I couldn’t think of a better way to return from hiatus than catching up on the best cinematic experiences 2023 has had to offer midway through the year. As is tradition, I’ll be counting down my favorite films of the year released from January through June.

Outside of the date range caveat I’ll also instate a rule on myself. I won’t include any of the great films I saw at this years Sundance Film Festival that have yet to be released. You can find my rapid fire spoiler free reviews from the festival here. Let’s get to it!

Honorable Mentions:

• Infinity Pool
• Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
• The Flash (yeah I said it)

#10: No Hard Feelings

Recency bias be damned, I was so happy see an R rated studio comedy with a big movie star out in cinemas. It feels like it’s from a different time and that makes me so sad to say. Anyways, No Hard Feelings isn’t the most riotous comedy you’ll see but you will have a lot of fun seeing it. The performances and physical comedy are great, the leads have fantastic chemistry despite what the script asks for. J Law gives it her all in this and I commend her so much for the commitment. Go out and support comedies in cinemas folks I promise you’ll have a good time with this one and feel great afterwards.

#9: Air

My boy Benny Affleck returns in front and behind the camera to direct Air, the next great Dad movie. That’s not a dig at Affleck’s prestigious writing and directing background, I legitimately enjoy a vast array of Dad flicks and I’m happy to see him add another to his repertoire. Air tells the story of how Nike signed Michael Jordan to his life long contract with them. We all know what’s going to happen beat by beat before the opening credits roll, but it doesn’t matter. The script is tight with a star studded A-List cast giving meaningful and believable performances that uplift you, despite the predetermined outcome. Never did I think a movie about Michael Jordan, that doesn’t include Michael Jordan in it, would work so well.

#8: A Thousand and One

Abbreviated excerpt from my Sundance Review: Teyana Taylor (in a breakout performance) plays Inez, a young mother released from prison that follows her abandoned son around New York, who is now in the foster care system. After a solemn reuniting, she steals her son back and goes on the run to make up for all the time missed. This is a sprawling drama that goes from the early 90s – 2000’s with immensely deep performances and writing all around. Everything from the clothes, the music, the color palettes/cinematography are perfect for the time periods they’re set in. There are many aspects of A Thousand and One that remind me of Best Picture Winner Moonlight, and I expect that come awards season next year, this one may be in the conversation.

#7: Evil Dead Rise

As far as I’m concerned, the Evil Dead franchise has never made a bad film. I’m a life long fan of the series and I was not disappointed with Evil Dead Rise. Originally meant to be a straight to HBO film, you can feel the quaintness of the story, but it does not take away from the experience. If anything, it may add to the tension. Getting out of the woods and into a decrepit Los Angeles apartment for a gory, demon crazed, torture & slaughter-fest was just the boost Evil Dead needed to do something new while sticking to the formula that makes it great. Kudos to the team for also bringing back an important piece that’s been missing from horror; really really dumb characters leading the thing. There was not a single character in this film that ever made the right decision and the results were all the better for it.

#6: Creed III

Michael B. Jordan makes his directorial debut with Creed III, once again returning to his Rocky spin off franchise. Jordan infuses his love of anime into the fights in this latest entry, and the bold moves truly work in ways I would have never expected. These are very memorable cinematic fights that brings a completely new style to the game. This one comes very close to the heights and emotions of Ryan Coogler’s original. Jonathon Majors gives another stellar performance in this, which if his recent controversies are proven true, sadly this pretty great film will fall by the wayside. But it’s definitely worth your time if you’re a fan of Creed or boxing films in general.

#5: Asteroid City

I’m a diehard Wes Anderson fan and yes I do hate the TikTok & AI trends “emulating” his work. But worse than that, I’ve been really down since I had a very lukewarm reaction to his last film, The French Dispatch. I’m happy to say that Asteroid City sees him return to form tackling; aliens, themes about the pandemic, and of course missing parents. The cast is so disgustingly impressive I will not mention a single name as I’ll just get caught into a vortex unable to name others. The more I sit on this one, the more it means to me. The framing device was a bit overwhelming for me but after a rewatch I have a feeling this one will shift on this list, but I don’t know which direction yet. For now I’m very happy with what we got.

#4- John Wick Chapter 4

There’s not many words to be said, somehow the trajectory of the John Wick franchise continued upward, with a new masterful entry in the saga. I sincerely doubt Lionsgate will stop here with how successful this film was, but I really hope they do. 3 hours of balls to the wall immaculate stunt work and incredible cinematography. Please please please let the Baba Yaga rest with a perfect send off to his cinematic journey. Keanu Reeves will always be the greatest action film star in the history of time to me, and this movie is a true achievement in his catalog.

#3: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

Marvel movies have been absolute trash in their latest phase, but James Gunn is the exception with his return to give these characters we love the final outing they deserve. This movie subverts expectations in so many ways but appreciate most of those choices. The animal cruelty and murder was tough to handle, I don’t know a single person that has seen it that didn’t cry their eyes out. But that’s the beauty of great stories, they make you feel things. Centering the final Guardians film on Rocket Raccoon was the visceral and meaningful experience we all needed. I’m so pleased they landed the Milano on this one.

#2: Past Lives

This was the hot ticket at Sundance I wasn’t able to get to, but luckily A24 didn’t take long to release this astounding work of art into cinemas. Past Lives tells the story of 2 childhood Korean friends, whose bond is broken when at 12 years old, Nora and her family immigrate to North America. Despite the separation, their strong feelings for each other continue for decades onward. We see the characters connect at 12, 24, and 36 years old each having a new perspective and way of life with each check in. It’s reminiscent of Richard Linklater’s Before Trilogy, only it’s all told in one stellar film. This very easily can/may be my #1 pick, and it’s by far the most meaningful story I’ve seen to date in 2023.

#1: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Every once in a while be it sports, art, technology etc, something comes around that you witness and think: “boy things are never going to be the same again.” That’s how I felt with 2018’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. It was the most astounding thing I’d seen at that point, and animation has truly not been the same since with every studio trying desperately to emulate what they did on that picture. Somehow someway, the filmmakers made a sequel that I’d describe as Into the Spider-Verse on heroine amped up 100x. The results had my jaw on the floor from start to finish. In short, I believe this film is the greatest achievement in the history of animation. It will be studied in art classes around the world for the next 100 years. Outside of what they were able to achieve visually with the help of thousands of filmmakers, it’s also a damn good story. This film is the Empire Strikes Back of our time and I say that without an ounce of hyperbole.

So that’s it for the first half of 2023. You may have noticed there’s a shitload of sequels on this list, which is not something you’d typically see on my writings. I don’t know if this is a good or bad thing, but I have no doubt the 2nd half of the year is where all the gold is at. See you then stay tuned on the site for new reviews in the coming weeks!