2nd Annual Canty Awards

It's the Oscars! Ya know, the... better one...

March 8, 2024

2023 was stellar for movies; deciding the best of the best in so many stacked categories is a trying task. Sadly, the actual Oscars are always decided long before the ceremony. Having things so set in stone with so much powerhouse talent is criminal; this shouldn't be like a football legend slaughtering his ex-wife and her boytoy, where the truth is obvious and the result inevitable.

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From established stars to career breakouts, indie films to megablockbusters, tragic snubs to indisputable frontrunners, 2023 is one for the books.

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Without further adieu, the 2nd Annual Canty Awards!

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Robert Downey, Jr. - Oppenheimer as Rear Admiral Lewis Strauss

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Downey, Jr. will win the Oscar more for his narrative than his performance, but it’s still a fantastic performance. With a lesser actor, Strauss would’ve been another thinly-imagined Nolan side character. Instead, he was a complex foil who prevented Oppenheimer's slow-moving final hour from destroying its greatness.

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Ryan Gosling - Barbie as Ken

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Perhaps the Academy will one day give comedy more than token nominations; if that happens, we’ll likely lament on Gosling. Anyone who’s dealt with a frat bro “nice guy” knows Gosling’s interpretation of Ken, but what we discover through his comic genius is the inner depth and turmoil that such men possess and face.

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Milo Machado Graner - Anatomy of a Fall as Daniel

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If Anatomy of a Fall had a less pretentious title, everyone would recognize it as sluggish nonsense and be amazed that in a sea of garbage floats an incredible performance. Graner makes clear that the story should’ve centered on Daniel, the young boy grappling with his father’s death and the ensuing trial that puts the life he thought he knew under a microscope. He’ll break your heart and make you reflect significantly more than the movie’s vapid, empty screenplay and overlong runtime think they do.

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Charles Melton - May December as Joe Yoo

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Joe Yoo could’ve been a cinematic disaster, all hokey melodrama and paint-by-numbers “commentary” on the lifelong impact of sexual abuse. Instead, Melton brings Joe’s simmering recognition of his trauma into every expression, every syllable, and every interaction. Few actors can relay such emotion without being overly emotional, and it’s a shame the May December controversy left him off the Oscars ballot.

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Holt McCallany - The Iron Claw as Fritz von Erich

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Most on-screen narcissists get written into the unethical stratosphere to earn our hared, but McCallany so faultlessly embodies the cold, reckless self-aggrandizement that he helps make The Iron Claw arguably the year’s most heavy-hitting movie.

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It’s natural to dismiss kids and reward industry mainstays, but Graner gave the performance of the year. He’s why Anatomy of a Fall makes any impression and commands the screen every second he’s on it.

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Barbie - Jacqueline Durran

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Barbieland was 2023's most exciting cinematic landscape. While we must credit the production design team for crafting a world that feels just as tangible as plucked from Mattel's signature boxes, part of its wonderment stems from the styling of the innumerable Kens and Barbies.

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Killers of the Flower Moon - Jacqueline West

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Killers of the Flower Moon isn’t as deferential to the Osage people as it’d like us to believe; look no further than Scorsese’s self-aggrandizing ending or the narrative’s reliance on a white man’s perspective, relegating Native Americans to broadly-imagined side characters. Its authenticity is in its costume design, a genuine effort to portray its subjects and period, shying away from the typicality of most Native American portrayals.

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Napoleon - Janty Yates & Dave Crossman

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Period flicks get costume design nods. Napoleon is foul, so only the technical aspects can lend it credence. In what ways it must evoke its torrid, bloody period, it does, partially thanks to the costume design.

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Oppenheimer - Ellen Mirojnick

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It’s hard to inspire feelings when capturing a period so near to the present. Sure, the ‘40s are comfortably in the rearview, but their cultural ubiquity leaves little room to impress. Yet, Mirojnick adds visual texture to Oppenheimer, evoking the period while making the characters accessible and displaying a painstaking attention to detail, a crucial element to the film’s enormous success.

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Poor Things - Holly Waddington

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Waddington evokes Victorian England’s sartorial pomp and extravagance but also dials it back to slowly develop Bella’s ever-evolving sense of self while capturing the individuality of the year's most unique protagonist and her equally distinctive world.

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It’s the most typical choice, but any reason we have for feeling so visually immersed in Poor Things deserves recognition.

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Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret - Production: Steve Saklad; Sets: Selina van den Brink

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It’s refreshing when a media captures the spirit of its time without relying on stereotypes and oversaturation (looking at you, Stranger Things Season 3). Are You There? feels distinctly and inescapably ‘70s without compromising the universal, cross-generational messaging of the movie, and that’s not easy.

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Barbie - Production: Sarah Greenwood; Sets: Katie Spencer

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It’s an obvious choice, but it’s the right one. Barbie’s aesthetics suffer when its characters transfer to the real world, not because that collapse was inevitable, but because it fell flat in the few opportunities it had to translate the magic. Still, there’s no denying the pink pomp of Barbieland is a visual marvel, bringing to the screen the pointed magic of the iconic toy with incredible flair.

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Napoleon - Production: Arthur Max; Sets: Elli Griff

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From the Sphinx in Egypt to the heart of Moscow, Napoleon is a feast for the eyes. It’s a shame the rest of the movie couldn’t measure up; if Scott’s direction and David Scarpa’s screenplay were half as good as the sets and scenery, Napoleon would be among the year’s best movies.

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Oppenheimer - Production: Ruth de Jong; Sets: Claire Kaufman

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In New Mexico, Oppenheimer stages the desert as an epic, mysterious landscape, a backdrop to fill with the slow-burning development of the gadget. When Oppenheimer gets drilled in a spiritual kangaroo court, and Lewis Strauss faces scrutiny at his Senate confirmation hearing, it suffocates the atmosphere, giving Nolan’s screenplay and the talented players a place to let the psychological intricacies shine.

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Poor Things - Production: James Price & Shona Heat; Sets: Zsuzsa Mihalek

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‍Poor Things’ incredible design is most evident during Bella’s global hop-scotching, giving each destination highly stylized character and vividity. Yet, it’s arguably most impressive in maximizing the simpler settings, like Godwin’s mansion, laboratory, and the room where Bella works as a Parisian prostitute. It’s easy to marvel at the grander sets, but Price, Heat, and Mihalek put incredible thought and detail into every inch of their production.

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Barbieland is an all-time accomplishment in set design; it’s incredible how much passion and detail went into the Barbieverse, making this a 1 and 1a situation. Alas, Poor Things’ perfectly crafted surrealism evokes the architectural spirit of Victorian England while adding a new and exciting spin to a bevy of locations, never letting its foot off the gas no matter where the movie goes.

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Ferrari - Tony Lamberti, Andy Nelson, David Werntz, & Lee Orloff

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Motorsport is demanding to simulate; all the zipping and zooming can feel like ambient noise where volume compensates for texture. Ferrari places you squarely in the action, especially during its climactic scene, where it most needs to make us feel the moment.

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The Killer - Drew Kunin, Ren Clyce, Stephen Urata, & Jeremy Molod

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David Fincher’s latest flick feels like a video game, many of its sequences appearing like cutscenes. The title character’s methods require quiet action; every moving car, barking dog, and the natural sounds of the shifting environments have to create the atmosphere. It’s not Fincher’s most stylized movie, but the sound work is masterful.

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Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One - Chris Munro, James H. Mather, Chris Burdon, & Mark Taylor

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The Mission: Impossible franchise once again raised its stakes; no franchise can compete with its ability to immerse us into every action-packed frame. Even at ludicrous movie theater decibels, few films can make you feel them; Dead Reckoning Part One may have been divisive amongst fans and a box office disappointment, but there’s no denying the ingenious sound mixing.

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Oppenheimer - Willie D. Burton, Richard King, Gary A. Rizzo, & Kevin O’Connell

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Oppenheimer could make a case for any sound award on the Trinity Test alone, but it refuses to rest on its laurels. As Oppenheimer grapples with the enormity of his creation before a joyous audience and Lewis Strauss slowly unfolds his plot to exact misguided revenge on the father of the bomb, each set has a distinct auditory signature that gives the movie what force it has down its one-hour home stretch.

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The Zone of Interest - Tarn Willers & Johnnie Burn

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The Zone of Interest prevents direct interactions with the horrors unfolding at Auschwitz so it can use the commonplace lives of commandant Rudolf Höss and his family to contrast them. It’s a fool’s errand, but what atmospheric genius it flirts with is due to its sound, always underlying even its quietest scenes with elements that shouldn’t work yet capture the film’s ambition perfectly.

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Let’s not overthink this: Oppenheimer is the clear winner, no matter how much the arthouse crowd claims otherwise. It’s one of the most enthralling movie experiences in years largely because of its sound work.

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Penélope Cruz - Ferrari as Laura Ferrari

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Ferrari backs Laura into an unfortunate corner, writing her as only the estranged wife driven mad by her husband’s infidelities and ambition. Fortunately, Cruz underlies every moment of Laura’s fiery screen presence with subtle heart and awareness, making her the film’s most compelling subject.

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Claire Foy - All of Us Strangers as Adam’s Mother

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In a deviation from most modern media, the mother in All of Us Strangers is the parent who struggles to accept her son’s sexuality. Evoking the memories of every gay man watching who endured a painful coming out is difficult; one must be tense but not cold and uncomfortable but not defiant. Foy masters the balances, not only in that scene but in every moment after.

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Julianne Moore - May December as Gracie Atherton-Yoo

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Todd Haynes’ vision never aims to paint Gracie, Mary Kay Letourneau’s cinematic counterpart, in a sympathetic light, so some of Moore’s choices were made for her. Still, few actresses could delve into such a seedy role and illuminate each sickening idiosyncrasy to make us realize just how depraved, twisted, and indignant such a person can be.

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Rosamund Pike - Saltburn as Lady Elspeth Catton

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Pike shows how tricky it is to pull off less showy performances. Elspeth is the go-to for comedic energy when Saltburn needs a jolt, but she succeeds thanks to impeccable comic timing and a deep understanding of how to extract nuggets of humor from the tone deaf upper-classers Pike expertly mirrors.

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Da’Vine Joy Randolph - The Holdovers as Mary Lamb

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Mary Lamb feels more human than most characters we’ve seen in years. Randolph’s interactions always feel earnest and measured while brimming with emotion. It’s a very subtle trick, but she plays it perfectly.

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In a highly competitive year, Moore narrowly take it. She makes Gracie a loathsome subject beyond the evident realities of her character while delivering the necessary nuance to inform our perspective on narcissists and predators.

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The Creator - Jay Cooper, Ian Comley, Andrew Roberts and Neil Corbould

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The narrative around Gareth Edwards’ sci-fi flick is that it’s all style and no substance. It’s true, but in fairness, The Creator almost feels like it has substance, and that’s because it’s one of the most visually unique and compelling films the genre’s seen in years.

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Godzilla Minus One - Takashi Yamazaki, Kiyoko Shibuya, Masaki Takahashi and Tatsuji Nojima

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You can't say enough about the design of cinema’s most iconic monster. Godzilla is heavily detailed without appearing corny. Helping matters are the unforgettable ocean sequence and the destruction of Ginza. It’s a movie whose success is built on its effects, but tempers itself to deliver a great monster movie.

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Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 - Stephane Ceretti, Alexis Wajsbrot, Guy Williams and Theo Bialek

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Sure, the MCU has suffered from diminishing returns, so much so that, aside from Guardians 3, it spent 2023 bombing at the box office and bleeding viewers. It’s the weakest of the trilogy, but the effects serve up the typical thrills of a Marvel movie, and it deserves (some) credit for that.

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Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One - Alex Wuttke, Simone Coco, Jeff Sutherland and Neil Corbould

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Nutty as he is, so long as Tom Cruise walks the earth, we will get staggering action movies blowing up the big screen. Dead Reckoning’s signature sequence - the motorcycle ride off a cliff followed by a thrilling base jump - may not quite live up to Fallout’s helicopter chase, but it’s emblematic of Cruise and Christopher McQuarrie’s dedication to well-crafted, practical action.

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Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse - Pawel Grochola, David Cohan

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It’s astonishing what the Spider-Verse movies have accomplished. It seemed unfathomable not long ago, yet here we are, seeing something we’ve never seen in two ways: not only have these movies awed us with their effects, but they haven’t relied on the novelty, pushing their boundaries to deliver a product worthy of the technology.

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Mission: Impossible will always deserve its acclaim; if it takes the Oscar, it earned it. The Creator benefits from being new, and beautiful at that. It almost tricks you into thinking it’s a good movie mostly due to the effects, which tell a story entirely on their own.

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All of Us Strangers - Jonathan Alberts

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All of Us Strangers is a gut punch partially thanks to Alberts’ instincts for letting go. After all, that’s the point of Adam’s journey. Every scene receives only the necessary time to develop and fulfill its purpose; the tension between Adam and his mother during his coming out shows that ‘80s sensibilities will be arduous to overcome. The sex scenes unfold Adam’s newfound vulnerability only long enough to display how each step in his journey into the past will inform his metamorphosis in the present.

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The Iron Claw - Matthew Hannam

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‍The Iron Claw is an exercise in emotional devastation. A less skilled editor would’ve forced the issue, giving too much establishing for the big moments and too much pondering once they’ve passed. Instead, Hannam creates a subtle sense of foreboding that makes each realization of just what tragedy befalls the von Erich brothers genuinely sorrowful.

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Poor Things - Yorgos Mavropsaridis

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Poor Things nearly defies categorization, but as a comedy-drama, it strives to fully capture the essence of both genres more than most movies, wanting to be recognizable as each while still blending them seamlessly to convey the film’s thematics. Absent an editor with impeccable comedic timing and a flair for the dramatic, Bella’s flamboyant dance in Lisbon and her flight to the slums of Alexandria would be half the scenes they are.

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Saltburn - Victoria Boydell

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Saltburn slaps us with its lunacy. Like any good slap, its effect is shock value; if the slap-ee subsequently gets the everloving crap beat out of them, the slap loses all meaning. Boydell lets writer-director Emerald Fennell slap us, but unlike Fennell and her indulgent screenplay, Boydell knows when to stop, thus maximizing effect.

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Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse - Michael Andrews

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The Spider-Verse movies are a Catch-22; their inherent design lends to vibrant color and quick-fire action, but it’s easy to overdo those things. Outside its opening 20 minutes, Andrews effectively balances narrative and visuals, making Across the Spider-Verse a comic book come to life with a bevy of thrilling action sequences.

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When Across the Spider-Verse finds its footing, it becomes a parade of quick-fire cutting and well-paced action sequences, and one of the superhero genre’s most entertaining, watchable movies.

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The Boy and the Heron - Joe Hisaishi

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Hayao Miyazaki has made a career of using music and images to tell stories, crafting facially unconventional narratives with universal messages. Whether this works is subjective, but the effectiveness of Joe Hisaishi’s score is not.

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The Creator - Hans Zimmer

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The most impressive accomplishment of yet another fantastic Zimmer score is how much heavy-lifting it does. John David Washington is lifeless as the lead, and Gareth Edwards’ story is unfocused and derivative. If not for Zimmer, The Creator would’ve made zero emotional impression.

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Oppenheimer - Ludwig Göransson

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Göransson had a lot on his plate with Oppenheimer. Nolan wanted to analyze him on every level while acknowledging the enormity of the Manhattan Project. He wanted to build to an epic climax without forgetting to be an explorative drama. Göransson's music accomplishes each distinct goal while sounding like a complete score, an admirable accomplishment considering Nolan's sprawling ambition and that Oppenheimer’s personal life could’ve disrupted that aim.

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Poor Things - Jerskin Fendrix

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Fendrix perfectly captures the quirky universe of Bella Baxter without feeling self-aggrandizing or needlessly bonkers. He finds incredible range within only a few deviations and beautifully scores Poor Things like a subversive Pre-Code melodrama. It's impressive, considering those scores are like nails on a chalkboard.

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Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse - Daniel Pemberton

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As the superhero craze dies down, we can better appreciate what the genre can do when taken seriously. Pemberton’s score is buzzing with energy, constantly electrifying a lively movie. Amazingly, it always feels like a compliment to the movie’s action, never overwhelming it and causing a sensory overload, even with so many instruments and effects at play.

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Yet another “take your pick” category. Anime is polarizing, but Hisashi’s score is undeniable. It’s serene, urgent, soft, imposing, sometimes all in the same piece, and what emotion the film inspires stems from his work.

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“Camp Isn’t Home” - Theater Camp, Music and Lyrics by Ben Platt, Noah Galvin, Molly Gordon, & Nick Lieberman

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“Camp Isn’t Home” depends on one’s interpretation of the category. If you prefer songs that can stand alone, it'll miss your top five, but if you want songs to tie in with their film’s narrative, then it’s a funny, full-circle moment that gives a memorable sequence to a movie full of unrealized potential, even if it ventures into “not like other girls/boys” territory.

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“High Life” - Flora and Son, Music by Gary Clark & John Carney, Lyrics by Eve Hewson, Clark, & Carney

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“High Life” effectively concludes single mother Flora's musical journey as she finally bonds with her troubled teenage son, Max, through their shared passion. It's a breezy tune that (fittingly) sounds like it came from an inexperienced songwriter: messy, slightly unfocused, lyrically overt, but sincere, heartfelt, and, in Flora’s case, a tad vulgar.

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“I’m Just Ken” - Barbie, Music and Lyrics by Mark Ronson & Andrew Wyatt

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Truthfully, “I’m Just Ken,” Ken Doll’s r/niceguys lament, is better in concept than in practice. Thankfully, Gosling fully commits, and his performance sells us on this being a better song than it is. Still, it’s a rare tune that blends comedy with a genuine attempt to advance and encapsulate a character’s journey.

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“Live That Way Forever” - The Iron Claw, Music and Lyrics by Richard Reed Parry & Laurel Sprengelmeyer

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Some songs hit hardest by, in some unquantifiable way, sounding like their movie. After the ceaseless barrage of tragedy that befalls the von Erich brothers, all under the thumb of their abusive father, the instrumentation echoes Mike's freedom as he begins his next chapter, even though each step will feel accented with his losses.

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“What Was I Made For?” - Barbie, Music and Lyrics by Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell

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Eilish has stated that “What Was I Made For?,” the emotional crescendo to Barbie, was the first song she and producer brother Finneas wrote after a prolonged bout of writer’s block.

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We can tell.

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It’s still a very good song, but it always feels like it’s building to some place it never reaches. Regardless, although it’s misused in the movie, it’s a beautiful crescendo for Margot Robbie’s Stereotypical Barbie, and Eilish’s soft vocals prove a worthy compliment to the momentous decision she makes by embracing the real world.

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“High Life” isn’t in the pantheon of all-time movie songs, but if shameless adoration of the power of music tickles your fancy, it’s a beautiful wrap-up to a heartwarming, unorthodox family story.

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All of Us Strangers - Jamie D. Ramsay

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Ramsay's impeccable framing of the romantic and sexual intimacy between Adam and younger lover, Harry, always feels intimate without being exploitative or prurient, even when explicit. When Adam visits his parents, the atmosphere oscillates between intimate and cavernous; he's as often separated during conflict as tightly-bound during reconciliation, but without ever feeling obvious or self-congratulatory.

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Killers of the Flower Moon - Rodrigo Prieto

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Visually, Killers of the Flower Moon captures the majesty of the Oklahoma plains and the serenity of small-town life. It’s a fantastic contrast to the mood it sets and gradually unfolds as the full breadth of King and Ernest’s duplicity claims native after native, when the lighting becomes more foreboding, and each shot allows each character to wholly consume the screen. It’s what lets Scorsese burn this horrific tale slowly and, when needed, brightly.

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Oppenheimer - Hoyte van Hoytema

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Oppenheimer is beautiful; many self-proclaimed “cinephiles” chastise prioritizing general aesthetics when assessing cinematography, but that is part of the equation. Beyond that, van Hoytema finds a way to hold tight on the titular protagonist while giving him the space to construct his scientific empire. The camera focuses intensely on Oppenheimer but makes atypical choices regarding what emotional notes it takes cues from, so every moment, no matter how “big” or “small,” feels equally layered and vital.

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Poor Things - Robbie Ryan

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Bella Baxter’s sexual liberation is one of film’s most upfront, unapologetic depictions of female empowerment. Portraying it in such direct, vivid detail, with equal amounts of comedic genius and sexual tenacity, was a bold and brilliant choice. Factor in the appreciation for Yorgos Lanthimos’ vision, delivering epic bursts of color and capturing all the architectural individuality in each location, and we have a movie deserving of its nominations.

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Saltburn - Linus Sandgren

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Saltburn has a distinct visual style that's clearest during the palace blowout and the subsequent red room dining scene. But more impressively, it capitalizes on the film’s several shocking scenes by leaning into them so heavily and intimately that we feel conjoined with the movie’s madness.

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Best of all, it handles Barry Keoghan’s full-frontal nude scene with matter-of-fact tact when many would’ve glorified it beyond the movie’s intention.

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Whether in its black-and-white sequences, the Los Alamos chapter, or simply capturing the New Mexico mountains, Oppenheimer is an unforgettable visual experience. Its use of color establishes its settings without feeling contrived, and we have an intimate understanding of every character in every shot, even the most minor players.

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All of Us Strangers - Andrew Haigh

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Aspiring writers could analyze any sequence (Adam coming out to his mother, confronting his father, the final goodbye at the diner, etc.) to learn how to craft a scene. In a dynamic that seems impossible to perfect, Haigh makes Adam a child to his parents and a peer, counseling them through their deaths, all while creating endless parallels with his audience and a moving film.

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Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret - Kelly Fremon Craig

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Arguably, no movie has ever presented the typical struggles of puberty with such hilarity and heart. Are You There God? also tackles themes of religious identity, self-esteem, and friendship, and Kelly Fremon Craig makes Margaret’s journey one of external crises and self-actualization without seeming preachy or melodramatic.

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The Holdovers - David Hemingson

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The Holdovers easily could’ve ventured into pretentious drivel, with teacher Paul Hunham unleashing senseless musings disguised as flowery poetry on the young student he mentors during Christmas break. Instead, the articulation feels sincere, and Mary’s more direct emotional cues feel befitting of a woman grappling with tragedy. There’s a genuine understanding of each character and the ability to find their commonalities, no matter how big or small a role they play, and respect for the story over the inner thesaurus.

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May December - Samy Burch

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It’s impressive that any movie could make us look deeper than surface-level outrage regarding sexual abuse and truly engage with the depraved minds behind such iniquity. Burch creates an engaging cat-and-mouse game of parasitic desire and appropriation between Gracie and Elizabeth while also honoring Joe’s slow realization of his robbed adolescence. Yet, the screenplay never feels fractured, blending the two distinct narratives seamlessly to show how much they inform one another’s development.

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Oppenheimer - Christopher Nolan

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Nolan filters out his pseudo-intellectualism in Oppenheimer, delivering a screenplay that, while overstretched, is amazingly tight for how sprawling and talky it is. As we marvel at Nolan’s dissecting a complicated figure while still telling a gripping story, we respect his growth as a screenwriter.

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Any gay man who’s faced a difficult coming out or who entered adolescence at the height of the AIDS crisis, any child who’s lost a parent, any parent separated from their child, any lover who’s lost their partner, or any human being that’s regretted the mistakes they cannot fix can find something personal in All of Us Strangers. Making a story accessible to everyone without compromising its more specific ambitions is something to acclaim.

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Eve Hewson - Flora and Son as Flora

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If one factors in a performer’s musical talent when evaluating a film performance, Hewson’s vocals would knock her down a few pegs. Regardless, Flora is a neglectful single mother who seems initially unconcerned with raising her delinquent teenage son, Max, viewing him as a burden. She could’ve gone incredibly wrong, but Hewson’s wit, charm, and soulfulness made her a delightfully imperfect protagonist.

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Mia McKenna-Bruce - How to Have Sex as Tara

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Sixteen-year-old virgin Tara’s resort vacation collapses when she gets pressured into having sex on the beach. The trauma as she deals with her deflowerer's coldness before he again pressures her for sex and then assaults her could have been histrionic and vaguely explored. Thankfully, McKenna-Bruce showed how difficult it is to understand the enormity of Tara’s circumstances and the psychological processes victims undergo as they come to grips with their rape.

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Jennifer Lawrence - No Hard Feelings as Maddie Barker

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Cinephiles routinely decry the Oscars for not recognizing comedy movies, then throw a hissy fit every time a comedic role gets nominated. No, Lawrence doesn’t break ground with *ahem* “devastatingly raw power that exposes the profound depth of the human condition,” but she throws herself full force (and full-frontal) at a role that demands a skilled tightrope walker to lend genuine humor, depth, and relatability to a character whose actions are inherently gross.

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Natalie Portman - May December as Elizabeth Berry

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Portman not only expertly embodies director Todd Haynes’ vision, blurring the lines between actress Elizabeth’s thespian preparations for her role as a sexual predator and a woman becoming more enamored with the twisted tale, but she routinely strikes gold while delving into her subject's psyche.

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Emma Stone - Poor Things as Bella Baxter

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Although many claim otherwise, few performances are “gutsy” or “brave.” Such descriptors only apply when actors take genuine risks by portraying characters that could end their careers, like playing gay before 2006. Regardless, Stone transforms what could easily have been second-rate comedic overreaching and forced drama into something hilarious and poignant. Bella’s unique likability is down to many things, but Stone's talent is squarely at the forefront.

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Easy choice: Stone took the role of a lifetime and made it feel like a character only she could elevate to an all-time performance.

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Zac Efron - The Iron Claw as Kevin von Erich

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Efron has successfully transcended his High School Musical beginnings to become a gifted dramatic actor. Kevin von Erich’s story is devastating enough, but Efron elevates his torment to levels that help make The Iron Claw a heartbreaker.

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Paul Giamatti - The Holdovers as Paul Hunham

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Paul Giamatti is a veteran actor, so sentiment subconsciously influences our collective acclaim of his performance in The Holdovers. Even so, it merely accents our appreciation for a top talent proving his genius. Paul Hunham is a deceptively tricky character; the intent of his arc is plain, but it’s handled with less typicality than an ordinary studio flick, forcing Giamatti to unearth all the nuances in a complicated man.

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Barry Keoghan - Saltburn as Oliver Quick

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Keoghan has tons to work with in Saltburn: not only all the jaw-dropping moments but also a sneaky character gradually unveiling the full breadth of his duplicity. Yet, he doesn’t rest on Oliver’s inherent qualities or the strength of what’s written for him. He fully commits, selling a screenplay that occasionally strains credulity well enough to make Saltburn a better movie than it would be with another actor in the lead.

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Cillian Murphy - Oppenheimer as J. Robert Oppenheimer

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J. Robert Oppenheimer’s interview 20 years after Hiroshima and Nagasaki, where he cites the Hindu text, “Now I become Death, the destroyer of worlds,” is an indelible part of post-WWII America. Any movie depicting him must be imbued with how he ultimately viewed his creation. Murphy captains his complex journey as a man of many traits and values, some seemingly contradictory, with an equal understanding of them all and always building to that ultimate moment in New Mexico and the sobering realization he shared two decades later.

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Andrew Scott - All of Us Strangers as Adam

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Scott strikes an incredible balance, powering his performance as a gay man reconciling the loss of his parents with his experience as a gay man himself without allowing that parallelism to dominate his portrayal. The result is a character who feels simultaneously singular as a homosexual man grappling with his losses and a man separated from any identifiers who is learning, through both pain and renewal, how to love, trust, and move on, making Adam, and thus the movie, accessible to all.

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Realistically, this could’ve gone to anyone, and there are several performances in this category one could argue are the year’s best. In fact, the category is so stacked that the choice could depend on what day it is. On this day, it’s Giamatti.

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Andrew Haigh - All of Us Strangers

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Few directors would have the respect or restraint to tell such an emotional story with the integrity to make it resonate well beyond the final fade to black. Haigh takes what could be a mundane drama and turns it into something sincere, a genuine journey on which the audience can go and experience something more meaningful than most movies can offer.

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Todd Haynes - May December

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Haynes' vision for May December transforms it from a hokey Netflix drama into a deeper examination of our true crime hysteria, funneling the thematic aims through his singular ambition and inspiring a talented cast into delivering arguably the year’s best-acted movie.

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Yorgos Lanthimos - Poor Things

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Truthfully, Poor Things’ conclusion shows how, even at their best, directors struggle to be self-editors. Still, Lanthimos shows enough restraint to prevent Poor Things from being a barrage of pretentious visual displays and mediocre commentary. He crafts a world entirely his own, one that ropes us in and makes us completely open to what he has to say, and he manages to say quite a lot.

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Christopher Nolan - Oppenheimer

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Nolan bites off more than he can chew, crafting a near-perfect movie in Oppenheimer’s first two hours before somewhat struggling to tighten the reins as he ties up all the loose ends in the third (if you’re one of those people who ludicrously argue the contrary, please stop). Still, the overall success of the movie shows how talented a filmmaker Nolan has become; few directors could have taken on this epic of a project and envisioned for it such a massive scale and done it justice. With a lesser director at the helm, Oppenheimer would’ve been a slog in its opening two acts and unbearably slow by the end.

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Alexander Payne - The Holdovers

Payne’s sensitivity is most responsible for The Holdovers’ substance. The Paul Giamatti reunion helps, but his performance (along with Dominic Cessa’s and Da’Vine Joy Randolph’s) shows how Payne gets the best out of his actors, experience aside. The most impressive feat, however, is how often the movie could’ve derailed and spiraled down a treacly path but proves refined enough to be moving and genuine.

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It’s about what you value most; because this year is so phenomenal, no choice is wrong. Ultimately, Haigh's vision captures so many nuances and shows abundant restraint to deliver a powerful drama that most directors would’ve taken down the road to meaningless, self-indulgent melodrama.

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P.S. The scope and ambition of Oppenheimer cannot be understated, and when Nolan takes the Oscar, it will be well-deserved.

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All of Us Strangers - Graham Broadbent, Peter Czernin, & Sarah Harvey

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Andrew Haigh’s drama about a gay man seeing his deceased parents won’t assist the ridiculous argument that only gay storytellers should tell gay stories. However, it will affirm their input is vital to telling an accessible, truthful story. The empathy needed to give Adam genuine closure with his parents needs someone who’s been through his trial; that soulfulness makes All of Us Strangers a beautiful drama for the LGBT community and a rewarding watch for anyone who’s lost those closest to them.

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Flora and Son - Anthony Bregman, John Carney, Peter Cron, Rebecca O’Flanagan, & Robert Walpole

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Truthfully, John Carney has built a career by making the same movie, and there’s little to distinguish Flora and Son from his other works. Regardless, it shows a filmmaker who’s mastered his craft, giving us a frustrating but charming protagonist who movingly develops a better relationship with her troubled son. With a strong supporting cast and a killer soundtrack, Flora and Son is the sort of small-scale, intimate drama we need.

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The Holdovers - Mark Johnson

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More movies need to be like The Holdovers. Ambition is great; it’s how creators learn, grow, and eventually deliver epics like Oppenheimer. But when filmmakers stick to the basics and strive to perfect simple ideas, characters, and narratives, elevating them beyond our wildest expectations, it’s guaranteed movie magic.

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The Iron Claw - Tessa Ross, Juliette Howell, Sean Durkin, Angus Lamont, & Derrin Schlesinger

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The Iron Claw could’ve gone horribly wrong by leaning into sports movie typicality and fishing for inspiration in a story bereft of it. Instead, it devotes itself to the truth of the von Erich’s horrific upbringing and turbulent parental relationships, crafting a compelling drama that exposes the damage of detached, narcissistic parents and the undeniable strength of brotherly love.

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May December - Natalie Portman, Sophie Mas, Christine Vachon, Pamela Koffler, Grant S. Johnson, Tyler W. Konney, Jessica Elbaum, & Will Ferrell

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May December is quietly ambitious, tackling a sensitive subject narratively derived from an infamous true story with dark comedy. Pulling it off to any extent is impressive, but inspiring genuine reflection about how we consume these stories, especially at the height of true crime media, is incredible.

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Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One - Tom Cruise & Christopher McQuarrie

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Once again, Cruise and McQuarrie lapped the action genre, perfecting the highly-publicized cliffside free fall and stunning us again in the climactic train sequence. The franchise never tries to do too much; within that self-awareness, it consistently offers characters we love, action we crave, and the continuing promise that each installment will be more epic than the last.

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No Hard Feelings - Alex Saks, Naomi Odenkirk, Marc Provissiero, Jennifer Lawrence, & Justine Ciarrocchi

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No Hard Feelings faced controversy before its release, accused of glorifying grooming for comedic purposes, but nothing could be further from the truth. Thanks to fantastic lead performances from Jennifer Lawrence and Andrew Barth Feldman, No Hard Feelings is a hilarious sex comedy overflowing with sincerity and heart.

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Oppenheimer - Emma Thomas, Charles Roven, & Christopher Nolan

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Nolan's legion of obsessive fanboys has shrouded a parade of mediocre movies in undeserved idolatry. At last, with Oppenheimer, he made his great movie. He elevated his writing beyond pseudo-intellectual clichés and flesh out his ambitious ideas, delivering a pseudo-biopic that justifies the continuation of a dying genre.

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Poor Things - Ed Guiney, Andrew Lowe, Yorgos Lanthimos, & Emma Stone

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In the hands of a lesser filmmaker, Poor Things would be another generic, desperate arthouse flick that bit off more than its pretentious creative team could chew. But with Yorgos Lanthimos at the helm and Emma Stone guiding the uproarious, liberating story of Bella Baxter, it became the most inventive, imaginative movie of the year and cinema’s strongest takedown of the patriarchy.

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All of Us Strangers shows total filmmaking mastery, from the actors on-screen, the director behind the lens, to the editors in the bay. Few movies feel so contemplative while being memorable and find the truths we often overlook, ones that mean as much to its most empathetic observers as those who can relate only generally. “Masterpiece” is thrown around far too loosely nowadays, but All of Us Strangers gets closer to earning that title as any movie from 2023.

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In an incredibly loaded year, All of Us Strangers, though snubbed by the Academy, racks up three of the Big Five here in Cantyland, and believe me, that counts for something.

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'Til next year!

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