MOVIESMovie reviewsAdd TopicWant to see a great movie? Here are the best of 2023Brian TruittPencils down! It's time to run down the top films of 2023, and naturally "Barbenheimer" is represented. Here's how "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" rank against the rest of the year's best movies:Warner Bros. Pictures And Universal Pictures40. "Nimona": In the lively and inclusive techno-medieval animated adventure, a knight (voiced by Riz Ahmed, left) is framed for a crime he didn't commit and the only person who can help him prove his innocence is a shape-shifting teen (Chloë Grace Moretz).NETFLIX39. "Maestro": Bradley Cooper co-writes and directs but most impressively wields the baton of legendary conductor/composer Leonard Bernstein in a biopic about his life, music, longtime marriage and extramarital flings.JASON McDONALD/NETFLIX38. "May December" Julianne Moore (left) plays the wife of a notorious married couple and Natalie Portman is the actress playing her in a movie in Todd Haynes' ultra-campy exploration of our obsession with celebrity infamy.NETFLIX37. "Past Lives": Celine Song's gripping directorial debut centers on Hae Sung (Teo Yoo) and Nora (Greta Lee), two childhood friends who reconnect over one fateful week in New York City – two decades after being torn apart when Nora's family emigrates from South Korea.A24 FILMS36. "L'immensità": Feeling like an alien from another galaxy, a young Italian girl (Luana Giuliani, left) struggles with her sexual identity and relationship with her loving mom (Penelope Cruz) in the inclusive coming-of-age tale.SUNDANCE INSTITUTE35. "It Lives Inside": Megan Suri stars as a teen girl who has to embrace her Indian heritage to save an old friend from a dark spirit in a multicultural twist on the possession flick.NEON34. "Jawan": Shah Rukh Khan stars as a master of disguise out to right the wrongs of the world in a Bollywood mashup of "Suicide Squad" and "Fast and Furious."RED CHILLIES ENTERTAINMENT33. "Theater Camp": Molly Gordon (who co-directs) and Ben Platt star as oddball teachers at an upstate New York summer camp in an enjoyable mockumentary that's like "Waiting for Guffman" meets "Abbott Elementary."SUNDANCE INSTITUTE32. "When Evil Lurks": Ezequiel Rodríguez plays an Argentinian man scrambling to save his loved ones when a demonic possession goes sour and a supernatural plague breaks out in the unnerving horror movie.IFC FILMS31. "A Thousand and One": A.V. Rockwell's poetic drama about parenthood and inequity stars Teyana Taylor, who turns in a powerhouse portrayal of a Harlem ex-con in 1990s New York City who kidnaps her son from the foster care system.FOCUS FEATURES30. "The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster": After her brother is killed in a gang shooting, teen "mad scientist" Vicaria (Laya DeLeon Hayes) tries to bring him back to life in a timely modernization of the "Frankenstein" story.AllBLK/SHUDDER/RLJE FILMS29. "How to Blow Up a Pipeline": Ariela Barer plays a young envrionmentalist who hatches an audacious plan to blow up a West Texas pipeline with other like-minded activists in Daniel Goldhaber's ambitious and imaginative spin on the heist movie genre.NEON28. "Joy Ride": Deadeye (Sabrina Wu, far left) Audrey (Ashley Park), Lolo (Sherry Cola) and Kat (Stephanie Hsu) go to extremes to hide a whole bunch of cocaine in a wild road-trip comedy that explodes tropes and stereotypes and bursts with heart.LIONSGATE27. "Ferrari": Enzo Ferrari (Adam Driver, center) enters his team in a treacherous Italian race in an effort to save his auto empire in Michael Mann's true-life story capturing the brutal beauty of car racing.LORENZO SISTI26. "The Burial": Jamie Foxx stars in the real-life courtroom dramedy as Willie Gary, a glitzy lawyer hired to represent a Mississippi man trying to keep his family funeral home business from the clutches of a corporation.AMAZON CONTENT SERVICES25: "The League": The Newark Eagles, seen here in their dugout during a 1936 game, is one of the Negro league teams chronicled in Sam Pollard's essential baseball documentary.MAGNOLIA PICTURES24. "The Creator": John David Washington plays an ex-special forces operative tasked with killing an AI superweapon, which turns out to be a little girl (Madeleine Yuna Voyles) in Gareth Edwards' innovative sci-fi drama.20TH CENTURY STUDIOS23. "Bottoms": High school seniors Josie (Ayo Edebiri, left) and PJ (Rachel Sennott) hatch a plan to hook up with cheerleaders in the two-fisted, gonzo teen comedy.PATTI PERRET22. "The Iron Claw": Bill Mercer (Michael Harney, second from right) interviews the wrestling trio of Kerry (Jeremy Allen White), David (Harris Dickinson) and Kevin Von Erich (Zac Efron) in Sean Durkin's tragic, true-life family tale.A24 FILMS21. "Rustin": Colman Domingo dazzles in this engaging true-life tale of civil rights leader Bayard Rustin. A key aide to Martin Luther King Jr., Rustin overcomes internal politics and homophobia, working tirelessly to organize the 1963 March on Washington.DAVID LEE/NETFLIX20. "Oppenheimer": Cillian Murphy stars as theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, whose work on the Manhattan Project led to the atomic bomb, in Christopher Nolan's blistering, thought-provoking true-life thriller.UNIVERSAL PICTURES19. "John Wick: Chapter 4": Bullets meet balletic action sequences in one of the franchise's best outings, with retired hitman John Wick (Keanu Reeves) taking on a globetrotting quest to free himself from the clutches of the shadowy High Table.MURRAY CLOSE/LIONSGATE18. "Talk to Me": Sophie Wilde plays an Aussie teen who has her body taken over by an unknown spirit in an unforgettable chiller that skillfully blends old-school frights with fears for the TikTok generation.A2417. "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse": Spider-pals Gwen Stacy (voiced by Hailee Steinfeld) and Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) reunite for an interdimensional adventure in the animated sequel, featuring stunning visuals as well as a superb coming-of-age narrative.SONY PICTURES ANIMATION16. "Creed III": Michael B. Jordan (left) stars in and also showcases his behind-the-scenes mettle as director of the latest "Rocky" universe spinoff, where Adonis Creed faces his old friend Damian Anderson (Jonathan Majors) in a wowing, anime-influenced bout.ELI ADE15."Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3": Mantis (Pom Klementieff, from left), Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel), Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), Drax (Dave Bautista) and Nebula (Karen Gillan) are on a mission to save a teammate in James Gunn's excellent and emotional Marvel threequel.MARVEL STUDIOS14. "Godzilla Minus One": Godzilla invades Japan in a post-World War II action epic with shades of "Jaws" that's as much about its engaging human story – centering on an ex-kamikaze pilot – as the big reptile guy running amok again.TOHO INTERNATIONAL13. "The Zone of Interest": Sandra Hüller plays a German wife and mother who mundanely goes about her day living next door to a concentration camp in Jonathan Glazer's deeply unsettling Holocaust drama.A2412. "The Eight Mountains": Bruno (Alessandro Borghi, left) and Pietro (Luca Marinelli) are childhood pals who rekindle their connection building a house in an Italian drama with gorgeous scenery and a striking story of friendship.SIDESHOW AND JANUS FILMS11. "Anatomy of a Fall": Sandra Hüller is a standout as a writer whose husband is found dead after a fall and, after being arrested for his murder, fights to prove her innocence in the compelling legal thriller/domestic drama.NEON10. "Cassandro": Gael García Bernal's title wrestler hangs up his mask and embraces his queer identity inside and outside the ring in a rousing underdog biopic.AMAZON PRIME VIDEO9. "The Holdovers": A rebellious teen (Dominic Sessa, left) and his curmudgeonly history teacher (Paul Giamatti) find common ground while forced to share a holiday break in the outstanding dramedy.SEACIA PAVAO8. "American Fiction": Jeffrey Wright stars as Thelonious "Monk" Ellison, a struggling novelist who finds accidental success when he jokingly writes a book filled with stereotypical Black tropes in Cord Jefferson's sharp satire about race and culture.ORION PICTURES7. "Air": Matthew Maher (from left), Matt Damon and Jason Bateman play 1980s Nike co-workers crafting the perfect shoe to sign Michael Jordan in director Ben Affleck's retro cool sports flick.ANA CARBALLOSA/AMAZON STUDIOS6. "The Color Purple": Taraji P. Henson (far left), Fantasia Barrino and Danielle Brooks play three women who look out for each other in the joyous movie adaptation of the Broadway musical.WARNER BROS. PICTURES5. "Barbie": A pair of Barbies (Margot Robbie, far left, and Alexandra Shipp) go on a high-stakes mission with their doll pal Allan (Michael Cera) and a couple of humans, Sasha (Ariana Greenblatt) and Gloria (America Ferrera), in the enjoyably goofy and enormously insightful meta comedy.WARNER BROS. PICTURES4. "Rye Lane": An awkward, tearful meeting in a unisex bathroom brings together recently dumped Dom (David Jonsson) and carefree Yas (Vivian Oparah) and kickstarts Raine Allen-Miller's wonderfully endearing, must-see reimagining of the rom-com.SUNDANCE INSTITUTE3. "Poor Things": Reanimated "Frankenstein" style with the brain of an infant, Bella Baxter (Emma Stone) quickly becomes tired of boorish love interest Duncan (Mark Ruffalo) in the sex-filled, weirdly wonderful Victorian-era treat.ATSUSHI NISHIJIMA/SEARCHLIGHT PICTURES2. "Killers of the Flower Moon": Lily Gladstone and Leonardo DiCaprio star as a married couple affected by a string of tribal murders among the Osage Nation in Martin Scorsese's gripping true-life drama.APPLE1. "All of Us Strangers": A London screenwriter (Andrew Scott, left) fosters a new relationship with a neighbor (Paul Mescal) in Andrew Haigh's haunting fantasy about grief, love and letting go of the past to find one's self in the present.PARISA TAGHIZADEHFeatured Weekly Ad