The Fall Guy

Loosely based on a 1980s show of the same name, The Fall Guy pays tribute to the stuntmen behind the scenes of movies and shows. Ryan Gosling stars as Colt Seavers, a veteran stuntman who gets called back to provide stunt work after a serious accident for a new big budget movie directed by his ex, played by Emily Blunt. With the film shooting in Australia, Colt must mend his relationship while also taking part in figuring what happened to the lead of the movie. Having David Leitch as director gives this tribute to stunt work that much of a stronger of a tribute thanks to not only the films he made before this but also his work as a stuntman and coordinator prior to directing. Combine Leitch's direction and Drew Pearce's writing you get a movie with great action but also have a well told story whose focus isn't just the big action scenes but has equal parts drama and comedy, almost bordering on romantic comedy at times with how Colt and Jody, his ex, interact. But even when there's a scene with no huge or inventive stunts, Leitch still manages to find creative ways to make each scene memorable through inventive camera work like a split screen between Colt and Jody when they're calling each other and discussing the very same thing. A lot of these stunts and creative decisions wouldn't work as well if not for Jonathan Sela's cinematography and Elísabet Ronaldsdóttir's editing. Gosling and Blunt give really strong and hilarious performances that make their characters feel so relatable, especially with how strong their chemistry was. Other memorable members of the cast that elevate the movie include Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Hannah Waddingham, and Winston Duke. Even though it bombed, that doesn't take away how great The Fall Guy is both as a movie in its own right and a tribute to the stunt community. Over all: 100%

2024 top list so far:

1. Dune: Part 2

2. The Fall Guy

3. The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare

4. Abigail

5. Monkey Man

6. Late Night with the Devil

7. Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire

8. The Book of Clarence

9. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire

10. Drive-Away Dolls

11. Kung Fu Panda 4

12. Lisa Frankenstein

13. Argylle

14. Mean Girls 2024

Abigail

Vampires are nothing new in film, but it's not everyday that we get a little girl vampire who's also a ballerina in Abigail. The titular character, initially acting like an innocent child, gets kidnapped by a group of criminals who are unaware of what she is and only know that Abigail is the daughter of a powerful figure. Things start to go wrong when the house they're in locks them in, Abigail reveals herself as a vampire, and the bodies start dropping. This film is a complete riot thanks to the combination of strong writing, directing, acting, effects, production values, and cinematography. Stephen Shields and Guy Busick craft a fun and terrifying script that manages to take an overused premise and give it great spins, while also having very three dimensional characters with very witty and informative dialogue. Coming off of the last two Scream movies, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett continue to prove why their unique touch and style are perfect for the horror genre. As Abigail, Alisha Weir is fantastic and terrifying, proving to be such a formidable and fun actress despite being in her early teens. Alongside her you also get strong and believable performances from Melissa Barrera, Dan Stevens, Kathryn Newton, and Kevin Durand. All of them manage to take the already great writing of their characters and install charm and likability to them. The minimal and small locations helps to give the effects, production values, and cinematography a sense of great detail despite its limited setting. A movie as fun, good, and absolutely bonkers and terrifying is not always easy to make, but Abigail manages to do that in spades. Over all: 100%

2024 top list so far:

1. Dune: Part 2

2. The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare

3. Abigail

4. Monkey Man

5. Late Night with the Devil

6. Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire

7. The Book of Clarence

8. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire

9. Drive-Away Dolls

10. Kung Fu Panda 4

11. Lisa Frankenstein

12. Argylle

13. Mean Girls 2024

Top 10 TV Movies and Specials of 2023

TV Movies:

1. David Holmes: The Boy Who Lived

2. Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie

3. Rock Hudson: All That Heaven Allowed

4. The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial

5. Being Mary Tyler Moore

6. Timeless Heroes: Indiana Jones and Harrison Ford

7. Mr. Monk's Last Case: A Monk Movie

8. Prom Pact

9. Stan Lee

10. Zoey 102

Honorable Mentions:

Please Don't Destroy: The Treasure of Foggy Mountain

The Heist Before Christmas

Albert Brooks: Defending My Life

The Slumber Party

Specials:

1. 46th Annual Kennedy Center Honors

2. Dick Van Dyke: 98 Years of Magic

3. Disney 100: Remember That

4. Manifest finale

5. Doctor Who: The Giggle

6. Black Broadway: A Proud History, A Limited Future

7. 20/20 Disney 100: A Century of Dreams

8. Great Performances: Celebrating 50 Years of Broadway's Best

9. Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter + Love

10. Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian-The Making of Season 3

Honorable Mentions:

Hannah Waddingham: Home for Christmas

Invincible: Atom Eve

Jimmy Kimmel Live! 20th Anniversary Special

A Grammy Salute to 50 Years of Hip-Hop

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always

My Dad the Bounty Hunter finale

A Grammy Salute to The Beach Boys

My Adventures with Superman premiere

Entertainment Tonight-A Salute to NCIS: Los Angeles

80th Golden Globe Awards

The Last Last Late Show Carpool Karaoke Special

Good Chemistry: The Story of Elemental

The Bad Guys: A Very Bad Holiday

Breaking Ooze - An Inside Look at Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem

The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror XXXIV

22nd AARP Movies for Grownups Awards

The Year: 2023

65th Annual Grammy Awards

Willie Nelson's 90th Birthday Celebration

Making The Witcher: Season 3

29th Screen Actors Guild Awards

76th BAFTAs

28th Critics' Choice Awards

2023 MTV Video Music Awards

Fantastic Four Vol. 1 #48

Comics in the 1960s during the Silver Age of the medium didn't come much bigger than with Fantastic Four Vol. 1 #48. The comic sees the first family of Marvel dealing with the aftermath from a confrontation with the Inhumans only to be greeted and warned by the Watcher who warns them about the Silver Surfer and the coming of Galactus. Being the first part of the Galactus Trilogy, this issue does an absolutely fantastic job at setting up the stakes and the grave threat that the cosmic giant serves in the Marvel universe. Thanks to the combination of Stan Lee's writing with the art and coloring from Jack Kirby and Joe Sinnott, you get a highly memorable comic with good pacing and detailed, brisk art. It does, as typical for its time, tend to over-rely on large expository dialogue and characters often posing in very dramatic ways. But, that's part of the charm of 60s Silver Age comics, and the silly things like Galactus appearing green and red or the Watcher with a square head don't keep this classic issue from being so influential. Fantastic Four Vol. 1 #48 is a fun issue not just because it introduces iconic aspects to the Marvel mythos, but because of the people who worked on it giving it their best. 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. Fantastic Four Vol. 1 #48

7. Deadman: Love After Death #1

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

9. Blue Beetle Vol. 5 #1

10. Showcase Vol. 1 #75

11. Detective Comics Vol. 1 #441

12. Marvel Super-Heroes Vol. 1 #18

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

14. Hulk Vol. 5 #1

15. Avnegers: War Across Time #1

16. The Yellow Kid

17. Sabrina the Teenage Witch Vol. 1 #8

18. Archie and Me #132

19. Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #1

20. Action Comics Vol. 1 #674

Top 2023 Series and Season Finales

Series Finales:

1. Hunters

2. Your Honor

3. The Fall of the House of Usher

4. Manifest

5. Daisy Jones & the Six

6. Reservation Dogs

7. Beef

8. Totally Completely Fine

9. Power Rangers

10. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

Honorable Mentions:

Scott Pilgrim Takes Off

The Flash 2014

Archie

The Crown

Barry

Lessons in Chemistry

Ted Lasso

Swarm

Schmigadoon!

Wilderness

Fear the Walking Dead

Mrs. Davis

High School Musical: The Musical: The Series

The Continental

White House Plumbers

Welcome to Chippendales

The Consultant

Miracle Workers

Dead Ringers

Our Flag Means Death

Disenchantment

Nolly

American Born Chinese

The Great

Jury Duty

History of the World, Part II

Young Rock

Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty

Star Wars: Visions

The Late Late Show with James Corden

Waco: The Aftermath

My Dad the Bounty Hunter

Shining Vale

Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies

Secrets of Sulphur Springs

Animaniacs 2020

Riverdale

I Am Groot

NCIS: Los Angeles

Hello Tomorrow!

Lawmen: Bass Reeves

Greatest Geek Year Ever: 1982

Obliterated

Jack Ryan

Perry Mason 2020

Agent Elvis

The Muppets Mayhem

The Crowded Room

Class of '07

The Winchesters

Alaska Daily

iCarly 2021

Bupkis

Killing It

Human Resources

Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story

A Murder at the End of the World

Love & Death

Welcome to Flatch

The Power

Lockwood & Co.

Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre

100 Years of Warner Bros.

Culprits

Secret Invasion

Fired on Mars

Florida Man

The Problem with Jon Stewart

The Wonder Years 2021

Cruel Summer

Nancy Drew

Lucky Hank

Physical

Gotham Knights

The Afterparty

Season Finales:

1. Loki second season finale-Glorious Purpose

2. The Last of Us first season finale-Look for the Light

3. One Piece 2023 first season finale-Worst in the East

4. Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake first season finale-Cheers

5. Superman & Lois third season finale-What Kills You Only Makes You Stronger

6. Only Murders in the Building third season finale-Opening Night

7. The Righteous Gemstones third season finale-Wonders That Cannot Be Fathomed, Miracles That Cannot Be Counted

8. Blue-Eye Samurai first season finale-The Great Fire of 1657

9. The Mandalorian third season finale-Chapter 24: The Return

10. What If…? second season finale-What If… Strange Supreme Intervened?

Honorable Mentions:

Gen V first season finale-Guardians of Godolkin

The Legend of Vox Machina second season finale-The Hope Devourer

Creepshow fourth season finale-George Romero in 3-D!/Baby Teeth

Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur first season finale-OMG Issue #2

The Walking Dead: Dead City first season finale-Doma Smo

Rick and Morty seventh season finale-Fear No Mort

Upload third season finale-Flesh and Blood

The Rookie fifth season finale-Under Siege

Foundation second season finale-Creation Myths

Twisted Metal first season finale-SHNGRLA

Based on a True Story first season finale-The Universe

Unstable first season finale-A Dragon's Fire

Good Omens second season finale-Every Day

My Dad the Bounty Hunter first season finale-The Bounty Hunters

Ahsoka first season finale-Part Eight: The Jedi, the Witch, and the Warlord

The Diplomat first season finale-The James Bond Clause

Poker Face first season finale-The Hook

Shrinking first season finale-Closure

Goosebumps 2023 first season finale-Welcome to Horrorland

The Simpsons 34th season finale-Homer's Adventure Through the Windshield Glass

The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder second season finale-Juneteenth

Quantum Leap 2022 first season finale-Judgment Day

What We Do in the Shadows fifth season finale-Exit Interview

My Adventures with Superman first season finale-Hearts of the Fathers

School Spirits first season finale-Madison's Body

Silo first season finale-Outside

Sweet Tooth second season finale-The Ballad of the Last Men

The Artful Dodger first season finale-Untapped Potential

Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai first season finale-Never Ever Expose Them to Bright Light

Slow Horses:Real Tigers finale-Footprints

The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon first season finale-Coming Home

Tulsa King first season finale-Happy Trails

American Horror Stories third season finale-Organ

Young Sheldon sixth season finale-A Tornado, a 10-Hour Flight and a Darn Fine Ring

CSI: Vegas second season finale-Dying Words

9-1-1 sixth season finale-Pay It Forward

Dark Winds second season finale-Hózhó náhásdlįį

Fright Krewe first season finale-The War

Star Wars: The Bad Batch second season finale-Plan 99

NCIS twentieth season finale-Black Sky

Funny Woman first series finale-Episode 6

NCIS: Hawaii second season finale-Dies Irae

Blue Bloods thirteenth season finale-Forgive Us Our Trespasses

Gamera Rebirth first season finale-Childhood's end

Digman! first season finale-The Grail

Yellowjackets second season finale-Storytelling

Big Mouth seventh season finale-A Finger in Time

Tiny Toons Looniversity first season finale-The Show Must Hop On

Skull Island first season finale-You'll Never Catch a Monkey That Way

9-1-1: Lone Star fourth season finale-In Sickness and In Health

NCIS: Sidney first season finale-Blonde Ambition

Hamster & Gretel first season finale-Exclamation Strikes Back

Solar Opposites fourth season finale-The Unwanted Personification of Terry

Awkwafina is Nora from Queens third season finale-Nora is Awkwafina from Queens

We Baby Bears first season finale-Little Fallen Star

Dr. Death second season finale-Surgeons, Bachelors, and Butchers

Ghosts 2021 third season finale-The Heir

Frasier 2023 first season finale-Reindeer Games

Castlevania: Nocturne first season finale-Devourer of Light

FUBAR first season finale-That's It and That's All

That '90s Show first season finale-Kids in America

The Gilded Age second season finale-In Terms of Winning and Losing

Family Guy 21st season finale-Adult Education

The Rig first season finale-Episode 6

The Big Door Prize first season finale-Deerfest: Part Two

Beacon 23 first season finale-Adamantine

The Witcher third season finale-The Cost of Chaos

Bookie first season finale-A Square Job in a Round Hole

The Good Doctor sixth season finale-Love's Labor

The Neighborhood fifth season finale-Welcome to the Opening Night

The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare

The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is a Guy Ritchie film starring Henry Cavill in which the latter portrays a real life British soldier in this slightly fictionalized account of him and his team performing covert operations against the Nazis. Essentially it's in the same vain as Inglourious Basterds of an absolute ride in seeing Nazis getting killed, but this time this actually happened, somewhat. That alone makes The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare an instant classic and here's hoping Ritchie and Cavill collaborate again. Over all: 100%

2024 top list so far:

1. Dune: Part 2

2. The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare

3. Monkey Man

4. Late Night with the Devil

5. Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire

6. The Book of Clarence

7. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire

8. Drive-Away Dolls

9. Kung Fu Panda 4

10. Lisa Frankenstein

11. Argylle

12. Mean Girls 2024

Monkey Man

Dev Patel marks his directorial debut with Monkey Man, which he also stars in and cowrites with Paul Angunawela and John Collee. In it, Patel portrays Kid, who wages a one man war against corrupt Indian government officials responsible for his mother's death. Kid's actions in turn inspire a community of transgender people, themselves targeted by the same officials, to aid him in his quest. The writing from the three is absolutely phenomenal, but it's Patel's work behind the camera that truly stands out. His style, especially this being his first, is incredible with how brutal and well choreographed the action scenes are. It helps that the camera remains steady while moving smoothly through the martial arts sequences, Sharone Meir's cinematography is equal parts grungy and vibrant, and the editing from Dávid Jancsó, Tim Murrell, and Joe Galdo keep the action and pace perfectly balanced. With just a budget of ten million dollars, Monkey Man makes so many hundred million dollar budgets seem pale in comparison. Over all: 100%

2024 top list so far:

1. Dune: Part 2

2. Monkey Man

3. Late Night with the Devil

4. Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire

5. The Book of Clarence

6. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire

7. Drive-Away Dolls

8. Kung Fu Panda 4

9. Lisa Frankenstein

10. Argylle

11. Mean Girls 2024