Disclaimer: Article contains minor film spoilers.
2023 was filled with great new music and movies bombarding the media. Two years after the COVID-19 pandemic started, stars were finally able to travel and perform their new albums. A lot of pressure was put on the media in 2023. For example, the SAG-AFTRA strike halted film and television productions from July to early November. Overall, 2023 was an eventful year for popular culture. Below are some of the most noteworthy pieces of media of last year, from films to music. This recap will contain minor film spoilers, so read at your own risk!
I’m going to be recapping a few movies that seemed to be crowd favorites, starting with my personal favorite, “Priscilla.” “Priscilla” was released on Oct. 27, and scored 83% on Rotten Tomatoes. The film centers around Priscilla Presley’s (Cailee Spaney) personal life with Elvis Presley (Jacob Elordi). “Priscilla” is based on the memoir written by Priscilla herself, called “Elvis and Me,” and Priscilla helped produce the movie. The entire movie is fixed on Priscilla’s perspective rather than Elvis’s. “Priscilla” highlighted the power Elvis had over Priscilla, and how she wasn’t able to be her authentic self in his presence. The film, directed by Sofia Coppola, was significant in that it went against the glorified perception of Elvis perpetuated by most media about him.
Next on my list was “Oppenheimer,” released on July 31 — the same release date as “Barbie,” so people were having double movie nights. The movie takes place during World War II, with J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy) and a team of scientists trying to craft the first atomic bomb. After the bomb is created, the scientists watch the course of the world change as the first nuclear explosion takes place. “Oppenheimer” scored an impressive 93% on Rotten Tomatoes.
“Barbie,” released July 21, caused a lot of media commotion. Barbie —the doll — has been around since the 50s, and multiple children’s shows have been created in her honor. Surprisingly, a live action Barbie movie hadn’t yet been made, so the 2023 movie had fans exhilarated. The film centers around Barbie (Margot Robbie) and Ken (Ryan Gosling) leaving Barbie Land for the real world in order to find the true meaning of life. “I saw this movie with my best friend and it was the movie I didn’t know I needed,” says Franklin librarian Ayn Frazee. “It feels important that a movie directed by a woman broke so many records just a year after Roe v. Wade was overturned. The movie was funny, clever, and had a lot of heart.” Sam Johnson, a senior at Franklin, adds that “it was interesting how they made the [characters] … seem more real and less artificial as the movie progresses.” The movie, directed by Greta Gerwig, scored 88% on Rotten Tomatoes.
The newest “Hunger Games” movie, “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” was released on Nov. 17. This prequel to the dystopian “Hunger Games” trilogy follows the romance of characters Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth) and Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler). This action-packed movie scored 64% on Rotten Tomatoes.
“Killers of the Flower Moon,” which came out on Oct. 20, is a western drama starring Leonardo DiCaprio as Ernest Buckhart and Lily Gladstone as Mollie Buckhart. The film is based on a book by David Grann, which accounts the true story of Mollie Buckhart — an Osage woman — and her husband — a white businessman who organized the killings of members in the Osage Nation, which was known to sit upon valuable oil reserves. The movie is based in 1920s Oklahoma and depicts these cold-blooded murders in the Osage Nation, known as the Reign of Terror. Achieving a 93% score on Rotten Tomatoes, this movie is an important depiction of a lesser-known historical tragedy. The runtime of this movie is a whopping three hours and 26 minutes.
“The Killer” was one of my favorite movies from 2023, with a Rotten Tomatoes score of 85%. The film stars Michael Fassbender, who plays a hitman called “The Killer.” When a hit goes wrong in Paris, The Killer flies back home to the Dominican Republic. Discovering that his wife is missing, he goes to the local hospital and finds that she’s been nearly killed by another hitman. The rest of the movie follows The Killer as he travels the country in an attempt to avenge his wife. “This movie was a combination of ‘Taken’ and ‘John Wick,’” Frazee says. “Pretty violent, but it had interesting cinematography and cool stunts. It’s your typical revenge movie but with more Smiths music, and I learned I can buy a key card duplicator on Amazon, so I appreciate the commitment to realism.”
Now for the music portion. Lana Del Rey has returned to the spotlight after her latest release: “Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd.” The album featured 13 songs, my personal favorites being “Peppers” and “Paris, Texas.” She was already well-known before this album, but I believe her popularity has grown considerably this year. Del Rey went on a worldwide tour last year to perform songs from the new album, along with her previous hits.
On March 10, Miley Cyrus released an album titled “Endless Summer Vacation,” which is her eighth studio album. “Endless Summer Vacation” marks Cyrus’s first album release since Nov. 27, 2020. There are 13 tracks on “Endless Summer Vacation,” with two songs including collaborations with Sia — “Muddy Feet” and Brandi Carlile — “Wonder Woman.” “Flowers” was the number one hit in the United States for over a month following its debut, according to Billboard.
Finally, Taylor Swift released “1989 (Taylor’s Version),” “Speak Now (Taylor’s Version),” and “The More Lover Chapter” in 2023. “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” was highly anticipated, and well received in the media. Both “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” and “Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)” were revamped versions of Swift’s previous albums of the same title, made in response to ownership disputes over her songs. “The More Lover Chapter” EP was made to celebrate Swift’s first concert since COVID canceled her “Lover Fest” tour. Swift also embarked on the immensely popular “Eras Tour” last year, which has since been adapted into an award-winning concert film.
In other news, Gypsy Rose Blanchard was released from prison on Dec. 28, and her social media presence has gained a lot of attention. Free and recently married to Ryan Scott Anderson, Blanchard has been surprising the media with her fiery comments, such as this one in response to haters commenting on her husband’s Instagram: “besides they jealous because you are rocking my world every night,” Gypsy writes. “yeah I said it, the D is fire.” Aubin Knowlton, an English teacher at Franklin, says she’s “LIVING for [Blanchard’s] Instagram since her release from prison last month. Her story has been a popular one for years, but her release from prison makes her the primary narrator for the first time.”
A lot of great media was released last year, despite the effects of the COVID pandemic and film and television strikes. Historical dramas, comebacks, and revamps of old favorites seem to have been popular themes in 2023. With 2023 over, 2024 provides us with a blank slate full of possibilities for new music, film, and art of every medium.
