By Jim Healy, Director of Programming, UW Cinematheque
In 2023, I viewed 468 movies that were all new to me. These ten features, presented in alphabetical order, were my favorites:
GODZILLA MINUS ONE/GOJIRA -1.0 (2023, Takashi Yamazaki)
THE GOLDEN BED (1925, Cecil B. DeMille)
THE HOLDOVERS (2023, Alexander Payne)
THE IRON CLAW (2023, Sean Durkin)
IVY (1947, Sam Wood)
KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON (2023, Martin Scorsese)
LIVING (2022, Oliver Hermanus)
THERE’S NO TOMORROW/SANS LENDEMAIN (1939, Max Ophuls)
THE SWEET EAST (2023, Sean Price Williams)
UNA VITA DIFICILE (1961, Dino Risi)
There were many, many movies I enjoyed, so here is another list of titles that are well worth mentioning. Some haven't been widely released yet, and are worth checking out when they are:
ANATOMY OF A FALL (2023, Justine Triet)
ARE YOU THERE GOD? IT’S ME, MARGARET (2023, Kelly Fremon Craig)
ASTEROID CITY (2023, Wes Anderson) + THE WONDERFUL STORY OF HENRY SUGAR/THE SWAN/THE RAT CATCHER/POISON (2023, Wes Anderson)
BEAU IS AFRAID (2023, Ari Aster)
CONCRETE UTOPIA (2023, Um Tae-hwa)
DREAM SCENARIO (2023, Kristoffer Borgli) + SICK OF MYSELF/SYK PIKE (2022, Kristoffer Borgli)
DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS HONOR AMONG THIEVES (2023, John Francis Daley, Jonathan Goldstein)
GREEN BORDER (2023, Agnieszka Holland)
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOLUME 3 (2023, James Gunn)
JENNIE GERHARDT (1933, Marion Gering)
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE DEAD RECKONING PART ONE (2023, Christopher McQuarrie)
THE NOVELIST’S FILM (2022, Hong Sang-soo)
OPPENHEIMER (2023, Christopher Nolan)
ORGASMO/PARANOIA (1969, Umberto Lenzi) + A QUIET PLACE TO KILL/PARANOIA (1970, Umberto Lenzi)
PICTURES OF GHOSTS/RETRATOS FANTASMOS (2023, Kleber Mendonça Filho)
POSSE FROM HELL (1961, Herbert Coleman)
RIDDLE OF FIRE (2023, Weston Razooli)
SEVEN SINNERS (1940, Tay Garnett)
SPAWN OF THE NORTH (1938, Henry Hathaway) + THE TRAIL OF THE LONESOME PINE (1936, Henry Hathaway)
THE UNGUARDED MOMENT (1957, Harry Keller)