11 Quotes From the Biggest Movies of 2023
From a cinematic point of view, history will likely sum up 2023 in one word: “Barbenheimer.” It was the cultural phenomenon of the summer, with Greta Gerwig’s Barbie and Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer — two films that couldn’t be more different but that shared a release date — managing to spawn their own portmanteau.
Both films were massive hits. Barbie became the 53rd film to gross $1 billion worldwide as well as the highest-grossing comedy movie ever released in the U.S., breaking the long-standing record previously held by Home Alone. Oppenheimer, meanwhile, became both the highest-grossing World War II film and the highest-grossing biographical film of all time.
Although Barbenheimer received far more attention than all other movies this year, there were plenty of other great films that are also well worth watching. Here are quotes from 11 of the biggest and most noteworthy movies of 2023, from weighty biopics to the now-customary superhero movies and, of course, the Barbenheimer duo.
Ben Affleck directed 2023’s biggest sports drama, which tells the true story of Sonny Vaccaro, the Nike employee who set out to strike a deal with the then-rookie basketball player Michael Jordan. This, of course, resulted in Air Jordans — one of the most successful apparel partnerships in history.
Wes Anderson’s highly anticipated 11th feature film was met with mixed reviews, but devoted Anderson fans showed up to see it nonetheless. The movie itself examines the idea that what we see on our screens is far from reality. It also involves the concept of emotional repression — and aliens. Oppenheimer tells the true story of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the American theoretical physicist known as the “father of the atomic bomb” for his work on the Manhattan Project. Everyone assumed it would be a great film simply because it was directed by Christopher Nolan, one of the best directors of his generation — and Nolan didn’t disappoint.
Barbie turned the summer pink with a movie that many initially presumed would primarily target young kids. In reality, it’s a very meta commentary on feminism, life in a patriarchal society, and existential crises. And then there’s Ryan Gosling, who’s hilariously devoted to his role as the lost and lovestruck Ken. Ari Aster fans know to expect a certain degree of strangeness from his movies, but Beau Is Afraid saw the director aim for a whole new level of weird. Exactly what it’s about is anyone’s guess, but it’s one heck of a journey for those willing to be swept along. The Super Mario Bros. Movie, starring Chris Pratt as the beloved Italian plumber, received mixed reviews from critics — but moviegoers didn’t seem to care about that, as it became the first movie based on a video game to gross $1 billion worldwide. Martin Scorsese’s epic Western crime drama, based on David Grann’s 2017 nonfiction book of the same name, tells the story of a series of murders among the Osage Nation after the lucrative discovery of oil on their tribal lands. Many critics have called it one of Scorsese’s best films — high praise indeed, considering his incredible filmography. DC Studios created an unashamedly family-focused superhero movie with Blue Beetle, packing in plenty of humor and heart. Superhero-weary critics were surprisingly positive in their reviews, but the movie struggled at the box office, in part because of the competing hype surrounding Barbie and Oppenheimer. Welsh filmmaker Gareth Edwards burst onto the sci-fi movie scene with 2010’s Monsters before striding into Star Wars territory with Rogue One. With the artificial intelligence-fueled, action-packed shenanigans of The Creator, he further established himself as a rising star within the genre. Extraction 2 is, overall, a solid action movie. But it truly excels during a 21-minute segment near the start of the movie that surely ranks among the greatest action sequences of all time. While it looks as if it was filmed in one shot, the initial extraction by ex-soldier Tyler Rake (Chris Hemsworth) was actually cleverly stitched together. Nonetheless, it’s a highly impressive cinematic feat. Some viewers criticized Guardians 3 for tugging too hard on the ol’ heartstrings. But for those of us who were swept up in the whole adventure, it was a truly emotional — and at times genuinely heartbreaking — final romp with Star-Lord and his faithful friends.
