Here are the Banner-Herald's picks for the 10 best films of 2023. Which was your favorite?

In a year when the domestic box office was ruled by movies based on toys, video games, comic books and the life story of J. Robert Oppenheimer, it seemed there was truly something available for all tastes.

Popular franchises continued to draw huge audiences, Taylor Swift beat "The Exorcist," and a subtitled movie about a giant monster attack ("Godzilla Minus One") made me cry.

As always, each film on my year-end top 10 list is either available on streaming, disc, or is still playing in local theaters.

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Andrew Shearer's top 10 movies of 2023

10. "The Marvels": Toplined by a trio of women superheroes, two of which were people of color, and directed by Black filmmaker Nia DaCosta (director of "Little Woods" and 2021's "Candyman"), "The Marvels" is emblematic of representation in modern cinema. It's also a welcome shot across the brow of a genre that is often guilty of taking itself too seriously, and prioritizes fun and themes of teamwork and solidarity over bleak destruction.

09. "Cocaine Bear": Elizabeth Banks ("Pitch Perfect 2," "Charlie's Angels") put her already-fledgling directorial career on the line when she decided to helm this viciously gory comedy horror picture based on a real incident that occurred in north Georgia in 1985. With its zany, energized cast of hilarious characters and its unexpectedly poignant themes of motherhood, "Cocaine Bear" was better than it had any right to be.

08. "Quiz Lady": Truth be told, I’d watch "Quiz Lady" stars Awkwafina and Sandra Oh watch paint dry, but their chemistry and performance skills in this movie are undeniable. There’s also a cameo appearance that will absolutely melt your heart. "Quiz Lady" is the kind of movie that you put on when you need a boost of happiness, or just as a reminder that feature-length comedies can still be great. It's my feel-good movie of the year.

07. "Blue Beetle": It's hard to believe, but there was once a time when Batman was really the only superhero that consistently drew in big numbers at the box office. More than a decade and countless "cinematic universes" later, it took a relatively unknown DC comics character to bring back the excitement and spectacle of 2008's "Iron Man," the film that sparked the MCU. "Blue Beetle" is a blast of a good time and a return to form for the genre.

06. "Beau is Afraid": In one scene of this movie, the recorded audio from a talk therapy session is played aloud, and that’s pretty much what watching "Beau is Afraid" is like. Nearly every firmly-established human fear, from spiders and needles to gun violence and loss of a parent, is depicted in "Hereditary" writer-director Ari Aster's three-hour anxiety attack. Things only let up for about five minutes, so it wouldn't hurt to take half a Xanax before watching.

05. "Polite Society": Part teenage comedy-drama and part high-flying action flick, this smashing debut feature from writer-director Nida Manzoor tells the tale of Ria Khan (Priya Kansara), an aspiring stuntwoman who believes her older sister's husband-to-be has sinister intentions. If the "John Wick" series is a throwback to 1990s Hong Kong action, "Polite Society" meets Marvel out in the street and challenges it to a bare-knuckle duel.

04. "When Evil Lurks": Take the most frightening parts of films by George Romero and put them together with the most frightening parts of Italian horror maestro Lucio Fulci's work, and “When Evil Lurks” is what comes out. A word of warning: Do not see this movie if screen depictions of harm towards dogs or children upset you. "When Evil Lurks" contains pretty much every kind of trigger that exists, but that's part of what makes it so unforgettable.

03. "Barbie": If you're one of the few remaining holdouts who didn't see "Barbie," it's worth noting that if you saw the trailers, you’ve basically seen the first 15-20 minutes of the movie. As for the rest of director Greta Gerwig's billion-dollar blockbuster, I don't think anyone was quite prepared for what ended up being one of the most unapologetically feminist movies of all time. Don't be surprised to see it grab a few Oscar nominations and wins.

02. "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse": Though 2018's "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" remains the best comic book movie ever made, its sequel "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" is the best animated film I have ever seen. There must be a running contest over at Sony for how many times they can blow the audience's mind in the span of two hours. Production is already underway for the finale, "Beyond the Spider-Verse."

01. "Bottoms": R-rated teen comedies are a dime a dozen, but they can still be smart and hilarious if the right combination of cast, writing and directing comes along. To that end, "Bottoms" is a perfect storm that tells the story of two bottom-of-the-food-chain high schoolers (Ayo Edebiri and Rachel Sennott) who start an all-girl fight club, only to raise the ire of the football team and the eyebrows of a few fed-up cheerleaders.

Last year's list: Check out Andrew Shearer's picks for the 10 best films of 2022

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Top 10 films of 2023 as chosen by OnlineAthens reporter Andrew Shearer