Category Archives: 2023

2023 WWE Match of the Year

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This was a tough year, because there were a bunch of great matches in 2023, but there was none that actually stood out as the obvious best match. 

What makes a match of the year? There are several things. Obviously there is a great performance between competitors with some great in-ring storytelling, compelling near falls, and a great storyline surrounding it. 

There can be a match that has all of those moments but the ending is not what I like, it can dampen the match. For example, almost every Roman Reigns match this year.

So, here are the top 15 WWE matches of 2023 according to EYG.

#15. Ilja Dragunov vs. Dijek (NXT Battleground). These two had great chemistry and seemingly killed each other. It started Ilja’s push in NXT.

#14. Seth Rollins vs. Shinsuke Nakamura, Last Man Standing (WWE Fastlane). Shinsuke’s heel turn was great, as was his Japanese promos leading up to this. It was a great match with Seth going over.

#13. Kevin Owens/Sami Zayn vs. Roman Reigns/Solo Sikoa (Night of Champions). Sami and KO overcoming the Bloodline team with Roman was great. One of the peaks for Sami/KO.

#12. Becky Lynch vs. Trish Stratus Steel Cage (Payback). Two legends of women’s wrestling putting on a classic cage match with a couple of insane bumps. Great work by both.

#11. The Usos vs. Roman Reigns/Solo Sikoa (Money in the Bank). Jey Uso pinned Roman Reigns to win the Bloodline Civil War match. Some great storytelling.

#10. Women’s War Games (Survivor Series).  Bianca Belair, Charlotte Flair, Shotzi, and Becky Lynch face Damage CTRL in an exciting War Games match. 

#9. Ilja Dragunov vs. Carmelo Hayes II (NXT No Mercy). Dragunov defeated Carmelo to win the NXT Championship and end his long reign. 

#8. Men’s War Games (Survivor Series). Team Cody vs. Judgment Day. Notable for the return of Randy Orton and for Cody Rhodes to compete in the match his father invented.

#7. Gunther vs. Chad Gable (RAW). I really thought Chad gable had a chance to knock off Gunther. He lost, but that did not take away from this amazing confrontation.

#6. Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes (Wrestlemania 39). Roman shocked the world by defeating Cody Rhodes at the main event of night two of Wrestlemania (thanks to Solo, of course). Major twist in Cody’s story.

#5. Gunther vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Sheamus (Wrestlemania 39). Some have this as MotY, but I put it at #5. Yes, it was great. Best triple threat of th eyear.

#4. Roman Reigns vs. Sami Zayn (Elimination Chamber). Perhaps the most emotional match of the year as Sami battle Roman in Montreal. Sami battled as hard as he could, but succumb to the Bloodline’s cheating tactics.

#3. Charlotte Flair vs. Rhea Ripley (Wrestlemania 39). Best women’s match of the year, lead to the crowning of Rhea Ripley as champion. Flair and Ripley put on a banger of a match.

#2. Damian Priest vs. Bad Bunny, Streetfight (Backlash). In Puerto Rico, Bad Bunny knocked off Damian Priest in one of the best celebrity performances of all time. Crowd reaction was insane.

#1. Sami Zayn/Kevin Owens vs. The Usos (Wrestlemania 39). Sami and Kevin ended the record setting tag team reign of the Usos in the main event of WrestleMania Saturday. The end of a long term storyline that had been running on WWE TV for months. 

2023 World of WWE

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The WWE had a really strong year in 2023. It was not that long ago that I had really cut back on my WWE intake, skipping Smackdown most weeks and feeling more disappointment than enjoyment.

Then, things changed. Vince McMahon stepped down and HHH took over creative. Sure, Vince still had his dirty hands in the product, but it was better. Then, the purchase of WWE by Endeavor led to Vince’s total removal and the product became even better yet.

So some of these choices were difficult this year. I should say that I do not watch AEW or other wrestling promotions. I have nothing against any of them, but I just feel like a WWE guy. 

Male Wrestler of the Year: Gunther. A tough choice, but Gunther has been WWE Intercontinental champion all year and defended it regularly against all kinds of types of challengers. Runners-Up: Cody Rhodes, Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, LA Knight

Female Wrestler of the Year: Rhea Ripley. She won the title at Wrestlemania 39 and has been the main star of the female division on RAW since. As a member of the Judgment Day, Rhea has been dominant. I would have liked more matches from her though. Runners-Up: Becky Lynch, Iyo Sky, Bianca Belair, Asuka, Charlotte Flair

Tag Team of the Year: Kevin Owens/Sami Zayn. One of the best storylines climaxed at Wrestlemania 39 when Owens/Zayn won the Undisputed Tag Team titles from the Usos. While their title reign was not as epic as their chase, Owens and Zayn were the best tag team for quite a while in 2023. Runners-Up: The Usos, Judgment Day, Pretty Deadly, The Creeds, the Brawling Brutes.

Manager of the Year: Paul Heyman. Or should I say ‘Wise Man’ of the year? Paul Heyman is the cornerstone of the Bloodline and the storylines. Runners-Up: MVP, Robert Stone

On the Mike: Cody Rhodes. So, what do you want to talk about? Cody did an amazing job telling his story on the microphone. Specifically, his work with Paul Heyman was special. Runners-Up: Paul Heyman, Roman Reigns, Sami Zayn, Becky Lynch, Kevin Owens, LA Knight

Feud of the Year: Ilja Dragunov vs. Carmelo Hayes. Three amazing matches from these two NXT stars over the NXT Championship. It lasted longer than some of the other feuds which is why it gets the nod. Runners-Up: Bloodline vs. Sami/KO, Judgment Day vs. Cody Rhodes, Drew McIntyre vs. Seth Rollins, Seth Rollins vs. Shinsuke Nakamura, Cody Rhodes vs. Brock Lesnar.

Underused Performer: Tazawa. Tazawa has just started to get a little TV time as a part of the Alpha Academy. He is really a stronger wrestler than he gets credit for. Runners-Up: Apollo Crews, Tegan Nox, Dexter Loomis, Xia Li.

Comeback of the Year: CM Punk. Geez, this was an easy one. His return at the Survivor Series was completely epic and shocking. Hell had to freeze over because this was never supposed to happen. Runners-Up: Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes, The Rock, John Cena.

Celebrity of the Year: Logan Paul. Logan Paul became the US Champion and had a great match every time he stepped into the squared circle. He truly exceeded the idea of a celebrity in the WWE. Runners-Up: Bad Bunny, Pat McAfee, Snoop Dogg.

Heel of the Year: Dominik Mysterio. No one has more heat than Dominik Mysterio. When the crowd boos Dom, they mean it. And he can barely be heard. It never gets old. Runners-Up: Roman Reigns, the Judgment Day, Gunther, Solo Sikoa, Jimmy Uso.

Face of the Year: Cody Rhodes. Cody is the perfect face and he has been treated like one since his return to the WWE. Runners-Up: Sami Zayn, Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, Rey Mysterio, Becky Lynch, LA Knight.

Show of the Year: Smackdown. With the Bloodline drama, Smackdown was must see TV every week. While it has come down a bit since the peak around Wrestlemania, it is still the most compelling show on WWE. Runners-Up: RAW, NXT

Entrance Song: Seth Rollins. His song basically turned Seth face. The fans love to sing Seth’s song. Runners-Up: CM Punk, Cody Rhodes, LA Knight, Roman Reigns, Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens.

Storyline of the Year: Bloodline/Bloodline Civil War. Still the standout of WWE TV. Honestly, it gave us Emmy worthy work on a weekly basis, touching us in our tum-tums. Runners-Up: Cody’s story, Nakamura’s heel turn, Cracks in the Judgment Day.

Best Broadcaster: Wade Barrett.  He was so good that they promoted him from NXT to Smackdown. Wade is funny and enthusiastic. He is really excellent. Runners-Up: Corey Graves, Michael Cole, Pat McAfee.

Breakout Star: LA Knight. Yeah! He came from nowhere, via organic crowd support to a place where he is firmly entrenched in the main event scene. Runners-Up: The Creeds, Ilja Dragunov, Jey Uso.

Shock of the Year: CM Punk returns at Survivor Series. Nothing else comes close. There were rumors, but no one really believe it would happen. The internet was just getting ready to be angry over the no show, when “Cult of Personality” hit and the Chicago crowd, and everyone else lost their minds. 

Faction of the Year: The Judgment Day. The Judgment Day runs RAW. That is pretty much true as the storylines have completely centered around them for most of the year. Runners-Up: Bloodline, Damage Control, Team Cody.

NXT Wrestler of the Year: Ilja Dragunov. Dragunov never had a bad match. He is so real. You can never go wrong with Dragunov. He may be the best seller in WWE. Runners-Up: Carmelo Hayes, the Creeds, Bron Breakker, Wes Lee, Dominik Mysterio.

Saddest moment: Bray Wyatt dies. Bray was out most of the year with an undisclosed injury. It was a horrendous loss when we heard that he had passed away. He is missed.

2023 The Best and Worst in Horror Movies

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Best Horror Movie

Previous Winners:  A Quiet Place, It, Don’t Breathe, It Follows, The Conjuring, As Above So Below, Cabin in the Woods, Doctor Sleep, Black Box, Fear Street trilogy, The Menu

Horror has been on a kind of renaissance over the last decade or so. There are all kinds of horror subgenres from slasher to horror/comedy to psychological. All are represented in the Best and Worst of 2023.

WORST

Runners-Up: Insidious: The Red Room, The Nun 2, It Lives Inside

Winner: Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey

Easiest pick of the night. Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey is the odds on favorite to be the worst movie of the year (wait for that list), so it seems reasonable that this is this worst film too. The other runners-up are bad, but this is painfully atrocious. 

BEST

Runners-Up: Scream VI, Skinamarink, M3GAN, The Blackening

Winner: A Haunting in Venice

The best of the films featuring Kenneth Branagh as Hercule Poirot, A Haunting in Venice is stylish, frightening and a great horror/mystery. The cast does a sensational job and the story’s twist is excellent. One of the top films of the year.

2023 The Best and Worst Science Fiction Movie of the Year

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Best Sci-Fi Movie

Previous Winners:  Upgrade, Blade Runner 2049, Arrival, The Martian, Ex Machina, Star Trek Into Darkness, Edge of Tomorrow, Freaks, The Invisible Man, Dune, Everything Everywhere All at Once, Avatar: The Way of Water

Sci-Fi has had a decent year. Some years there are not as many sci-fi movies to choose from, but there were several from this year.

Worst Sci-Fi Movie: Rebel Moon. 

Runners-Up: The Mill, 65

Rebel Moon was the latest addition to this list and was clearly the worst. The characters were flat and basic archetypes. The story was dull, basically just the compiling of the team, and the CGI was surprisingly disappointing at times. 

Best Sci-Fi Movie: Dr. Who: Wild Blue Yonder  

Runners-Up: The Creator, No One Will Save You, Jules, They Clones Tyrone, The Pod Generation, Dr. Who: The Giggle

This award was going to go to The Creator, but then we got a wonderful Dr. Who special, the second of three, called Wild Blue Yonder that was just tremendous. I would not consider myself a Dr. Who fan, but these specials are really good, and this one stands out.

The 2023 Spider-Man 3 Disappointment of the Year

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The Spider-Man 3 Disappointment of the Year 

Previous Winners:  In the Heart of the Sea, The Snowman, Amazing Spider-Man 2, After Earth, Dark Knight Rises, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, Batman v. Superman, Christopher Robin, IT: Chapter Two, Tenet, Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins, Halloween Ends

There have been several disappointments this year, but I do not have one that jumps out as the obvious winner of this award. It was a tough choice.

Runners-Up: I thought about The Flash, but it already won the John Carter Award and I did not hate The Flash. Napoleon was much less than I expected. It was clear that much of the movie had been cut out. I left Book Club: The Next Chapter early because I did not feel well, but I never felt the need to go back and see the ending. Ghosted should have been better with Chris Evans. Nope, it wasn’t. The Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers: Once & Always was just a waste of time. Paint was not the biopic of Bob Ross as I hoped. Shazam: Fury of the Gods was one of the worst comic book movies this year and quite a come down from the excellent first film. Adam Driver and dinosaurs? How could that go wrong? 65 figured out how. 

Winner: Next Goal Wins

Taika Waititi’s latest film was a real disappointment. I had liked the trailers and I was looking forward to seeing it. Jo Jo Rabbit was one of my all-time favorites. I loved Thor: Ragnarok. Taika Waititi had a solid track record with me.

And then Next Goal Wins was just a huge disappointment. It had a lot going for it, but it was just not funny or entertaining.

2023 In Memoriam Part 3

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Annie Wersching

Senator Dianne Feinstein

David McCallum

Adam Rich

Alan Arkin

Al Brown

Andrea Evans

Matthew Perry

Andre Braugher

Annette McCarthy

Arleen Sorkin

Cindy Williams

Len Goodman

Michael Gambon

Henry Kissinger

Jerry Springer

John Romita Sr.

Judy Farrell

Lisa Marie Presley

Marty Krofft

Norman Lear

Suzanne Somers

Tim McCarver

Richard Moll

Robbie Knievel

Benjamin Zephaniah

Shane MacGowan

Joss Ackland

Evan Ellingson

Mark Gaddard

Burt Young

Jim Brown

Eileen Saki

Chaim Topol

Barbara Bosson

Charles Kimbrough

Barry Humphries

2023 The Gomer for the Biggest Surprise

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The Gomer for the Biggest Surprise

Previous Gomer Award Winners:  The Gift, Ferdinand, Edge of Tomorrow, We’re the Millers, The Campaign, Ouija: Origin of Evil, Bumblebee, Crawl, Greenland, Free Guy, Deadstream

This is one of our oldest awards in the Year in Review. It is a movie that I did not expect to like as much as I wound up liking. Several films this year were up for consideration for the Gomer.

Runners-Up: Jennifer Lawrence’s raunchy comedy No Hard Feelings started me off in this category mainly because I typically tend to not like raunchy comedies as much as some. This was really good though. Barbie was a surprise in a different way. It turned out to be much deeper of a film, with more intriguing themes, than a Barbie film has a right to be. Barbie could be an Oscar nominee and that is definitely a surprise. The Blackening is another comedy that I found really funny. I really thought it was going to be a film like Haunted House. It is much better than that. A movie I never thought would be any good was Tetris. It was a real great and tense thriller. Missing was another awesome thriller, using the internet (much like Searching). Plane is such a great surprise because it was able to be more than just another Gerard Butler movie. It was amazingly entertaining. 

The winner this year is a total surprise…

Winner: Totally Killer

Time travel and serial killers? How much better can it get? This was such an unexpected surprise. It was clever, funny and tense at times. Kiernan Shipka does a remarkable job as the lead character, Jamie. 

This was on Amazon Prime and I was so pleased when I watched it.

2023 In Memoriam Part 2

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In Memoriam Part 2

Bob Barker

Sinead O’Connor

Gov. Bill Richardson

Bill Miller

Bob Geddie

Camden Toy

Darren Watts

Jimmy Buffett

Pat Robertson

David Crosby

Dick Butkis

Earl Boen

Frances Sternhagen

Frederic Forrest

Gangsta Boo

Julian Sands

Lance Reddick

Gary Wright

Piper Laurie

Raquel Welch

Gordon Lightfoot

Roger Whittaker

Ray Stevenson

Richard Belzer

Tina Turner

Tom Verlaine

Robbie Bachman

Sandra Day O’Connor

Tom Sizemore

Tony Bennett

Van Conner

Victoria Lee

Keith Giffen

2023 The X-Mas Movie of the Year

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The X-Mas Movie of the Year

Previous Winners: Violent Night

I have not seen a bunch of X-Mas movies this year. In fact, I only had two down.

And then I realized that I was missing one.

Before I realized, my two choices were Candy Cane Lane, with Eddie Murphy, and the animated Merry Little Batman on Amazon Prime.

I was leaning toward Merry Little Batman as the winner of the award. 

Then, I realized that there was another that would qualify as a Christmas movie that is heads and shoulders above these two. As soon as I realized it, I knew what the winner of this category would be.

Winner: The Holdovers

The Holdovers is a potential Oscar nominated film that was excellent. Paul Giamatti is wonderful. The movie is a special story and I am glad that I remembered it in this category. 

2023 Comics Year in Review

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2023 was the year that I really got back into comics, big time. I had been buying books and reading a few here and there, but I was having piles of comics at my house that I was not getting to and some that were still in the bag I bought them in at Comic World. And Todd is always hording those bags.

Anyway, with the beginning of the Comic Catch-Up post, I started working through those piles of books, getting them bagged and boarded. Once the piles were basically done, I switched the post to EYG Comic Cavalcade and here we are.

I have also expanded my collecting of books from just Marvel to Marvel, Image, Boom! Studios… and even DC (a little). I have a very wide swath of comics I get in a month.

So I have given out some of the year awards for EYG Year in Review for the world of comics.

Best Marvel Series: Daredevil. Daredevil was consistently one of the most enjoyable books each month. Chip Zdarsky created an amazing tale for Matt Murdock and Saladin Ahmed has continued the thrilling arc for the character in his new series. Runners-Up: Moon Knight, Amazing Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, She-Hulk.

Best Independent Series: No/One. This was a tough choice. I loved a lot of independent books this year, and I bought a bunch of them. However, I guess No/One got a bit of a push when I found the podcast that is tied to it. I have truly enjoyed this book so far. Runners-Up: Something is Killing the Children, Something Epic, Void Rivals, Killadelphia, The Great British Bump Off.

Best DC Series: Knight Terrors. This is a bit of a cheat, but this summer storyline lead me to buy the entire run of books, including all the crossovers. I liked more of this than not, with the main limited series being some great stuff with Batman and Deadman involved. Runners-Up: Peacemaker: Tries Hard, Superman: Lost.

Best New Character: Spider-Boy. Dan Slott’s latest creation in the world of Spider-Man is the young Spider-Boy who remembers being Spider-Man’s sidekick. Problem is that he is the only person who remembers that happening. Spider-Boy has been fun so far. Runners-up: No/One, Danny Dillon, Hunter’s Moon, Hallows’ Eve, Red Goblin

Best Writer: James Tynion IV. Tynion has been one of the best and most prolific writers on the independent scene all year. With Something Killing the Children being awesome every month, there was also Blue Book, Universal Monsters: Dracula, The Oddly Pedestrian Life of Christopher Chaos, W0rldT33, The Department of Truth, The Deviant etc. It has gotten to a point that when I see James Tynion IV on a comic, I want to buy it. Runners-Up: Jeff Lemire, Al Ewing, Chip Zdarsky, Szymon Kudranski, Jed MacKay, Saladin Ahmed

Best Artist: Szymon Kudranski. His work on Something Epic was absolutely astounding. His art of those issues stuck with me and made me think of him for this book. It is so realistic that it looks photographic and I find it absolutely beautiful. Runners-Up: Lee Bermejo, John Romita Jr., Elena Casagrande, Werther Dell’Edera, Martin Simmonds.

Best Graphic Novel: Inside the Mind of Sherlock Holmes. A creative book featuring the iconic detective. Runners-Up: Parasocial, Killadelphia trade paperback. 

Best Issue #1: Something Epic #1. This book inspired me to head out and actually search down as many of the variant covers that I could find. It was such a great issue I felt excited after reading it. Runners-Up: Hellcat #1, Predator versus Wolverine #1, The Deviant #1.

Best Surprise: Predator vs. Wolverine #1. I could not believe that I enjoyed this book as much as I did. While the next couple issues were okay at best, this first issue really shocked me with how much I enjoyed it. Runners-Up: Killadelphia, Void Rivals, Transformers

Most Underappreciated: Hellcat. I loved this limited series. I know it did not have the best following, but Patsy Walker had an exciting and enjoyable mystery to solve involving her ex-husband Damian Hellstrom. Runners-Up: Moon Knight, Ghost Rider, Peacemaker: Tries Hard

Best One Shot: Hellfire Gala #1. Big things happened in this book and I was really enjoying it. The Orchis storyline kicked into high gear and the X-Men have yet to recover. Runners-Up: Fallen Friend: The Death of Ms. Marvel #1, The Original X-Men #1, Howard the Duck #1.

Best Older Series I Started this Year: Gideon Falls. I absolutely loved this series and it was a big reason why I dove into the independent scene as much as I did. Jeff Lemire created a classic with this 28-issue masterpiece. Runners-Up: Omega the Unknown, Planetary, Ice Cream Man, Howard the Duck, That Texas Blood

Cover of the Year: Amazing Spider-Man #35, Cover D. Drawn by Elena Casagrande. 

Comic Character MVPs for 2023: Spider-Man, Optimus Prime, Deadman, Erica Slaughter, Ms. Marvel, Daredevil, and Moon Knight.

2023 Best Documentary

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Best Documentary

Previous Winners:  Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, My Scientology Movie, Tickled, Finding Neverland, Tiger King, The Beatles: Get Back, Lights & Magic

I have not actually seen a lot of documentaries this year. I usually enjoy seeing documentaries, and there is no real reason why I have not seen very many. 

So here are my top four…

#4. Stan Lee. This Disney + film was a nice doc about Stan the Man. Almost too much of a puff piece, but enjoyable for fans of the icon. Best part was a radio confrontation between Stan and Jack Kirby. Wanted more like that.

#3. Taylor Swift: The ERAs Tour. Not really a documentary, but a lot of fun. I have never considered myself a Swiftie, but I enjoyed the concert film.

#2. American Nightmare: Becoming Cody Rhodes. This Peacock special was really well done. The WWE always puts together the best docs about their wrestlers. This story of Cody Rhodes’ journey was compelling and gave us some true insight on the American Nightmare.

#1. Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie. An Apple TV + film that brought us into the story of Michael J. Fox and his struggle with Parkinson’s Disease, and how his life was affected from it. Michael J. Fox was interviewed extensively for the doc. 

2023 In Memoriam Part 1

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The In Memoriam 2023 Part 1

Includes:

Robert Blake

Rosalynn Carter

Terry Funk

Bray Wyatt (Windham Rotunda)

Brett Sawyer

Butch (of the Bushwackers)

Darren “Droz” Drozdov

“Exotic” Adrian Street

The Iron Shiek

Jeff Beck

Angus Cloud

Brooks Robinson

Burt Bacharach

Chris Smith

Gina Lollobrigida

Glenda Jackson

Harry Belafonte

Jay Brisco

Inga Swenson

Jerry Jarrett

Steve Hartwell

“The Genius” Lanny Poffo

Lisa Loring

Mario “Black Warrior” Legendario

Nicholas Coster

Ron Cephas Jones

Moonbin

Ryan O’Neal

Superstar Billy Graham

Sylvia Syms

“The Unabomber” Ted Kaczynski

Yoshio Yoda

2023 Expendables Awards for Acting Excellence

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It is time once again for the Expendables Awards for Acting Excellence. The awards given out to members of the massive cast for their best and worst appearances. And this year we had a new Expendable movie so we’ll see how things go.

Best movie w/Expendable: Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. Harrison Ford is here and, while the movie is at best fine, it is one of the best of the group of films with these actors in it. 

Best Expendable Actor: Harrison Ford for Shrinking. The Apple TV show that saw Ford as a psychiatrist. His work was really great in this series.

Worst movie with Expendables: Expend4bles. Ironic that the worst of the films this year featuring this group of actors is Expend4bles, which is easily one of the worst movies of this entire year. Even in my review of the film, I said that it would be the worst movie of the year if it had not been for Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey. This was truly a terrible movie. 

The Bruce Willis Quantity Over Quality Expendables Award for Most Movies Made: Jason Statham. This year, Statham made four movies and, they were all just terrible. Expend4bles and The Meg 2 are among those four and they have a chance to be in the top 5 worst films of the year.

Best Expendable Cameo: Antonio Banderas (Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny). Banderas was one of the highlights of The Dial of Destiny and I really wish he had stayed around for more in the film. Banderas has actually won Expendable Awards every year for awhile.

Best Expendable with a Giant Shark: Jason Statham. This is an award that was given out the year of The Meg, and now it has returned for this time. 

Best Expendable in Blue Makeup (or CGI face): Kelsey Grammar (The Marvels). The cool cameo in The Marvels post credit scene of Beast from the X-Men FOX universe was mind blowing and hinted at some major mutant fun. 

The 2023 EYG Stan Lee Movie Cameo Award

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The EYG Stan Lee Movie Cameo Award

Previous winners:  Stan Lee (Big Hero 6*, Deadpool, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse* ), John Cena (Daddy’s Home), Chris Evans (Thor: The Dark World, Free Guy), Sigourney Weaver (Cabin in the Woods), Hugh Jackman (X-Men: First Class), Yoda (Star Wars: The Last Jedi), J.K. Simmons (Spider-Man: Far From Home), Harrison Ford (Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker), Rudy Giuliani (Borat Subsequent Moviefilm), Val Kilmer (Top Gun: Maverick)

Stan Lee was the king of the cameo appearance during all Marvel movies. So this award keeps up the honor of The Man.

Runners-Up: Kelsey Grammer donned his blue makeup to return to Dr. Henry McCoy in The Marvels. Gary Oldman showed up in Oppenheimer. We had a great appearance in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny by Antonio Banderas. I wish he had been in the film longer. I’d say a close second was Donald Glover in Across the Spider-Verse. His appearance in the animated show as a live action person was shocking. Tilda Swinton was one of the best parts of The Killer. It was a shock to see George Clooney back as Bruce Wayne in The Flash. Bill Murray was in the Quantum Realm in Ant Man & The Wasp: Quantumania. Bradley Cooper showed up in Dungeons & Dragons. Tessa Thompson‘s Valkyrie got a call from The Marvels. 

Winner: Rhea Perlman.

Rhea played a mysterious character in the huge hit Barbie. She turned out to be Ruth Handler, the person who invented Barbie. She had a couple of amazing scenes with Margot Robbie, bringing some of the best, emotional moments of the film. 

2023 The Avengers: Endgame Ensemble Cast of the Year

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The Avengers: Endgame Ensemble Cast of the Year Award

Previous Winners:  Avengers: Endgame (2019), The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020), In the Heights (2021), Mass (2021), Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022), Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022)

This year had a few solid ensemble casts. I generally consider an ensemble cast here as a cast without a main lead, although some of the previous winners did have lead performances too.

Runners-Up: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. A great finale for this franchise within the MCU. Everybody got their awesome final moments. Dungeons & Dragons was a surprise hit of the year, at least critically. Their group of actors worked so well together. Air was another film that did great earlier in the year. The third Poirot film with Kenneth Branagh was the best of the three, A Haunting in Venice. Saltburn had a leading performance, but the ensemble around him was part of the weird film’s strength. 

Winner: Oppenheimer

Sure, you could make an argument that Cillian Murphy is the lead of the film. I mean, it is named after his character. However, there are so many rich and complex characters populating this film that you could argue that this might be one of the best ensemble casts of all time. Oppenheimer was a huge hit and should be heard from again come Oscar time.