It’s hard to believe that many of MY FAVORITE FILMS of 2023, we not a part of the BIG PUSH that arrives each year, starting in September…that all Movie Critics try despirately to keep up with…

And as you venture down the line of what I think you should see…you will most undoubtedly note that a few of the criticially acclaimed films of the year, didn’t make the cut for me…noteably SALTBURN & POOR THINGS! These films may be artistically gratifying for some, and pushing the envelope of provocativeness more & more with each passing frame for others,but, truth be told, I couldn’t stomach so many aspects happening on screen that neither reasonated as a film I would want to take the time to view again…

With that said, I’m glad to also share that many on this list are still accessible to view in a movie theater near you (which is truly how you should see any, and all films the first time)…or on the multiplatforms of streaming services we have access too…

HONORABLE MENTIONS

THE IRON CLAW – Rated R

Directed & Written by: Sean Durkin

Starring Zac Efron, Jeremy Allen White, Maxwell Jacob Friedman, Harris Dickinson, Lily James, Holt McCallany and Maura Tierney

The true story of the inseparable Von Erich brothers, who make history in the intensely competitive world of professional wrestling in the early 1980s. Through tragedy and triumph, under the shadow of their domineering father and coach, the brothers seek larger-than-life immortality on the biggest stage in sports.

THE KILLER: Rated R

After a fateful near miss, an assassin battles his employers — and himself — on an international hunt for retribution he insists isn’t personal.

Directed by David Fincher

Starring: Michael Fassbender, Tilda Swinton, & Arliss Howard

PAIN HUSTLERS – Rated R

Directed by: David Yates

Starring Emily Blunt, Chris Evans, Catherine O’Hara, and Andy Garcia

Dreaming of a better life for her and her young daughter, Liza (Emily Blunt) lands a job from Pete (Chris Evans) at a failing pharma start-up, where Liza’s charm, drive, and guts catapult her into the high life and the company into the center of a criminal conspiracy with dire consequences.

THE BEANIE BUBBLE – Rated R

Directed by: Kristin Gore and Damian Kulash

Starring Zach Galifianakis, Elizabeth Banks, Sarah Snook, and Geraldine Viswanathan

Why did the world suddenly treat stuffed animals like gold? Ty Warner was a frustrated toy salesman until his collaboration with three women grew his masterstroke of an idea into the biggest toy craze in history. “The Beanie Bubble” is an inventive story about what and who we value, and the unsung heroes whose names didn’t appear on the heart-shaped tag.

SOUND OF FREEDOM – Rated PG-13

Directed by: Alejandro Monteverde

Starring Jim Caviezial, Bill Camp, Cristal Aparicio & Mira Sorvino

Sound of Freedom, based on the incredible true story, shines a light on even the darkest of places. After rescuing a young boy from ruthless child traffickers, a federal agent learns the boy’s sister is still captive and decides to embark on a dangerous mission to save her. With time running out, he quits his job and journeys deep into the Colombian jungle, putting his life on the line to free her from a fate worse than death.

BEING MARY TYLER MOORE

Directed by: James Adolphus

Being Mary Tyler Moore, an HBO Original documentary, examines the extraordinary life, career, and legacy of the actress and activist. Directed by James Adolphus with Lena Waithe and Debra Martin Chase as producers

A GOOD PERSON – Rated R

Directed and Written by: Zach Braff

Starring Florence Pugh, Morgan Freeman, Molly Shannon, Chinaza Uche, Celeste O’Connor

TOP #10 FILMS OF 2023

#10: STILL – A Michael J. Fox Movie

Directed by: Davis Guggenheim

Directed by: Davis Guggenheim / Written by Michael J. Fox

Starring MIchael J. Fox

This film, which will incorporate documentary, archival and scripted elements, recounts Fox’s extraordinary story in his own words — the improbable tale of an undersized kid from a Canadian army base who rose to the heights of stardom of 1980’s Hollywood. The account of Fox’s public life, full of nostalgic thrills and cinematic gloss, will unspool alongside his never-before-seen private journey, including the years that followed his diagnosis, at 29, with Parkinson’s disease. Intimate and honest, and produced with unprecedented access to Fox and his family, this film chronicle’s Fox’s personal and professional triumphs and travails and will explore what happens when an incurable optimist confronts an incurable disease.

#9: MAY DECEMBER – Rated R

Directed by: Todd Haynes

Starring Natalie Portman, Julianne Moore and Charles Melton

Twenty years after their notorious tabloid romance gripped the nation, a married couple buckles under pressure when an actress arrives to do research for a film about their past.

#8: MAESTRO – Rated R

Directed and Written by: Bradley Cooper

Starring Bradley Cooper, Carrie Mulligan and Sarah Silverman

From Director Bradley Cooper, Maestro is the towering and fearless love story chronicling the lifelong relationship between cultural icon Leonard Bernstein and Felicia Montealegre Cohn Bernstein. A love letter to life and art, Maestro, at its core, is an emotionally epic portrayal of family and love.

#7 – BARBIE – Rated PG-13

Directed by: Greta Gerwig

Written by Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach

Starring Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, Issa Rae, Kate McKinnon, and so many more Barbie and Kens…

Barbie and Ken are having the time of their lives in the colorful and seemingly perfect world of Barbie Land. However, when they get a chance to go to the real world, they soon discover the joys and perils of living among humans.

#6 MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: DEAD RECKONING – PART 1

Directed by: Christopher McQuarrie

Starring Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Vanessa Kirby & Rebecca Ferguson

Ethan Hunt and the IMF team must track down a terrifying new weapon that threatens all of humanity if it falls into the wrong hands. With control of the future and the fate of the world at stake, a deadly race around the globe begins. Confronted by a mysterious, all-powerful enemy, Ethan is forced to consider that nothing can matter more than the mission — not even the lives of those he cares about most.

#5: KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON – Rated R

Directed by: Martin Scorsese

Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, Lily Gladstone

At the turn of the 20th century, oil brought a fortune to the Osage Nation, who became some of the richest people in the world overnight. The wealth of these Native Americans immediately attracted white interlopers, who manipulated, extorted, and stole as much Osage money as they could before resorting to murder. Based on a true story and told through the improbable romance of Ernest Burkhart (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Mollie Kyle (Lily Gladstone), “Killers of the Flower Moon” is an epic western crime saga, where real love crosses paths with unspeakable betrayal. Also starring Robert De Niro, Jesse Plemons, Tantoo Cardinal, Cara Jade Myers, JaNae Collins, and Jillian Dion, “Killers of the Flower Moon” is directed by Academy Award winner Martin Scorsese from a screenplay by Eric Roth and Martin Scorsese, based on David Grann’s best-selling book.

#4: AIR – Rated R

Directed by: Ben Affleck

Starring Viola Davis, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Chris Tucker, Jason Bateman, Chris Messina and Julius Tennon

Follows the history of sports marketing executive Sonny Vaccaro, and how he led Nike in its pursuit of the greatest athlete in the history of basketball, Michael Jordan.

Directed & Written by Cord Jefferson

Starring Jeffrey Wright, Sterling K. Brown, Issa Rae, Tracy Ellis Ross, Leslie Uggams & Adam Brody

Monk is a frustrated novelist who’s fed up with the establishment that profits from Black entertainment that relies on tired and offensive tropes. To prove his point, he uses a pen name to write an outlandish Black book of his own, a book that propels him to the heart of hypocrisy and the madness he claims to disdain.

#2: THE HOLDOVERS – Rated R

Directed by: Alexander Payne

Starring Paul Giamatti, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, and Dominic Sessa

Nobody likes teacher Paul Hunham (Giamatti) — not his students, not his fellow faculty, not the headmaster, who all find his pomposity and rigidity exasperating. With no family and nowhere to go over Christmas holiday in 1970, Paul remains at school to supervise students unable to journey home. After a few days, only one student holdover remains — a trouble-making 15-year-old named Angus, a good student whose bad behavior always threatens to get him expelled. Joining Paul and Angus is head cook Mary (Randolph)-an African American woman who caters to sons of privilege and whose own son was recently lost in Vietnam. These three very different shipwrecked people form an unlikely Christmas family sharing comic misadventures during two very snowy weeks in New England. The real journey is how they help one another understand that they are not beholden to their past-they can choose their own futures.

#1 – OPPENHEIMER – Rated R

Written & Directed by Christopher Nolan

Starring Cillian Murphy, Robert Downey Jr, Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Florence Pugh, Alden Ehrenreich, Tony Goldwyn and Jason Clarke

During World War II, Lt. Gen. Leslie Groves Jr. appoints physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer to work on the top-secret Manhattan Project. Oppenheimer and a team of scientists spend years developing and designing the atomic bomb. Their work comes to fruition on July 16, 1945, as they witness the world’s first nuclear explosion, forever changing the course of history.