Here are MovieJawn, we love movies, and we love celebrating movies. It is that time of year, so here is the roundup look back at all of our best of lists!

Previously published:

Fiona Underhill’s Favorite Films of 2023

As always, it’s been a fantastic year for international film, with French and Italian cinema being particularly bountiful this year. Although I don’t think 2023 has been a particularly strong year for movies in general, there are always plenty of gems to be found outside of the mainstream and the typical ‘awards’ fare. I will always proudly represent British film, and as can be seen from the BIFA nominees and winners of 2023, it was another excellent year for British independent film. 5 of these 15 were directed by women, which is still worth pointing out – even in 2023! I hope you seek out some of the movies below, especially if you haven’t heard of them before. Enjoy!

The Eight Mountains (Felix van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch, Italy) w
Emily (Frances O’Connor, UK) w
La Chimera (Alice Rohrwacher, Italy) w
Godland (Hlynur Palmason, Iceland)
Asteroid City (Wes Anderson, US)
John Wick 4 (Chad Stahelski, US)
The Five Devils (Lea Mysius, France) w
Eileen (William Oldroyd, US)
The Zone of Interest (Jonathan Glazer, UK)
Smoke Sauna Sisterhood (Anna Hints, Estonia) w
Suzume (Makoto Shinkai, Japan)
Fallen Leaves (Aki Kaurismaki, Finland)
Society of the Snow (J.A. Bayona, Spain)
Samsara (Lois Patino, Laos/Tanzania)
Rye Lane (Raine Allen-Miller, UK) w

Katharine Mussellam’s Top 3 Movies of 2023

This year was a tumultuous one for me and despite my continued love for movies, I often found it hard to keep up with new releases. I missed out on several that I was interested in, but I still managed to find time to enjoy new movies with my loved ones. These three standout films each charmed me with their memorable style, both visually and through their writing.

BlackBerry (dir. Matt Johnson)
Oppenheimer (dir. Christopher Nolan)
Poor Things (dir. Yorgos Lanthimos)

Audrey Callerstrom’s Best of 2023 List

Well, it's official, I've become one of those "I don't really see movies anymore" people. First it was the pandemic, then it was the strikes, and all the while, streaming services content became much more popular. I follow music much more closely these days. Here are my top three watches from this year.

1. Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret (directed by Kelly Fremon Craig)

I do not know how this got made, I really don't. Judy Blume's coming-of-age tale about first periods, puberty, boys, and change is 53 years old. But it is worth the wait. It is so tender and heartfelt, and the cast is superb. I never felt like the director succumbed to any dull cliches or hackneyed dialogue. It's just so earnest and true.

2. Poor Things (directed by Yorgos Lanthimos)

Early on in Poor Things I was resistant. The soundtrack, which sounds like a distorted jewelry box, started to annoy me, as did the black-and-white. But once Poor Things expands, oh boy, it really pays off. It takes you on such a journey. It's funny and absurd. It's about a woman (Emma Stone), brought back to life with an infantile brain. You get to experience all of her firsts with her. She finds joy in food and sex but then grows to understand things like humanity, poverty, and philosophy. Every actor in this film is firing on all cylinders. I haven't enjoyed Mark Ruffalo this much in a film in years.

3. Bluey (created by Joe Brumm)

All parents watch a lot of kids' programs. Over winter break, my daughter wanted to watch a lot of Bluey. I can say with conviction that there has never been a better kids show than Bluey. Bluey is about a family of four dogs in Australia. A lot of Bluey is about how parents try to keep up with the energy and imagination of their children. Sometimes, they fail, and Bluey isn't afraid to show that.

Hugo Marmugi, MovieJawn Art Director, Hollywood Hunk

2023 brought a lot of work from some legendary filmmakers: Scorsese, Mann, Miyazaki, Scott. While some of my most anticipated movies missed the mark (The Killer, Mission: Impossible) others really delivered (The Boy and the Heron, Killers of the Flower Moon). I have yet to see a number of films on my watchlist (Anatomy of a Fall, Priscilla, Silent Night, Beau Is Afraid, Ferrari) so my list feels incomplete, but these are some of my faves (excluding Barbenheimer, which will inevitably be in every list this year):

The Boy and the Heron
Poor Things
Killers of the Flower Moon
Godzilla Minus One
Peter Pan & Wendy
May December

Daniel Pecoraro’s Top 10 of 2023

Some of these films are ones I watched for MovieJawn, along with a few I watched in my spare time. This year was my first back at the cinema with some regularity (either the Metrograph, BAM, or the Athena or DOCNYC Festivals), and I'm looking forward to more in the new year. However, I do need to give the caveat that I've still yet to see some of the big features from this year. I'm seeing Poor Things and American Fiction this weekend, The Boy and the Heron sometime next week, Rustin on MLK Day, and Killers of the Flower Moon and Napoleon whenever I get around to signing up for Apple TV+. With that having been said, here's the list:

10. Caddy Hack (written and dir. Anthony Catanese)
I still think about and sing the praises of this dumb movie since I covered it for MovieJawn this fall.

9. Brother (written and dir. Clement Virgo)
Spare, moving, tonal portrait of two brothers. Really looking forward to what Virgo, and Aaron Pierre, do next.

8. Unicorn Wars (written and dir. Alberto Vázquez)
What a creepy, haunting cartoon about the horrors of war, as told through teddy bears and unicorns.

7. Queen of the Deuce (dir. Valerie Kontakos)
Still awaiting US distribution for this one (which is apparently coming soon), but what a great documentary, using all the arrows in the narrative quiver to tell the life story of Chelly Wilson.

6. The Lost King (dir. Stephen Frears)
My favorite of the films at Athena. Sally Hawkins forever.

5. Oppenheimer (dir. Christopher Nolan)
A lot of dudes, a lot of meetings, and Florence Pugh with way too much bronzer. But it is a remarkable achievement to have a brilliant look at existentialism and the threat of global annihilation on this scale, and with such public support for the film.

4. Love in the Time of Fentanyl (dir. Colin Askew)
My favorite documentary of the year — gentle, humanizing, and provocative all at once.

3. Barbie (dir. Greta Gerwig)
I cried for like an hour straight after seeing Barbie. That's partly the result of this being the second half of a draining multi-borough Barbenheimer on the hottest day of the summer. But mostly because the closing montage might be the finest display of the agony and ecstasy of the experience that is human embodiment put to film this year.

2. May December (dir. Todd Haynes)
A note-perfect homage to the melodrama, straddling the line between camp and pathos.

1. Asteroid City (dir. Wes Anderson)
"If you wanted to live a nice, quiet, peaceful life, you picked the wrong time to get born." This one, kind of about the '50s but kind of about right now, grew on me after multiple viewings and might have unseated The Life Aquatic and The Fantastic Mr. Fox as my favorite Anderson flick.