The year that shook up Hollywood has come to a close, and the movies that defined it were certainly a far different band than usual. The year of 2023 will probably be less remembered for it’s movies and more for the behind the scenes drama that played out for all of us to see. The labor strikes that brought the industry to a halt were undoubtedly the defining moment of the year, with Hollywood having to confront the realities of it’s future, with the creatives asserting their concern over the disproportionate wealth distribution based on the profits made from streaming as well as the threat of AI taking over the work done by real people in the cinematic arts. The studios dragged their feet on the negotiations, and the results of that refusal to meet the reasonable demands of the guilds will ripple through the industry for years to come. As a result, the usually jam packed late season Awards push feels a bit lighter this year than in the past, as many films got pushed back into the next couple years in order to fill that void created by the strikes. Even still, a lot of movies still managed to make it to the theaters, and overall box office was up compared to last year (though still lagging behind the pre-pandemic numbers). A large part of that was due to some unexpected hits, like the unusually high response to video game movies like The Super Mario Bros Movie and Five Nights at Freddy’s and of course the whole “Barbenheimer” movement. This year also showed us that once dominant box office brands like Marvel, Fast And the Furious, and Transformers are not so quite as resilient as we thought. To mark the start of 2024 at the movies, it is time to close the door on the year before as I share my picks for the Top Ten movies of the year, as well as my bottom Five. This was a difficult year to be honest, as I did have a good sampling of movies to choose from, but there wasn’t that one that rose above all instantly like I had seen in past years. The race to number one for this year was honestly a photo finish, as a couple films made solid arguments to be up there. But, I have compiled my final numbers based on some last minute re-watches.
Before I make my countdown of the Top Ten, here are a few movies that nearly made my list, and I strongly recommend that you see them too because they are all worth watching: American Fiction, Air, All of Us Strangers, Creed III, Dumb Money, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, A Haunting in Venice, The Iron Claw, Killers of the Flower Moon, John Wick Chapter 4, The Little Mermaid (2023), The Marvels, Priscilla, Shazam: Fury of the Gods, Showing Up, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, and Wonka. So, with all that, let’s take a look at my picks for the Top Ten Movies of 2023.
10.
ORIGIN
Directed by Ava DuVernay
It’s a very difficult trick to turn an essay into a drama. But Ava DuVernay managed to make that work in her new feature adapted from the book “Caste: The Origin of Our Discontents” by journalist and author Isabel Wilkerson. Part biography, part video essay, DuVernay’s wide-reaching film is a captivating exploration of the roots of everything from racially motivated murders, to the rise of fascism, to the class divisions that still exist today in places like India. DuVernary has a strong background in documentary filmmaking, with her Oscar-nominated 13th (2016) standing out as a great example of a non-fiction film that had the immediate visceral impact of a narrative film. Here she does the opposite just as effectively, showing a dramatization of real peoples lives all weaving together to feel as informative and provocative as a documentary would. The movie takes us through the steps of building a thesis and finding the facts to support that argument, and does so in a grounded and un-sensationalized way that you really feel like you are on this road of discovery with the author herself, piecing the truth together with her. Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor gives a fantastic performance as Isabel Wilkerson, perfectly conveying her curiosity and intelligence on screen. Ava DuVernay also does an incredible job of weaving together multiple vignettes of all the historical evidence that Isabel uncovers along the way, with strong attention to period detail from multiple time periods and varying cultures. I was lucky to have caught this on a brief awards qualification run here in Los Angeles before it goes nationwide in a couple weeks. For someone like me interested in history and the dots that are connected with the present that help us to understand the issues of our time a lot better, this movie was an eye opening experience. It is also a strong reminder of how good Ava DuVernay is at making thought provoking cinema, with this being her strongest and most original effort yet.
9.
BLACKBERRY
Directed by Matt Johnson
One of the most unusual film trends of the last year was the surprisingly robust number of movies based on the history of corporate brands or products. There was the movie Air, which showed how Nike landed Michael Jordan and changed the history of sportswear. Apple released the movie Tetris, which showed how the game of falling blocks was able to escape the clutches of the Soviet Union. And Flaming Hot, showed how a janitor was able to introduce the most popular flavor of Cheetos to the world. While each one had their own interesting story to tell, the all still had one thing in common; it all lead to a happy outcome. But there was one movie based on the history of a product that worked a little differently and in the end tells a much more compelling story. Blackberry of course shows the history of the rise of the famous handheld device that at one time was the most widely used electronic accessory in the world. But what makes the movie Blackberry so great is that it also shows the flip side of that story, chronicling the inevitable downfall of the corporation that was ahead of the curve until it wasn’t. The standout in this movie is Glenn Howerton of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia fame, playing one of the most explosive corporate sharks ever on screen. His magnificently unhinged performance is dynamite in this film, and much of the thrill of this movie is seeing just how far off the deep end he will go. His volcanic performance is perfectly balanced off of Jay Baruchel’s understated performance as the mechanical genius who built the original device, but lacked the foresight to help him pivot when the market shifted. It’s nice to see success stories play out on film, but it’s also fascinating to watch a company implode and fall off based on a series of terrible decisions. The movie as directed by Matt Johnson, who also plays a key supporting role in the film, does a fantastic job of showing each and every bad choice that these corporate figures made, and it’s a captivating and often funny fall from grace, especially going in with the hindsight of where Blackberry ultimately ended up. And in a year where these corporate brand stories wanted us to feel inspired by the adversity of their success, it was nice to see Blackberry remind us that corporate failure is another story worth telling, and in many ways is a far more honest look at the way the world works.
8.
BARBIE
Directed by Greta Gerwig
The movie that saved the Summer 2023 box office, along with a certain 3 hour drama based on a nuclear physicist. We are going to be studying the peculiar phenomenon that was “Barbenheimer” for years to come, but regardless of how unexpected the moment was, there was one thing that certainly played a part in making the unlikely double feature as big a deal as it was; both movies were very good. In fact, they were among the years best, and were deserving of their box office riches. The biggest movie of them all, Barbie, could be considered yet another brand based movie to go along with the others that I mentioned, but it’s different because this was wasn’t a movie about the history of the doll. Director and co-writer Greta Gerwig used the iconography of the Barbie doll line to tell a much different kind of story. Through this high-concept fantasy story where Barbie journeys from Barbieland into the real world, Greta crafts this surprisingly nuanced exploration of themes about feminism, patriarchy, the corporatization of gender ideals, and identity itself. And she does so with an incredible sense of humor along the way. I absolutely love the way that Greta and her co-writer and real life partner Noah Baumbach dissect the “battle of the sexes” attitude that prevails through much of our culture and explains how Barbie herself has played a factor in it, while at the same time having fun with the whole Barbie “pink-colored” iconography. Margot Robbie really shines as “stereotypical” Barbie, with a surprisingly heartfelt character exploration along the way. She is also matched perfectly with Ryan Gosling’s hilarious take on Ken, easily the funniest performance of the year. Ken’s show-stopping musical number may be the best single cinematic sequence of 2023. And what I also love is that this movie really silenced the annoying “go woke, go broke” chorus, as this undeniably “woke” movie ended up being the biggest moneymaker of the year. And for that alone, Barbie is a genuine winner. Greta Gerwig, with only her third feature as a director, made history this year, and did so without compromising her voice or her courage to speak her mind. And the fact that she made it so much fun along the way shows that she will be a filmmaking force to reckon with. And that’s good Kenough.
7.
MAESTRO
Directed by Bradley Cooper
Perhaps the most Oscar-baity of all the movies on this list, this sumptuous biopic of famed composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein is nevertheless a magnificent cinematic experience. The movie has been in the works for over a decade, initially started as a directorial vehicle for Martin Scorsese, then passed along for time to Steven Spielberg, before eventually being picked up and completed under the direction of Bradley Cooper, who also plays Bernstein in the film (Spielberg and Scorsese still contributed as producers). Working behind the camera for the second time after 2018’s A Star is Born, Maestro is Cooper’s more audacious effort as a filmmaker, showing him taking more creative chances and playing around with form to create a truly dynamic portrayal of his subject’s life. The movie is beautifully shot, almost re-creating with perfect detail the look of the kinds of movies that would have been made during the time periods in which the movie takes place. The movie showcases 3 different time periods in Bernstein’s life and they all feel like time capsules of cinematic style; the formative years of the 1950’s in beautiful black and white, the transformative 1970’s in a muted color palette, and the twilight 1980’s in bold, primary colors. Bradley’s performance as Bernstein may take some getting used to, because it’s definitely a more caricatured part for him, but he does a fine job of creating Bernstein as this creative force on screen. The highlight of the film, however, is Carey Mulligan in the role of his wife, Felicia, in yet another performance that shows everyone just how transformative Mulligan can be in any role, proving she is one of the best of her generation. Seeing where she takes this character in the movie is profound and at times heartbreaking, and she commands every moment. I also love that Bradley Cooper forgoes any original musical score, and instead uses Bernstein’s own music to carry the film. I saw this movie at the newly remodeled Egyptian Theater in Hollywood, and the acoustics of that storied venue made the music used in the movie all the more magnificent. Hopefully people are able to get that same feeling on their own home system, as this Netflix made film is not widely screened in theaters. It may be old fashioned in an Oscar bait kind of way, but it is the best kind of Oscar bait as well.
6.
ASTEROID CITY
Directed by Wes Anderson
Wes Anderson is, and continues to be an uncompromising filmmaker. His films have become increasingly stylized with an aesthetic that can definitely be said is all his own. But, this kind of artistic styling also makes him an acquired taste for many audiences. Thankfully, I enjoy most of his work, though my opinion of his films varies more so on the strength of his storytelling than his visual flair, which I like consistently in every film. I’m very happy to say that Asteroid City is one of his best narrative films in years on top of being one of his most visually inventive. The movie has this Inception like structure where the narrative plays out for us in different layers of reality. We see the story of a quiet desert town that has a peculiar encounter with extra-terrestrial life, which Anderson casts in a bright, colorful, almost story book like palette. And then we see that the whole thing is a stage show, which it’s own creation is being dramatized through a TV recreation. This Russian doll style of layered storytelling makes for a compelling experience and it’s one of Anderson’s richest films to date because of that; almost like he’s dissecting the very art of storytelling itself and examining how experiences in life find their way into art. All the while, Anderson makes the whole thing charming and more importantly hilarious along the way, in his typical dry sort of way. He brings back a lot of his frequent stable of actors (though noticeably absent one Bill Murray), and he even perfectly incorporates some first timers into his weird little world, like Tom Hanks, Maya Hawke, and Matt Dillon. And of course as typical with the best of Wes Anderson movies, the best entertainment to be found is seeing all the little details that he throws into the backgrounds of each scene; some of which may take extra viewings to catch. It’s refreshing to see Wes Anderson still finding new interesting ways to tell his stories, while at the same time maintaining his unique visual style.
5.
POOR THINGS
Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos
Like I said in my preview of the Fall 2023 movies, the arrival of a new film from Yorgos Lanthimos can often be a flip of the coin depending how you respond to it. For me personally, I have experienced both extremes. I have found myself hating one of his films (The Lobster) as well as loving one of his films (The Favourite). Thankfully with his newest film Poor Things, I found myself in the latter camp. Yorgos created what might be very well the most unique movie of the year. Honestly, I don’t think there has been any movie that looks like this one, or is even thematically like this one. It really is in a class of it’s own. Yorgos re-teams with his Favourite leading lady Emma Stone and creates this wonderfully quirky spin on Frankenstein with a visual flair that defies explanation. Stone is remarkable as a new brain in a woman’s body experiencing life anew, and creating chaotic results in her wake. One of the things that I think has really helped Yorgos Lanthimos as a filmmaker has been teaming up with screenwriter Tony McNamara, whose writing style meshes with Yorgos’ visual style perfectly. McNamara, who also wrote The Favourite as well as the Hulu series The Great, just has this way of making shocking and vulgar statements in his script sound as classy as an English garden party, and there are some laugh out loud whoppers that come out the mouth of Emma Stone in this movie. I was worried about the odd visual style of the movie, thinking it looked a little too close to terrible AI generated art, but seeing it in context makes it all feel more appropriate for the movie. The art direction is meant to have this dream like quality, like how a child would perceive the world they have barely begun to experience. Yorgos’ trademark fish eye wide angles also perfectly encapsulates the weirdness of the visuals. The whole thing has a very Kubrickian sense of detachment that really helps to spotlight the world-building. Couple this with Emma Stone’s fearless work as well as some wonderfully goofy supporting performances from Mark Ruffalo and Willem Dafoe, and you’ve got another winner for the increasingly interesting Yorgos Lanthimos.
4.
THE ZONE OF INTEREST
Directed by Jonathan Glazer
In stark contrast with the flights of fantasy of some of the other movies I’ve spotlighted on this list, this newest film from Jonathan Glazer (Under the Skin) is shockingly earthbound in a way that will haunt you long after. The movie shows us the day to day life of a family in an observational kind of way. Only this family happens to be that of the commandant of the Auschwitz concentration camp, Rudolph Hoss (played in the movie by Christian Friedel). We experience the lives of the people living near the worst horrors of the Holocaust, and the most shocking thing about the movie is how closed off their world is from the one we know is just over the walls. We see the Hoss family having normal family dinners, walking through their garden, or playing in their pool. What Jonathan Glazer brilliantly showcases in his film is the banality of evil that the Nazis were capable off. We know what is going on beyond the walls, but the movie never shows us, completely staying within the bubble that the Hoss family has created for itself. Their world is quiet and calm, but you get this un-ceasing sense of the horrors that go unseen. Smoke is constantly rising over the horizon; there are faint gunshot blasts in the distance; every morning the gardeners blow ash off of the flower beds; and then there is the unsettling faint roar of a furnace chimney that can be heard constantly throughout the film. It’s amazing how Glazer is able to convey the horrors of the Holocaust without us seeing it. It’s a bold artistic statement that really speaks to us in the present day, as so many of us willfully close off ourselves to crimes against humanity even though we know it’s still happening. Glazer uncomfortably reminds us that it’s all too easy to pretend that these things aren’t happening, even when it’s literally right next door. The movie is masterfully crafted, especially with it’s sound design, and features unsettlingly real performances, with a special shoutout to Sandra Huller who plays Commandant Hoss’ wife, who was also great this year in the Palm d’Or winning Anatomy of a Fall. The Zone of Interest is an unsettling experience, but one that is essential to understanding the depths of evil that any human being is capable of.
3.
SALTBURN
Directed by Emerald Fennell
With her sophomore film, Emerald Fennell has crafted one of the most twisted movies in recent memory, and it’s a theatrical experience that I certainly will never forget. Initially, Emerald lulls the viewer into believing that the movie she is making will be a satire about the idle rich who make up what remains of the British aristocracy, as a commoner named Oliver Quick (an unforgettable Barry Keoghan) is brought into their good graces. And then, Emerald turns the movie on it’s head and it becomes something else completely. Honestly, this movie goes into some wild left turns, and I admired the audacity of Emerald Fennell for taking this movie into places that I feel most other filmmakers would’ve been too scared to go. Just when you think the movie has reached the limit of good taste, Fennell will leap across that line and relish the chaos that comes after. What really helps this movie from going too far off the deep end is the stellar performance of Barry Keoghan, who is proving to be one of the most interesting, and as this movie proves, one the bravest actors out there. He creates this fascinating character in Oliver Quick who becomes this vampiric presence in the halls of the titular manor house, Saltburn; bringing a whole new understanding to the rebellious phrase “eating the rich.” The actors playing the naïvely rich Catton family are uniformly perfect, with Rosamund Pike and Richard E. Grant being especially memorable as these upper class twits who nail every line of Fennell’s wonderfully playful script. The movie is also a visual wonder, shot in the claustrophobic Academy aspect ratio of 1.33:1 (which has surprisingly made a comeback in recent years), giving each frame this almost portrait like quality. I definitely understand that this is going to be a movie that will divide audiences, with a lot of people likely turned off by the gross excesses Emerald Fennell throws at us. But for me, it was an experience that I was on board for. Watching this movie with an audience also enhanced my experience, especially when it gets to the most shocking moments. I’m certainly intrigued to see what other twisted tales Emerald Fennell will be spinning in her next film, because this was definitely something of a second feature.
2.
OPPENHEIMER
Directed by Christopher Nolan
Yes, no shock that a Christopher Nolan movie would make my end of the year Top Ten, given that he shows up here so frequently. The other half of the “Barbenheimer” phenomenon, Nolan’s epic biopic of the “Father of the Atom Bomb” is also one of the unlikeliest box office successes in recent memory. A three hour long, R-rated biopic about J. Robert Oppenheimer was not something that you would instantly say would be a near billion dollar grossing movie at the worldwide box office, but that’s the miracle that was pulled off this summer; with a little boost from Barbie. This is the highest grossing movie of Christopher Nolan’s storied career not connected to Batman, and it shows that Nolan can indeed deliver box office success purely on his name alone. This now puts him in the same league of the likes of Spielberg, Tarantino, and Scorsese, and that’s a good club to be in. As a film, Oppenheimer may be in fact the most purely impressive directorial effort of the year. Nolan uses every trick he has learned up to this point to create a vast epic that honestly shouldn’t have worked as well as it does. We don’t just merely get the story of the creation of the atomic bomb itself, which does make for a harrowing middle section. Nolan creates this complex narrative structure that plays around with his favorite narrative tool (time) and intertwines Oppenheimer’s greatest achievement with the ups and downs of his life before and after. Carried by a stellar lead performance by Nolan’s favorite actor Cillian Murphy and supported by a mind-blowing all-star cast and Ludwig Goransson’s fluctuating heartbeat of a music score, the movie never lags in all of it’s 3 hour run time. I remember writing a lukewarm review back in July, stating that I would need to simmer a bit longer on the movie to fully appreciate, including getting a second or third view. That second view, which thankfully was still in IMAX, made the difference, and it probably was because I wasn’t sitting too close to the screen this time around. I now consider this to be in the league with Nolan’s best movies, including Dunkirk (2017) and Inception (2010). Especially on the technical merits alone, this is Christopher Nolan at his finest and possibly the movie that finally earns him the long overdue Oscar.
And finally my number one movie of 2023 is…..
1.
THE HOLDOVERS
Directed by Alexander Payne
Quite the change in pace from Oppenheimer and Saltburn. It was honestly a close three way race for the top this year, but ultimately I was warmed over by the cozy charm of Alexander Payne’s latest. The director behind About Schmidt, Sideways, and The Descendants makes a triumphant return to form with this easy going comedy about a couple of lovable losers who are stuck with other over the holiday season. What I think this movie has above all the others on this list for the year is what I think is the year’s best screenplay, a feature writing debut for longtime TV writer David Hemingston. On top of being a great comedic script with some of the year’s best one liners, it also has some of the best character driven moments of the year, which makes the talented cast really shine. Paul Giamatti gives a career best performance as the cranky history teacher Paul Hunham, which is saying quite a lot given his remarkable career. He is also perfectly matched with newcomer Dominic Sessa as the troublesome student he has to share his lonely days with at a snowed-in private New England boarding school. And they are of course accompanied by a heartbreaking performance by Da’Vine Joy Randolph as a grieving school cook in what I think is the odd on favorite performance to win Best Supporting Actress at this year’s Oscars. But this movie is special specifically because of the care Alexander Payne put into his direction. This movie is not just a throwback to it’s time period; Payne even made it to look like a film of it’s time period. You could swear you were watching a long lost classic of the 1970’s if it weren’t for the contemporary actors in it. From the way that Payne blocks his shots, to the soft dissolves in his scene transitions, to even the subtle hint of dust and scratches on the film stock (which is remarkable for a digitally shot film). Given that the film takes place during Christmas time, I can definitely see this becoming a Holiday classic over time. But it earns my top spot for this year because of all the movies that I saw this year, this had the best re-watch value, with Oppenheimer obviously being the closest match. I just love a movie that I know right away I will be seeing again and again for years to come.
And now that we’ve gone through the best of the year, it’s time to go through the worst. Here are my bottom five Worst Movies of 2023.
5. FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDYS – While the video game that this movie is based on has some genuine value as a horror experience, none of that managed to translate over into film. This adaptation is a bland and ultimately non-scary experience that just looks goofy adapted to live action. I didn’t find the animatronic characters frightening and the jump scares were too telegraphed to be effective. Plus the twist ending is one you could see coming miles away. Sadly, because this movie was a huge box office success, we are doomed to endure a bunch of sequels in it’s wake.
4. THE FLASH – This was overall a bad year for comic book movies in general, with only the Guardians of the Galaxy and Miles Morales defying the downward trend. As bad as Marvel’s box office results were, they were nothing compared to DC’s historically bad run. But, even though all their movies flopped, it didn’t mean the movies themselves were garbage; except one. The Flash was the poster child for everyting wrong with the DC Universe, with a muddled adventure into the multiverse that makes Marvel’s looks coherent by comparison. All of the off screen troubles of star Ezra Miller were no help to this movie, but even divorced from that, they were still bad and at times unwatchable as the titular hero. Michael Keaton’s return as Batman was welcome, but ultimately wasted. And then there was the messy CGI multiverse finale that did not sit well with me over time, and it just felt unethical in the long run considering it’s low bar pandering and questionable use of deceased actors. It’s the kind of movie that definitely justified the end of the DC Snyderverse.
3. REBEL MOON: PART ONE – A CHILD OF FIRE – Speaking of Zack Snyder, here we have his lame attempt at launching a brand new franchise of his own. At times, Snyder can create a neat looking visual, but he has just gotten worse as a storyteller over time. Rebel Moon is pretty much exactly the same as every other space opera you’ve seen before, and almost a borderline plagiarize of Star Wars at times. Even the die hard Snyder stans are having a hard time warming up to this film, because it just has nothing to latch onto. Snyder has in many ways overcome Michael Bay as the most style over substance filmmaker in Hollywood, and this is the clearest example of his shortcomings as a filmmaker. I don’t see how Part Two, which premieres in the Spring is going to improve on any of this. I hate the worldbuilding. I hate the characters. I just wonder if Netflix feels that they got their money’s worth.
2. EXPEND4BLES – Why anyone thought this was a good franchise to dust off is beyond me. All of the charm of the Sylvester Stallone led team up of classic action movie stars is gone. In fact, of the main set of all stars, only Stallone returns here. Schwarzenegger having the good sense to say no is not something I’d think would have happened, but there you go. Jason Statham is clearly in paycheck mode, and somehow this movie thought adding Megan Fox to the team was exactly what the franchise needed in order spice up the box office, which by the way hit a new franchise low. Very likely this will be the end of this franchise, which had it’s promise in the early run, but very much well over-stayed it’s welcome.
And the worst movie of 2023 is…..
1. HYPNOTIC – Unquestionably the dumbest movie I saw all year, and a very tragic low point set by director Robert Rodriguez. In what I assume is Rodriguez’s attempt at an Inception like plot, Hypnotic tries to make a villain (played by William Fichtner) who uses hypnotism as a weapon intimidting. Later on, the movie takes some left turns that just become increasingly stupid, and the movie isn’t helped out at all by some of the worst CGI effects of the year. Rodriguez likes to do a lot of his filmmaking in house at his Austin, Texas based studio, but here we see him try to pull off a little more than he can handle and it shows the limitations of his home base operation. What’s worse is the waste of talent on screen, including Ben Affleck giving a noticeably disinterested performance and the usually reliable William Fichtner playing the lamest of movie villains. Rodriguez can and has done better, and it’s sad to see him wasting his time on a Christopher Nolan wannabe project like this. I’ll even take another Machete sequel over this any day.
And there you have my choices for the best movies of the year. It was a competitive year, as I didn’t immediately have that one movie that just leapt to the front immediately like in years past, such as Jojo Rabbit in 2019 or The Fablemans from last year. Ultimately, I’m satisfied with the placements that I made, and The Holdovers and Oppenheimer were pretty much 1a and 1b in the running. What I found to be especially pleasing is that three of my choices this year were films directed by women; a best yet showing on my annual list. While none of them reached the top, having three a near third of my list represented by women (Emerald Fennell, Greta Gerwig, and Ava DuVernay) is a strong sign of the growing impact that female directors are beginning to have in Hollywood. In fact, the year’s box office crown was won for the first time ever by a female directed movie (Barbie of course) and Greta Gerwig has the distinction of being the first woman to solo direct a billion dollar grossing film. There’s certainly a lot more ground to make up still in the gender disparity in Hollywood, but this year gave us some very important milestones that hopefully leads to some real change in the industry. Overall, despite all of the problems that Hollywood has had in 2023, it still left us with some great and important movies. I just hope that the ripple effects of the labor strikes don’t lead to a relatively empty 2024. For the sake of the theatrical industry, which is still in recovery mode post-pandemic, we really need movies that really motivate audiences to go out to the cinemas. Apart from March’s Dune: Part Two, it’s hard to see ahead to any big movies that will serve that purpose. Hollywood’s likely going to be going through some things in 2024 as it readjusts. Overall, I just hope that the movies we do get are worthwhile. We may even luck out and see something out of the ordinary like Barbenheimer happen, though that’s a phenomenon that Hollywood just can’t manufacture. In any case, let’s all have a good time at the movies in 2024.