In my opinion, 2023 was a pretty mid movie year with some outstanding performances. Although I haven’t seen every movie that was released, I got to watch 14 total movies this year. And here’s my personal top five favorite list. 

5. Ghosted

Ghosted was a movie that I didn’t know was coming out and just decided to watch anyway. The Ana De Armas Chris Evan’s duo was perfect for the movie. The flow of the movie was really good and I can always appreciate a good action movie. It also had a good amount of comedy to balance the movie out. 

4. Puss and Boots: The Last Wish

This movie was more nostalgic for me considering I loved the movie when I was younger. The storyline was very well written and the ending ties off the story very well. Also the story lines of all three antagonists ended perfectly. As well as the animation style changing during different scenes ties off the movie well. My only nitpick about the movie was the absence of a real fairy tale being told. Yes the characters were all original characters, but the story itself isn’t something I would tell a kid before bed, it’s still a great story nonetheless 

3. Oppenheimer 

I’m a really big fan of Christopher Nolan and his work. That’s why I believe Oppenheimer is where it is on this list. It shows insight to a part of history that nowadays gets swept over. The cinematography is great and so was the sound. Overall one of my favorite movies in the list due to that. The main reason it isn’t higher is because it was rated R and most people probably didn’t understand the timeline. 

2. Gran Turismo

Maybe it’s because I’m a car nerd or because I grew up playing the game but this might have been my favorite based on a true story movie that has come out recently. I really like racing movies and I was really happy with this movie doing as well as it did. 

1. Across the Spider Verse 

Personally, it’s my favorite movie that came out this year. I love the spider verse series and its art style and the way that colors are used just fit the story of Miles Morales better than any other animation style. The only thing I can comment on is the fact that it’s the first part to a two part movie. And we got left on a cliffhanger. 

A couple of honorable mentions of this year would be the Super Mario movie because it was a really big movie that came out this year. And of course the Barbie movie, because it wouldn’t be a proper list if I didn’t mention it.  Overall I am really excited for 2024 and the upcoming movies to be released.