{"id":1513,"date":"2024-01-08T19:36:30","date_gmt":"2024-01-08T19:36:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.craigsilliphant.com\/?p=1513"},"modified":"2024-01-09T17:39:55","modified_gmt":"2024-01-09T17:39:55","slug":"craig-silliphants-best-and-worst-movies-of-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.craigsilliphant.com\/index.php\/2024\/01\/08\/craig-silliphants-best-and-worst-movies-of-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"Craig Silliphant’s Best (and Worst) Movies of 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As I mentioned on Dave Scaddan\u2019s Top 20 Albums of 2023<\/a>, we do these year-end best of lists every year. We did them for 10 years over at The Feedback Society<\/a>, which we have recently decommissioned. I wanted to keep the tradition going, but publish them on this new site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each year, I am contractually obligated to note that there are 2023 films I haven\u2019t seen, mostly because they haven\u2019t come to Saskatchewan yet. I know there are movies like The Zone of Interest<\/em> that would most likely make this list had I been able to see them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are my Top 10 films of the year for some can\u2019t miss titles! And for fun, I\u2019ve also listed #11 to #27 for further recommendations you might love. Plus, the Worst three films I experienced this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I now present — Craig Silliphant\u2019s Best (and Worst) Movies of 2023<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

10) Priscilla<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I love Sofia Coppola. Her feminist take on Elvis Presley, based on Priscilla Presley\u2019s book, knocks the icon down a peg or two. Because of their brilliance, we give huge artists lie Elvis a pass on their love of things like underage girls and the methods used to manipulate them. Jacob Elordi offers us a more human version of the King than Austin Butler\u2019s bang-on impression gave us last year. This would have been way higher on the list but I didn\u2019t feel like Coppola quite stuck the landing. Without giving anything away, it feels anti-climactic. But the first \u00be of the film is well-told, offering meaningful perspectives, and it looks elegant and beautiful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

9) I Like Movies<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Here is a great little, low-fi Canadian film from director Chandler Levack, that brought me back to my video store days. It\u2019s about Lawrence, a socially inept teenage cinephile who gets a job at the video store, forming relationships with those around him as he deals with his mental health and other issues. It\u2019s simple but effective and showcases a love of movies (and some pretty funny jokes about Canadian production values). Note that you can find this hidden gem on Netflix.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

8) The Holdovers<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Alexander Payne is back with a story about a cranky teacher in a boarding school, played by Paul Giamatti, who ends up stuck over Christmas break with a troubled student and a woman grieving the death of her son in Vietnam. This is the kind of thing Payne is great at, blending drama, sadness, and comedy to tell a human story. The movie isn\u2019t necessarily a masterpiece (in fact, his last film, Nebraska <\/em>was better), but it\u2019s an incredibly well-told story that felt very much like a 90s indie movie about misfits. The look of the movie captures a very specific place and time and the performances are at the heart of things. This is probably one of the best mainstream movies of the year that most people would really enjoy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7) Past Lives<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A very low-key affair about a young Korean boy and girl who had a special relationship as kids. However, the young girl moved to Canada (and then America) where she grew up. They find each other again years later and have to navigate what their relationship might look like. A lot of people mention the Before Trilogy<\/em> from Richard Linklater, which I can see; they spend a lot of time on FaceTime or walking around New York, talking about life. But Past Lives<\/em> also does a great job of not falling into cliches. For example, as an adult, she has a husband when her old friend shows up. In a lesser movie, this would have pushed the drama in a different direction. But director Celine Song isn\u2019t exploiting things for drama — she\u2019s more interested at the hearts that beat inside all of us and the joy and pain that come with that. Another wonderful, humanist film.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6) Poor Things<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Yorgos Lanthimos is one of my favourite directors of the last decade or so and he doesn\u2019t disappoint with Poor Things<\/em>. Emma Stone plays a woman who is learning to be a person, by way of a mad scientist of sorts, played by Willem Dafoe. There are obvious parallels to Eliza Doolittle or Flowers for Algernon<\/em> (sort of). The movie looks amazing — totally spellbinding in many scenes. It\u2019s hilarious and philosophical. Stone and Dafoe are excellent but oddly, it\u2019s Mark Ruffalo that steals so many scenes. The only reason this movie isn\u2019t higher on the list is because I didn\u2019t feel like there was a lot of dramatic impact. There aren\u2019t really any stakes or obstacles for most of the movie, so it plays like a series of clever, funny vignettes, as opposed to a true journey for its characters. I\u2019m sure this will be #1 for many film lovers (though it might baffle some with less adventurous taste).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5) Guardians of The Galaxy, Volume 3<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Now, don\u2019t think too hard about the order of things here and the fact that a comic book movie ranks higher than brilliant filmmakers like Lanthimos (especially as we wander into an era of problems for Marvel and superhero fatigue). I love all different kinds of movies and while something like Past Lives<\/em> gets to human truths, the movies can also be a fun, escapist adventure. And if I had more fun at Guardians<\/em> than I was moved by something else, well, what can I say? Guardians<\/em> is a bit overstuffed, though never boring, with a big, fun, hilarious James Gunn energy. And I had no idea that my 2023 movie bingo card would feature feeling actual emotions at the plight of a CGI raccoon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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