And so we have reached the end of the 2024 Genre-ary DailyView: Musicals. After a full month of classical musicals or stage shows shot as a film, we wrap up this year’s Genre-ary with EYG Hall of Famers Monty Python and one of their funniest, if not chaotic films, Monty Python’s Meaning of Life.
Monty Python consisted of six main individuals: Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin.
This film stitched together a series of sketches featuring the immense talents of these six men. It was shocking at times. At times it was raunchy. At times it was offensive. Above all else, it was, at all times, really funny.
Admittedly, there was a scene including vomit jokes, which I have NEVER been a fan of, but this was about as funny as I will find these scenes.
There are some absolutely brilliant songs involved too including “Every Sperm is Sacred,” “Penis Song (Not The Noël Coward Song),” “Galaxy Song,” “Christmas in Heaven,” and “Meaning of Life.” These are uproariously funny. I love “Every Sperm…” and “Penis Song.”
Some of the skits do not work as well as others, but there are so many outstanding moments that I really was pleased that I scheduled this to conclude the Genre-ary.
Today’s Genre-ary DailyView film is 2007’s Once, an Irish musical/drama that is about as charming and sincere of a movie that you are going to find.
According to IMDB, “An unnamed guy (Glen Hansard) is a Dublin guitarist/singer/songwriter who makes a living by fixing vacuum cleaners in his Dad’s Hoover repair shop by day, and singing and playing for money on the Dublin streets by night. An unnamed girl (Markéta Irglová) is a Czech who plays piano when she gets a chance, and does odd jobs by day and takes care of her Mom and her daughter by night. Guy meets girl and they get to know each other as the girl helps the guy put together a demo disc that he can take to London in hope of landing a music contract. During the same several day period, the guy and the girl work through their past loves, and reveal their budding love for one another, through their songs.”
This was a beautiful film. Simple and well-told, Once had an amazing group of songs performed by Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová are wonderful together. Hansard is a more experienced actor than Irglová, but she was every bit as excellent as he was.
The music was a major star of this film. A more modern musical, part of the movie was the creation and recording of these songs but our characters. I found those moments the most intriguing. The relationship in the film between guy and girl was different and surprising.
Written and directed by John Carney, Once is real, gritty and warm. Thoroughly entertaining, Once is a low-budget success that is exceptional to watch.
It’s late in the day and I needed a film for the Genre-ary DailyView. The scheduled film for the day was Earth Girls are Easy.
According to IMDB, “Three furry (and funny) aliens travel around the universe in a spaceship and receive a broadcast showing human females. They are fascinated by these shapely creatures and discover that the broadcast came from Southern California on Earth. Meanwhile, Valley girl Valerie Gail feels her cold fiancé Dr. Ted Gallagher is slipping away and decides to seduce him. Instead, she catches him cheating on her with a nurse, throws him out, smashes his things and refuses to see him again. The aliens’ spaceship crash lands in Valerie’s swimming pool – putting a decided damper on her future wedding plans in Las Vegas. She brings them into her home; and the aliens prove to be quick learners and absorb American popular culture and language through television“
The movie had a surprisingly great cast including Jeff Goldblum, Geena Davis, Michael McKeon, Jim Carrey, Damon Wayans, Charles Rocket, Larry Linville, Rick Overton, and Julie Brown.
Julie Brown was introduced to me from the Dr. Demento Show with her classically inappropriate song, “The Homecoming Queen’s Got a Gun.” Brown co-wrote this movie and performed several of the songs, the title track “Earth Girls are Easy,” “I Like ’em Big and Stupid,” and “Cause I’m A Blonde.”
This film is really simple and pretty stupid. It has some funny moments, but it is so crazy that it has a hard time keeping a consistent tone.
This is harmless, but just really dumb. Jeff Goldblum is always great. Jim Carrey was great here. Otherwise, it is a basic B movie with some funny songs.
Today, for the Genre-ary DailyView, I went to Vudu and rented Shrek: The Musical. It is a recorded version of the stage show that was based on the Dreamworks movie, Shrek.
The story was fairly consistent with the Mike Myers movie. The costumes and designs of the characters and setting was fantastic and really took the stage show into an awesome look. It’s amazing with the creativity of the set designs that were able to bring this animated movie to life.
Brian d’Arcy James played Shrek the ogre and Sutton Foster played Princess Fiona. Both did an excellent job making these iconic characters their own.
The play had a whole new list of songs written for the show, although it did end with the I’m a Believer, just as the original movie did. The music was fun and clever, working very well for the story.
Daniel Breaker had a difficult job, trying to fill the shoes of Eddie Murphy as Donkey. He did a decent job in a role that was always going to be a challenge.
I really do like this type of film, showing a Broadway play as it is on the stage, much like they did with Hamilton and Kinky Boots. I would love to see more of these.
A school delay has given me the chance to do the Genre-ary DailyView this morning and the scheduled film today was the 1953 classic Gentlemen Prefer Blondes starring Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell.
There were not as many songs as I thought there might be, but the most famous one is clearly “Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend,” as performed by Monroe.
The pairing of Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell really worked well in this movie, as the entire bit depended on the chemistry between the two of them as unlikely friends. Marilyn Monroe’s character, Lorelei, loves diamonds and Russell’s Dorothy has a sarcastic head on her shoulders. The duo are the backbone of the movie.
There are some funny moments in the film, as they played the situations into fancy.
According to Rotten Tomatoes, “Lorelei Lee (Marilyn Monroe) is a beautiful showgirl engaged to be married to the wealthy Gus Esmond (Tommy Noonan), much to the disapproval of Gus’ rich father, Esmond Sr., who thinks that Lorelei is just after his money. When Lorelei goes on a cruise accompanied only by her best friend, Dorothy Shaw (Jane Russell), Esmond Sr. hires Ernie Malone (Elliott Reid), a private detective, to follow her and report any questionable behavior that would disqualify her from the marriage.“
Director Howard Hawks provides a lavish production that can just barely stand up to the power of its two leading women. Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell are so great together and they are absolutely the reason to see this movie.
I watched Ray, the biopic of Ray Charles, starring Jamie Foxx, which lead to Foxx winning the Academy Award for Best Actor. However, it absolutely falls into the category that I spoke about at the beginning of the Genre-ary DailyView. It is not a musical.
It did have musical listed on the summary for the movie, but it is one of those movies that has music in it, is even about music, but is not a musical. I did say at the beginning of this month that I might not follow that rule as I was going through it and so I have broken it.
According to IMDB, “The story of Ray Charles (played by Jamie Foxx), music legend. Told in his adult life with flashbacks to his youth we see his humble origins in Florida, his turbulent childhood, which included losing his brother and then his sight, his rise as pianist in a touring band, him writing his own songs and running his own band, and then stardom. Also includes his addiction to drugs and its affect on his working life and family life.“
Jamie Foxx is sensational as the legendary performer. He seemingly brought back to life the larger than life character of Ray Charles Robinson, better known to the world as just Ray Charles.
The biopic sections of this movie are the best parts. Watching Foxx develop Ray through his relationships, his struggle to find the right sound, his drug habit and other problems was the standout of this film.
The music was used well, but I could have used more of it. It seemed to only give a flavor of the songs in the film. Again, another reason why I would not consider this a musical, necessarily.
I thought the weakest part of the movie were the daydreams/delusions that Ray would have flashing back to the traumatic event of his brother’s death. The appearance of water in his suitcase or on the floor were too cartoony for what the movie was trying to go for. This felt way too artsy for the story. The straight up flashbacks were considerably more powerful and more effective than that.
I do appreciate that the film did not shy away from some of the negative aspects of his life. Many of these types of musical biopics leave out major issues in favor of a more positive spin. We see Ray Charles and his drug addiction, which led to his arrest, and his extra-marital affairs, one which even gave him a son.
Along with Jamie Foxx, the strong cast included Regina King, Kerry Washington, Clifton Powell, Sharon Warren, Richard Schiff, Larenz Tate, Terrence Howard, Wendell Pierce, Bokeem Woodbine, and even Moonlighting’s Herbert Viola, Curtis Armstrong, himself. I was able to get past my dislike of that actor because of his Moonlighting role. Being fair, he did a solid job here.
This was a movie with a lot of good and some areas where I would have liked something different. Jamie Foxx is tremendous as are the rest of the cast (shout out to Kerry Washington for her role as Charles’s wife, Bee). Ray is a touch long and, not really a musical, but it is a solid film overall.
I.S.S. stands for the International Space Station, and this is a science fiction movie set aboard the Space Station. It was a cooperative venture between the United States and Russia.
Everything seemed to be going well until something happened on the earth. They could see the explosions from the space station. Then the Americans received a message from earth to take control of the I.S.S. using whatever means necessary.
I found most of the first hour fairly dull. I did not think most of these characters were developed and I did not have any connection to any of these people.
Ariana DeBose, Chris Messina, John Gallagher Jr, Maria Mashkova, Costa Ronin and Pilou Asbæk are the actors in the film and they are all fine, though not great in any stretch of imagination.
The effects of the film were pretty decent. The scenes of the explosions on earth were the coolest part. The use of the floating/lack of gravity was a cool effect too.
Other than that, I did not like much about this film.
How could you do a musical list without an entry from the King?
I have not seen very many of Elvis Presley’s movies, despite the fact that he made dozens of them. However, Viva Las Vegas worked as the musical for the Genre-ary DailyView and so we take a trip around the race track with the King.
Lucky (Elvis Presley) was in Las Vegas for a Gran Prix race, but he had yet to purchase the motor for his car. In an attempt to earn the money gambling, Lucky was very successful. Unfortunately, trying to woo a woman he met at the hotel named Rusty (Ann-Margret), he lost the money in the swimming pool.
Since he had no money to pay off his hotel bill, Lucky had to start working as a waiter to work it off. He spent the rest of the movie either dating Rusty, singing, or working on his car.
There was a conflict in the film that Rusty did not want him to race because she thought it was dangerous. Nothing came from this conflict, except that Lucky just ignored her and dismissed her. This only seemed to make her more agitated.
There was a conflict with a romantic rival for Rusty’s affection, another driver who wanted Lucky to drive for him. This guy died in the race, I think. I’m not sure.
The story was thin and nonsensical. This movie survived solely on the chemistry and charisma of its two lead stars. Elvis and Ann-Margret we great together and their scenes, especially of the music and dancing, were very entertaining. The music was excellent, with Elvis performing several songs including the title track of the film. Of course, Elvis’s lip synch of the song during the Talent Show was one of the worst lip synchs I have ever seen. He had absolutely no expression as he sang that song. It really pulled me out of the movie.
It was not the worst film ever by far, and there were definitely entertaining parts to it. The thing is, there is just not enough to justify watching it.
Well, it is January. That usually means that we are up for some terrible movies that the studios want to dump. Those January horror movies are typically some of the worst of the year. However, last year, January brought us some actually really great movies including M3GAN, Plane and Missing. Perhaps the month will be turning over a new leaf.
Nice thought, but nope, not with this movie.
Night Swim is a bad horror movie that had too many laughs, unintentional of course, and suffered from some of the worst writing that you’ll see.
A family moves into a new house. Ray Waller (Wyatt Russell) was a baseball player who was diagnosed with MS so he and his wife Eve (Kerry Condon) and their two kids Izzy (Amélie Hoeferle) and Elliot (Gavin Warren) look to start over. One of the house’s biggest selling points was the swimming pool. Unfortunately, they did not know the tragedies surrounding the pool and the fact that it was haunted.
Yes, the pool was haunted. We don’t really know why or how. It was just there. And the actors had to do so many stupid things to keep the drama going. I don’t know how many times I just said, “Get out of the pool” during the film. It would have been over.
I will give credit to the four main actors. I think they did the best they could with this stinker. Wyatt Russell and Kerry Condon are both talented actors, and both kids were good. Amélie Hoeferle especially had a quality about her. It was just that the script was so dumb it did not give these actors much chance to make the material better.
The problem is that this movie was based on a live short from 2014 and it did not seem as if there was enough of a concept here to stretch it out to a 90-minute movie.
Sadly, 2024 does not start off with a splash. More of a drip.
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.
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.
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”
This season of What If…? has just been off the charts good. Every episode is just excellent, and then they come up with something that just transcends the rest of the season. ”What If… the Avengers Assembled in 1602″ has taken that spot at the very top of the list this season and might be threatening season 1’s Dr. Strange episode as the best of the series.
We had seen Captain Carter pulled into the universe of 1602 by Scarlet Witch at the end of episode five, leaving it on a cliffhanger. We pick up here with Peggy trapped in 1602 but trying to save the universe from being destroyed.
There are some blue rift that appears in the sky that sucks characters way, and Hela, the queen, gets pulled away. Captain Carter could not save her and Thor blames her.
Captain Carter runs from the new king, escaping from the castle. She stops to speak with the Watcher, whom she can hear narrating. She then perfectly describes, in layman’s terms, an incursion using a bubble gum analogy. Incursions are going to be important in the upcomng Multiverse saga, or at least that is what it seems.
We meet many of our favorite characters in new roles during this as we see Loki as a pretentious actor, Steve Rogers as a Robin Hood type character with Scott Lang and Bucky Barnes with him. Wanda Maximoff is the witch of the king. Nick Fury and Happy Hogan are with the king’s men. Bruce Banner is the man in the iron mask. Tony Stark as the mad scientist. Each one feels a perfect mix.
Once again, we get a Steve Rogers-Peggy Carter reunion that is both sweet and eventually tragic, as it seems as if it always is destined to be.
The voice acting includes Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Mark Ruffalo, Elizabeth Olson, Jon Favreau, Hayley Atwell, Samuel L. Jackson, Paul Rudd, Sebastian Stan, Benedict Cumberbatch along the regular voice actors covering Tony and Cap, Mick Wingert and Josh Keaton respectfully. You can tell they do a special job on this episode, bringing an amazing chemistry to the characters. It is just so joyous.
The action in this episode is just sensational and as clever as you are going to get. The writing is brilliant. The dialogue from Loki during the first scene was some of the funniest of the series. How many Shakespeare references are you going to have in a Marvel series? Poor Yorick, indeed!
Something that I have noticed in What If…? this season is that, in comparison, there is more hope in these alternate realities. Last season, characters died. Universes were destroyed. There was a dread in most every episode. Yet this year, no universes have died. A minimum amount of characters have died. Tony Stark has shown up several times and has not died yet, and it became a joke last year that Stark was killed off multiple times.
Using the 1602 concept, from the classic Marvel book by Neil Gaiman, is an excellent idea. This is so well planned out and it feels as if everything is working so perfectly. With Supreme Strange showing up at the end to talk with Peggy, (and a TO BE CONTINUED popping up on screen) will connect Captain Carter to Kahhori from episode 6 in some kind of finale.
Just a remarkable episode of TV.
Up to DateRunning Order:
E8 ”What If… the Avengers Assembled in 1602?”
E3 ”What If… Happy Hogan Saved Christmas?”
E1 “What If… Nebula Joined the Nova Corps?”
E5 ”What If… Captain Carter Fought the Hydra Stomper”
E6 ”What If…Kahhori Reshaped the World?”
E7 ”What If…Hela Found the Ten Rings?”
E2 “What If… Peter Quill Fought Earth’s Mightiest Heroes?”
E4 ”What If… Iron Man Crashed into the Gamemaster?”
EYG- Embrace Your Geekness 