Thursday, January 11, 2024

The Wallys: The Best in Film 2023

 


It's that time of year again!

Here's my rundown of the best in film in 2023. As always, release dates are a bit fungible. You'll find a few big movies that qualified for Oscars last year and there'll be a few more movies (I'm looking at you, American Fiction and The Taste of Things and The Zone of Interest) that don't expand to my neck of the woods until well into 2024.

If you haven't already, check out my YouTube rundown of the top films of the year — including 10 bonus honorable mentions. Like, subscribe... just do all the things!

THE TOP TWENTY

1. POOR THINGS (U.S., Yorgos Lanthimos)

2. THE BOY AND THE HERON (Japan, Hayao Miyazaki)

3. PAST LIVES (U.S., Celine Song)

4. BEAU IS AFRAID (U.S., Ari Aster)

5. BARBIE (U.S., Greta Gerwig)

6. THE BLUE CAFTAN (Morocco, Maryam Touzani)

7. THE QUIET GIRL (Ireland, Colm Bairéad)

8. ANATOMY OF A FALL (France, Justine Triet)

9. GODLAND (Iceland, Hlynur Pálmason)

10. THEY CLONED TYRONE (U.S., Juel Taylor)

11. WHEEL OF FORTUNE AND FANTASY (Japan, Ryusuke Hamaguchi)

12. R.M.N. (Romania, Cristian Mungiu)

13. THE KILLER (U.S., David Fincher)

14. OPPENHEIMER (U.S., Christopher Nolan)

15. WOMEN TALKING (U.S., Sarah Polley)

16. BROKER (South Korea, Hirokazu Kore-eda)

17. KOKOMO CITY (U.S., D. Smith)

18. THE UNKNOWN COUNTRY (U.S., Morrisa Maltz)

19. A THOUSAND AND ONE (U.S., A.V. Rockwell)

20. KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON (U.S., Martin Scorsese)

BEST PICTURE

Barbie

Beau Is Afraid

The Boy and the Heron

Past Lives

Poor Things


BEST DIRECTOR

Ari Aster (Beau Is Afraid)

Yorgos Lanthimos (Poor Things)

Greta Gerwig (Barbie)

Hayao Miyazaki (The Boy and the Heron)

Celine Song (Past Lives)

Honorable Mention: Christopher Nolan (Oppenheimer), Hlynur Pálmason (Godland), Juel Taylor (They Cloned Tyrone), Maryam Touzani (The Blue Caftan), Justine Triet (Anatomy of a Fall)


BEST LEAD PERFORMANCE

Paul Giamatti (The Holdovers)

Lily Gladstone (Killers of the Flower Moon)

Sandra Hüller (Anatomy of a Fall)

Greta Lee (Past Lives)

Joaquin Phoenix (Beau Is Afraid)

Judy Reyes (Birth/Rebirth)

Margot Robbie (Barbie)

Song Kang-ho (Broker)

Emma Stone (Poor Things)

Teyana Taylor (A Thousand and One)

HM: Fantasia Barrino (The Color Purple), Colman Domingo (Rustin), Julia Louis-Dreyfus (You Hurt My Feelings), Fran Rogowski (Passages), Teo Yoo (Past Lives)


BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE

Danielle Brooks (The Color Purple)

Carrie Crowley (The Quiet Girl)

Willem Dafoe (Poor Things)

Dolly de Leon (Triangle of Sadness)

Glenn Howerton (BlackBerry)

Charles Melton (May December)

Brian Tyree Henry (Causeway)

Patti Lupone (Beau Is Afraid)

Da’Vine Joy Randolph (The Holdovers)

Mark Ruffalo (Poor Things)

HM: America Ferrera (Barbie), Ryan Gosling (Barbie), Milo Machado Graner (Anatomy of a Fall), John Magaro (Past Lives), Kiefer Sutherland (The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial), Tilda Swinton (The Killer)


BEST ENSEMBLE PERFORMANCE

The Blue Caftan

Godland

R.M.N.

Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy

Women Talking

HM: Armageddon Time, The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial, Oppenheimer


BEST BODY OF WORK

Willem Dafoe, actor (Asteroid City, Inside and Poor Things)

Colman Domingo, actor (The Color Purple and Rustin)

Lily Gladstone, actor (Killers of the Flower Moon, “Reservation Dogs” and The Unknown Country)

Erik Messerschmidt, cinematographer (Ferrari and The Killer)

Rodrigo Prieto, cinematographer (Barbie and Killers of the Flower Moon)


BEST BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE

Pahoa Mahagafanau (Pacifiction)

Teyonah Parris (They Cloned Tyrone)

Johnny Ramey (Rustin)

Monica Raymund (The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial)

Dominic Sessa (The Holdovers)


BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Ari Aster (Beau Is Afraid)

Hlynur Pálmason (Godland)

Celine Song (Past Lives)

Maryam Touzani and Nabil Ayouch (The Blue Caftan)

Justine Triet and Arthur Harari (Anatomy of a Fall)


BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Colm Bairéad (The Quiet Girl)

Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach (Barbie)

Tony McNamara (Poor Things)

Hayao Miyazaki (The Boy and the Heron)

Sarah Polley (Women Talking)


BEST DOCUMENTARY

20 Days in Mariupol

Casa Susanna

The Eternal Memory

Loving Highsmith

Kokomo City


BEST FOREIGN FILM

Anatomy of a Fall

The Blue Caftan

Godland

The Quiet Girl

Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy


BEST ANIMATED FILM

The Boy and the Heron

Spider-Man: Across the Spiderverse

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem


BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Dan Laustsen (John Wick: Chapter 4)

Kate McCullough (The Quiet Girl)

Robbie Ryan (Poor Things)

Virginie Surdej (The Blue Caftan)

Maria von Hausswolff (Godland)

HM: Roger Deakins (Empire of Light), Ruben Impens (The Eight Mountains), Erik Messerschmidt (The Killer), Luc Montpellier (Women Talking), Linus Sandgren (Saltburn), Artur Tort (Pacifiction), Hoyte van Hoytema (Oppenheimer)


BEST EDITING

Kirk Baxter (The Killer)

Keith Fraase (Past Lives)

Lucian Johnston (Beau Is Afraid)

Jennifer Lame (Oppenheimer)

Vanara Taing (The Unknown Country)

HM: Nick Houy (Barbie), Yorgos Mavropsaridis (Poor Things), James Vandewater (Infinity Pool)


BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

Josefin Åsberg, Daphne Koutra and Sofie Krunegård (Triangle of Sadness)

Fiona Crombie, David Gaucher and Paul Hotte (Beau Is Afraid)

Jack Fisk, Michael Diner and Adam Willis (Killers of the Flower Moon)

Sarah Greenwood, Dean Clegg and Katie Spencer (Barbie)

Adam Stockhausen, Stephane Cressend and Kris Moran (Asteroid City)


BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Jacqueline Durran (Barbie)

Francine Jamison-Tanchuck (They Cloned Tyrone)

Louise Stanton (The Quiet Girl)

Holly Waddington (Poor Things)

Jacqueline West (Killers of the Flower Moon)


BEST HAIR & MAKEUP DESIGN

Barbie

Cocaine Bear

Nyad

Oppenheimer

Poor Things


BEST MUSIC SCORE

Hildur Guðnadóttir (Women Talking)

Gary Gunn (A Thousand and One)

Joe Hisaishi (The Boy and the Heron)

Jung Jae-il (Broker)

Stephen Rennicks (The Quiet Girl)


BEST SONG SCORE

Mark Ronson, Kevin Weaver, Brandon Davis and George Drakoulias [music supervisor] (Barbie)

Rupert Hollier [music supervisor] (Living)

Kirsten Lane [music supervisor] (Saltburn)

Daniel Norgren (The Eight Mountains)

Phoenix and Randall Poster [music supervisor] (Priscilla)


BEST SONG

“Dance the Night” (Barbie)

“I’m Just Ken” (Barbie)

“Keep It Movin’” (The Color Purple)

“Spinning Globe” (The Boy and the Heron)

“What Was I Made For?” (Barbie)


BEST SOUND DESIGN

Barbie

The Killer

Oppenheimer

Killers of the Flower Moon

Pacifiction


BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

Barbie

Beau Is Afraid

John Wick: Chapter 4

Oppenheimer

Spider-Man: Across the Spiderverse