The Ten Best Performances of 2023

December 29, 2023 by Matt Oakes Posted in Lists, Most Popular Tagged All of Us Strangers, American Fiction, Andrew Scott, Barry Keoghan, Emma Stone, Jeffrey Wright, Margaret Qualley, Mark Ruffalo, Molly Gordon, Paul Giamatti, Poor Things, Rosamund Pike, Saltburn, Theater Camp 2 Comments

It has already begun: the long march towards coronating a new quartet of actors whose performances are deemed the finest of 2023. And while the Oscars, Globes, and flurry of other guild awards tend to recognize the same handful of actors over and over again, here at Silver Screen Riot, we have our own version of who offered the best performances of 2023. So now that we’ve already gotten our way through the Ten Best TV Shows of 2023, and the Ten Best Movies of 2023, it’s time to move onto the Ten Best Performances of 2023.

Though it should go without saying, by “best”, I mean entirely my favorites so no need to send over an Excel sheet proving me why my preferences are wrong. From a year teeming with standout performances, several noteworthy ones made the greatest impact, though I could probably double this list and be more happy with it. But time is finite (mine and yours) and so here they are: Read More

The Ten Best Movies of 2023

December 22, 2023 by Matt Oakes Posted in Lists, Most Popular Tagged Barbie, Best of, Bottoms, How to Blow Up a Pipeline, Lists, Past Lives, Poor Things, Saltburn, Talk to Me, The Holdovers, The Zone of Interest, Theater Camp, Top Ten 3 Comments

End-of-year lists are a rite of passage, a time to select the best of the best from all we’ve seen. And then anguish over what we’ve chosen. Like its small-screen counterparts, 2023 proved to be an unusual year in film. Countless delays due to widespread industry strikes shifted many potential blockbusters to 2024 and beyond, while numerous big-budget films flopped. In many ways, 2023 was a sea change year, signaling that past successes may not guarantee future wins. Disney Studios, for instance, experienced more flops than hits, and only two movies ended up scraping past the billion-dollar mark at the box office. Read More

Take a Delightful Sojourn Into Thespian Hilarity at ‘THEATER CAMP’

July 27, 2023 by Matt Oakes Posted in Most Popular, Out in Theaters Tagged Amy Sedaris, Jimmy Tatro, Molly Gordon, Nick Lieberman, Out in Theater, Review, Theater Camp 7 Comments

In the vein of the best Christopher Guest mockumentaries, Theater Camp delivers a laugh-a-minute exploration of the inner workings of a fictitious child actor’s summer getaway, firmly rooted in reality. Destined to become a cult comedy classic, especially amongst the performance-inclined, this feature-length adaptation of the short film of the same name is crafted with a deep understanding of the theatrical world. Co-directed by Molly Gordon and Nick Lieberman, both with theatrical backgrounds, the film expertly celebrates and satirizes the peculiarities of the theater world, infusing the humor with a delightful mix of specificity and personal touches. Read More