best film: Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer is the best film of 2023. Nolan opens Oppenheimer with a simple title – fission (a thread largely shot in color, focused on Cillian Murphy’s J. Robert Oppenheimer) and then shortly after, another title – fusion (largely shot in black and white, more centered on Robert Downey Jr.’s Lewis Strauss). The entire film can be viewed as montage – particularly the cutaway-heavy commencement – which is a rapid sonic boom of audio/visual design made in the vein of Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life (2011) – capturing the inner workings of atomic energy as well as placing the viewer in J. Robert Oppenheimer’s head space. With Oppenheimer, Nolan again proves himself to be a parallel editing savant – slicing and dicing the various time chronologies, subjective versus objective, fission versus fusion, and color versus monochrome. On top of Nolan’s muscular filmmaking – the dialogue fires – lines like “power stays in the shadows” delivered by the heavyweight ensemble.
a stunning composition from Nolan’s Oppenheimer – Nolan is more of a grand compiler, organizer, orchestrator (much like Oppenheimer himself at his little town in Los Alamos – a sort of Nolan surrogate – much like Leonardo DiCaprio’s Cobb character in Inception) than a painter – but the 70mm/Imax large format pays off in spades regardless.
most underrated: The critical consensus did an admirable job in 2023. They acknowledged the worthy films of Martin Scorsese (Killers of the Flower Moon), Aki Kaurismäki (Fallen Leaves) Jonathan Glazer (The Zone of Interest), and Yorgos Lanthimos (Poor Things) – all of their films landing in the consensus top ten (10). But the works of Pablo Larraín (El Conde), Emerald Fennell (Saltburn), and Chad Stahelski (John Wick: Chapter 4) were not duly recognized and appreciated. These three (3) films failed to even register on the TSPDT top fifty (50) – and that is frustrating given their rather obvious cinematic achievements. This is Larraín’s third (3rd) top ten film (Jackie in 2016, Spencer in 2021) and Fennell confirms that 2020’s Promising Young Woman was not the work of a one-hit wonder. Clearly, it is time to pay attention to Stahelski as an artist – not just confine him to his miraculous aptitude for stunt work or even the backhand compliments as one of the contemporary action genre’s finest directors. John Wick: Chapter 4’s cinematographer Dan Laustsen should certainly be given his credit – but even Lausten’s collaborations with Guillermo del Toro (Crimson Peak in 2015, The Shape of Water in 2017, and Nightmare Alley in 2021) may not hit the highs of his latest project with Stahelski.
from John Wick: Chapter 4 – the Osaka Continental at the 45-minute mark. Chad Stahelski nods to Lawrence of a Arabia with the blowing out of the candle on the horizon edit transition in the desert as well. The film is occasionally slowed by just the sheer amount of stunt work (even if it is virtuoso stunt work) on display – but not enough to detract from the greater accomplishment. The Japanese lanterns setting makes for a breathtaking backdrop for the duel between Caine (Donnie Yen) and Shimazu (Hiroyuki Sanada) – but really it is just one tremendous sequence in a film filled with them – one awe-inspiring set piece after another.
from the Wadi Rum desert in Jordan opening – just one of the many immaculate photographs from John Wick: Chapter 4. And the final duel is as satisfying (and elegantly composed) as anything in 2023 cinema – or the history of the action genre.
Stahelski unquestionably cares about background as much as foreground. There is a lengthy fight episode in front of the glowing glass displays of historical Japanese weapons. Later, at the 65-minute mark, there is a wide shot of the Marquis (a very game Bill Skarsgård) at the Berlin opera. The Marquis and Winston (Ian McShane) have a scene in front of a wall of paintings, and here a great arrangement in front of the Eiffel Tower.
doubling and mirroring in Emerald Fennell’s Saltburn – pairing style with content. Barry Keoghan’s Oliver envies Jacob Elordi’s Felix – his house, family, life.
There is a dazzling tracking shot when the location of Saltburn is introduced – the tour given by the Felix (Jacob Elordi) character (where Oliver’s eyes, and the camera, do not leave Felix) – that is brought back (doubled) for the bold, memorable final tracking shot.
most overrated: Todd Haynes’ May December (#3 on the consensus list), Justine Trier’s Anatomy of the Fall (#5) and Celine Song’s Past Lives (#7) are all commendable films. All three (3) are unhesitantly archiveable – but they lack the cinematic ambition to be ranked that highly among the year’s best. Past Lives is a well written story about love. Anatomy of a Fall has a superior domestic argument scene – and May December may be the best of the three – they are just told in a pragmatic fashion.
trends and notables: July 21st, 2023, is certainly the most important day in cinema for the 2020s thus far. The date marked the release of “Barbenheimer” – contending films released on the same day: Greta Gerwig’s Barbie and Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer. Both films had strong reviews from critics (neither debuted at any festival) and obviously touched something in the cultural zeitgeist. These were easily the two (2) most talked about films of the year – and both were triumphs at the box office. 2023 is the best single year in cinema since 2019. Like 2019, 2023 featured a big year at Cannes – titles like Asteroid City, Fallen Leaves, Killers of the Flower Moon, and The Zone of Interest all premiered on the French Rivera. 2023, like 2017 with Dunkirk, is a tough year for Nolan-deniers. Nolan has cemented himself with the all-time great montagists and on par with the leading auteurs of his generation. Speaking of that generation – it is fun to track the influence of say David Fincher on contemporary cinema. Oppenheimer owes a debt of gratitude to Fincher’s 2010 masterpiece with the dueling hearings and rat-a-tat dialogue. BlackBerry or Boston Strangler probably do not exist without the director who delivered The Social Network, Se7en, and Zodiac. 2023 is yet another extraordinary year for animation with Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, and then the great Hayao Miyazaki coming out of retirement for The Boy and the Heron. It is worth noting that that this superior year for animation is achieved really without much help from Disney. The underrated category gives room for budding talents like Fennell and Stahelski. Yorgos Lanthimos is no longer in this class. Lanthimos has bumped up to the next tier with his 2023 entry – Poor Things. His latest both stands alone and compliments 2018’s The Favourite –– putting Lanthimos closer to that master canon. As for Jonathan Glazer, he may not be Stanley Kubrick, Andrei Tarkovsky or Carl Theodor Dreyer, but it feels like a win for cinephiles any year he releases a film – his last film prior to 2023 was 2013’s Under the Skin – so that is a ten year gestation period – here is to hoping Glazer’s next effort lands before 2033. Overall, 2023 is a impressive year for cinema – and usually this page and category is reserved for the what was accomplished and what did come to fruition – but one of the most anticipated titles of 2023 and exciting newer voices has to be mentioned when discussing 2023. Ari Aster’s Beau is Afraid is a film ambitious in content – but not form or style – and that comes as a resounding disappointment after his previous two efforts – 2018’s Hereditary and 2019’s Midsommar.
Ben Travis from Empire on Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse “…Nowhere does that come through stronger than in Gwen’s Earth-65, all washed-out watercolours that shift seamlessly with the storytelling, her emotions blossoming into a symphony of swirling hues — pure cinematic synaesthesia. And as the film opens with an extended section in her world (this is Gwen’s film as much as it is Miles’), your mind will be blown ten times over before the opening credits even roll. It’s utterly breathtaking.” https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/spider-man-across-the-spider-verse
Gwen’s Earth-65 excerpts make for some of the finest moments in animation history
from Jonathan Glazer’s The Zone of Interest. Glazer starts and ends the film on a prolonged blank screen – dwelling on the visual emptiness and tuning the audience’s ears with the score from Mica Levi – both foreshadowing and reminding viewers of the crucial audio component of The Zone of Interest. Much of the horror is not shown – but can be heard from the Höss’ villa. The Zone of Interest is told with an icy severity – a debt to owed to both Kubrick and perhaps Michael Haneke. Glazer’s compositions are not Roma or Kubrick – but he does let the action play out in long shots without close-ups like say Jacques Tati. Like Under the Skin’s weaker van pickup handheld camera episodes – Glazer blinks here in The Zone of Interest a few times formally – there is a singular fade to red, a flash forwards to a modern day cleaning company tidying up the concentration camp, and that running infrared thread that subtracts from the greater whole. But still, there is much to praise here – including the gobsmacking frame where Rudolph (Christian Fridel) is at a Nazi gathering (one of few scenes away from that home set piece) surrounding by antlers on the wall – Glazer captures it all in one sublime painting.
gem I want to spotlight: Highlighting two (2) films here – Cord Jefferson’s debut American Fiction is a sharp satire with juicy roles for lead Jeffrey Wright (who also has a small role in Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City and continues his 2020s hot streak) and Sterling K. Brown in support. But David Fincher’s The Killer is probably the hardest film to leave off the top ten (10) of the year. Fincher employs a philosophical voice-over, chapter breaks, the violent (from an unexpected source) needle drops lyrics from The Smiths. Fincher’s work is never less than exacting – with his trademark dark lighting with green and yellow hues. The Killer also features a dedication to specific color in the mise-en-scene (the green taxi and recycling uniform/sign are no mistake). The Killer also serves as a bit of a comeback for Michael Fassbender who had a whopping thirteen (13) archiveable films from 2008 to 2016 but then nothing of particular note from 2017 to 2023 until he connected with Fincher.
after a one (1) film hiatus dabble in greyscale for 2020’s Mank – David Fincher returns to his trademark lighting and color palette for 2023’s The Killer
best performance male: Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey Jr. give the two (2) best performances of the year – and then both happen to be in the same film. Murphy plays the titular character and gets the center of Nolan’s spotlight. Murphy gets some fabulous large format 70mm/Imax close-ups – and Nolan even use changes lens focus (with an aggressive audio arrangement) as Murphy’s face acts as the backdrop for a subtle delivery of complex emotions – heavy guilt – chief amongst them. Downey’s work as Lewis Strauss is nearly as spectacular. Downey is formidable throughout – but, in particular, his verbal sparring with Alden Ehrenreich as the noose tightens around him and Strauss loses his cool – is evidence of Downey’s genius. Strauss is frothing with anger – Downey has never been better . Barry Keoghan lands amongst the best of 2023 with his work as Olivier Quick in Saltburn. Quick is Emerald Fennell’s Tom Ripley – and Keoghan is up to the task of portraying this serpentine character. Mark Ruffalo nabs the final spot for 2023 as Duncan Wedderburn in Poor Things. Ruffalo takes some big swings (Lanthimos sets up every actor in the film so well) and can confidently add comedy to his long list of competencies as an actor.
a devastating Jonathan Demme or Barry Jenkins-like close-up from Oppenheimer – these aid Cillian Murphy’s nuance performance. Nolan often opts for a shallow focus to direct the viewer to his subject’s murky psychological state.
best performance female: Emma Stone is back in this category for her work Bella Baxter in Poor Things. This is Stone’s second consecutive Lanthimos film (2018’s The Favourite) mention for this category – giving her a whopping four (4) total for her career already. Stone’s performance is in tune with Lanthimos’ bizarro-brilliant world-building – fisheye lenses of Frankenstein meets The Wild Child. 2023 is a huge year for German actress Sandra Hüller. She is in two big films: Anatomy of a Fall and The Zone of Interest – both debuted to rave reviews at Cannes (Anatomy winning the coveted Palme d’Or) and both would end up nominated for best picture at the Oscars. It is Hüller’s work in The Zone of Interest that will live on as her finest work to date and the higher-ranking of her two (2) 2023 films. in The Zone of Interest Hüller plays Hedwig Höss – a ghastly woman. Hedwig is vain – caring about her home, her garden, her minks – and unlike her visiting mother, Hedwig sleeps soundly despite what is going on just beyond her own backyard. Scarlett Johansson stands out from the rest in the ever-growing traveling band of Wes Anderson actors. Johansson plays Midge Campbell in Wes’ Asteroid City – and it is no surprise that Scarlett nails Wes Anderson’s deadpan delivery ask. Lily Gladstone gets the final mention of the year in Killers of the Flower Moon. Gladstone has excelled before (Kelly Reichardt’s 2016 effort Certain Women is evidence of her gifts) – but to walk away from Martin Scorsese’s opus with the best performance in the film – a notch above both Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro – is enough alone to warrant a spot here.
Scarlett Johansson as Midge Campbell in Asteroid City – among the finest frames of 2023
top ten
- Oppenheimer
- John Wick: Chapter 4
- Asteroid City
- Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
- Poor Things
- The Zone of Interest
- Saltburn
- Fallen Leaves
- Killers of the Flower Moon
- El Conde
Wes Anderson is moving closer to the Akira Kurosawa The Bad Sleep Well (1960) or High and Low (1963) territory with the staging of heads and bodies in the frame. Anderson also utilizes the white bungalow (pictured here) and window to create a frame within the frame – always symmetrical and designed with rich detail (look at the blue tiles on the floor in the observatory – these would serve as the background for the overhead shots). Wes Anderson loves exploring the impact of art on life – that whole dissection – but that aspect aside, the film may work better without the black and white making of a play sequences. Though by including them, it does make the color Asteroid City sequences pop – like The Wizard of Oz door opening.
from Killers of the Flower Moon – the slow motion oil blowout in the opening is a standout scene – as is the frame layout here at the 170-minute mark of Leonardo DiCaprio’s Ernest reuniting with Lily Gladstone’s Mollie
this shot is just a few minutes later – reminiscent of Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s jaw-dropping “the stare” cinematic paintings in 1974’s Ali: Fear Eats the Soul. Scorsese’s radio show epilogue is a tough choice. Still, Scorsese succeeds in his goal of telling this story – and it is a powerful one – even if, as a piece of cinema, it sits a tier or two below his best work.
from Pablo Larraín’s El Conde. The film combines violence with tongue in cheek voice over narration. It features elegant classical music and beautiful black and white photography. Luis Buñuel would have been proud of El Conde sharp attack on Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet. El Conde features great doorway frame at the 58-minute mark (another later at the 83-minute mark), the low-angle show in the pool hall at the at the 67-minute mark. The cinematographer here is Edward Lachman. And it may tell the story of two 2023 films that Lachman worked on El Conde and did not work on Todd Haynes’ May December (Lachman is the cinematographer of both Far from Heaven and Carol from Haynes).
from Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla. This is yet another accomplished entry in the storied career of Coppola. Her protagonist (Cailee Spaeny as Priscilla Presley) is insolated, isolated, affluent and stared at – thrust into an eccentric, often dangerous world she is unprepared for. This is The Virgin Suicides (1999), Lost in Translation (2003) or Marie Antoinette (2006).
Archives, Directors, and Grades
| A Haunting in Venice – Branagh | HR |
| Afire – Petzold | R |
| Air – Affleck | R |
| American Fiction – Jefferson | R |
| Anatomy of a Fall – Triet | R |
| Asteroid City – W. Anderson | MS/MP |
| Barbie – Gerwig | R |
| Beau is Afraid – Aster | R |
| BlackBerry – M. Johnson | R/HR |
| Boston Strangler- Ruskin | R |
| Dumb Money – Gillespie | R |
| Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves – Daley, Goldstein | R |
| El Conde – Larraín | HR |
| Evil Dead Rise – Cronin | R/HR |
| Extraction II – Hargrave | R/HR |
| Fair Play – Domont | R |
| Fallen Leaves – Kaurismäki | HR |
| Full Circle – Soderbergh | R |
| Infinity Pool – B. Cronenberg | R/HR |
| John Wick: Chapter 4 – Stahelski | MS/MP |
| Killers of the Flower Moon – Scorsese | HR |
| Leave the World Behind – Esmail | R |
| Maestro – B. Cooper | R |
| May December – Haynes | R |
| Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One – McQuarrie | R |
| Oppenheimer – Nolan | MP |
| Passages – Sachs | R |
| Past Lives – Song | R |
| Poor Things – Lanthimos | MS |
| Priscilla – S.Coppola | R/HR |
| Rye Lane – Allen-Miller | R |
| Saltburn – Fennell | HR/MS |
| Sharper – Caron | R |
| Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse – Dos Santos, Powers, Thompson | MS/MP |
| Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem – Rowe, Spears | R/HR |
| The Boy and the Heron – Miyazaki | R/HR |
| The Holdovers – Payne | R |
| The Killer – Fincher | HR |
| The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar – W. Anderson | R |
| The Zone of Interest – Glazer | MS |
| They Cloned Tyrone – Juel Taylor | R |
| You Hurt My Feelings – Holofcener | R |
*MP is Masterpiece- top 1-3 quality of the year film
MS is Must-See- top 5-6 quality of the year film
HR is Highly Recommend- top 10 quality of the year film
R is Recommend- outside the top 10 of the year quality film but still in the archives
*** one final note here. As of publish date here (though the page will be updated in the future of course) there are forty-two (42) archiveable films from 2023. Unfortunately, at the time of putting this page together, I was unable to get to a number of the best reviewed films of 2023 including Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World, Close Your Eyes, The Delinquents, Music, All of Us Strangers, La Chimera, About Dry Glasses.
@Drake-Did you manage to catch the two 2024 Sebastian Stan films(The Apprentice and A Different Man)? Are they good?
@Malith – great films
@Malith- Yes on A Different Man- and not yet on The Apprentice- but I will see it I’m soon sure. A Different Man is interesting- but not among the best films of the year
Love the site. Keep up the good work, Drake. Don’t know if this was asked yet, but are we getting a 2024 in review page soon? Thanks
@Haider- Appreciate the kind words about the site- I’m not sure I’m doing a 2024 page. We’ll see- still trying to get as many 2024 films as possible
Saltburn is ranked at #524 for 2023 on the TSPDT list below such titles like Scream VI, Wildcat, Pathaan, Jawaan, Last Voyage of the Demeter etc.
@Anderson- ugh- frustrating
I also still come here when my movie group does a director of the month to see what you say about them. I love this website.
@Zu- appreciate the comment and you sharing that- thank you
@Drake-Do you have any Jane Schoenbrun films in the archives?
@Lionel- I don’t think any so far
@Drake- Did you see I Saw the TV Glow?
@Lionel- I did see it- just once- certainly want to get to it again in the future
@Drake-Both I Saw the TV Glow and Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World are some of the best rated films for 2024 on Metacritic and top 10 in the TSPDT list(Do Not Expect Too Much was only released in the US in 2024 and ascended to #1 for 2023 on the TSPDT list only recently). Even Martin Scorsese praised both the two films.
https://www.indiewire.com/news/general-news/martin-scorsese-praise-jane-schoenbrun-i-saw-the-tv-glow-1235066059/
Bizzare. Cannot imagine Scorsese giving this praise to John Wick: Chapter 4. I feel like recently the critics and filmmakers too are getting more and more away from consciousness and are just heaping praise on issue based, flatly made, plotless arthouse stuff. I feel like it’s a rare W from the Academy to not even select Do Not Expect Too Much for even the shortlist for the Best Foreign Language Oscar.
@Lionel- it is interesting for sure- I have only seen the two films in question here once – so certainly could be examples of me with a swing and a miss
I just caught up with the comments—sad news, but understandable. Thank you so much for your work, Drake, and for broadening my horizons and encouraging me to think about films in a new light. I started following your site in 2021, when I moved to a new city. Your site and film recommendations have accompanied me through many weekends during otherwise lonely times.
It feels like a whole new film community has emerged from this, with active participants in the comments, on Discord, and on Letterboxd. Some have even started their own sites, inspired by what you’ve been doing. I hope you write again someday, and please don’t shut down the site just yet—there are still many years of material and films to explore here.
@Oliver- This was such a nice comment- wow- thank you- I shared it here with a few family members – means a lot. Thank you.
@Drake- Interesting list. Thanks for sharing. Was a bit surprised to see Innaritu outside of the top 200 when he is closing in on the top 100 on your current 250.
But then The top 1000 does not have his two best works so that probably plays a role.
The data is there. Now, we wait for you to mould it
@AP- Yep, fair on Innaritu- again this list here on this page is really just a data pull of the directors of the top 1000 films– so Innaritu has two films here- nothing in the top 500. Birdman, and The Revenant were not factored in yet
@James Robbins I find two website may suit your request，https://scenebygreen.com/ and https://usualmovies.wordpress.com/，hope you will find them helpful
@wp1019835118 – those two are MUST visit sites
@wp1019835118- I’d agree with you and @Harry- these websites are superb resources – I also go to https://film-grab.com all the time
Love the high grade on Branagh’s A Haunting in Venice. I recommended it and mentioned it somewhere here after watching it opening weekend. It’s a great film. The colour palette used there reminded me of Visconti’s The Damned with that green shade. I think Branagh’s Poirot films are often dismissed as disposable genre remakes when they are actually very well made and crafted. I think Murder on the Orient Express is quite strong as well. With those bookending tracking shots entering and leaving the train, the overhead shot when finding the body etc. and extremely strong acting. This imo, is one of Pffeifer’s very best performances. I also love how this has a very non Hollywood ending unlike the other two and keeps the character arcs unlike the lame Original’s happy ending with characters celebrating after killing the villain. Death on the Nile is very well made too but I thought it was a tough look compared with the Original because the Original has a much more leaner screenplay without all the rather unnecessary subplot additions in Branagh’s film. It was nice to see him getting some recognition for Belfast both at the award circuit and critically. I think The Last Disturbance of Madeleine Hynde could do very well this year too with Branagh’s Hollywood connections and a more ‘accepted’ genre.
Cause it is directed by Nolan.
They don’t care for his art.
Their loss, of course.
He makes big spectacle films. Not their type. I am curious about the methodology though because this film has earned raves all over. Wonder why it did not break through.
Truly surprising as it was No.2 on CriticsTop10 (most No.1 mentions though) and No.5 on Sight and Sound 2023. I’m a little doubtful of TSPDT’s rankings of recent years. They don’t look that accurate as the older years. For example, EEAAO is already in top 1800 but, Dunkirk even with extremely high scores and mentions is still near the 3000 mark while Lady Bird is about to enter the top 1000.
@Drake-What do you think is the reason Oppenheimer is not in the top 10 in the TSPDT list for 2023?
@drake curious to know who would you say are the best working actors/actresses currently? Imo, on the female side, an easy answer is Stone although Blanchett has also been on such a roll these past 4-5 years. On the male side, there’s Timothee but I honestly think it’s William Dafoe – he might not have leading roles but boy is he having a blast.
@Toby-Maybe Jesse Plemons.
@Toby- Totally agreed on Dafoe – such a unique, impressive stretch of work for him. Stone for sure. Hard to argue with Chalamet or Blanchett. Anya Taylor-Joy can’t be far behind.
I echo all what the others have said – this page has been so monumental to how I view films and my cinephile journey, will be forever grateful!
@Ŕueben- That’s very generous of you to say this- thank you so much
@Drake- Don’t delete it.
Every frame painting came back recently after eight years. Hopefully, it will click someday and you will have more time to post.
What you have done here is remarkable. Left a mark. It is worth keeping. Something to be very proud of. Been a huge part of my film journey and others too. Grateful for it.
@AP- Wow- thank you for saying this- truly.
Please, dont erase anything if possible. It’s where i find movies to watch, Your work is unbelievable. The best site for discover movies. C’est un devoir de culture.
@KidCharlemagne- So nice of you to say this – thank you
2024 in the near future??
@wingnutzredux75- Appreciate you visiting the site and the interest in the 2024 page. I don’t think I’m close to a 2024. For one, I’m just not 100% sure there will be any new posts. I may just keep the site alive in hopes of picking it up one day, or maybe just kill it altogether – I don’t know. Also, I still have a lot to see for 2024. I think I’m missing 4 of the 10 on the criticstop10 and 5 or so on the TSPDT 2024 top 10 list. I’ve had my head down with a Gene Hackman marathon lately.
@Drake – what could be gained from killing the site altogether?
@Harry- just sort of saying goodbye to it – I think I started it about 10 years ago. I don’t think I will. I think its more likely I keep it going and post infrequently.
If you do decide to kill it give us a heads up so we can back it up before. The site has been my ‘cinema tour guide’ for 5 years, would be a colossal loss if it disappeared without a trace
@Matthew- Thank you for saying this- I shouldn’t have said anything- I don’t have any plans to kill it- I was just thinking out loud- I feel bad I don’t have the time to dedicate to it right now
I like others have said really appreciate the work you have put into this. Would be so sad if you are done with it but obviously understand that life happens and it can’t continue forever. One small request, I remember you saying you had the top 250 directors list finished, but just hadn’t had the time to create the director pages. Any chance you could just publish the list without creating director pages? Also, curious if there are other similar film sites like this you could recommend if you are truly done with this one. I know TSPDT, but wondering if there are other critic sites like this.
@James Robbins- appreciate the kind words- I have a big Excel table that doesn’t really fit sending in the comments sections. We’ll see- maybe I can find a way. As far as other sites- I like Worldofreel for news, I still think davidbordwell.net is a great resource. I check out criticstop10.com in the Dec-Jan timeframe. I use metacritic (though find it harder to user), and Rotten Tomatoes.
@Drake – if it won’t fit in the comments couldn’t you post it as a just a standalone list page like the top 1000 films?
@Harry- it is rougher than I thought- this is NOT the list- this is just the raw data- points, this is what I would use to put together the list. Still interesting I guess- but again- really rough draft:
1. Bergman
2. hitchcock
3. kurosawa
4. Scorsese
5. ozu
6. Kubrick
7. godard
8. ford
9. lang
10. welles
11. coen
12. fellini
13. visconti
14. tarkovsky
15. antonioni
16. f. coppola
17. kieslowski
18. polanski
19. spielberg
20. Wong Kar-wai
21. allen
22. paul thomas anderson
23. altman
24. Mizoguchi
25. Ophüls
26. hawks
27. malick
28. powell
29. lynch
30. Cronenberg
31. bunuel
32. fassbinder
33. S. Ray
34. renoir
35. tarantino
36. truffaut
37. wyler
38. Leone
39. dreyer
40. imamura
41. jarmusch
42. murnau
43. eisenstein
44. Fincher
45. tarr
46. rossellini
47. W. Anderson
48. lean
49. von trier
50. michael mann
51. Kobayashi
52. keaton
53. gilliam
54. pasolini
55. de palma
56. de sica
57. Cuaron
58. Hsiao-Hsien Hou
59. bresson
60. chaplin
61. greenaway
62. almodovar
63. spike lee
64. aronofsky
65. Yimou Zhang
66. haneke
67. von sternberg
68. Nolan
69. Kalatozov
70. eastwood
71. lumet
72. davies
73. melville
74. bertolucci
75. Resnais
76. wise
77. linklater
78. s. coppola
79. Wilder
80. roeg
81. N. Ray
82. Jeunet
83. varda
84. Pakula
85. griffith
86. tati
87. Sirk
88. capra
89. Sjöström
90. m nichols
91. mcqueen
92. r. Scott
93. walsh
94. Demy
95. roy Andersson
96. herzog
97. fleming
98. Wenders
99. peckinpah
100. Dardenne
101. vidor
102. Park Chan-wook
103. Preminger
104. von Stroheim
105. P. Sturges
106. Campion
107. edward yang
108. cameron
109. argento
110. Wachowski
111. dutt
112. Huston
113. Weerasethakul
114. fuller
115. Cimino
116. ruiz
117. refn
118. reed
119. friedkin
120. stone
121. Clouzot
122. fosse
123. Cassavetes
124. soderbergh
125. Mendes
126. Lucas
127. Suzuki
128. carpenter
129. Cukor
130. joe wright
131. Pawlikowski
132. Duvivier
133. Minnelli
134. haynes
135. Forman
136. leigh
137. akerman
138. Egoyan
139. Mungiu
140. jackson
141. Bong Joon-ho
142. vigo
143. A. Penn
144. A. Penn
145. clair
146. Whale
147. boorman
148. Schrader
149. Kazan
150. Tourneur
151. Losey
152. WELLMAN
153. Minghella
154. lubitsch
155. wiene
156. van sant
157. Demme
158. Zemeckis
159. Dolan
160. roy hil
161. Ramsay
162. curtiz
163. A. Mann
164. Dominik
165. Bondarchuk
166. Cocteau
167. Borzage
168. Stevens
169. Zulawski
170. ashby
171. Beatty
172. A. Lee
173. Glazer
174. Reygadas
175. Carne
176. Donen
177. Schlesinger
178. del Toro
179. Scola
180. Furie
181. Luhrmann
182. K. Russell
183. malle
184. carax
185. Klimov
186. Pabst
187. Mamoulian
188. rosenberg
189. Kershner
190. gondry
191. gondry
192. Zinnemann
193. Kiarostami
194. Laughton
195. jonze
196. clayton
197. Proyas
198. boyle
199. tom hooper
200. Kaurismäki
201. Siodmak
202. Rossen
203. Kinoshita
204. Jancsó
205. Wajda
206. Iñárritu
207. clement
208. potter
209. Gray
210. Sorrentino
211. Frankenheimer
212. Fujita
213. Miyazaki
214. Loach
215. Jodorowsky
216. Weir
217. Noé
218. Feuillade
219. Lanthimos
220. Pontecorvo
221. lewis
222. Romero
223. Mackendrick
224. cox
225. Pastrone
226. Kon
227. Lee Chang-dong
228. Villeneuve
229. Meirelles
230. Tykwer
231. Ramis
232. Siegel
233. H. Ross
234. Harron
235. Darabont
236. Ming-liang Tsai
237. Shinoda
238. Richardson
239. Kassovitz
240. Kasdan
241. Vinterberg
242. Mankiewicz
243. McTiernan
244. Cianfrance
245. Ulmer
246. Rohmer
247. Bogdanovich
248. Olivier
249. Aldrich
250. burton
251. Kenton
252. hopper
253. Bava
254. Greengrass
255. Rafelson
256. Pollack
257. Cooper, Schoedsack
258. Ferrara
259. singer
260. Hanson
261. Rivette
262. G. Miller
263. Dassin
264. Schaffner
265. Berlanga
266. p. yates
267. Dayton, Faris
268. Milestone
269. Reichardt
270. korine
271. Parajanov
272. Kim Ki-duk
273. O. Russell
274. Farhadi
275. Hogg
276. woo
277. leni
278. Taktahata
279. Maté
280. ivory
281. Olmi
282. Corman
283. Hughes
284. baumbach
285. C. Kaufman
286. Berkeley
287. Singh
288. Kechiche
289. F. Miller, Rodriguez
290. levinson
291. Sokurov
292. Montgomery
293. sayles
294. Payne
295. Selick
296. J. Sturges
297. E. Wright
298. Ayoade
299. Boetticher
300. McCarey.
301. R. Kelly
302. winterbottom
303. Hamer
304. Hand
305. Allers, Minkoff
306. Foley
307. Robinson
308. Goulding
309. Lelouch
310. Christensen
311. Franju
312. frears
313. j nichols
314. Schatzberg
315. Bigelow
316. Hamilton
317. Fisher
318. Berri
319. Panahi
320. LeRoy
321. Menzel
322. parker
323. Gance
324. Polonsky
325. browning
326. Naruse
327. Teshigahara
328. mackenzi
329. D. Yates
330. Gutiérrez Alea
331. Pudovkin
332. hudson
333. denis
334. peterson
Still very glad you put that out there. I like doing director studies and I’ve been using TSPDT, but the lack of modern directors is a little annoying. Even though this is a rough draft I think it’s a very solid list and honestly better than TSPDT’s
@James Robbins- Thank you for saying that- hate sending a rough draft- but this is old now already
@Drake – brilliant! Thanks so much for posting this.
I am assuming this is based off the top 1000 data and doesn’t take things into account like achievable film count and level of style-plusness? Or am I wrong?
@Harry- 100%
@James Robbins-Much better. Doesn’t TSPDT have Celine Sciamma and Claire Denis in their top 50? And there are a ton of weird issue based (feminism, race) placements there as well.
@Drake it’s a very solid list even as a draft. Are there any directors here with only a single archivable film, or do they all have multiple entries?
@DeclanG- thank you- there are many directors with just a single archiveable film
@Drake – any new revelations with Hackman? He is probably one of my 5-6 favorite actors of all time.
I read an article that stated he was voted “least likely to succeed” by his classmates at the Pasadena Playhouse and was later expelled for “not having talent”.
@James Trapp- No big revelations- I’ve spent a lot of time watching Hackman over the years. I mention it on his page- but he’s just one of the great yellers-haha. He is so good at playing power- often corrupt.
@Drake – Have you seen David Mamet’s film Heist (2001)? Admittingly, it is light on cinematic moments but the performances, screenplay, and writing are top notch. It is classic Hackman, and because it Mamet it is full of gems like:
So, is he going to be cool?
“My motherfuc*er is so cool, when he goes to bed, sheep count him.”
“Everybody needs money. That’s why they call it money.”
“Don’t you want to hear my last words? I just did”
@James Trapp- I have seen Heist- but I think it was 2001 in theater- so yeah, good time to check it out again when it streams somewhere next
@Drake-What are the Radu Jude films in the archives?
@Lionel- just one I believe- Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn
@Drake-Didn’t you manage to catch Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World (2023)? #1 for 2023 on the TSPDT list.
@Lionel- I did see it- how about you? Did you manage to catch that one?
@Drake- I did not see Do Not Expect Too Much… Does this mean it missed the archives altogether?
Interesting. Critics must be out of their damn mind to rank this as the best film of 2023.
@Lionel- that’s correct- it missed the archives. I don’t know about out of their damn mind- I’ve only seen it once, but it is fair to say I didn’t see the reasons for such praise- after the first viewing at least.
@Drake- Did you manage to catch Perfect Days (2023) from Wim Winders? Oscar nominated for Best Foreign Language Film
@Drake- Have you managed to catch Guy Ritchie’s Operation Fortune – Ruse de Guerre (2023)?
– One of the better Jason Statham vehicles
– It is ripping off Mission Impossible and this is here is a deep cast including Statham, Hugh Grant(billionaire), Cary Elwes(handling boss), Eddie Marsan(Government boss), Josh Hartnett(actor), Aubrey Plaza(Tech expert) etc.
– The release was pushed a year due to the film involving Ukrainian terrorists and wasn’t a success at the Box Office on a $50M budget
– The premise is basically just like Mission Impossible with a robbery happening and a team is assembled to hunt down the stolen goods
– It’s another out of control gonzo performance from Aubrey Plaza just like Megalopolis. Truly meme worthy. Seems out of place here. Among the deadpan British humor. Hard to buy as a tech expert as well.
– Hugh Grant steals his scenes and the whole movie. The movie goes up a notch when he is on screen. Cary Elwes is very fine as well (how does these late 80’s, 90’s heartthrobs still look so good in their 60’s?). Josh Hartnett is funny (Is this the one that started the Hartnettaissance?).
– There is a lot of parallel editing in here. Although I do not like the cutting of sound during the opening heist. The film is more focused on being cool than danger/stakes. Makes the film weaker.
– Multiple uses of close ups on lips on a microphone just like John Wick: Chapter 4.
– There are some nice frames from Ritchie here. In luxurious locations. And consistent use of establishing shots for multiple locations in red fonts.
– A very creative way to film a shootout using a well designed window frame from outside the hotel.
– Worth watching
https://imgur.com/a/BsViX9T
@Malith- nope, I have not caught Operation Fortune
@Drake-Have you seen Society of the Snow(2023)? Foreign Language Film Oscar nominee.
@Malith- yes, I’ve seen Society of the Snow
@Drake- I have two questions.
1. Where do you generally watch movies if not in cinema?
Is laptop a good option if not a tv with blue ray player?
2. Around what age did you begin to watch movies seriously (as a cinephile) and if you started when you were quite young early 20s maybe, how did you go about getting old movies in best quality and biggest screen available?
@M*A*S*H
1. I’ve invested in a pretty decent home theater. I do have a bluray player- but certainly stream my fair share from the normal players of streaming services.
2. I think I was always interested in movies- I started knocking out the original AFI top 100 list when I was 16 to 18 and sort of look at movies differently at that time I guess. I studied film in college and that’s when I really went into it collecting VHS then dvd and tracking everything. I do try to watch what I can on the best quality possible- but I try not to be a snob about people watching films on a laptop or phone (even if I don’t, personally). I will walk away from a movie and wait if the quality just isn’t great for whatever reason.
Not sure if that answers your question
@Drake- this absolutely answers my question.
I have a smart tv with great screen to which I used to connect my phone but now I cannot as it’s hardware is destroyed maybe but I stopped watching movies on it altogether because I live with my family and there were disturbances while i watched.
So what do you suggest, i get it made and try to watch movies on it at times when there are is least disturbance or a decent laptop with good display would do just fine?
I too got seriously into movies when I was 19 about 4 years. I’ve always suffered a lack of great enough screen and environment. I’ll invest in home theatre and blue ray for sure some day.
I’d say films are not only expensive medium of art to produce but also to consume. A book in comparison is easier to access like we might be reading the exact same penguin edition of a book that a billionaire is probably reading.
@Drake-What are the archivable films do you have for Bill Skarsgard?
@Lionel- could be missing a few – but here’s what I have
2012- Anna Karenina
2017- Atomic Blonde
2020- The Devil All the Time
2022- Barbarian
2023- John Wick: Chapter 4
2024- Nosferatu
@Drake – what grade are you leaning toward for Nosferatu (2024)?
@James Trapp- still sort of digesting- but it is brilliant. among the handful of the best films of 2024 for sure
Is Cillian Murphy-Robert Downey Jr. in Oppenheimer the 2020’s answer to Joaquin Phoenix-Phillip Seymour Hoffman in The Master?
@Malith – both absolutely amazing performances but as great as the combined performances of Murphy and Downey Jr. are I do not believe it is quite to the same level
In regards to the supporting role there is a notable difference in screen time; Downey Jr. has 24 minutes of screen time in a 3 hour film. PSH is on the screen for nearly half the film.
And for importantly in The Master (2012) many of the best acting sequences feature Joaquin Phoenix and Phillip Seymour Hoffman’s characters playing off each other. The processing scene, the intense jail scene, their final scene where PSH sings (‘d Like to Get You on a) Slow Boat to China. These represent many of the best scenes in the film and again it is the interaction between their very different characters that make these scenes so memorably distinct
While they do share the screen, many of Downey Jr. best moments are sequences without Murphy. And vice versa, as many of Murphy’s greatest moments are without Downey Jr.
@Malith and @James Trapp- really well done by James here
*And more importantly
Did Inside Out 2, Wicked and Gladiator 2 made the archives? 2024 was a rough year at the Box-Office compared to 2023 outside Dune: Part Two. 2023 had Barbie, Oppenheimer, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning and John Wick: Chapter 4.
Add Mufasa: The Lion King and Beetlejuice Beetlejuice to that crop of Gladiator 2, Wicked and Inside Out 2. Did these made the archives?
@Anderson- Haven’t seen them all yet- the best of what I’ve seen here is Inside Out 2
@Drake-What did you not see out of these? I’m especially curious about Wicked given the enormous attention given to it. Did Inside Out 2 make the archives?
@Drake-What are the archivable films do you have for Andrew Scott? He is having a career peak now.
@Lionel- unvetted:
2008- John Adams
2014- Pride
2019- 1917
2023- All Us Strangers
2024- Ripley
@Drake-Thanks. I just want to point out he was in Saving Private Ryan in 1998. So, he has been around for ages. Before finally getting lead roles in 2023/2024 with All of Us Strangers and Ripley.
@Lionel- thanks for the heads up- yes, if his details were mentioned on a post I’d cross reference and have this
@Drake-Do you plan to release your 2024 list before the Academy Awards? Even just a condensed list with just the top 10 and the archivable film list.
@Anderson – I do not have any current plans to do a 2024 page or list- that could change. But right now I’m trying to see as many films as I can (caught 39 in January) and am sweeping by the comments for a few minutes a day