My Favorite Movies from Every Month 2023

Doing this instead of a favorite 2023 releases list given I have only watched 19 of the new movies this year and most of them were like... alright. In the same vein, A "Top Ten 2023 First-Time Watches" list would be way too hard to narrow down so... here you go.

January: Ikiru

Damn y'all were not lying this is FIRE! I need to watch more Kurosawa, this is the only film of his I've seen so far but it bodes damn well. It's one of those films you feel changed after watching. It's such a transcendent experience and I think everyone should watch it, even if it sounds like nothing special. You'll get it when you watch it.

February: In The Mood for Love

Kar-wai is another director I really need to watch more of after watching this. This was so so beautiful and so so devastating and so SO gorgeous. This is one of the most devastating romances I have ever seen, and we all know how I am about those. This film's ability to convey so much tension without any contact is unmatched. I hate knowing I'll never find another movie quite like this. Unless I do. I need to watch more Wong Kar-wai. 

March: Some Like It Hot

I didn't expect this to be so funny. I had heard it was good and knew it was important to film history for it's role in killing the haze code, but I had no idea I would be sob laughing over this movie. Lemmon and Monroe gave everything and more in this movie. Their line delivery was so on point. I also knew this movie was progressive for it's time but it aged really well! Like no '50s comedy about two guys sneaking into an all girls band should be this based.

April: Little Miss Sunshine 

I'm sorry but I'm a whore for dysfunctional families and road trips in stories. There characters in this movie are all so complex and messy and loveable all the same. This movie caused, cured, caused, and cured my depression. This movie is just such a ride. 

May: Crash (1996)

Cronenberg cooked on this one. I'm a certified sicko movie enjoyer and BOYYYYY did he deliver. I recently rewatched it (I bought the Criterion with christmas money) and it's even better than I remember. I love weirdo sex movies, I love explorations of the line between man and machine, I love masochistic bisexual swingers, it's got everything beautiful about life. 

June: Spider-Man Across the Spider-Verse

Yeah yeah everyone and their mama loved this but man it's so good. I have no praises to sing that haven't echoed the streets for the months following it's release. Beautiful animation, amazing pacing, great characters, heartfelt core, blah, blah, blah. This is still my favorite 2023 movie but also I've only watched 19 of this years new releases.

July: Tangerine 

This definitely took some time to grow on me but once it did I was in love. The Iphone cinematography is something that will take a second to get warmed up to but I think it's a perfect representation of how much of shithole LA is. I love stories with incredibly grounded characters who are honestly pretty awful people in their own ways, and that sure is a way to describe every single character in this movie. 

August: Burn After Reading

This is just so fucking funny, like seriously it's hilarious. The entire movie so ridiculous and ultimately pointless and that's the point. I don't really have much more to say it's just hilarious. Also, Brad Pitt is so hot in this. 

September: First Reformed 

This is the first movie in a very long time to leave my heart pounding in my chest when i finished it. It's an incredibly impactful film and really captures the helplessness that comes with climate anxiety. A religious angle to look at climage change that feels so obvious but isn't acknowledged in the slightest.

October: Videodrome 

Cronenberg delivers another sicko film banger. An engrossing and prophetic exploration of when media consumption turns into you being the one consumed. David Cronenberg has to be my favorite of the white guys named David trilogy (David Byrne, David Lynch, David Cronenberg). 

November: Joyland

Another story with incredibly grounded and kind of shitty characters. Everyone is guilty and no one is to blame. Everyone in Joyland is a victim and a perpetrator. It's truly just a masterful drama. 

December: 2001: A Space Odyssey 

Ok fine you guys win this was really good. This is an absolute visual marvel and has so much imagery that will echo in pop culture for the coming decades. I will never understand the people who say this is boring, I was locked in the whole time.