Christian's Top 10 Movies of 2023

As we here at The Couch continue to recap 2022 in sports in entertainment, Film and Television contributor Christian Becker offers his ranking of the best films of an abnormal year.

You can read fellow Film contributor Sierra Slaughter's Top 10 here as well.

10. Barbie

One could argue this was the cultural event of the summer. And for good reason! Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie take what could have easily been a disastrous at worst and generic at best, but instead made of the smartest, brightest, most fun blockbusters in years. Ryan Gosling is the 6-pack cherry on top.

9. The Iron Claw

This was my last movie watched of 2023 and I’d say I ended the year on a high note…if the movie wasn’t such a downer. No, but really. As tragic a story as this is, it’s so well told that I couldn’t keep my misty eyes off the screen. A story that’s both exciting and heartfelt with a final line that I think they should show in police stations to identify sociopaths (because if you don’t find yourself at least shedding one tear, you are an empty shell). Oh, and please include Zac Efron in the Best Actor line-up. Pretty please!

8. Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse

It’s pretty rare that we see a sequel top its predecessor. If you had told 2018 me that the sequel to Into the Spiderverse would have better animation, characters, jokes, easter eggs, music and emotion, then I would have said “GREAT. I WANT THAT MOVIE NOW!” Well, we have it now and it’s such a wonder to watch.

7. Asteroid City

Wes Anderson had a lot of work to do to win me back over. He’ll forever be one of my favorite working filmmakers, but Isle of Dogs and The French Dispatch were two giant letdowns. Asteroid City has all the Wes Anderson trademarks, but the characters and overall vibe this time were just more…likable.

6. Theater Camp

I saw this movie amidst disappointment, after being turned away at the Oppenheimer premiere in NYC. Within the first five minutes of this film, the sting was immediately lifted and I was having the time of my life. Pure comedies are going up against really tough crowds lately, but this was the first movie in a long time where my packed theater felt like a rock concert with all the noise. While being a “theater kid” will help get all the inside jokes, there’s enough in here to give everyone a delightful experience.

5. The Holdovers

The coziest movie of 2023. Something that looks and feels like it was tailor-made for the 70’s, and makes you beg for the days movies like this were the norm. Paul Giamatti is my pick for best lead actor of the year, which is saying something because of how stacked that category is this time around. This is one that I knew would be permanently on my Christmas classics yearly rotation as I was watching it.

4. John Wick: Chapter 4

How does this series keep getting better?? Another sequel that blows not one, not two, but three previous movies out of the water. At the risk of sounding basic, it’s movies like this that justify a "Best Stunts" category at the Oscars. This is a ballet of bullets that is a perfect sendoff (maybe?) to Mr. Wick.

3. Air

No matter what you think of him as an actor or person, Ben Affleck has proven over and over again that his directing is the real deal (remember when Argo WON Best Picture??) Air is Affleck and Matt Damon re-teaming to let loose and have fun. To be fair, I’m a sucker for a good business story. I just find them so interesting. Air takes a story that shouldn’t interest anyone and turns it into a crowd pleaser that’s as inspiring as any sports movie you’ve ever seen. Proving that the talent doesn’t just take place ON the court.

2. Flora and Son

You know what else I’m a sucker for? John Carney movies. I absolutely loved Once, Sing Street, and Begin Again, and now I’m so pleased to include Flora and Son in that list. It’s a simple story of a mother and son reconnecting as a family through the power of music. Oh, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt will probably make you swoon. Just sayin’.

1. Oppenheimer

There’s nothing I can say about this movie that hasn’t been screamed at you by every film person you know. Christopher Nolan did it. He made a 3-hour, part black-and-white, biopic about the father of the atomic bomb and turned it into a gripping epic that made close to a billion dollars. If that isn’t worth celebrating, I don’t know what is. One of the only 3-hour movies in which I never felt its length because of how much it just zips by. Masterful pacing, memorable performances, and an explosion scene to end all explosion scenes. A true achievement that will go down as a classic our kids will talk about.