21. The Covenant – Jake Gyllenhaal and Guy Ritchie team up to tell the intense tale of a US soldier whose life is saved by his Afghani interpreter and who then goes goes back (after first coming home) to Afghanistan to return the favour.

20. Missing – It’s a common gripe to say that cell phones/computers/smart devices have ruined narrative filmmaking. Normally, I can’t stand watching someone fiddle away on a keyboard (and don’t get me started on how 90 per cent of the time I can’t read texts– come on, filmmaking people, either type them out on the screen like subtitles, or do an extreme close-up), which is why my very positive response to the clever, uber-compelling thriller Missing – all of which takes places on a screen – came as a total surprise to me.

19. Air – It’s a testament to the collective filmmaking abilities of director Ben Affleck, writer Alex Convery, and star Matt Damon that Air not only made me root for the “underdog” Nike, but it also managed to generate legit tension around a story I already knew the outcome of (i.e., would rookie Michael Jordan choose to sign with the then-third-place shoe company?).

18. Showing Up – Grounded, absorbing, funny, nuanced, keenly observed, character-based storytelling – by director Kelly Reichardt and star Michelle Williams – at its finest.

17. You Hurt My Feelings – See above, but with Julia Louis-Dreyfus in the lead, and Nicole Holofcener writing and directing.

16. Beau Is Afraid – Some parts of this admittedly exhausting whole may not have worked for me as well as others did, but the parts that do work are so very good that I haven’t stopped thinking about them since I saw this movie (in IMAX, no less).

15. The Iron Claw – I love 80s professional wrestling, and few wrestling stories loomed larger during that time than the tragedy plagued history of the Texas-based Von Erich family. The acting here is very good, as is the direction, and the extended final shot is a genuine tear-jerker. I only wished they’d re-cast the horridly awful Ric Flair impersonator.

14. Master Gardener – The final film in writer/director Paul Schrader’s man in a room trilogy (it was almost Schrader’s final everything, as he came close to dying from COVID while making it) is a gripping watch. It’s also my favourite of the bunch.

13. The Killer – David Fincher brings his slick, precise, at times deceptively simple-looking (because what you’re really seeing is an intricate, multi-layered, CG-enhanced frame) craftsmanship to this tale of an assassin who might be really good but who’s also kind of bad a lot of the time.

12. No Bears – Filmmaker Jafar Panahi, who’s forbidden from making movies in his native country Iran, plays a filmmaker named Jafar Panahi who, despite being forbidden from making movies in Iran, relocates to a village so he can surreptitiously, and remotely, direct a movie that’s set over the border in Turkey. This description barely scratches the surface of this moving, ingenious film.

11. Chop & Steele – This documentary reminded me of my all-time favourite documentary Anvil: The Story of Anvil. Like Anvil, Chop & Steele follows a pair of childhood best friends who pursue an unconventional dream. In the case of Steve “Lips” Kudlow and Robb Reiner (the Anvil guys), it was forming a heavy metal band. In the case of Nick Prueher and Joe Pickett (the eponymous Chop & Steele), it was founding the Found Footage Festival and pulling pranks. One such prank, which had them pretend to be a strongman duo on unsuspecting morning TV shows, causes them to get sued. This doc follows them as they fight the lawsuit and wrestle with whether or not they finally need to grow up and get a real job.

10. How to Blow Up a Pipeline – This super intense, of-the-moment/in-the-moment procedural thriller is exactly what its title promises it to be.

9. Rye Lane – Bold colours, busy business-filled frames, and wide-angled style elevate this vibrant, very effective British rom-com.

8. May December – It’s not a mystery or a thriller, but no movie surprised me more, or kept me guessing, or kept me on my toes as much as May December did. It’s also worth noting that, like a lot of my favourite movies this year, it’s the product of a very fruitful, long-term director/actor partnership (here, it’s Todd Haynes/Julianne Moore).

7. Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret – There’s a scene in this that contains what might just be my favourite movie moment of 2023. Katherine Mallen Kupferer’s Gretchen character (one of Margaret’s friends) is getting ready for a party and her mother wants to take a photo of her in her fancy get-up. Gretchen says no, yet every time her mother’s about to click the camera, she spins around and poses. There’s just something about the energy in this moment, how unaffected it is, that sums up what makes this movie, as a whole, so unabashedly wonderful.

6. Blackberry – It’s been a very long time since I’ve loved a new Canadian movie – besides my own movies (not kidding), probably not since Goon – so I’m very happy that Matt Johnson’s smart, funny, audience-friendly, very well-made Blackberry finally made it happen.

5. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 1 – I re-watched this recently, and it slapped even harder than it did when I saw it in the theatre (“slapped” Is what the hip kids are saying these days, right?). This thing is just one expertly constructed and paced action sequence after another, leading up to an all-timer with the dangling/crashing train car finale.

4. Asteroid City – With each of Wes Anderson’s recent films, I’ve had a similar reaction: This is the most Wes Andersony film he’s made to date (for the record, this is not at all a bad thing). Then he always seems to go and makes another one that’s even more Wes Andersony. Is Asteroid City peak Anderson? I don’t know, probably not (The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Co. shorts on Netflix go even further), but it’s definitely one of his best and most delightful.

3. The Holdovers – With the look and feel of a lost gem from the 70s, this is another one of Alexander Payne’s perfectly pitched dramatic comedies/comedic dramas. Nobody does manic schlubbiness better than Paul Giamatti.

2. Oppenheimer – A bunch of (mostly) dudes in rooms talking, then a big boom, then more (mostly) dudes in rooms talking, and I was totally riveted the whole time. Yes, the world would be a much better place if Oppenheimer never split the atom, but at least we got this great movie out of it.

1. Killers of the Flower Moon – Cinema is, arguably, the greatest of all human inventions, and there is (and likely never will be) no greater master of the cinematic medium than Martin Scorsese. Every single aspect of his unrivaled filmmaking prowess is on display here.