There were hundreds and hundreds of movies released in 2023, but I found it was the quiet and introspective films that stuck with me, not the huge blockbusters.

Is this a reflection of my age?

Perhaps.

Or perhaps I’ve been doing this for so long, it takes a lot to impress and surprise me.

Whatever the case, here is my list of Top Films of 2023.

<strong>10 “Somewhere in Queens”</strong>

Ray Romano co-writes and directs this insightful film about an average dad whose relationship with his son isn’t what he thought it was. Watching him grow and push away, Jacob (Matthew “Sticks” Russo) paves his own path in life as he falls in love and makes unpopular decisions. Romano, wearing three hats as writer, director and actor, balances and brings love and levity in the most human way possible to this story.

<strong>9 “Anatomy of a Fall”</strong>

A young visually impaired boy is “witness” to his father’s death high in the mountains as his mother, Sandra (Sandra Huller), is accused of murder. Fighting for her freedom as the truth is unveiled, details of their marriage are peeled away to reveal a very different story. The ending certainly will create a conversation.

<strong>8 “The Boys in the Boat”</strong>

“The Boys in the Boat” stars Joel Edgerton as the University of Washington Rowing Team’s coach and Callum Turner as the young man who carries the team. The two deliver an inspiring and uplifting film. Based upon the true story from 1936, the team fought not only to win against the Ivy League schools but to also be a part of the Berlin Olympics. Great performances are key as well as characters we care about, and director George Clooney delivers.

<strong>7 “BlackBerry”</strong>

Truth is always stranger (and more entertaining) than fiction and Matt Johnson’s “BlackBerry” proves it. Starring Jay Baruchel, Glenn Howerton and Johnson, who also co-writes, we are taken back in time to the era of the BlackBerry phone and how it began and rose to being a powerhouse only to plummet to its death. It’s a crazy story, and Johnson adds just the right amount of humor and drama to capture this ridiculous story based in reality.

<strong>6 “Past Lives”</strong>

Celine Song writes and directs a story about the what-ifs in life. Greta Lee stars as Nora, a young Asian woman whose family moved to the States when she was a child, leaving her best friend and crush, Teo Yoo (Hae Sung), behind. Their lives take drastically different routes, but soon the roads intersect as they come to grips with their dreams and reality.

<strong>5 “Story Ave”</strong>

This film took a good 20 minutes to hook me, but once it did, you couldn’t pull me away with a team of wild horses. Co-written and directed by Aristotle Torres, we meet a young teen, Kadir (Asante Blackk), whose guilt and circumstances drive him to the leader of a gang in NYC named Skemes (Melvin Gregg). Kadir inadvertently finds himself guided by Luis (Luis Guzman), whose own ghosts haunt, or perhaps help, them both.

<strong>4 “Nyad”</strong>

Diana Nyad, played by sublimely by Annette Bening, is turning 60 and refuses to succumb to the notion that the best is all behind her. She vows to do what she failed at doing three decades earlier: swim from Havana, Cuba, to the Florida Keys. Coached by Bonnie (Jodie Foster) and a small support team, we are thrust into the waters with Nyad as she battles Mother Nature. Given Nyad’s demeanor, it’s a battle of the wills.

<strong>3 “Barbie”</strong>

This is a larger-than-life story written by Greta Gerwig and hubby Noah Baumbach, tackling societal and gender issues and inequities in the most entertainingly creative way imaginable. “Barbie” becomes an emotionally loaded yet still very funny look at our world and the expectations for women who have to “do it all” or “have it all.”

<strong>2 “Flora and Son”</strong>

John Carney writes and directs a story of a young mom, Flora (Eve Hewson), who isn’t going to get the Mother of the Year Award any time soon as her teenage son, Max (Oren Kinlan), finds himself on the verge of incarceration in Ireland. Looking to connect with him, Flora buys him a guitar, only to be rejected. Flora decides to pick up the instrument as she takes lessons from Jeff (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), which feels more like therapy sessions with musical undertones. There’s nothing flashy in this story, which is to its credit. It’s an emotionally rich portrayal of motherhood.

<strong>1 “American Fiction”</strong>

Cord Jefferson co-writes and directs the story of Thelonious Monk Ellison (Jeffrey Wright), an author who is struggling with his second book. Aghast at what is actually selling, particularly Sintara Golden’s (Issa Rae) book about being poor and Black, Monk uses a pseudonym and writes his own Black experience book, seen through the eyes of a convict. You guessed it … it becomes a best-seller. Monk must truly look at his reflection while he deals with family issues. With great performances and a complex script, this is a movie everyone should see.