Picked by Sean Fennessey
Anatomy of a Fall 2023
No. 1. Sandra Hüller, one film of two: the capital-A acting turn, all speeches and crying, as a writer accused of killing her husband.
The Big Picture · Roundtable · Review
'Maestro': Holy Sh*t. Plus, the Top 10 Performances of 2023.
December 20, 2023/ 87 min/ Sean Fennessey · Amanda Dobbins
Sean and Amanda count down their favorite performances of 2023, the first of three year-end top 10s, steering clear of the locks they'll be arguing about at the Oscars. Then a long, divided sit with Bradley Cooper's Maestro: gorgeous, moving in stretches, and hard to pin down on what it's actually about.
22 films across 2 segments.
AI-generated This episode was transcribed and analyzed with AI models. The matches aren't perfect — expect the occasional misheard title or a link to the wrong film.
The Top 10 Performances of 2023 Sean and Amanda, counting down, ties and cheats included
Picked by Sean Fennessey
The Zone of Interest 2023
No. 1, the other Hüller. As the Auschwitz commandant's wife, a performance so unshowy it feels observed rather than acted. Two opposite modes in one year is Sean's acting achievement of the year.
Picked by Sean Fennessey
The Iron Claw 2023
No. 2. Zac Efron as Kevin Von Erich: the livewire weirdness that flopped in Baywatch turned magnetic, body and all.
Picked by Sean Fennessey
Infinity Pool 2023
No. 3, scream queens (tie). Mia Goth with the restrictor plate off in Brandon Cronenberg's chaos, the funniest performance of the year to Sean.
Picked by Sean Fennessey
Talk to Me 2023
No. 3, scream queens (tie). Sophie Wilde carrying the summer's horror breakout through a cliché the movie leans on and she outruns.
Picked by Sean Fennessey
Passages 2023
No. 4. Franz Rogowski as Ira Sachs's charismatic disaster: the toxic almost-boyfriend you can't cut out. Sean's breakout of the year for him in English.
Picked by Sean Fennessey
Saltburn 2023
No. 5. Rosamund Pike as the only person in the movie who seems to know what it's about, a character part done exactly right.
Picked by Amanda Dobbins
All of Us Strangers 2023
No. 1 (a cheat, three ways): Andrew Scott, Claire Foy, and Jamie Bell as an unusual family. Wept openly, Amanda's first-saddest movie of the year, ahead of Wonka.
Picked by Amanda Dobbins
Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé 2023
No. 2. Beyoncé, whom Amanda calls the performer of a generation, in a movie that got ignored because concert films do.
Picked by Amanda Dobbins
Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. 2023
No. 3. Rachel McAdams, shout-out to moms. On a lot of critics' lists, a longshot at the Academy.
Picked by Amanda Dobbins
American Fiction 2023
No. 4. Sterling K. Brown with the trickiest part in the movie, holding the family drama together. Cord Jefferson's adaptation, more on it later this week.
Picked by Amanda Dobbins
BlackBerry 2023
No. 5, supporting work (tie): Glenn Howerton as the maniacal striver who runs the company, the most yelling in a performance all year.
Picked by Amanda Dobbins
Oppenheimer 2023
No. 5, supporting work (tie): David Krumholtz as the film's agent of empathy, boxed out of a campaign by Downey and Damon.
Picked by Amanda Dobbins
Earth Mama 2023
Breakout. Tia Nomore in what is remarkably her first screen performance.
Picked by Amanda Dobbins
The Holdovers 2023
Breakout. Dominic Sessa, never on screen before, holding his own with Da'Vine Joy Randolph and Paul Giamatti.
Picked by Amanda Dobbins
M3GAN 2022
Breakout. Amy Donald as the physical performer behind Megan, Amanda's Andy Serkis of 2023.
Picked by Sean Fennessey
Priscilla 2023
Honorable mention. Cailee Spaeny, kept off the main list only because Priscilla was in Sean's top five.
Picked by Sean Fennessey
Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One 2023
Honorable mention. Hayley Atwell standing toe to toe with Cruise. Sean's fix: cut the first 15 minutes and it's a five-star movie.
Picked by Sean Fennessey
Memory 2023
Honorable mention (not out yet). Jessica Chastain, one of the best actors alive, doing it in the small movie no one will see.
Picked by Sean Fennessey
Past Lives 2023
Honorable mention. Teo Yoo and John Magaro, the two men whose odd pairing makes the triangle work.
Picked by Sean Fennessey
May December 2023
Honorable mention. Charles Melton, the last 30 minutes the movie hands to him as it becomes his crisis.
'Maestro'Bradley Cooper's Leonard Bernstein biopic, now on Netflix
Maestro 2023
Cooper's second film as director, co-written with Josh Singer, shot by Matthew Libatique, with Carey Mulligan as Felicia Montealegre. Scene by scene it's gorgeous, the Ely Cathedral Mahler 2 the highlight, but both hosts come away puzzled about what it's actually about: it wants to be the story of the marriage and can't stop being the story of the man. Sean's read: Cooper, like Bernstein, is a "high bro" at war with his own ambition, and the movie is too self-aware for its own good.
Also mentioned raised along the way
Bernstein on screen, and Cooper's touchstones TárA Star Is BornSteve JobsOn the WaterfrontWest Side StoryThe Hangover
The Warren Beatty career Sean wants for Cooper RedsDick TracyBulworthRules Don't Apply
In passing Killers of the Flower MoonThe RevenantThe MotherToni ErdmannLove Is StrangeWonka
Not films filtered out: TV, games, ads
TV It's Always Sunny in PhiladelphiaThis Is UsGinny & GeorgiaSesame StreetYoung People's ConcertsInside the Actors Studio
Web Hot OnesBetween Two Ferns
Ads The Ringiverse