An annual tradition here at The End, this is a look at my favorite film discoveries of the year, any movie more than a few years old that I saw for the first time this year. Previous years include: 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, and 2006. I watched just over 230 films this year, but only a fifth or so of them qualified for this list. Here are 40 of my favorites.
1. The Heike Story (Yamada Naoko, 2021) 2. Beijing Watermelon (Obayashi Nobuhiko, 1989) 3. Moving (Somai Shinji, 1993) 4. Typhoon Club (Somai Shinji, 1985) 5. Les sièges de l’Alcazar (Luc Moullet, 1989) 6. Golden Eighties (Chantal Akerman, 1986) 7. Visible Secret (Ann Hui, 2001) 8. Ode to the Goose (Zhang Lü, 2018) 9. Sailor Suit and Machine Gun (Somai Shinji, 1981) 10. Mermaid Legend (Ikeda Toshiharu, 1984)
11. A Quiet Dream (Zhang Lü, 2016) 12. The Little Girl Who Conquered Time (Obayashi Nobuhiko, 1983) 13. Veteran (Ryoo Seungwan, 2015) 14. July Rhapsody (Ann Hui, 2002) 15. The Fall of Ako Castle (Fukasaku Kinji, 1978) 16. Gyeongju (Zhang Lü, 2014) 17. The Night Comes for Us (Timo Tjahjanto, 2018) 18. Fukuowa (Zhang Lü, 2019) 19. Chu Lien (Lai Cheng-ying, 1979) 20. The Intern (Nancy Meyers, 2015)
21. Beach of the War Gods (Jimmy Wang Yu, 1973) 22. Harry in Your Pocket (Bruce Geller, 1973) 23. Fantasy Mission Force (Kevin Chu Yen-Ping, 1983) 24. August in the Water (Ishii Gakuryu, 1995) 25. Topkapi (Jules Dassin, 1964) 26. Ocean’s Twelve (Steven Soderbergh, 2004) 27. The World of Suzie Wong (Richard Quine, 1960) 28. The Italian Job (Peter Collinson, 1969) 29. The Taming of the Shrew (Franco Zeffirelli, 1967) 30. Yanagawa (Zhang Lü, 2021)
31. When Cinema Reflects the Times: Hou Hsiao-hsien & Edward Yang (Kore-eda Hirokazu, 1993) 32. Sideways (Alexander Payne, 2004) 33. Lover on the Wave (Chen Kun-hou, 1978) 34. Let the Wind Carry Me (Kwan Pung-Leung & Chiang Hsiu-Chiung, 2009) 35. Ocean’s Thirteen (Steven Soderbergh, 2007) 36. Shaolin Drunkard (Yuen Woo-ping, 1983) 37. The Raid (Tsui Hark & Ching Siu-tung, 1991) 38. Red Eye (Wes Craven, 2005) 39. Cloud of Romance (Chen Hung-lieh, 1977) 40. Once a Thief (John Woo, 1996)
1. The Last Samurai – Helen DeWitt 2. Against the Day – Thomas Pynchon 3. Madame Bovary – Gustave Flaubert 4. The Novel: An Alternate History – Steven Moore 5. The Life of Tu Fu – Eliot Weinberger 6. Reading Genesis – Marilynne Robinson 7. 84 Charing Cross Road – Helene Hanff 8. The Shakespeare Wars – Ron Rosenbaum 9. Either/Or – Elif Batuman 10. Quantum Criminals – Alex Pappademas 11. The Secret History – Donna Tartt 12. Will in the World – Stephen Greenblatt 13. Unspooled – Rob Drew 14. The Arabian Nights: A Companion – Robert Irwin 15. A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare: 1599 – James Shapiro 16. The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street – Helene Hanff 17. The Church of Baseball – Ron Shelton 18. There Was Nothing You Could Do – Steven Hyden 19. Blood Sweat & Chrome – Kyle Buchanon 20. Long Road – Steven Hyden 21. When the Clock Broke – John Ganz 22. God Only Knows – David Leaf
And these are the books I read but did not finish in 2024.
1. The Path to Power – Robert Caro 2. Remembrance of Things Past – Marcel Proust 3. Oliver Twist – Charles Dickens 4. Paradise Lost – John Milton 5. Winesburg, Ohio – Sherwood Anderson 6. The Tale of the Heike – Royall Tyler (trans.) 7. Orientalism – Edward Said 8. The Valmiki Ramayana – trans. Bibek Debroy 9. Mariners, Renegades, and Castaways – CLR James 10. James – Percival Everett 11. The Penguin Classics Book – Henry Eliot 12. Rabbit, Run – John Updike 13. Count Magnus & Other Ghost Stories — M.R. James 14. Reckless Daughter – David Yaffe
Since the last update, it was announced that I’ve written another liner notes essay. This time, it’s for the Chameleon Films release of Johnnie To’s Sparrow and it’s available for preorder right now. Over at InReview Online, I contributed write-ups of George Miller’s Furiosa and Soi Cheang’s Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In to their Best of the Year countdown.
You can get all those reviews and much much more by subscribing to The Chinese Cinema today for the low price of only $1/month or $10/year.
These are the movies I’ve watched and rewatched over the last few months, and where they place on my year-by-year rankings.
A Charlie Brown Christmas (Bill Melendez) – 3, 1965 It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (Bill Melendez) – 1, 1966 How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (Chuck Jones) – 15, 1966 A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (Bill Melendez & Phil Roman) – 40, 1973
The Miracle Fighters (Yuen Woo-ping) – 4, 1982 Shaolin Drunkard (Yuen Woo-ping) – 41, 1983 Taoism Drunkard (Yuen Cheung-yan) – 51, 1984 The Young Taoism Fighter (Chen Chi-hwa) – 62, 1986 Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (Kevin Reynolds) – 54, 1991
The Heike Story (Yamada Naoko) – 1, 2021 Hundreds of Beavers (Mike Cheslik) – 5, 2022 Woman of the Hour (Anna Kendrick) – 34, 2023
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (George Miller) – 1, 2024 Juror #2 (Clint Eastwood) – 6, 2024 A Traveler’s Needs (Hong Sangsoo) – 7, 2024 The Colors Within (Yamada Naoko) – 8, 2024 By the Stream (Hong Sangsoo) – 14, 2024
God Hates a Coward (Jon Bois) – 15, 2024 Abiding Nowhere (Tsai Ming-liang) – 17, 2024 Look Back (Oshiyama Kiyotaka) – 18, 2024 Here (Robert Zemeckis) – 21, 2024 Vengeance Most Fowl (Merlin Crossingham & Nick Park) – 23, 2024
The Fall Guy (David Leitch) – 34, 2024 The Bodyguard (Qin Pengfei) – 37, 2024 Blade of Fury (Qin Pengfei) – 38, 2024 Made in England (David Hinton) – 39, 2024 Challengers (Luca Guadagnino) – 43, 2024
Conclave (Edward Berger) – 49, 2024 Would You Like to Buy a Mattress (Jon Bois) – 50, 2024 A Complete Unknown (James Mangold) – 51, 2024 Alien: Romulus (Fede Álvarez) – 52, 2024 The Brutalist (Brady Corbet) – 53, 2024
You can get all those reviews and much much more by subscribing to The Chinese Cinema today for the low price of only $1/month or $10/year.
These are the movies I’ve watched and rewatched over the last few months, and where they place on my year-by-year rankings.
The Gold Rush (Charles Chaplin) – 1, 1925 The Untouchables (Brian De Palma) – 28, 1987 The Bodyguard from Beijing (Corey Yuen) – 79, 1994 Bad Boys (Michael Bay) – 66, 1995 The Waterboy (Frank Coraci) – 72, 1998
Let the Wind Carry Me (Kwan Pung-Leung & Chiang Hsiu-Chiung) – 48, 2009 Prometheus (Ridley Scott) – 65, 2012 Veteran (Ryoo Seungwan) – 37, 2015 Alien: Covenant (Ridley Scott) – 144, 2017 The Night Comes for Us (Timo Tjahjanto) – 64, 2018
Dune (Denis Villeneuve) – 35, 2021 Fight Against Evil (Qin Pengfei) – 56, 2021 Hundreds of Beavers (Mike Cheslik) – 23, 2022 Sleep (Jason Yu) – 27, 2023 Fight Against Evil 2 (Qin Pengfei) – 78, 2023 Anyone But You (Will Gluck) – 82, 2023
Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 (Kevin Costner) – 2, 2024 Eephus (Carson Lund) – 3, 2024 Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In (Soi Cheang) – 4, 2024 Megalopolis (Francis Ford Coppola) – 6, 2024 Caught by the Tides (Jia Zhangke) – 8, 2024
Chime (Kurosawa Kiyoshi) – 9, 2024 The Shadow Strays (Timo Tjahjanto) – 10, 2024 Cloud (Kurosawa Kiyoshi) – 13, 2024 The Kadarius Toney Fan Club (Jon Bois) – 14, 2024 The Killer (John Woo) – 15, 2024
Escape from the 21st Century (Yang Li) – 16, 2024 Second Life (Chris Huo) – 18, 2024 Dead Talents Society (John Hsu) – 22, 2024 Veteran 2: I, the Executioner (Ryoo Seungwan) – 24, 2024 Dune 2 (Denis Villeneuve) – 25, 2024
Daughter’s Daughter (Huang Xi) – 26, 2024 Drunken Prodigy (Ashton Chen) – 29, 2024 Black Storm (Qin Pengfei) – 32, 2024 An Arrow through the Heart (Guo Yubo) – 37, 2024
You can get all those reviews and much much more by subscribing for the low price of only $1/month or $10/year.
These are the movies I’ve watched and rewatched over the last few months, and where they place on my year-by-year rankings.
Baseball Bugs (Friz Freleng) – 10, 1946 Pickpocket (Robert Bresson) – 7, 1959 The World of Suzie Wong (Richard Quine) – 21, 1960 Topkapi (Jules Dassin) – 21, 1964
Once a Thief (Ralph Nelson) – 32, 1965 Le Samouraï (Jean-Pierre Melville) – 5, 1967 The Thomas Crown Affair (Norman Jewison) – 16, 1968 Le cercle rouge (Jean-Pierre Melville) – 5, 1970
Harry in Your Pocket (Bruce Geller) – 31, 1973 The Valiant Ones (King Hu) – 7, 1975 Carry On Pickpocket (Sammo Hung) – 22, 1982 Fantasy Mission Force (Kevin Chu Yen-ping) – 34, 1983
Mermaid Legend (Ikeda Toshiharu) – 16, 1984 The Killing Fields (Roland Joffé) – 38, 1984 Beverly Hills Cop (Martin Brest) – 48, 1984 Typhoon Club (Somai Shinji) – 6, 1985 Rambo: First Blood Part II (George P. Cosmatos) – 45, 1985
Golden Eighties (Chantal Akerman) – 14, 1986 Eastern Condors (Sammo Hung) – 10, 1987 Beverly Hills Cops II (Tony Scott) – 51, 1987 Beijing Watermelon (Obayashi Nobuhiko) – 6, 1989 Field of Dreams (Phil Alden Robinson) – 23, 1989
She Shoots Straight (Corey Yuen) – 36, 1990 Once a Thief (John Woo) – 26, 1991 The Raid (Tsui Hark) – 43, 1991 Moving (Somai Shinji) – 4, 1993 August in the Water (Ishii Gakuryu) – 40, 1995
Once a Thief (John Woo) – 90, 1996 Can’t Hardly Wait (Deborah Kaplan & Harry Elfont) – 69, 1998 Go (Doug Limon) – 56, 1999 July Rhapsody (Ann Hui) – 18, 2002
Yesterday Once More (Johnnie To) – 17, 2004 Sparrow (Johnnie To) – 2, 2008 Linger (Johnnie To) – 41, 2008 Open City (Lee Sang-gi) – 81, 2008
Shin Godzilla (Anno Hideaki & Higuchi Shinji) – 8, 2016 Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold (Griffin Dunne) – 121, 2017 Destination Wedding (Victor Levin) – 79, 2018 The Booksellers (DW Young) – 100, 2019
Sayonara, Girls. (Shun Nakagawa) – 25, 2022 Kubi (Kitano Takeshi) – 2, 2023 Kyrie (Iwai Shunji) – 14, 2023 Only the River Flows (Wei Shujun) – 24, 2023
Hit Man (Richard Linklater) – 39, 2023 The Lyricist Wannabe (Norris Wong) – 45, 2023 Shadow of Fire (Tsukamoto Shin’ya) – 59, 2023 Between the White Key and the Black Key (Tominaga Masanori) – 76, 2023
Furiosa (George Miller) – 1, 2024 Baby Assassins: Nice Days (Sakamoto Yugo) – 2, 2024 Black Dog (Guan Hu) – 3, 2024 I Saw the TV Glow (Jane Schoenbrun) – 4, 2024 The Spectacular Failure of the Star Wars Hotel (Jenny Nicholson) – 5, 2024 Reform! (Jon Bois) – 6, 2024 That’s Not Entirely Accurate (Jon Bois) – 7, 2024 Nothing Can’t Be Undone by a Hotpot (Ding Sheng) – 10, 2024
The History of Slipping on Banana Peels (Jon Bois) – 11, 2024 Twisters (Lee Isaac Chung) – 12, 2024 Customs Frontline (Herman Yau) – 13, 2024 Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F (Mark Molloy) – 15, 2024 Jim Henson Idea Man (Ron Howard) – 17, 2024 Brats (Andrew McCarthy) – 18, 2024
Since the last update, I handed out the 2023 Endy Awards. Over at the Criterion Collection’s online magazine Current, I wrote about Hou Hsiao-hsien’s early films. And for InReview Online I reviewed Ann Hui’s latest film, Elegies, which played at the International Film Festival Rotterdam.
These are the movies I’ve watched and rewatched over the last few months, and where they place on my year-by-year rankings.
Seven Samurai (Kurosawa Akira) – 1, 1954 Lawrence of Arabia (David Lean) – 6, 1962 The Taming of the Shrew (Franco Zeffirelli) – 26, 1967 The Italian Job (Peter Collinson) – 13, 1969 Beach of the War Gods (Jimmy Wang Yu) – 24, 1973
Cloud of Romance (Chan Hung-lit) – 22, 1977 The Fall of Ako Castle (Fukasaku Kinji) – 18, 1978 Lover on the Wave (Chen Kun-hou) – 30, 1978 The Mystery of Chess (Joseph Kuo) – 13, 1979 Chu Lien (Lai Cheng-ying) – 27, 1979
Cute Girl (Hou Hsiao-hsien) – 18, 1980 Sailor Suit and Machine Gun (Somai Shinji) – 17, 1981 Cheerful Wind (Hou Hsiao-hsien) – 38, 1981 Conan the Barbarian (John Milius) – 6, 1982 The Green, Green Grass of Home (Hou Hsiao-hsien) – 21, 1982 The Boys from Fengkuei (Hou Hsiao-hsien) – 7, 1983
Bull Durham (Ron Shelton) – 2, 1988 Les sièges des l’Alcazar (Luc Moullet) – 15, 1989 Major League (David S. Ward) – 37, 1989 Casino Raiders (Wong Jing & Jimmy Heung) – 50, 1989 Hamlet (Franco Zeffirelli) – 28, 1990
Backdraft (Ron Howard) – 47, 1991 Basic Instinct (Paul Verhoeven) – 25, 1992 Noises Off… (Peter Bogdanovich) – 34, 1992 Wayne’s World (Penelope Spheeris) – 59, 1992 When Cinema Reflects the Times: Hou Hsiao-hsien and Edward Yang (Kore-eda Hirokazu) – 30, 1993
Executioners (Johnnie To & Ching Siu-tung) – 33, 1993 The Heroic Trio (Johnnie To) – 43, 1993 The Mad Monk (Johnnie To) – 93, 1993 Loving You (Johnnie To) – 38, 1995 Get Shorty (Barry Sonnenfeld) – 44, 1995
Romeo + Juliet (Baz Luhrmann) – 10, 1996 Twister (Jan de Bont) – 44, 1996 Lifeline (Johnnie To) – 22, 1997 Expect the Unexpected (Patrick Yau) – 10, 998 Out of Sight (Steven Soderbergh) – 18, 1998 Shakespeare in Love (John Madden) – 47, 1998
The Matrix (Lilly and Lana Wachowski) – 2, 1999 Help!!! (Johnnie To & Wai Ka-fai) – 29, 2000 Center Stage (Nicholas Hytner) – 43, 2000 Visible Secret (Ann Hui) – 10, 2001
These are my Oscar predictions. I’m not sure yet if I’m going to live-tweet the Endy Award winners during the ceremony again this year. Maybe. Nominees listed in alphabetical order, predicted winners in bold. Guaranteed to get 16-18 correct, no more, no less.
BEST PICTURE
American Fiction Anatomy of a Fall Barbie The Holdovers Killers of the Flower Moon Maestro Oppenheimer Past Lives Poor Things The Zone of Interest
BEST DIRECTOR
Anatomy of a Fall Killers of the Flower Moon Oppenheimer Poor Things The Zone of Interest
BEST ACTOR
Bradley Cooper, Maestro Colman Domingo, Rustin Paul Giamatti, The Holdovers Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer Jeffrey Wright, American Fiction
BEST ACTRESS
Annette Bening, Nyad Lily Gladstone, Killers of the Flower Moon Sandra Hüller, Anatomy of a Fall Carey Mulligan, Maestro Emma Stone, Poor Things
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Mark Ruffalo, Poor Things Ryan Gosling, Barbie Robert Downey Jr., Oppenheimer Robert De Niro, Killers of the Flower Moon Sterling K. Brown, American Fiction
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Emily Blunt, Oppenheimer Danielle Brooks, The Color Purple America Ferrera, Barbie Jodie Foster, Nyad Da’Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Anatomy of a Fall The Holdovers Maestro May December Past Lives
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
American Fiction Barbie Oppenheimer Poor Things The Zone of Interest
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
El Conde Killers of the Flower Moon Maestro Oppenheimer Poor Things
BEST FILM EDITING
Anatomy of a Fall The Holdovers Killers of the Flower Moon Oppenheimer Poor Things
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
The Creator Godzilla Minus One Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One Napoleon
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Barbie Killers of the Flower Moon Napoleon Oppenheimer Poor Things
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Barbie Killers of the Flower Moon Napoleon Oppenheimer Poor Things
BEST MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING
Golda Maestro Oppenheimer Poor Things Society of the Snow
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
American Fiction Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny Killers of the Flower Moon Oppenheimer Poor Things
BEST ORIGINAL SONG
“The Fire Inside” from Flamin’ Hot “I’m Just Ken” from Barbie “It Never Went Away” from American Symphony “Wahzhazhe (A Song For My People)” from Killers of the Flower Moon “What Was I Made For?” from Barbie
BEST SOUND
The Creator Maestro Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One Oppenheimer The Zone of Interest
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
The Boy and the Heron Elemental Nimona Robot Dreams Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Bobi Wine: The People’s President The Eternal Memory Four Daughters To Kill a Tiger 20 Days in Mariupol
BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM
Io Capitano Perfect Days Society of the Snow The Teachers’ Lounge The Zone of Interest
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
The ABCs of Book Banning The Barber of Little Rock Island in Between The Last Repair Shop Nai Nai & Wai Po
BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT
The After Invincible Knight of Fortune Red, White and Blue The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar
BEST ANIMATED SHORT
Letter to a Pig Ninety-Five Senses Our Uniform Pachyderme WAR IS OVER! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko
Since my last update, the end of 2023 came and went. I nominated a bunch of movies for the Endy Awards, and listed my favorite Film Discoveries and Books of the past year. I submitted a list to the annual Sense of Cinema World Poll and wrote about Rocky aur Rani for InReview Online’s end of the year list. And I wrote about Ozu Yasujiro’s A Hen in the Wind for Criterion.
If you like what I do here, there, or anywhere else, please consider subscribing to The Chinese Cinema. It’s only $1/month or $10/year for a whole lot of exclusive reviews.
These are the movies I’ve watched and rewatched over the last few months, and where they place on my year-by-year rankings.
Godzilla (Honda Ishiro) – 9, 1954 A Charlie Brown Christmas (Bill Melendez) – 3, 1965 Don’t Look Back (DA Pennebaker) – 4, 1967 A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (Bill Melendez & Phil Roman) – 38, 1973
Mad Max (George Miller) – 22, 1979 Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (George Miller) – 6, 1981 The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (Obayashi Nobuhiko) – 5, 1983 Gremlins (Joe Dante) – 7, 1984 This is Spinal Tap (Rob Reiner) – 12, 1984
Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (George Miller & George Ogilve) – 32, 1985 The Magic Crystal (Wong Jing) – 58, 1986 A Muppet Family Christmas (Eric Till & Peter Harris) – 67, 1987 Scrooged (Richard Donner) – 56, 1988 Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (Chris Columbus) – 80, 1992
Last Hero in China (Wong Jing) – 37, 1993 From Beijing with Love (Stephen Chow & Lee Lik-chi) – 20, 1994 Made in Hong Kong (Fruit Chan) – 2, 1997 Sideways (Alexander Payne) – 20, 2004 Fantastic Mr. Fox (Wes Anderson) – 3, 2009
Skyline (Colin & Greg Strouse) – 67, 2010 The Muppets (James Bobin) – 41, 2011 Mad Max: Fury Road (George Miller) – 2, 2015 One Shot (James Nunn) – 24, 2021 Diary of a Wimpy Kid (Swinton O. Scott III) – 82, 2021
Showing Up (Kelly Reichardt) – 1, 2022 Trenque Lauquen (Laura Citarella) – 6, 2022 Where the Wind Blows (Philip Yung) – 37, 2022 Eye for an Eye: The Blind Swordsman (Yang Bingjia) – 56, 2022
Bad City (Sonomura Kensuke) – 57, 2022 Death on the Nile (Kenneth Branagh) – 81, 2022 Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Roderick Rules (Luke Cormican) – 94, 2022
Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani (Karan Johar) – 1, 2023 Oppenheimer (Christopher Nolan) – 4, 2023 Godzilla Minus One (Yamazaki Takashi) – 5, 2023 The Taste of Things (Trần Anh Hùng) – 6, 2023 Afire (Christian Petzold) – 7, 2023
Jigarthanda DoubleX (Karthik Subbaraj) – 8, 2023 Killers of the Flower Moon (Martin Scorsese) – 10, 2023 The Boy and the Heron (Miyazaki Hayao) – 12, 2023 Menus Plaisirs – Les Troisgros (Frederick Wiseman) – 14, 2023 Fallen Leaves (Aki Kaurismaki) – 15, 2023
Jawan (Atlee) – 16, 2023 All Ears (Liu Jiayin) – 19, 2023 Ferrari (Michael Mann) – 26, 2023 May December (Todd Haynes) – 28, 2023 Poor Things (Yorgos Lanthimos) – 30, 2023
Perfect Days (Wim Wenders) – 32, 023 Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret (Kelly Fremon Craig) – 37, 2023 Ballerina (Lee Chung-hyeon) – 38, 2023 Leo (Lokesh Kanagaraj) – 41, 2023 The Holdovers (Alexander Payne) – 42, 2023
Pathaan (Siddharth Anand) – 45, 2023 Silent Night (John Woo) – 47, 2023 A Haunting in Venice (Kenneth Branagh) – 49, 2023 Napoleon (Ridley Scott) – 50, 2023 Eileen (William Oldroyd) – 52, 2023
The Zone of Interest (Jonathan Glazer) – 56, 2023 Moscow Mission (Herman Yau) – 57, 2023 No Hard Feelings (Gene Stupnitsky) – 58, 2023 I Did It My Way (Jason Kwan) – 68, 2023
Albert Brooks: Defending My Life (Rob Reiner) – 69, 2023 Maestro (Bradley Cooper) – 71, 2023 The Pigeon Tunnel (Errol Morris) – 72, 2023 Diary of a Wimpy Kid Christmas: Cabin Fever (Luke Cormican) – 81, 2023
These are the 2023 Endy Awards, wherein I pretend to give out maneki-neko statues to the best movies, performances, etc of this year in film. Awards for many other years can be found in the Rankings & Awards Index. Eligibility is determined by imdb date and by whether or not I’ve seen the movie in question. Films are presented in alphabetical order, and the winners are in bold. As always, the winners and nominees are subject to change as I watch more movies. And the Endy goes to. . .
Best Picture:
1. 100 Yards 2. Afire 3. Baby Assassins: 2 Babies 4. Evil Does Not Exist 5. Godzilla Minus One 6. Hidden Blade 7. Jigarthanda DoubleX 8. Oppenheimer 9. Rocky aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani 10. The Taste of Things
1. Omika Hitoshi, Evil Does Not Exist 2. Dayo Wong, A Guilty Conscience 3. Tony Leung, Hidden Blade 4. Shah Rukh Khan, Jawan 5. Raghava Lawrence, Jigarthanda DoubleX 6. Leonardo DiCaprio, Killers of the Flower Moon 7. Vijay, Leo 8. Gordon Lam, Mad Fate 9. Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer 10. Ranveer Singh, Rocky aur Rani
Best Actress:
1. Paula Beer, Afire 2. Sandra Hüller, Anatomy of a Fall 3. Margot Robbie, Barbie 4. Lily Gladstone, Killers of the Flower Moon 5. Julianne Moore, May December 6. Natalie Portman, May December 7. Ogawa An, Plastic 8. Emma Stone, Poor Things 9. Alia Bhatt, Rocky aur Rani 10. Juliette Binoche, The Taste of Things
Supporting Actor:
1. Michael Cera, Barbie 2. Glenn Howerton, Blackberry 3. Marshawn Lynch, Bottoms 4. Michael Wong, A Guilty Conscience 5. Donnie Yen, John Wick Chapter 4 6. Robert DeNiro, Killers of the Flower Moon 7. Charles Melton, May December 8. Jason Clarke, Oppenheimer 9. David Krumholtz, Oppenheimer 10. Mark Ruffalo, Poor Things
Supporting Actress:
1. Bea Hayden Kuo, 100 Yards 2. Rachel McAdams, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret 3. Anne Hathaway, Eileen 4. Penelope Cruz, Ferrari 5. Da’Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers 6. Hayley Atwell, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning 7. Vanessa Kirby, Napoleon 8. Jaya Bachchan, Rocky aur Rani 9. Hamabe Minami, Shin Kamen Rider 10. Bonnie Chagneau-Ravoire, The Taste of Things
Original Screenplay:
1. All Ears, Liu Jiayin 2. Hidden Blade, Cheng Er 3. Jigarthanda DoubleX, Karthik Subbaraj 4. River, Ueda Makoto 5. Rocky aur Rani, Ishita Moitra, Shashank Khaitan & Sumit Roy
Adapted Screenplay:
1. Baby Assassins: 2 Babies, Sakamoto Yugo 2. Barbie, Greta Gerwig & Noah Baumbach 3. Killers of the Flower Moon, Eric Roth & Martin Scorsese 4. Oppenheimer, Christopher Nolan 5. The Taste of Things, Trần Anh Hùng
English Language Film:
1. Asteroid City (Wes Anderson) 2. Barbie (Greta Gerwig) 3. Ferrari (Michael Mann) 4. Killers of the Flower Moon (Martin Scorsese) 5. Oppenheimer (Christopher Nolan)
Non-English Language Film:
1. 100 Yards (Xu Haofeng & Xu Junfeng) 2. Baby Assassins: 2 Babies (Sakamoto Yugo) 3. Evil Does Not Exist (Hamaguchi Ryusuke) 4. Godzilla Minus One (Yamazaki Takashi) 5. Rocky aur Rani (Karan Johar)
Non-Fiction Feature Film:
1. Elegies (Ann Hui) 2. The Final Game of Death (James Flower) 3. The History of the Minnesota Vikings (Jon Bois) 4. Menus plaisirs-Les Troisgros (Frederick Wiseman) 5. Onlookers (Kimi Takesue)
Animated Feature Film:
1. Across the Spider-verse (Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, Justin K. Thompson) 2. Art College 1994 (Liu Jian) 3. The Boy and the Heron (Miyazaki Hayao) 4. Diary of a Wimpy Kid Christmas: Cabin Fever (Luke Cormican) 5. Sound! Euphonium: Ensemble Contest (Ishihara Tatsuya)
Unseen Film:
1. Close Your Eyes (Victor Erice) 2. Music (Angela Schanelec) 3. Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam (Lijo Jose Pellissery) 4. The Shadowless Tower (Zhang Lü) 5. Viduthalai Part 1 (Vetrimaaran)
Film Editing:
1. The Final Game of Death 2. Fist of the Condor 3. Hidden Blade 4. Killers of the Flower Moon 5. Oppenheimer
Cinematography:
1. Godzilla Minus One 2. Hidden Blade 3. In Water 4. Jigarthanda DoubleX 5. Rocky aur Rani
Art Direction:
1. Asteroid City 2. Barbie 3. Godzilla Minus One 4. Poor Things 5. The Taste of Things
Costume Design:
1. Barbie 2. Hidden Blade 3. Ponniyin Selvan Part 2 4. Poor Things 5. Rocky aur Rani
Make-Up and Hair:
1. Barbie 2. Jawan 3. Ponniyin Selvan Part 2 4. Poor Things 5. Rocky aur Rani
Original Score:
1. The Boy and the Heron 2. Evil Does Not Exist 3. Godzilla Minus One 4. Killers of the Flower Moon 5. Oppenheimer
Adapted Score:
1. Asteroid City 2. The Final Game of Death 3. Godzilla Minus One 4. The Killer 5. Plastic
Choreography:
1. 100 Yards 3. Baby Assassins: 2 Babies 2. Fist of the Condor 2. Jawan 4. Leo
Sound:
1. Evil Does Not Exist 2. Full River Red 3. Killers of the Flower Moon 4. Oppenheimer 5. The Taste of Things
Sound Editing:
1. Godzilla Minus One 2. Jawan 3. John Wick Chapter 4 4. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning 5. Pathaan
Visual Effects:
1. Godzilla Minus One 2. Poor Things 3. Raid on the Lethal Zone 4. Shin Kamen Rider 5. The Wandering Earth II
An annual tradition here at The End, this is a look at my favorite film discoveries of the year, any movie more than a few years old that I saw for the first time in 2023. Previous years include: 2022,2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, and 2006. I watched just over 270 films this year, roughly a third of which qualified for this list. Here are 50 of my favorites.
1. School in the Crosshairs (Obayashi Nobuhiko, 1981) 2. Swordsman and Enchantress (Chor Yuen, 1978) 3. Bio-Zombie (Wilson Yip, 1998) 4. The Red Detachment of Women (Pan Wenzhan & Fu Jie, 1970) 5. Eighteen Springs (Ann Hui, 1997) 6. High Risk (Wong Jing, 1995) 7. The Returning (Jacob Cheung, 1994) 8. The Ghost Hill (Ting Shan-hsi, 1971) 9. The Imp (Dennis Yu, 1981) 10. Yellow Dragon’s Village (Sakamoto Yugo, 2021) 11. The Red Detachment of Women (Xie Jin, 1961) 12. Classic Albums: Steely Dan – Aja (Alan Lewens, 2000) 13. The Swordsman of all Swordsmen (Joseph Kuo, 1968) 14. Radioactive Dreams (Albert Pyun, 1984) 15. Living in the Material World (Martin Scorsese, 2011) 16. Take Care of My Cat (Jeong Jae-eun, 2001) 17. A Hen in the Wind (Ozu Yasujiro, 1948) 18. The Lake House (Alejandro Agresti, 2006) 19. Avengement (Jesse V. Johnson, 2019) 20. Heart of Dragon (Sammo Hung, 1985) 21. Woman Basketball Player No. 5 (Xie Jin, 1957) 22. Tower of Death (Ng See-yuen, 1981) 23. Mr. Vampire III (Ricky Lau, 1987) 24. Future Cops (Wong Jing, 1993) 25. Brothers and Sisters of the Toda Family (Ozu Yasujiro, 1941)
26. The Debt Collector (Jesse V. Johnson, 2018) 27. Runnin’ Down a Dream (Peter Bogdanovich, 2007) 28. Boyka: Undisputed IV (Todor Chapkanov, 2016) 29. A Study in Choreography for the Camera (Maya Deren, 1945) 30. Revengeful Swordswoman (Artis Chow, 1979) 31. Close Range (Isaac Florentine, 2015) 32. The Avenging Eagle (Sun Chang, 1978) 33. Dunkirk (Christopher Nolan, 2017) 34. Treasure Hunt (Jeffrey Lau, 1994) 35. Undisputed III: Redemption (Isaac Florentine, 2010) 36. Saviour of the Soul (Jeffrey Lau, Corey Yuen & David Lai, 1991) 37. Record of a Tenement Gentleman (Ozu Yasujiro, 1947) 38. Heaven and Earth (David Lai, 1994) 39. The Bravest Revenge (Chien Lung, 1970) 40. Shaolin Invincibles (Hou Cheng, 1977) 41. Savage Dog (Jesse V. Johnson, 2017) 42. A Janitor (Sakamoto Yugo, 2021) 43. Mr. Vampire Saga 4 (Ricky Lau, 1988) 44. Bend it Like Beckham (Gurinder Chadha, 2002) 45. Bumblebee (Travis Knight, 2018) 46. Gen-X Cops (Benny Chan, 1999) 47. Hydra (Sonomura Kensuke, 2019) 48. Draft Day (Ivan Reitman, 2014) 49. El Gringo (Eduardo Rodriguez, 2012) 50. Undeclared War (Ringo Lam, 1990)
The End of Cinema 