I’m of the opinion that every year can be a really good year for movies if you’re willing and able to do a little digging. But transcendent, formula-defying, unforgettable work seems to come along much less frequently. In 2023, I repeatedly saw a rare level of greatness, almost a rewriting of cinematic language. I think of how the marriage of sound and imagery achieved a type of singularity in The Zone Of Interest, or how the camera’s omniscient point of view in Poor Things seemed to reflect the mind of its protagonist. All Of Us Strangers and Past Lives seemed to run on pure emotional poetry. Bottoms and Rotting In The Sun opened up a new type of comedy in which queer people unleashed powerful levels of fury and unapologetic lust. Origin ignored most rules of screenwriting structure to forge a compelling and new way of looking at societal systems.
Although not quite as trailblazing as the above-mentioned titles, I also loved The Holdovers, Are You There, God? It’s Me Margaret, May December, Killers Of The Flower Moon, Oppenheimer, BlackBerry, Air, M3Gan, You Hurt My Feelings, Passages, Huesera: The Bone Woman, Anatomy Of A Fall, Saltburn, Dream Scenario, Ferrari, Rustin, The Color Purple, Fallen Leaves, Godzilla Minus One, The Teacher’s Lounge, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, and Wonka. Now that’s just scratching the surface. It was that kind of year.
So, instead of compiling a Top Ten List, which from what you can see above, would prove nearly impossible, I like to pay homage to a long-discontinued but influential annual column called “Moments Out Of Time” from Film Comment magazine. Their critics would cite their favorite scenes, images, or lines of dialogue, even from films they may not have liked. I may have hated the sappy, Hoosiers wanna-be, The Boys In The Boat, for example, but the image of the coxswains sporting those cone-shaped bullhorns strapped to their mouths made an impression. So, here, in no particular order, are my Moments Out Of Time for 2023.
A father looks over his brood as they splash around in their backyard pool. We see the billowing smoke from an approaching train as it crosses the horizon. That the father is a Nazi commandant and the train is arriving at Auschwitz makes a seemingly innocuous image a bone-chilling one – The Zone Of Interest
“Owwwwww” a perfectly droll and hilariously delivered reaction from Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo) – Poor Things
A father (Jamie Bell) tells his grown son (Andrew Scott) that he wishes he could have been more attentive and supportive of him when he had been bullied as a child. The emotional truth on the faces of these two exceptional actors left me sobbing. It’s a dream conversation for so many – All Of Us Strangers
Two students toss a football in the wintry commons of a Massachusetts Prep School as the folk strains of “Silver Joy” by Damien Jurado plays on the soundtrack. It not only perfectly evokes films from the time such as Hal Ashby’s Harold And Maude, but feels like it was actually made in 1970 – The Holdovers
A high school principal uses the intercom to blare, “Could the ugly, untalented gays please report to the principal’s office?”, which serves to announce a film which, dare I say, takes Heathers, upends it, slathers layer upon layer of lesbian horniness, to result in something truly subversive and unique – Bottoms
Two South Korean childhood sweethearts reunite in Manhattan decades later, and Nora’s (Greta Lee) incredulous reaction of “Wow” as she walks beside Hae Sung (Teo Yoo) sums up the immense warmth of this gloriously poetic film – Past Lives
That insane twist midway through had me whispering to myself, “Holy Janet Leigh!” – Rotting In The Sun
Speaking of twists, the year’s biggest WTF moment happens towards the end of this film. You’ll know it when you see it, as this girl crush of a story turns into something unexpectedly sinister – Eileen
A woman explains to an author why her father named her Miss. The monologue, filled with equal parts pride, anger and despair, and delivered by a never better Audra McDonald, should be studied by actors for decades – Origin
The slow-moving grocery store conveyor belt as it carries sanitary napkins for our protagonist and her friend proves to be a beautifully sustained, hilariously awkward coming of age moment – Are You There, God? It’s Me Margaret
A mom takes her teenage daughter dress shopping and traumatizes her with the cringiest, most passive-aggressive speech of 2023, “Oh Mary, I want to commend you for being so brave and showing your arms like that. That’s something I always wished I could do when I was your age. Just not care about these unrealistic beauty standards.” – May December
Godzilla’s attack on Ginza, which had a similar visceral impact on me as Spielberg’s War Of The Worlds first set piece did – Godzilla Minus One
After the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Oppenheimer gets a hero’s welcome by a roomful of cheering, stomping Americans. As their faces melt away, he sees the horrific devastation he has wrought and questions his own “heroism” – Oppenheimer
An Osage woman in 1920s Oklahoma, who truly loves her husband, knows that she has to bite her tongue despite being aware that he’s slowly poisoning her. The conflicting emotions on the wonderful Lily Gladstone’s face masterfully conveys her impossible situation – Killers Of The Flower Moon
The flashback which reveals Valeria (the incredible Natalia Solián) isn’t the happily pregnant, maternal, heterosexual, married woman as initially presented. It’s the moment this somewhat traditional Rosemary’s Baby homage transitions into something far more radical – Huesera: The Bone Woman
Flora (Eve Hewson) and Jeff (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) write the beautiful duet “Meet In The Middle” over Zoom, cementing their chemistry and more importantly their deeply emotional connection to music – Flora And Son
In one of my favorite transitions in cinematic history, a Nazi commandant looks down a dark hallway to see his future, a soberingly mundane yet impactful vision. We then cut back to the commandant as he descends into the dark hell of his own making – The Zone Of Interest
Canadian Jim Balsillie (Glenn Howerton in one of the best, most surprising, and scariest performances of the year) threatens the NHL board when things don’t go his way with the immortal line, “I’m from Waterloo, where the vampires hang out!” – BlackBerry
A woman accused of stealing from a teacher angrily denies culpability with a series of lies. This tense tiny gem is an astute analogy for the alternative facts age we’re experiencing – The Teacher’s Lounge
“A shoe is just a shoe until my son steps into it” – Michael Jordan’s mother Deloris (Viola Davis) skillfully negotiates his Nike contract with Matt Damon’s Sonny Vaccaro, and with quiet assurance gets everything Michael deserves – Air
Entity: Put the knife in your eye – Skinamarink
The office hallway dance before the kill – M3Gan
A novelist (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) overhears her husband (Tobias Menzies) denigrating her latest work, which challenges her notions of honesty and whether it’s something she really needs or not. A great microcosm of the human condition – You Hurt My Feelings
A blisteringly narcissistic film director (Franz Rogowski), fresh out of a relationship with another man, refuses to engage in a conversation with his pregnant girlfriend’s parents as they pry too much and question his motives. Bonus points for his choice of outfits during said conversation – Passages
Danielle Brooks’ Sofia mightily kicks a door in at the start of “Hell No”, cementing her legendary status in film history – The Color Purple
Pop music of the 1960s gets a lovely tribute as the strains of “A World Of Your Own” evoke The Monkees’ “Daydream Believer” with a little nod to Sgt. Pepper era Beatles. The psychedelic visuals of Willy Wonka’s shop, with its cotton candy clouds and chocolate river, only enhance the magic – Wonka
Sure, one could easily talk about the slurping of the bathtub water or the graveyard sex or the naked dance sequence, but none felt as urgent and squeamish as when Felix (Jacob Elordi) surprises Oliver (Barry Keoghan) by driving him to his parent’s house. Oliver, begging Felix not to do so and afraid of what’s to come, is the most raw, real moment in a film laden with performative interactions and deception – Saltburn
“I wish this was real” – the most heartbreaking final line of a film this year – Dream Scenario
That entire taped argument! – Anatomy Of A Fall
Bonnie (Jodie Foster) uses reverse psychology on Diana (Annette Bening) to convince her to swim from Cuba to Florida, slyly revealing the advantages of really knowing and caring about your best friend – Nyad
Barbie: You’re beautiful.
The Woman On The Bench (played by legendary Costume Designer, Ann Roth): I know. – Barbie
A deadpan couple in a movie theater watch Jim Jarmusch’s The Dead Don’t Die, a cheeky homage to what clearly has influenced the fantastic filmmaker Aki Kaurismäki – Fallen Leaves
Before the March On Washington, history was really made when Bayard Rustin (a great Colman Domingo) proved himself indispensable by demonstrating every detail that went into the planning – Rustin
Rebecca-Diane (to a roomful of tween actors): But you so deserve it on every level, you guys are so talented, so unbelievable, this will break you. This will fully destroy you. – Theater Camp
Any scene in which a couple engages in a serious discussion as a Macy’s Thanksgiving Day float glides by their window is gonna make this list – Maestro
THE SCENE – you’ll know it when you see it and will never forget it – Ferrari
The motorcycle over the cliff stunt. When Tom Cruise says he would die for us, believe him – Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One
Tilda Swinton’s The Expert meets her match in Michael Fassbender’s The Killer and has that haunting moment of realization that she’s not as clever as she thought she was – The Killer
The unnerving sight of hundreds of planes plummeting to the ground – Knock At The Cabin
Put Margo Martingale as Ranger Liz, with her delightfully terrible aim, on a gurney in an ambulance being chased by a bear high on cocaine, add Depeche Mode’s 80s synth classic “Just Can’t Get Enough” and you have my favorite chase sequence since To Live And Die In L.A. or maybe even The French Connection – Cocaine Bear
Remind me never to crawl across a ladder precariously propped up between two apartment buildings. I can feel the acrophobia kicking in as I type this – Scream VI
If you’ve ever experienced a maintenance request being ignored, just be grateful Hong Chau’s self-involved Jo isn’t your landlord. Every time she shrugged off Michelle Williams’ pleas, I wanted to call HUD myself – Showing Up
Maybe you’re just inviting trouble when you prop your apartment building door open with a rolled up newspaper and quickly run across the street to buy some water – Beau Is Afraid
Although I found the overall movie to be “cute” at best, the combination of Awkwafina and the word “Scuttlebutt” was comedy gold – The Little Mermaid
It broke my heart when one of television’s most beloved icons thought of herself as “a failed dancer” instead of as a successful actor – Being Mary Tyler Moore
It’s impossible to measure the courage it took for Michael J. Fox to repeatedly fall down (and get back up) on camera while working with a trainer. He risked humiliation to bring the plight of those living with Parkinson’s disease straight to our hearts and minds – Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie
Presented at first as quiet, shivering victims of sexual assault, five women kidnapped by Nazis get their slow-motion stroll towards camera with rifles in hand and death glares on their faces – Sisu
Although I had long ago written him off as someone whose politics don’t align with my own, I couldn’t help but be moved by Jon Voight’s tear-filled pride in having made a queer cinematic classic – Desperate Souls, Dark City And The Legend Of Midnight Cowboy
Priscilla (Cailee Spaeny) paces alone in Graceland as she realizes the bloom is off the rose. Her marriage, as it turns out, will consist of waiting and obeying – Priscilla
Jennifer Lawrence kicking ass while fully naked on a beach, proving herself as adept at broad comedy as Rebekah Kochan’s Tiffani in the Eating Out series – No Hard Feelings
Meghan Thee Stallion as a sensational girl boss lights up the screen when she performs “Out Alpha The Alpha” – Dicks: The Musical
Bella Baxter: I must go punch that baby – Poor Things
No melodic score will surpass the genius of Mica Levi’s compositions combined with Johnnie Burn’s sound design – The Zone Of Interest
In the final shot, the camera cranes up to reveal Indiana Jones having literally hung up his hat. Why am I crying? – Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny
When Gracie loses a client from her cake business, Julianne Moore’s meltdown surpasses her amazing scene in Magnolia when she screams at the pharmacist – May December
Two book publishers (astutely embodied by Miriam Shor and Michael Cyril Creighton) envision their mysterious Black author played by Jeffrey Wright in a “do-rag and a tank top with the muscles showing”, proving stereotypes don’t die easily. When Shor caps the discussion with “Somebody call the fire department”, you know you’re in the hands of a great satirist – American Fiction
Combine exploding wine barrels as two cowboys get drenched and make out as a group of women look on with disappointment, and you have a brief return to campy, over-the-top form from Pedro Almodóvar – Strange Way Of Life
Teddy Kountze: Sir, I don’t understand.
Paul Hunham: That’s glaringly apparent.
Teddy Kountze: No. I can’t fail this class.
Paul Hunham: Oh, don’t sell yourself short, Mr. Kountze. I truly believe that you can. –The Holdovers
By Glenn Gaylord, Senior Film Critic
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