My 2023 in Pop Culture: Favourite Films

2023 is nearly at its end! I've consumed what seems like mammoth amounts of pop culture this year, and once again I have the urge to write about my favourites. Rather than a giant mega-post that I will inevitably not finish, I've divided it up into separate posts by category. First up: films!

In the year of Barbie and the welcome return of blockbusters for women and girls, I really truly did not expect my favourite movie of 2023 to be a small drama about a fight between two middle-aged Irish men. But fuck did The Banshees of Inisherin get under my skin. Friendship is something I think more than perhaps any other topic, but rarely gets serious attention in adult movies. Watching the end of Colm and Pádraic's friendship being portrayed with such pathos and insight was strangely cathartic. The escalating war between them, though ridiculous as it is violent, felt true to the real-life emotions I've felt in both of their shoes. Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson are brilliant, but I was blown away by Kerry Condon as Pádraic's sister Siobhán, an achingly real performance of a person desperate to escape her lonely life.

I also did not expect to love Stop Making Sense, Jonathan Demme's stone-cold classic 1984 concert movie, as much as I did. Walking into the cinema, I knew little of Talking Head's music. Walking out, I felt like I'd just seen the best gig of my life. I know I love a piece of art when I can feel it in my body. While watching this film, a profound lightness came over me and I had the urge to run up and down the stairs and sing and scream. At the end of the band's performance of This Must be the Place (Naive Melody) - well, it's hard to explain, but I actually felt I had become a better person.

After years of what felt like endless superhero movies and tiny indies with little left for the in-between, I was delighted by the glut of genuinely entertaining and well-crafted mainstream comedies we got this year. Barbie is the obvious example, but Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves and Joy Ride were also insanely funny while providing moving and meaningful arcs for each of their characters. On streaming, Quiz Lady was a lovely interrogation of sisterhood and You Are So Not Invited To My Bar Mitzvah served up Banshees of Inesherin for tweens, and it's as amazing as it sounds.

There were so many other excellent movies I watched this year. The quietly devastasting family dramas The Fabelmans and Aftersun. The animated excellence of Nimona and Across the Spider-verse. The dread-inducing Killers of the Flower Moon and Taxi Driver. And the gorgeous, quietly life-affirming Kiki's Delivery Service and Nimona.

A wonderful year of viewing. Next time: TV!