Happy 2024! Why does time seem to speed up as one gets older? When I was young, it seemed like an eon before school would be over for another year. This past year was my xxth anniversary since graduating from university. I’m not going to say what the number was but it was a major one. It’s really not fair.

If you’ve been reading my annual recaps for the past few years, you’ll know that I don’t like doing a “Best of the year” list. The word “best” is subjective and what I think is best may not be what you think is best. All too often I read other people’s “best” lists and I scratch my bald head over their choices. I also don’t like doing them because so many awards contenders come out at the end of the year and I often don’t get to see them until well into the new year. That’s certainly the case this year. POOR THINGS, for example, is coming here on February 29^th. If I were to do a thorough assessment of what I think are the best films of the year, I would have to wait until then and who wants to read that? That’s why I prefer to compile a “Favourite films of the year” list. These are the films that I enjoyed or appreciated the most over the year. I’m not saying they’re worthy of awards. I’m saying they entertained me the most. So, without further ado, here is the list of my favourite films of 2023:

10.     Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie

An intimate and touching portrait of the immensely popular TV and movie star and his daily struggle with Parkinson’s disease, filmmaker Davis Guggenheim presents audiences with a man who is literally bruised and broken but definitely not beaten. Watching this film, it’s hard not to feel a mixture of both sympathy and complete admiration for Fox.

9.       Barbie

I was hesitant to include this film because I think it is about 20 minutes too long and a bit too preachy in the third act but, overall, it’s really a tremendous achievement (US$1.4 billion at the box office and counting) that deserves recognition. The set and costume design are genius, the jokes all land where they’re supposed to, and the soundtrack is infectious. Ryan Gosling is brilliantly funny and I hope he can get an Oscar nomination out of it.

8.       To Be Continued (尚未完場)

A love letter to Hong Kong that has been resonating both with young people here who feel helpless as they watch the uniqueness of their city being obliterated and with expatriate Hong Kong communities around the world that have seen their numbers explode in the past four years. It’s sad that Hong Kong students don’t learn about local history but with this film about the State Theatre in North Point and Harry Odell, the man who built it, they are finally learning something about our city’s past and the people who paved the way for what we take for granted today.

7.       Blue Giant

While many other critics are waxing poetic about a certain Japanese animated film (more about that below), my choice in that genre goes to BLUE GIANT. An uplifting story about a young man who lives to make jazz music, this film is a kaleidoscope of colour and imagery that leap off the screen whenever the musicians start to play. I’ll concede that 20 minutes could easily have been chopped from the film and it wouldn’t have been any worse for wear but if you’re into jazz music, then this film will make your soul soar. I’d be curious to know how many people downloaded the film’s soundtrack as soon as they got home from the cinema. It’s that good.

6.       John Wick: Chapter 4

With all its world-building, it’s about 30 minutes longer than it needs to be but just like all the other JW films before it, this installment excels in its fight choreography. Star Keanu Reeves knocks the ball out of the park again but it’s franchise veterans Ian McShane and the late Lance Reddick who really make this installment so much fun with their deadpan deliveries and side-eye glances.

5.       Thanksgiving

Going through my list of all the films I watched in 2023, this one stuck with me as one that I enjoyed far more than I expected I would. I’m not a big fan of slasher films – I don’t mind them but it’s not a genre that I prefer to watch over another – but THANKSGIVING is just brilliantly written with its tongue firmly planted in its cheek. The Black Friday store scene is wonderfully over the top and staged to perfection. Director and co-writer Eli Roth announced in November that a sequel, due for release in 2025, has been greenlit. Take my money now!

4.       Killers of the Flower Moon

I love watching movies that teach me something that I didn’t know before and KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON is one such film. Based on real events that happened in Oklahoma about 100 years ago, KILLERS tells the story of the Osage Nation and how their chance fortune soon turned into their tragic misfortune. Director Martin Scorsese, at 80 (now he’s 81), proves that age is just a number as he teams up with his favourite muses, Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro, to share this incredible story with audiences. The film’s shining star, though, is Lily Gladstone. Expect her to get an Oscar nomination for her performance.

3.       Maestro

I recently read a review of MAESTRO where the “critic” railed that the story didn’t cover Leonard Bernstein’s commitment to the American civil rights movement, his vocal objection to the war in Vietnam, his philanthropy and more. Correct. That’s not what this movie is about. MAESTRO is not a four-hour biopic that covers everything there is to know about the composer-conductor, if four hours would even be enough. It’s about his complicated relationship with his wife, Felicia Montealegre. Bradley Cooper and Carey Mulligan are fabulous as Lenny and Felicia respectively and the film should pick up a few Oscar nominations. I’m predicting it will win Best Picture with OPPENHEIMER winning Best Director because Academy voters rarely get the Best Picture category right.

2.       Saltburn

Could Oscar lightning strike twice for Emerald Fennell? The writer-director-producer took home a golden statuette in 2021 for her first film, PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN, and she’ll certainly nab a nomination or two for this one. SALTBURN, which is somewhat reminiscent of THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY, is wickedly funny at times and grossly unnerving at others. Barry Keoghan is sure to get an Oscar nomination for his performance as Oliver Quick, the dorky Oxford student who brilliantly weaves his way into the lives of the eccentric and wealthy Catton family. The movie’s best lines, though, all go to the insufferably privileged Lady Elspeth Catton deliciously played by Rosamund Pike.

1.       Oppenheimer

Who would have thought that a three-hourlong biopic about a theoretical physicist could take in a billion dollars at the global box office but 2023 was a surprising year for movies. When I first heard that this film was 181 minutes long, I was skeptical. I know that Christopher Nolan can be, let’s say, indulgent, at the best of times but I thought he may have overdone it this time around. I couldn’t have been more wrong. The three hours flew by (thank goodness I didn’t drink anything before sitting down to watch the film), the story was fascinating and the performances, especially by Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey Jr., were stupendous. Expect OPPENHEIMER to take home a bunch of Oscars on March 10^th. It was easily my favourite film of the year.

So what’s missing?

The Holdovers

I’m lukewarm to Alexander Payne and I think Paul Giamatti is a good actor but this film did not wow me. I’ll concede, though, that Da’Vine Joy Randolph is probably the best thing about this film. Her character should have been the focal point of the story. Of course, it would have been a very different movie though.

May December

Yes, it has strong performances from Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore, and perhaps an unintentional movie-stealing performance from Charles Melton, but I felt that director Todd Haynes didn’t lean into the women’s manipulativeness enough. The film is billed as a dark comedy-drama but, with the exception of a couple lines, I didn’t find it funny at all.

Anatomy of a Fall

I like Sandra Hüller as much as the next person does and there’s a lot to like about this film but I was disappointed by the trial, which takes up the bulk of the story’s second act. I felt that the prosecutor did not make a strong case for Sandra Voyter to be found guilty. Co-writer and director Justine Triet should have at least written a story that makes the audience want to pick a side, any side, even if her guilt or innocence is ambiguous.

Past Lives

Indie darling Celine Song’s first film seems to be making a few “Best of” lists and I’m shrugging my shoulders in complete meh-ness. Yes, it’s well made and the premise is interesting but is it one of the best films of the year? Not by a longshot.

The Boy and the Heron (君たちはどう生きるか)

This is another film that makes me wonder what all the hoopla is about. Full respect to Studio Ghibli and 82-year-old director-animator Hayao Miyazaki but this is not one of his best efforts, contrary to what many critics are writing. Perhaps my ambivalence toward the film, though, has to do with the voice actors. Here in Hong Kong, we got the original version with English subtitles while North American audiences got a dubbed version featuring the voice talents of the likes of Robert Pattinson, Gemma Chan, Christian Bale, Florence Pugh, Willem Dafoe. I found the Japanese voice actors, by and large, to be completely unsuitable for the characters they were portraying. Perhaps I need to watch the dubbed version and reassess how I feel about this film but, for now, it’s not on my list of favourite films of the year.

What else is missing? It seems that this year, more than in the past, there are a lot of films that I just haven’t seen yet because either the studios or the distributors are holding them back until the Oscar nominations are announced. I look forward to watching and reviewing these films in the coming months:

All Of Us Strangers
American Fiction
The Color Purple
Godzilla Minus One
Origin
Poor Things
The Zone of Interest

And now, my not-so-favourite films of 2023:

Onpaku (怨泊)

Showing all the directorial skill of a junior high school student, and I apologize to talented, young filmmakers everywhere, writer-director Shugo Fujii/藤井秀剛 takes the prize for what was for me an easy choice for my least favourite film of the year. With its inexplicably ghoulish montages, jump scares that don’t work, overly shaky camerawork, story arcs that don’t go anywhere and abysmal acting from the film’s star and producer, Josie Ho, ONPAKU is a complete dumpster fire.

65

When I reviewed this film back in March, I predicted that it would end up on my list of least favourite films of the year and, guess what, I was right. I don’t know whether there was studio interference or if the script was DOA. Either way, it’s just a heaping pile of stinky dino do.

Maybe I Do

It’s not rocket science. A romcom should have two elements – romance and comedy. Unfortunately, this film has neither. When I reviewed this film back in April, I wrote that I expected it would make my list of least favourite films of the year. Right again. If you’ve never seen MAYBE I DO, maybe you shouldn’t.

Do you agree or disagree with my choices? What are some of your favourite films from 2023? Let me know!

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