By Susan Granger

Years ago, going to the movies was a big event – a date night or family excursion. Movies offered dazzling delight, a shared communal experience. Ticket sales were once the major source of revenue for these extravaganzas, particularly franchises. Now, while many of the year’s most memorable movies open briefly in theaters, they’re soon – sometimes simultaneously – available for home viewing. Plus, the gap between what gets nominated for Awards and what people actually want to watch gets bigger. Which is a shame.

Below are my ten favorite films and my five favorite directors, actors, actresses, supporting actors and supporting actresses, in alphabetical order.

Best movies:

• “Avatar: Fire and Ash”
• “Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale”
• “Frankenstein”
• “Hamnet”
• “Jay Kelly”
• “Marty Supreme”
• “Nuremberg”
• “Rental Family”
• “Song Sung Blue”
• “Train Dreams”

Best Director:

• Clint Bentley for “Train Dreams” 
• Craig Brewer for “Song Sung Blue”
• James Cameron for “Avatar: Fire and Ash”
• James Vanderbilt for “Nuremberg”
• Chloe Zhao for “Hamnet”

Actors:

• Timothy Chalamet in “Marty Supreme”
• George Clooney in “Jay Kelly”
• Russell Crowe in “Nuremberg”
• Joel Edgerton in “Train Dreams”
• Ethan Hawke in “Blue Moon”

Actresses: 

• Jessie Buckley in “Hamnet”
• Rose Byrne for “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You”
• Kate Hudson in “Song Sung Blue”
• June Squibb in “Eleanor the Great”
• Emma Stone in “Bugonia”

Supporting Actors:

• Billy Crudup in “Jay Kelly”
• Jacob Elordi in “Frankenstein”
• Rami Malek in “Nuremberg”
• Paul Mescal in “Hamnet”
• Adam Sandler in “Jay Kelly”

Supporting Actresses:

• Odessa A’zion in “Marty Supreme” 
• Oona Chaplin in “Avatar: Fire and Ash”
• Ariana Grande in “Wicked: For Good”
• Felicity Jones in “Train Dreams”
• Gwyneth Paltrow in “Marty Supreme”