Babylon did not get the credit it deserved as one of the years most entertaining offerings
List compiled by Eddie on 08/12/2023
After a rough few years, with Covid and changing viewer habits wrecking havoc, as well as general cinematic quality mostly failing to inspire, it was refreshing and well and truly timely that 2023 provided us all with much movie goodness wherever you looked.
Despite some huge notable failures and the Hollywood strike that went on far longer than anyone would’ve wished for, this calendar year gave us a range of big-scale delights and small-scale magic, with a collation of films ensuring that this year has been one of the best years for film fans in many a moon.
Below is a collection of what I consider to be some of the best and some of the worst of what the last 12 months have provided, noting that this list is based off Australian release dates so there may be films that appeared elsewhere prior to 2023 and some films that are missing here due to the fact the land down under often suffers extra long waits for certain offerings.
With 2024 likely to be affected in a greater way by the actors strike from this year, here’s hoping it can manage to be even half as good as the year that’s been, a year that reminded us all cinema can still live and thrive in the modern era as long as it’s deserving.
Happy reading and see you at the movies!
10 Best Films of 2023
Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning – Part One provided us with all you could want from a Hollywood action thriller
10. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One
Providing all you could want from a big-budgeted Hollywood action thriller, Dead Reckoning Part One may have been a minor disappointment at the box office (thanks no doubt to Barbenheimer’s dominance) but thanks to expert direction, spectacular stunts and the continued commitment from its leading man Tom Cruise, the Mission: Impossible series is showing no signs of slowing down.
9. The Eight Mountains
A beautiful ode to friendship and a feast for the eyes thanks to its stunning locations and cinematography, Felix van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch’s epic drama is a must-see movie experience, full of emotion, heart and majesty, making this underrated effort one worthy of seeking out.
8. Past Lives
The little film that could, Celine Strong’s heartfelt and polished romantically tinged drama became one of the years most unexpected hits and for good reason. A film any so-called movie fan should track down, Past Lives is one of the strongest directional debuts in years.
7. The Whale
Some accuse director Darren Aronofsky’s Oscar winning adaptation of Samuel D. Hunter’s play to be a manipulative movie-going experience but thanks to Brendan Fraser’s incredible central turn and a confronting but moving narrative at its core, The Whale is an often hard to watch feature but one that offers up much power, culminating in one of recent memories most stand-out finales.
6. The Banshees of Inisherin
A brilliant mix of comedy and drama, built around a collection of awards worthy performances, The Banshees of Inisherin finds writer/director Martin McDonagh on top form as he explores a friendship gone astray in an utterly unique way and location.
The Banshees of Inisherin was a dark comedy classic
5. Talk to Me
One of the most buzzed-about horror entries of the year just so happens to be one of the best Australian films of the modern era with directing duo Danny and Michael Philippou announcing themselves to the industry in a big way. You suspect that Talk to Me will be an Aussie product that is studied and used as a poster child for future budding local artists.
4. Aftersun
A film that creeps up on you and offers up an unexpected gut punch of raw and heartfelt emotion and power, Charlotte Wells semi-autobiographical tale of a father and his daughter’s holiday may seem simplistic on first look but is anything but. Lead by a brilliant double act courtesy of Paul Mescal and Frankie Corio, Aftersun is an unforgettable examination of family bonds, mental health and ones battle with their memories.
3. Close
One of the most refreshing and honest explorations of growing up and childhood friendships I can recall seeing, the Oscar nominated Close is a moving and touching movie experience that should be viewed by as wide of an audience as it can be afforded.
2. Babylon
As someone you has never professed themselves to be an expert, I don’t like making too many bold and big claims but one I will make is that in the years to come more will come to realise that they slept on the future classic that is Babylon and will be left hugely disappointed by underestimating it upon release. An unfortunate box office dud that many critics failed to support, Babylon is a riotous good time filled with inventive creativity and noteworthy performances, all the while acting as a touching ode to the art-form of cinema along the way.
1. Oppenheimer
Oppenheimer was an instant classic from Christopher Nolan
I’m not sure Oppenheimer was the film anyone expected it to be but for the most part I would suspect this has been for the better. With director Christopher Nolan once more proving that he is currently the best in the business and one of the only directors we can trust to continue to push themselves to deliver finished products that constantly test themselves and their art to their limits, seeing the resounding success and sentiment that has flowed for Oppenheimer gives one hope that cinema is far from dead, despite what many would have you think otherwise.
10 Worst Films of 2023
Five Night’s at Freddy’s was scary in all the wrong ways
10. Five Nights at Freddy’s
A box office hit that managed to utilise a name brand property to mask an horrifically average and lacking feature, Five Nights at Freddy’s may have a few tiny moments that show the film that might’ve been but as a finished product, this is another sad example of a below-tier video game adaptation.
9. The Pale Blue Eye
The exact type of promising on paper Netflix original that ends up being an utter waste of time, talent and potential, The Pale Blue Eye is a DOA offering that squanders Edgar Allan Poe, Christian Bale and a potentially intriguing murder mystery on a trite affair that fails to ever get out of first gear.
8. The Super Mario Bros. Movie
It really does sadden me that so many want you to believe that the billion dollar making The Super Mario Bros. Movie is a good time as it really is anything but. A shamelessly uninspired offering that thinks songs about peaches and throwing an endless barrage of pop-culture quips and music hits at us makes for a good time, this Mario movie makes the 1993 live action version of Nintendo’s famous plumbers look like a masterpiece in comparison.
7. Insidious: The Red Door
There have been some good Insidious films over the journey and some very bad ones, with the newest (and please let it be the last!) entry into the horror series a new low point for all involved. Lacking any imagination or detrimentally to all…. scares, The Red Door is a terrible directional outing for its co-star Patrick Wilson who should be sent to The Further for crimes against cinema.
6. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
A new low for the Marvel film C.V (I have yet to see The Marvels), the newest instalment of the Ant-Man series is a soulless and rushed hack-job that has very little working in its favour. A trite story-line, a lack of laughs, terrible CGI and a general lack of purpose ensures this Ant-Man outing is one many would wish they could erase from their Marvel memory banks.
The newest Expendables outing was a new low for the series
5. Expend4bles
The Expendables series has never been one that is associated with quality cinematic offerings but that’s no excuse for the genuinely terrible outcome of the fourth instalment, Expend4bles. A huge box-office dud that deservedly died a quick death upon release, this tired and lifeless movie going experience makes one hope that this series is put to bed for good.
4. Haunted Mansion
In 2003 the world was punished with the Eddie Murphy starring Haunted Mansion, a complete failure to launch that now seems like a far better form of punishment than this newest take on the famed Disney ride. A film that lacks in all departments and manages to squander a huge budget and talented cast in bizarre ways, Haunted Mansion is a lifeless undertaking that should be avoided like the plague.
3. Pain Hustlers
Netflix and all involved clearly wanted to be The Wolf of Wall Street of the pharmaceutical world but despite all the effort in its attempts, Pain Hustlers is a huge waste of talent and opportunity. Somehow managing to throw away Emily Blunt’s rare chance as a lead in a film and then wasting a potent true story on a daft exploration, David Yates’s misguided film is a real shocker.
2. The Blackening
Director Tim Story continues on his warpath to become one of the all-time worst Hollywood directors with his unfunny and far too self-assured horror comedy social commentary The Blackening. A film that offers zero scares, no laughs and little worthwhile exploration of social issues of today, this is a film I am surprised isn’t more readily derided.
1. The Exorcist: Believer
The Exorcist: Believer is one of the worst Hollywood films in years
There have been few films in my life I have sat through that are more worthless and pointless than David Gordon Green’s horrific (in all the wrong ways) The Exorcist: Believer. Somehow sinking lower than even his Halloween films took him, Green plunges to new depths of bad film-making instances with this effort that makes once extremely fearful of its reported sequel in 2025.
Best Director
Christopher Nolan (Oppenheimer)
A master of his domain, Nolan delivered big time with his latest outing
In more ways than one it felt like the pressure was on Christopher Nolan to make Oppenheimer work, with the end results surpassing even the most optimistic of pre-release expectations in a critical, commercial and audience sense. A stunning piece of film-making that in-turn managed to showcase that audiences still want to go to the movies to watch mature films, Oppenheimer was a litmus test that passed with flying colours.
Best Actor
Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer)
A rare leading man turn provided Cillian Murphy with another opportunity to showcase his immense talents
Rarely seen on the big screen in a leading man role, with 28 Days Later and sci-fi classic Sunshine some examples, Cillian Murphy delivered a career best turn as esteemed American theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer. A front-runner for the upcoming Oscar Best Actor race, Murphy proved once more to us all that he’s a very special talent indeed.
Best Actress
Kerry Condon (The Banshees of Inisherin)
Kerry Condon was at her very best in The Banshees of Inisherin
Not letting the great work of her co-stars Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson and Barry Keoghan overshadow her, Irish actress Kerry Condon shone in her role as the kindly Siobhán Súilleabháin. After a long time in the industry plying her trade but perhaps not getting the work that matches her talent, it was great to see Condon get her time in the spotlight after years of hard work.
Worst Director
David Gordon Green (The Exorcist: Believer)
Director David Gordon Green needs to be stopped when it comes to making films in the horror space
A one time indie darling that lost a lot of fans after his three terrible Halloween films, we had all hoped that director David Gordon Green could head back to focusing on what he does best in the independent world and HBO space but we weren’t to be so lucky. Diving headfirst into a new career low, Green’s efforts in unleashing The Exorcist: Believer onto the world will not soon be forgotten.
Worst Actor
Chris Evans (Pain Hustlers)
Chris Evans has been on a lean run post-Avengers and Pain Hustlers was no exception
Continuing on his post-Avengers career slump, Chris Evans is both miscast and misguided in his role as slimy sales rep Pete Brenner. We all know Evans can act and can be one of the most easy to relate to actors working today but his performance here is a real career low point.
Worst Actress
Megan Fox (Expend4bles)
Megan Fox and the Expendables franchise as not a match made in heaven
Having not exactly associated herself to quality films since her heyday post Transformers in 2007, Megan Fox does more harm than good in her central turn as Gina in the dire Expend4bles. Almost like a joke gone terribly wrong, we are supposed to believe Fox/Gina is leading a group that includes 50 Cent into a dangerous battle to prevent WW3 but all we get is wooden acting, atrocious timing and some thrown in lingerie scenes for good measure.
3 Underrated Films
It’s a shame more people didn’t turn out to see Guy Ritchie’s best film in years, The Covenant
3. Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant
It’s a shame more didn’t turn out to go and watch this Guy Ritchie bomb at the cinema as its one of the most enjoyable and thrilling war set features in years. Founded around a great turn from leading man Jake Gyllenhaal and directed with flair but also restraint from Ritchie, The Covenent is a thrilling good time.
2. Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
Never in my wildest dreams would I have suspected I would ever be putting this new D & D film into a list like this but here we are. A film I wish more had given a chance at the cinema and a film that is more entertaining than it has any right to be, Honor Among Thieves is like a modern day Princess Bride and a film I truly hope is only the first of more to come.
1. Babylon
I’ve already spoken about Babylon in this article and don’t need to cover the same ground here with all I can say is its a shame so many had their knives out for Damian Chazelle’s latest epic, one that I am sure will be re-judged in the years to come as a genuine classic and one of the great movies about movies of all time.
3 Overrated Films
Despite the hype, the newest Mario movie was as empty and lifeless as drain pipe
3. The Super Mario Bros. Movie
I can’t wrap my head around the over the top praise that’s been heaped on this Nintendo outing, an outing that was always going to make buckets of money but somehow managed to swindle audiences into thinking this was a far more entertaining film than it actually is. Lacking any real imagination or spark (something you could never accuse old Mario games from doing), I hope the world wakes up the fact this wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.
2. Killers of the Flower Moon
It feels wrong to be putting a Martin Scorsese film in such a category and while I far from hated his latest epic I can’t quite get on board with so many praising it to be one of his masterpieces. At a far too long 200 plus minutes and with lots of lacking components, Killers of the Flower Moon is a pretty and professional film that is also a cold and forgettable one, something its true story is not.
1. Barbie
A pick that I’m sure will rile some people up, much like Killers of the Flower Moon I enjoyed much of Barbie and in many ways it’s a film that is far better than it should’ve ever been but to consider this a major contender come awards season is just wrong and you can already see this is the “it” film that people just get behind much like Everything, Everywhere All at Once from last year.
Australian Film of the Year
Talk to Me
A new horror classic and an Australian classic to boot, Talk to Me is deserving of its reputation
A hugely impressive debut from Australian directing duo/brothers Danny and Michael Philippou, Talk to Me is a film deserving of its significant industry buzz and sets the Philippou’s on a path that is exciting to anticipate. Managing to feel Australian without ever falling into the traps some other local productions succumb to, Talk to Me will likely be regarded as one of the all-time great Australian products of the modern era.
Biggest Disappointment
Beau is Afraid
A visual delight, Beau is Afraid was still an unfortunate misfire
His films may not be for everyone but after the double whammy of Hereditary and Midsommar there was reason to think Ari Aster was once more going to unleash a wonderfully demented good time on us again with his third feature Beau is Afraid. While still being highly unpredictable and full of some incredible visuals, Beau is Afraid ended up being a cold and forgettable experience that wasted an intriguing premise, star Joaquin Phoenix and an epic 3 hour runtime. A likely candidate for a film that becomes regarded as some type of misunderstood cult-classic, here’s hoping Aster returns to form with whatever his next project may be.
Biggest Surprise
Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
The newest take on the D & D world had no right being as entertaining as it was
To be bluntly honest, I had zero interest in ever watching the newest big screen iteration of Dungeons and Dragons, with wounds still fresh from the previous experience I had with the property with the Jeremy Irons starring affair from 2000, but boy am I glad I changed my mind. Being unable to ignore the positive reviews and audience sentiment taking the plunge on Honor Among Thieves at the cinema provided me with one of my great cinema experiences of 2023 and after a re-watch at home I am confident in saying that this highly entertaining fantasy affair full of comedy and spectacle is this modern eras version of Princess Bride/Stardust. If you’ve ignored the film up until now, take the plunge!
Best Poster
An instantly iconic poster that I am sure will feature on cinephiles walls for years yet to come.
Worst Poster
What’s going on here? One of the most truly bizarre posters I have come across in some time, this poster for the bloody horror is a serious crime against advertising.
Best Trailer
Giving us a taste for the tension, visuals, musical accompaniment and polished performances that made Oppenheimer the year’s most unexpectedly massive audience favourite, the below trailer for Christopher Nolan’s likely Oscar front-runner is a masterclass in savvy marketing.
Worst Trailer
Want to know how to not get people excited for your film? Look no further than this horrifically unexciting teaser for the box office disaster that was The Marvels! Lacking a single selling point and showcasing the worst of what Marvel has started to become known for, The Marvels was doomed well before it ever hit cinema screens.
Top 3 Scenes of 2023 (SPOILERS)
The underrated Babylon provided us with a raft of 2023’s best cinematic moments
3. Air – Sonny Vaccaro’s final pitch to Michael Jordan
A key moment in the final stages of Ben Affleck’s Air was in reality mere dialogue but thanks to Matt Damon’s pitch-perfect delivery and a spectacular real life highlight reel of the films mostly unseen Michael Jordan, this particular scene was a spine-tingling one that made one once more realise how lucky we have been to witness the greatness that was Air Jordan.
2. Babylon – First “talkie” filming goes pear-shaped
Across its 3 hour runtime there are numerous moments from Damian Chazelle’s brilliant epic that could’ve been chosen here but after an insanely chaotic and unforgettable opening stanza that lasts for the better part of an hour, the years funniest scene and one that just gets better with each passing minute is an extended scene were Margot Robbie’s silent movie starlet Nellie LaRoy attempts to deliver here first sound recorded scene that descends into a whole new type of horror for everyone involved. RIP Mr. Recording Booth Man.
1. Oppenheimer – Oppenheimer’s gymnasium speech
A masterclass of acting, directing, writing and editing, Oppenheimer’s pivotal segment following on from the successful atom bomb test see’s Cillian Murphy’s titular scientist “celebrate” what they have achieved after years worth of work. A horrifying (I will never forget that scream and then that silence) and unique way to examine the time and moment in history that shaped the future of mankind, this particular scene showcased a performer and his director at the very top of their game and assured Oppenheimer will be a film many study and examine in the years yet to come.
What were your favourite or least favourite films from 2023? What were the individual moments that stand out to you? Let me know in the comments below!
Jordan and Eddie (The Movie Guys) 
Nice list. Past Lives is top for me, and I liked Barbie but will be weirded out if Gosling genuinely wins any awards for it. Good fun though.
Will have to try Babylon again, wasn’t in the right headspace maybe!
Really intrigued to see how Past Lives fairs come Oscar time. I had fun with Barbie but honestly wouldn’t agree with it winning any awards, it’s a fun movie nothing more.
I do think Babylon is worth another go, I actually enjoyed it even more the second time around.
E
Oh loved D&D to, definitely one to revisit!
Still getting over how fun of a movie it was, I genuinely hope they end up making a sequel despite the so so box office.
E
Agree with this in the most part. Think The Blackening is harsh though. It was devent enough I thought. I would have The Flash No Hard Feelings and Shazam 2 at the bottom of mine
I don’t think I can ever bring myself to check out Shazam 2, it’s like that film never even released.
E
I wish i hadnt seen it
I liked Babylon, although I didn’t think it was *super-amazingly* great. There were things I didn’t like about Honor Among Thieves, and rate it a low-average for a fantasy movie. Oppenheimer’s on my “to watch” list, along with Expendables (I thought the first three were fun). I’ll probably give the rest of your list a pass.
Oppenheimer is a stunning achievement, the new Expendables is one I really wish you well with ha. I enjoyed the others for what they were well enough but this one was a real failure in all areas.
E
Fantastic list! Past Lives still remains the best film to me of the entire year. Love it so much I saw it four times. Here’s why:
Be interesting to see if it nabs any Oscars, it’s a film with a very strong fanbase.
E
Excellent article. Lots to mull over. The fact that many of these are films I haven’t seen shows that even when it seems like every other movie is a superhero movie, there’s still lots out there to watch. You’re very right about “Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant.” The humanity and inhumanity at the heart of this film are what makes a war movie great. And my god, was “Beau Is Afraid” bad.
I am still trying to comprehend what on earth happened with Beau is Afraid! I am genuinely perplexed by what the final product was.
E