Revised Overall Ratings of 2023 Films

1. Oppenheimer-100%

2. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse-100%

3. Wonka-100%

4. Godzilla Minus One-100%

5. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem-99%

6. Asteroid City-99%

7. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3-98%

8. Blue Beetle-97%

9. Barbie-97%

10. Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One-93%

11. Elemental-92%

12. Air-92%

13. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves-92%

14. Creed III-92%

15. John Wick: Chapter 4-92%

16. Scream VI-91%

17. The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes-87%

18. Killers of the Flower Moon-85%

19. M3GAN-84%

20. Dumb Money-84%

21. The Marvels-82%

22. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny-78%

23. Cocaine Bear-74%

24. Knock at the Cabin-72%

25. The Flash-68%

26. The Super Mario Bros. Movie-66%

27. Wish-64%

28. Renfield-64%

29. Fast X-62%

30. The Little Mermaid 2023-62%

31. Shazam! Fury of the Gods-61%

32. Transformers: Rise of the Beasts-59%

33. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania-55%

Wonka

Timothée Chalamet takes over from Gene Wilder and Johnny Depp as Roald Dahl's iconic chocolatier in Wonka. This film sees Chalamet as a young Willy Wonka as he sets out to make his mark in the world with his unique way of making chocolate and candy. Along the way he deals with corrupt policemen, ruthless competition with other chocolate makers, and scamming laundromat owners while making his late mother proud, gains friends from other broken dreamers, and comes upon an annoyed Oompa-Loompa. While the rest of the cast is wonderful, including Hugh Grant as a Loompa, it's Chalamet who excels at playing the magical candy maker. He gives a good combination of Wilder's movement and mannerisms with Depp's oddness and energy while having his own takes on the character. Paul King as a director and cowriter with Simon Farnaby really capture the perfect aspects to what made the original book and the 1971 and 2005 movies so memorable. The whimsical and childlike nature is all there and manages to make the most absurd parts fit really well into this film's world. Especially helped by the production design, cinematography from Chung Chung-hoon, the breathless score by Joby Talbot, and Neil Hannon's songs that are perfectly choreographed by the casts' fun and quick dancing. If there was one movie to end 2023 with then there's no other perfect choice than the wonderful, whimsical, and wholesome Wonka. Over all: 100%

2023 top list so far:

1. Oppenheimer

2. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

3. Wonka

4. Godzilla Minus One

5. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem

6. Asteroid City

7. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

8. Blue Beetle

9. Barbie

10. Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1

11. Elemental

12. Air

13. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

14. Creed III

15. John Wick: Chapter 4

16. Scream VI

17. The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

18. Killers of the Flower Moon

19. M3GAN

20. Dumb Money

21. The Marvels

22. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

23. Cocaine Bear

24. Knock at the Cabin

25. The Flash

26. The Super Mario Bros. Movie

27. Wish

28. Renfield

29. Fast X

30. The Little Mermaid 2023

31. Shazam! Fury of the Gods

32. Transformers: Rise of the Beasts

33. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

Wish

2023 is the 100th anniversary of Walt Disney Pictures and Wish is the movie that celebrates the studio's centennial. In their latest animated project, Ariana DeBose voices a young girl named Asha who lives in a kingdom whose king grants a wish from one of his subjects once a month with the caveat that all other desires are forgotten by those he hasn't fulfilled. When she is given the chance to be King Magnifico's apprentice Asha learns that he only grants desires that won't risk his rule, including her grandfather's long awaited wish to become a musician. Unable to fight back against Magnifico, Asha's wish towards a shooting star leads to the star to become alive and leads to the two and Asha's friends to rebel against Magnifico who starts to use dark magic when he feels threatened. As Disney is well known for adapting old fairy tale stories, its animation style is a pretty good, though not perfect, combination of traditional and computer generated animation. It gives it a very storybook feel that would often open the early Disney films like Snow White and Pinocchio. One flaw is that some of the movement by the characters at the start does feel a bit stiff, but does improve as it goes. But the designs, look, lighting, color, and backgrounds do look incredibly stunning thanks to cinematographers Rob Dressel and Adolph Lusinsky. The initial story is perfect for celebrating Disney's 100th anniversary, and Jennifer Lee and Allison Moore do a great job at showcasing the studio's legacy through many great references, but it feels very cliche. Magnifico's turn to villainy felt like it needed more time, certain aspects of Asha's journey are a bit bland, and often certain choices the characters make are done just to reference Disney's past. However, Lee and Lusinsky do manage to make the characters likable enough to at least not make them boring and keep them endearing. Normally, Disney animated films excel best with the music, and while Dave Metzger's score is good, sadly the songs from Julia Michaels and Benjamin Rice aren't the strongest. The opening song where Asha welcomes new people to Rosas isn't too strong and Magnifico's villain song is just okay but not highly memorable. The best one is definitely Asha's "This Wish", which gets a reprise with the other cast members, and manages to be highly memorable but also feeling like it needed more. But if there's one thing that you can't take away from this movie are the strong performances from its cast. Alongside DeBose you have Chris Pine having a fun time as a villain, Victor Garber giving a lot of warmth as Asha's grandfather, and Alan Tudyk stealing the movie as Asha's goat. While Wish may not be the best film to celebrate its parent company's centennial, that shouldn't take away from what is a wonderful looking, but very flawed, movie. Over all: 84%

2023 top list so far:

1. Oppenheimer

2. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

3. Godzilla Minus One

4. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem

5. Asteroid City

6. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

7. Blue Beetle

8. Barbie

9. Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1

10. Elemental

11. Air

12. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

13. Creed III

14. John Wick: Chapter 4

15. Scream VI

16. The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

17. Killers of the Flower Moon

18. M3GAN

19. Dumb Money

20. The Marvels

21. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

22. Cocaine Bear

23. Knock at the Cabin

24. The Flash

25. The Super Mario Bros. Movie

26. Wish

27. Renfield

28. Fast X

29. The Little Mermaid 2023

30. Shazam! Fury of the Gods

31. Transformers: Rise of the Beasts

32. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

Eternals by Jack Kirby: The Complete Collection (Eternals (1976-1978))

From 1976 to 1978, Jack Kirby created one of his most epic storylines for Marvel that only lasted for 19 issues and an Annual in 1977, as collected in Eternals by Jack Kirby: The Complete Collection (Eternals (1976-1978)). Initially set outside the mainline Marvel universe, though not made clear in its first few issues and then retconned to be set in the 616 timeline in the Thor comics, the story is an epic tale dealing with the evolution of humanity. Over the course of the series it's revealed that god-like beings known as Celestials experimented on early humans leading to two factions often at war with one another, the human looking but highly evolved Eternals and the monstrous and violent Deviants. In the modern day, the return of the Celestials leads to the two factions to reveal themselves to the humans of Earth as the judgment of Earth is decided. No stranger to highly epic and large scale storytelling like his work on New Gods for DC Comics, Jack Kirby certainly shows incredible range when delving into the history and mythology of the Eternals and Deviants. His writing is so incredibly detailed and meticulous, add to that his iconic artwork, and you get such an unforgettable story. The art style Kirby does alongside John Verpoorten and Mike Royer's ink and Glynis Wein's colors are incredible and really pop out towards the reader. Of course, it is not without its flaws, especially from a comic series that came out throughout the mid to late 70s. Kirby's storytelling, world building, and character developments are all very strong, but a lot of his dialogue can come off as a bit stiff, overly exposited, and often silly. Certain story choices can also feel like coming out of nowhere, such as not immediaetly revealing that it's set in another universe though still having S.H.I.E.L.D., the Eternals and Deviants being revealed through anthropology, and Ikaris fighting a robot version of the Hulk powered by cosmic radiation. As vibrant and wonderful as the artwork is, its biggest flaw often has to be the often over expressive faces that some characters give at the most random times and how stiff some characters look when flying. Eternals by Jack Kirby: The Complete Collection (Eternals (1976-1978)) is a great collection that showcases Jack Kirby's greatest strengths, though some of his smaller weaknesses as well. Over all: 100%

Top list so far for 3rd set of comics:

1. The Complete Peanuts Vol. 15: 1979-1980

2. Daredevil Vol. 1 #170

3. The New Teen Titans Vol. 1 #1

4. Green Arrow Vol. 1 #1

5. Star Wars: Dark Empire #1

6. Deadman: Love After Death #1

7. Walt Disney's Uncle Scrooge and Donald Duck: The Don Rosa Library Vol. 1

8. Eternals by Jack Kirby: The Complete Collection (Eternals (1976-1978))

9. Hulk Vol. 5 #1

10. Avnegers: War Across Time #1

11. The Yellow Kid

12. Archie and Me #132

13. Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #1

14. Action Comics Vol. 1 #674

Godzilla Minus One

You'd think that being around for seventy years and having had nearly forty movies and a few shows, video games, and comic books that the Godzilla franchise would run out of steam and no longer be as great as it once, but Godzilla Minus One proves just how it continues to go and thrive. In this entry, Toho's giant radioactive monster is introduced nearly a decade early from the original 1954 film. The movie mainly focuses on Kōichi Shikishima, a former kamikaze pilot who had an encounter with Godzilla before it was mutated by test nukes. Two years after the war ends, Kōichi witnesses a now giant and mutated Godzilla attacking Japan, where thousands are killed and Kōichi's love interest goes missing. Having grown frustrated by the government's inaction from the attack, he joins a group of scientists and retired military to take down Godzilla. This reboot harkens back to the original film's darker, more horror based roots with its depiction of the iconic monster used as a metaphor towards the nuking of Japan. It also used Godzilla's rampage and Kōichi's trauma to depict the senselessness, violence, and repercussions of war. Takashi Yamazaki manages to modernize a story despite it taking place in the late 40s all thanks to his incredible direction and superb writing. While most human characters in giant monster films tend to be a bit one note and just be there to be killed off, Takashi gives every single one of them a sense of need and urgency so that when Godzilla does attack you do feel for them. The cast, in particular Ryunosuke Kamiki as Kōichi, all give powerful performances, strong enough to keep us caring for them and preventing any annoyance whenever Godzilla isn't onscreen. Biggest strength for a giant monster film is of course the effects and how the monster is portrayed, so the fact that the director of this movie also worked on the visual effects with Kiyoko Shibuya meant that we got not only great destructive visuals but also had an incredible look and design to Godzilla that harkened a bit to being a man in a suit. Add to that, Kōzō Shibasaki's cinematography gives us an incredibly looking movie that is equal parts beautiful and foreboding. Not all giant monster movies need to be just two of them fighting and boring humans trying to survive, and Godzilla Minus One proves that. Over all: 100%

2023 top list so far:

1. Oppenheimer

2. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

3. Godzilla Minus One

4. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem

5. Asteroid City

6. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

7. Blue Beetle

8. Barbie

9. Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1

10. Elemental

11. Air

12. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

13. Creed III

14. John Wick: Chapter 4

15. Scream VI

16. The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

17. Killers of the Flower Moon

18. M3GAN

19. Dumb Money

20. The Marvels

21. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

22. Cocaine Bear

23. Knock at the Cabin

24. The Flash

25. The Super Mario Bros. Movie

26. Renfield

27. Fast X

28. The Little Mermaid 2023

29. Shazam! Fury of the Gods

30. Transformers: Rise of the Beasts

31. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes

Serving as both an adaptation to the Suzanne Collins novel and a prequel to the first four films with Jennifer Lawrence, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes looks at the origins of Coriolanus Snow and how he began his rise to power to become President of Panem. Starting out as barely able to afford for his family, Snow is given the chance at greater prosperity when he and other Academy students have to mentor for the chosen tributes in the 10th Hunger Games. In his attempt to win and gain higher status he ends up falling for his tribute, Lucy Gray Baird, while also cheating to gain the upper hand, betraying anyone and everyone, and going to hell and back. Being set over fifty years before the 2012 film, you get to see how different the world of Panem and the Districts are in terms of the technology, the views on the Districts and Games, and how the Tributes were treated and the Game was played. The direction from Francis Lawrence is well done, pretty much the same as the last time he directed for the series 8 years ago. Well done action scenes, combined with the exquisite cinematography of Jo Willems and Mark Yoshikawa's brisk and quick editing, gives us a really good looking movie. While the writing between Michael Lesslie and Michael Arndt is well enough by giving us very rounded characters and a unique take for the series wherein the actual Games only occur in the first half while the second explore's Snow's time as a Peacekeeper and being with Lucy Gray in District 12 culminating in how he makes his way back to Panem. True the story could have been split into two movies where one focuses more on the Games and the second on Snow's rise, and while there are aspects that could have been better executed with more time, for the most part it's done pretty well. What helps are the performances from the cast, but most especially from Tom Blyth as Snow and Rachel Zegler as Lucy Gray who share an incredibly strong chemistry that without it would definitely lead to the movie failing. This may not be the strongest film in the series, but The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes does mange to be a strong entry in the franchise regardless. Over all: 100%

2023 top list so far:

1. Oppenheimer

2. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

3. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem

4. Asteroid City

5. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

6. Blue Beetle

7. Barbie

8. Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1

9. Elemental

10. Air

11. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

12. Creed III

13. John Wick: Chapter 4

14. Scream VI

15. The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

16. Killers of the Flower Moon

17. M3GAN

18. Dumb Money

19. The Marvels

20. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

21. Cocaine Bear

22. Knock at the Cabin

23. The Flash

24. The Super Mario Bros. Movie

25. Renfield

26. Fast X

27. The Little Mermaid 2023

28. Shazam! Fury of the Gods

29. Transformers: Rise of the Beasts

30. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

The Marvels

The Marvels serves as not only a sequel to 2018s Captain Marvel, but also follows up on characters introduced in both WandaVision and Ms. Marvel. After an event causes Carol Danvers, Monica Rambeau, and Kamala Khan to switch places due to their light based powers, the three have to work together to take on Dar-Benn, leader of the Kree who seeks to restore her planet by destroying the ones Carol cares about as a form of revenge. Nia DaCosta, who directs and cowrites with Megan McDonnell and Elissa Karasik, has a great eye for character drama, action, and humor. In terms of story and writing, it isn't that extraordinary for the MCU but manages to tell its story and tropes really well. The only things that don't work is that there isn't more tension towards Carol's actions against the Kree, and when she does admit fault it comes a bit out of nowhere. While also there being not a lot of development for Dar-Benn as an antagonist but Zawe Ashton's performance does keep her from being uninteresting and manages to prove to be a threat. The biggest flaw this movie has is that it feels shorter than it really should and certain things in the S.A.B.E.R. station could have been expanded more. Regardless of those issues, the action and effects are incredibly fun, especially the scenes taking place in Aladna and the final fight against Dar-Benn. Having long distinguished actors like Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, and Teyonah Parris give strong performances isn't surprising, but this being Iman Vellani's feature film debut as Kamala is due to the fact that this and Ms. Marvel are her only acting performances. She absolutely steals the whole film and you can tell how much Vellani loves playing the character, which she grew up reading and now gets to write for, and making her love of Captain Marvel feel so genuine. It sucks that The Marvels underperformed and didn't fair well with most critics as, while it was far from perfect, it was an absolutely fun blast. Over all: 98%

2023 top list so far:

1. Oppenheimer

2. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

3. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem

4. Asteroid City

5. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

6. Blue Beetle

7. Barbie

8. Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1

9. Elemental

10. Air

11. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

12. Creed III

13. John Wick: Chapter 4

14. Scream VI

15. Killers of the Flower Moon

16. M3GAN

17. Dumb Money

18. The Marvels

19. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

20. Cocaine Bear

21. Knock at the Cabin

22. The Flash

23. The Super Mario Bros. Movie

24. Renfield

25. Fast X

26. The Little Mermaid 2023

27. Shazam! Fury of the Gods

28. Transformers: Rise of the Beasts

29. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania