The 10 Best Movie Trailers of 2023 — Whether or Not the Films Were Any Good

Charles Melton has had a good year; although saying farewell to Riverdale hit him hard, he went head-to-head with Natasha Lyonne for an episode of Poker Face and earned a Golden Globe nomination for his role in Todd Haynes’ May December. Sandwiched between Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore, the U.S.-born actor with Korean roots handled himself impeccably, playing the husband of Gracie (Moore), an older woman once sent to prison for molesting him as a minor. Melton brings a diffident grace to the part, which is crucial to the film’s unfolding when actress Elizabeth Berry (Portman) turns up.

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic “The Beekeeper” is the best kind of bad movie — which is to say, it’s the sort that puts entertainment ahead of pretentiousness, embracing the laughter sure to accompany such an unapologetically stupid, ultra-violent premise. Starring Jason Statham in what feels like a parody of Jason Statham movies, this conspiracy-fueled action showcase tortures its central metaphor until it can only be seen as a joke, featuring the “Transporter” star as ruthless, retired government assassin-turned-benevolent beekeeper Adam Clay, who’s pushed back into berserker mode after a phishing attack targets the kindly old woman from whom he rents a barn.

W Magazine is kicking off Golden Globes weekend with a star-studded party!

Valerie Wu Intern The National Society of Film Critics has announced its awardees for 2023’s best achievements in film. This year marks the 58th annual awards, which are voted upon by the prestigious organization’s slate of film critics, including Variety‘s chief film critics Owen Gleiberman and Peter Debruge.

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic A hundred years ago, before email and social media found ways to slap us in the face with unsolicited obscenity on a daily basis, the quiet English town of Littlehampton was scandalized by an outburst of poison pen letters — a nasty case of epistolary terrorism that today might be lumped under the heading of “trolling.” Someone with lovely penmanship and a very salty vocabulary dashed off dozens (if not hundreds) of blisteringly offensive notes to members of the seaside community, igniting a police investigation and a series of trials breathlessly covered by the local press, then largely forgotten for almost a century. A bawdy black comedy that isn’t nearly as “outrageous” as it would have you believe, “Wicked Little Letters” offers a tongue-in-cheek retelling of those events for the Merchant Ivory set.

The 2024 Sundance Film Festival is right around the corner and that means it’s time to finalize guests and, most importantly, jurors. The festival has a long tradition of honoring its multiple competition slates and over the years has recruited jurors such as Jane Campion, Sarah Polley, Edgar Wright, Jon Hamm, Darren Aronofsky, Quentin Tarantino, Parker Posey, and even RuPaul Charles.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Everyone feels it: It can feel like a chore getting to a show. We all know the routine: dealing with the online ticket queues for bigger concerts, navigating the extra fees at checkout for shows large and small, and then, once you’ve experienced that thrill of victory, remembering that you will, in fact, have to leave the house.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director “Oppenheimer” may not be streaming on Peacock until the new year, but “Barbie” is ready to watch from home right this second courtesy of Max. And it’s far from the only great movie in 2023 to find itself available on streaming as the year comes to a close. From Netflix’s Oscar contenders to Hollywood tentpoles such as “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,” “The Little Mermaid” and “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves,” there’s no shortage of great 2023 titles streaming on Netflix, Prime Video, Hulu, Peacock, Max and more platforms.

your outfit has been selected. Now, all that’s left is to curl up with a good movie and wait until the clock strikes midnight. But with the countless festive films currently circulating on all streaming services, picking the right one seems like an impossible task.

range of nonfiction film — the subjects, the styles, the voices — is extraordinary in its reach. Does that mean that we’re in a renaissance era? You might say that. But you could also say that when it comes to this form of filmmaking, the art of reality knows no season.

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic It’s one thing to direct an episode of the sitcom on which you appeared for six seasons. “Schitt’s Creek” star Daniel Levy aced that exercise back in 2020, earning an Emmy for co-helming the series finale. But it’s an entirely different challenge to write and direct a smart, sensitive original feature in which you also play the lead character — a feat Levy deftly achieves with New Year’s tearjerker “Good Grief,” giving those unsatisfied with the rest of Netflix’s fluffy Christmas fare something substantial to kick off 2024.

all the feels… joy, abject sadness, anxiety, liberation and, not least of all, that old pop music standby, lust. We can guarantee you won’t be feeling plasticine if you dig into Variety‘s list of 60 of the best songs of 2023, as picked by chief music critic Chris Willman and senior music writer Steven J. Horowitz.

may have held our collective attention for much of the year, but it wasn’t alone; from to , there’s no shortage of fun, emotional, haunting, and even cringe-inducing films to look back on. Ahead, find out our picks for the best movies of 2023."We don't call it ‘the Year of the Barbie Movie’ for no reason. Greta Gerwig's record-breaking feminist bonanza was fun, poignant, and an absolute joyride from start to finish.

Variety staffers reflected on some of the most standout scenes from the year’s top contenders. For 2023, there’s been no shortage of imaginative and inspiring storytelling crafted by both award-winning pros and newcomers — and each one has gifted audiences memorable scenes that have left us laughing, crying, and with plenty to think about long after the credits have rolled.

Ethan Shanfeld Alexander Payne’s bittersweet Christmas dramedy “The Holdovers” is hitting Peacock on Dec. 29.

of 2023, encompassing the fiction and nonfiction reads that have been determined to rise above all others this year. But what does that mean, exactly?In actuality, what makes a book one of the year's best is entirely subjective, and that's what makes reading so fun.

Over the years, the Royal Family have introduced many customs which have gone on to become popular traditions. One of the most famous of these is the Christmas tree which is thought to have first seen in the UK thanks to King George III's wife, Queen Charlotte.

Oppenheimer”).During the simultaneous Screen Actors Guild and Writers Guild of America strikes, the sagging box office was boosted, like NFL ratings and the economy of East Rutherford, New Jersey, by Taylor Swift.Marvel Studios, which used to be the surest thing in Hollywood, began to underperform (“Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania”) and then downright flop (“The Marvels”).And DC was revealed to actually stand for Dud Central, with all of the studio’s comic-book films of 2023 (“Shazam! Fury of the Gods,” “The Flash” and “Blue Beetle”) turning out to be financial failures.In a win for Gen Z, studio execs determined Zendaya’s star wattage is so huge now that two of her movies — “Dune: Part 2” and “Challengers” — were delayed a year due to the strikes, so she can promote them to her hoards of fans. And baby boomers were dinged by the big-time tanking of the nostalgic “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” starring a now 81-year-old Harrison Ford who schlepped around New York and Europe.Despite all the madness — and a sea of schlock — some excellent films hit theaters this year.

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic In a medium where stop-motion chickens organize elaborate escape plans, computer-generated ducks have to do a lot more than relocate to amuse us. Illumination’s “Migration” — about a fussy duck dad who reluctantly reconsiders his fear of flying — is a cartoon in search of a concept, where the most daring idea is hiring the Oscar-nominated co-director of 2012’s “Ernest & Celestine” and asking him to abandon that movie’s unique watercolor style in favor of a relatively standard digital approach.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Jake Johnson‘s survival comedy “Self Reliance” will play on the big screen for one day before it lands on Hulu. Neon is releasing the film in 225 North American theaters on Jan. 3 in partnership with the cinema chain AMC Theatres.