The Top 50 of 2023
It’s impossible to list all the art I loved this year, but here are my Top 50 Art Moments of 2023:
50. Yellowstone is messy chaos, and it’s fun to watch. Plus, the music is excellent. The mid-season finale (of season 5) premiered on the first day of 2023, and it delivered just the amount of crazy that I needed to kick the year off right.
49. Tyler Childers joined Bobby Weir & Wolf Bros on a live cut of “Greatest Story Ever Told.” Tyler sounded as good as ever, with a Southern howl that filled every bit of the song. The performance was transcendent.
48. The Last of Us gave us one of the early frontrunners for outstanding TV episode of the year with “Long, Long Time.” A haunting love story at the end of the world. Nick Offerman should receive an Emmy.
47. All Creatures Great and Small arrived in January, and it was a welcome way to begin 2023. Animals, nice scenery, and a very spoiled dog made for some enjoyable escapism.
46. January’s best book was from one of horror’s most fun authors. Yes, a fun horror author. Of course I’m talking about the great Grady Hendrix. How to Sell a Haunted House is scary and hilarious and boldly original. With haunted dolls and puppets, it kept me awake for a couple of memorable nights.
45. M. Night Shyamalan’s Knock at the Cabin brought great Shyamalan. As expected when he nails it, this one is full of moral and religious questioning. What might we be willing to sacrifice to save the world?
44. Jason Isbell and Amanda Shires took on the roll of Record Store Day ambassadors. It was essentially a yessir kind of announcement—one that brought attention to southern music.
43. The Coldest Case in Laramie was a fascinating true-crime podcast. The crime was horrifying obviously, but the focus on how we (sometimes wrongly) process and remember our memories might’ve honestly been nearly as scary. A wonderful work of the form.
42. One thing that I like almost always are boxing movies. Million Dollar Baby. Rocky. Warrior (although that’s MMA, I’m still counting it because it’s so good). Anyhow, the latest Creed finished (?) a fantastic trilogy that I’ve loved since the first punch.
41. March TV premieres! March TV premieres! Ted Lasso, Yellowjackets, and The Big Door Prize. My best-of-the-year list cleared some room.
40. The Tournament of Books kicked off in early March and began a string of a couple of weeks of fun (and playfully competitive) book talk. (Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow was my pick for the win, but it fell a little short…)
39. Weird fiction in March! Kelly Link’s White Cat, Black Dog was easily my most anticipated story collection of the year, and it met my hype. Monstrilio by Gerardo Samano Cordova and Lone Women by Victor LaValle dropped and showed more love to weird fiction, with plenty of horror, loss, and magic. Matthew Vollmer’s All of Us Together in the End even proved that there’s room for ghost talk in the memoir in his affecting and exquisite new work.
38. One of the most affecting graphic memoirs I’ve experienced released at the end of March. Briana Loewinsohn’s Ephemera balanced grief and memory beautifully.
37. Mighty Poplar’s self-titled debut—well—it was one I kept on repeat for several days.
36. Forget Succession. The Roys were awful. Instead, I tuned into a story about tenderness, connection, hope, and grace. Somebody Somewhere returned and proved that it’s not only HBO’s best series in years, but that it was also the very best show of 2023. AND Bridget Everett and Jeff Hiller should’ve won all the awards. A perfect season of TV, truly.
35. The National put out another masterpiece with First Two Pages of Frankenstein. I’ve been a huge—borderline obsessive—fan since Alligator, and I’ll love these guys until I’m dead. Sad beautiful music for sad beautiful souls.
34. In music video land, Angelo De Augustine’s “Another Universe” made a mid-year case for coolest work of the form. The song is beautiful, too, of course.
33. Amy Silverstein’s profoundly moving essay “My Transplanted Heart Will Die Soon” from The New York Times. Just read it if you haven’t.
32. Durand Jones’ Wait Til I Get Over established itself as the soul record of the year. And among THE records of the year. And while I’m talking about the year’s best albums, I’ll also mention Sigus Ros’ Atta, Beirut’s Hadsel, The Veils’ And Out of the Void Came Love, Andre 3000’s New Blue Sun, The National’s two new records, and Manchester Orchestra’s The Valley of Vision. All contended to be the year’s “best.” I don’t know that I can choose…
31. Jury Duty was all kinds of weird, but it also proved that humanity can be good and fair and kind when tested.
30. You Hurt My Feelings and Past Lives and made a strong case that there should still be space for good adult movies in theaters during the summer.
29. Little Moon winning NPR’s 2023 Tiny Desk Contest was pretty awesome. “wonder eye” was a beautiful, emotional performance.
28. Jason Isbell’s “Cast Iron Skillet” joined his greatest songwriting achievements.
27. The excitement and tension of the Scripps National Spelling Bee. What a competition it was.
26. Ted Lasso had some immensely deep and glorious pathos in its heartfelt finale. I’ll always “Believe.”
25. What about that viral clip of the old dog fighting off a coyote or two to save its adopted sibling? I was reminded again how dogs are so much better than us and that we really don’t deserve them.
24. Tyler Childers’ performance of “Angel Band” at his Cleveland show was one of the best vocal performances I’ve seen at a live event. I was doing my silent crying thing. The whole show was glorious, really.
23. The Bear, Season 1 was one of my favorite shows of last year. The new season, though, was even better. Sharp writing and dynamic performances. These characters came ALIVE!
22. Although I fly pretty often, I don’t enjoy it. Reading T.J. Newman’s Drowning tore me up. I was clenched basically the whole time. Plane. Crash. Fire. Underwater. That’s all anybody needs to know. Reading it was one of the wildest journeys of my summer!
21. LeVar Burton read my story “Those Fantastic Lives” on LeVar Burton Reads. Dear God. Life can be crazy and beautiful. And the whole thing was another reminder that dreams can come true.
20. The joy I experienced watching and listening to Juvenile and DJ Mannie Fresh’s NPR Tiny Desk. What a set, too. And that encore. I am not joking when I write here that I’ve watched this set hundreds of times. Hundreds.
19. Gregory and Janine and the will they/won’t they dynamic was written beautifully by the team over at Abbott Elementary. They know what they are doing.
18. “Vampire Empire” from Big Thief. It was finally released as a studio version and was every bit as good as I could’ve dreamed.
17. Tyler Childers, in discussing his progressive rural voice with Silas House over at NPR, said this: “But now's the time that I need to give my tithing — my offering — to the world that I hope to see and think can be.” No finer quote has been offered this year in regards to our place in the world and how we should use our time to make it better—for EVERYONE.
16. What about two BIG book releases this late summer being soaked in goodness and kindness and love? It’s odd to see books this sweet do so well. James McBride’s The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store and Ann Patchett’s Tom Lake might’ve just started a literary shift. We’ll know if that’s the case in the next couple of years, but for now, we need to celebrate these two fantastic novels. Add McBride will likely finally get that Pulitzer he so deserves with this one.
15. I have to show some love here for the TV series of the summer that left me thrilled, laughing, and just plain loving. Hijack, Only Murders in the Building, and Reservation Dogs, thank you.
14. I don’t know why I just got around to watching HBO’s The Righteous Gemstones this past year, but all I can better late than never. Shocking and very funny, this show, which is about family, televangelism, and masculinity, deserves much wider recognition. John Goodman is one of the greatest actors who’s ever lived. And Walton Goggins gives the performance of his life as Uncle Baby Billy.
13. I’m not a big stage musical person, but I did love two this year—Come From Away and Book of Mormon. The former was about kindness, support, and understanding, and, yeah, it was the kind of thing that I eat up. Book of Mormon was actually quite nice, too. Much different and kinder than I expected. And absolutely hilarious. I don’t know that I’ve ever laughed as much as I did during those three hours.
12. All of Us Strangers. A movie that is sad, tender, sad, magical, and sad. Should win many, many Oscars, but it won’t. A special release, without question.
11. The Bitter Southerner. From their (excellent) shirts to their (even more excellent) magazines, this brand continued to get the progressive South.
10. The National’s Homecoming. What a weekend it was. Beautiful music. Perfect weather. Just a wonderful time.
9. Sufjan returned! Sufjan returned! Yes, after many years, Sufjan Stevens dropped another beautiful, heartbreaking, hopeful, and just absolutely fantastic record. Tears for and from everybody.
8. David Lawrence Morse and George Singleton gave the fall its two best story collection, with The Book of Disbelieving and The Curious Lives of Nonprofit Martyrs.
7. The Great British Baking Show! Joy. Kindness. Food. Joy. Kindness. Food. Joy. Kindness. Food.
6. Calhoun Community College’s Common Read. I’ve had a wonderful time helping my colleagues with this program throughout the past year, and wrapping it up with Thi Bui on campus in November was just awesome. We had engagement and interest, and it was a fantastic community builder. I’m looking forward to seeing how our program grows.
5. Alexander Payne’s The Holdovers. Payne is film’s best director—to me. He’s done some of my all-time favorites. The Descendants. Nebraska. Sideways. The guy’s a genius. This new film was such a special treat. It joins the top tier of Payne’s other work. Funny and heartfelt.
4. The Southern Festival of Books! Just a wonderful celebration of the written word, as always. Shoutout to Jolene McIlwain and Mimi Herman for the great panel of theirs I was able to host—and for writing two excellent books.
3. The Iron Claw swooped in at year’s end and delivered one of the finest films I’ve seen in a good while. Extraordinary screenplay and cast. Gave me a similar feeling as Warrior, which I mentioned earlier in this list. I also have to mention another late-year release here: The Boy and the Heron. Animation at its best. Beautiful. Full of life. And death too, I guess. Another treasure from Miyazaki.
2. The finale of How To with John Wilson. What a strange, beautiful, philosophical, and tender finale for a show about our weird lives. There has never been anything like it, and I honestly don’t think there ever will be either.
1. Live music. I saw A LOT of concerts, with ones by The National (x 3, including at the band’s brilliant Homecoming), Tyler Childers, Brandi Carlile, & Jason Isbell being my favorites. There’s just something about the energy captured and experienced. Transportive.