Another year, another list of blockbusters! Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down the most entertaining and influential feature films that had general releases in 2023.
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00:00 "Well, the purpose of this institute is to provide a haven for independent minds.
00:04 That's you."
00:06 Welcome to WatchMojo,
00:07 and today we're counting down the most entertaining and influential feature films
00:11 that had general releases in 2023.
00:14 We're including features that had festival premieres the previous year,
00:17 but we're leaving off documentaries.
00:19 "This is the bucket where our pee freezes, and uh...
00:23 Yeah, that's it."
00:25 Number 10, John Wick Chapter 4.
00:29 "I'm afraid you've come a very long way...
00:32 for nothing...
00:34 here."
00:37 John Wick has topped itself with each passing movie,
00:40 although we can't imagine another sequel surpassing Chapter 4.
00:43 At just under three hours,
00:45 Chad Stahelski's film throws everything it has at the audience and titular character.
00:49 Yet it never feels overstuffed.
00:51 Each scene is draped in atmospheric cinematography,
00:54 elegant backdrops, and action constantly finding new ways to innovate.
00:58 While we joke about how John is practically invincible,
01:01 we feel every blow he takes with each set piece weighing down on him more.
01:05 "Such is life. Such is life. Can you imagine the acceptance, the defiance?"
01:10 "Today is not the day you will die.
01:13 On that I am sure."
01:16 By the time we reach the final lap of this breathless marathon,
01:19 we're legitimately concerned that mortality has finally caught up to him.
01:22 That mix of realism and over-the-top spectacle has made John Wick an action staple.
01:27 Chapter 4 being the franchise's definitive entry.
01:30 "Nothing personal, John.
01:31 We're even now.
01:34 Yeah."
01:36 "Did they buy the phone?"
01:39 "So...
01:43 we got good news and bad news."
01:45 2023 delved into the fascinating backstories of several products,
01:48 including Air Jordan.
01:50 Blackberry was the most surprising in more ways than one.
01:53 Not only were we caught off guard by just how funny Matt Johnson's film can be,
01:58 but we severely underestimated the impact that Blackberry had on the mobile world.
02:02 "That was the worst product pitch I've ever seen in my life.
02:05 You guys don't stand a chance out there. You need me."
02:08 Part of that might be because the iPhone has essentially swiped its competitor's legacy from our consciousness.
02:13 The brand may be defunct,
02:15 but Glenn Howerton's cutthroat performance as Jim Balsillie will stick with you
02:18 like the sound of a Blackberry keyboard typing away.
02:21 Jay Baruchel also turns in some of his best work as Mike Lazaridis,
02:25 who loses himself in a sea of corporate greed and a reluctance to see the bigger picture.
02:30 "Yeah, okay, it's not us, Jim. It's the carrier. Verizon is doing something weird."
02:33 "Okay, well I'm about to do something weird if you don't fix this. Now!"
02:37 How do you grieve what you never had?
02:45 This question is top of mind throughout Celine Song's past lives.
02:49 The year's most mature and nuanced romance.
02:52 Greta Lee delivers a best actress-worthy performance as Nora,
02:55 a married woman who reunites with her childhood sweetheart.
02:58 Although a love triangle is at the center, past lives avoids conventional pitfalls.
03:03 "Is he attractive?"
03:04 "I think so.
03:07 He's really masculine in this way that I think is so Korean."
03:12 While we empathize with both men in Nora's life,
03:15 we know there's only one practical way for this story to conclude.
03:18 No matter how you're hoping for things to turn out,
03:21 it's impossible not to experience a sense of loss upon arriving at the inevitable resolution.
03:26 Whether or not Nora makes the right choice,
03:28 it's the "what if" factor that will continue to eat away at her and us.
03:32 Number 7. Talk to me.
03:43 "You can be honest."
03:45 "I hate being around you. You're so depressing."
03:48 Premiering in 2022 at the Adelaide Film Festival before a wide release theatrically in 2023,
03:54 this Australian horror picture harkens back to W.W. Jacobs' classic short story,
03:59 'The Monkey's Paw.'
04:00 Instead of granting wishes though,
04:02 the sinister hand at the forefront of this film is more like a needle.
04:06 After one hit, it's a slippery slope that can leave you possessed.
04:10 "As soon as she lets it in, it cannot go for more than 90 seconds, am I clear?"
04:14 "What happens after 90 seconds?"
04:16 "Don't want to stay."
04:19 The allegory might be on the nose,
04:20 but Talk to Me executes its genuinely creepy premise with haunting imagery,
04:25 utterly convincing performances,
04:27 and some of the finest practical effects that modern horror has to offer.
04:30 Brothers Danny and Michael Phillip who make a riveting transition from YouTube to feature film,
04:35 infusing their love for the genre into every shot.
04:38 A hand to hold can be a source of comfort,
04:40 but always be cautious of what's on the other end.
04:43 "Have any of you guys...
04:44 still been seeing stuff?"
04:47 Number 6, 'The Holdovers.'
04:49 "I heard you got stuck with babysitting duty this year, how'd you manage that?"
04:53 "Oh, I don't know. I suppose I failed someone who richly deserved it."
04:57 School is the last place anybody wants to be over the holidays,
05:00 unless you're an academic grinch like Paul Giamatti's Mr. Hunnam.
05:04 Even his Christmas is spoiled though by the presence of Dominic Sess' Angus,
05:08 a student with no home to return to.
05:10 Divine Joy Randolph rounds out one of the year's most memorable trios in 'The Holdovers,'
05:15 which meticulously captures the look and tone of a 70s dramedy from the studio logos onward.
05:21 "Presto, cherries jubilee."
05:22 [Chuckles]
05:24 "Ooh, shouldn't it just go out?"
05:27 The Vietnam War era backdrop sets a bleak tone for a film that explores isolation,
05:31 pessimism, and other feelings that the holidays are prone to summon.
05:35 At the same time, Alexander Payne has made a warm Christmas classic,
05:39 bringing out the humanity of the holiday spirit in unexpected places.
05:43 "I was right. This is why I hate parties. That was a disaster. Total disaster."
05:48 Number 5. Godzilla Minus One
05:50 Godzilla Minus One excels where many recent entries to the series have fallen short.
05:59 Takashi Yamazaki delivers on the kaiju carnage,
06:02 presenting the most intimidating incarnation of Godzilla in a while.
06:05 Even more impressive, Yamazaki has made a monster picture where we actually care about the human characters.
06:11 [Speaking Japanese]
06:13 Ryunosuke Kamiki gives a heartbreaking performance as a former kamikaze pilot who survived World War II,
06:19 but is still fighting an internal war as he struggles to accept happiness.
06:22 Yamazaki returns to the franchise's roots,
06:25 reminding audiences that the 1954 classic started as an allegory for the atomic bomb.
06:30 Godzilla Minus One builds upon that theme with a story of survivor's guilt and moments of legitimate terror,
06:36 producing a war movie first and a monster movie second.
06:40 [Speaking Japanese]
06:42 Number 4. Killers of the Flower Moon
06:46 "That's how you are."
06:47 "I don't know what you said, but it must have been Indian for handsome devil."
06:51 The only thing more shocking than the injustice at the core of this epic crime drama
06:56 is how the Osage murders have widely gone overlooked until recently.
07:00 Martin Scorsese initially conceived this adaptation of David Graham's non-fiction book
07:04 with Leonardo DiCaprio leading as Tom White, the agent investigating the conspiracy.
07:09 "Oh, I was sent down from Washington D.C. to see about these murders."
07:13 "Hmm. See what about 'em?"
07:19 Killers of the Flower Moon isn't a whodunit, however.
07:22 It's a who didn't do it, leading to DiCaprio instead playing Ernest Burkhart,
07:26 a pathetic lackey whose affection for his Osage wife is outweighed by his loyalty to his corrupt uncle.
07:32 Robert De Niro is chillingly effective in the subtlest ways,
07:35 but Lily Gladstone gives the film's best performance as a woman slowly accepting
07:40 the betrayal happening under her nose.
07:42 Once again, Scorsese has defined the term "masterpiece."
07:46 [Speaking Japanese]
07:48 [Speaking French]
07:50 Number 3 - Barbie
08:00 "I'm no longer on tiptoes."
08:01 "That's okay. Let me see."
08:02 [Gasping]
08:04 "Flat feet!"
08:06 Barbie shattered the long, outdated studio mentality that films aimed at female audiences
08:14 can't gross over a billion dollars. Just as game-changing, Greta Gerwig prompted a
08:19 rethinking of what a film based on a popular toy line can be. Barbie pulls off a seemingly
08:24 impossible balancing act, embracing the brand while calling out every criticism, being commercial
08:30 while still being auteur-driven, employing a meaningful message without eclipsing the comedy,
08:35 appealing to younger demographics while proving more fun for adults.
08:38 "Thoughts of death?"
08:40 "Thoughts of death!"
08:40 "Is that a problem?"
08:42 Much like how Barbie can be anything, Gerwig has made a film that works on every level,
08:47 venturing into bold new territory along the way. Throw in a pitch-perfect cast including
08:52 Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, and Barbie was 2023's most unexpected stepping stone
08:57 in the evolution of cinema.
08:59 "Is it Ken?"
09:00 "Ken's just a really good friend. And this is my dream house. It's Barbie's dream house.
09:04 It's not Ken's dream house, right?"
09:06 "Ha ha ha, right as always."
09:08 Number 2 - Oppenheimer
09:10 "Nils, meet J. Robert Oppenheimer."
09:13 "What's the J stand for?"
09:15 "Nothing, apparently."
09:16 "You're at my lecture. You ask the only good question."
09:19 From one half of Barbenheimer to another, Oppenheimer marks another tour de force from
09:23 Christopher Nolan, delivering what might be his best-looking and best-sounding film to date.
09:28 It's what's below the surface that sticks with us, however.
09:32 Nolan accomplishes what few storytellers can, making a film about the atomic bomb where the
09:37 creators, science, and moral complexities are just as engrossing as the explosion.
09:42 "We've all heard about Einstein and Szilard's letter to Roosevelt warning him that Germans
09:45 could make a bomb, and I know what it means for the Nazis to have a bomb."
09:49 "What I don't?"
09:50 "It's not your people they're herding into camps."
09:53 Cillian Murphy obliterates his underrated status as J. Robert Oppenheimer,
09:57 whose determination to build the bomb sets off several additional explosions,
10:01 internally and politically.
10:03 To discuss every performance would take longer than the movie itself,
10:07 but Robert Downey Jr. deserves best supporting actor consideration for his imposing portrayal
10:11 of Louis Strasse. Destroyer of worlds? Debatable. Savior of the theatrical experience? Certainly.
10:18 "After the war, he was world-renowned, the great man of physics, and I was
10:22 determined to get him to run the institute."
10:26 Before we unveil our top pick, here are some honorable mentions.
10:30 Anatomy of a Fall. Sandra Hulot shines in a mystery murder where the courtroom is
10:35 more intense than the alleged crime scene.
10:36 Poor Things. Yorgos Lanthimos' most visually and thematically involving film yet.
10:58 "You were in my son." "What?"
11:00 Evil Dead Rise. A bloody good time for the whole family,
11:16 assuming the whole family is into deadites.
11:26 "Mom? Mommy's with the maggots now."
11:30 Asteroid City. Wes Anderson's wonderful space oddity.
11:34 "You're not here." "We're not there. The car exploded. Come get the girls."
11:38 "The car exploded?" "Parts of the car exploded itself, yes. Come get the girls."
11:43 "I'm not the chauffeur. I'm the grandfather. Where are you?"
11:45 "Asteroid City. Farm Route 6, Mile 75. Come get the girls. I have to stay here with Woodrow."
11:51 The Boy and the Heron. Hayao Miyazaki's meditation on life,
11:55 death, and the next journey.
11:56 "So, you made it." "Mother!"
12:08 "Have a seat."
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12:25 Spider-Man. Across the Spider-Verse. There remains an assumption that if a movie is animated,
12:31 it must be for the kiddie crowd. With Across the Spider-Verse, Miles Morales responded,
12:36 "Nah, I'ma do my own thing."
12:39 We'd say that Across the Spider-Verse pushes the boundaries of animation,
12:43 but the truth is that animation has no boundaries. Rather,
12:46 this film pushes forward to unexplored territory, throwing out the rulebook in the process.
12:51 "I am a good vulture, the pinnacle of man's genius."
12:55 "You're not my vulture."
12:56 Not just the rulebook for what's expected from animation, but what's expected from a Spider-Man
13:00 movie. At the same time, to say that the filmmakers' love for Spidey is on display
13:05 in every frame would be an understatement. The film is Spider-Sense overload, serving a visual
13:11 feast so bountiful that you almost forget another course is coming. That said, we are hungry for
13:16 the next chapter. "I'm Spider-Man. No one can stop me."
13:20 "I'm Spider-Man. No one can take that away from me."
13:21 "Unbelievable. Come back to your nemesis."
13:24 "Don't escape."
13:25 "Your costume's too tight in the back, by the way."
13:27 What are your favorite movies of 2023? List your top 10 in the comments.
13:32 "All those grateful, powerful women who owe their wonderful lives to Barbie."
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13:44 [Music]