end of year

Top Ten Movies of 2023

2023 has been an extraordinary year for movies. Many masters of cinema of the past few decades gave us new entries into their canon, most of which were fantastic and in some cases may be one of their final entries. Looking at my list, I see a few patterns. 2023 was certainly an excellent year for the black comedy, particular mixing dramatic genres like horror, thriller or melodrama with dark humor. It is also a year of existential dread about the state of the world (what year isn’t, these days?), and how various people might approach their place in it. Of the 63 movies I saw in 2023, these were my favorites:

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Top “Everything But Movies” of 2023

Better late than never, here are my top “everything but movies” of 2023. As usual, the rules are simple: any media that I consumed in 2023 is eligible, with the exception of movies that were first released in 2023. So that includes all television, video games, musicals, books, albums, older movies, live events, TikToks, Quibies, or puppet shows. Here were my favorites of the year!

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Top Ten Movies of 2022

The movies are finally back in theaters in a big way! While streaming services do continue to contribute some much-needed variety to the film ecosystem, I was able to catch a ton of my favorites in theaters in 2022. There have been a lot of big swings in film this year, some of which paid off, and others… not so much. More than most years, I feel there are even more diamonds in the the rough that I haven’t been able to catch yet. Here are my favorites of the 60 new films I saw in 2022.

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Top Ten Movies of 2021

While the movie-going status quo has changed significantly, 2021 welcomed us back to movie theaters and saw the return of blockbusters in a big way. Many of the larger films were holdovers unreleased in 2020, while indie films from the festival circuit continued to get major platforms on streaming services. Of the record 85 films I saw this year, I’d say around 2/3rds of them were from home, but most of my favorite experiences of the year were still in theaters. Here are my picks for favorite movies of 2021:

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The Best Movie Stuff of 2019

There have been so many memorable movies of 2019!  Even outside of my top 10 of the year, there are tons of things, movie “stuff” if you will, that are worth talking about.  This post will be pretty much entirely [spoiler-free], so feel free to read on even if you haven’t seen the films.   Without further ado, here are some of my favorite movie elements.  (more…)

The Best Movie Stuff of 2018

2018 has been a hell of a year, and in many ways has felt like an eternity.  In that eternity, we’ve gotten a huge variety of great films.  Here are some of my favorite elements and moments from film in 2018.  This will be mostly [spoiler-free] unless otherwise noted. (more…)

The Best Movie Stuff of 2017

2017 has been over for nearly a month now, and as is tradition I’m still putting together my Top Ten list for the year.  I have a lot of thoughts on they year in cinema, and I’d like to share some of my favorite movie elements and moments for 2017.  This should be fairly [spoiler-free], with only a few light spoilers that will be marked appropriately.

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The Best Movie Stuff of 2016

2016 has come and gone.  As many films have only just recently become available for the average viewer, I’m still putting the final touches on my “Top Ten” list.  However, I have once again put together a compilation of some of the best moments and elements in the year in film. This will be mostly [spoiler-free], unless otherwise noted.  Here are some of my favorite film things from 2016:
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The Best Movie Stuff of 2015

2015 has come to a close, and every film critic and blogger has already put together their “end of year” lists. Alas, I still don’t have access to a few of my most anticipated releases as of this writing (The Revenant and Anomalisa in particular), so I can’t make my full “top films” list yet (edit: I have now. It’s right here). However, I feel comfortable putting together a “top stuff” list.  Here are some of my favorite film elements of the year. (more…)