With the year 2023 officially reviewed, it is time to look forward to what 2024 will bring us. There are ton of TV shows and movies for the calendar year of 2024 and there is a lot to look toward.
To be fair, some of the things I am going to include on this post could be pushed to 2025, because that has been happening quite a bit lately.
Movies for 2024
Leading the pack is Deadpool 3. The only MCU film out in 2024, seeing Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool in the MCU with Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine… I mean.. what else can a geek ask for? It is my most anticipated project from 2024.
Other movies I am looking forward to include Inside Out 2, Joker: Folie a Deux, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, Argylle, Dune Part 2, Furiosa, Fall Guy, Beetlejuice 2, Kung Fu Panda 4, and Wicked Part 1.
TV for 2024
Who would have thought that the show that I was looking forward to the most was Echo. Dropping all five episodes at the same time, Echo changed perspectives with a great trailer.
Coming up in 2024 include True Detective: Night Country, The Penguin, Agatha: Darkhold Diaries (if it comes out in ’24), X-Men ’97, Eyes of Wakanda, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, The Artful Dodger, Doctor Who, Stranger Things and Jinx Part Two.
Here it is. The ultimate list of the Favorite movies for EYG in 2023. This is the culmination of the movie reviews we do around here. We finished the year with 154 movies reviewed in 2023, down quite a bit from 2022.
Some interesting tidbits while compiling this list. Numbers one and two were really close this year. Close enough that I considered doing a tie at number one. This is not unprecedented as it happened in 2014 with Captain America: Winter Soldier and Guardians of the Galaxy. I decided not to go that route, but the two films definitely flipped positions several times before I finally made a choice.
Another thing, this was the year where there were the most films that were all around the same level. I would say starting around #15-40, these films were all pretty close to each other. It made placing them in an order a challenging thing to do.
I have some honorable mentions as well this year. They include: Extraction 2, Pale Blue Eyes, Medusa Deluxe, and No One Will Save You. Those last three have fairly high star ratings, but honestly, a lot of these do not stick out in my mind. I also should state that I did not include the four Doctor Who specials or the Netflix Roald Dahl shorts despite my reviewing all of these for the site.
Once again, I should tell you that my star ratings are not the end all for these rankings. In fact, I know there are some five star films that are behind some others on the list. Star reviews can change and reflection can go into consideration. The star reviews are meant to help point me in the direction of a list, not cement films into place. And finally, if you disagree with my list, that is fine. I would expect there to be disagreement. This is my list and I mean no disrespect to anyone who differs from my opinion. You have the right to like or dislike anything you want.
So, let’s get started…
#40. Plane. A fun Gerard Butler action film that centers around, you guessed it, a plane. This one was better than I expected it to be.
#39. Skinamarink. One of the most inventive and creative horror movies of the year. It really defies explanation and is one of the creepiest films of the year.
#38. Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie. A documentary on the life of Michael J. Fox and his struggles with Parkinson’s Disease and how it affected his career. Very engaging.
#37. Scream VI. A decent entry in the Scream franchise, the film keeps reinventing itself and keeping the audience on its toes.
#36. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem. A solid animated movie with a new look at the Turtles. The art of the film is spectacular. A great job by the young voice actors too.
#35. Joy Ride. A raunchy film that was more than just the dirty jokes. It had heart and a lot of humor to it, deeper than the typical vulgar film.
#34. Dumb Money. An entertaining look at the GameStop Wall Street situation from the recent past. Paul Dano was solid as the lead.
#33. The Creator. A sci-fi film that received more hate than it deserved. It featured a brilliant performance from young Madeleine Yuna Voyles. I found this to be a really good film.
#32. The Equalizer 3. Denzel Washington returned for the third installment of the Equalizer franchise. This was a little different as we see the older Denzel deal with the issues with the dangers and of his age.
#31. Sisu. One of the best revenge films of the year. Sisu is a bad ass and his mostly quiet persona carried him through the film, killing Nazis.
#30. American Symphony. The documentary featuring Jon Batiste at a time in his career when he was about to compose a symphony and his partner had her cancer return. It was an emotional documentary.
#29. Poor Things. Weird movie with remarkable performances from Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo, and Willem Dafoe. Wholly original and creative.
#28. The Little Mermaid. A decent remake of the animated classic. I actually liked the relationship with Ariel and Prince Eric better in this film than the animated one.
#27. Wonka. I wasn’t sure if I was going to like this. I was totally entertained by the film. The music was great and I thought Timothée Chalamet was a solid Willy Wonka.
#26. Saltburn. Another wild and weird film with some solid performances anchoring the story. Barry Keoghan gave a tremendous performance.
#25. Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour. A concert movie following one of the most successful tours of all-time. I am not a fan of Taylor Swift, but the music was excellent and the stage show was next level.
#24. Past Lives. A beautiful story of a pair of childhood friends/loves who find their way to each other later in life when they had moved on.
#23. The Covenant. Guy Ritchie tells the story of a soldier and an interpreter in the hills of Afghanistan, trying to get to safety. Very dramatic.
#22. Tetris. A surprisingly awesome story about the creation of the video game called Tetris and how it spread across the world. Who would have thought this would be as tense as it turned out to be.
#21. Nimona. A Netflix animated movie that really worked well. Nimona was a little girl, or at least it seemed as if she was. In truth, she was a shapeshifter seen as a monster. This had a real emotional core to it.
#20. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. Probably the best version of D & D ever put to film. A great cast goes through a fun adventure with heart.
#19. Air. Another product movie that is fabulous. Tells the origin story of Jordan Air shoes and how they became the biggest shoes in the world. Another fine cast, led by Matt Damon.
#18. Nyad. One of the last films I saw this year and it was a great film of overcoming a challenge and never giving up. Amazing performances from Annette Bening and Jodie Foster.
#17. Ant Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. This film gets more hate than it deserves. Are there some iffy moments? Sure, but I found it entertaining and a solid Marvel outing. Paul Rudd is always excellent.
#16. The Blackening. A wonderfully funny satire about horror movies and racial stereotypes. A group of young people are trying to avoid being murdered by a slasher.
#15. Blackberry. Another product film, this time about the drama surrounding the production and growth of the first smart phone, as well as the collapse of it. Exceptional work from everyone involved.
#14. The Marvels. Another film that I liked a lot, but received more hate than it deserved. I loved the interaction between the three heroes, particularly Iman Vellani, who as Ms. Marvel was a joy.
#13. Totally Killer. One of the most surprising films of the year. I saw it on Prime and did not expect to enjoy it as much as I did. A cool time travel tale mixed with a serial killer mystery. Very funny and engaging.
#12. Missing. A teenage girl tries to find her mother after she disappears. She uses the internet and the world online to figure out what happened to her mother. Very dramatic and a great performance from Storm Reid.
#11. The Holdovers. A wonderful Christmas movie featuring an Oscar-worthy performance from both Paul Giamatti and Da’Vine Joy Randolph. A very human story of loss and grief and surviving. Beautifully written and constructed.
#10. The Color Purple. Officially the last new film I saw this year. An amazing musical with an emotional story. The music was awesome. The choreography was great and there were several amazing performances, especially from Danielle Brooks, Fantasia Barrino, Taraji P. Henson and Colman Domingo.
#9. A Haunting in Venice. The third and possibly best of the Hercule Poirot movies we have gotten so far. A fun horror flick with a mystery that is very engaging.
#8. Barbie. One of the biggest hits of the year. Barbie was much deeper of a movie than you would ever guess. Margot Robbie was perfect in the role and Ryan Gosling stole every scene he had as Ken. A brilliant film from director Greta Gerwig.
#7. Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part 1. Tom Cruise’s Mission Impossible franchise roared back with an exciting action packed thriller with a couple of insane stunts. I enjoyed the film completely.
#6. John Wick 4. So much John Wick goodness in this movie. Long and brutal, John Wick 4 brought the franchise to an exceptional end (if it actually is the end).
#5. Oppenheimer. Christopher Nolan’s masterpiece of Robert Oppenheimer and the creation of the atomic bomb. The Oscar worthy work of Cillian Murphy, Robert Downey Jr., Emily Blunt, Florence Pugh, Josh Harnett, Matt Damon and Casey Affleck. It is an epic movie.
#4. The Iron Claw. The story of the family of the Von Erichs and the tragedies that engulfed them leads to an amazingly sad story, one that is very difficult to watch. It is heavy and rough. Powerful. You don’t have to be a wrestling fan to embrace this film.
#3. Godzilla Minus One. This is the best Godzilla movie I have ever saw. The main reason is that the time spent on the human characters made me love them. That is uncommon in Godzilla movies. Most of the time, the human characters are just in the way. Not here. Plus, Godzilla is not an anti-hero here. He is a monstrous force of nature.
#2. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. The brilliant conclusion to the Guardians trilogy from James Gunn. It was truly an emotional tale, focused mostly on Rocket and his background. Everyone got their moments in this finale and there was a great, vicious villain in the High Evolutionary. This almost was the number one movie of the year. It was really close.
#1. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. Spider-Man is my all-time favorite character and that pushed this one over the finish line. An amazing sequel to an Oscar-winning animated film, Across the Spider-Verse has great story, characters that are full of humor and drama, and an exciting and thrilling tale. Beautifully animated. It was more like art than a movie.
It is that time. The Year in Review has come down to the final two lists. The big two. The Best and the Worst list movies this year.
I know that there are people out there who do not believe in “Worst” lists because of negativity or because of punching down, and I don’t disagree. I just believe that I have the right to state an opinion, and I can do it respectfully, without just making it a hate fest.
Honestly, this year I only have a Top 20 list of Worst Movies (which perhaps it should be listed as my Least Favorite Movies instead) and there was not as much vitriol for a lot of these as some past years. In fact, numbers 7-20 are all not actively horrible. They are just not very good movies.
Final point once again is that the star ratings that I give throughout the year do not factor into the final decisions on movies. Movies can change over time so just because a film gets 1 star doesn’t necessarily mean that it will get a higher spot on the list than a film that got 1.5 stars. Remember, it is all subjective.
And, as I have said before, this is my list. If there is a film on here that you love, I would say good for you. These are my thoughts and opinions. It is not an attack at anyone who may have loved the film. You are welcome to love any film you want.
Okay… here we go…
#20. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. I put this at #20 as a final placement, but I did have it higher at first. I kept thinking, would I rather watch this again or some of the others, and I would choose Aquaman over other movies on this list, so there is that.
#19. It Lives Inside. A horror movie that was pretty boring. This is one of those horror movies that shows us too much of the monster. Imagination can more more scary if you let it.
#18. About My Father. A comedic love story with characters that I just did not like or want to cheer for and one that lacked laughs.
#17. Next Goal Wins. One of the biggest disappointments of the year. I usually love Taika Waititi’s movies, but this one just missed the mark in so many ways.
#16. Ghosted. Chris Evans and Ana de Armas together should be a winner, yes? You would think so, but this movie does not live up to their charisma.
#15. Insidious: The Red Room. A fifth installment in a franchise that felt as if it should have closed the door on several films ago. A waste of Lin Shaye.
#14. The Baker. Despite charismatic lead characters, this film was nothing more than a cliché-ridden revenge film. Nothing new and very repetitive.
#13. Fast X. Stupid action film with lackluster dialogue and a story that truly does not go anywhere. Jason Momoa is the only saving grace and that is just because he was so over-the-top that he brought an energy the film was missing.
#12. Strays. Another unfunny comedy featuring several dogs trying to find their way back to one of their homes so he could bite the dick off his owner who had deserted him. A movie with a lot of mean-spirited scenes.
#11. Marlowe. A dull and plodding film that may have had a strong cast, but they did not seem to want to be involved in the movie at all.
#10. Family Switch. Merry Christmas to you, though not too merry if you had to watch this Freaky Friday rip off. Another comedy without much comedy.
#9. The Nun II. Nonsensical. Maybe better than the original film, but that is not saying much. First half of this film was boring and even a better ending could not save it.
#8. Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers: Once & Again. It’s Morphin’ Time! What a lackluster return of the original, surviving Power Rangers. What could have been filled with nostalgia and emotion was lacking all of that. Definitely a disappointment.
#7. Paint. I was sure this was a biopic of Bob Ross. Oh, how I was wrong. There was not even a slight connection to the painter outside of Owen Wilson’s ridiculous hairdo.
#6. Retribution. We are starting to get into the really bad films now. Liam Neeson in a car with a bomb. Of course, the real bomb was in the theater with all of us. Stupid film with the most predictable ending imaginable.
#5. Rebel Moon. Zack Snyder’s most recent visit to this list with his sci-fi epic that was not very epic. Even some of the CGI was lacking, which was uncommon for a Snyder film. He claims that a 4-hour director’s cut which will come out someday makes this a whole different story. Why am I watching this then?
#4. R.L. Stein’s Zombietown. This film had Dan Aykroyd and Chevy Chase in it. Let that sink in a minute. This was a stupid movie that was intended to target younger viewers and introduce them to horror. There are much better ways to do it than this mess.
#3. Meg 2. Not a good sign when I found myself laughing at the movie in scenes that were not intended to be funny. And honestly, in a movie titled Meg 2, there sure wasn’t much with the shark in it. I guess we got to spend enough time with these plastic characters.
#2. Expen4bles. Why? What was the purpose of this film? It was a terrible film with little enjoyment as possible. Gee, you mean Stallone is not dead? Duh.
If you do not know my number one, you have not been paying attention…
#1. Winnie the Pooh: Blood & Honey. Where to start with this? It is the worst movie I have seen in quite awhile and it solidified this position as soon as I watched it. Sadly, I fell asleep during the film so I had to go back and watch the pieces I slept through again. Punishment? This was dumb. It was laughable. I hated it.
Special mention: Beau is Afraid is the only movie I have ever given a N/A star rating because I just could not wrap my mind around it.
Previous Winners: James McAvoy (Split), Denzel Washington (Fences), Bryan Cranston (Trumbo), Michael Keaton (Birdman), Tom Hanks (Captain Phillips), Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln), Ryan Gosling (Drive), Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody), Joaquin Phoenix (Joker), Chadwick Boseman (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom), Andrew Garfield (Tick, Tick…Boom), Brendan Fraser (The Whale)
For our final acting award before we head to the Best and Worst Movie Lists, we have the Strangelove, named in honor of EYG Hall of Famer Peter Sellers and his work in the iconic Dr. Strangelove film from the 1960s.
There are a couple of films with great performances that I have not see yet so someone like Jeffrey Wright from American Fiction, Andrew Scott for All of Us Strangers or Colman Domingo for Rustin are not going to be here. Sorry, their films just have not opened in my area yet.
We have the top 13 actors for this award.
#13. Tom Cruise (Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part 1)
#12. Keanu Reeves (John Wick 4)
#11. Matt Damon (Air)
#10. Nicolas Cage (Dream Scenario)
#9. Michael Fassbender (The Killer)
#8. Denzel Washington (The Equalizer 3)
#7. Kenneth Branagh (A Haunting in Venice)
#6. Jay Baruchel (BlackBerry)
#5. Bradley Cooper (Maestro)
#4. Barry Keoghan (Saltburn)
#3. Zac Efron (The Iron Claw)
#2. Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer)
and the winner is….
#1. Paul Giamatti (The Holdovers)
This is one of the best performances of Paul Giamatti’s career. His work is both subtle and realistic as a teacher whose connection with his students was frayed and who winds up over Christmas break with a student he has to chaperone. Giamatti brings a lot of suppressed emotion as he deals with his own struggles while trying to do his best.
Previous Winners: Frances McDormand (3 Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri), Viola Davis (Fences), Charlize Theron (Mad Max: Fury Road), Rosemund Pike (Gone Girl), Sandra Bullock (Gravity), Berenice Bejo (The Artist), Michelle Williams (My Week with Marilyn), Yalitza Aparicio (Roma), Renee Zellweger (Judy), Viola Davis (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom), Rachel Zegler (West Side Story), Danielle Deadwyler (Till)
So this is the Liz… the Award EYG presents to the Best Actress in a movie. This year’s winner makes some history.
Top 11
#11. Storm Reid (Missing)
#10. Sophie Wilde (Talk to Me)
#9. Cailee Spaeny (Priscilla)
#8. Natalie Portman (May/December)
#7. Annette Benning (Nyad)
#6. Lily James (The Iron Claw)
#5. Fantasia Barrino (The Color Purple)
#4. Carey Mulligan (Maestro)
#3. Margot Robbie (Barbie)
#2. Lily Gladstone (Killers of the Flower Moon)
and the winner…
#1. Emma Stone (Poor Things)
Emma Stone gave the most amazing performance of the year. Her character Bella was one of the most bizarre characters in many years and she absolutely went for it.
Emma Stone has become the first actor to receive both The Liz and the The Hermione Granger/Furiosa/Rita Moreno Award. Of the acting awards, she joins a small group of actors who have received two acting EYG Awards. Robert Downey Jr (2 supporting), Viola Davis (2 Liz Awards), and Emma Stone are the three dual award winners.
The Hermione Granger/Furiosa/Rita Moreno Award for Best Supporting Actress
Previous Winners:Dafne Keene (Logan), Tilda Swinton (Dr. Strange), Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina), Emma Stone (Birdman), Jennifer Lawrence (American Hustle), Sally Field (Lincoln), Jennifer Aniston (Horrible Bosses), Emily Blunt (A Quiet Place), Scarlett Johansson (Jojo Rabbit), Margo Martindale (Blow the Man Down), Rita Moreno (West Side Story), Angela Bassett (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever)
There have been years that it was difficult to find enough supporting actresses to fill the category. Not this year. There are actually 13 on our list right now, and we could have easily expanded even more.
Top 13
#13. Iman Vellani (The Marvels)
#12. Vanessa Kirby (Napoleon)
#11. Olivia Colman (Wonka)
#10. Scarlett Johansson (Asteroid City)
#9. Harriet Sansom Harris (Jules)
#8. Taraji P. Henson (The Color Purple)
#7. Madeleine Vayles Yuna (The Creator)
#6. Viola Davis (Air)
#5. Jodie Foster (Nyad)
#4. America Ferrera (Barbie)
#3. Karen Gillan (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3)
#2. Danielle Brooks (The Color Purple)
and the winner….
#1. Da’Vine Joy Randolph (The Holdover)
Da’Vine Joy Randolph was outstanding as the lonely, grieving mother whose son had died in the war. You could see the pain and loss with every look, but you could also see the hope, the determinati0n. Even if she did not want to, she made herself survive.
The Joker/Hannibal Lecter/Mister Miyagi Award for Best Supporting Actor
Previous Winners:Patrick Stewart (Logan), Michael Shannon (Nocturnal Animals), Sylvester Stallone (Creed), Edward Norton (Birdman), Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club), Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained), Andy Serkis (Rise of the Planet of the Apes), Richard Grant (Can You Ever Forgive Me?), Robert Downey Jr (Avengers: Endgame), Sasha Baron Cohen (Trial of the Chicago 7), Willem Dafoe (Spider-Man: No Way Home), Ke Huy Quen (Everything Everywhere All at Once)
Best Supporting Actor. This is an important figure in the movie world since day one. I mean, you can’t have just one character in your film… it would get too dull.
We have a top 10 list of the best performances in a supporting role, according EYG.
#10. Joaquim de Almeida (Missing).
#9. Holt McCallany (The Iron Claw)
#8. Dominic Sessa (The Holdovers)
#7. Willem Dafoe (Poor Things)
#6. Jeremy Allen White (The Iron Claw)
#5. Harris Dickinson (The Iron Claw)
#4. Colman Domingo (The Color Purple)
#3. Ryan Gosling (Barbie)
#2. Mark Ruffalo (Poor Things)
And the winner…
#1. Robert Downey Jr. (Oppenheimer)
Robert Downey Jr. makes EYG history becoming the first actor to receive the Best Supporting Actor twice. He received this award in 2019 for his role as Tony Stark in Avengers: Endgame and now he is awarded the Joker/Hannibal Lecter/Mister Miyagi Award for his role as Lewis Strauss. Many believe that RDJ is the front runner for the Oscar, and, if he wins it, he would deserve it. His performance was some of the best work of his career.
“All Right, Mr. Deville, I am Ready for my Close Up” Award for Best Director
Previous Winners: A.G. Inarritu (Birdman), Tim McCarthy (Spotlight), Damien Chazelle (La La Land), Patty Jenkins (Wonder Woman), Alfonso Cuarón (Roma), Anthony and Joe Russo (Avengers: Endgame), Spike Lee (Da 5 Bloods), Jon Watt (Spider-Man: No Way Home), Ryan Coogler (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever)
The director is a vital part of the film. In fact, these days, a lot of times, the director is more of a star of the movie than the lead actors.
Again, these choices come from the EYG site and may be different than other awards shows. There are some crossover for sure, but there are some on my list than no one else will nominate.
Top 10 directors of 2023
10. Paul King (Wonka)
9. Ben Affleck (Air)
8. Yorgos Lanthimos (Poor Things)
7. Blitz Bazawule (The Color Purple)
6. Alexander Payne (The Holdovers)
5. Sean Durkin (The Iron Claw)
4. James Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3)
3. Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, Justin K. Thompson (Spider-Man: Across teh Spider-Verse)
2. Greta Gerwig (Barbie)
and the winner…
#1: Christopher Nolan (Oppenheimer)
I actually have always considered Nolan to be overrated as a director. There have not been that many of Nolan’s films that I loved. Most I felt were somewhat pretentious. Plus, it felt like critics always gave this guy a pass. Even garbage like Tenet had many critics making execuses.
There is no arguing that he has made a masterpiece in Oppenheimer. Every bit of this film is wonderful and, while it may be too long, all scenes feel important to what was happening.
Then, the film was a massive hit as well, finding a place with Barbie in one of the biggest events of the summer, Barbenheimer.
Christopher Nolan surpassed what I expected and he truly deserves this award and I do think he is probably the front runner for the Oscar.
Music is such an amazing feature in cinema. The use of music can make the entire experience all that much better.
Before I jump into the movie music awards, I wanted to give a special shout out to the best music on TV this year. It came from the Hulu series Only Murders in the Building. Oliver was planning out a musical for Broadway and we get to hear and see several numbers from the show. My favorite from the four really exceptional ones was the Steve Martin song “Which of the Pickwick Triples Did It?”
Moving on to the Movies…
I want to start with the Best Song from a Movie. Honestly, some of the ones that I have chosen are not necessarily those that the Oscars may choose. I know that the one I am choosing as the winner did not make the Oscar short list. It’ll have to settle for the EYG Award.
Songs from Movies
6. ”What Was I Made For?” Billie Eilish from Barbie.
5. ”It Never Went Away” Jon Batiste American Symphony
4. ”Scrub Scrub” Cast from Wonka
3. ”Hell No” Danielle Brooks from The Color Purple
2. ”I’m Just Ken” by Ryan Gosling from Barbie
Winner: ”Peaches” by Jack Black from Super Mario Bros.
Next up is Movie Scores
#6. Anthony Willis ”Saltburn”
#5. Kris Bowers ”The Color Purple”
#4. Jon Batiste ”American Symphony”
#3. Joe Hisaishi ”The Boy and the Heron”
#2. Ludwig Göransson ”Oppenheimer”
and the winner of EYG Score of the Year
Daniel Pemberton ”Spider-Man: Across the Universe”
There are so many TV shows! It is impossible to watch everything.
This is my list of 30 TV shows that I have watched this year from 30 to 1.
#30. Secret Invasion (Disney +). I wasn’t going to put this on the list, but there were enough moments in the show to be enough for this list. Much of the one on one scenes were decent. The rest of the story was lacking.
#29. Bonus Action Vol. 1 (YouTube). Jay and Adam play D&D with their friends and it was great. Surprisingly great characters with development. Watched on YouTube.
#28. Percy Jackson and the Olympians (Disney +). I have only seen two episodes so far (waiting for #3 tonight). Good so far.
#27. Goosebumps (Disney +). RL Stein’s classics were reimagined for this Disney + series. Justin Long starred. This was okay, up and down.
#26. Whose Line is it Anyway (CW). I wish I could see this more, but it sneaks past me. Ihave to catch it on the app if I can. It is in its last season with the regular cast.
#25. American Horror Story: Delicate (FX). First half of the season aired near the end of 2023. Typically creepy horror show. Having to do with pregnancy.
#24. The Muppets Mayhem (Disney +). Muppet series featuring Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem. This was fun and had some great music. Loved Janis’s version of True Colors.
#23. Monarch: Legacy of Monsters (Apple TV +). Godzilla has some cameos. Follows two groups of humans, one group in 2015 and one in 1954. The 1954 group is more interesting.
#22. Bodies (Netflix). Limited series on Netflix, based on a graphic novel. Four time periods, same body. Mystery on how this is possible.
#21. Fall of the House of Usher (Netflix). Amalgam of Edgar Allan Poe’s best stories in a new series that watches a group of men and women from the same family die and the patriarch confess.
#20. Invincible (Amazon Prime). One of the top animated shows on TV. It only had 4 episodes in 2023, with the rest of the season two in 2024. Violent and dramatic.
#19. Silo (Apple TV +). Futuristic, apocalyptic drama where humanity has taken up residence inside a giant silo to protect themselves from the environment. Or is there something else going on?
#18. Schmigadoon (Apple TV +). Musical. Season two used classic musicals such as Hair, Chicago, Sweeny Todd as inspiration. Darker. Very funny.
#17. The Mandalorian (Disney +). Season three was not as awesome as past seasons, but it still has Pedro Pascal and Grogu.
#16. Blue Eye Samurai (Netflix). Another series that I have recent started and have yet to finish. Amazing animation and a deep character. Love this.
#15. The Rookie (ABC). The ABC drama featuring Nathan Fillion continues to be entertaining after four seasons. Fillion shouldn’t be considered a rookie any more.
#14. The Bear (FX). Fantastic show that takes place inside a restaurant. At least, the rebuilding of a restaurant. Stars Jeremy Allen White.
#13. Shrinking (Apple TV +). Jason Segal and Harrison Ford star on this drama/comedy about psychiatrists and the troubles they face in life, specifically dealing with loss.
#12. Poker Face (Peacock). Natasha Lyonne stars as Charlie Cale who has a special power… she can tell if someone is lying. Case of the week style… from Rian Johnson.
#11. Fargo (FX). Season five of the series has been kicking some butt… particularly by Dorothy “Dot” Lyon, a housewife who is more than what she seems. Jon Hamm stars too.
#10. Monday Night RAW (USA). RAW has really improved this year. There was a time not too long ago that I was thinking about not watching RAW. It is now appointing viewing with CM Punk, Seth Rollins, Cody Rhodes etc.
#9. Friday Night Smackdown (FOX). More WWE action with the show that rode the Bloodline storyline all year long. There were some moments in that storyline that could have been Emmy worthy. Acknowledge Smackdown.
#8. Ted Lasso (Apple TV +). The final (?) season of the show had its ups and downs, but usually was hilarious and it gave us a satisfying conclusion.
#7. What If…? (Disney +). The MCU telling stories about what might have happened. The What If.. Happy Hogan Saved Christmas? and What If…Nebula Joined the Nova Corps? are two of the best episodes of the whole series, let alone season 2.
#6. Gen V (Amazon Prime). The Boys spin-off, featuring as many shocks and gory moments as its parent show. There are some wonderful characters that are less corrupt as the Boys.
#5. Only Murders in the Building (Hulu). Third season brought both Paul Rudd and Meryl Streep to the show involving a mystery centered around Oliver’s Broadway show. Some great music coming from it too.
#4. Jury Duty (Freevee). One person on a jury is a real person and the rest are actors. The court case is not real. How will things go? This is exceptionally funny and engaging. James Marsden appears on the show.
#3. The Last of Us (Max). Maybe the best video game adaptation of all time. Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey play Joel and Ellie, two people trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic world. Emotionally devastating.
#2. One Piece (Netflix). Live action Manga with a group of characters that are the key to this show. The chemistry of this crew, led by Monkey D. Luffy, played by the charismatic Iñaki Godoy, is the most important part of the series. Creative, fun and thrilling.
#1. Loki (Disney +). The God of Mischief is back with more time traveling hijinks. Loki is desperately trying to save the TVA from being destroyed and, in the same way, save the multiverse. Tom Hiddleston has mastered this character after all these years of playing Loki and his chemistry with Owen Wilson’s Mobius is amazing. Their friendship takes this series to a different level. The end of episode four may be the most shocking cliffhanger ever.
In honor of the upcoming Genre-ary DailyView starting on New Year’s Day 2024, I added a New Year in Review category: Movie Musicals.
I have always enjoyed a good musical, and there feels as if the genre has taken a turn back up over the last few years so this seems to be a good time to introduce this new award.
What is a musical? Well, I find this to be a little iffy of a definition that maybe everyone would not agree with, and that is okay. This is my site. To me, there is a difference between a movie that is a musical and a movie that features music. To me, a musical should have songs that just happen during scenes. This is Spinal Tap has a lot of music, but I do not consider that a musical. It is a movie with music.
Having said that, a film like This is Spinal Tap could conceivably get this award, but I would consider any of the ‘pure’ musicals first. It is possible that there may be some years where there are no great musicals and I have to acquiesce to a movie with music instead. There are some examples below…
As a celebration of the musical genre, I have retrofitted the last ten years with honorary award winners (much like I did for the Christopher Reeve Comic Book Movie Award). These retro musical award winners are here:
Movie Musicals
Inside Llewyn Davis (2013), Whiplash (2014), Pitch Perfect 2 (2015), La La Land (2016), The Greatest Showman (2017), Mary Poppins Returns (2018), Rocketman (2019), Hamilton (2020), Tick, Tick… Boom! (2021), Matilda the Musical (2022)
To be fair, a few of these retro-winners would not necessarily fall into the “Movie Musical” category such as Whiplash, Inside Llewyn Davis and Pitch Perfect 2, but there were no standout musicals in those years that I could fine. Then, Mary Poppins Returns probably was selected because it was a more traditional musical over some much better Movies with music from that year.
Anyway, for 2023:
Runners-Up: I had intended on giving this award to Wonka, but it got dethroned. It was a lot of surprising fun. Disney has a couple of entries here with Wish and The Little Mermaid, both solid musicals. Trolls back Together falls into the category and Leo was one I just watched and was surprised how much I enjoyed the music in that.
And that brings us to the winner, a film I saw TODAY…
Winner: The Color Purple
I loved this movie. It was so well done, with amazing acting across the board and some vey engaging music that had me bobbing my head and tapping my foot throughout. It came up to the final moment of my movie viewing for 2023 and ran away with this new award.
#12. Shohei Ohtani signs with Dodgers for $700 million. One of the best baseball players on the planet signed a record breaking contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers, 12-years, $700 million. However, Ohtani deferred payment on all but $20 million until after the life of the contract so the Dodgers would have financial flexibility.
#11. Fantastic Four, Superman: Legacy casting. The news of the casting of these two iconic movies are one of the biggest things people can talk about. While there has been no confirmed casting for Fantastic Four, there have been a lot of rumors. As for Superman: Legacy, David Corenswet is Clark Kent and Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane. Nicholas Hoult was cast as Lex Luthor.
#10. Disney vs. Desantis. Florida Governor Ron Desantis planned to take away Disney’s tax free status. Disney played the game and made it so the new people in charge had no power. Desantis took it as an act of war. Unfortunately for him, Disney made him look fairly foolish.
#9. Box Office Struggles. The box office was filled with low totals and major flops. There were only a couple of huge hits this summer and films from Disney, WB and Sony struggle to make back their money. Part of the trouble is film budgets are out of control. Another reason is streaming makes it too easy to see films at home.
#8. UAP Hearing. UAPs or unidentified aerial phenomena became news this year. Formerly known as UFOs, the House of Representatives held hearing about the mysterious phenomenon. What does the government really know? Will we ever know?
#7. Jonathan Majors Case. Jonathan Majors, actor who played Kang the Conqueror in the MCU, was arrested on several charges of domestic abuse. Majors was found guilty on two of the lesser charges, but it has still cost him his role as Kang.
#6. WWE Sold. The WWE was sold to Endeavor, the company that co-owned the UFC. Vince McMahon had forced his way back into the WWE, but, after the sale, he was removed from creative completely and Triple H was given total control.
#5. Twitter sold. Twitter, the social media platform, was sold to Elon Musk and the name was changed to X. Musk paid $44 billion for Twitter only to send the social media platform into the red.
#4. Marvel Studio Struggles. Marvel Studios has had a difficult year. The public view is that the studio is in chaos. Variety published an article that made this very claim. The internet is filled with negative pieces about the MCU, because they have their own prejudices and need for clicks on their articles. Kevin Feige is making plans to right the course.
#3. Taylor Swift Tour. The Taylor Swift Eras Tour was a massive success, making over $900 million, estimated by Billboard. It is on track to becoming the highest grossing tour ever. A movie was also made out of the tour and it made millions at the box office.
#2. Barbenheimer. Two major movies opened on the same day, Barbie and Oppenheimer. There was a promotion combining the idea of both movies and seeing them both as a double feature. The promotion was incredibly success as both Barbie and Oppenheimer over performed in a summer of flops. Barbie wound up making over 1.3 billion and Oppenheimer was around $900 million. Many people (including myself) dressed up for the double feature in pink or with hats. It was a major success for theaters that could have used one.
#1. Writer and Actors Strikes. Hollywood was froze in place once again as two union strikes happened in the summer. First, the writers went on strike and then, not too long later, the actors followed suit. Thankfully, both strikes were settles before the end of the year, but did run for many months.
Previous Winners:Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse, Coco, Moana, Inside Out, Big Hero 6, Flashpoint Paradox, Paranorman, Winnie the Pooh, Klaus, Wolfwalkers, Mitchells vs. the Machines, Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
There was another good year in animation. There is a considerably longer list on the best side than there is on the worst side. It is possible that some of the worst animated films this year I did not see.
I only have two films on the worst list so I will give them both here. They were Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken and Legion of Superheroes. I saw one in the theater (Ruby) and one online (Legion). Neither were very good. I might say that Legion is a step better for me because I have a connection to those characters, but Ruby looked much better.
Having done the worst, here are the runners-up.
Runners-Up: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem was very artistic and had a great voice cast, especially those young actors who did the turtle voices. Super Mario Bros. was another fun film that made a bunch of money at the box office. A film that did not make as much at the box office was Disney’s Wish, which was decent, but not awesome. Another Disney film that did not do as well as they were used to was Elemental. At the beginning of that movie I did not like it, but it won me over as it progressed. Trolls Band Together was fun and had some good music to it. We had a new film from EYG Hall of Famer Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli called The Boy and the Heron. It was the typically high quality from that studio. Merry Little Batman approached its topic with a flair and if you could get past the characterization of Damian Wayne, you should have enjoyed this. Migration was okay, another film that ended better than it started. Then today I watched the Netflix films Nimora and Leo, both were very enjoyable.
After seeing the runners-up, it should not be a surprise which animated film receives the Frame Award this year…
Winner: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
This was a no-brainer for me. Spider-Man is my favorite character and this movie was such a beautiful film, the art design was spectacular and the animation was as creative as any film you will ever see,
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is a masterpiece.
EYG- Embrace Your Geekness 