The year of strikes, Barbenheimer and some dead certs falling short, 2023 was a year of extremes in cinema.

Some films were as big and spectacular as you could hope to fill a big screen but as is often the case the smaller, more personal stories and some memorable oddities made the most impact.

These days I mostly ply my trade over at The Film Magazine so head there for my in-depth Top 10 and my wider thoughts on the year in film.

Before I reveal my full Top 20 of 2023, I’d like to highlight some of my favourite scenes from the past year.

Best Scenes of 2023:

SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE – Gwen’s Watercolour World

Taking cues from her solo comic series, the SPIDER-VERSE sequel opens an extended sequence set in Gwen Stacy’s universe where she locks horns with family and friends and battles a displaced villain all in gorgeous watercolour-style artwork.

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: MUTANT MAYHEM – No Diggity Montage

There are some great needle-drops in MUTANT MAYHEM, but the best is reserved for creative and witty time-lapse montage that sees the Turtles beating up and interrogating a succession of unfortunate gangsters.

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3 – Corridor Fight

The perfect expression of the Guardians working seamlessly as a team and one of the most visually accomplished scenes in the entire MCU, Star-Lord, Rocket Raccoon, Groot and the gang combine their powers to carve their way through a space station corridor jam-packed with mutant monstrosities.

GODZILLA MINUS ONE – Mine-Sweeping for Monsters

Post war-employment turns deadly as our protagonist’s small vessel clearing the ocean is set upon by the King of the Monsters, forcing them to flee and simultaneously try and trick the Kaiju into biting down on a high-powered explosive.

OPPENHEIMER – Trinity Test

The one scene Cristopher Nolan just had to get right was the countdown to the first successful detonation of an atomic weapon and it ended up a mini-masterpiece in tension building, all-consuming sound-design and powerful, terrifying imagery.

TÁR – Cancelling Bach

One of the great uncomfortable confrontations on film sees Lydia Tár cruelly tear apart an idealistic young student in front of a full lecture theatre by presenting a perfect art vs artist argument in relation to Bach.

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – DEAD RECKONING PART ONE – Train Turmoil

The motorbike jump into a skydive was only the beginning – once Ethan Hunt actually gets on the train he has to get the world-ending MacGuffin and escape from the Orient Express which is heading off an exploded bridge. This is a scene that references extravagant action set pieces from film history from THE GENERAL to BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI and delivers escalating thrill after thrill executed purely practically.

TALK TO ME – First Conversation

New horror franchises need that scene that announces what they’re doing differently from the crowd and TALK TO ME’s first in a series of unwise teen seances is atmospheric, jumpy and equally funny and chilling.

PAST LIVES – Waiting for an Uber Long-Take

After reminiscing about their childhood affection for each other and reconnecting after decades apart, Nora walks Hae-sung down the street from her apartment and waits for his Uber to the airport in an extended, largely silent scene that says more than any number of words could.

BARBIE – I’m just Ken

Greta Gerwig and Ryan Gosling really went for broke with this music video-inspired song and dance spectacular that sees Ken and all the other Kens baring their inadequacies and their very souls.

Best Films of 2023:

20. THE FIVE DEVILS Review in Brief here.

19. WONKA

18. BARBIE Review in Brief here

17. OPPENHEIMER Review in Brief here.

16. JOYLAND

15. BLUE JEAN

14. KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON

13. EL CONDO

12. THE BOY AND THE HERON Full Review here.

11. ANATOMY OF A FALL

10. YOU ARE SO NOT INVITED TO MY BAT MITZVAH

9. GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3 Full Review here.

8. BROKER

7. ONE FINE MORNING

6. SCRAPPER

5. GODZILLA MINUS ONE Full Review here.

4. ARE YOU THERE GOD? IT’S ME, MARGARET

3. RETURN TO SEOUL

2. RYE LANE

1. SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE

With the knock-on delays of the strikes rolling into 2024 and studios shuffling their most expensive blockbusters around, maybe this year will give prominence to a wider variety of films than ever before. Watch this space. SSP