Where in the great pink heavens can I begin a consideration of the 2023 movie year than with the explosive phenomenon that was Barbenheimer? At a time when it still seems as if the very concept of theatrical exhibition of new movies was falling apart like a rotten log, the convergent arrival of two markedly different yet similarly anticipated and strikingly original major studio features on the same summer day led to a frenzy of moviegoing. People swarmed movie theaters for a discordant double feature (I did my part), and for a brief, beautiful moment it seemed like communal consumption of cinema could again be the fulcrum on which the culture swung.

Whether the joyous jolt of Barbie and Oppenheimer is a turning point or an aberration remains to be seen. On the hopeful side, it perhaps bodes well that the doll and the scientist ruled that box office at around the same time that the mighty Marvel movie model collapsed (unfortunately with the best of three features issued by the studio this year). Bolstering the more cynical assessment is only decades of established behavior by Hollywood decision-makers who are forever determined to draw the wrong conclusions from major successes. I think the triumph of Barbie shows that audiences want daringly inventive entertainments from distinctive filmmakers. The executives at Warner Bros. who are counting the money think the hefty box office receipts suggest that audiences just want Barbie 2.

To be fair, maybe those overpaid studio employees are correct, and I’m conflating what I want with what the masses long for. The next few weeks might provide a clue or two to that puzzler. As I’m wont to do, I’ll devote the lengthy stretch between the Oscar nomination announcement and the doling out of the actual trophies to tracking through my own list of the ten best films of the year that was recently completed. We’ll take our time going through them one by one, reaching the top of the list shortly before Hollywood’s biggest fête. The annual exercise begins tomorrow with a standout from last year’s Sundance Film Festival.