Again, we are approaching to the end of another year. Compared to last year, 2023 has been less burdensome in comparison after the eventual end of the COVID-19 pandemic period, and wearing a mask in public spaces already seems like an old past these days. Although people are less likely to go to movie theaters now mainly thanks to the rise of streaming services, new movies keep coming to theaters coming nonetheless, and we have surely had another fruitful year full of good or excellent films to remember and cherish.

While hurriedly watching a bunch of wonderful films I happened to miss during last year, I also diligently watched numerous interesting films which came out during this year, and I must tell you that they were like priceless healing medicines to me as I coped with small and big problems in my private life. As a matter of fact, it was fairly easy for me to fill out my annual list of this year, and my additional list for new South Korean movies to recommend was actually a more difficult task than expected because there are several good ones which cannot be included in the list despite being fairly good in each own way.

However, that is nothing compared to my little headache from arranging those 10 films at the top of my annual list. To be frank with you, I cannot surely say right now that “The Holdovers” is really better than “Monster” or “Afire” – or that “Killers of the Flower Moon” is a little greater than “Oppenheimer” or “Barbie”. Someday, I may give up this rather inconsequential task, but I will not deny that I had some fun as confirming more on my personal preference on these 10 movies.

Anyway, my annual list, which is more or less than the outcome from reviewing more than 300 films during this year without getting paid at all (I will go to hell for this, you know), does not incidentally include a number of recent acclaimed films such as “American Fiction”, “Fallen Leaves”, “Poor Things”, and “The Zone of Interest” because, well, I and my fellow South Korean audiences will have to wait more at present (“Fallen Leaves” will arrive here in the next week, for example). If these films are really as good as many of critics and audiences have said, I will certainly mention them around the end of the next year.