THE LAST MOVIE DIARY 2023: A YEAR END ROUND UP
Hello! We did it! We made it to the final post of MOVIE DIARY 2023!
Before we get into the massive year end round up, I just want to do some thank you’s. Firstly a big thanks to every one of the wonderful special guests who’ve joined me on MOVIE DIARY 2023. Getting to read writing about movies from so many people I admire is absolutely my favorite part of running this blog, and every single special guest has delivered something great. I even got the chance to work with some brand new guests this year, and that was a real treat! I’m super proud of all of the special guests, so a big thank you for working with me and for wanting to get involved with MOVIE DIARY 2023!
I’d also like to shoutout everyone who read and shared the blog this year, particularly all the homies on the MOVIE DIARY 2023 Discord. I’d never run a Discord before this year, and I’m not really sure I did the best job, but I really appreciated all the regular posters on the Discord who kept the chats lively and fun. I’ll keep the Discord going so we can all still hang out.
Also the biggest thanks to my wife Tessa Strain, my favorite person to watch movies with.
Ok let’s get into the Year End Round Up! I asked special guests and the MOVIE DIARY 2023 community to answer at least one of these three prompts for this round up:
1) A list of 5 of your favorite first watches of 2023. Some people stuck with just 2023 releases, but the movie didn’t have to be released in 2023, you just had to have seen it for the first time in 2023. Maybe I could have been clearer with my instructions (sorry!), but it was also fun to see how people would cleverly sneak in an extra movie or two because they just had too much trouble deciding.
2) A list of your 5 favorite movies of all time. Admittedly an insane question, and I’d even asked participants to rank them! Rude! My original idea was to take everyone’s list and compile a master list of the top movies like how Sight and Sound does it, but as soon as I tried to organize all of that I realized I should leave all that to the tried and true professionals at Sight and Sound. Too much math and Excel work! My deepest apologies to this year’s MOVIE DIARY 2023 Year End Round Up participants for putting you all through that. If anything it’s just fun to see how varied everyone’s Top 5 of All Time lists are! There are so many movies out there!
3) As a bonus question, I asked everyone to talk about who/what was hottest at the movies in 2023. Open to interpretation and totally optional, but also a great opportunity to see who’s horny (supportive).
Ok ok here’s our year end round up, arranged in alphabetical order of first name so you can skip right to your faves. Enjoy! And thank you again to everyone who contributed!
A.A. de Levine
Favorite first-time watches in 2023:
Enys Men (2022) - dir. Mark Jenkin
Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977) - dir. John Boorman
Clockwatchers (1997) - dir. Jill Sprecher
The Banshees of Inisherin (2022) - dir. Martin McDonagh
Tár (2022) - dir. Todd Field
Five favorite movies of all time, ranked as best I can:
5. Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) - dir. Robert Aldrich
4. Cat People (1942) - dir. Jacques Tourneur
3. Sunset Boulevard (1950) - dir. Billy Wilder
2. Three Women (1977) - dir. Robert Altman
1. Mulholland Drive (2001) - dir. David Lynch
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A.A. de Levine is a writer, an editor, and, above all, a customer. Her short fiction and essays can be found in New Gothic Review, Taco Bell Quarterly, NoSleep, Good Night Sweet Prince, Medium, Film Da Da, and right here. She reads short fiction for Coffin Bell Journal and hybrid chapbooks for Wrong Publishing.
Abhay Khosla
5 Favorite First Watches - Non-2023 Movies.
I'm not going to include 2023 movies-- my opinions there are just extremely boring. But besides 2023 movies...
Slither (1973) - dir. Howard Zieff
Chocolate (2008) - dir. Prachya Pinkaew
The Wrong Guy (1997) - dir. David Steinberg
The Passionate Friends (1949) - dir. David Lean
Eega (2012) dir. S.S. Rajamouli
Slither is about James Caan having an adventure in 1970's California. Chocolate is a martial arts movie about an autistic girl fighting her way through the underworld to save her family. The Wrong Guy is a Dave Foley comedy that was buried by a studio that didn't get the (many, many) jokes. The Passionate Friends is a melodrama about a lady in a love triangle, very much from her point-of-view. Eega is about a man seeking revenge for his own murder, after he is reincarnated as a housefly.
5 Favorite Movies
5. Broadcast News (1987) - dir. James L. Brooks
4. Midnight Run (1988) - dir. Martin Brest
3. Wonder Boys (2000) - dir. Curtis Hanson
2. Chungking Express (1994) - dir. Wong Kar-wai
1. Defending Your Life (1991) dir. Albert Brooks
Not including, you know, Goodfellas or Die Hard or It's a Wonderful Life or stuff like that-- a fish saying they like water. Not including "the Canon". Sorry if I messed this up.
BONUS QUESTION: "Who made things hot for you at the cinema??"
Julianne Moore in May December. (EAR PIECE SQUAWKS) Uhhhh by which I mean to say... NOT Julianne Moore in May December. Not for me! Nope, nuh-huh, not that, not for a regular guy like me, no sir! We're all just regular guys!
———
Abhay Khosla is just this creepy very-online guy, you know? A lot of unhealthy going on over there, probably. He lives in Los Angeles, near Hollywood, sort of inbetween Larchmont and Koreatown. If you drive down Melrose and you hit Normandie Ave., you've gone way, way too far east, say-- you're way off track; plus, if you're coming from the westside, you might want to consider taking 6th Street, instead of Melrose.
Adam Szym
Top 5 First Watches:
Birth (2004) - dir. Jonathan Glazer
Possession (1981) - dir. Andrzej Żuławski
The Third Man (1949) - dir. Carol Reed
Paris, Texas (1984) - dir. Wim Wenders
The Boy and the Heron (2023) - Hayao Miyazaki
Top 5 Favorite Films of All Time (I never ever make all-time lists so I’m going with my first impulses. Probably will be different tomorrow!)
5. Fargo (1996) - dir. Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
4. Sexy Beast (2001) - dir. Jonathan Glazer
3. Princess Mononoke (1997) - dir. Hayao Miyazaki
2. Rosemary’s Baby (1968) - dir. Roman Polanski
1. Alien (1979) - dir. Ridley Scott
Top Horny of 2023
When it comes to being horny for fictional characters in cinema my heart et al. will always be with Holly Hunter in Broadcast News. But considering I didn’t watch that this year my answer would have to be realizing just how attractive both Madeline Kahn and Teri Garr are in Young Frankenstein. I’ve seen the film one hundred times but this was my first viewing where I really appreciated them in all their glory.
I have another even more apt answer which I will never reveal at the risk that doing so would make me a target of intense humiliation (audibly said “Damn!” when the lifeguard appeared in my first ever viewing of Lilo & Stitch).
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Adam Szym is a Stoker Award nominated cartoonist based in Brooklyn, New York. He makes scifi and horror comics, and you can buy his books here: https://adamszym.bigcartel.com/
Aleks Sennwald
Favorite First Watches:
The Heroic Trio (1993) - dir. Johnnie To
Asteroid City (2023) - dir. Wes Anderson
Don’t Let The Riverbeast Get You! (2012) - dir. Charles Roxburgh
The Awful Truth (1937) - dir. Leo McCarey
Halloween (1978) - dir. John Carpenter
All Time Favorites:
5. Paper Moon (1973) - dir. Peter Bogdanovich
4. My Winnipeg (2007) - dir. Guy Maddin
3. Crime Wave (1985) - dir. Sam Raimi
2. Supermarket Woman (1996) - dir. Juzo Itami
1. Dune (1984) - dir. David Lynch
Hottest:
Jeffrey Coombs in Fortress (1992) when his glasses fall off.
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Aleks Sennwald is asleep in LA. She’s a director and cartoonist. Find her on instagram @aleks_sennwald.
Alexandra Tanner
2023 TOP 5 FIRST WATCHES
Take This Waltz (2011) - dir. Sarah Polley
After Life (1998) - dir. Hirokazu Kore-eda
Hale County This Morning, This Evening (2018) - dir. RaMell Ross
Eileen (2023) - dir. William Oldroyd
I Vitelloni (1953) - dir. Federico Fellini
TOP 5 ALL TIME
5. Lost in Translation (2003) - dir. Sofia Coppola
4. A Serious Man (2009) - dir. Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
3. Koyaanisqatsi (1982) - dir. Godfrey Reggio
2. Punch-Drunk Love (2002) - dir. Paul Thomas Anderson
1. Perfect Blue (1997) - dir. Satoshi Kon
The Hottest of 2023
Hottest in 2023 were Havana Rose Liu in Bottoms and Jason Schwartzman in Asteroid City—wounded, vulnerable performances: a lake of tears and a terror of love in both their eyes that made my stomach flutter.
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Alexandra Tanner a Brooklyn-based writer and editor. Her work appears or is forthcoming in The New York Times Book Review, The Baffler, and Jewish Currents, among other outlets. Her first novel, Worry, will arrive from Scribner in March of 2024.
Allison Picurro
5 favorite first watches from 2023 (unranked):
All That Jazz (1979) - dir. Bob Fosse
It’s cool when you see a movie and finally understand what everyone else is always trying to emulate. Roy Scheider was hot as hell.
May December (2023) - dir. Todd Haynes
Some of our greatest talents are toiling away on The CW. Maybe the best Todd Haynes, and I say this as someone who rewatches Carol, like, twice a year.
Birth (2004) - dir. Jonathan Glazer
Brother, someone should’ve killed that kid.
Inside Man (2006) - dir. Spike Lee
Propulsive and thrilling and oh so cynical. Hoo baby, the sexy little push and pull between Denzel and Clive Owen… now that’s the good stuff.
Titanic (1997) - dir. James Cameron
Has anyone ever heard of this movie.
5 favorite movies of ALL TIME
5. Enough Said (2016) - dir. Nicole Holofcener
4. Weekend (2011) - dir. Andrew Haigh
3. The Birdcage (1996) - dir. Mike Nichols
2. When Harry Met Sally (1989) - dir. Rob Reiner
1. The Social Network (2010) - dir. David Fincher
The Hottest of 2023
Josh Hartnett, Oppenheimer (2023)
While some of you were on about Jacob Elordi being tall or whatever, I became the melting emoji every time I thought about Josh Hartnett (6’3”, if you even care) in Oppenheimer, returning to our screens with all the sexy, swaggering confidence of someone who has been there, done that and is nevertheless happy to continue being there and doing that. He towered over Cillian Murphy’s malnourished frame, concerned eyes magnified behind a pair of granny glasses (which he looked hot in, to be clear), and wore that waistcoat with aplomb. He has been the moment since 1998, and he still very much is the moment.
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Allison Picurro is a writer from New Jersey. You can find her having weekly meltdowns in her newsletter, Boy Movies, which she’s really hoping will soon become a subsidiary of the Dua Lipa newsletter.
Anna Strain
5 favorite first watches from 2023 (unranked):
M3gan (2023) - dir. Gerard Johnstone
Smiley Face (2007) - dir. Gregg Araki
L.A. Confidential (1997) - dir. Curtis Hanson
Killers of the Flower Moon (2023) - dir. Martin Scorsese
Past Lives (2023) - dir. Celine Song
5 favorite movies of ALL TIME
Rosemary's Baby (1968) - dir. Roman Polanski
You've Got Mail (1998) - dir. Nora Ephron
Josie and the Pussycats (2001) - dir. Deborah Kaplan, Harry Elfont
Phantom Thread (2017) - dir. Paul Thomas Anderson
Harold and Maude (1971) - dir. Hal Ashby
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Anna Strain is an illustrator getting over a fear of being online. In a month you can find her at heyjulydesigns.com, and for now you can say hi at heyjulydesigns@gmail.com.
Ayoola Solarin
5 Fav First Watches
Sweet Charity (1969) - dir. Bob Fosse
There’s nothing better than a musical. Theres’s nothing better than a musical film starring Shirley MacLaine directed and choreographed by genius, egomaniac Bob Fosse. Somebody LOVES ME!
What A Way To Go! (1964) - dir. J. Lee Thompson
Beautiful gowns, hot guys, and of course… Shirley MacLaine, again.
Theater Camp (2023) - dir. Molly Gordon, Nick Lieberman
Honestly, the title says it all
Past Lives (2023) - dir. Celine Song
To feel is to live. And I hate that.
Fremont (2023) - dir. Babak Jalali
To feel is to live. And I love that.
5 Fav Films
Before Sunset (2004) - dir. Richard Linklater
Amélie (2001) - dir. Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Constantine (2005) - dir. Francis Lawrence
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) - dir. George Miller
Secretary (2002) - Steven Shainberg
Having so many of my formative, favourite films be released in the early 2000s isn't something I want to discuss. Ever.
Hottest of 2023
The outfit Nora (Greta Lee) wears in Past Lives to meet Hae Sung (Teo Too) for the first time. Jesus. I hope I meet her in the next life because WOW! PANT LEG. WOW!
And that's all folks.
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Ayoola Solarin is a writer for television and comic books, a comics editor and an arts critic. She has written for Netflix and Disney and her bylines features include The Guardian, Dazed, Vulture, i-D and Hyperallergic, among other publications.
Brett Rader
Top 5 first-watches
1. Past Lives (2023) - dir. Celine Song
2. Poor Things (2023) - dir. Yorgos Lanthimos
3. Maestro (2023) - dir. Bradley Cooper
4. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023) - dir. John Francis Daley, Jonathan Goldstein
T-5. 3-hour historical epics about white boys doing bad things. — Oppenheimer (2023) - dir. Christopher Nolan // Killers of the Flower Moon (2023) - dir. Martin Scorsese
Top 5 all-time
5. Inglourious Basterds (2009) - dir. Quentin Tarantino
4. Jurassic Park (1993) - dir. Steven Spielberg
3. Moulin Rouge (2001) - dir. Baz Luhrmann
2. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) - dir. Michel Gondry
1. Boogie Nights (1997) - dir. Paul Thomas Anderson
Hottest in 2023
Bradley. Charles. Cooper.
Raccoon. Maestro. Halfing.
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Brett is an executive producer at Yahoo Sports where he works on a number of podcasts and videos, if you're into that sort of thing. If you're really into that sort of thing, he also hosts a podcast called Hey Julie! where he talks about Survivor and Big Brother.
Brian McCarthy
Fav first watches of 2023 (no order):
Ferrari (2023) - dir. Michael Mann
Killers of the Flower Moon (2023) - dir. Martin Scorsese
The Holdovers (2023) - dir. Alexander Payne
7 Women (1966) - dir. John Ford
The Flowers of St. Francis (1950) - dir. Roberto Rossellini
Favorite Movies of ALL TIME
The Rules of the Game (1939) - dir. Jean Renoir
Only Angels Have Wings (1939) - dir. Howard Hawks
Shanghai Express (1932) - dir. Josef Von Sternberg
A Matter of Life and Death (1946) - dir. Emeric Pressburger, Michael Powell
Raging Bull (1980) - dir. Martin Scorsese
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Brian McCarthy is an editor and film fan with occasional opinions that go beyond black and white. I have nothing to promote.
Caroline Golum
A list of your 5 favorite first watches from 2023 (unranked):
1. Two Girls on the Street (1939) - dir. Andre de Toth
2. Honeycomb (2022) - dir. Avalon Fast
3. New Strains (2023) - dir. Artemis Shaw, Prashanth Kamalakanthan
4. May December (2023) - dir. Todd Haynes
5. Godzilla Minus One (2023) - dir. Takashi Yamazaki
Top 5 of all time
This is a psychotic ask! Here are my top favorite movies at this juncture in my life:
5. Stage Door (1938) - dir. George Cukor
4. Black Narcissus (1947)- dir. Michael Powell and Emeric Pressberger
3. Celine and Julie Go Boating (1974) - dir. Jacques Rivette
2. The Final Accord (1938)- dir. Douglas Sirk
1. Paper Moon (1974) - dir. Peter Bogdanovich
Hottest of 2023:
Every dude in Godzilla Minus One could get it but especially that cool anti-government boat captain.
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Caroline Golum is a filmmaker and writer living in Brooklyn, NY. She is a contributing editor and occasional podcast co-host for Screen Slate. Her debut feature, A Feast of Man, is streaming on Amazon Prime, Vimeo, and Tubi. Her second feature, Revelations of Divine Love, is in post-production. You can follow her on Twitter @carolineavenue.
Caroline Symons
5 favorite first watches from 2023 (unranked)
1. May December (2023) - dir. Todd Haynes
So funny and deranged. Powered by a director and actors who know the performances can't be in on the joke in order for the script to work. Professionals!
2. Oppenheimer (2023) - dir. Christopher Nolan
You've heard of it.
3. Benediction (2021) - dir. Terence Davies
Devastating and full of gorgeous people.
4. Aftersun (2022) - dir. Charlotte Wells
Really stunning.
5. Wild Things (1998) - dir. John McNaughton
This is Douglas Sirk.
5 favorite movies of ALL TIME
5. The Aviator (2004) - dir. Martin Scorsese
4. Fish Tank (2009) - dir. Andrea Arnold
3. Strange Days (1995) - dir. Kathryn Bigelow
2. Gladiator (2000) - dir. Ridley Scott
1. The Silence of the Lambs (1991) - dir. Jonathan Demme
Hottest of 2023
Jacob Elordi - he's been here, but now he's HERE here. Even if you aren't into him like that....you get how someone is into him like that. He walks around with a purse. He's tall and he's LA-based. He learned about Elvis from Lilo and Stitch. He can chat but also he can hold a frame. Cinema is built on talents like this. Hollywood is grateful for Jacob Elordi.
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Caroline Symons is a filmmaker living in Los Angeles who misses Richmond, Virginia. Her short film, The Jennifer Meyers Story, premiered at the Atlanta Film Festival and played in Los Angeles at American Cinematheque’s PROOF festival.
Chrainchrainchrain
Here is a list of my 5 favourite first watches from 2023. In no particular order :
The Spy Who Came In From The Cold (1965) - dir. Martin Ritt
I loved it! Novel great. Movie great! I do think the novel’s better than the movie. We’re not quite in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy territory here where both the book and the TV show and the movie are all amazing. The Spy Who Came In From The Cold (1965) is one of my favourite first watches of this year but it’s not one of my favourite first watches of ALL years.
BlackBerry (2023) - dir. Matthew Johnson
Kind of amazing to see these guys adapt their signature style to an existing genre with no bumps no bruises all whammies!!!1! The movie elides key details in two (2) crucial turns; I assume those scenes are expanded in the mini-series version!?!??! But just incredible stuff. A perfectly smooth viewing experience. The movie is just sanded down to a handful of components. You can sum it up in only a few words! Phone. Time. Vampires. Idiots. Great!!!!!1!
The line at the beginning about a guy on the Internet saying Noonian Soong is a Q. Omigosh!!!!1!
I think there’s also a thread of ... Nazism in the movie!?!? As a motif? “Their logo is literally SS”, Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), Wolfenstein, Joy Division, I think I’m forgetting one or two other things.
Reality (2023) - dir. Tina Satter
I also had Reality (2023) opinions but I think I copy’n’pasted them on a different Discord. Sorry! They’re off limits.
The Caine Mutiny Court Martial (2023) - dir. William Friedkin
The Caine Mutiny Court Martial (2023) gets a ★★★★ from me! I thoroughly enjoyed it! You gotta love a bunch of great actors yelling legal-ese and Navy talk at each other for an hour and forty five minutes! Well, you don’t — not necessarily! — but I sure did. Glory to the dead! Glory to the living!
Kiefer Sutherland is sort of doing his FDR voice from The First Lady (‘22-’22). His face looks ... it’s either a bad facelift or age or maybe him and the make-up is deliberately making him look off! Regardless, a fine performance!
I haven’t seen any of the original stuff. Not the movie, not the play, not the adaptation from the eighties with Jeff Daniels and Eric Bogosian (directed by Robert Altman!?) so I’m not up on my Wouk lore. All I really know of it is just Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan clowning on the movie. Wait, was that it? I’m pretty sure it must come up as they’re doing Mutiny on The Bounty (1962) and their Michael Caine impressions. It’s gotta! It’s right there! That fruit is right there for ... it’s hanging so low! Maybe just in the TV version. Maybe not. I don’t know.
There’s a cut to Lance Reddick’s face after it becomes clear that Kiefer is nutso — no judgment! not all of us have what it takes to command an Avenger-class minesweeper during a time of war! although, obviously, that last speech would presumably hold a lot more weight when the play was set during the war against the Krauts than during, uh, the current Forever War against ... ??? — which is so funny.
The Servant (1963)
The main guy in Joseph Losey’s The Servant (1963) looks a little like if Tim Baltz and Benedict Cumberbatch were smooshed together. James Fox! Still working!
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chrainchrainchrain is a participant in the MOVIE DIARY 2023 Discord.
Dave Horwitz
First Watches:
Sorcerer (1977) - dir. William Friedkin
I waited to see Friedkin's 1977 anxiety adventure in a theatre setting and was not disappointed. Roy Scheider put his life on the line for this movie only for it to completely eat shit at the box office which is insane considering it is an out-and-out ten out of ten masterpiece.
Taking Off (1971) - dir. Miloš Forman
Miloš Forman's English language debut was such an immense surprise/treat that I started it over and watched it again the second it ended. It's a movie about changing times and generational divides but mostly it's just really funny and unlike anything you've probably seen in a long time. AND it's (briefly) got a 22-year-old Kathy Bates!
Targets (1968) - dir. Peter Bogdanovich
Seeing what an incredible movie twenty-nine (!) year old Peter Bogdanovich was able to pull off with these insane constraints from Roger Corman (tiny budget, only two days with star Boris Karloff, incorporating footage from a previous Corman movie) explains his out of control ego for the next 60 years.
Turkish Delight (1973) - dir. Paul Verhoeven
All you need to know about this movie going in is that it's the closest Paul Verhoeven has ever gotten to a romantic comedy. I'll be thinking about some of these images for the rest of my damn life in good ways and bad!
The King Of Comedy (1982) - dir. Martin Scorsese
Much like Sorcerer, I can't believe people were lukewarm about this when it came out. People loved De Niro when he was a violent psychopath, but not an annoying one? Well, they were wrong.
All Time:
T-5. The Long Goodbye (1973) - dir. Robert Altman // Gross Pointe Blank (1997) - dir. George Armitage
Cheating by counting these as one. Anxious and or bumbling brown-haired suit-wearing bois reluctantly toting guns. I guess that's all I need in a movie.
4. Green Room (2015) - dir. Jeremy Saulnier
A perfect thriller. Everything works here. And it's NINETY FIVE minutes long!!!!
3. An Unmarried Woman (1978) - dir. Paul Mazursky
Seems to have slipped through the classic canon cracks (the CCCs if you will), but this is a beautiful, deeply funny, sad, and PAINFULLY 70s movie with an all-time lead performance at the center of it.
2. A Serious Man (2009) - dir. Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
Life is pain. The Coen Brothers know that and reflect it in all their films. Jewish life is a different kind of pain. It's more annoying. It's like stomach cramps at a dinner party or a houseguest overstaying their welcome but you don't know how to break it to them. The Coens know this too.
1. Beetlejuice - When people ask what my all-time favorite movie is I say BJ. There's so much to love here and that's why I've never gotten any pushback for this answer. Let's hope the sequel doesn't kill all the goodwill I have for this.
WHO WAS HOTTEST
Adèle Exarchopoulos in Passages. There's only one answer and it's this. Good lord. Good sweet lord.
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Dave Horwitz has written for film, television and the stage, and now he's really into making pizza sauce from scratch. Follow him on Letterboxd, Instagram, and probably nowhere else.
Erin Rose O’Brien
First Watches, Unranked — note: specifically chose movies that were not from 2023!
1. Small Soldiers (1998) - dir. Joe Dante
We were some of the only people in the theatre, and the projectionist pulled my brother aside to brag that this was a pristine, nearly-unplayed print. It was a wonderful experience!
2. Simon, King of the Witches (1971) - dir. Bruce Kessler
Randomized movie night pick from a friend. There is sex magic, the phrase "charging my rod," and the titular warlock lives in a sewer for most of the movie.
3. Wild at Heart (1990) - dir. David Lynch
Sat too close to the screen, beautiful face huge, etc. etc.
4. Party Girl (1995) - dir. Daisy von Scherler Mayer
☺️❤️
5. The Invisible Man (1933) - dir. James Whale
I'm a huge Universal Monsters fan, but I hadn't seen this one. I'm a slut for practical effects and a dryly funny movie. They try to throw a net on the Invisible Man. That has to work, right?
6. The Swimmer (1968) - dir. Frank Perry
I couldn't figure out which of the above to nix for The Swimmer, a beautiful movie about "going through it."
Honorable Mentions: I watched the entire SAW franchise with my partner in 2-movie increments*. Here I will shout out the original SAW (2004, James Wan), because hearing "Hello Zepp" and watching the entire story unfold in the last 10 minutes made me hoot/holler. I watched the entire Chucky/Child's Play franchise too, but I did that alone, and it's mostly significant in that I had "allowed" myself to watch movies imperfectly (snacking/on a laptop).
My top 5 of all time — note: #5 is ever-shifting. If I ever said something else, no I didn't!
5. Phantom of the Paradise (1974) - dir. Brian De Palma
4. Stop Making Sense (1984) - dir. Jonathan Demme
3. Jurassic Park (1993) - dir. Steven Spielberg
2. Safe (1995) - dir. Todd Haynes
1. Alien (1979) - dir. Ridley Scott
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Erin Rose O’Brien (She/Her) is a writer, occasional podcast host/guest, and online scoundrel. You can follow her on Twitter @er0b, and on Letterboxd where she has the top review of Original Cast Album: Company.
Fran Hoepfner
5 favorite first watches from 2023 (unranked)
The Awful Truth (1937) - dir. Leo McCarey
So romantic, so funny. The horror of being known best by your ex.
Grown-Ups (1980) - dir. Mike Leigh
I had a field day with the Mike Leigh BBC movies on Criterion Channel this past winter. While Abigail's Party is probably the "best" of them, this one is a close second, full of performances and themes that would crop up in more polished Leigh work to come in the next few decades.
Dottie Gets Spanked (1993) - dir. Todd Haynes
I was lucky enough to see two early Todd Haynes shorts at the MOMI retrospective, and this one moved me so profoundly. It's crazy he got PBS money to make it!
Birth (2004) - dir. Jonthan Glazer
Score of the decade???
Last Things (2023/2024, tbd) - dir. Deborah Stratman
Stratman's psychedelic rock doc (as in minerals, gems, and stones, not the music genre) pushes the boundary of something that maybe your physics teacher might put on if they were hungover into transcendent art film. A movie for literally everyone!
5 favorite movies of ALL TIME
A Room with a View (1986) - dir. James Ivory
Topsy Turvy (1999) - dir. Mike Leigh
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) - dir. Peter Jackson
Broadcast News (1987) - dir. James L. Brooks
The Souvenir: Part II (2021) - dir. Joanna Hogg
Hottest in 2023
I have dug deep into my soul, and my answer is Ben Whishaw in Passages. His the least showy performance in the film, with Franz Rogowski slurping up all the oxygen in any given scene and Adele Exarchopolous being one of the most beautiful people who ever lived, but Whishaw's turn as a spurned husband gaining the confidence and self-respect to start over is both hot and moving. He's angry, he's devastated, he wears a beautiful chore coat, and he shows hole! I have always liked Whishaw, but this is one of the most surprising and wonderful turns from him in the past few years, and the hottest person in movies in 2023.
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Fran Hoepfner is a writer with an MFA in fiction FOR SOME REASON. She lives in New York.
Geoffrey Lapid
5 favorite first watches (unranked)
Passages (2023) - dir. Ira Sachs
Barry Lyndon (1975) - dir. Stanley Kubrick
Deep Cover (1992) - dir. Bill Duke
Fallen Leaves (2023) - dir. Aki Kaurismäki
The Innocent (2022) - dir. Louis Garrel
5 favorite movies of ALL TIME
5. Boogie Nights (1997) - dir. Paul Thomas Anderson
4. Point Break (1991) - dir. Kathryn Bigelow
3. Blow Out (1981) - dir. Brian De Palma
2. The Thing (1982) - dir. John Carpenter
1. Barry Lyndon (1975) - dir. Stanley Kubrick
Hottest of 2023
Despite my inclusion of this prompt in the year end poll, I must again stress that MOVIE DIARY 2023 is not a horny blog, BUT— Noémie Merlant in The Innocent, Adèle Exarchopoulos in Passages, Rina Sawayama in John Wick: Chapter 4, just ruin my life PLEASE.
———
Geoffrey Lapid is the creator of MOVIE DIARY 2018 and MOVIE DIARY 2023.
Hamish Steele
5 favorite first watches
Past Lives (2023) - dir. Celine Song
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022) - dir. Joel Crawford
Whisper of the Heart (1995) - dir. Yoshifumi Kondō
The Exorcist (1973) - dir. William Friedkin
Cabaret (1972) - dir. Bob Fosse
5 favorite films of all time
5. Godzilla (1954) - dir. Ishirō Honda
4. The Tale of Princess Kaguya (2013) - dir. Isao Takahata
3. Return to Oz (1985) - dir. Walter Murch
2. Little Shop of Horrors (1986) - dir. Frank Oz
1. Speed Racer (2008) - dir. Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski
Who was the hottest?
Pom Klementieff in Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part 1 is so hot, they ADRed her back to life at the last moment because they knew Dead Reckoning Part 2 would be an even bigger flop without her. She is the living embodiment of that “Luigi Wins At Mario Party By Doing Absolutely Nothing” video on YouTube, eating up every scene she’s in despite having like four lines of dialogue. They cast her to play a one-note henchwoman, but she’s a star. She can’t help but shine. If this was the mid 00s, she’d have her own Underworld / Resident Evil / Tomb Raider / Aeon Flux / Ultraviolet / Salt / Lucy / Charlie’s Angels by now.
———
Hamish Steele is an Eisner-award winning graphic novelist and tv writer. He recently showran Dead End: Paranormal Park for Netflix, based on his DeadEndia books which are now available to buy from all good bookstores. Hamishsteele.co.uk
Keiran McCann
Top 5 Movies Released in 2023
Dad & Step-Dad (2023) - dir. Tynan DeLong
May December (2023) - dir. Todd Haynes
The Adults (2023) - dir. Dustin Guy Defa
The Zone of Interest (2023) - dir. Jonathan Glazer
The Iron Claw (2023) - dir. Sean Durkin
Top 5 First Watch Movies (Not-Released in 2023 but Watched Nonetheless!)
The Wounded Man (1983) - dir. Patrice Chéreau
Targets (1968) - dir. Peter Bogdanovich
Late Spring (1949) - dir. Yasujirō Ozu
Secrets & Lies (1996) - dir. Mike Leigh
Beasts: During Barty's Party (1976) - dir. Don Taylor
(Technically not a film, but this hour-long BBC "horror" special knocked my frickin' socks off. It's an amazing exercise in what can be accomplished with good acting/writing and a low production budget. Everyone should add this to their Halloween movie rotation.)
Top 5 Favorite Movies of All Time
Phantom of the Paradise (1974) - dir. Brian De Palma
The ‘Burbs (1989) - dir. Joe Dante
Grease (1978) - dir. Randal Kleiser
Klute (1971) - dir. Alan J. Pakula
Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991) - dir. James Cameron
2023 Horndog Awards
Leah Seydoux in The Beast - I don't feel like I need to elaborate.
The press circuit for All of Us Strangers - Horny threat level midnight. I haven't even seen the movie yet, but I am unwell
Mark Ruffalo & Emma Stone's "furious jumping" in Poor Things
John Magaro as the ultimate mensche in Past Lives
———
Keiran McCann went to film school and while there realized she was too sleepy/short to be effective on most sets and thus committed herself to a life of movie-watching rather than making. When she's not working her day job as a graphic designer/illustrator, she can be found knitting, cooking elaborate meals, and watching films (of course). She lives in Brooklyn with her filmmaker husband and cat.
Letterboxd: @keiranmccann
IG: @keirrran
Kyle Amato
Five favorite first time watches, non 2023 (I’ll be posting my 2023 top ten on Boston Hassle)
Joe’s Apartment (1996) - dir. John Payson
A beautiful story about a very dumb man unwittingly fighting gentrification with the help of hundreds of singing dancing cockroaches. The sort of film I’d like to make one day.
The Marriage of Maria Braun (1978) - dir. Rainer Werner Fassbinder
A beautiful story about a woman not just surviving, but thriving. Perhaps the most gagged I was at the theater this year.
Knightriders (1981) - dir. George A. Romero
A beautiful story about subculture beef.
Cure (1997) - dir. Kiyoshi Kurosawa
A beautiful story about close-up magic. If I can’t find the cure I’ll fix you with my love.
Farewell My Concubine (1993) - dir. Chen Kaige
A beautiful story about your boyfriend’s girlfriend amid the Cultural Revolution.
5 favorite movies of ALL TIME
5. Between the Lines (1977) - dir. Joan Micklin Silver
4. Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion (1997) - dir. Hideaki Anno
3. Alien (1979) - dir. Ridley Scott
2. The Piano Teacher (2001) - dir. Michael Haneke
1. Before Sunset (2004) - dir. Richard Linklater
Hottest in 2023
Peter Sarsgaard makes me shy, so it was fun to see his balls in Memory even though each time in context it’s horrifying and sad.
Runners-up: Josh O’Connor running around in that linen suit in La Chimera, Ben Whishaw showing hole in Passages, Paul Mescal’s lil tiddies on the All of Us Strangers press tour
———
Kyle Amato is the Calendar Editor for Boston Hassle, and he runs CITY ON A HILL CINEMA, where he compiles rep screenings in the Boston area. He lives in Somerville and has a podcast about Ethan Hawke that is on hiatus, mostly, until he has new projects, which is often.
Lily Puckett
5 favorite first watches from 2023 (unranked)
1. Nashville (1975) - dir. Robert Altman
2. There Will Be Blood (2007) - dir. Paul Thomas Anderson
3. Past Lives (2023) - dir. Celine Song
4. Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975) - dir. Chantal Akerman
5. Asteroid City (2023) - dir. Wes Anderson
5 favorite movies of ALL TIME
All time is too hard so I’ll say that I’ve always considered Broadcast News an all time favorite but then rewatched it as I often do this year and didn’t enjoy it as much and it made me think about favorites in a sad way.
HOTTEST MOMENT: The Last Waltz!!!!!!!
———
Lily Puckett is a writer living in New York. She has a substack called Scream and a twitter called twitter.com/lilypuckett.
Lorin Kozlowski
Five Favorite First Watches of 2023:
John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023) - dir. Chad Stahelski
Last hour is God.
Five Easy Pieces (1970) - dir. Bob Rafelson
Watched this while avoiding someone, so it was very apropos.
The Equalizer 2 (2018) - dir. Antoine Fuqua
Denzel casually threatening the bad guys in a suburban cul de sac, that is my kind of humor.
Anatomy of a Fall (2023) - dir. Justine Triet
ACTING.
Extraction 2 (2023) - dir. Sam Hargrave
When Tyler Rake killed a guy with a barbell, I levitated.
Five Favorite Movies of All Time:
5. Miami Vice (2006) - dir. Michael Mann
4. Crank: High Voltage (2009) - dir. Mark Neveldine, Brian Taylor
3. The Master (2012) - dir. Paul Thomas Anderson
2. Mulholland Drive (2001) - dir. David Lynch
1. FACE/OFF (1997) - dir. John Woo
Hottest in 2023
Mia Goth in Infinity Pool. “James is a little sucky-boy!” Whatever you say, lady!
———
Lorin Kozlowski is the host of the original nu-metal podcast Roach Koach. He lives in Indiana with his son.
Mattie Lubchansky
TOP FIVE NEW TO ME WATCHES OF 2023
DEAR GOD THIS WAS HARD; WHAT A YEAR FOR CINEMA!! VERY TOUGH TO NOT JUST LIST LIKE FOUR THINGS I SAW THIS MONTH. I'M VERY SORRY TO BOY AND THE HERON WHICH I DITCHED TO SOUND ERUDITE AND PICK SOME MOVIES FROM THE PAST
5. THE TAKING OF PELHAM ONE TWO THREE (HACHI MACHI!!!!!) (1974) - dir. Joseph Sargent
4. KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON (2023) - dir. Martin Scorsese
3. THE HOST (2006) - dir. Bong Joon-ho
2. THE EIGHT MOUNTAINS (2023) - dir. Felix Van Groeningen, Charlotte Vandermeersch
1. MAY DECEMBER (2023) - dir. Todd Haynes
"MATTIE'S LIST" OF THEIR FAVORITE FIVE MOVIES OF ALL TIME DUDE (ON DECEMBER 19 2023 AT 5:12 PM EST THIS IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE IN PROBABLY LIKE 30 MINUTES)
5. BARRY LYNDON (1975) - dir. Stanley Kubrick
4. ALL THAT JAZZ (1979) - dir. Bob Fosse
3. SPIRITED AWAY (2001) - dir. Hayao Miyazaki
2. ALIEN (1979) - dir. Ridley Scott
1. ADAPTATION (2002) - dir. Spike Jonze
Hottest in 2023
WHO IS HOT THIS YEAR? SEX SCENES. THEY ARE BACK. WE ARE DOING IT AGAIN. WE'RE DOING FULL FRONTAL, YOU'RE HEARING ABOUT IT MORE AND MORE. IT'S COMING BACK IN A TREMENDOUS WAY
———
Mattie Lubchansky is an award-winning transsexual. Their new book, BOYS WEEKEND, is now out from Pantheon.
Max B
Movie Diary Discord member here with my top 5 first watches for 2023 (in no particular order)
24 Hour Party People (2002) - dir. Michael Winterbottom
The Counselor (2013) - dir. Ridley Scott
The Killer (2023) - dir. David Fincher
The Shout (1978) - dir. Jerzy Skolimowski
The Color of Money (1986) - dir. Martin Scorsese
———
Max B. Movie enjoyer, Rochester NY.
Nicholas Russell
In thinking of ways to contribute to MOVIE DIARY's end-of-the-year roundup, lists of any kind evaded me. Instead, I tried to think back on 2023's varied viewing experiences for movies new and old, and what takeaway, if any, I had. One of the most egregious continues to be the horrible sense that every newly-made image is somehow submerged in a bath of digital smoothing and computer-generated softness. I felt this way after watching the latest John Wick earlier in the year, all neon-slick colors and impossibly shiny surfaces to the point where even the blood on people's faces seemed comped in. It's almost too obvious to include The Flash, or really any recent superhero film, in this category. Almost too obvious, definitely unfortunate, but nonetheless necessary since these massive properties are pushing the capabilities of cinematic technologies forward, not so much democratizing them as endlessly iterating and atomizing them. Images become more plastic and yet they lack the ingenuity or discipline of animation. Faces shift such that even highly legible shots with good composition and dynamic lighting make real people appear like simulacra of themselves.
It's a bizarre thing to notice, this lack of aesthetic texture, this uncanny coldness masked over flesh and blood, which contributes to the incorrect sense that maybe it's digital cameras themselves that are producing such surreal, rubbery images. If there's anything I've learned from obsessively listening to the audio commentaries of David Fincher or Roger Deakins' podcast, it's that the conveniences afforded to a filmmaker via the newest RED or Alexa model have to be counterbalanced by a skill in crafting shots that are distinctive rather than off-the-rack. More than that, concessions have to be made for how a film dialed-in with an industry-grade projector and attendant surround sound is going to translate when it's been chewed up and rearranged on streaming.
Todd Haynes and his crew got it right with May December, a film whose grains and textures cinematographer Christopher Blauvelt went to great pains to faithfully translate for Netflix. But this kind of attention to detail seems rare. In a year when I feel like the theatrical experience unlocked, for me at least, new forms of reverence for cinema as an art form, there was still this constant caveat, including such fetishistically "old school" juggernauts as Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1, where what was being projected looked absolutely fake and not even in an interesting way. Rather than pushing for the visual patois of, say, the Wachowskis' Speed Racer, there has been instead a slavishness to photorealism. This, combined disorientingly with the built-in augmentation capabilities of any native social media video editing software, makes it so there's an expectation of some form of digital futzing in most anything we see. This expectation papers over the simple fact that a lot of movies and TV shows now look like dogshit. The blending of real and digitally-rendered elements is a delicate balance that, lately, sees one element pushing the other away instead of truly marrying the two. In Creed 3, released in 2023, especially during its hyper slow-motion boxing sequences, impossible clarity of vision and color brought to you by ultra-fast cameras still approaches the weightlessness of a video game cut-scene (cut-scenes as an example of bad CGI are often used as a pejorative, but here it's more a nod to the fact that a lot of shots and sequences lack the requisite creativity to stand out as specific to film). I don't know that anyone could have accurately predicted the specific ways that digital technology has contributed to this constant digital proscenium framing real life. By that, I mean it's odd, and more than a little irritating, to be surprised when I come across any sort of newly-captured image that carries with it a tactile, arrested nature to it.
When AI-generated shitposts started popping up on Twitter, I was more struck by how familiar they seemed as stills from recent films than as the garish novelties they were denounced as. I'm still not entirely sure why this current state of affairs is so ubiquitous; someone smarter and more patient than me probably knows and frankly, I hope they reach out. The tired but fair example of the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park (1993), or even the Hulk in Ang Lee's vastly underrated 2003 take on the comic book character, illustrate the comparison I've been trying to make. Yes, those movies were shot on film, but then why do their digital components still look so good? Is it because the VFX artists were trying to match the look and feel of film itself? But then what about Michael Mann's work in the 21st century, which isn't afraid to push the limits of digital filmmaking, particularly in low light or with more readily-available consumer cameras? What about the stylistic experiments and flourishes in found-footage films? The vector shapes of Linklater's A Scanner Darkly? Perhaps the ubiquitous tactic of marketing films like Oppenheimer or any of Tarantino's work as "real" is a signifier less of the superiority of film or practical effects, but how an effective synthesis of styles and methods can in turn create a cohesive final product.
Ultimately, this is screed against aesthetic implausibility, against slap-dash collage, not fakeness. I don't care how it's achieved, but when I watch something, even if it's stupid, even if and maybe especially if it's ridiculous, for however short a length of time, I want to believe it's happening.
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Nicholas Russell is a writer and editor from Las Vegas.
Pascalle Dugay
5 favorite first watches from 2023 (unranked):
1. Perfect Blue (1997) - dir. Satoshi Kon
2. Killers of the Flower Moon (2023) - dir. Martin Scorsese
3. Past Lives (2023) - dir. Celine Song
4. Four Nights a Dreamer (1971) - dir. Robert Bresson
5. The Color of Pomegranates (1969) - dir. Sergei Parajanov
Top five of all time:
5. Singing in the Rain (1952) - dir. Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly
4. Clockwatchers (1997) - dir. Jill Sprecher
3. The Fall (2006) - dir. Tarsem Singh
2. In the Mood for Love (2000) - dir. Wong Kar-wai
1. Sneakers (1992) - dir. Phil Alden Robinson
Horniest
Drew Barrymore’s chracter in Poison Ivy (1992). The specific shade of bottle blonde and thick dark eyebrows harken Madonna. What's hotter than your best friend wanting to be your mom?
———
Pascalle Dugay is a writer based in Queens, NY. You can follow her on social media where she posts about going to the library a lot.
https://twitter.com/pasxalle
Pete Toms
Fav First Watches 2023:
The Meg 2: The Trench (2023) - dir. Ben Wheatley
Asteroid City (2023) - dir. Wes Anderson
What’s Up, Doc?(1972) - dir. Peter Bogdanovich
Daisy Miller (1974) - dir. Peter Bogdanovich
Please Baby Please (2022) - dir. Amanda Kramer
All Time
5. Velvet Goldmine (1998) - dir. Todd Haynes
4. Simple Men (1992) - dir. Hal Hartley
3. My Winnipeg (2007) - dir. Guy Maddin
2. The Killer (1989) - dir. John Woo
1. Raising Arizona (1987) - dir. Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
———
Pete Toms is a cartoonist and writer who lives in Burbank, CA. You can find many of his books in the beloved pdf format on his Gumroad page here: petetoms.gumroad.com
Roshan Abraham
Here are my favorite movies I watched this year:
The Time That Remains (2019) - dir. Elia Suleiman
A wonderful film everyone should see that portrays one family's history in occupied Palestine from the Nakba to the present with laconic, comic absurdity and sadness; reminiscent of Wes Anderson and Jacques Tati.
Joyland (2022) - dir. Saim Sadiq
An infuriating & sad queer pakistani romance with moments of joy and dance & humor & frustration & tragedy that made my eyeballs leak
Broker (2022) - dir. Hirokazu Kore-ada
This is a heartwarming movie about people who sell babies what more can you ask for
Three Times (2005) - dir. Hou Hsiao-Hsien
Two actors portray three separate couples in Taiwan in three romantic encounters that span decades before and after Japanese rule, very hot and cool and an interesting historical perspective
Rebels of the Neon God (1992) - dir. Tsai Ming-liang
A disjointed series of encounters between two petty thieves and one of the thieves' lover, and a mentally-ill teen who is stalking them, featuring lots of shots of early 90's arcade cabinets and illicit quarter stealing
I don't know what my favorite movies of all time are because I don't rewatch movies that often so I probably would change my mind if I saw them now! I like Sans Solei (1983)l by Chris Marker
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Roshan Abraham is a writer based in Queens.
Sara McHenry
Top Five First Watches of 2023:
The Banshees of Inisherin (2022) - dir. Martin McDonagh
Beau is Afraid (2023) - dir. Ari Aster
Doctor Sleep (2019) (Director's Cut) - dir. Mike Flanagan
May December (2023) - dir. Todd Haynes
Quatermass and the Pit (1967) - dir. Roy Ward Baker
Top Five of All Time:
Defending Your Life (1992) - dir. Albert Brooks
Fargo (1996) - dir. Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
No Country for Old Men (2007) - dir. Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
Stop Making Sense (1984) - dir. Jonathan Demme
Zodiac (2007) - dir. David Fincher
Who was hot to me this year:
Florence Pugh as Jean Tatlock in OPPENHEIMER. I was struck by the scene where Pugh and Cillian Murphy are sitting naked in separate hotel room chairs. The balance of intimacy and distance implied here lit my brain on fire, especially the vulnerability required to sit nude in an “unflattering” and natural way. Not to be all “it’s feminism when Wonder Woman’s thigh jiggles,” but there was something so exciting about seeing a beautiful actress plopped into a chair, not crafting her posture for maximum desirability. A great character moment, but also: hot.
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Sara McHenry is a writer who lives in Chicago, IL. You can find her on twitter @yellowcardigan for as long as that dump exists, and she has an Etsy store selling comics, zines, and an Akira meme patch (you'll understand when you see it). She loves cats, vegetables, and weightlifting.
Sasha Fletcher
FIVE FAVORITE FIRST WATCHES IN 2023 IN THE ORDER I SAW THEM
THE VIRGIN SUICIDES (1999) - dir. Sofia Coppola
PORCO ROSSO (1992) - dir. Hayao Miyazaki
PASSAGES (2023) - dir. Ira Sachs
ANATOMY OF A FALL (2023) - dir. Justine Triet
AFTER LIFE (1998) - dir. Hirokazu Koreeda
TOP 5 OF ALL TIME
3. WILD AT HEART (1990) - dir. David Lynch
2. MOONSTRUCK (1987) - dir. Norman Jewison
1. PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE (2002) - dir. Paul Thomas Anderson
My top 5 will only ever be love stories and it's only these 3. This is my gimmick, it is the gimmick of my heart, and my heart is all I have of any real value in this world. Honorable mention goes to ALL THE REAL GIRLS and UNE FEMME EST UN FEMME and PIERROT LE FOU and if I was a better artist and a more interesting thinker I would stretch out and write about how all stories are really love stories, because a love story is not about falling in love but the act of living with, and often failing, love. The homes we make for it in our lives and how they crumble in our hands. What I love so much about those three is that they're about how hard it can be to make a home for love in our hearts and our lives, how we should never hide things from our partner, and always allow supernatural intervention or head trauma to encourage us to step outside of our own hurt and grow our hearts.
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Sasha Fletcher is the author of the novel Be Here to Love Me at the End of the World, a book of poems, several chapbooks of poetry, and a novella. His work can be found both online and in print.
Sloane Leong
2023 favs:
Killers of the Flower Moon (2023) - dir. Martin Scorsese
John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023) - dir. Chad Stahelski
May December (2023) - dir. Todd Haynes
The Boy and the Heron (2023) - dir. Hayao Miyazaki
Anatomy of a Fall (2023) - dir. Justine Triet
All-time favs:
5. The Hole (1999) - dir. Tsai Ming-liang
4. The Mourning Forest (2007) - dir. Naomi Kawase
3. Man on Fire (2004) - dir. Tony Scott
2. The Terrorizers (1986) - dir. Edward Yang
1. The Color of Pomegranates (1969) - dir. Sergei Parajanov
Sexy:
None!!! This whole year felt like it was on Lexapro!!
———
Sloane Leong is a cartoonist, illustrator, writer, and editor of mixed indigenous ancestries. Through her work, she engages with visceral futurities and fantasies through a radical, kaleidoscopic lens. She is currently living on Chinook land near what is known as Portland, Oregon with her family and three dogs. Her newest book is Prism Stalker: The Weeping Star, in bookstores now.
Tessa Strain
First watches (unranked):
Smiley Face (2007) - dir. Gregg Araki
Simply one of the funniest movies I’ve ever seen in my life. I could watch Anna Faris attempt to exit her car for the full 90 minute runtime, idgaf.
Reds (1981) - dir. Warren Beatty
I won’t bore you with a rehash of everything I wrote about it here. It’s still a 3 hour movie about horny communists, what more needs to be said!
Barry Lyndon (1975) - dir. Stanley Kubrick
Dumb guys can do anything :)
Shadow of a Doubt (1943) - dir. Alfred Hitchcock
Sexy, scary movie about creeping rot within a Norman Rockwellesque vision of the American small town. Joseph Cotten never better—“You go through your ordinary little day, and at night you sleep your untroubled, ordinary little sleep, filled with peaceful, stupid dreams. And I brought you nightmares.” HELP!!
Targets (1968) - dir. Peter Bogdanovich
Half a wish-fulfillment fantasy about hanging out with Boris Karloff, half of one of the scariest movies I've ever seen about a uniquely American strain of violence. And most importantly, a salute to the San Fernando Valley!
Five all-time faves:
5. Inherent Vice (2014) - dir. Paul Thomas Anderson
4. The Age of Innocence (1993) - dir. Martin Scorsese
3. Mulholland Drive (2001) - dir. David Lynch
2. Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure (1985) - dir. Tim Burton
1. Sunset Boulevard (1950) - dir. Billy Wilder
Cinema hottie of the year
John Garfield - RIP to the man who had me acting like the Tex Avery wolf throughout Humoresque (1946), The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946), and Four Daughters (1938) this year. It goes without saying that Joseph McCarthy deserves to burn in hell for a vast multitude of reasons, but harassing this absolute dime into an early grave is certainly on the list.
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Tessa Strain is a writer (and actor????) living in Geoff’s apartment. Her work has appeared in Bright Wall/Dark Room and The Comics Journal. She is @tessastrain on Twitter, where she does a pretty good job, and on Instragram, where she does a bad one.
Tim Utsler
First Watches:
My Winnipeg (2007) - dir. Guy Maddin
Asteroid City (2023) - dir. Wes Anderson
Zardoz (1974) - dir. John Boorman
Sunset Boulevard (1950) - dir. Billy Wilder
First Reformed (2017) - dir. Paul Schrader
Favorite Movies (ca. 12/10/23; this is hard):
Rushmore (1998) - dir. Wes Anderson
24 Hour Party People (2002) - dir. Michael Winterbottom
Raising Arizona (1987) - dir. Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Sullivan's Travels (1941) - dir. Preston Sturges
Tampopo (1985) - dir. Juzo Itami
———
Tim U. is an art hobbyist living in Columbus, OH and posting at www.draculaderonda.com. He might make another zine later.
Tom McHenry
Five Favorite First Watches of 2023:
May December (2023) - dir. Todd Haynes
Vicious and delightful, a Lifetime scandal movie elevated and dissected at the same time. I watched it twice in 3 days and could go again right now. When the first sinister music sting hits as Julianne Moore wonders aloud if they have enough hot dogs, I was climbing the furniture.
The Driver (1978) - dir. Walter Hill
Car chases in a dark empty city, being the best you are at what you do and still getting screwed over by the management, living a monastic life committed to your own code -- you can see Michael Mann's whole vibe get born all at once.
The Fabelmans (2022) - dir. Steven Spielberg
In the first scene, Sammy Fabelman sees a train crash in a movie and begins obsessively trying to recreate it over and over in order to control the terror he felt in that moment, and it was some of the most represented my own creative life has ever felt.
Lake Mungo (2008) - dir. Joel Anderson
I avoided watching this for years because I mistook it for WOLF CREEK (2005), but this is a fake Unsolved Mysteries style documentary about the aftermath of a sudden loss in a family that grows and grows, howling a question that can't land on any answer.
Asteroid City (2023) - dir. Wes Anderson
Anderson's meticulously designed diorama box worlds try to smash and eat each other with framing devices, the clockwork gears start sproinging off every which way, and he tries to make it directly confront and rattle you in your seat in the dark.
Five Favorite All-Time Movies
5. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) - dir. Steven Spielberg
4. Lawrence of Arabia (1962) - dir. David Lean
3. Heat (1995) - dir. Michael Mann
2. Miller's Crossing (1990) - dir. Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
1. Zodiac (2007) - dir. David Fincher
What Was Hot in 2023
Faltering! Falling short! I love a scene that feels like the movie's gonna really get down into its business and then it freezes like a panicked animal. The part in May December when Joe is trying to work himself up to say The Actual Thing but it's coming out like an asthmatic-sob and he only makes it to the first question before he gives up. The moment in Oppenheimer when Oppie stands in speech to his friends and sees them obliterated by the horror he's loosed. The beat in Asteroid City where an actor caves in on himself in the fiction of the fiction. Beau in Beau is Afraid finally on trial to defend his actions in the face of his mother and sputtering. In a time where so much clanging dialogue is written so characters announce their exact intentions and any ambiguity is shunned, seeing these climactic moments of sputtering collapse right where The Big Point Speech would be expected to go felt incredible, like maybe the wave of overliteralism is finally starting to break, and grasping flailing can be sexy again.
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Tom McHenry (he/him) is a writer, cartoonist, and video game developer living in Chicago, IL. He sometimes writes about the movies he’s watching on Letterboxd and can’t seem to fully quit Twitter yet (@tommchenry). He’s trying to go easier on himself lately.
Vicki Wong
5 Favorite First Watches:
Serial Mom (1994) - dir. John Waters
Past Lives (2023) - dir. Celine Song
Now You See Me (2013) - dir. Louis Leterrier
Mother (2009) - dir. Bong Joon-ho
Hotel Artemis (2018) - dir. Drew Pearce
5 Favorite of All Time:
In the Mood For Love (2000) - dir. Wong Kar-wai
Moonlight (2016) - dir. Barry Jenkins
I'm Gonna Git You Sucka (1988) - dir. Keenen Ivory Wayans
Crooklyn (1994) - dir. Spike Lee
The Prestige (2006) - dir. Christopher Nolan
———
Vicki is an art conservator by day, seamstress by night. When she's not doing either of those things, she's napping with her two cats or trying to get her tween and teen niblings to text her.
Check out her hand made pet toys and beds at her Etsy Comfort Food Shop!
Zach Fleming
TOP 5 SHORTS
Our Home Out West - Cole Escola is a genius, I love this thing
Vertical Valor - perfect concept, perfectly executed, just so so funny
Never Fuggedaboutit - really really good dark comedy about 9/11 and the Sopranos
The Quarry - I just love this lil animated rom com
A Short Story - on MUBI, worth a free trial, really dreamy, inexplicably made me cry a bunch ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
TOP 5 2023
Goddamn, I did not see a lot of 2023 releases, and I feel like I saw a lot of movies! Anyway here are my top 5 - I left KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON off - of course it ripped / is one of the best of the year, its Scorsese, NOT USING A SLOT FOR THAT
May December (2023) - dir. Todd Haynes
Off the charts good on just about every metric, Charles Melton stole the goddamn show, just a perfect thing
When Evil Lurks (2023) - dir. Demián Rugna
I am probably over hyping this but damn I missed doomer horror - really great world building, off the charts dread from go, brutal + unforgiving, and yet I still had a good time??
Fallen Leaves (2023) - dir. Aki Kaurismäki
Made my heart grow 4 sizes. Aki can make this movie as many times as he wants and I will always love it. Also I think the best looking movie of the year?
Dad & Step-Dad (2023) - dir. Tynan DeLong
Impossibly good, so fucking funny and manages to be both silly and genuinely heartfelt, even moving! better than so, so many films with 100000 times the budget and means
Showing Up (2023) - dir. Kelly Reichardt
Kelly Reichardt best living American director outside of Scorcese + Lynch? another stunner, hope she gets to make whatever she wants with whomever she wants for the rest of time
ALSO LOVED: Hello Dankness, The Boy and the Heron, Killers of the Flower Moon, Dream Scenario, The Holdovers (I am not made of stone dear reader!), The Beast, Zone of Interest, The Adults, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, Poor Things
Want to especially call out THE ADULTS - was shocked by how moving I found it - I actively avoided it because the trailers made it look so twee + cutesy, but its really fuckin good!
DIDN'T SEE: Past Lives, Maestro, Passages, Afire, All of Us Strangers, 1000 other things I'm forgetting
TOP 5 FIRST WATCHES 2023 (NON 2023 MOVIES)
Late Spring (1949) - dir. Yasujirō Ozu
Absolutely wrecked me, perfect movie
Torque (2004) - dir. Joseph Kahn
Absolutely fucking insane that Kahn never got to direct a Fast & Furious movie - Torque has more energy and inventiveness in the first 5 minutes than the last 3 Furious movies combined - also features Ice Cube and a ripping early aughts soundtrack (Kid Rock for a chase scene! Nickelback when the credits hit!) - if you have a bad time watching this movie I genuinely feel sorry for you!
To Live and Die in LA (1985) - dir. William Friedkin
!!!!!! idk if y'all know this but Friedkin had 'the juice', as the kids say
...All the Marbles (1981) - dir. Robert Aldrich
A 70s movie that snuck into the early 80s - perfect underdog wrestling story, I was hootin + hollerin by the end, great performances from all the leads, Peter Falk da god etc
Secrets & Lies (1996) - dir. Mike Leigh
Another stone cold crusher from Mike Leigh! avoided this for awhile bc I knew it would wreck me but I should have known it would have a big warm heart to balance out the sadness
TOP 5 OF ALL TIME (excruciating)
All That Jazz (1979) - dir. Bob Fosse
The Hole (1999) - dir. Tsai Ming-liang
Porco Rosso (1992) - dir. Hayao Miyazaki
Possession (1981) - dir. Andrzej Żuławski
Phantom of the Paradise (1974) - dir. Brian De Palma
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Zach Fleming (he/him) is a Brooklyn based filmmaker and producer. He's currently chipping away at a few scripts he can't afford to make, but here are links to a few recent short films he's worked on! Mickey Dogface, In the Flesh, Dark Moon
What’s next for MOVIE DIARY 2023?
This is the end of MOVIE DIARY 2023 and I mean it this time! I would like to continue blogging, and I probably will after I take a little break, but it won’t be under the MOVIE DIARY 2023 name. I will do my best to not take another 5 year long break from blogging on here. Dedicated MOVIE DIARY 2018 readers might remember that when I ended that blog, I tried to do a tinyletter called MOVIE DIARY 2018 II: 2019. That kinda whiffed, so I probably won’t do that again, but I don’t know, should I do a substack? Is that something you’d read? Maybe I’ll finally get a Letterboxd account. Did you know there’s a “moviediary” account on Letterboxd? I was hoping to sign up for it and just squat on that username in case I ever wanted to continue Movie Diary over there, but someone beat me to it! Whoever it is, they’ve got an insane list of 5 star movies.
Anyway, like I said earlier, I’ll keep the MOVIE DIARY 2023 DISCORD up and running, and I’ll probably keep talking about movies on there for now, at least til I figure out what else to do next.
For now, this is the end of MOVIE DIARY 2023. Thank you to all of my special guests for writing. Thank you for reading. I had so much fun doing this.