DYLA's Top 10 Movies of 2023
Plus: our most read and listened to newsletters and podcasts of the year
Well, hello, 2024! Before Do You Like Apples officially says farewell to 2023, we had to look back at the year in movies and the year in this here newsletter. On the podcast last week, we discussed our favorite experiences at the movie theater in 2023 before unveiling each of our top 10 movies of the year, so head over and listen to that year-end episode! For today’s newsletter, we both recommended one honorable mention that barely missed our 2023 top 10 lists. And you can find our full lists below.
Apple Podcasts:
Spotify:
2023 Honorable Mentions
Drew recommends…
Knock at the Cabin
I’ve been really fascinated by this stage of M. Night Shyamalan’s career, where he makes modestly budgeted and very contained thrillers. With Knock at the Cabin, the former wunderkind filmmaker delivers one of his better efforts in this home-invasion suspense story with apocalyptic implications. Shyamalan has always had a preternatural feel for how to move the camera and frame a shot, but you can really see his decades of experience honing this skill used to unsettling and purposeful effect in a remote cabin thriller like this. And his casting is on point here as well, which is often what separates good and bad Shyamalan. Dave Bautista’s size and sensitivity is deployed tremendously, and Jonathan Groff and Ben Aldridge are convincing and outstanding as the central couple. The third act problems that plague other promising Shyamalan films (like 2021’s Old) don’t rear their ugly head this time. Instead, we get an emotionally satisfying conclusion to an earnest story about building and protecting a family, unthinkable sacrifice, and extraordinary acts of love by ordinary people.
Billy recommends…
Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
My prediction for this movie’s legacy is for it to be the Galaxy Quest of the 2020s. A middling box office performer based around a beloved lore like Dungeons and Dragons that is incredibly infectious and fun is ripe to have hardcore fans. It has wacky bits, a memorable world, and a story that probably ends here.
Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is led by the best Chris, Chris Pine. A thankless role that he is able to find a lot of charisma in throughout. An exposition machine that sets up the supporting cast beautifully and provides enough heart to bring the story home. The team of Holga (Michelle Rodriguez), Simon (Justice Smith), Doric (Sophia Lillis), and Edgin (Chris Pine) is one of the better castings this year. All actors, besides the aforementioned best Chris, are at best, not familiar to me, and, at worst, an actor I think of as normally unbearable. Somehow this combo works beautifully because of their unique personalities and era blending chemistry.
But what breaks us free from this dungeon is the mesmerizing villain performance by Hugh Grant and the surprise tiny (literally) appearance by redacted. Where this movie needs to catch up with Galaxy Quest is how this cast’s individual careers turn out. When looking back on Galaxy Quest it is not comprehensible how that cast was assembled. Creating even more mystique. I think Dungeon and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves could get there. Hugh Grant already has that mystique, so give Pine an Oscar eventually and the others a few iconic roles amongst them and this can get there.
I loved hanging out with this movie for a couple hours. At the time I thought this movie could signify how bad and shallow this year was, but it really exemplifies how deep this movie is. Gimme that popcorn baby and let me elbow nudge the person next to me when redacted waddles on screen.
Drew’s Top 10
Killers of the Flower Moon
Oppenheimer
Asteroid City
Past Lives
May December
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
The Killer
Godland
Rye Lane
Barbie
Billy’s Top 10
May December
Past Lives
Asteroid City
The Holdovers
Priscilla
Killers of the Flower Moon
The Killer
Master Gardener
Oppenheimer
How To Blow Up a Pipeline
DYLA Year-In-Review
Thank you to all of our readers, listeners, and followers in 2023! You guys are the best. We had so much fun making Do You Like Apples this year, and we’re excited to bring you more movie recommendations, reviews, and podcasts this year!
We’ve compiled some of the DYLA newsletter and podcast highlights of the year. Here’s to an awesome 2024!
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