time to catch up on new films at home# or t To help guide us on the best ones to add# to your list, Jeffrey Brown speaks to two## film critics on their top picks of the year.# It's for our arts and culture series, Canvas.

JEFFREY BROWN: Union strikes caused delays and# other bumps in the road in Hollywood this year,## but some films still stuck out from the crowd.

To tell us about this year's best# films, I'm joined by J film critic of The Los Angeles Times, and Linda# Holmes, host of NPR's "Pop Ni ce to see you both.

Justin, why Why don't you give us a couple of your favorites?

JUSTIN CHANG, The Los Angeles# Times: Yes, hi, the latest from the English writer-director# Andrew Haigh.

It tells the story of a lonely## screenwriter who's played in a quietly# gut-wrenching performance by Andrew Scott.

ACTOR: Are you ready?

I'm going to press it.

ACTRESS: Merry Christmas.

ACTOR: Merry Christm JUSTIN CHANG: I don't want to say too much about# it.

It's a gay love stor parent-child reconciliation, and it's also --# and this is not a spoiler -- it's a ghost s I haven't seen a more intimate movie# this year.

What makes it work, I think,## is that it's really hauntingly ambiguous on one# hand, but it's completely emotiona satisfying on the other.

And it features what# is for me the acting ensemble of the year,## with not only Andrew Scott, but also# Paul Mescal, Claire Foy, and Jamie Bell.

A very different movie that I also loved is# "The Zone of Interest," which is Jonathan## Glazer's chilling and searing drama about a# Nazi commandant and his family living next door## to Auschwitz.

This is a movie I hesitate# to describe as a Holocaust drama because## it so completely subverts what we have been# conditioned to expect about Holocaust dramas.

It is very much about the banality of evil,# but the movie itself is never banal.

And## it's the opposite of holiday cheer this# season, but it is a movie that I hope## audiences will embrace the challenge of,# because I think it's rewarding to watch.

JEFFREY BROWN: All right.

So, Linda Holmes, do you have any cheer for us?

Those were two independent and pretty# heavy films.

What's on y LINDA HOLMES, Pop Culture Correspondent, NPR:# I did love a lot of heavy films bu t I'm also happy to provide a couple# that have ma I am one of the many people who enjoyed "Barbie.

"# I very much admired all the crafts that were on## display in that film, the production design,# the scoring, the costuming.

All of that stuff## I thought was wonderful.

And I think the story# in the end just was much more interesting.

Greta## Gerwig, in writing and directing that, just did# much more with it than maybe people expected.

And another one I... JEFFREY BR LINDA HOLM I mean, th really good thing for theaters.

And I# was really happy to see that happen.

Another one I would mention is "The Holdovers,"# which is from Alexander Payne.

And it's a these three people who are stuck over the holiday# break in a school.

And it is Paul Giamatti as## this very grumpy teacher, and then one of the# kids that is in his class, and then the woman,## played by Da'Vine Joy Randolph, who plays# the woman who runs the food service.

And they all get stuck there.

I think it's# a beautiful movie.

It's very generous to## its characters.

And, to me, it's warm without# being cloying.

That was how I responded to it.

JEFFREY BROWN: You know, Justin, just# thinking about "Barbie," getting back## to this big and small and that moment of "Barbie,"## and I think you had "Oppenheimer" as# one of your favorites from the ye That moment of "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer," was## that a -- how does it feel now?

Was it# JU STIN CHANG: It's hard to say.

I# mean, it did feel like one of those## unpredictable and perhaps unrepeatable phenomena.

I remember going into a theater, not even to# see "Barbie" or "Oppen I enjoyed very much in different ways.

I went to# see another movie and just se crowded on a Monday night.

And I think the lessons# of both these movies is that personal vision and## big-budget blockbuster filmmaking can and should# merge together in a way that they so rarely do.

My concern about it is that it was so# heartening to see two filmmakers that## I respect as much as Greta Gerwig and# Christopher Nolan succeed in this way.## My fear is that it just contributes# to the eventization of movies.

I love## event movies.

I love being in thrall with an# audience to a really big, glorious vision.

But, as a film critic, I'm concerned# with the audience going to movies on a## regular basis to make it a regular# part of their entertainmen rather than just an exception.

But# what a glorious exception it was.

JEFFREY BROWN: You want to give us another# one that fits any category you like?

I mean,## what are you telling people at this# time of year that they should see?

LINDA HOLMES: I cannot resist bringing up one that## I really liked that I know# Justin didn't like at al JEFFREY BROWN: Oh.

is this very extravagantly vulgar, loopy# thriller that was made by Emerald Fennell, who made "Promising Young# Woman" a couple of years ago.

ACTOR: My parents, they have got problems.

ACTOR: What kind of -- what do you mean problem ACTOR: I don't think I will ever ACTOR: Well, why don't you come home with LINDA HOLMES: Very divisive movie.

I knew# An d I have actually really enjoyed talking to# people about it.

I have heard a lot of smart## people who can't stand it and really smart# people who thought it was terrific.

It's## my favorite thing that happens is when people# have smart conversations about divisive things.

(LAUGHTER) JEFFREY BROWN: Ah.

Well, OK. Justin, come up with another one that# divided people, but you liked.

JUSTIN CHANG: In a spirit of# holiday charity, I will say that,## while I did not like "Saltburn," as one of the great comic performances# of the year in it.

And Jacob Elordi,## who's also great in Sofia Coppola's "Priscilla,"# really does terrif So, but another movie... LINDA HOLMES: That's very genero (LAUGHTER) JUSTIN CHANG Another favorite of mine, Heron," which is the latest and maybe the# last, although we have heard that before, from the 82-year-old Japanese# anime master Hayao Miyazaki.

If you like "Spirited Away" and "Princess# Mononoke" and "Howl's Moving Castle" and other## Miyazaki films, it's a safe bet you will like this# one too.

It's a gorgeously inventive piece of animation.

But what makes it# so moving is, it's also very much the story of## an older man, perhaps Miyazaki himself, looking# back at a younger version of himself and asking## questions like, how do we reconcile the pain# of the real world and the escapism of fantasy?

It's a beautiful film, and# I think a profound one too.

JEFFREY BROWN: And just in# our last minute, Linda Holmes,## it's hard to talk about this year without,# of course, t Do you see any impact now, or are you looking# for it to come, or where has that left thin LINDA HOLMES: You will see some films that# are delayed.

There are some that are already## being delayed.

So it's going to take a# while for th But I was so heartened by the fact that we# have mentioned just a handful of movies here,## but there are so many that were great# this year that are still coming out.## "American Fiction" is great.

I like "The# Iron Claw," which is about t JEFFREY BROWN: Justin, brief last word?

JUSTIN CHANG: I am just heartened by t I think writers and actors are# happy to return to work.

And I## think they have seen the power that solidarity can## accomplish and that they can and should be# re I mean, they make this business run.

And# so I -- it's just a shame that it took## the devastating losses and just pain of the# strike in order to accomplish that.

So -- but,## hopefully, this season will# be a good one for all of them.

JEFFREY BROWN: All right, Justin# Chang Linda Holmes of NPR, "Pop Culture# Happy LINDA HOLMES: Thank you.

JUSTIN CHANG: Thank