The best films of 2023

 After a few rocky years post covid, we were richly rewarded this year.

10 best films of 2023

 

10 – No Hard Feelings:  An amazing Jennifer Lawrence lets it all hang out in a spectacular return for the raunchy comedy genre.

 

9 – Suitable Flesh:  A strange but fulfilling tale of horror.

 

8 – Air:  You wouldn’t think a movie about signing a guy to sell shoes would be entertaining, but somehow it manages to grab you.

 

7 – Renfield:  A wildly over the top Nick Cage makes the cherry on top of a fun new angle on boring ol’ Dracula.

 

6 – Golda:  A surprisingly good retelling of the days of former Israeli PM Golda Meir during the 1973 Yom Kippur War.

 

5 – Bottoms:  Two devastatingly unpopular young lesbians start an all girl high school fight club to ensure “female empowerment”, when in truth just trying to score with their cheerleader crushes.  Hilarity ensues.

 

4 – Barbie:  A tale of what it is, and what it means, to be a woman in our society.  Brilliantly subversive, bright, colorful, fun and touching.  More than anyone would have expected.

 

3 – Godzilla: Minus One:  A failed and shamed kamikaze pilot returns home after WWII and an incident that shook him far more than the war did.  Once that incident shows itself in its giant, mutated form, he gets a second chance at honor.  Utterly brilliant.

 

The next two were really tough, but after some thought, here we go.

 

2 – Oppenheimer:  A brisk, deep, full bore look into the life of the man who brought us the nuclear age.  Rarely has 3 hours moved so fast and been so magnificent, so breathtaking, so eyecatching. 

 

1 – The Holdovers:  A jaded teacher, a grieving mother and cook and the only student who couldn’t get back home for Christmas break from an exclusive private high school grow into the family all so desperately needed over those two weeks.  An enriching, beautiful tale of hope, love and how family doesn’t have to be blood.  A longlasting, emotional best film of 2023. 

2023's Worst

 Welcome back to another edition of:

10 Worst Films of 2023

 

10:  Reality -  A movie about the woman who leaked classified intelligence about the 2016 elections starring current IT girl Sydney Sweeney?  Sign me up……………till I watched it.

 

9:  Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny - The movie moves at the same speed Harrison does these days.

 

8:  Infinity Pool – An awesome concept turned into a self indulgent mess by heavy handed direction.

 

7:  Ant Man and the Wasp: Quantumania – Speaking of poor direction……..

 

6:  Supercell -  Another “yahoo” bunch of storm chasers with almost supernatural links to what the storm will do equals another wasted 90 minutes.

 

5:  Slotherhouse -  Another cute idea, inept direction and acting again brings this sorority house killer sloth movie to its barely off the ground knees.

 

4:  There’s Something in the Barn -  Yes, it’s a Norwegian barn elf who gets pissed and murders.  There, now you’ve seen it too.  You’re welcome.

 

3:  Monsternado:  This time, prehistoric creatures are drug up from the sea, this time no one cares.

 

2:  Strays:  There’s well done crass, off color humor, and then there’s Strays.

 

And number 1 – Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey – A movie that had sooooo much possibility, but instead of playing it any of the ways that would have been successful, they instead go the heavy handed, mean spirited way.  What an absolute piece of junk, but got enough curiosity to merit a sequel.  Ugh.  

2022's 10 Best Films!

 Here we go, the best films (in my less than humble opinion) of this past year!  

10: The Fallout - This HBOmax feature was easily a starmaking turn for Jenna Ortega, as a teen dealing with the emotional issues resulting from a school shooting.

9:  A Christmas Story Christmas - Another HBOmax movie, a fun and well done trip down nostalgia lane.

8: The Batman - Surprisingly good turn from star Pattinson, far more interesting than batfleck ever was.

7:  Ambulance - Mindless, turn your brain off fun.

6:  Clerks III - The final part of the Clerks trilogy, surprising ending but a beautiful end for our story.

5:  Dual - You're sick, you're terminally ill.  You create a clone of yourself to leave behind for your family, but then....you recover.  You must now dual your clone to the death.  An interesting look into humanity.

4: Top Gun: Maverick - Riding the nostalgia wave high, what a great time in a theater.

3: Violent Night - A jaded Santa rediscovers his love for Christmas and kicks some serious ass in the process in this new holiday classic.

2:  Piggy - When one of the tormentors of an overweight girl in a small Spanish village is kidnapped, will Sara help or get revenge?  Another movie I really loved.

And my favorite movie of 2022?

1:  Everything Everywhere All At Once - The BEST time I've had at the movies this year, featuring a wild and entertaining story that keeps your attention while you're guessing.  Add to that the return of Temple of Doom's Short Round and an amazing turn from Jamie Lee Curtis and you've got a movie that is getting a lot of buzz and is STILL worthy of more attention

2022's 10 Worst Films!

Happy Holidays everyone!

I know a surprising number of people look forward to this, so enjoy reading about what I suffered through this year!

10:  Crimes of the Future -  Cronenberg has always had some out there stuff, but here he wasn't as clever as he thought.

9:  Studio 666 - Why I would expect any more puzzles me, but this is one of the most juvenile films I've watched in quite some time.

8:  The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent - More like the incredible stroking of massive ego.

7:  Halloween Ends - If you're going to rip off a Friday the 13th film, Jason Goes to Hell is NOT the one to pick.

6:  X - Is it a horror film?  Porn?  The world may never care..

5:  Moonfall - If there's any justice, this one kills Emmerich's career.

4:  Don't Worry Darling - Girls...you may love how cute he is, but PLEASE stop trying to give Harry Styles an acting career.

3:  Jurassic World: Dominion - Why does every modern "reboot trilogy" start off great and end like a 6 month old's diaper??

2:  Infinite Storm - More like infinite bore.

AND THE WORST FILM OF 2022................

1.  Bodies, Bodies, Bodies - Stupid, stupid, stupid.

2021's 10 Best Films!

10. “Good on Paper”:  A surprisingly cute and clever film from the hysterical mind of Iliza Shlesinger about the biggest liar she ever dated.

9. “Free Guy”:  The charm of Ryan Reynolds shines through again, in this video game based take on “The Truman Show”.

8. “Black Widow”: Missed the mark, but was the best of Marvel’s early 2021 slate.  Would have been better last year though.

7. “Gunpowder Milkshake”:  A great action shoot ‘em up with a great lead performance from Karen Gillian.  Don’t mess with this hitwoman!

6. “8 Bit Christmas”:  Another rework, take “A Christmas Story”, set it in the late 80’s and add a Nintendo.  Great holiday fun.

5. “Black Friday”:  A gory and funny romp starring genre king Bruce Campbell (“The Evil Dead” series) concerning a group of store employees working on Black Friday when the customers turn into zombies.

4. “Lamb”:  Brilliant supernatural thriller that you really have to see to believe.  My trying to give a rundown would just be unfair.  Seek this one out and see it.

3. “Dune”:  Exciting first chapter, loyal to the source material and perfectly cast.  Gripping setup for the next film.

2. “Spider-Man: No Way Home”.  Marvel fires up the multiverse arc with this fun and emotional tale.  Peter Parker screws up a spell being cast by Dr. Strange and brings powerful villains to his world.  Help arrives and the audience applauds.  So close, a few plot holes keep it just below best of status.

1. “Ghostbusters: Afterlife”:  Brilliant storyline brings new faces to the fold while being respectful of the original film. A fitting way to continue the series and update it for modern audiences. 

2021's 10 Worst Films

10. “Breaking News in Yuba County”: Milquetoast woman’s cheating husband goes missing, she gets publicity from it, ends up in money laundering mess. Terrible.

  9. “Unnamed Horror Movie”: Actors in lockdown make non scary horror movie over zoom, audience gets needed nap. 

 8. “Profile”: New take on foreign woman seduced by radical ideas story, this time an engaged woman falls in love with ISIS leader. 

 7. “Worth”: Story of an attorney assigned to place a value on lives lost on 9/11. Feels exploitative and preachy. 

 6. “Run Hide Fight”: “Die Hard” in a high school kinda sums up this messy take on a girl thwarting a live streamed school shooting. Another difference is “Die Hard” was really good. 

 5. “13 Fanboy”: Crazed fan wants to re create murder scenes from the “Friday the 13th” franchise, killing the actresses in the scenes for real. Meant to be a love letter but comes off really mean spirited and cruel. 

 4. “Silent Night”: A gas is spreading all over the world, killing everyone it comes in contact with. In response, Kiera Knightly throws a final Christmas celebration before everyone takes their government issued peaceful death (as opposed to the painful one the gas provides) pills. You really root for the gas early on. 

 3. “Werewolves Within”: A werewolf is killing people in a remote small town, a forest ranger comes to the rescue. Um..sure. 

 2. “13 Minutes”: Another “love letter”, this time to the people of Moore, OK. Covers the lives of 4 families who are impacted by a violent tornado in their small Oklahoma town. What follows is a stereotyped offensive mess. Easily the worst movie in any other year, but 2021 brought us…… 

 1. “Space Jam: A New Legacy”: Lebron James has all the personality of a sun dried dog turd, this movie is reflective of it.

2020's 10 Best Films!

 

As with our worst of for the year, not a whole lot to choose from this year and only saw 8 that I considered to be above the rest, and here they are.

8.  Tread:  In 2004, Marvin Heemeyer had had enough.  He felt the entire council of the small Colorado community of Grandby was against him, and with the help of a heavily armored bulldozer, he sat out to right perceived wrongs.  This documentary brings the story to light, without the flashy “killdozer” tags.

7.  The Go-Go’s:  Another documentary offering, taking a look at the all girl band that jump started the female rocker movement after the death of The Runaways, and how their legacy lives on. 

6.  Notzilla:  A very silly and very fun parody of Godzilla and kaiju movies in general, a fun and silly ride from start to finish.

5.  Ash:  A local news blogger covering heroism in fighting wildfires near his small Canadian town is unexpectedly accused of engaging in child pornography.  What happens to him, his family and his town is powerful and gripping.

4.  Wonder Woman 1984:  A fun return to the 80’s, with a fairly clever plotline and good performances. That said, you can see some patterns creeping in and will they serve as a crutch for future adventures?  It’ll still be fun to see.

3.  Train to Busan Presents: Peninsula:  How do you follow up one of the best zombie horror films in recent memory?  You watch this tremendous story, taking a cue from Romero and continuing the storyline without attaching any of the original characters.

2.  Fatman:  An unexpected holiday blast, as a spoiled child hires an emotionally damaged hit man to kill Santa after the child finds coal for Christmas Day.

1.  Cuties:  The poster child for damn it before you see it this year, this powerful film crushes you as you see a group of kids who are in desperate need of parental involvement seeking the attention the big girls get, through online “likes” and equating that to genuine affinity.  How they go about it is devastating and a film worthy of being my best film of 2020.