Top Ten Films of 2023 | Flashback

Looking back years from now, I think 2023 will be remembered similarly to how people remember 2007 and 2019. It was an incredible year for cinema, and it was therefore incredibly hard to cut this list down to only ten (with one honorable mention). Some of the films that almost made it onto the list, but came up just short, include All of Us Strangers, Fallen Leaves, The Promised Land, Infinity Pool, and La Chimera. It’s wild to think that even though I really loved Barbie, it wouldn’t even have found its way into a top twenty for the year — that’s how good of a year for film 2023 was.

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10 Most Read Articles and Reviews: 2024

We’re now in 2025. Granted, it’s only the first day of the new year, but, hey, we have to accept that 2024 is now in our collective rearview mirror. Like has become tradition on this website, I start every year by listing the ten articles or reviews written in 2024 that were the most popular based on views. At the very end of the article, I’ll even reveal what non-2024 written output was the most popular in the year to which we have now all said goodbye. Let’s get to it!

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Top Ten TV-Shows of 2024

Colin Farrell and Cristin Milioti in THE PENGUIN — PHOTO: Macall Polay/HBO.

I watched so many television (and/or streaming) shows this year. In my notes, I was trying to jot down all of the shows that I had seen and, given that I also watch a lot of movies every year, I was even a little bit shocked at how much time I spent watching entertainment (especially because I was very busy with other stuff this year). But, hey, I do love crashing and/or chilling in front of the television, watching a good show, and then jotting down my notes. And, you know, there were a lot of good shows this year. Some of the shows that it hurts to have to leave off the list this time around are Bad Sisters, Disclaimer, The English Teacher, Under the Bridge, The Boys, and Sugar (and I could, honestly, go on). But there can only be ten shows on this list, and let’s now have a look at what shows made it!

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Top Ten TV-Shows of 2023

Bella Ramsey as ‘Ellie’ and Pedro Pascal as ‘Joel’ in HBO’s THE LAST OF US — PHOTO: HBO / Liane Hentscher.

The long-awaited (and very late, sorry) list of the top ten TV or streaming shows of 2023 is finally here! I watched a lot of excellent shows in 2023, and I loved a great many shows that couldn’t land a spot on this list, such as Shrinking, Silo, Black Mirror, and Hijack. But, in the end, there are only ten spots on this list, and, well, there are some outstanding series here that just had to be on the list. Speaking of which, let’s now finally get to that very list.

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Top Ten Films of 2022

This is a list of the best films of 2022. There are many like it, but this one is mine. It is very late, but pay it no mind. The film industry in 2022 felt like a massive and powerful response to the limitations of the COVID-lockdown era. One action film saved the box office industry in America, one Asian film transcended borders to infect us all with joy, great filmmakers put out exceptional entries in their ouevre, and multiple different versions of Pinocchio were released — but only one of the made a positive impact. Let’s have a look at the best films of 2022.

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Ten Most Read Articles & Reviews: 2022

As the year is coming to an end, it makes a lot of sense to me to look back on the year that is coming to a close. Although it isn’t yet time for me to announce my 2022 year-end lists and awards winners (they’ll be released in January and February 2023), this is the right time to take a look at the ten most-read articles and reviews that I wrote this year. Let’s have a look at what caught your eye this last year.

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Top Ten Films of 2021

This is a list of the best films of 2021. There are many like it, but this one is mine. It is a little late, but pay it no mind. The film industry in 2021, like 2020, was still impacted somewhat by the COVID-19 Pandemic, though obviously not as much as 2020 was. It was a year that, to me, showed a lot of problems for the theater industry, as it was starting to look like film fans had become comfortable waiting for films to hit streaming services rather than to see them in theaters. Because exactly what films became hits last year? Like others have noted, they were pretty much all franchise films. In a way, it feels like HBO Max may have made it easy for American audiences to let go of the moviegoing experience, but, hopefully, the movie theaters will thrive again soon.

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Top Ten TV-Shows of 2021

“For All Mankind,” now streaming on Apple TV+ — Photo: Apple TV+.

In 2021, both the film and television industries tried to play catch-up after films or seasons had been delayed and pushed out of 2020. This meant that Succession: Season Three finally came out this year, for example. But something new also happened in 2021. That year marked the debut of Disney+ Marvel Cinematic Universe Live-Action series, and we got a lot of those, most of which I really liked. So, today, let’s have a look at what shows I thought were the very best in 2021.

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Best of the 2010s: Top Ten Biographical Pictures

Sometimes biopics — or biographical pictures — get a bad rap. Some people think of them merely as Wikipedia entries on the big screen, others think they just exist for studios to promote during awards season — people like to say that biopics are Oscar-bait. But today I want to showcase my ten favorite biographical pictures of the 2010s. I’ll also preface this list by saying that I reserve the right to change this list for the remainder of 2019 in case something new is good enough to make it onto this list. Continue reading “Best of the 2010s: Top Ten Biographical Pictures”

Top Ten TV-Shows of 2018

The New Golden Age of Television continued in 2018 with yet another great year of television. This must be reiterated year after year — yes, even in a year without Game of Thrones — 2018 continued that age, or trend, in which television is as effective as, or even more so than, cinema. For some, television of 2018 is defined best by the return of the increasingly confounding Westworld, and, for others like me, it is best defined by limited series that kept my attention far better than most long-running shows. Continue reading “Top Ten TV-Shows of 2018”