THB #458, Pt 2: My Top 23

(Yesterday’s Column: What A Great Year Of Movies! is the lead up to this list.)

What I find most interesting about what I consider a really good year for film is how divisive so many of the top movies are.

I can’t imagine how anyone could HATE Barbie, but those people are out there. I do understand how Oppenheimer’s 3rd act frustrates many people. I get how the sex/nudity turns a bunch of people off on Poor Things. Either being in Michael Fassbender’s head in The Killer strikes you as fascinating or like droning meaninglessness. Is Joaquin Phoenix too much for you or does watching him arouse the joy of anticipation? Is American Fiction an insightful look at the current race culture in America or an opportunity for white people to relieve their earned guilt by laughing at themselves… or both?

My overall sense of this - and the list of these strongly felt movies is a lot longer - is that a lot of the films we got this year were from filmmakers with very specific voices, whether one loves…