The Year 2023 in Movies

Continuing with the final part of our year in review, Matt Lynn Digital invites you to look back at the last year in reviews of books, movies, music and television. We look at these with individual categories, one per day through today. Today we share the forty-seven (47) movies from nine (9) decades reviewed by Matt Lynn Digital in 2023.

(The 1972 movie The Godfather).

The top rated movie we watched in 2023 was The Godfather (1972). Earning 4.75-stars on a scale of 1-to-5, the film presented solid exposition of the power dynamics and traditions for the family as established by the family patriarch Vito, along with the command-and-control structure of the working the business.

(The 2023 movie Oppenheimer).

Four movies earned 4.5-stars in 2023, including the movie Oppenheimer (2023). The movie detailed the role American scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer had in the development of the atomic bomb. The further movie Gone Girl (2014) was joined by There Will Be Blood (2007) and the movie Mystic River (2003).

(The 2023 movie Killers of the Flower Moon).

The movie Killers of the Flower Moon (2023) leads a dozen movies that earned 4.25-stars from Matt Lynn Digital. The ongoing murders of members of an affluent Native American tribe for profitable mineral rights, under the guise of marriage and love, made for a somber yet at times poignant movie. Other films to earn 4.25 stars included the movie The Banshees of Inisherin (2022), the biopic King Richard (2021), the biopic The Aviator (2004), the animated movie The Incredibles (2004), the pandemic-fueled horror movie 28 Days Later (2002), the alcoholism-fueled movie Leaving Las Vegas (1995), the coming-of-age movie The Breakfast Club (1985), the supernatural comedy Ghostbusters (1984), the political history movie Reds (1981), the independently released Friday the 13th (1980) and, finally, the movie Apocalypse Now (1979).

(The 2022 movie Death on the Nile).

The mastermind detective movie Death on the Nile (2022) leads a group of nine (9) movies to earn 4.0-stars from Matt Lynn Digital in 2023. Other quality movies in this group include the movie The Hateful Eight (2015), the biopic Walk the Line (2005), the historical drama Gladiator (2000), the movie The Big Lebowski (1998), the psychological horror movie The Silence of the Lambs (1991), the comedy Home Alone (1990), the science fiction movie Planet of the Apes (1968) and, finally, the film noir movie The Maltese Falcon (1941).

(The 2019 movie El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie).

Eighteen (18) movies earned the 3.75-stars rating for 2023, led by El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie (2019). That coda to the Breaking Bad (2008-2013) television series spells out what happened with character Jesse Pinkman. Other movies earning 3.75 stars include the science fiction movie Alien: Covenant (2017), the animated movie The Secret Life of Pets (2016), the animated movie Inside Out (2015), the live-action animated movie Paddington (2014), the movie Chef (2014), the supernatural horror movie Oculus (2013), the biopic The Express (2008), the comedic movie Clerks II (2006), the science fiction blockbuster War of the Worlds (2005), the comedy Freaky Friday (2003), the movie Frequency (2000), the science fiction movie The Fifth Element (1997), the crime drama Absolute Power (1997), the family movie Hocus Pocus (1993), the neo-noir movie Blow Out (1981), the dystopian crime movie A Clockwork Orange (1971) and, finally, the animated movie Cinderella (1950).

(The 2021 movie Cry Macho).

A pair of movies led by the western movie Cry Macho (2021) earned 3.5-stars from Matt Lynn Digital. The other is the fantasy comedy Jack Frost (1998).

(The 2023 movie Nefarious).

Alleged demonic possession was in play for the movie Nefarious (2023), which at 3.25-stars on a scale of 1-to-5 completes our reviewed movies for the year. Having felt manipulated by this film to make a political point, our feeling was that we could have enjoyed this movie more if the presentation had taken a different approach.

Matt Lynn Digital appreciates your continued interest in the content we offer. Should you have albums that you’d like us to review, or similar work to that mentioned above, please be sure to let us know.

Matt – Sunday, December 31, 2023

John Travolta, Nancy Allen and John Lithgow in the Brian De Palma movie ‘Blow Out’

Advertisements including this trailer for the Brian De Palma directed and written Blow Out (1981) included the phrase “Now you hear it; now you don’t”. The neo-noir movie offers thrilling bits of mystery as a sound recordist for movies captures evidence for what might actually be murder.

(John Travolta as Jack Terry in the Brian De Palma movie Blow Out).

Blow Out begins during the post-production of a low budget movie where producer Sam instructs Jack Terry to get better sound effects for the film. The response of heading to a park to record the wind for Terry results in his witnessing a car lose control and plunge into a nearby creek. John Travolta and Peter Boyden portrayed Jack Terry and Sam, respectively.

(From left, John Lithgow as Burke and Nancy Allen as Sally Bedina in the Brian De Palma movie Blow Out).

The male driver in the accident, Governor George McRyan, died in the accident. Jack Terry saved passenger Sally Bedina, a female escort. Aids of McRyan convince Terry to help smuggle Bedina, portrayed by Nancy Allen, out of the hospital as a means for keeping the relationship between Bedina and the governor quiet. The governor had been a presidential candidate at the point that the movie begins.

(From left, Dennis Franz as Manny Karp and Nancy Allen as Sally Bedina in the Brian De Palma movie Blow Out).

That two forms of recording were taking place at the park the evening of the apparent accident was not immediately known by Jack Terry. In addition to his audio recording, Manny Karp’s presence becomes known when images from the video Karp had taken were published in the tabloids. Karp, as portrayed by Dennis Franz, is linked to Bedina as well as a man named Burke, with Burke being portrayed by John Lithgow. The layering of these connections combined with a compelling string of mysteries with on-going turmoil from here delivers a story that offers an unexpected depth the ultimately works.

(From left, actor John Travolta, director and writer Brian De Palma, and actress Nancy Allen in support of the Brian De Palma movie Blow Out).

As a fan of the work of Alfred Hitchcock, I appreciated the influence taken by De Palma with this movie. Graphic elements for this film depicted some of the shifting social mores of how explicit movies could be, which were less pronounced during much of Hitchcock‘s career. The overall outcome was better than I anticipated, leading me to give Blow Out as directed and co-written by Brian De Palma 3.75-stars on a scale of one-to-five.

Matt – Wednesday, March 15, 2023