1. "Paddington 2": The first one was great, but the sequel's even better: A feel-good, hilarious confection with the on-point design of a Wes Anderson joint, the thrills of a James Bond movie, visuals inspired by pop-up books and a self-mocking gem of a supporting performance by Hugh Grant.
2. "Roma": Alfonso Cuaron ("Gravity," "Children of Men") never misses, so it's no surprise that his deep dive into the life of a superheroic Mexican maid is so humane and moving. The surprise is that the small-scale film gradually becomes an epic (which is to say: It's from Netflix, but please see it on the big screen).
3. "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse": Did we really need yet another Spider-Person? Yes, we did. And sequels pronto, please.
4. "Shoplifters": Japan's Hirokazu Koreeda might be the least known master working in the movies, but this stunner about a family that is not related by blood boasts the year's most wrenching scene: A woman who has been abused by her parents tearfully explains what that means to a tiny girl who also has been abused.
5. "At Eternity's Gate": Willem Dafoe's performance as Vincent Van Gogh is matched by artist/director Julian Schnabel's innovative take on what it might be like to see the world through the painter's eyes.
6. "Creed II": The rare sequel that, instead of regurgitating its predecessor, grows the characters in unexpectedly satisfying ways.
7. "Won't You Be My Neighbor?" Confirmed: Fred Rogers was as wonderful and kind as one could hope, and we need his legacy now more than ever.
8. "You Were Never Really Here": Why are people not still talking about Lynne Ramsay's profoundly upsetting detective drama, in which Joaquin Phoenix does career-best work as a guy who's as mysterious as the case he's investigating?
