It’s taken a while, but I think after several years we have finally gotten the world of movies back (or close) to pre-COVID levels of quality and general feel. And 2023 had some great films, as well as noteworthy cinematic events and milestones.

I saw nearly 140 new releases this year so to rank them all would be impossible, but titles such as “Chevalier,” “Dream Scenario,” “The Blackening,” “Reality,” “Past Lives,” and “Wonka” were all things I very much liked but just a tad less than these near-dozen titles I’m about to rattle off. As always, this is my list and my ordering, so while they are objectively the best films that came out this year, that doesn’t mean you have to agree! Now on with the show.

Honorable Mention: Scream VI

It’s so rare for any franchise to be 25 years old and still putting out quality content, but that is what “Scream VI” (and “Mission: Impossible”) managed to do. With a new setting and a brutal Ghostface, the sixth (and possibly final, given the fallout of the cast and director) installment of the meta horror franchise was one of the best ones yet and made for a great theater experience, and I hope down the road we get more.

10. Air

Just a classic, feel-good dramedy that we don’t see very often anymore, simply starring a few friends making a movie about a time period they are passionate about. Ben Affleck continues to show he is one of the better directors in Hollywood and an underrated supporting actor, while Matt Damon and Viola Davis get to flex their star power, too. The dad movie to end all dad movies.

9. How to Blow Up a Pipeline

Simple, streamlined, and intense, this was one of the nice surprises of my year. The cast is well-rounded and the direction trims off nearly all the fat from the 100 minute runtime. Worth checking out if it slipped under your radar.

8. Barbie

A cultural phenomenon and box office homerun, yes, but Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” is also very vibrant, funny, and creative. Featuring a genuinely great performance from Ryan Gosling as Ken, with good work from the rest of the ensemble cast and production design team, too, this was a film that could have gone very wrong but ended up being just right.

7. May December

Uncomfortable yet funny, dark yet amusing, “May December” walks a thin line with a tricky subject matter and manages to be a showcase for two excellent performances from Natalie Portman and Charles Melton. It may not be everyone’s cup of strange tea, but I was drawn in early on and never looked back.

6. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem

I have no affinity for the Ninja Turtles, I did not grow up on the Ninja Turtles, yet this film made me love the Ninja Turtles. It is clearly wearing its “Spider-Verse” inspiration on its sleeve, but great vocal work from a talented cast and some inspired, clever animation styles made this a film that even upon a second watch made me feel like a kid watching Saturday morning cartoons.

5. Poor Things

Somehow, 15 years into her career and an Oscar win later, I feel we are still selling Emma Stone short for just how talented she is. She lays it all out on the table in “Poor Things” (both figuratively and literally), and the music, production design, supporting cast (namely a very game Mark Ruffalo), and witty script all create a dream-like world for Stone to play in. Very weird and not everyone’s cup of tea, but I was entranced.

4. BlackBerry

One of the biggest surprises of the year wasn’t just that “BlackBerry,” a film about the rise and fall of the titular original smartphone, was good; it’s that it stayed good enough to remain my #1 late into the season. Jay Baruchel and Glenn Howerton turn in excellent (albeit, totally opposite) performances, and while the inspirations from “The Social Network,” “Moneyball”, and “The Office” are very clear out of the gate, the film manages to stand on its own in the expanding sea of “business biopics.” Check this one out.

3. Killers of the Flower Moon

What would a Top 10 list be without Scorsese? Marty’s latest is also one of his longest (nearly 3.5 hours) but the 81-year-old has not lost a beat and in some respects is only getting better, crafting a 1920s world that feels lived in, but also carries an underlying sense of dread, regret, and anger. Lily Gladstone, Leonardo DiCaprio, and longtime Scorsese collaborator Robert De Niro all shine, in a what may not be the best film of Scorsese’s filmography (“Departed,” “Irishman,” and “Goodfellas” jostle for that title) but it is one of his more unique.

2. The Holdovers

Talk about a film that has staying power. When I saw “The Holdovers” back in October, I knew I liked it and assumed it would make my year-end top 10, however as the weeks and months went on, I found myself continuously thinking about it, and how warm it made me feel. The performances (from an always reliable Paul Giamatti, wonderful newcomer Dominic Sessa, and career-best Da’Vine Joy Randolph) are all so lived in, the script and direction are your typical “real feel” you’d expect from an Alexander Payne film, and the 1970s Christmas setting makes it a film I feel I’ll watch every season from hereon in. A wonderful little movie “they just don’t make anymore,” I have yet to hear from a person who did not like it, and in a lot of other years it would even be contending for my top spot.

However, in 2023, there was only one film that wasn’t only great in its own regard, but served as the definitive movie of the year. And that film is…

1. Oppenheimer

When I first saw “Oppenheimer” as leg-two of my Barbenheimer, I liked it. I had some issues, but I recognized it as a monumental achievement for Christopher Nolan and loved the slew of great performances from its all-star cast. My thoughts didn’t change much with a second watch a few weeks later. But then I saw the film a third time a month ago, and something clicked. This film itself was a moment; the perfect movie released at the perfect time. 2010 Christopher Nolan, despite being an Oscar nominee and having helmed iconic films like “The Dark Knight” and “Inception,” could not have made “Oppenheimer.” Robert Downey Jr. (my top supporting actor of the year; Matt Damon is also fantastic and underappreciated, too) could not have given his role the menace and suppressed rage that it demands if he was still in the height of his Iron Man career. And “Oppenheimer,” a three-hour, R-rated biopic about a 1940s theoretical physicist, would not have made a billion dollars at the box office if it came out just a few years ago. But for whatever reason we got the perfect storm of all these factors, to create a film that is brilliant but not belittling, immense in scale yet exacting in execution. Nolan is in complete control of his craft here, almost to the point of self-parody (similar to David Fincher with “The Killer,” a film I grew to appreciate more as the year went on). He depicts Oppenheimer putting on his hat and grabbing his pipe like he’s Batman going to fight crime and shows Oppy and his team recruiting scientists like they’re planning an Ocean’s 11 heist. But it’s never silly; it’s such a thin line that Nolan masterfully walks. And none of this is to mention the incredible musical score, editing, cinematography, or practical effects. “Oppenheimer” will always be culturally tied to “Barbie” as the filmgoing meme of year, but it’s something else of 2023, too: its best film.

Thank you for reading, I hope you had a great 2023 and are blessed with an even better 2024. Movies will be in flux a bit due to the writer’s strike, but every year there seems to be some defining diamonds in the rough; if you’re willing to look.