Another year has gone by, but this time, I came more prepared to recap the strange year in culture. Rather than just the ad hoc iPhone note compiled over a month to put together last year’s year in culture…
…I kept a spreadsheet running all year long to capture the things that captured my attention in 2023 beyond just the movies. (Though it certainly didn’t hurt that they had a big moment in July!) Here’s the only year-in-review post you need … at least until New Year’s Eve when my top 10 movies of 2023 drop.
M3GAN
They hate to see a girlboss winning! Dumpuary never treats us as well as this compelling, campy thriller that features a moment so insane that I had to write over a thousand words overanalyzing it. She’s an icon, she’s a legend, and she is the moment. Don’t disappoint me, M4GAN!
Kevin McCarthy speaker memes
This drama was so good I was watching CNN on a Friday night with the same intensity as when they tried to kill Obamacare. Very 2016 vibes that I feel bad for our country, but this [was] tremendous content. A schadenfreude soap opera for the ages!
Amelia Dimoldenberg red carpet interviews
We’re approaching a decade without Joan Rivers, and everyone’s been doing half-ass impressions on the red carpet ever since. Finally, someone comes along and upends the format with genuine friction and danger! I can only take Amelia Dimoldenberg’s Chicken Shop Date show in meme-sized clips, but her quick hits at awards shows are perfect compliments to the synthetic tension.
Andrea Riseborough/To Leslie
By the time Oscar nominations come out, very little surprises me. Prior to this year, the last time I’d had a verbal reaction to a nomination was screaming when Marion Cotillard got an improbable (and entirely deserved) Best Actress nod in 2015 for Two Days, One Night. I woke up my suitemates. But THIS?! I have to laugh. The risible “word of mouth” Astroturfing to muscle Andrea Riseborough into the Best Actress conversation would be inspiring if it weren’t so transparently fake. Congrats, Academy, you played yourselves. My apologies to all the awards publicists who will have to deal with filmmakers who think this glitch in the matrix can be easily replicated.
Anne Hathaway dancing
Silencing the Hathahaters made my 2022 list, but this moment? 5 seconds of serotonin sent from above. I have watched this … maybe a thousand times? That hair flip! We should all aspire to this level of DGAF. I love her.
Rihanna’s Super Bowl dancers
I just think they deserved to be more of a meme than they were, OK?
Angela Bassett did the thing
This was NOT camp — it was painfully earnest and everyone knew it. I say this as a recovering theater kid … maybe we don’t deserve rights.
🎶 Ana, girl you were great in Blonde 🎶 … and in this reaction:
It is you who were all of us. But on that note…
Jamie Lee Curtis red carpet clips
She holds an Oscar that rightfully belongs to Kerry Condon for The Banshees of Inisherin, but I can’t deny that no one was more delightfully deranged on the mic than JLC. She charmed her way to an improbable career achievement award for what may well be the wierdest movie to ever win an Oscar. I’ll allow it.
Gwyneth Paltrow trial
With respect to the Murdaughs, this was the trial of the year and the only one I intend to watch an eight-part prestige miniseries about. Gwyneth’s “I wish you well” after the verdict … no notes. It’s perfect.
Tucker Carlson firing during Succession
My entire personality from March through May was the final season of Succession, and there was no sweeter time than when the show seemed to bleed out into real life with the Dominion lawsuit prompted big drama at Fox News. Good riddance, Tucker, long live Kerry Castellebate!
Glen Powell and Sydney Sweeney rumors
I’m desperate for a good showmance after the Don’t Worry Darling thing fizzled out last year, so I ate up all the Glen Powell and Sydney Sweeney on-set hookup rumors from Anyone But You. They’ve been remarkably coy, probably for the best, but you can’t tell me this video doesn’t give off strong carnal knowledge vibes. (I believe Glen Powell is probably a good enough actor to fake it for attention, but I’m less certain about Sydney Sweeney if only due to the lack of roles I’ve seen outside Euphoria.)
Summer of Padam
We’ve been overdue for an infectious dance-floor anthem to become the song of summer, and Kylie Minogue’s “Padam Padam” more than fit the bill. Meme status online didn’t hurt how much I wanted to engage with it, either.
Titanic submarine
A throwback to simpler times when CNN could just show footage of a missing plane all day! Congrats to these hubristic fools for proving there are some things our society should just leave to James Cameron.
J.Law media blitz
Y’all, I have MISSED HER. Jennifer Lawrence is a true movie star, and it was so nice to have her out in full force promoting No Hard Feelings. If you’ve speculated about how “maybe her whole ~relatable~ thing is a schtick,” then I don’t think you’ve earned the right to enjoy her meltdown on Hot Ones. These are the rules.
Barbenheimer
The monoculture event of the year put movies back at the center of culture for the first time in way too long. Remember, theaters are there 364 other days of the year and need your support for films that don’t go viral on TikTok or require coordinated outfits.
Cardi B ending the concert hecklers
What was up with the weird 2023 trend of people throwing things at musicians on stage? Leave it to Cardi B to shut that down in the most memorable of ways.
Montgomery Riverboat Brawl
I fear retribution for this incident is still to come, but for now, I will savor every clip of this melee … and never look at a folding chair in the same way.
Ron DeSantis flop era
Nice to be reminded the rules of political gravity do occasionally still apply. Every time I saw his robotic facial expressions curdle into a forced smile, I chuckled maniacally. Try again in 4 years when you learn how to do politics, bud … or maybe just don’t.
Aaron Rodgers schadenfreude
Well well well, if it isn’t the most disingenuous anti-science crusader facing karma for moving to a big media market and immediately getting hurt. Glad to see he wasted no time prepping for the rest of his career in entertainment by doing what he’ll be up to for the rest of his life, lobbing wannabe Trumpian insults like “Mr. Pfizer” on sports talk radio podcasts while actual athletes bag the person of the year. Have fun yelling “debate me, coward!” into the void, you clown. One more time with feeling: hey Aaron … vaxxed?
SAG Auction Memes
Greedy, craven studio heads robbed us of great content for 6 months. The Internet got desperate around the breaking point of the strikes and gave us these inspired bits of imagination. Though the whole bit was around putting a price tag on actors’ closely guarded secrets, it was a great reminder that what they offer our culture is priceless.
Scorsese press cycle
When the actors are away, Scorsese will play! From long-form profiles reflecting on life and death to quick TikToks with his daughter Francesca, no one worked harder this fall on the promotional tour.
The rise of Jacob Elordi
Hollywood tries to ram so many leading men down our throats, so it was nice that we all just seemed to agree that Jacob Elordi’s got the juice around the time of Priscilla’s release. With a performance that proved he was more than just handsome and tall, he charmed the town at a time when few actors could be on the trail. Whether it was admitting ignorance of Elvis Presley were it not for Lilo & Stitch or talking about the male movie stars he grew up crushing on, he felt like a refreshing generational change of guard.
Horny press tours
The strike ended, and the actors all emerged horned up? The aforementioned Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell, Barry Keoghan and Jacob Elordi, Jonathan Bailey and Matt Bomer, Paul Mescal and Andrew Scott … it’s been a LOT in the best possible way. We missed you, actors, let’s keep this momentum going into 2024.
Actors on Actors
Per my last email. With limited time for media training to take hold, the actors let their freak flag fly in this delightfully unhinged edition of an awards season staple.
Panera killer lemonade
The perfect note to end 2023 on — a perfect maelstrom of malice and ridiculousness. Thank you, content gods, please watch over those we’ve lost.
After such a positive response to last year’s edition of this post, I’ve decided to expand into two paying subscriber-only sections: “Not My Culture,” which is then divided into “But I’m Happy for You” and “But Y’all Need to Chill.” Admit it, you’re at least curious enough to hit the free trial button…
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