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

Karen Gillan, Brenton Thwaites and Katee Sackhoff in the Mike Flanagan movie ‘Oculus’

In a month seemingly made for movies based in raising the macabre, we choose to open October with a review of the Mike Flanagan directed movie Oculus (2013). Written by Flanagan and Jeff Howard based on a short screenplay by Jeff Seidman, this horror film mixes in mystery, thriller, supernatural and psychological elements based on mirror central to movie’s action.

(From left, Karen Gillan as Kaylie Russell and Brenton Thwaites as Tim Russell in the Mike Flanagan movie Oculus).

Oculus primarily tells the story of the Russell family in a parallel yet intertwined story set in in the years 2013 and 2002. The latter timeframe begins with Alan Russell, a software engineer, moving into a new home with his wife, Marie, his 12-year-old daughter Kaylie and his 10-year-old son Tim. The family acquired an antique mirror acquired for the new house. Rory Cochrane, Katee Sackhoff, Annalise Basso and Garrett Ryan portrayed Alan, Marie, Kaylie and Tim, respectively.

(From left, Annalise Basso as 12-year-old Kaylie Russell, Garrett Ryan as 10-year-old Tim Russell and Rory Cochrane as Alan Russell in the Mike Flanagan movie Oculus).

The 2013 timeline begins with an introduction to the siblings in separate contexts. We meet Kaylie with her fiancé, Michael Dumont, at an auction house where we witness bidding on the antique mirror from the family house. We also meet Tim being granted his release, upon his 21st birthday, from a psychiatric hospital by Dr. Shawn Graham. It is in this timeline that we learn Kaylie has procured access to the mirror, bringing it and her brother back to the childhood home where Alan and Marie had died with Tim having been psychiatrically responsible for the murder. Karen Gillan, James Lafferty, Brenton Thwaites and Miguel Sandoval portrayed Kaylie, Michael, Tim and Dr. Graham.

(Katee Sackhoff as Marie Russell in the Mike Flanagan movie Oculus).

With access to the mirror, the childhood house, and her brother, Kaylie has set out an elaborate plan to prove that her brother is innocent. The nature of trust, sanity and, finally, when the story was happening at any point in time mixed in the psychological thriller and mystery elements of the movie. That violence figures in, along with questions of marriage fidelity with Marisol Chavez (as portrayed by Kate Siegel), are really just the tip of an ever increasing iceberg. The suspense factor largely works for Oculus. As is typical for many horror films, motivations and corresponding actions tend to be suspect upon occasion within the film.

(From left, James Lafferty as Michael Dumont and Karen Gillan as Kaylie Russell in the Mike Flanagan movie Oculus).

I appreciate that Oculus focused less on graphic violence than some other contemporary horror movies have. There is a fair amount of that baked into the storylines for sure, which helps the film work from a storyline perspective in playing up the psychological thriller and sanity storylines. These points together should be taken as my saying that there’s more value in this story than there could have been if other choices had been made. All told, I grant Oculus as directed by Mike Flanagan 3.75-stars on a scale of one-to-five.

Matt – Wednesday, October 4, 2023