2023 was perhaps the best movie year since the pandemic. There were multiple blockbusters in the theater, with "Barbie" and "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" both topping $1 billion in worldwide ticket sales.

Beside seats in theaters filling up, there were plenty of great movie options both domestic and foreign that will be competing for awards in the coming months. Co-hosts Bruce Miller and Terry Lipshetz talk about their favorite movies of the year, with Miller offering his own Top 10 list.

Bruce Miller's Top 10 films from 2023

1. "Oppenheimer"
2. "Killers of the Flower Moon"
3. "Barbie"
4. "Anatomy of a Fall"
5. "The Holdovers"
6. "Poor Things"
7. "Maestro"
8. "American Fiction"
9. "Air"
10. "Past Lives"

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About the show

Streamed & Screened is a podcast about movies and TV hosted by Bruce Miller, a longtime entertainment reporter who is now the editor of the Sioux City Journal in Iowa and Terry Lipshetz, a senior producer for Lee Enterprises based in Madison, Wisconsin.

Episode transcript

Note: The following transcript was created by Headliner and may contain misspellings and other inaccuracies as it was generated automatically:

Terry Lipshetz: Welcome, everyone, to another episode of Streamed & Screened, an entertainment podcast about movies and TV from Lee Enterprises. I'm Terry Lipshetz, managing editor of the national newsroom at Lee, and co-host of the program with Bruce Miller, editor of the Sioux City Journal and a longtime entertainment reporter and someone who has seen way more movies than I have this year. Way more. Why am I here?

Bruce Miller: You're here because I need you. If you're not there, I. I'm just talking into the woods. I'll tell you, I tried to figure out how many movies I see in a year. Now this is just movies. This is not TV show movies or streaming or anything like that. And I figured one year, it was around 300. And so if you multiply that times 40 years, that's a lot of movies. And those are only ones that I would do for work purposes, not ones that I would go back. And wizard of Oz doesn't count in that, because you'd see that more than once. The Godfather. I've seen the Godfather so much, I could do the line, it's a strange year because we didn't know what was going to happen with the strikes. We didn't know if we would get things, if they would hold things, what would happen. And right now, at the end of the year, there is a plethora of, movies that are opening. It's your chance to really get after it. If you haven't looked at movies, now's your time. So, Terry, how about your year? How was your year?

Terry Lipshetz: It's typical as a parent who's got a busy job and lots of kid, you know, we got to the movies. We saw some of the big ones. We saw Mario Brothers, which was a fun movie. Really enjoyed seeing that one. We went to see Barbie. Definitely an Oscar contender. This is not a doll movie, so love that one. We recently saw the Hunger Games prequel. We went to see Indiana Jones. I saw the flash, the family and I. We did see elemental. So we've gotten out, we've seen some movies. We've left the house. 2020 is in the rear view mirror, and we are back to theaters. We already have plans for our, Christmas break to go see Wonka.

Bruce Miller: What guides the choices, do you say? Well, if we're taking the kids, it has to be kid friendly. Or do you say, kids, you're going to an r rated movie? I don't care.

Terry Lipshetz: I don't want to say we're super strict, but we do like to look at. We'll check out, like rotten tomatoes. We'll check out common sense media. And we'll use our own best judgment to try to figure out what to go see. We don't allow them to see r rated movies yet. With the PG 13 movies, we look at them pretty closely. We try to see, okay, why is it pg 13? Is it just a few bad words? Is there nudity? I mean, usually PG 13 doesn't get nudity. You might get a butt in there every once in a while. And that's okay if you see a little. Everyone has a butt. We're all fine with. So that kind of thing is okay. If it gets a little too violent, we try to stay away from it. If it gets a little too sexual, we try to stay away from it. But we try to find movies that are appropriate for the family and we want them to see appropriate material for their age.

Bruce Miller: So the profanity, we hear that at home, we're okay, we're good with that.

Terry Lipshetz: They'll call me out on it. My girls basketball team, I coach 7th grade girls basketball and we were playing a game this weekend and I said the s word audibly during the. Because I thought one of our girls fouled out. So they were, coach, you just said the s word and you got to run a lap now.

Bruce Miller: Oh, good.

Terry Lipshetz: I owe them a lap in practice, probably.

Bruce Miller: You better get on it. That's good. I'm glad they're holding you too. But I always use the line that if you're a writer, you've got to be able to know all the words and how to use them effectively. So that's why I swear I also don't have kids around me. So I'm good.

Terry Lipshetz: You're good.

Which was better? ‘Oppenheimer’ or ‘Barbie’

Bruce Miller: Okay, so we're going to look at the list. Did you do ten?

Terry Lipshetz: I didn't come up because I felt like I didn't see enough of the really good movies. I would say that of all the films that I saw, I would probably rank Oppenheimer just a hair before Barbie. I thought Barbie was a great movie. I thought that it is deserving of any accolade it gets. I would like to somehow see Oppenheimer and Barbie somehow split out awards so their two creative geniuses, because that's what they are, our geniuses, can somehow share without taking away from each other. I don't want to see one of them just like clean sweep and then the other one gets left. So I think there's a way for a best director, best picture, best screenplay. We'll hand out statues to both. But I would just give Oppenheimer like my nudge for best picture. And that's even without yet seeing killers of the flower moon.

Bruce Miller: And those are the two I had a, battle to figure. Is it Oppenheimer or is it killers of the flower moon? I'll tell you, I went back and forth on this because they're both too long, bottom line, too long. But who had justified me sitting longer of the two films? And I thought that the end of Killers of the Flower moon was a little padded. Whereas in Oppenheimer they had a trial. There was a moment there where you go, well, this is a whole new movie. This is something else I'm getting from this. And I thought that was very clever. They deserved their time. And so that gave me the little edge for Oppenheimer. So my number one film of the year is Oppenheimer. Number two is Killers of the Flower moon. You have Barbie as number two. Well, Barbie came in at three on my list.

Terry Lipshetz: Okay.

Bruce Miller: Because the thing with Barbie is, I think that she wasn't just toying, pardon the pun, toying with the concept of a doll and what it has meant over the years. It really was a tale about, now, don't be badmouthing young girls who are playing with barbies, because that's always been the narrative behind Barbie is that, oh, it's like some stupid doll. Know, is, perhaps a little more zoptic than you would give a girl. And that she was kind of dim and there were a lot of things there to unpack and she unpacked all of them. Greta Gerwig, looked at all those kind of angles about Barbie and still came away with the idea that here is a doll that is giving us hope that girls can do everything and that there are stumbling blocks in the road, but you have to figure out how to deal with them. it isn't just riding in your Malibu car with Ken by your side. And Ken was another whole thing. Know, Ken has been an accessory for the most part all these years. He's also in the picture. But Ken had his own little feelings as well. And you go, I kind of feel sorry for Ken. I really felt sorry for Alan. But this is a movie that gives you more than you're expecting. I think it is a great way to look at those kind of characters, especially when you're an adult. When you're a kid, it doesn't know. Barbie is just that character with too many clothes and she loses her shoes all the time. But as an adult, you realize that this was an impressionable character on young minds. And so I think the movie did a great job of bringing that to light.

‘Anatomy of a Fall’ is a courtroom drama to watch

In my number fourth spot, I have anatomy of a fall. And this is something that you probably haven't seen around much because it's a foreign language film, both in French and German and English. It's about an accident, or what you think is an accident. A young boy, he's about eleven, is blind, and he's walking his dog outside. And when he comes home, they realize that the dad is on the ground and dead. And what is behind this? Did he fall out of the window? Did his wife push him out the window? What is the story behind all this? It's a fascinating courtroom drama that lets you figure out, where do you sit? I happened to talk with Sandra Huller, who's the star of this. She plays the woman who's on trial for this, the mother wife. And she said, I don't go into this taking sides and saying that she's guilty or she's innocent of anything. I just want to play the emotions because it does, it shifts throughout the whole film. And it is a, fascinating look at a case where when you come to the end of it, you will debate with others what was the true story there? And it all comes down to the end where the young boy gets to testify, on the stand, and he talks about what he believes. It won the Cannes Film festival, palm door, award. And you can see why it's lasted. I mean, we're just getting it now. But if you get a chance to see this, please do look at it. Anatomy of a fall.

Terry Lipshetz: Okay.

Bruce Miller: Number five spot. I don't know if you saw this one or not, but the holdovers, I love the holdovers.

Terry Lipshetz: It's on my list to see. And it's one that might, because it's rated r, so it's not one we.

Bruce Miller: Were going to go take.

Terry Lipshetz: Okay. But yeah, my wife and I have talked about it, wanting to go see it, and maybe we'll be able to do that over the break when my kids go spend some time with my mom for a little bit.

Bruce Miller: We're storing you kids. Don't be like the von Eric brothers in the iron claw. Please do not force them into things. But, yeah, I think it was a fascinating look at how we create families. And families can come from the least likely places. It’s a prep school in the 1970s where some people have to stay back because either their parents don't bring them home for the holidays. In colleges, there are a lot of international students who don't get to go home for the holidays because it's just too expensive. But this turns out there's one student who's stuck at this school with the teacher he really hates, who's kind of the designated watcher for any of these students, and then the cook, and they all have their own little issues. They all have their own little story, and they come together, and they become the greatest of friends. It's remarkable. Paul Giamatti, divine Joy Randolph, and Dominic Cessa, a newcomer who plays a student, and he's just marvelous in this. Directed by Alexander Payne. It's a film you should see. So that was at number five. At number six, I have poor things, and this is probably one you haven't seen yet, either, with Emma Stone as she's like a Frankenstein's monster. Willem Dafoe has done a surgery on her, and I don't want to tell you too much about that, but he has created this woman who is just learning life all over again. So she's very halting and stupid, and every year or every day, she learns, like, 100 words. I'm now paraphrasing because I don't have my notes on this. And so she becomes very educated about everything, about life, about people, about relationships, and she wants to approach it all on her own terms. And so when she gets to be older, there's talk of marriage, there's talk of other things, and it's just wild, wild, wild. It's black and white. Sometimes it's color, sometimes. Willem Dafoe is just unbelievable. I think he's great in this. Emma Stone is wonderful. And here's one you can't take the girls to because there is nudity. Just know that it's more adult than you'd ever thought it would be. But it's very creative, and I think that's what lands it on the list, because it is just so fascinatingly interesting.

The story of Leonard Bernstein is available on Netflix

Okay, so that's number six. Number seven, maestro. Again, this is one that's just now, getting the streaming services that's on Netflix. And it's the story of Leonard Bernstein, if you happen to remember him, if you're old enough like I am, to have seen him do those children's educational things about the symphony and the orchestra and all that, you know, the name. And he was one of the biggest conductors in the world, a composer. He wrote a number of huge musicals, but there was kind of a different man behind the scenes. And this looks at his relationship with his wife, Felicia. There's a lot there to unpack because she was that very supportive woman. But he also was a philandering husband, and he had relationships with men that, of course, they wouldn't say anything about back in the. So it was kind of a hidden life that he was leading. Bradley Cooper directed this, wrote this. I mean, he stars in it. He's everything about this. It's his showpiece, I think, really. It gives him a chance to show what he's able to do. He sounds like him, he looks like him. But it's not a chronological look at his life. It's like snippets. It's little things that give you a picture of what he's really all about. Harry Mulligan plays his wife, Felicia, and she is incredible, too. So this is one. It's on Netflix. You can watch it, see it. It's something that's really fascinating because it's more than just a, screen biography.

Terry Lipshetz: I saw it pop up in my recommended recently, and I did add it to my list. So it is absolutely on my list of films to watch.

‘Super Mario Bros.’ one of the fun movies to watch from 2023

Bruce Miller: Okay, now, before I get to numbers eight, nine, and ten, what else is.

Terry Lipshetz: On your list from the standpoint of did I like it, did I see it and enjoy it? I was really impressed with Super Mario Brothers. It's not going to make anybody's top ten list. And it's one of those which my daughter wanted to go see it. I guess I'll go take you to a movies. And I sat there and I enjoyed it. And it was actually fun to watch. And it was worth it, being, a billion dollar worldwide film. And it was one of those films that I think got butts back into the theater, which it's been a long time since that's happened. So that movie I really enjoyed. I also thought that the prequel for the Hunger Games was a lot better than I expected. I had very low expectations on that film. Very low. I didn't mind the first of the trilogy. The second two after that were kind of, Do I really.

Bruce Miller: But with this, do you know the characters? Are they like, young people, and then they grow up to become people in what we consider the classic Hunger games?

Terry Lipshetz: Yeah, President Snow, he's the Donald Sutherland character from the movies. It's his younger self, and you kind of see how he turned into. Exactly. So from that standpoint, I think it was a real interesting thing to watch. I never read the books. I was never that interested. It was just one of those where, yeah, I'll go see it. It sounds like fun watching kids murder each other. Sure. Why not.

Bruce Miller: Isn't that how it should be?

Terry Lipshetz: Exactly.

Bruce Miller: Shouldn't we just put the kids out there and make them just survive?

Terry Lipshetz: That's it, right.

Bruce Miller: Otherwise called winter, break. And you've got to try and figure out what to do with them because they'll drive you crazy.

Terry Lipshetz: Exactly.

‘American Fiction’ another great performance from Jeffrey Wright

Bruce Miller: Okay. On my list, number eight, American Fiction. This is another new one that you'll see in theaters now. Cord Jefferson wrote this based on other material, but it's about a black author who is just incensed by the idea. Know, there are these people doing these ghetto like kind of books, plays, whatever, and they didn't live the life, but they see that it sells because there's a white audience out there that wants to read these kinds of things. And so he wonders, well, what if I wrote one of those? So he writes it under a pseudonym. As a result, he gets a lot of attention, has people looking for him to do interviews. And he's trying to stand the download because he doesn't want people to know that, wait a minute, I don't want this on my record, that I wrote this book because I think this book is trash. But yet he's still making money from it. So what's the balance? Know, Jeffrey Wright stars in the film and he's wonderful. I think it's one that we're going to see in the Oscar race. I really do, because it's so very interesting how they approach this subject, particularly now when people talk about being woke and all those kind of catchphrases they throw out there, but it attacks it head on and is willing to make, some choices. And I thought it was fascinating.

Terry Lipshetz: Yeah. And Jeffrey Wright, I love Jeffrey Wright. He was in some of the more recent James Bond movies as, Felix Leiter, the CIA agent. And he also was in, the HBO series Westworld. And I thought those two roles, very difficult, challenging roles in their own way, and he nails those characters. So I am really looking forward to seeing American Fiction.

Bruce Miller: He's been around forever, Broadway. He's done a lot of Broadway shows. I think he just had one last year. Now he's probably getting his big moment.

Terry Lipshetz: Yeah. He's somebody that you've seen him before in so many different things, mostly in supporting roles. I think that's where Westworld really let him shine, because even though that was an ensemble cast, he was a primary character in there.

Bruce Miller: Yeah, he is another one of those ones that can always get work because he can play so many different roles and so many different. I love him. I think he's really good. And he makes this film very unpredictable. Very unpredictable. You will not guess the ending of this film. I will wage your money on that one.

‘Air’ tells the story of how Nike landed Michael Jordan

Okay, number nine. Now, this is one that you should have seen and you didn't.

Terry Lipshetz: It's been available through prime video forever. And I keep on going. It's in my list. I'm going to go watch it tonight. And then I fall asleep.

Bruce Miller: You probably are wearing Nike tennis shoes. And then you can't even go see the movie. That's terrible.

It's air in number nine. Air. And this is the story of how they did the deal for Michael Jordan's shoeline and what kind of maneuvering was done by the people at Nike and what they had to do to try and get him to buy into them. Now, what we don't realize in retrospect is that Nike was not a player back in the know. They wanted converse or they wanted Adidas, but they didn't want Nike. Nike was considered third. And so it becomes this kind of salesman's pitch to the Jordan family that you need to go with us. This is going to be something. And this is way before Michael Jordan was Michael Jordan. He was a college standout, but he wasn't Michael Jordan. Capitalized, bold faced, underlined all that. You see what they have to do, how they sell it, and, you see people that you recognize, but Michael Jordan's barely in the film. If he's in it, I bet it's ten minutes at best. And the character is always shown from the back of the head or the side. You don't see him doing anything except in footage where they show Michael Jordan actually playing basketball. And you go, oh, they did. And that logo that they use where he's jumping in the air, you see that? Where they got the inspiration. What's fun is seeing how his mother was such a good influence in this old thing. And she talks about, it's just a shoe until you put my son's foot in it. Then you see the guy who made the shoes and what a character. He just. It's fascinating. And my favorite one of all is the agent played by Chris Messina, who, again, you can't let the kids watch this because every other word starts with an f. But it is just fascinating to watch this. And, Matt Damon gets the speech of the year when he tells his story to the family of why they should go with. It's just, it's remarkable. You cheer because it's such a good, Look at all that.

Terry Lipshetz: Well, now I got to go watch it this weekend.

Bruce Miller: So, what do I have to do? I am pulling you movie by movie through the year, and then you won't go see these things. I want you to go to that.

Terry Lipshetz: Have you seen my family calendar, Bruce? Have I shared that with you?

Bruce Miller: Look, when you said you're coaching, that alone tells you. Right? Oh, this guy ain't the movies.

Terry Lipshetz: I'm not going to the movies. Nope. Right. Exactly. Right. Well, what's closing out your list?

Bruce Miller: It's called past lives. It's an Asian film that really. Oh, I don't want to spill it. They were friends when they were children, and then they reconnect later in life, and they wonder what their lives might have been like had they been together all along. And it's heartbreaking in parts, heartwarming in other parts, but it's, Greta Lee Tao, you are the actors. It's directed by Celine Song, and it's marvelous. It probably will be one of the ones that will be considered for best international film, but we have a lot of those in the category this year. And normally I don't put foreign films on my ten best list because we don't get a chance to see them all the time. Thanks to streaming, we're getting more of those films out there. And I think you'll find, too, that they have great stories to tell. It's just sometimes I have to do a lot of reading to be able to get to the story.

Terry Lipshetz: Sure. Wow.

Bruce Miller: So that's a top ten list. Oppenheimer, number one.

Terry Lipshetz: Can't go wrong with Oppenheimer.

Bruce Miller: Killers of the flower moon. Number two. Barbie. Number three. Anatomy of a fall. Number four. The holdovers. Number five. Four things. Number six, maestro. Number seven. American fiction, number eight. Air number nine. And past lives. Number ten.

Terry Lipshetz: Okay, well, that is a list for those of you out there that are like me. Haven't gotten to enough movies this year. A lot to watch during the next couple of weeks as we close things out and then march further towards Oscar season. So we're going to wrap this episode next week. We're going to do our top ten TV shows.

Bruce Miller: And that's even more difficult because there's so much tv.

Terry Lipshetz: I promise you, Bruce, I will have more to offer in the next episode than what I brought to the table today.

Bruce Miller: So we're going to throw you in. you're going to be playing in this one. I will be on the bench.

Terry Lipshetz: So I have a lot of time. I can squeeze in a 30 minutes, 45 minutes show at the end of the night. No problem. So I have a lot to offer. So we'll be back again next week with another episode of streamed and screened.