from Past Lives, to Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse, to Oppenheimer and Barbie.

www.empireonline.com

Many critics are putting the same films high up on their lists. I will make it a priority to purchase these on physical media!

 

[SD_Brian]

No mention of Napoleon - the list obviously closed before the film premiered.

Or else it just didn't make the top 50: I've not yet seen Napoleon, but the reviews have been pretty mixed (Tomatometer shows 59%).

 

[Jeffrey D]

Empire ranked Oppenheimer very high. I blind bought it UHD- haven’t gotten around to watching it yet.

 

[jayembee]

I must've blinked and missed it, but I'd no idea that Tran Anh Hung had made a new movie! Definitely looking forward to that.

I'm also looking forward to seeing Poor Things. My wife was dubious after seeing the ads for it, but her interest was piqued a bit when I told her it was from the director of The Lobster and The Favorite, both of which she liked.

 

[titch]

I'm so looking forward to the new Aki Kaurismäki film, Fallen Leaves. Both he and fellow legendary auteur, Hayao Miyazaki, both surprised their fans with new masterpieces this year - after saying that their previous films were to be their last. I saw The Boy and the Heron yesterday. It didn't move me as much as many of Miyazaki's other films have done. But it was an apocalyptic culmination of his life's work, a meditation on death, grief and the afterlife. As well as being an animated film so far ahead of anything Disney and Pixar produce now, that they can't be mentioned in the same breath. There was a trailer for Pixar's Elio before The Boy and the Heron and you can just see how Disney and Pixar are just stuck in the same formulaic rut, trying to churn out something that will make the maximum profit, without trying to craft an original story or vision.