Best of 2023 Poll!

[flip]

SCFZ Best of 2023

I'm starting up our annual best of the year poll, where we poll our favourite films released last year:

• post a list of your favourite films from 2023
-- you can list no more than half of the 2023 films you have seen, up to a maximum of 10, except:
--- if you have seen between 40 and 59 feature films from last year: then you can list up to 11 films
--- if you have seen 60 or more feature films from last year: then you can list up to 12 films

• ranked ballots are *strongly* encouraged (if you aren't sure how to rank, maybe rank in reverse-order of letterboxd views, to give films less likely to get other votes more weight). Unless you tell me otherwise, I'll assume your ballot is ranked.
• scoring for ranked ballots will be on a 1-2-3-4-...-maximum scale (so a three-film ranked ballot will award 3, 2 and 1 points to the three films)
• unranked ballots will award the same total points as a ranked one would, but awarding an equal number of points to each film. So a ten-film unranked ballot, say, will award 5.5 points per film
• feel free to post a ballot now and edit it later - no need to let me know about changes unless you make changes on the day of the deadline, which is just before Oscars night. As usual, I 'llpost the results on Academy Award day, which is March 10 this year
• voters can decide which films are eligible for the poll -- anything released in 2023 is clearly eligible, as are any 2022 festival releases that weren't available for most people to watch until 2023. that said, any film that received support in our best of 2022 poll (results here: https://letterboxd.com/fliptrotsky/list ... scfz-poll/ ) is not eligible for the 2023 poll

deadline: March 8, 2023


I'll start the never-very-popular Academy Awards poll in a separate thread, nominations were announced today

[flip]

i've seen 50 from the year so far, but will watch more. still not thrilled with my list yet, but i do think well of the top few films:

1. Anatomy of a Fall (Justine Triet)
2. Fremont (Babak Jalali)
3. The Marsh King’s Daughter (Neil Burger)
4. May December (Todd Haynes)
5. Kidnapped (Marco Bellocchio)
6. How To Have Sex (Molly Manning Walker)
7. Killers of the Flower Moon (Martin Scorsese)
8. The Holdovers (Alexander Payne)
9. Polite Society (Nida Manzoor)
10. The Murderer (Wisit Sasanatieng)
11. Asteroid City (Wes Anderson)

[nrh]

at 38, still have a few more i definitely want to watch.

1. Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam (Lijo Jose Pelissery)
2. Mein Falke (Dominic Graf)
3. Mad Fate (Soi Cheang)
4. Purusha Pretham (Krishand)
5. Thuramukham (Rajeev Ravi)
6. The Beast in the Jungle (Patric Chiha)
7. Kidnapped (Marco Bellocchio)
8. Toby (Basil Alchalakkal)
9. The Delinquents (Rodrigo Moreno)
10. Knock at the Cabin (M. Night Shyamalan)

[pabs]

If the deadline was 6 months longer, I'd probably manage to see a few more 2023 films by then, but so far I haven't managed to see much. I assume other people will have the same problem.

[ofrene]

that's true but 6 month isn't enough cause some movies can be seen in later of 2024 or beyond..

start from here

Close Your Eyes
Killers of the Flower Moon
Showing Up
Evil Does Not Exist
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Anatomy of a Fall
Fallen Leaves
Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World
Asteroid City
La Chimera
Smoke Sauna Sisterhood
Eureka


edit : add Showing Up cause no one mentioned at 2022 poll

[flip]

If the deadline was 6 months longer, I'd probably manage to see a few more 2023 films by then, but so far I haven't managed to see much. I assume other people will have the same problem.

i think you've posted this every year for the past five years, and my answer is always the same: if you want to run a best of 2023 poll in six months, no one will stop you. i will participate in that poll. i've explained several times why i run this poll now, and if you don't want to participate, or don't feel you've seen enough to participate, you don't have to.

[karl]

The only 2023 movies I saw - and I saw very few - that I enjoyed were Wes Anderson's short Roald Dahl films. This is a director I'd almost given up on (and, based on its trailer, if I want to keep my rather good current opinion of him I ought to skip his 2023 feature), but the World Socialists convinced me to give these a go and I just so happened to have someone's netflicker account handy and reckoned why not. According to the World Socialists:

The obvious respect for Dahl’s work on display here is a welcome rebuke to the identity politics crowd, who have recently taken to rewriting and censoring the author in the name of “inclusiveness.”

I enjoy a good rebuke to the "identity politics" crowd, whom I find disagreeable.

So:

The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar
The Rat Catcher
Poison
The Swan

[rischka]

all politics are identity politics (:

i'll watch anatomy of a fall today then i should be able to vote in both polls!

not a terrible year, at least i was interested enough to go to the theater 3-4 times. been awhile

anatomy of a fall

holy crap this is 150 mins why is everything so loooooong

[nrh]

• voters can decide which films are eligible for the poll -- anything released in 2023 is clearly eligible, as are any 2022 festival releases that weren't available for most people to watch until 2023. that said, any film that received support in our best of 2022 poll (results here: https://letterboxd.com/fliptrotsky/list ... scfz-poll/ ) is not eligible for the 2023 poll

trying to think of what might be hurt by this kind of release stuff, maybe tranque lauquen? it ended up ranking high in both the 2022 and 2023 editions of roger koza's international survey.

in terms of release date weirdness, thuramukham released march 2023 this year, but had so many covid related delays that it debuted on olaf moller's 2020 list, which seems like an impossible amount of time ago.

[flip]

anatomy of a fall

holy crap this is 150 mins why is everything so loooooong

yeah, that's exactly what i thought when i was watching the new mission:impossible movie (and the new indiana jones). i was expecting those films to at least be a bit fun, but they were slogs, and way too long (though to be fair, the climactic scene of the mission:impossible film is kind of amazing). anatomy of a fall felt a lot shorter than it is, to me at least.

trying to think of what might be hurt by this kind of release stuff, maybe tranque lauquen? it ended up ranking high in both the 2022 and 2023 editions of roger koza's international survey.

in terms of release date weirdness, thuramukham released march 2023 this year, but had so many covid related delays that it debuted on olaf moller's 2020 list, which seems like an impossible amount of time ago.

most of the time, i won't question what voters choose to vote for (and most of the time, i wouldn't know enough to even judge what films should "count" as 2023 releases). i just don't want people voting for the fabelmans or pacifiction or whatever, since we already profiled those films on our list last year. tranque lauqen actually made our top ten last year though, so that's another film that at least had enough views after 2022 to rank highly, and in this year's poll, i think it's best to give a slot on the final list to something else.

tons of films obviously won't get a fair chance in these end-of-year polls, but i look to our regular year polls to remedy that (a couple of years from now), when we've all developed a better perspective on 2023 film.

[Curtis, baby]

1. SMOKE SAUNA SISTERHOOD (anna hints)
2. FALLEN LEAVES (aki kaurismaki)
3. RAP AND REINDEER (petteri saario)

4. MAREYA SHOT, KEETAH GOAL: MAKE THE SHOT (nilesh patel, baljit sangra)
5. THREE PROMISES (yousef srouji)
6. LYNX MAN (juha suonpaa)
7. OCEANS ARE THE REAL CONTINENTS (tommaso santambrogio)
8. ISRAELISM (sam eilertsen, eric axelman)
9. BLACKBERRY (matt johnson)
10. BOTTOMS (emma seligman)


(4 through 10 are just ranked based on reverse letterboxd views, top 3 are my real deal order)

[Curtis, baby]

all politics are identity politics (:

is karl making up a type of person to get mad at again

[greennui]

I watched Anatomy of a Fall last night and I thought it was a breeze tbh, I'm catching up with some 2023 releases now and Fallen Leaves is my fav right now. Waiting for Zone of Interest now.

[rischka]

I watched Anatomy of a Fall last night and I thought it was a breeze tbh, I'm catching up with some 2023 releases now and Fallen Leaves is my fav right now. Waiting for Zone of Interest now.

same also american fiction

[rischka]

do not expect too much from the end of the world
fallen leaves
close your eyes
rocky aur rani kii prem kahaani
anatomy of a fall
may december
spider-man into the spider-verse
asteroid city
the holdovers
killers of the flower moon

https://mubi.com/en/notebook/posts/an-e ... -the-world

interview w radu jude, nominated for 0 oscars

[cinesmith]

El Conde
Poison
Ratcatcher
The Secret Life of Henry Sugar
Asteroid City

That's all I got for now. I saw 30 but there's just nothing else worth bringing up at the moment.

[ofrene]

Zone of Interest is the most anticipating film of 2023 but I don't know when..can i see that (not gonna release till oscar season, that's for sure )

[ofrene]

Anatomy of a Fall was the most (and only?) satisfying palme d'or winner of the past 10+ years

and how do they do that with dog wtf

[Mauries]

[updated]

Seen 26 so far.

1. do not expect too much from the end of the world (Radu Jude)
2. Here (Bas Devos)
3. Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell (Pham Thien An)
4. In the Rearview (Maciek Hamela)
5. On the Edge (Nicolas Peduzzi)
6. All of Us Strangers (Andrew Haigh)
7. May December (Todd Haynes)
8. Barbie (Greta Gerwig)
9. Anatomy of a Fall (Justine Triet)
10. Knit's Island (Ekiem Barbier, Guilhem Causse, Quentin L'helgoualc'h)

[flip]

with apologies to karl and cinesmith, whose ballots were not properly factored into our 2023 poll results (because i couldn't see them while the forum was down), i have worked out the updated tally with both ballots included (along with wba's late ballot posted on discord), and in the next couple of days, i'll post the latest poll results here, and update the letterboxd list

[Silga]

I will post my ballot tomorrow. Watched plenty of 2023 films last month thanks to film festival.

[St. Gloede]

Nice to see the forum back up.

Here's my list. Seen 148 so far.

1. Four Daughters
2. Orlando, My Political Biography
3. Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World
4. 20,000 Species of Bees
5. All of Us Strangers
6. The Zone of Interest
7. Dream Scenario
8. Anatomy of a Fall
9. Afire
10. Tótem
11. The Teachers’ Lounge
12. Femme

[DT.]

Welcome back all! For posterity:

About Dry Grasses (Nuri Bilge Ceylan)
Afire (Christian Petzold)
Anatomy of a Fall (Justine Triet)
Do Not Expect Too Much of the End of the World (Radu Jude)
The Killer (David Fincher)
Oppenheimer (Christopher Nolan)
Perfect Days (Wim Wenders)
Poor Things (Yorgos Lanthimos)
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers & Justin K. Thompson)
The Taste of Things (Tran Anh Hung)

[flip]

i'm usually strict on the end-of-year poll deadline, but because so many people didn't get a chance to participate because of the forum going down, i'll factor in any new ballots that come up in the next couple of days. if you posted a ballot to discord though, please don't also post a new one here, that will confuse me (or if you wanted to have a ballot here just for posterity, you can post one, but please wait a few days until i've had a chance to work out the final results of the poll)

so new ballots are very welcome until about wednesday, unless someone asks for a bit longer (i'll wait for silga's ballot for sure though if it's a day or two late)

in recent past years i think we've usually posted a top 100 for the year, and we didn't get to 100 this year, but i'm hoping with some new ballots we might -- we're close!

[Silga]

Seen 76

1. The Holdovers (Alexander Payne)
2. Killers of the Flower Moon (Martin Scorsese)
3. Oppenheimer (Christopher Nolan)
4. The Rapture (Iris Kaltenbäck)
5. The Delinquents (Rodrigo Moreno)
6. The Zone of Interest (Jonathan Glazer)
7. The Peasants (DK Welchman, Hugh Welchman)
8. Asteroid City (Wes Anderson)
9. Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry (Elene Naveriani)
10. Tótem (Lila Avilés)
11. Io Capitano (Matteo Garrone)
12. Jules (Marc Turtletaub)

[flip]

Welcome back all! For posterity:

since there's roughly a 1 in 3.6 million chance a ranked ballot would also be in alphabetical order, i'm going to assume your ballot is unranked, but if that's not the case, please let me know!

[flip]

i have updated the count with all the ballots posted so far, unless someone lets me know they plan to post a ballot, i'll probably just go ahead and post the new results in 24 hours or so

[flip]

FINAL RESULTS

i have updated the results to reflect all the new ballots posted here and on discord. no change to #1, but changes otherwise in the top five. most obvious change is the rise of oppenheimer, from the mid-40s in our previous iteration to nearly a top ten spot in this one. and by pure serendipity, exactly 100 films got a vote, so we have a top 100 again this year


1. May December (Todd Haynes)
2. Do Not Expect Too Much of the End of the World (Radu Jude)
3. The Zone of Interest (Jonathan Glazer)
4. Anatomy of a Fall (Justine Triet)
5. Fallen Leaves (Aki Kaurismaki)
6. Killers of the Flower Moon (Martin Scorsese)
7. Close Your Eyes (Victor Erice)
8. Rocky Aur Rani (Karan Johar)
9. The Boy and the Heron (Hayao Miyazaki)
10. Asteroid City (Wes Anderson)
11. Oppenheimer (Christopher Nolan)
12. Afire (Christian Petzold)
13. Showing Up (Kelly Reichardt)
14. Past Lives (Celine Song)
15. Perfect Days (Wim Wenders)
16. All of us Strangers (Andrew Haigh
17. The Iron Claw (Sean Durkin)
18. The Taste of Things (Tran Anh Hung)
19. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Joaquim Dos Santos/Justin K Thompson/Kemp Powers)
20. Mad Fate (Soi Cheang)
21. Poor Things (Yorgos Lanthimos)
22. About Dry Grasses (Nuri Bilge Ceylan)
23. Our Body (Claire Simon)
24. Four Daughters (Kaouther Ben Hania)
25. The Holdovers (Alexander Payne)
26. The Killer (David Fincher)
27. Orlando, My Political Biography (Paul Preciado)
28. Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam (Lijo Jose Pelissery)
29. Fremont (Babak Jalali)
30. No Bears (Jafar Panahi)
31. The Delinquents (Rodrigo Moreno)
32. My Falcon (Dominik Graf)
33. Here (Bas Devos)
34. Smoke Sauna Sisterhood (Anna Hints)
35. Kidnapped (Marco Bellocchio)
36. Reality (Tina Satter)
37. Purusha Pretham (Krishand)
38. The Rapture (Iris Kaltenback)
39. In Water (Hong Sang-soo)
40. Sun and Concrete (David Wnendt)
41. 20,000 Species of Bees (Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren)
42. Rap and Reindeer (Petteri Saario)
43. Cade: The Tortured Crossing (Neil Breen)
44. Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell (Pham Thien An)
45. The Marsh King’s Daughter (Neil Burger)
46. Mareya Shot, Keetah Goal (Nilesh Patel/Baljit Sangra)
47. I Told You So (Ginevra Elkann)
48. The Daughters of Fire (Pedro Costa)
49. The Beast in the Jungle (Patric Chiha)
50. In Our Day (Hong Sang-soo)
51. Evil Does Not Exist (Ryusuke Hamiguchi)
52. Bottoms (Emma Seligman)
53. In the Rearview (Maciek Hamela)
54. Let the River Flow (Ole Giaever)
55. Thuramukham (Rajeev Ravi)
56. The Peasants (DK Welchman, Hugh Welchman)
57. Totem (Lila Aviles)
58. The Pope’s Exorcist (Julius Avery)
59. The Rat Catcher (Wes Anderson)
60. Poison (Wes Anderson)
61. Dream Scenario (Kristoffer Borgli)
62. The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (Wes Anderson )
63. The Long Voyage of the Yellow Bus (Julio Bressane)
64. Lynx Man (Juha Suonpaa)
65. On the Edge (Nicolas Peduzzi)
66. Subspecies V: Blood Rise (Ted Nicolaou)
67. Toby (Basil Alchalakkal)
68. Last Summer (Catherine Breillat)
69. El Conde (Pablo Larrain)
70. How To Have Sex (Molly Manning Walker)
71. Manta, Manta: Legacy (Til Schweiger)
72. Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry (Elene Naveriani)
73. Small, Slow But Steady (Sho Miyake)
74. Godland (Hlynur Palmason)
75. The Teacher’s Lounge (Ilker Catek)
76. You Hurt My Feelings (Nicole Holofcener)
77. Knock at the Cabin (M Night Shyamalan)
78. Israelism (Sam Eilertsen/Eric Axelman)
79. Music (Angela Schanelec)
80. Samsara (Lois Patino)
81. Blue Jean (Georgia Oakley)
82. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (John Francis Daley/Jonathan Goldstein)
83. No Hard Feelings (Gene Stupnitsky)
84. Three Promises (Yousef Srouji)
85. Io Capitano (Matteo Garrone)
86. Miraculous: Ladybug and Cat Noir: The Movie (Jeremy Zag)
87. When Evil Lurks (Demian Rugna)
88. Skinamarink (Kyle Edward Ball)
89. Thanksgiving (Eli Roth)
90. Barbie (Greta Gerwig)
91 Jean-Claude van Damme: Karate King (Olivier Monssens)
92. Knit’s Island (Ekiem Barbier, Guilhem Causse, Quentin L'helgoualc’h)
93. Full River Red (Zhang Yimou)
94. Jules (Marc Turtletaub)
95. Ponniyin Selvan: Part II (Mani Ratnam)
96. Red Rooms (Pascal Plante)
97. Femme (Sam Freeman/Ng Choon Ping)
98. The Last Voyage of the Demeter (Andre Ovredal)
99. BlackBerry (Matt Johnson)
100. The Swan (Wes Anderson)

[Silga]

Thanks, Flip, for running our annual poll!

I haven't seen May December yet, but I love Todd Haynes' work so I'll be checking it, hopefully soon.

[flip]

I haven't seen May December yet, but I love Todd Haynes' work so I'll be checking it, hopefully soon.

i think several of us were surprised it won the poll (and by a huge margin, actually, though it's closer now with the new ballots) -- even though we all voted for it! i'm not sure anyone had it in first place, is part of the reason i was shocked it won, and i and possibly others were expecting the winner would be something like anatomy of a fall or killers of the flower moon or the zone of interest or maybe even the radu jude film. as i mentioned on the discord, it's the second time todd haynes has won our end-of-year poll (carol also won).