The Panda

I assume this just means Air Bud is in the top 75 then

There Will Be Blood ranking below a bunch of inferior cartoons I presume

Here is my ballot. I'll bold some FYCs that haven't gotten as much awards attention this season that I think are worthy (not many are really deep cuts like some others might be able to bring up, but worth considering all the same). I may see a few more films but this will likely be it. BEST PICTURE 1. Oppenheimer 2. The Boy and the Heron 3. Killers of the Flower Moon 4. Past Lives 5. The Zone of Interest 6. The Iron Claw 7. The Holdovers 8. Dream Scenario 9. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 10. May December BEST DIRECTOR 1. Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer 2. Martin Scorsese, Killers of the Flower Moon 3. Hayao Miyazaki, The Boy and the Heron 4. Jonathan Glazer, The Zone of Interest 5. Celine Song, Past Lives 6. A.V. Rockwell, A Thousand and One BEST ENSEMBLE 1. The Iron Claw 2. Oppenheimer 3. Killers of the Flower Moon 4. Anatomy of a Fall 5. How to Blow Up a Pipeline 6. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 BEST ACTOR 1. Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer 2. Paul Giamatti, The Holdovers 3. Zac Efron, The Iron Claw 4. Nicolas Cage, Dream Scenario 5. Teo Yoo, Past Lives 6. Jeffrey Wright, American Fiction BEST ACTRESS 1. Lily Gladstone, Killers of the Flower Moon 2. Teyana Taylor, A Thousand and One 3. Sandra Huller, Anatomy of a Fall 4. Greta Lee, Past Lives 5. Natalie Portman, May December 6. Cailee Spaeny, Priscilla BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR 1. Charles Melton, May December 2. Robert Downey Jr, Oppenheimer 3. Robert De Niro, Killers of the Flower Moon 4. Holt McCallany, The Iron Claw 5. Jason Momoa, Fast X 6. Ryan Gosling, Barbie BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS 1. Da'Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers 2. Julianne Moore, May December 3. Lily James, The Iron Claw 4. Tantoo Cardinal, Killers of the Flower Moon 5. Emily Blunt, Oppenheimer 6. Rachel McAdams, Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret BEST VOICE PERFORMANCE 1. Masaki Suda, The Boy and the Heron 2. Bradley Cooper, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 3. Jack Black, The Super Mario Bros Movie 4. Hailee Steinfeld, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse 5. Chloe Grace Moretz, Nimona 6. Jenna Davis, M3GAN BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY 1. Past Lives 2. The Holdovers 3. The Boy and the Heron 4. May December 5. Dream Scenario 6. Anatomy of a Fall BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY 1. Killers of the Flower Moon 2. The Zone of Interest 3. Oppenheimer 4. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 5. Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. 6. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves BEST ANIMATED FEATURE 1. The Boy and the Heron 2. The Super Mario Bros Movie 3. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse 4. Nimona 5. Elemental BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY 1. Oppenheimer 2. Killers of the Flower Moon 3. The Zone of Interest 4. Poor Things 5. Maestro 6. May December BEST EDITING 1. Oppenheimer 2. Killers of the Flower Moon 3. Anatomy of a Fall 4. How to Blow Up a Pipeline 5. May December 6. The Creator BEST VISUAL EFFECTS 1. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 2. The Creator 3. Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1 4. Oppenheimer 5. Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves 6. Napoleon BEST COSTUME DESIGN 1. Barbie 2. Killers of the Flower Moon 3. Oppenheimer 4. Poor Things 5. Priscilla 6. Asteroid City BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN 1. Poor Things 2. The Zone of Interest 3. Barbie 4. Oppenheimer 5. Killers of the Flower Moon 6. Asteroid City BEST HAIR AND MAKEUP DESIGN 1. Poor Things 2. Priscilla 3. Talk to Me 4. Oppenheimer 5. Barbie 6. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 BEST SOUND DESIGN 1. Oppenheimer 2. The Zone of Interest 3. The Creator 4. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 5. Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1 6. Maestro BEST ORIGINAL SCORE 1. The Boy and the Heron 2. Oppenheimer 3. A Thousand and One 4. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse 5. Killers of the Flower Moon 6. The Zone of Interest BEST SOUNDTRACK 1. Barbie 2. Maestro 3. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 4. The Iron Claw 5. Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. 6. The Holdovers BEST ORIGINAL SONG 1. "Live That Way Forever" from The Iron Claw 2. "Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People)" from Killers of the Flower Moon 3. "I'm Just Ken" from Barbie 4. "Peaches" from the Super Mario Bros Movie 5. "Quiet Eyes" from Past Lives 6. "(Dear Alien) Who Art in Heaven" from Asteroid City BEST STUNT ENSEMBLE 1. Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1 2. The Iron Claw 3. Creed III 4. The Creator 5. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 6. Barbie MOST EPIC BOX OFFICE RUN 1. Oppenheimer 2. Barbie 3. The Super Mario Bros Movie 4. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse 5. Elemental 6. Godzilla Minus One MOST SOUL CRUSHING BOX OFFICE RUN 1. The Sound of Freedom 2. Killers of the Flower Moon 3. Dream Scenario 4. The Creator 5. Joy Ride 6. Five Nights at Freddys BEST COMEDY FEATURE 1. Dream Scenario 2. Barbie 3. Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves 4. Quiz Lady 5. Bottoms 6. Joy Ride BEST HORROR FEATURE 1. Dream Scenario 2. Talk to Me 3. Beau is Afraid 4. M3GAN BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE 1. The Boy and the Heron 2. The Zone of Interest 3. Anatomy of a Fall BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE Abstain BEST TV SHOW/MINISERIES – COMEDY Abbott Elementary Last Week Tonight with John Oliver BEST TV SHOW/MINISERIES - DRAMA Shiny Happy People The Last of Us Succession WORST FEATURE 1. Left Behind: Rise of the Anti-Christ 2. Bama Rush 3. Ant-Man: Quantumania 4. No Hard Feelings 5. Strays 6. Maestro BEST BREAKTHROUGH (filmmaker, actor, writer, etc.) 1. Celine Song (Director), Past Lives 2. Lily Gladstone (Actor), Killers of the Flower Moon 3. A.V. Rockwell (Director), A Thousand and One 4. Teyana Taylor (Actor), A Thousand and One 5. Gary Gunn (Composer), A Thousand and One 6. Daniel Goldhaber (Director), How to Blow Up a Pipeline BEST YOUTH PERFORMANCE (any actor under 20 y/o when film was shot)\ 1. Milo Machado Graner, Anatomy of a Fall 2. Abby Ryder Fortson, Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. 3. Madeline Yuna Voyles, The Creator 4. Aaron Kingsley Adetola, A Thousand and One 5. Jake Ryan, Asteroid City 6. Joe Bird, Talk to Me BEST OVERLOOKED FEATURE (Film without “serious” awards consideration and made under 25m at the Box Office DOM) 1. Dream Scenario 2. Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. 3. How to Blow Up a Pipeline 4. Quiz Lady 5. Priscilla 6. Bottoms BEST HERO 1. Rocket Raccoon, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 2. Snoop, Anatomy of a Fall 3. Mario, The Super Mario Bros Movie 4. Edgin, Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves 5. Gwen Stacey, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse 6. Bella Baxter, Poor Things BEST VILLAIN 1. Dante, Fast X 2. Ken, Barbie 3. Fritz Von Erich, The Iron Claw 4. The Cocaine Bear, Cocaine Bear 5. William Hale, Killers of the Flower Moon 6. Bowser, The Super Mario Bros Movie BEST SCENE 1. Trinity, Oppenheimer 2. The Staircase Descent, The Zone of Interest 3. The Couch Scene, Dream Scenario 4. I Used to Be a Brother, The Iron Claw 5. True Crime, Killers of the Flower Moon 6. I'm Just Ken, Barbie FUNNIEST USER Abstain MOST VALUABLE USER Abstain BEST FORUM MOMENT Abstain My Nomination Totals: Oppenheimer (18) Killers of the Flower Moon (17) Barbie (11) Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (10) The Iron Claw (10) The Zone of Interest (9) Anatomy of a Fall (7) The Boy and the Heron (7) Dream Scenario (7) May December (7) Past Lives (7) A Thousand and One (7) The Super Mario Bros Movie (6) Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret (5) The Creator (5) The Holdovers (5) Poor Things (5) Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (5) Asteroid City (4) Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (4) How to Blow Up a Pipeline (4) Priscilla (4) Maestro (3) Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1 (3) Talk to Me (3) Bottoms (2) Elemental (2) Fast X (2) M3GAN (2) Nimona (2) Quiz Lady (2) American Fiction (1) Beau is Afraid (1) Cocaine Bear (1) Creed III (1) Napoleon (1) Godzilla Minus One (1) Joy Ride (1)

Other thoughts: Princess and the Frog deserved to rank higher, probably better than all WDAS movies that have come after it. Hoping Air Bud makes a run for the top 50, dont do the best golden retriever dirty! Stuff like CMBYN and City of God making it is fun, but seems like the forums half did it. Should have pushed them into the top 50!

Was really hoping Super Mario Bros could push higher, shame

Extended the deadline for February 11th!

I saw the Zone of Interest this week, I’ll likely plug it in around 3 to 5 and knock everything else down one.

I’ll submit later but mine is 1. Oppenheimer 2. The Boy and the Heron 3. Killers of the Flower Moon 4. Past Lives 5. The Iron Claw 6. The Holdovers 7. Dream Scenario 8. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 9. May December 10. Poor Things 11. Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret 12. Barbie 13. A Thousand and One 14. How to Blow Up a Pipeline 15. The Super Mario Bros Movie 16. Priscilla 17. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse 18. Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves 19. Asteroid City 20. Quiz Lady 21. Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1 22. Bottoms 23. Talk to Me 24. The Creator 25. Beau is Afraid

No, if Spidey loses animated feature it’ll be to Heron

This was my final letterboxd ranking https://boxd.it/rgjPy

Thanks! All of the recommendations are for BOFFY categories 😉

You can consider these my personal FYCs

Number 1 "Now I am become death. The destroyer of worlds." I saw Oppenheimer, like many of you, in 70mm IMAX. Prior to Oppenheimer, I wouldn't have considered myself the most ardentof Nolanites. Don't get me wrong, I do like almost all of his work, but I wasn't submittting a top 10 all-time list of all Nolan films (like I have received running our top 100 list). Oppenheimer though is an absolute mastercraft from Christopher Nolan. For all of the pre-release interviews Nolan gave talking up Oppenheimer, I left almost feeling like it had even been undersold. An epic drama that left me sitting in the existential dread knowing of humanity's tendency and capability to destroy ourselves. I don't know if my body has had as visceral of reaction to a movie in theaters as I did during Oppenheimer, where I was left (just as Papa Nolan promised) quivering in my seat, and profusely drenched in my own nervous sweat. 2023 has been my favorite year for movies since at least 2019, but perhaps I could go even further back. There are years where any of the films in my top 5 might have topped out a list. But they came out the same year as Oppenheimer, which might just be the film of the decade. For the categories: **Best Picture (WINNER)** **Director (Christopher Nolan) (WINNER)** **Ensemble (Runner-Up)** **Actor (CIllian Murphy) (WINNER)** **Supporting Actor (Robert Downey Jr) (Runner-Up)** Supporting Actress (Florence Pugh) **Adapted Screenplay (Runner-Up)** **Editing (WINNER)** **Cinematography (WINNER)** **Original Score (Runner-Up)** **Sound Design (WINNER)** Costume Design **Production Design (Runner-Up)** Hair and Makeup Design **Visual Effects (WINNER)** **Scene (Trinity) (WINNER)**

Number 2 "This was my world. It was beautiful and messy and tragic and silly. It can not last. Now go make your own." Hayao Miyazaki came out of a ten year long 'retirement' to drop this film. "The Boy and the Heron" is an expansive and even somewhat messy capstone to Miyazaki's work up to this point. Whether or not Miyazaki truly ends with this one, it feels as if nothing could be the proper capstone work for a create like him. Working as one of Miyazaki's most mature works to date, Heron crafts a complicated story about the collapse (or even illusion) of the legacy that one creates. Hisaishi drives the film with the piano centric score that lands among the best work for a master composer. And then beyond the meta nature of Miyazaki looking back on his own career is the core heart of the film; a story of a boy learning to cope with his grief and accept loss. For the categories: **Best Picture (Runner-Up)** **Director (Runner-Up)** **Voice Performance (Masala Suda) (WINNER)** Original Screenplay **Original Score (WINNER)** **Animated Feature (WINNER)**

Number 3 "Can you find the wolves in this picture?" Martin Scorsese continues his late 2010s and 2020s surge of new classics with "Killers of the Flower Moon". Despite clocking in at around three and a half hours, but the film's pace has you gripped from start to finish. Martin Scorsese wisely approaches the subject of American Genocide by telling a condeming tale through the lens of the criminals who purpotrated it. Scorsese's historied approach to crime films is used to the film's benefit. You watch in horror and disgust at what is done, it becomes Scorsese's "Schindler's List" of sorts, only the hope at the end is sparsely given. A chilling film where Scorsese puts a lens on American complicity, a lens on the viewer, and a lens on himself. Tragic and powerful work of a legendary filmmaker working at a top tier level. For the categories: Best Picture Director Ensemble **Actress (Lily Gladstone) (WINNER)** Supporting Actor (Robert De Niro) **Supporting Actress (Tantoo Cardinal) (Runner-Up)** **Adapted Screenplay (WINNER)** **Editing (Runner Up)** **Cinematography (Runner Up)** Original Score Sound Design Costume Design Production Design Hair and Make-Up Design Original Song (Wahzhazhe (Song for my People)) **Breakthrough Performance (Lily Gladstone) (WINNER)** **Villain (William Hale) (WINNER)** Scene (True Crime)

Number 4 "If two people get married they say it's because there's been over eight thousand years of In-Yun." Past Lives comes out on screen as if Richard Linklater and Christopher Nolan had a love-child, and her name was Celine Song. A meditative drama that tells an inventive story in a way that I have not seen put to screen before. The themes of "What Ifs" of course have been explore before, but the movie manages to subvert what you'd expect a movie of its kind to do. There is a whirlwind and sucker punch of emotions delivered by Song, yet the movie never succumbs to becoming melodramatic. Song crafts an immigrant story in which you fully see the two parts of self and identity take the screen. Both parts of Celine's identity are loved, even though some of it must be left as In-Yun in the past in order to create room for new In-Yun in the present. What is left behind is cherished, even when there's always full acceptance that the new life is where they're going to say. For the categories: Best Director (Celine Song) Actor (Teo Yoo) Actress (Greta Lee) **Original Screenplay (WINNER)** Editing Original Song ("Quiet Eyes") Breakthrough (Celine Song, Directing) Scene (In-Yun)

Number 5 "I used to be a brother." I was absolutely gutted from this movie. I went in with little knowledge of what to expect, I just knew it was apparently sad and featured an incredibly homoerotic trailer that had me hooked. What I ended up getting was a tragic cautionary tale of the overbearing weight of competitive parents who seek to live through their children. It's a heartbreaking story, crafted by a director who knows exactly what to (and not) to show. The ending left me in more tears than anything else I saw this year, as it delivers a sense of catharsis through Zac Efron's best performance to date. Durkin takes some dramatic liberties with the source material to slightly lessen the heavy load of the true story and offer nodes of hope that the a generational cycle of trauma can be broken (even if in reality it may have just continued). For the categories: Director **Ensemble (WINNER)** Actor (Zac Efron) Supporting Actor (Holt McCallany) Supporting Actress (Lily James) Original Screenplay Editing Soundtrack **Original Song ("Live That Way Forever") (WINNER)** **Stunt Ensemble (Runner Up)** Villain (Fritz Von Erich) Scene (I Used to Be a Brother)

Number 6 "You are and always have been penis cancer in human form." Alexander Payne either created a time machine to craft a film so authentically 70s, or maybe he's just old. I turned on the Holdovers hardly expecting to fall for it quite as much as I did. I also had little expectation that I would aspire to live the life of Paul Giamatti's character, as he candidly rips a new one into every one of the entitled students. A wit and laugh filled Christmas drama that plays out like a warm cup of hot tea while bundled inside on a cold winter day. The film feels so nostalgically warming, you could have sworn it's been with you your whole life. For the categories: Best Picture **Actor (Paul Giamatti) (Runner-Up)** **Supporting Actress (Da'Vine Joy Randolph) (WINNER)** **Original Screenplay (Runner-Up)** Cinematography Soundtrtack

Number 7 "There's nothing wrong with just being a professor, Paul. You don't need to be a researcher too." As somebody well within the field of academia, this cut rather deep. Nicolas Cage absolutely embodies the role of the well off but dissatisfied Paul Matthews, a Biology professor at an effectively no name institution. Part critique on academic culture and part satire on the nonsense that can at times come with online cancel culture. Dream Scenario is a laugh-a-minute horror comedy which initially dwells on academic's tendency to write observations about the world but never actually take action. It then delves into the scenarios where action is actually taken, sexual harrasment scandals and research which gets taken for bad uses beyond the academic's intent. One of A24's lesser appreciated outings from this year. For the categories: Best Picture Best Actor (Nicolas Cage) Original Screenplay **Horror Feature (WINNER)** **Overlooked Feature (WINNER)** **Best Scene (The Couch Scene) (Runner Up)**

Number 8 "And me and my friends are gonna go flying together, into the forever and beautiful sky." James Gunn makes what, seems like will be, his final foray in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The end result left me with a completely unexpected result. That is, I was completely blown away by an MCU movie! The franchise has been in shaky waters lately, and I've been an advocate that the problems that fans have with this recent wave of MCU films has been with the franchise since the beginning. However, there has always been a major exception to the 'episode of the week' nonsense I've felt with the average Marvel film, and that was their Guardians franchise. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 closes out the trilogy on its most glowing note, with perhaps the most fully realized creative vision in the MCU. Wickedly funny banter, an emotional tearjerker, and the best film in the MCU. For the categories: Best Picture **Voice Performance (Bradley Cooper) (Runner-Up)** Ensemble Adapted Screenplay Sound Design Hair and Make-Up Design Visual Effects Soundtrack Stunt Ensemble **Best Hero (Rocket Raccoon) (WINNER)**

Number 9 "I don't think we have enough hot dogs." In May December, Todd Haynes walks a tight-rope of a directing job by approaching about as sticky of a subject matter as you can get, while taking an innovative approach at the topic. Watching Natalie Portman slowly morph herself into the monster of Julianne Moore's character, all while she unearths hidden trauma in the town, is a sight to behold. Haynes takes aim at Hollywood and the media's tendency to take deep and real trauma, and then use it for cheap entertainment. Beyond the headline theme of the film, the most striking element is Charles Melton, whose character is the one who suffers the most from both angles of the film's drama. Utterly heartbreaking to watch Melton completely embody the role of a man who was never given the chance to grow up. For the categories: Best Picture Best Actress (Natalie Portman) **Supporting Actor (Charles Melton) (WINNER)** Supporting Actress (Julianne Moore) Original Screenplay Editing Cinematography Breakthrough (Charles Melton)

Now onto my top 10, and some actual write-ups! Number 10 "Furious jumping!" Yorgos Lanthimos is a director who has subtly grown on me with age. There was a point, maybe seven years back, that I felt quite confused about what his appeal was as a director. Nowadays, I would call myself a fan. Poor Things might be Lanthimos' most vividly creative venture to date. Despite a relatively modest budget, the film pops with color and scale in a way that very few of this year's true 'blockbuster' pictures did. The film is prone to a few negative stereotypes in the character portrayals and it is thematically shallow. However, the imaginative imagery and wit of "Poor Things" keeps these downsides from ever dragging the picture down. I gleefully enjoyed watching Bella Baxter's adventure of sexual liberation in a dystopian steam punk-esque setting. For the categories: Best Picture Best Actress (Emma Stone) Adapted Screenplay Cinematography **Costume Design (Runner-Up)** **Production Design (WINNER)** **Hair and Make-up Design (WINNER)** **Comedy Feature (WINNER)** **Best Hero (Bella Baxter) (Runner-Up)**

Sadly, that was one I was never able to catch this one in theaters. You can just shift everything down a spot and pretend it won everything once I inevitably see it sometime next year.