Few things in life match the feeling of bliss that comes after watching a great movie in a theater. Watching a good movie at home is cool but seeing it in a theater is just…different. It’s something I didn’t fully appreciate until this year. AMC has this subscription thing that allows you to watch 3 movies a week for $20 a month. I decided to try it out in March because of all the movies coming out that I wanted to see. It was absolutely worth the money. I tried to make a point to see at least one movie a week, and I succeeded in doing so until fall when I was called back to work (I’m a teacher). I ended up going to the theater 43 times this year, and watched 38 different films. This list is going to be composed of the 10 films that I saw in theaters that I enjoyed most over the course of 2023.
Honorable Mentions – Barbie, Oppenheimer, Dungeons and Dragons, TMNT: Mutant Mayhem, Polite Society
10. The Boy and The Heron – This movie felt like a fever dream, but in a good way. The visuals were amazing and the story was touching. The theater I was in had japanese audio with english subtitles so I felt very sophisticated while watching this. (8/10)
9. Creed III – I’m a fan of all the Creed movies and 4 of the 6 Rocky movies, so this was right up my alley. The final fight was pretty dope and it was cool seeing the anime influence. This movie would be ranked higher, but there were some significant logic gaps that frustrated me. Overall it was a good watch though. (8/10)
8. Godzilla Minus One – I’m not really a “Godzilla guy.” Actually this was my first time watching a Godzilla movie from start to finish. I didn’t see the appeal of a big monster trampling shit for 2 hours, and I wasn’t planning on watching it. Then the reviews started coming in. As I’m typing this, it has a 4.2 out of 5 on Letterboxd which is an extremely high rating, much higher than I would’ve expected. I was intrigued. How could a movie with a premise so silly have such high reviews? And then I watched it. The anguish, the heart, the complete and utter terror. I went on such a rollercoaster of emotions while watching this film. Godzilla served the role of a force of nature, he could have easily been replaced by an earthquake, or tsunami or something and had the same effect. This movie revolved around the people, and I loved it. Also Godzilla’s theme goes hard as fuck. There’s a wrestler, Samoa Joe, who used to have a theme that sampled Godzilla’s theme, and it’s also really good. (8.5/10)
7. Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One – This movie got absolutely bullied by Oppenheimer and Barbie over the summer and suffered at the boxoffice because of it. However I liked this movie more than either of those. This movie was so exhilarating. My heart was racing, there were scenes where I was holding my breath because of how tense it was. It was a truly thrilling experience. Watching Tom Cruise running, jumping, and climbing on shit was amazing. This was one of the movies I saw twice in theaters, and the second time was just as good as the first. Also, I respect a man that’s so dedicated to keeping a pretty brunette by his side. Good on you, Tom Cruise. (8.5/10)
6. The Holdovers – Paul Giamatti and his lazy eye were going to work in this film. I hate the enemies to lovers trope, but I do like the enemies to friends trope. At its core it was about flawed, socially outcast people, who were all isolated from the rest of the world in their own way, coming together and overcoming their deficiencies together. By the end of the movie it felt like the two main characters had been friends for years even though it was only like 10 days or something. (9/10)
5. Past Lives – So basically these two people grew up together, they were childhood friends and extremely, extremely close. The girl ends up moving to America while the boy and his family stay in South Korea. They eventually fall out of touch, before reconnecting years later. If this were a romcom, this would be a love story depicting the two leads ending up with their one true love despite all the odds, but in real life things don’t normally work that way. This movie is one big “what if” that never really gets explored, and it’s excruciating to watch. There were no sex scenes, there was barely even any sexual contact, but the romantic tension between the two leads was incredible. Every glance they shared was laced with a forbidden passion and desire that both characters tried their best to subdue, to no avail. The film ends with one of the most intense scenes I’ve ever seen. (9/10)
4. John Wick 4 – The cinematography was breathtaking, the fight scenes were immaculate, the humor was as dry and dark as ever. Who knew it could be so funny to see a violent fight to the death result in a man tumbling down an endless flight of stairs? There’s something so satisfying about watching a man overcome wrongdoings in such a brutal and gory way. (9/10)
3. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 – It’s crazy that the MCU produced one of its best projects in the middle of its driest and uninspired stretches ever. This movie was shockingly good, and that’s coming from someone that really enjoyed the first two installments in this trilogy. If you can’t tell by now I love stories with a lot of heart that includes misfits coming together and overcoming adversity. This movie had that in abundance. There were multiple moments during this film where I found myself tearing up. Also the soundtrack goes crazy. (9/10)
2. Puss in Boots the Last Wish – Yes, I know this movie technically came out in 2022, but I watched in January 2023 so get off my dick. When this movie came out I didn’t really think anything of it. Just a silly, whimsical movie with a talking cat, who cares. Similar to the Godzilla movie, I had no plans to see this movie, but then I saw the buzz it was getting and decided to see what all the fuss was about. It was fantastic. It was beautifully animated and had some really awesome action sequences. The Death character was amazing, every time he came on the screen he came across as extremely intimidating and formidable. This movie also had one of the best depictions of a panic attack that I’ve ever seen. I found the underlying message of the film to be simple but profound. (9.5/10)
1. Spider-man: Across the Spider-verse – What a fucking movie. Into the Spider-verse is widely regarded as possibly the best superhero movie of all time, but I think this one was even better. Literally would be a 10/10 for me if not for the cliffhanger ending. It’s funny because the new Fast and Furious, Mission Impossible, and this Spider-man movie all released within a few weeks of each other and all had cliffhangers. When I saw the Fast and Furious cliffhanger, I felt nothing at all, but when I saw the other two I was desperate to see the next film as soon as possible. When this movie ended I felt almost in disbelief. How could they expect me to wait for the next movie when this movie ended the way it did? It was fantastic though. I loved the characters, I loved the story, I loved the animation, I loved the action, it was just amazing from top to bottom. This movie managed to have two villains that were interesting, dangerous, and intimidating while also having multiple interesting protagonists that you wanted to get behind. I’m so ready for the third movie in this trilogy. (9.5/10)
Overall 2023 was a great year for movies. There were so many good movies that didn’t even make it into my top 10. As I was getting the movies in order I realized I had underestimated how hard it would be to make the list. The top two movies on this list were neck and neck, as were movies 3 through 6. All of these movies are worth checking out, most of them should be on streaming by this point. Hopefully you guys find a gem on here that you like as much as I did. If you do happen to check out one of these movies, or if you’ve seen some of them already, hit me up with your thoughts.
PS: I’d like to give a shout out to the movie Poor Thing. It probably would’ve made it into the top 10, but it came out in late December, and I had already started writing this by the time I saw it. The visuals were top tier and some of the actors (including Emma Stone and Mark Ruffalo) gave incredible, Oscar worthy performances. Definitely worth checking out.
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