my personal favorite moments from films to receive a 2023 U.S. release. Not all of which made my actual “Best Films of 2023” list, but at least had incredible segments that stayed with me since first viewing. Scenes that I’m sure I’ll want to re-visit again and again.
+ = was actually featured on Toby's 2023 "Best of"
- THE CREATOR (G.Edwards)
- JIGARTHANDA DOUBLEX
(Subbaraj)
+
giant beak spits corrosive goo on Trish.
SAW X and THANKSGIVING had some pretty iconic kills for 2023. But have you seen this particularly gruesome episode of Nickelodeon Slime Time? the one that almost quenched my insatiable thirst for gore?
- KIDS VS ALIENS (J.Eisener)
[feature expansion of his V/H/S/2 segment]
shapeshifter Doric's clumsy slapstick escape. A bunch of funny mini set pieces digitally stitched together to flow like an extended oner. & while obviously not as brilliant a film as VILLAINESS 악녀 or Spielberg's TINTIN, the filmmakers' urge to be playful w/visual movie language via tech in scenes like this reminded me of the energy of those aforementioned titles
- DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: HONOR
AMONG THIEVES (JF Daley/J.Goldstein)
- BARBIE (Gerwig)
stroboscopic fight between the Rider & Augmented Wasp
- SHIN KAMEN RIDER
(Hideaki Anno)
+
show-stopping “Miss Celie’s Pants” number
- THE COLOR PURPLE (Bazawule)
- THE HOLDOVERS (Payne)
+
Equal parts SPACE ODYSSEY and BEGOTTEN 😱
the first parasite impregnation scene, where Brynn is inverted and stuck to the ceiling while E.T. tries to hock a loogie.
- THE OUTWATERS (Banfitch)
Aside from being sonically & stylistically brilliant; this part perfectly captured how my experience with sleep paralysis felt
The incendiary shotgun rounds action set piece. Like a very polished live-action riff on Hotline Miami. Also echoes of that spider drone scene from Spielberg's MINORITY REPORT, in that it features very precise & lengthy overhead tracking shots that follow the action room to room
finale raid on Playa's stronghold.
a curious extraterrestrial retrieves his orb
Oppy gives a speech in front of students on the heels of the bombing of Hiroshima.. scene's a masterclass in editing & sound design + mix. That solitary isolated scream with the backlighting is like something out of Lynch's universe
final 15mins, climax at the hospital
- NO ONE WILL SAVE YOU
(Duffield)
JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 4
(Stahelski)
+
A Very Merry Punisher Christmas to all🎄
- SILENT NIGHT (Woo)
+
- ASTEROID CITY
(Wes Anderson)
+
- OPPENHEIMER [IMAX]
(Nolan)
(catatonic Riley in the wheelchair, etc.)
montage of Bella and all of her eccentric dates at Madame Swiney's -
every exhilarating minute of the finale: a small volunteer navy, single Kyushu J7W Shinden fighter, & many civilian boats face off against the titular kaiju -
a very spooky & surreal moment with these roaming silhouettes: seen via heat mirage against a backdrop of crop fires.. They're tonally like the polar inverse image of the spirit Owl parts. An even darker brooding take on the locust fire from DAYS OF HEAVEN (1978)
the big Mille Miglia race centrepiece + crash
the core three finally being together at the bar
- TALK TO ME (Philippou bros)
+
POOR THINGS (Lanthimos)
+
GODZILLA MINUS ONE
(Takashi Yamazaki)
+
KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON
(Scorsese)
+
- FERRARI (Mann)
+
- PAST LIVES (Celine Song)
+
this very meta moment at the close of the movie where the cast does multiple re-takes of the "it's ok to be scared" snake scene. Complete w/music swell
a family outing in the shallows gets interrupted
Jo shows up to Liz's ceramics show with the pigeon
entirety of the "Kevin, come upstairs" finale.. As far as uniquely unsettling moodscapes within horror cinema go; this is up there w/ many scenes in K.Kurosawa's PULSE 回路 -
all them little Warawara balloon souls ascending -
POV shot of bio material getting shot through a pneumatic tube followed by the robot arm assisted high-precision surgery.. Just like the seagulls in LEVIATHAN or the sheep in SWEETGRASS, it's difficult to articulate exactly why so many images this doc team captures have the hypnotic power that they do. But I guess that's been the case since Lumiere 1895 (or Brakhage in '63), that images neatly arranged & simply moving on a screen can still be so mesmerizing
- MAY DECEMBER (Haynes)
+
- THE ZONE OF INTEREST
(Glazer)
+
- SHOWING UP (Reichardt)
+
SKINAMARINK (K.Edward Ball)
+
THE BOY & THE HERON
(Miyazaki)
+
- DE HUMANI CORPORIS FABRICA
(Castaing-Taylor, Paravel)
+
the awkward Bronx Cheer heard round the world
(toot scene from DREAM SCENARIO)
.
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