Steve Long 
Steve curates his top ten movies of 2023 from the biggest and best releases.
Much like last year, I spent a lot of time in the movie theaters this year. I watched close to 50 movies in the cinema. With that in mind, you can only imagine that there was a lot of work to do trying to come up with a list of favorites. You would be right. Here are my 10 favorite movies that were released in 2023.
10. Scream 6
This 6th installment in the Scream franchise was released in March and directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett. While it is a franchise that, at its core, was originally meant to be a spoof of horror/slasher films, it is one of my favorite horror franchises. This one also has, at least in my opinion, one of the funniest after-credit scenes in the history of after-credit scenes.
9. Creed III
Directed by (and starring) Michael B. Jordan, this third installment in this franchise was also released in March. In this one, the eponymous title character has to face his past when he meets with an old friend who becomes his foe in the ring. I didn’t even start watching this movie series until this year (or maybe it was late last year). It wasn’t that I didn’t want to watch them. I just never got around to it. When I saw the trailer for this one though, I knew I had to watch it so I went back to the beginning and got caught up.
8. Saw X
The Saw franchise is another horror/slasher/thriller franchise that is one of my favorites. After the original, this one is my second favorite of the series. It was directed by Kevin Greutert and released in September. I watched this one in the theater a few times. Greutert also directed VI and 3D of the series. But this one tops both of those efforts. This one is sort of a prequel, taking place between 1 and 2. As John Kramer searches for a cure to his brain cancer, he is swindled by a fake cure organization. In this film, he gets his retribution in only the horrifying ways that you can imagine Jigsaw would.
7. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
There were three MCU movies released this year. But only two of them made the top 10 list. Directed by Peyton Reed, who directed the other two Ant-Man films, this one pits Scott Lang and the rest of the “Ant” family against Kang the Conqueror. This one was released in February. I enjoyed this one more than the second of the trilogy. I thought the story was more compelling. And I enjoyed that Janet Van Dyne (played by Michelle Pfeiffer) played a more prominent role in this one.
Overall, I enjoyed the characters that were featured in this film. From the main villain himself to the freedom fighters in the Quantum Realm. Heck, I even enjoyed to a certain extent, the introduction of MODOK.
6. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
The sequel to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse takes young Mile Morales on a very interesting journey that is not complete (there is a second part scheduled to hit theaters next year). There was a different directorial team than in the first movie and it shows. This one, released in June, was directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson. Across the Spider-Verse was chock full of entertaining characters and provided a well-thought-out and enjoyable narrative. I can’t wait to see its conclusion.
5. Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
Another movie that I saw several times in the theater. This one, based on the tabletop role-playing game, was extremely fun to watch. It was directed by Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley. By the way, what is up with all of the multiple directors going on these days?
Anyway, it was released in March and included an incredible cast. I have liked Chris Pine in almost everything he has been in and this was no exception. His portrayal of the bard/thief Edgin Davis was incredible. I think the creators of this film did their D&D nerd homework and, being a D&D nerd myself appreciated it.
4. Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3
The second MCU movie to make this year’s list (the third that didn’t make it was The Marvels). Returning to directorial duties was James Gunn. This one was released in May. I enjoyed how the film got into Rocket’s backstory. And who doesn’t like a space otter anyway? I know I do!
The dynamic between this group continues to entertain. I did enjoy that they finally introduced the Adam Warlock character. Although I think he should have been introduced in the MCU much earlier (but I won’t get into that here). If I were ranking MCU films overall, this one would probably be very high on the list. It was the right blend of action, comedy, and a little drama thrown in for good measure.
3. John Wick: Chapter 4
Strangely, I did not start watching this franchise, although I had meant to, until late last year. I enjoy this franchise and after the first one, I think this is my favorite of the series. The same director, Chad Stahelski, was around for all four films and I think that helped with the world-building and the narrative. Keeping with a singular vision is important for a lot of films. It was another movie on this list that was released in March.
This fourth chapter in the Wick series brings us to a conclusion (maybe?) to John’s journey. I especially enjoyed his dynamic with his former friend Caine, played incredibly by Donnie Yen. Heck, I think I’d even like to see a movie based on his life. Caine was an awesome character that I felt Stahelski developed very well despite this being his only movie appearance. I think I’m going to go watch this again this weekend.
2. Godzilla Minus One
I have to admit that this one came out of nowhere! I had not even heard about this movie until a few days before I went and saw it. It was released, at least here in the United States in December. What a way to blast into the end of the year! It was directed by relatively unknown (at least to me) Takashi Yamazaki and is the 37th film in the Godzilla franchise. The 33rd movie to be produced by the Japanese Toho entertainment company. I saw this movie alone because nobody wanted to go watch a movie with subtitles. Their loss.
This movie was amazing. I wouldn’t say that I am a huge fan of Godzilla movies. That is, I don’t consider myself a Godzilla-o-phile or anything but I do like all of the Godzilla movies that I’ve seen. My favorites are the newer ones such as Godzilla: King of Monsters. But this one is absolutely my all-time favorite. It takes place shortly after World War II and follows the life of a disgraced kamikaze pilot as he deals with his failures while helping a group to take down the iconic monster.
The visuals were incredible. I liked how Godzilla looked in this one. And not only did the sub-titles not detract from the movie, I think they enhanced it. I don’t think this would have been as good a movie if it was English dubbed or if it were played by English-speaking actors. I would recommend this movie to any fan of the Godzilla movies.
1. Oppenheimer
I had been waiting for this one ever since I saw the movie poster for it a couple of years ago. Directed by the incredibly talented director Christopher Nolan, this one was released in July. If you didn’t already know, this is a biopic about the life of theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer. Known to many as the father of the atomic bomb. It was based on a 2005 biography by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin called American Prometheus. There is a lot of back and forth going on with this one as far as time frames. It takes us to his early life as a college student jumps around to his “current’ life going through a secret mock trial and jumps back into his time working on the atomic bomb project.
A NOLAN MASTERCLASS?
Cillian Murphy performs beautifully as the title character and the rest of the cast was superb. It included Emily Blunt, Robert Downey Jr, Matt Damon, Florence Pugh, Josh Harnett, and Casey Affleck, among many many others. If you weren’t aware, I am a huge history buff and a huge fan of biographical films. So it comes as no surprise to me that this one wound up first on the list. It was quite long, clocking in at 181 minutes, but to me, it did not feel too long. The pacing, at least to me, was appropriate. I don’t think the team would have done us any favor by making this film shorter. While it might not have been 100% historically accurate, I think Nolan did a great job of telling the story of Oppenheimer.
What are your top movies of 2023? Sound off in the comments below.
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Steve is a fan of Star Wars, punk rock, comic books, and cats. In addition to writing for Future of the Force, he also sings for punk band Get Fired and hosts the podcast Rebel Rock Radio!
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