The ballots are counted, the results are ready and its time to reveal what WOKJ thought were the best movies of 2023! It was a great movie year and that was reflected by getting 15 ballots, more than last year. I think we got a good mix of stuff, but we shall see what you all think.

First up is a brand new category!

I added this category this year to add a little fun to the end of the ballot. It also entertained me to see what choices people came up with. There was a lot of variety!

Best Use of a Non-Original Song AKA Best Adapted Song AKA Best Needle Drop (we will settle on a name later)

"Maneater" by Daryl Hall and John Oates (No Hard Feelings)
"Murder On The Dance Floor" by Sophie Ellis-Bextor (Saltburn)
"No Sleep Till Brooklyn" by Beastie Boys (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3)
"The Power of Love" by Frankie Goes To Hollywood (All of Us Strangers)
"Push" by Matchbox Twenty (Barbie)

Next up: Comedy!

If you want to have a laugh try one of these!

Funniest Comedy

Barbie
Bottoms
No Hard Feelings
Poor Things
Saltburn

Guess I'll need to watch Bottoms. I definitely did not see Saltburn as a comedy but to each their own.

Wonka and Dungeons both missed by 1 point.

Horror up next!

If you're not scared by these films then I'm scared by you

Scariest Horror

Godzilla Minus One
Megan
Saw X
Scream VI
Talk To Me

Evil Dead Rise was next up but missed by a few points.

Next up: Sound!

The Sound of a movie theater is one of the biggest reasons to go. Can't blare Dune Part Two like that at home without upsetting the neighbors.

Best Sound:

Across The Spiderverse
The Creator
Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning
Oppenheimer
The Zone of Interest

Poor Things and Maestro both lost the tiebreaker (only appeared on 3 ballots vs the #5 choice's 4 ballots)

Next up: Breakthrough!

Our version of Best New Artist grammy

Breakthrough of the Year:

Lily Gladstone (Killers of the Flower Moon)
Charles Melton (May December)
Dominic Sessa (The Holdovers)
Celine Song (Past Lives)
Sophie Wildie (Talk To Me)

Nobody else was close.

Get ready to dress up for costumes next.

I prefer a t-shirt and shorts/jeans, but some people want the glitz and glamour so lets give it to them.

Best Costume Design

Barbie
Killers of the Flower Moon
Maestro
Oppenheimer
Poor Things

Wonka and Guardians both missed by 2 points.

Next is art direction

Art direction is a fancy term for set design.

Best Art Direction

Across The Spiderverse
Barbie
Oppenheimer
Poor Things
Saltburn

All Of Us Strangers and Killers of the Flower Moon missed by 1 point.

Next is special effects!

There once was a time when any big new movie would have amazing fx but thats no longer true for some reason. So lets appreciate these movies for doing it right!!

Best Visual Effects

The Creator
Godzilla Minus One
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning
Oppenheimer

Spiderverse missed by 2 points.

Next up- Makeup

Make up to break up!

Best Makeup and Hair Styling

Barbie
Maestro
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Oppenheimer
Poor Things

Megan was 2 points out.

Next up is original song!

Dungeons : (

Palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy, there's vomit on his sweater already - mom's spaghetti

Best Original Song

Dance The Night Away by Dua Lipa (Barbie)
I Hate Myself by Florence Pugh (A Good Person)
I'm Just Ken by Ryan Gosling (Barbie)
Peaches by Jack Black (Super Mario Bros)
What Was I Made For? by Billie Eilish (Barbie)

There was a time when it looked like Barbie might get 4 songs but Charli XCX fell a bit short.

Next up is best score:

Classical music is alive and well ... at the cinema!

Best Score

Across The Spiderverse
Killers of the Flower Moon
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
Oppenheimer
Poor Things

All Of Us Strangers was two points out.

eDiting is neXt.

Is editing important? Well, via editing, you can answer that question ... and answer it again in a Yoda voice.

Best Editing:

Killers of the Flower Moon
The Holdovers
Oppenheimer
Past Lives
Poor Things

All Of Us Strangers, Barbie and Saltburn all missed by 1.

Next up is cinematography

Who needs to travel when you can get gorgeous photography like this?

Best Cinematography

All Of Us Strangers
Killers of the Flower Moon
Oppenheimer
Poor Things
Saltburn

Maestro and Ferrari missed by 1.


Next is foreign cinema!

Si!

Best Foreign Language Film

The Boy and The Heron
Godzilla Minus One
Past Lives
Where Evil Lurks
The Zone of Interest

Shocking snub for Anatomy of a Fall here but I guess not enough people (including myself) have seen it. Lurks getting in here but missing in horror is kinda funny.

Doc is always our weakest category but at least we have some nominees this year

Best Documentary

20 Days In Mariupol
Taylor Swift: The ERAS Tour

Not many but better than nothing.

animated up next

My normal Paul McCartney quote

"Animated movies are not just for the children. They are also for adults ... on drugs."

Best Animated

Across The Spiderverse
The Boy and The Heron
Elemental
Nimona
TMNT: Mutant Mayhem

Super Mario Bros missed by 3.

Next up: adapted screenplay!

One could say that taking one piece of writing and turning into another is actually science.

Best Adapted Screenplay:

All Of Us Strangers
Barbie
Killers Of The Flower Moon
Oppenheimer
Poor Things

American Fiction missed by 1.

Next up is original

And here are the original scripts

Best Original Screenplay

Anatomy Of A Fall
The Holdovers
May December
Past Lives
Saltburn

And Anatomy is back for revenge here ... huh... Maestro and Sanctuary both missed by 2.

Next up is stunt ensemble!

Poor one out for the stuntmen and women who do so much for our favorite action movies:

Best Stunt Ensemble

Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
Gran Turismo
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
John Wick Chapter 4
Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning

And now Dungeons gets revenge for a previous snub! Hunger Games was 2 points behind.

Next up is acting ensemble. We are getting to the biggies!

The oscars are finally adding this category soon but we were 20 years ahead of the game!

Best Acting Ensemble

All Of Us Strangers
Barbie
The Holdovers
Oppenheimer
Poor Things

Saltburn and Killers were both 3 points behind.

Next up: Best Supporting Actress!

Behind a good lead performance there's always a woman ... or something like that...

Best Supporting Actress

Emily Blunt (Oppenheimer)
America Ferrera (Barbie)
Claire Foy (All Of Us Strangers)
Rosamund Pike (Saltburn)
Da'vine Joy Randolph (The Holdovers)

Julianne Moore missed by 2 points.

the supporting men next!

These men would all be good choices for vice president

Best Supporting Actor:

Robert DeNiro (Killers of the Flower Moon)
Robert Downey Jr. (Oppenheimer)
Ryan Gosling (Barbie)
Mark Ruffalo (Poor Things)
Dominic Sessa (The Holdovers)

Charles Melton missed by 1 point.

Leading ladies up next!

Hello ladies

Best Actress

Annette Benning (Nyad)
Lily Gladstone (Killers of the Flower Moon)
Greta Lee (Past Lives)
Margot Robbie (Barbie)
Emma Stone (Poor Things)

Hopefully these noms will save us from the wrath of the internet! Huller was 2 points short.


Lead actor next