BRIGHTEST AND THE BEST

These 2023 movies reigned supreme on the big screen

1 BARBIE 

Want to know how to think out of the (pink) box? Take the seemingly perfect doll (Margot Robbie) and wake her up to the harsh gender-imbalanced realities beyond the utopic Barbieland. But Greta Gerwig’s comedy truly resonates because its messaging came wrapped in delightful candy-colored entertainment.

2 MAESTRO 

In his second directing effort, Bradley Cooper takes on iconic composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein. Yet this is no ordinary womb-to-tomb biopic. Using artful construction and a towering score from the musical genius himself, Cooper focuses on Bernstein’s troubled romance with wife Felicia (Carey Mulligan). Not pitch-perfect, but pretty darn close.

3 AMERICAN FICTION 

For this blistering satire, a frustrated academic (Jeffrey Wright) decides to rail against an industry that tends to limit Black storytelling to traumatic and poverty narratives. Amid the outrageously funny moments, it shines as a relatable and poignant family melodrama.

4 AIR 

A footnote in which a Nike marketing whiz (Matt Damon) attempts to sign Michael Jordan to a contract in 1984 has inspired a terrific movie. Considering that Air Jordans now epitomize corporate culture, it’s a minor miracle director Ben Affleck (who also plays CEO Phil Knight) delivered such a shaggy underdog story about gumption, optimism and faith.