For many moviegoers, 2023 will be remembered as the year of Barbenheimer – that momentous occasion that culminated when Greta Gerwig’s Barbie and Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer opened on the same day in July. It was a meme-filled, pundit-ready celebration of the movies as two seemingly polar-opposite cinematic experiences collided – a sort of A-bomb of celluloid, fueled by dream houses and existential crises instead of uranium.
The thing about Barbenheimer that was so remarkable was that it felt like a true boost for the movie-going experience in the wake of the pandemic and in a time where audiences seem to increasingly be choosing to stay home and stream rather than go to the movies.
But it was also a tumultuous year for Hollywood, with the actors and writers guilds each going on strike for months on end. Not even Barbenheimer could mitigate the impact of the strikes, and while both labor disputes have since been resolved, the production pipeline for most major movies and TV shows was impacted. That includes the release schedule for a variety of titles that now won’t hit until 2024, like Dune: Part Two.
Still, there is plenty to celebrate from the past 12 months of movies. From prestige pics to action, horror, animation, and beyond, these are our nominations for the Best Movie of 2023! And be sure to check back on Friday for all the IGN Awards winners!
Let’s start with Wes Anderson’s latest idiosyncratic live-action postcard, Asteroid City.
Asteroid City
Featuring Anderson’s ever-growing repertory troupe of name actors, but kind of starring Scarlett Johansson and Jason Schwartzman, the film nests various perspectives on the same story(ish) Russian Doll style: Unfolding simultaneously is a 1950s black and white television production, a stage show about a trip to the desert town of the title, and a full-color, movie version of that show. In the latter, a stop-motion alien showing up is just as natural as the Looney Tunes-esque setting and weird-to-the-point-of-wooden and back-to-weird caricatures that are standard operating procedure for the filmmaker. Asteroid City is Anderson fully immersed in his unique toy box, and you’re either into it or you’re not at this point. And speaking of toys…
Barbie
During its long gestation period, a Barbie movie always seemed like a joke, and certainly movies based on toys haven’t had the greatest track record. But nobody counted on the combined powers of star/producer Margot Robbie, director/co-writer Greta Gerwig, and co-writer Noah Baumbach, who decided to use the iconic children’s doll to explore the complexities of not just womanhood in the 21st century, but also manhood, while doing so in a hilarious and brightly designed world. One of the reasons why Barbie worked so well, and was a hit, was that while, sure, it’s a smart movie that offers lots to think about, you could also just take your kids to see it and they’d enjoy it as much as the adults.
John Wick: Chapter 4
Perhaps not quite as kid-friendly was the culmination of Baba Yaga’s story with John Wick: Chapter 4. An epic action movie that clocks in at two hours and 50 minutes, one might wonder how many headshots a viewer can watch before getting bored. It turns out the answer is… we still don’t know, because there’s nothing boring about the fourth and maybe but probably not last installment of the Keanu Reeves series. New villain Bill Skarsgård is a formidable opponent to John Wick this time out, but it’s Donnie Yen’s turn as the blind assassin Caine, another old friend of John’s, that is a high point of the film. Such is life…
Killers of the Flower Moon
Based on the book by David Grann about a series of murders of Osage Native Americans in the early part of the 20th century, Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon brings back his two muses – Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro – for a film that may outwardly seem unlike the famed director’s typical oeuvre. But once you immerse yourself in Killers’ almost three-and-a-half-hour running time, those old Scorsese themes of blood and money and blood-money make themselves clear. Who cares what Marty has to say about Marvel when he’s still speaking through films like this?
Oppenheimer
One doubts that Robert Downey, Jr. cares to talk about Marvel much himself lately, having co-starred in Oppenheimer, Christopher Nolan’s more-than-just-a-biopic (about) the so-called father of the atomic bomb. While Cillian Murphy finally takes center stage in a Nolan film as the title character, Downey, Jr. serves as a memorable foil to the star as Lewis Strauss, a member of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission who has a complicated relationship with Oppenheimer. The film’s Trinity test sequence depicting the first atomic blast is a sight to behold in and of itself, and Oppenheimer’s constant sense of tension is unnerving while simultaneously fascinating… like looking at the atomic version of a car wreck in slow motion.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Miles Morales (and Gwen Stacy! And Peter B. Parker!) return for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, a sequel that is somehow even more amazingly designed than the first film. I mean, just look at that opening sequence where Gwen fights a Renaissance version of the Vulture! Of course, that’s just the beginning for this middle film in the planned trilogy, as everything gets bigger and more complicated for our heroes, including the arrival of Oscar Isaac’s maybe-he’s-good but maybe-he’s-bad Miguel O'Hara, a.k.a. Spider-Man 2099. That the film ends rather abruptly on a cliffhanger is a bit off-putting, but hey – it worked for The Empire Strikes Back, didn’t it?
Talk to Me
Did I mention endings? Filmmakers Danny and Michael Philippou, also known as YouTube creators RackaRacka, made their feature debut with Talk to Me, a story of what happens when you mess with shit that you shouldn’t! It’s a tale as old as time, as Mrs. Potts would say, as Sophie Wilde’s Mia gets involved with some supernatural shenanigans that allow her and her friends to commune with spirits from beyond. From there, the Philippou brothers convey an increasingly out-of-control story as the characters dig themselves deeper and deeper before things culminate in one of the most memorable – in a good, if horrific way – final onscreen moments of the year.
There are other movies from 2023 that the IGN team wanted to acknowledge as among our favorites of the year, even though we know that they’re unlikely to take the top prize home when all is said and done. Poor Things, from director Yorgos Lanthimos (The Lobster, The Killing of a Sacred Deer) and starring Emma Stone, hasn’t been widely screened at the time of this writing, but its Frankenstein-esque tale of rebirth has wowed us. Director Adele Lim’s road-trip comedy Joy Ride is raunchy fun, while Studio Ghibli’s The Boy and the Heron marks the return of the animation legend Hayao Miyazaki and is a must for any fan of the form.
Be sure to come back this Friday for our pick for the Best Movie of 2023 as well as all of the IGN Awards winners!
What have been your favorite films of 2023? Let’s discuss in the comments!
