MY PERSONAL 2023 MOVIE LIVE RANKING
As an AMC A-List member, I see at least a couple movies every month, so I started the year by creating a list on Letterboxd and updating the list accordingly each time I see a new movie. This process has showed me two things:
- 2023 has been an incredible year for movies so far, and we haven’t even hit Summer blockbuster season yet.
- I really overthink these things that have an audience of one, but I love the process anyway
If I’m gonna agonize over whether John Wick Chapter 4 and The Super Mario Bros. Movie are going to be able to dethrone 80 For Brady, I might as well document it. Without further ado, here’s a glimpse at the chaos in my head every time I pull up to my post-movie trip to the urinal in the AMC bathroom:
JANUARY 2023 MOVIE POWER RANKING
1. M3GAN
M3gan is absolutely a kick ass movie. Its comedy is hilarious and much more nuanced than most lazy or one-note parodies of big tech and narcissistic middle management in film these days.
That’s the only movie I saw in January of 2023, but it’s a stronger start than its unopposed crown suggests.
FEBRUARY 2023 MOVIE POWER RANKING
1. Missing 2. 80 For Brady 3. Cocaine Bear 4. Knock at the Cabin 5. Infinity Pool
6.M3GAN 7. Magic Mike’s Last Dance 8. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
February is why I made this list. It’s probably the most movies I’ve seen in theater a single month in my lifetime, and almost all of them blew me away. Really my only slight disappointment was Ant-Man Quantumania, and that has less to do with the movie and more with my slight disappointment with where Marvel is headed compared to their past works. Phase 4/5 just feels like some lateral moves right now, but who knows. Maybe I’ll eat my words when the next Avengers movie comes along.
The complete opposite of Ant-Man would have to be 80 For Brady, which was such a surprising, delightful, and heartfelt movie that made me laugh my ass off and it gave me chills during the reenactment of the Falcons vs. Patriots comeback Superbowl win. But also made me choke up in some instances and actually straight up ugly cry in the theater during an emotional beat. The laughs stick with me for now, but I know that the emotional breakthroughs that each character experiences (as portrayed by this star studded cast of Hollywood’s best), will remain with me for the rest of the year, if not longer. This is the perfect example of a comedy that knows what it is, and excels at being that, but also has a heart of absolute fucking gold at the core.
In terms of the ranking, 80 For Brady looked tough to beat because of that 5-Star Comedy with heartfelt elements equation. It held strong against a pure laugh out loud comedy heavyweight in Cocaine Bear (more on that later) and it refused to budge against more self-serious and subversive films like the provocative and captivating yet flawed Knock at the Cabin and the surreal drug fueled Infinity Pool. But it was finally leapfrogged by an unexpected thriller that was 100% my type of shit, as it were.
Missing is a masterclass in building suspense, in keeping the carrot on the end of the stick, and having cliffhanger after cliffhanger pay off all in one film. Thank God this thing wasn’t a miniseries because it maintains all of its momentum so much cleaner than if it was a dripfeed manufactured to keep you hooked but interrupted by credits and “Previously On” clips. Storm Reid absolutely shines as an imperfect, emotional, resourceful, relatable teenager that texts her friends mostly like a real human being, rather than a 40 year old white dude in a writer’s room in California or New York. Her keeping her webcam on all day is literally the only thing close to immersion breaking in this film. They utilize everything from iMessage and Google Maps to Task Rabbit, Ring, and Venmo to make this a wholly believable tale that was remarkably clever throughout without pushing the envelope or patting itself on the back. My heart raced throughout this film and the ending may have been wild, but the landing was fully stuck and that’s a rare feat for thrillers like this. Between the writing, the performances, the pacing, and the surprises around every corner, Missing will surely stay with me for a long time and maintain a top spot in the 2023 Movie Power Rankings for much of the year. It’ll be a tough one to beat.
MARCH 2023 MOVIE POWER RANKING
1. Creed III
2. Missing 3. 80 For Brady 4. Cocaine Bear 5. Knock at the Cabin 6. Infinity Pool 7. Dungeons & Dragons 8.M3GAN 9. Magic Mike’s Last Dance 10. 65 11. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
APRIL 2023 MOVIE POWER RANKING
1. John Wick: Chapter 4 2. Creed III 3. Missing 4. 80 For Brady 5. Renfield 6. Evil Dead Rise 7. The Super Mario Bros. Movie 8. The Pope’s Exorcist 9. M3GAN 10. Cocaine Bear 11. Knock at the Cabin 12. Infinity Pool 13. Air 14. Dungeons & Dragons 15. Mafia Mamma 16. Magic Mike’s Last Dance 17. 65 18. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
JANUARY
- M3GAN
FEBRUARY
- 80 For Brady
- Knock at the Cabin
- Infinity Pool
- Magic Mike’s Last Dance
- Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
- Cocaine Bear
- Missing
MARCH
- Creed III
- 65
- Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
APRIL
- John Wick: Chapter 4
- The Super Mario Bros. Movie
- Air
- Renfield
- The Pope’s Exorcist
- Mafia Mamma
- Evil Dead Rise
MAY
- Sisu
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
JUNE
- Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
- Transformers: Rise of the Beasts
- Barbie
- Oppenheimer
