Late last year, Talkhouse Film contributors and a select few friends of the site voted on their favorite theatrical releases of 2023; the aggregated results were published on Talkhouse yesterday. Below are ballots from a selection of the filmmakers who took part in the voting process.
Aitch Alberto
1. Priscilla
2. Flamin’ Hot
3. Bottoms
4. The Iron Claw
5. May December
6. Something You Said Last Night
7. Kokomo City
8. Monica
9. Poor Things
10. Past Lives
Favorite Talkhouse Film piece of 2023
Proud of my piece.
Vashti Anderson
1. The Zone of Interest dir. Jonathan Glazer
2. The Boy and the Heron dir. Hayao Miyazaki
3. birth/rebirth dir. Laura Moss
4. A Thousand and One dir. A.V. Rockwell
5. Barbie dir. Greta Gerwig
6. Asteroid City dir. Wes Anderson
7. Return to Seoul dir. Davy Chou
8. Mami Wata dir. C.J. “Fiery” Obasi
9. The Persian Version dir. Maryam Keshavarz
10. Cypher dir. Chris Moukarbel
Notes
The Zone of Interest: Inspired by this and every film he makes. In this one, time conflated upon itself. Somehow fearless experimentations with form lose their mechanics when the culmination is profound humanism. The Boy and the Heron: I drifted in and out of consciousness, like a sleepy daydream, opening my eyes in the morning light and in the dark. Full Miyazaki. birth/rebirth: So many relatable fears here, both physical and philosophical. Refreshing to see nonsexualized female characters making vile choices that are complicated by love and grief.
Favorite Talkhouse Film piece of 2023
How Story is Destroying Us (and How to Write Back) by Sam Jaeger
Rodney Ascher
1. The Zone of Interest
2. Poor Things
3. Crossroads / The Exploding Digital Inevitable (double feature)
4. Godzilla Minus 1 / Oppenheimer (double feature)
5. Hello Dankness
6. Blackberry
7. Beau is Afraid
8. Asteroid City
9. Skinamarink
10. The American Gladiators Documentary
Notes
Movies I haven’t seen yet that might well have made my list based on what I heard or their trailers: May December, Poor Things, Suitable Flesh, Confessions of a Good Samaritan, The Holdovers, Divinity and American Fiction.
Emily Bennett
1. Saltburn
2. The Killer
3. May December
4. Talk to Me
5. Fair Play
6. Reptile
7. Infinity Pool
8. Anatomy of a Fall
9. VHS 85
10. Run Rabbit Run
Notes
Saltburn is the dirty 2006 period piece (yes, I said “period piece”) we all didn’t know we needed until it came out. Barry Keoghan is a full-blown sex symbol in this film, bringing a subversive and undeniable charisma I haven’t seen in many actors. Barry brought sexy back and Fennell made it happen. Bravo.
Favorite Talkhouse Film piece of 2023
Three Great Things: Isabelle Huppert. Because she’s perfect and reading this made me so happy.
Amy Berg
1. Poor Things
2. Anatomy of a Fall
3. Apolonia, Apolonia
4. Oppenheimer
5. American Symphony
6. The Holdovers
7. Fallen Leaves
8. The Teachers Lounge
9. Four Daughters
10. All Dirt Roads Bleed of Salt
Favorite Talkhouse Film piece of 2023
Pleasure Studies (Feist ❤️)
Patrick Brice
1. Past Lives (Song)
2. Asteroid City (Anderson)
3. Femme (Freeman/Ping)
4. Speak No Evil (Tafdrup)
5. Killers of the Flower Moon (Scorsese)
6. Dream Scenario (Borgli)
7. Happer’s Comet (Taormina)
8. Maestro (Cooper)
9. The Civil Dead (Tatum)
10. Rotting in the Sun (Silva)
Notes
It would be remiss of me not to mention Paul T. Goodman by Jason Woliner. An unclassifiable piece of cinema that happened to come out on a streaming service. Maybe my favorite thing I’ve seen all year.
Favorite Talkhouse Film piece of 2023
Lizzie Borden’s piece on the shooting of After Hours in her neighborhood.
SJ Chiro
1. Barbie
2. Anatomy of a Fall
3. Past Lives
4. The Zone of Interest
5. A Thousand and One
6. Biosphere
7. Saltburn
8. The Blue Kaftan
9. Killers of the Flower Moon
10. Showing Up
Notes
Barbie and Anatomy of a Fall (my #1 and #2 picks) look at how women are seen in society from two very different points of view arriving at a similar conclusion. The end of Anatomy of a Fall shook me to my core, more for how the film reflected my own judgements than the story itself. Subtle and brilliant take down that will stay with me.
Favorite Talkhouse Film piece of 2023
I was really touched by Brian Helgeland’s article about Chadwick Boseman and the music of his widow, Simone. Grief has touched us all. He inspired me to listen to her music and be open to the places it would take me. (I worked with Brian briefly on Finestkind.)
Joe Dante
1. Poor Things
2. Godzilla Minus One
3. Oppenheimer
4. Sisu
5. Last Voyage of the Demeter
6. Killers of the Flower Moon
7. The Holdovers
8. Barbie
9. El Conde
10. Dream Scenario
David Dastmalchian
1. Oppenheimer
2. Barbie
3. Past Lives
4. When Evil Lurks
5. Attachment
6. Sisu
7. Talk to Me
8. Nimona
9. Bottoms
10. Leo
Jack Dunphy
1. Asteroid City
2. The Holdovers
3. Berman’s March (Jordan Tetewsky, Joshua Pikovsky)
4. Beau is Afraid
5. Killers of The Flower Moon
6. Barbie
7. Passages
8. No Hard Feelings
9. Showing Up
10. May December
Notes
Berman’s March: this true indie gem hasn’t been screened much, because festivals suck, but it deserves a wider audience. It has a kind of Richard Linklater-feel, and is political without being blatant about it. I have not seen Fallen Leaves, Past Lives, The Iron Claw, Godzilla Minus One, or many others. I’m sorry.
Tom Gilroy
1. The Holdovers
2. Passages
3. Barbie
4. Tori and Lokita
5. Rewind & Play (Thelonious Monk)
6. R.M.N.
7. Showing Up
8. Another Body
9. Happer’s Comet
10. Users
Notes
I saw all these films in the theater this year, though Google and IMDb claim otherwise.
Favorite Talkhouse Film piece of 2023
Lizzie Borden’s piece on After Hours.
Bette Gordon
1. Fallen Leaves
2. Anatomy of a Fall
3. Killers of the Flower Moon
4. Maestro
5. Anselm
6. Passages
7. Shayda
8. Monster
9. A Taste of Things
10. A Thousand and One
Timothy Greenfield-Sanders
1. Nyad
2. Past Lives
3. The Holdovers
4. The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar
5. Oppenheimer
6. American Fiction
7. Godland
8. Brother
9. Theater Camp
10. Rustin
Megan Griffiths
1. Totem (d. Lila Avilés)
2. The Teachers’ Lounge (d. Ilker Çatak)
3. The Zone of Interest (d. Jonathan Glazer)
4. Beyond Utopia (d. Madeleine Gavin)
5. Anatomy of a Fall (d. Justine Triet)
7. I Have Electric Dreams (d. Valentina Maurel)
6. Past Lives (d. Celine Song)
8. All of Us Strangers (d. Andrew Haigh)
9. Smoke Sauna Sisterhood (d. Anna Hints)
10. Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret (d. Kelly Fremon Craig)
Notes
My favorite as-of-yet undistributed films of the year (besides my film Year of the Fox, of course): Fancy Dance (d. Erica Tremblay), I Used to be Funny (d. Ally Pankiw), The Ordinaries (d. Sophie Linnenbaum) and National Anthem (d. Luke Gilford).
Favorite Talkhouse Film piece of 2023
Say It Ain’t So, Joe!
Jim Hosking
1. The Holdovers (Alexander Payne)
2. The Old Oak (Ken Loach)
3. Walk Up (Hong Sangsoo)
4. Io Capitano (Matteo Garrone)
5. Fallen Leaves (Aki Kaurismäki)
6. Perfect Days (Wim Wenders)
7. The Delinquents (Rodrigo Moreno)
8. Godland (Hlynur Pálmason)
9. The First Slam Dunk (Takehiko Inoue)
10. The Night of the 12th (Dominik Moll)
Notes
The Holdovers feels like a minor miracle. Impeccable film making. Paul Giamatti is both highly hysterical and highly touching. All the cast are perfect. Hurrah.
Chris Kelly
1. Past Lives
2. May December
3. Poor Things
4. Anatomy of a Fall
5. Killers of the Flower Moon
6. Oppenheimer
7. Earth Mama
8. Passages
9. The Zone of Interest
10. The Holdovers
Bruce LaBruce
1. Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World
2. Augure
3. Queendom
4. Mama Wati
5. Kaibutsu
6. Rotting in the Sun
7. Smoke Sauna Sisterhood
8. When Evil Lurks
9. Blackberry
10. Blue Jean
Notes
Radu Jude remains my favourite living filmmaker.
Patrick Lussier
1. Barbie
2. The Killer
3. How to Blow Up a Pipeline
4. Three Musketeers: D’artagnan
5. Tetris
6. Talk to Me
7. Blackberry
8. Reptile
9. The Last Rifleman
10. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
Notes
How to Blow Up a Pipeline – an insurrectionist guide to taught storytelling in a time of world calamity and last stage capitalism. And The Last Rifleman was such a delightful surprise and likely Pierce Brosnan’s career best. Heartfelt, it captures what it truly means to be the last one standing.
Favorite Talkhouse Film piece of 2023
The Corner by Lizzie Borden – I loved After Hours when I first saw it on opening day.
Julia Marchese
1. Godzilla Minus One
2. Renfield
3. Suitable Flesh
4. Where the Devil Roams
5. Inside
6. The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
7. Film: The Living Record of Our Memory
8. Asteroid City
9. The Last Voyage of the Demeter
10. Oppenheimer
Notes
I watch far more old movies than new, but it’s always a delight to sit in a theater and watch new films with an audience – all of the films I could see in the cinema were truly heightened by seeing them on the big screen! (Also, yes, Renfield would have been better with the dance scene!) Viva Cinema!
Favorite Talkhouse Film piece of 2023
My Renfield Rabbit Hole
James Marsh
1. The Night of the 12th
2. Passages
3. Anatomy of a Fall
4. 20 Days in Mauripol
5. The Beasts (Spain, 2022)
6. Beau is Afraid
7. Reality (drama, dir. Tina Satter)
8. Past Lives
9. Eileen
10. The Gulspang Miracle (documentary, Maria Frederiksson)
Favorite Talkhouse Film piece of 2023
The Corner – Lizzie Borden
Jim McKay
1. Passages
2. Anatomy of a Fall
3. Four Daughters
4. Battle of Chile Parts 1, 2, and 3 (re-release)
5. Our Body
6. All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt
7. The Beasts
8. Monster
9. Maestro
10. Atlanta / Reservation Dogs final seasons
Notes
My favorite film of the year was a French film made by an American director. Or was it an American film made in France? I’d go with the former, as no one in the U.S. is making fiction films as taut, subtle, and human as Ira Sachs has with Passages. It’s a nearly perfect film that respects its audience and its characters, who come to us open, ugly, afraid, flawed; in other words, real. Like the main character in Anatomy of a Fall. And the real people in Four Daughters, who end up becoming incredible actors in this devastating film. And I can’t believe I had never seen The Battle of Chile – the most intense and inspiring film(s) about community, organizing, and activism that I’ve ever seen, and extremely relevant to NOW.
Favorite Talkhouse Film piece of 2023
Three Great Things w/ Isabelle Huppert, Will Oldham talks with Wax, and Shirley Collins talks with Radie Peat.
Nina Menkes
1. Saint Omer
2. Four Daughters
3. Barbie
Notes
I have been so overwhelmed with traveling and the presentation my latest film Brainwashed: Sex-Camera-Power that I saw fewer films than I usually do this year. These three works, though, are so very excellent that I wanted to add my voice and sing their praises.
Kristian Mercado
1. Killers of the Flower Moon
2. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
3. They Cloned Tyrone
4. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem
5. Bottoms
6. The Killer
7. Asteroid City
8. Nimona
9. Barbie
10. The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
Notes
It was hard to pick between Killers of the Flower Moon and Spider-verse, honestly. So different but both films really hit hard and strive to decolonize film in different ways. I left both films shook in different ways.
Favorite Talkhouse Film piece of 2023
If The Graduate Had the Soundtrack from Garden State is pretty rad, I really love that video.
Sarah Elizabeth Mintz
1. Saltburn
2. Oppenheimer
3. Sanctuary
4. Priscilla
5. Bottoms
6. Passages
7. Of an Age
8. The Flash (lol)
9. Black Flies (Saw at Cannes, got totally panned)
10. Talk to Me
Notes
I have an embarrassingly giant list of films I’ve yet to see this year … Maybe I’ll circle back when I’ve filled in some gaps. I also thought a bunch of stuff was pretty lame. Saltburn, though … scratched all the itches for me.
Frank Mosley
1. Enchanted Cove (Jeff Kardesch)
2. Four Chairs (Nika Burnett)
3. A Folded Ocean (Ben Brewer)
4. The Third Ear (Nathan Ginter)
5. End Zone (Guy Kozak)
6. I Have No Tears, and I Must Cry (Luis Fernando Puente)
7. Donkey (Matt Kazman)
8. Followers (Julia Bales)
9. I Thought The World of You (Kurt Walker)
10. When You Left Me on that Boulevard (Kayla Galang)
Notes
In lieu of making a typical top ten list of feature films because I have been dreadfully behind on so many releases, I opted to focus on new, noteworthy short films that have continued to resonate with me. The films listed above are interchangeable, but here are some (equally as great) honorable mentions: Another Sinking Sun (Tyler Rubenfeld), Je Ne Suis Pas Une Star De Cinema (Hugo De Sousa), People Person (Taylor Thompson), Never Fuggedaboutit (Dustin Waldman), Write a Song about Heartache (Jonny Look), Gold and Mud (Conor Dooley).
Favorite Talkhouse Film piece of 2023
Become What you Are by Jacqueline Castel, The (Real) Reason I Made a Film About Reality Winner by Sonia Kennebeck, The Corner by Lizzie Borden
Laura Moss
1. Jethica
2. Our Father, the Devil
3. My Animal
4. I Like Movies
5. Bottoms
6. Kim’s Video
7. John Wick: Chapter 4
8. You Hurt My Feelings
9. Sanctuary
10. birth/rebirth 😉
Notes
Jethica was dark, painful, hilarious, frightening – a reminder that even with limited resources, it is possible to create something no one’s seen before.
Favorite Talkhouse Film piece of 2023
The Corner by Lizzie Borden
Victoria Negri
1. Saltburn
2. The Deepest Breath
3. Killers of the Flower Moon
4. The Holdovers
5. Barbie
6. Anatomy of a Fall
7. Past Lives
8. The Killer
9. Fair Play
10. John Wick: Chapter 4
Notes
John Wick: Chapter 4 sticks out like a sore thumb on my list, but I wear my love for this franchise proudly on my sleeve. Also, I still have a lot of movies to see as of submitting this list, so this will probably wildly change over the next few weeks, but… (omissions that might make my final 10 that I’m still excited to see are: Oppenheimer, American Fiction, May December, Ferrari, Zone of Interest, Iron Claw) Yeesh, a lot still to see!
Favorite Talkhouse Film piece of 2023
My Wall of VHS by Julia Marchese – love the nostalgia and collecting/preserving of film history, but also memories from youth in this piece.
Diana Peralta
1. Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry dir. Elene Naveriani
2. Past Lives dir. Celine Song
3. Talk to Me dir. Danny Philippou, Michael Philippou
4. Passages dir. Ira Sachs
5. Barbie dir. Greta Gerwig
6. Four Daughters dir. Kaouther Ben Hania
7. Earth Mama dir. Savanah Leaf
8. The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed dir. Joanna Arnow
9. Saltburn dir. Emerald Fennell
10. Asteroid City dir. Wes Anderson
James Ponsoldt
1. The Boy and the Heron
2. Eileen
3. Killers of the Flower Moon
4. Showing Up
5. Past Lives
6. Fallen Leaves
7. The Holdovers
8. Barbie
9. All of Us Strangers
10. May December
Favorite Talkhouse Film piece of 2023
Hot 97 Was the Soundtrack to Animal Collective’s Origin Story
Noah Schamus
Bad Trip (2021)
May December
Passages
Scrapper
Showing Up
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-verse
The Boy and the Heron
The Hamlet Syndrome
The Stroll
You Hurt My Feelings
Notes
Two notes: 1) I put these in alphabetical order because I think these were movies that moved me in different ways and for different reasons and 2) I know this list is supposed to only be theatrical releases from 2023 but I had to include Bad Trip because I am still agog at the brazenness of the hidden camera filmmaking and extraordinary pranks, and the ways in which the film was about using hidden camera not to humiliate the unwitting “actors,” but to beautifully and strangely remind us of our shared humanity and I think I needed that this year.
Favorite Talkhouse Film piece of 2023
(In reverse chronological order) The Corner by Lizzie Borden, We Are One People, One Land: An Open Letter About Gaza by Susan Youssef, Striving for Amateur by Justin Zuckerman
Leah Shore
1. Poor Things
2. Killers of the Flower Moon
3. May December
4. Bottoms
5. The Zone of Interest
6. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
7. The Holdovers
8. When Evil Lurks
9. Barbie
10. Cobweb
Notes
I still haven’t seen everything and assume my list isn’t finite.
Chelsea Stardust
1. Saltburn
2. Barbie
3. The Passenger
4. No One Will Save You
5. The Elephant 6 Recording Co.
6. It’s a Wonderful Knife
7. Cobweb
8. Renfield
9. Talk to Me
10. Sly
Notes
I’ll first mention that I’m very behind on all the award season films, having only seen two or three so far. Much catching up to do! I’ll talk briefly about my picks. I was completely blown away by Emerald Fennell’s Saltburn. Emerald’s commitment to tone and nuance was incredible. Something I strive for as a director and she managed to make it look effortless. The acting was breathtaking… Barry Keoghan’s dedication to the role is one of the many reasons this film works. Greta Gerwig’s Barbie was the film I never knew I needed and I loved it so much. I’m happy to live in a world where that film exists. Carter Smith’s The Passenger is fantastic. Both Kyle Gallner and Johnny Berchtold give astounding and heartbreaking performances. No One Will Save You was an exercise in brilliant storytelling and performance, with barely any dialogue. The Elephant 6 Recording Co. documentary held a special place in my heart, since it’s about a handful of bands I deeply connected with during my college years and still love today. It’s a Wonderful Knife is a new holiday horror classic thanks to screenwriter Michael Kennedy and director Tyler MacIntyer. Cobweb was so creepy and perfectly encompassed autumnal horror. Watch it with the lights off and the sound up! Renfield was so much fun, with well executed comedic beats and blood-filled action sequences, I couldn’t get enough! Talk to Me was so disturbing and an incredible feature debut from Danny and Michael Philippou. Last but not least, I’ve been a fan of Sylvester Stallone’s films since I saw Rocky and First Blood as an early teen, so I might be a little biased, but I loved Sly. And an honorable mentions goes to Anthony DiBlasi’s horror film Malum, which had some ridiculously frightening imagery I won’t be forgetting anytime soon. I can’t wait to see what 2024 brings!
Favorite Talkhouse Film piece of 2023
Say It Ain’t So, Joe! by Julia Marchese
Elisabeth Subrin
1. Dry Ground Burning
2. All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt
3. Our Body
4. Chile ’76
5. Four Daughters
6. May December
7. Orlando, My Political Biography
8. Calamity Jane and Delphine Seyrig
9. Passages
10. Israelism
Notes
Israelism is a relatively straight documentary but mind-blowingly prescient and repeatedly censored this past fall, simply because it deepening generational divide over modern Jewish identity.
Joe Swanberg
1. Bottoms
2. Talk to Me
3. Piaffe
4. Saltburn
5. Passages
Notes
These were the five films that rose above the noise this year and stuck with me!
Alex Thompson
1. The Zone of Interest
2. May December
3. Decision to Leave
4. Anatomy of a Fall
5. Saint Omer
6. Reality
7. Scavengers Reign (series)
8. The Killer
9. Nam June Paik: Moon is the Oldest TV
10. Kokomo City
Erin Vassilopoulos
1. The Zone of Interest
2. Anatomy of a Fall
3. Fallen Leaves
4. The Holdovers
5. Passages
6. Earth Mama
7. Rotting in the Sun
8. Poor Things
9. Enys Men
10. May December
Alex Winter
1. Oppenheimer
2. Past Lives
3. The Holdovers
4. The Killer
5. Anatomy of a Fall
6. The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial
7. Killers of the Flower Moon
8. Bottoms
9. Fair Play
10. Ferrari
Notes
It was, thankfully, a great year for movies. Cinema is alive and well!
Stephen Winter
1. Talk to Me
2. Little Richard: I Am Everything
3. Rotting in the Sun
4. Oppenheimer
5. The Boy and the Heron
6. Maestro
7. Spider-man: Across the Spider-verse
8. Rustin
9. Passages
10. Cypher
