Films of my life – The best films of 2023.

January 1, 2024 Leave a comment

It was another great year for cinema. The pandemic seems like a half forgotten dream and cinema has returned to pre 2020 levels of production. It is now streaming services which are having to consolidate to survive. However, several movies in my list were either released directly onto streaming services or were given a limited cinema release before bringing available to stream.

You can find a full list of my 2023 4/5 star rated movies here in my Films of the Year 2023

My film of 2023

Once again, my favourite movie of the year is one not in the English language: Anatomy of a Fall is an excellent Hitchcockian thriller but with its own very French style.

Close behind it is Oppenheimer This is another example of the nature Christopher Nolan using excellent technical and storytelling skills to tell a major historical story of the 20th Century.

There were some amazing fantasy and adventure movies. Top amongst them was Spider-Man: Across the Universe which was even better than its predecessor. Technically, the best movie of the year and brilliantly sets up the finale to this trilogy.

Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part 1 is possibly the best of the series, despite being the seventh entry.

Wonka was the standout family film this Christmas. A fine prequel to the 1970s original with excellent songs by Neil Hannon.

There were also plenty of low budget British films, including

  • Enny’s Men is a very British horror movie – a loving tribute to 1973’s Don’t Look Now and The Wicker Man.
  • Rye Laine is a Milennial Rom-Com, showing off both London and multicultural UK at its best
  • Alleluja – is a loving tribute to the NHS with a twist
  • Blue Jean – a reminder of the oppression introduced in the 1980s with Section 28

Films that were made by, or bought for distribution by, streaming services included

All in all, a very satisfying year, and with Dune Part 2 delayed to Spring ‘24 due to the actor’s strike, there is a lot to look forward to

Filed under Films of my life, Uncategorized