Theatre and film columnist Eugene Smith picks his favourite and least favourite movies of 2023.

As it’s been a relatively nondescript year for theatre, let’s have a look back at recent film releases.

The big movie event of the summer was the Barbie vs Oppenheimer (no, I’m not using the conjunction) rivalry, which appeared to have been created by the media since it was such a slow news year.

“Which one are you going to see?” they demanded, as apparently cinema visits are strictly rationed.

Oppenheimer was an unlikely candidate for the coveted summer blockbuster award, a three-hour film about the development of the atomic bomb isn’t traditional frothy feel-good material.

But it was superb. Christopher Nolan, surely one of the great modern directors, gave us something which was wholly riveting, and at times unbearably tense. Not bad for a story we all know the end to.

Barbie seems to have won the box office battle, and there were a lot of great elements. Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling were brilliant as Barbie and Ken, and new Doctor Ncuti Gatwa showed he’s no mean dancer.

But. This had all been done before, in 2004’s The Lego Movie, the Toy Story franchise and The Simpsons (the Lisa Lionheart episode), back from when the show was funny. Yes, that long ago.

The film’s unquestioning acceptance of the patriarchy’s existence provided very mixed messages for any watching children. Girls were told they can be anything they want, which is great. Boys were told they’re essentially worthless, which isn’t so good. Disappointing.

The best film of the year was Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One, which once again proved what a fantastic movie star Tom Cruise is.

Although a late contender is Wonka, an utterly delightful origin story, starring an effortlessly charismatic Timothée Chalamet. Hugh Grant continues his career resurgence, showing that when he tries he can be very, very funny. Even Rowan Atkinson’s tolerable.

Worst film of the year hands down was Asteroid City, Wes Anderson’s tiresomely twee waste of the cast’s time. And the audience’s.

May all your shows deserve ovations in 2024. 

eugenesmithwriting.com