It’s almost time for winter break, and that means it’s time for my top five best and worst movies of the year. Let’s start with the best.
5: Barbie
I loved this movie. I loved its imperative feminist messages about empowerment. I enjoyed the lead comic performances from Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling as well as the film’s meta humour. I was flabbergasted at the design work done on Barbieland, which is Oscar-worthy and totally captures what it was like playing with these dolls.
4: The Holdovers
This is easily one of the greatest Christmas holidays movies I’ve seen in a very long time. Paul Giamatti is fantastic as the universally disliked history teacher who, through one fateful holiday season, becomes a better man and teacher than he thought he ever could be. He does a really great job in portraying his character’s care for his students as well as his dark sense of humour.
3: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
I love everything about Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. From its amazing story that tackles relatable themes such as self-identity and the importance of writing your own story to its stellar animation styles and its well-voiced cast, this movie is a huge success.
2: Killers of the Flower Moon
Martin Scorsese has proven time and time again that he is one of cinema’s finest masters. Thanks to Scorsese’s masterful handling on the themes and ideas of David Grann’s book Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI, and the knockout performances by Leonardo DiCaprio and Lily Gladstone, this is one of the finest films of the year.
1: Oppenheimer
Rounding out the list is the second part of the phenomena known as Barbenheimer: Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer. Cillian Murphy’s performance as Robert J. Oppenheimer is spellbinding, as is Robert Downey Jr.’s performance as Lewis Strauss. Both of these actors command the screen during every frame they’re in. The production value on this is stunning. This is just a perfect movie to me.
2023 has been such a great year at the cinema that there are only two movies that I saw that deserve to be called out for being so bad. And they are…
2: Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey
Have you ever wanted to know what it will feel like to watch your childhood burn right in front of your eyes? There’s nothing even remotely interesting or redeemable about this film. It’s two sociopaths running around in poor man’s Winnie the Pooh and Piglet outfits chopping up people for 88 minutes. That’s it.
1: The Exp4ndables
I hate this movie with every fibre of my being. The script reads like it was written by a six-year-old’s writing class whose parents let their kids stay up all night to play the cheapest version of Mortal Kombat they could find. The acting in this film is even worse. The explosions look like they are made out of Lego. I shake my head at everyone who signed off on this final product.
As always… I’ll see you at the movies.