Most Anticipated Films and New Shows of 2024

Movies:

1. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga-Prequel/spinoff of Mad Max: Fury Road centering on the origins of Imperator Furiosa. Besides being a prequel to one of 2015's craziest films, George Miller has Anya Taylor-Joy take on the title role which is a shoe in to be awesome.

2. Dune: Part Two-Adapts the second half of the first Dune book. The first movie was phenomenal, and knowing Denis Villeneuve, this is going to be epic.

3. Deadpool 3-The third in the series sees Deadpool reunite with Wolverine as the title character goes through time travel and universe hopping shenanigans. So much to look forward to between Hugh Jackman returning, integrating the characters into the MCU, and keeping the R rating.

4. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire-Sequel to Ghostbusters: Afterlife sees the old and new cast take on a threat that causes Manhattan to freeze over in the middle of July. As someone who loves Ghostbusters I'm exited to see something entirely new and different.

5. Nosferatu 2024-The second remake of the 1922 German expressionist classic inspired by Dracula. Seeing how Robert Eggers tackled horror with The Lighthouse and violent epic with The Northman, this take on gothic horror excites me.

6. Wicked-Origin story of the Wicked Witch of the West based on the Broadway musical. While I never saw the musical, knowing the story and some songs as well as the casting of Cynthia Erivo will make a recipe for something good.

7. Horizon: An American Saga-Kevin Coster directs a two-part Western epic set before and after the Civil War. As Dances with Wolves is an incredible movie and Costner being so passionate about it, it lives me intrigued.

8. The Fall Guy-Adaptation of the 80s show about a stuntman who sets out to find the missing actor he's doubling for. Being directed by David Leitch, a stunt man doing a movie about a stunt man sounds like it's going to be fun.

9. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes-Set 300 years after War for the Planet of the Apes, apes start to form their civilizations after humans reverted to a feral state. If this is the start of a new trilogy I'm here for it.

10. Alto Knights-Gangster film set in the 1950s about two rival mob bosses. While it may sound very typical, the fact that Robert De Niro is playing both characters is enough to keep me invested.

Honorable Mentions

Alien: Romulus

Joker: Folie à Deux-Sequel to 2019's Joker as a musical with Lady Gaga playing Harley Quinn.

A Quiet Place: Day One

The Bikeriders-An homage to the biker films of the 50s and 60s.

Ballerina-Spinoff of John Wick.

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim

Inside Out 2-New emotions as Riley becomes a teenager.

Kung Fu Panda 4

The American Society of Magical Negroes

Bettlejuice 2

Mickey 17

Argylle-Spy book author gets caught up in  an actual spy plot, a cat, and Matthew Vaughn

The Book of Clarence-Comedy set during the time of Jesus.

Drive-Away Dolls

IF

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire-Godzilla and King Kong team up to battle a huge threat.

Challengers

Lisa Frankenstein-1980s comedy about a girl reviving a corpse from the Victorian era.

Bob Marley: One Love

Sonic the Hedgehog 3

Madame Web

Mean Girls 2024-Musical remake.

Borderlands

Mufasa: The Lion King

The Garfield Movie

Kraven the Hunter

Imaginary

Tiwsters

Night Swim

Shows:

1. A Gentleman in Moscow-Ewan McGregor stars as a Russian aristocrat who is put under house arrest in a hotel by the Bolsheviks during the Russian Revolutions. A period piece with Ewan McGregor, yes please.

2. The Tattooist of Auschwitz-The true story of a Holocaust prisoner made to tattoo identification numbers on other prisoners. A harrowing tale with Harvey Keitel as the older version of the title character.

3. X-Men '97-Sequel to the 90s animated series. Is there any other reason.

4. Win or Lose-Pixar series depicting the many viewpoints during a softball match. Pixar's first original series also has the different perspectives be seen in different visual styles.

5. Daredevil: Born Again-Followup to the Netflix series that sees Charlie Cox, Vincent D'Onofrio, and Jon Bernthal returning. The original series being so amazing, I'm expecting so much from this and hope it keeps the grittiness.

6. Masters of the Air-War drama depicting an Air Force unit during World War 2. Made by the same people who made Band of Brothers and The Pacific, this will surely be epic.

7. The Penguin-Spinoff to 2022's The Batman, depicts the title character's rise to power. Seeing Colin Farrell again with all that makeup and performance is reason enough.

8. Echo-Spinoff to the character introduced in Hawkeye. Alaqua Cox.

9. Kaos-A dark-comedic take on the Greek gods set in the modern day. Having Jeff Goldblum as Zeus is surely one of the most inspired casting choices.

10. Avatar: The Last Airbender 2024-Live-action remake of the classic animated series. Will definitely do what the 2010 film failed at.

Honorable Mentions:

The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live-Sees the return of Rick and Michonne.

Parish

Agatha: Darkhold Diaries-Spinoff to WandaVision.

The Sympathizer

Dead Boy Detectives

Manhunt

Marvel Zombies-Zombies and superheroes.

Nautilus-Origin story of Captain Nemo.

Griselda

The Regime

The 39 Steps-Benedict Cumberbatch stars in this classic thriller previously adapted by Hitchcock.

Monsieur Spade

Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft

After Midnight

Hazbin Hotel

The Brothers Sun

Ted-The early days of Seth MacFarlane's foul mouthed teddy bear.

Fallout-Adaptation of the video game series.

Criminal Record

The Franchise-Comedy about the crew behind a superhero film made by Armando Iannucci and Sam Mendes.

Shōgun

Ripley

Mary & George

Douglas is Cancelled

Devil May Cry

Day of the Jackal

Grimsburg

Anansi Boys

Supacell

Miss Austen

Knuckles-Spinoff with Idris Elba reprising the role.

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1

In the latest of Tom Cruise's signature franchise, Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1 sees Ethan Hunt and his team going up against various forces, including the American government, in finding a rogue AI. Two problems facing this mission is that the AI has gained sentience and manages to hack any digital device and one of the people Ethan is facing against killed someone in his past and is a devout follower of the AI. Director and cowriter, with Erik Jendresen, Christopher McQuarrie returns for his third installment in the series and the two write and he directs a very unique entry. As the main villain of the film is an AI capable of altering live cameras and copy voices in any communication device there's a bit of an allusion to how the writing and direction would have been done using AI, which is apt considering how many heads of Hollywood studios want to use such a thing to make movies and tv cheaper. The writing is great at adding little oddities that feel odd while the direction at some points seems oddly done, almost like the AI from the film is affecting the movie itself. As usual with this series, you get really incredible action scenes, such as Tom Cruise riding a motorcycle from the side of a mountain, a very inventive chase sequence in Rome, and an incredible set piece at the end with a falling train. Without the combination of Eddie Hamilton's superb editing and effective visual and practical effects those scenes wouldn't work as well. Fraser Taggart's cinematography is rather simple, especially compared to the look of the last two films, but does capture a great atmosphere whenever the AI is involved. The music from Lorne Balfe gives us the traditional theme first heard from the 60s show while adding more bombast and flare for a small new spin to it. The cast, both returning and new, all give incredibly strong performances and give their characters a sense of not being stock action figures. Cruise hasn't lost his edge even after 27 years and seven movies, Ving Rhames is always a delight, Simon Pegg always delivers, Hayley Atwell is fantastic, Esai Morales makes for a formidable foe, and Pom Klementieff is terrifying. Even after six movies before it, Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1 manages to not only be a good entry in the franchise but also an incredible action movie in its own right. Over all: 100%

2023 top list so far:

1. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

2. Asteroid City

3. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

4. Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1

5. Elemental

6. Air

7. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

8. Creed III

9. John Wick: Chapter 4

10. Scream VI

11. M3GAN

12. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

13. Cocaine Bear

14. Knock at the Cabin

15. The Flash

16. The Super Mario Bros. Movie

17. Renfield

18. Fast X

19. The Little Mermaid 2023

20. Shazam! Fury of the Gods

21. Transformers: Rise of the Beasts

22. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

Top 10 TV Movies and Specials of 2022

TV Movies:

1. Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me

2. This Is Joan Collins

3. Lucy and Desi

4. Night at the Museum: Kahmunrah Rises Again

5. Zombies 3

6. The Curious Case of Dolphin Bay

7. Under Wraps 2

Specials:

1. My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman-My Next Guest with David Letterman and Volodymyr Zelenskyy

2. Women of the Movement finale

3. Norman Lear: 100 Years of Music and Laughter

4. The Mark Twain Prize for American Humor: Jon Stewart

5. Doctor Who BBC Centenary Special: The Power of the Doctor.

6. 45th Annual Kennedy Center Honors

7. 20/20 Presents Black Panther: In Search of Wakanda

8. AFI Lifetime Achievement Award: Julie Andrews

9. Celebrating Betty White: America's Golden Girl

10. Stranger Things fourth season finale-Chapter Nine: The Piggyback

Honorable Mentions:

The Daily Show with Trevor Noah finale

The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror XXXIII

Werewolf by Night

American Horror Story: NYC finale-Requiem 1981/1987

The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special

Obi-Wan Kenobi: A Jedi's Return

Talking Dead: The Final Episodes Preview

Disney Gallery: The Book of Boba Fett

Solar Opposites Halloween special-A Sinister Halloween Scary Opposites Solar Special

ENTERGALACTIC

Director by Night

Around the World in 80 Days: Unpacking the Adventure

A Farewell to Ozark

94th Academy Awards

Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts

Documentary Now! fourth season premiere-Soldier of Illusion

Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio: Handcarved Cinema

Embrace the Panda: Making Turning Red

Better Call Saul season premiere: Wine and Roses

Beyond Infinity: Buzz and the Journey to Lightyear

21st AARP's Movies for Grownups Awards

Making The Witcher: Blood Origin

Beauty and the Beast: A 30th Celebration

Elton John Live: Farewell From Dodger Stadium

Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire: Behind the Scenes

27th Critics' Choice Awards

Jurassic Park to Jurassic World: The Greatest Moments

Asteroid City

Combining metatextual storytelling, homages of mid-20th Century stories involving UFOs and atomic testing, and Wes Anderson's very unique style makes for an incredibly memorable movie with Asteroid City. With a stacked cast that includes Tom Hanks, Scarlett Johansson, Jason Schwartzman, and Jeffrey Wright, the movie starts out with a television host introducing the audience to a live play based on a documentary about the events of an astronomy convention held in the desert attended by different groups of people. The main story often stops when the live play is interrupted by something going on with the director and participants. This is definitely one of Anderson's best films thanks to not only for his great eye in direction and writing, of which he came up with the story alongside Roman Coppola, but also by the work done by the cast, cinematographer, and production designer. All of the actors give strong performances whether they have a role throughout the movie or just have a small cameo. Robert D. Yeoman's cinematography is exquisite as it captures the different looks between the black and white televised production and the stark colorful and vibrant story set in the desert. The production design from Adam Stockhausen is remarkable and really drives how well he and Anderson are great collaborators since Moonrise Kingdom. As someone who adores the work of Wes Anderson Asteroid City proves why he's one of the best and unique voices out there. Over all: 100%

2023 top list so far:

1. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

2. Asteroid City

3. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

4. Elemental

5. Air

6. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

7. Creed III

8. John Wick: Chapter 4

9. Scream VI

10. M3GAN

11. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

12. Cocaine Bear

13. Knock at the Cabin

14. The Flash

15. The Super Mario Bros. Movie

16. Renfield

17. Fast X

18. The Little Mermaid 2023

19. Shazam! Fury of the Gods

20. Transformers: Rise of the Beasts

21. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

Top 2022 Series and Season Finales

Series Finales:

1. Women of the Movement

2. Black Bird

3. Better Call Saul

4. Inside Man

5. Ozark

6. The Walking Dead

7. Batwoman

8. Blade Runner: Black Lotus

9. She-Hulk: Attorney at Law

10. Man vs. Bee

Honorable Mentions:

Let the World See

The Book of Boba Fett

Five Days at Memorial

Are You Afraid of the Dark?

Gaslit

Kevin Can F**k Himself

The First Lady

The Patient

Theodore Roosevelt

Obi-Wan Kenobi

Under the Banner of Heaven

Grace and Frankie

Legends of Tomorrow

Fear the Walking Dead: Dead in the Water

Made for Love

Moon Knight

A Friend of the Family

The Flight Attendant

The Boys Presents: Diabolical

Pam & Tommy

Ms. Marvel

Stargirl

Baymax!

Inside Job

The Offer

Candy

Keep Breathing

The Girl from Plainville

Locke & Key

The Staircase

The Essex Serpent

Inventing Anna

This Is Us

The Cuphead Show!

A League of Their Own

The English

Joe vs. Carole

1899

Blumhouse's Compendium of Horror

The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey

I Love That for You

The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl

The Peripheral

The Midnight Club

One of Us Is Lying

Fleishman Is in Trouble

Space Force

Season Finales:

1. Stranger Things fourth season finale-Chapter Nine: The Piggyback

2. The Righteous Gemstones second season finale-I Will Tell of All Your Deeds

3. The Sandman first season finale-Dream of a Thousand Cats/Calliope

4. American Horror Story: NYC finale-Requiem 1981/1987

5. The Ghost and Molly McGee first season finale-The Jig is Up/Molly vs. The Ghost World

6. Barry third season finale-starting now

7. Around the World in 80 Days first season finale-Episode 8

8. Peacemaker first season finale-It's Cow or Never

9. Euphoria second season finale-All My Life, My Heart Has Yearned for a Thing I Cannot Name

10. Severance first season finale-The We We Are

Honorable Mentions:

9-1-1: Lone Star third season finale-A Bright and Cloudless Morning

Fear the Walking Dead seventh season finale-Gone

Andor first season finale-Rix Road

Dexter: New Blood first season finale-Sins of the Father

Superman & Lois second season finale-Waiting for Superman

The Umbrella Academy third season finale-Oblivion

Rick and Morty sixth season finale-Ricktional Mortpoon's Rickmas Mortcation

What We Do in the Shadows fourth season finale-Sunrise, Sunset

The White Lotus second season finale-Arrivederci

The Devil's Hour first season finale-Amor Fati

Only Murders in the Building second season finale-I Know Who Did It

The Flash 2014 eighth season finale-Negative, Part Two

The Boys third season finale-The Instant White-Hot Wild

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power first season finale-Alloyed

Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin first season finale-Chapter Ten: Final Girls

High School Musical: The Musical: The Series third season finale-Let It Go

Human Resources first season finale-Shitstorm

The Cuphead Show! second season finale-The Devil's Pitchfork (Part 2)

The Rookie fourth season finale-Day In The Hole

Chucky second season finale-Chucky Actually

Our Flag Means Death first season finale-Wherever You Go, There You Are

NCIS 19th season finale-Birds of a Feather

The Watcher first season finale-Haunting

The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder first season finale-Old Towne Road Part 1

Slow Horses first season premiere-Follies

Dark Winds first season finale-HózhóoNaasháa

Wednesday first season finale-A Murder of Woes

Secrets of Sulphur Springs second season finale-Time Is Not On Our Side

Power Rangers Dino Fury finale-The Nemesis

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel fourth season finale-How Do You Get to Carnegie Hall?

Shining Vale first season finale-Chapter Eight-We Are Phelps

American Horror Stories second season finale-Lake

The Afterparty first season finale-Maggie

Dahmer - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story finale-God of Forgiveness, God of Vengeance

Killing It first season finale-The Storm

The Old Man first season finale-VII

Resident Alien second season finale-I Believe in Aliens

Snowpiercer third season finale-The Original Sinners

Upload second season finale-Download

The Crown fifth season finale-Decommissioned

Solar Opposites third season finale-The Fog of Pupa

Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty first season finale-Promised Land

Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities first season finale-The Murmuring

The Legend of Vox Machina first season finale-The Darkness Within

Yellowjackets first season finale-Sic Transit Gloria Mundi

Reservation Dogs second season finale-I Still Believe

Jack Ryan third season finale-Star on the Wall

Riverdale sixth season finale-Chapter One Hundred and Seventeen: Night of the Comet

Interview with the Vampire first season finale-The Thing Lay Still

The Gilded Age first season finale-Let the Tournament Begin

9-1-1 fifth season finale-Starting Over

NCIS: Los Angeles thirteenth season finale-Come Together

The Good Doctor fifth season finale-Sons

Archie and Me #132

Archie and Me #132 is part of a series that ran from 1964 to 1987 wherein each issue depicted Archie's antics and interactions with a specific character from the franchise. In the case for this comic it's the school principal, Mr. Weatherbee. This issue has a few short stories focusing on them as well as one pagers with Sabrina, Li'l Jinx, and advertisements. Stories include Archie and Jughead tricking Weatherbee into closing the school with a snow maker, Archie's team being beaten by Weatherbee's faculty team in basketball, and Weatherbee being annoyed by Archie saying lousy. It's all rather simplistic, as one would expect from Archie, but it's entertaining with good writing and great artwork. Something that's surprising is that each of the stories are written, drawn, and colored by different people. It isn't too noticeable when it comes to the writing, though with the art and coloring there are a few small differences between them. On the surface, Archie and Me #132 isn't too remarkable but does manage to be a quick and easy read. Over all: 100%

Top list so far for 3rd set of comics:

1. Green Arrow Vol. 1 #1

2. Star Wars: Dark Empire #1

3. Deadman: Love After Death #1

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

5. Hulk Vol. 5 #1

6. Avnegers: War Across Time #1

7. The Yellow Kid

8. Archie and Me #132

9. Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #1

10. Action Comics Vol. 1 #674

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

Harrison Ford returns for the fifth and final time as the iconic bull whip using, fedora wearing archeologist in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. The first few minutes are set in 1944, wherein a younger Indy and Basil Shaw, a friend of his played by Toby Jones, fight the Nazis to obtain half of an artifact created by Archimedes. The rest of the movie moves forward to 1969, right after the moon landing. Indy now lives alone as his marriage with Marion strained due to Mutt's death in Vietnam and is getting ready to retire from teaching. After he reunites with Helena Shaw, Basil's daughter and Indy's goddaughter played by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, they both get entangled with Neo-Nazis who want to find the rest of Archimedes's device. The Neo-Nazis are led by Mads Mikkelsen's Voller, a former Nazi scientist whom Indy fought at the beginning, who plans to use the device to travel through time and ensure Nazi victory in the war. While Ford, John Rhys-Davies, and Karen Allen all come back from the previous films, this is the first time that Steven Spielberg and George Lucas were not involved for the direction or story conceivement. They do serve as executive producers while James Mangold takes over directing, while cowriting with Jez Butterworth, John-Henry Butterworth, and David Koepp. The writing still has that great flare that the past four films had, getting the characters right, and doing the usual globetrotting and solving puzzles tropes. Although it does lead to really well done drama and beautiful character moments elevated by Ford's performance, the decision to kill of Mutt felt very forced and incredibly pandering just because he wasn't well liked by fans back in 2008. There's also the length, at over two and a half hours, making it the longest of the series and the writing really makes you feel it. Compared to the last four, there are really long scenes or scenes that really feel sluggish. The intro, for example, could have been a tad shorter. When it isn't because of the writing going on, another aspect to the length are the action scenes. Mangold is no stranger to incredible set pieces, but it's easy to tell how his style differs from Spielberg. The action scenes, while fun and inventive, rely on a lot of close ups and often are way too long. Though they use CG effects and Phedon Papamichael's cinematography to help make it compelling as much as they could. What made the action with Spielberg so great was knowing when to end and not overstaying their welcome. Even after all these decades, Ford has never lost his touch. Whether he portrays a younger Indy through de-aging or in his older state, Harrison shows his love for the character all the way until the end. Sure, younger Indy sounds like an old man with the face of a younger one, but one could easily say he had a cold. All the while the rest of the cast are all strong, with Waller-Bridge using her natural comedic chops to the full advantage, Boyd Holbrook making for a menacing henchman, and Mikkelsen being compelling. Besides three of the cast, someone else who returned to the series is regular composer John Williams as he perfectly mixes older tracks with newer stuff. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, which while finishes off a franchise that first began in 1981 thanks to Spielberg and Lucas's love of adventure serials, is a great, though very flawed, finale and while not the absolute best of the series it's at least not Temple of Doom. Over all: 98%

2023 top list so far:

1. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

2. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

3. Elemental

4. Air

5. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

6. Creed III

7. John Wick: Chapter 4

8. Scream VI

9. M3GAN

10. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

11. Cocaine Bear

12. Knock at the Cabin

13. The Flash

14. The Super Mario Bros. Movie

15. Renfield

16. Fast X

17. The Little Mermaid 2023

18. Shazam! Fury of the Gods

19. Transformers: Rise of the Beasts

20. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

Elemental

Who else but Pixar could give emotions to anthropomorphic elements of nature with Elemental and manage to mix a love story with themes of immigration, prejudice, and inheriting traditions. Set in Element City where people based on air, water, earth, and fire all reside, it centers on Ember Lumen, a young fire based girl whose family owns a convenience store that one day she'll inherit. After dealing with overbearing customers, Ember's anger causes a pipe to break and as water floods the basement, a water based city inspector named Wade falls out after he had been stuck in the city's pipes. Since Wade finds the plumbing to the store faulty and sends a report that may close the store, Ember tries to keep him from sending it. From there, the two go on an adventure where they find out that the wall protecting the fire based people from flooding is breaking, meet Wade's family, and learn how fire based people are often looked down upon by the other elements due to their seemingly destructive nature. What sets this apart from much of Pixar's work is that there isn't a villain to face or an antagonist who keeps the heroes from achieving their goals. There are characters who judge Ember and the other fire based characters, but they're not the main focus and by the end their prejudice does start to soften. For the most part it's a romantic comedy-drama inspired by Guess Who's Coming to Dinner and Moonstruck as well as director Peter Sohn's experience as the child of immigrants. The writing doesn't do anything too outstanding or new in terms of the genres and subject matters but how it handles those themes together as well as how the characters are all written really show how careful and understanding. You couldn't have this well rounded characters without the impeccable performances from the cast, most importantly Leah Lewis and Mamoudou Athie as the leads. Lewis makes Ember's anger and impatience feel believable, while Athie gives Wade such an endearing vulnerability, all while the two give off great chemistry. It should be no surprise that the animation from a Pixar movie is stunning, but you add that with the incredibly vibrant colors and how fluid the many elements are, you start to wonder what they could do next. Despite the initial belief that this movie would bomb despite just how incredible it is due to how Pixar's last few since COVID hit have either made under or went straight to Disney+, Elemental becoming a sleeper hit is one of the best success stories of recent times. Over all: 100%

2023 top list so far:

1. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

2. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

3. Elemental

4. Air

5. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

6. Creed III

7. John Wick: Chapter 4

8. Scream VI

9. M3GAN

10. Cocaine Bear

11. Knock at the Cabin

12. The Flash

13. The Super Mario Bros. Movie

14. Renfield

15. Fast X

16. The Little Mermaid 2023

17. Shazam! Fury of the Gods

18. Transformers: Rise of the Beasts

19. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

Top 10 New Shows and Season Premieres of 2022

New Shows:

1. Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers

2. Women of the Movement

3. Around the World in 80 Days

4. Five Days at Memorial

5. The Devil's Hour

6. Let the World See

7. Andor

8. The Sandman

9. I Love That for You

10. The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power

Honorable Mentions:

Dark Winds

Inside Man

The Old Man

Ms. Marvel

Our Flag Means Death

Under the Banner of Heaven

The Gilded Age

Theodore Roosevelt

Inventing Anna

Moon Knight

Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities

Obi-Wan Kenobi

Tales of the Jedi

Fear the Walking Dead: Dead in the Water

The Afterparty

Welcome to Flatch

The Offer

Severance

Tales of the Walking Dead

She-Hulk: Attorney at Law

Wednesday

The Thing About Pam

Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin

The Girl from Plainville

Peacemaker

Walker: Independence

Dahmer - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story

Pam & Tommy

Black Bird

Gaslit

Man vs. Bee

I Am Groot

The 101 Scariest Horror Movie Moments of All Time

A Friend of the Family

Welcome to Chippendales

Blumhouse's Compendium of Horror

The Boys Presents: Diabolical

The Legend of Vox Machina

The Essex Serpent

Hamster & Gretel

Quantum Leap 2022

Shining Vale

Tulsa King

Fleishman Is in Trouble

The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey

The English

The Cuphead Show!

The Winchesters

Let the Right One In

Killing It

Candy

Bel-Air

The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder

The Staircase

We Baby Bears

National Treasure: Edge of History

Loot

Slow Horses

The Baby

The Rookie: Feds

The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window

Tokyo Vice

Season Premieres:

1. My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman fourth season premiere-Billie Eilish

2. Stranger Things fourth season premiere-Chapter One: The Hellfire Club

3. The Cleaning Lady second season premiere-Sins of the Father

4. 9-1-1: Lone Star third season premiere-The Big Chill

5. The Righteous Gemstones second season premiere-I Speak in the Tounges of Men and Angels

6. The White Lotus: Sicily premiere-Ciao

7. Only Murders in the Building second season premiere-Persons of Interest

8. The Problem with Jon Stewart second season premiere-The War Over Gender

9. Rick and Morty sixth season premiere-Sola ricks

10. What We Do in the Shadows fourth season premiere-Reunited

Honorable Mentions:

The Boys third season premiere-Payback

Documentary Now! fourth season premiere-Soldier of Illusion

Who Do You Think You Are? 2010 eleventh season premiere-Billy Porter

Ozark fourth season premiere-The Beginning of the End

Resident Alien second season premiere-Old Friends

High School Musical: The Musical: The Series third season premiere-Happy Campers

Young Rock third season premiere-The People Need You

Better Call Saul sixth season premiere-Wine and Roses

Secrets of Sulphur Springs second season premiere-Only Time Will Tell

The Cuphead Show! third season premiere-The Devil's Revenge (Part 3)

9-1-1 sixth season premiere-Let The Games Begin

Made for Love second season premiere-I Have a Rotten Finger

The Umbrella Academy third season premiere-Meet the Family

Stargirl: Frenemies premiere-Chapter One: The Murder

Are You Afraid of the Dark?: Ghost Island premiere-The Tale of Room 213

The Orville: New Horizons premiere-Electric Sheep

Reservation Dogs second season premiere-The Curse

Barry third season premiere-forgiving jeff

Superman & Lois second season premiere-What Lies Beneath

The Crown fifth season premiere-Queen Victoria Syndrome

American Horror Story: NYC premiere-Something's Coming

The Flight Attendant second season premiere-Seeing Double

NCIS: Hawai'i second season premiere-Prisoner's Dilemma

The Mysterious Benedict Society second season premiere-A Perilous Journey

Avenue 5 second season premiere-No One Wants an Argument About Reality

American Horror Stories second season premiere-Dollhouse

Law & Order: Organized Crime third season premiere-Gimme Shelter - Part One

Jack Ryan third season premiere-Falcon

Rutherford Falls second season premiere-White Man in the Cupboard

The Good Doctor sixth season premiere-Afterparty

Physical second season premiere-Don't You Want Me

Euphoria second season premiere-Trying to Get to Heaven Before They Close the Door

Snowpiercer third season premiere-The Tortoise and the Hare

Pretty Hard Cases second season premiere-Pencil Skirts

Raven's Home fifth season premiere-The Wrong Victor

This Is Us sixth season premiere-The Challenger

The Simpsons 34th season premiere-Habeas Tortoise

Carl's Date

Originally meant to be part of the Disney+ Dog Days series, Carl's Date was put before Elemental and is also the final entry related to 2009s Up after the death of Carl Fredricksen's voice actor Ed Asner in 2021. The Pixar short sees Carl decide to go on his first date since the death of his wife but not entirely sure how to prepare himself. With help from Dug, though many of his efforts start out as dog related, Carl eventually realizes that he doesn't have to go too extreme and something simple will be best. Before he goes out on his date, to which he brings Dug as backup, he assures a picture of his late wife, Ellie, that she will always be his girl and that it's the start of a new adventure. This final epilogue to the Up franchise not only serves as a wonderful way to say goodbye to Carl, but especially to the long and incredible life of Asner. Joining Asner is Bob Peterson coming back to not only voice Dug but getting to write the final story to the same franchise he cowrote in 2009. Even if this was not meant to be the last project related to Up, the performance from Asner and the writing for him definitely feels so well done. Dug, as always, is fun thanks to Peterson's performance and his interactions with Carl will always be sweet. His writing is just incredibly sweet, emotional, and manages to round out the key aspects to Carls' character since the original movie. It also helps that, this being from Pixar, the animation is perfect and when you combine it with the music from Andrea Datzman you get something quite tearful and complete and all just from a short film with very little settings. Ed Asner had a very long and incredible career that began in 1957, so to end with Carl's Date is a perfect sendoff.

The Flash

With all the countless changes in preproduction over the years and various controversies surrounding the film, whether during the making of it or the people involved outside of it, The Flash certainly had a long road. While this does take place in the DCEU, the film is meant to use its time travel plot to restart the universe and lead to James Gunn's own take of the superhero universe. After Barry Allen, the title character, helps Batman in Gotham City, we learn that the two have been trying to find a way to prove that Barry's father did not murder his mother. After not finding any proof, and much to Bruce's warning, Barry uses his powers to go back in time and alter history so that his mother is still alive. After being attacked by an unknown force, Barry ends up in 2013 wherein his mother is alive, father isn't imprisoned, but a younger version of him is still around. Soon Barry realizes his altering of the past has caused things all over to go wrong as General Zod and his forces invade much like in Man of Steel but none of the other heroes, except an older version of Batman played by Michael Keaton and a less experienced Supergirl, exist. All four try their best but when the two Barrys constantly go back and try to fix whatever problems, it causes the multiverse to implode. The older Barry realizes that the only way to fix everything is to let his mother die, but by changing one small thing to get his father exonerated it puts him back into his own universe though with George Clooney as Bruce Wayne. One thing that this movie has going for it is it is definitely one of the most imaginative superhero films of recent times. However, it is let down by various factors in its execution and overuse of nostalgia as well as the activities outside the movie by its star Ezra Miller. Director Andy Muschietti has a very unique look that uses a good combination of the effects and Henry Braham's cinematography to give it a colorful and often strange feel similar to that of the comics. Of course there are many of the effects that really don't look that great, whether it's fake babies or how the costume looks on Ezra, that should have been given more time to polish. The writing from Christina Hodson does have a lot of good intentioned in it and the passion is there, but often staggers and slags just as much as it works. Most of the time a movie centering on the Flash feels more like a tribute towards Batman, particularly Keaton's take. Was it great to see his version again, sure, but a lot of the writing never made you feel like this was the same version from 1989 and '92 save for a few references that often feel empty. The best part of the writing, helped also by the performances, is anything to do with Barry's family especially in his decision to alter his original change. For all the big bombastic moments and epic fight scenes this movie has, it's the one when Barry meets his mother one last time that is highly impactful. Once again Ezra's whole thing outside the film is terrible and they should face consequences, but the performance is great especially in portraying multiple versions of Barry. Having three different versions of Batman gives us three distinct and well done takes from Ben Affleck, Michael Keaton, and George Clooney. Sasha Calle, who plays Supergirl, is a wonderful addition and makes you wish that she could appear in future projects. The most controversial aspect to this movie is of course when the multiverse is imploding and are given brief glimpses into other universes. Many of them being past versions of superhero portrayals, like Christopher Reeve and George Reeves as Superman and Adam West as Batman. It also has Nicolas Cage as the Superman he would have portrayed in the cancelled 90s movie fighting a giant spider. I admire the intention to pay ode to the many movies and shows based on DC Comics of the past, but between the really plastic looking CGI and feeling as though the moment itself just happens for fan service and not earned all that much, it is a rather empty moment that shows how over reliant we are with nostalgia. Warner Bros.'s decision to keep this movie going, as opposed to the less expensive Batgirl, and it failing incredibly will forever haunt it whether it's a future cult classic or not. This being the third time that The Flashpoint Paradox had been adapted for another medium, The Flash is unfortunately the weakest effort but at least it had really fun moments. Over all: 88%

2023 top list so far:

1. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

2. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

3. Air

4. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

5. Creed III

6. John Wick: Chapter 4

7. Scream VI

8. M3GAN

9. Cocaine Bear

10. Knock at the Cabin

11. The Flash

12. The Super Mario Bros. Movie

13. Renfield

14. Fast X

15. The Little Mermaid 2023

16. Shazam! Fury of the Gods

17. Transformers: Rise of the Beasts

18. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

Green Arrow Vol. 1 #1

Having been around since 1941, it's surprising that Green Arrow, DC Comics' Robin Hood inspired Emerald Archer, never had his own self titled series until 1983s Green Arrow Vol. 1 #1. The comic starts out with Oliver Queen fighting crime as he recounts his origins wherein he was left stranded on an island and learned to hone his archery skills before being rescued. Later, Oliver learns of the death of an old friend of his, an elderly woman named Abigail Horton, whose daughter he got close to before he ended up on the island. When Oliver attends the reading of Abigail's will, alongside the rest of her family, it's revealed that, much to his and her family's surprise, Abigail left a large sum of her inheritance to him. Soon after, Oliver survives an explosion and is nearly killed by hitmen, leading him to don his Arrow suit and set out to investigate who in Abigail's family was angry enough to want to kill him. 42 years after his first appearance, Green Arrow's first self titled comic and the start of a four issue limited series, this hits it out of the park thanks to its Agatha Christie inspirations. Writer Mike W. Barr manages to put together a debut issue that has equal amounts of exposition of the title character's past and crafting a mystery that is highly inspired by the works of Christie and neo-noir that was popular at the time. Barr's narration and dialogue never feels forced when giving exposition and helps make many of the characters, including the antagonists feel very rounded. Another aspect that helps this comic give it a very neo-noir vibe is the combinatory work of the art by Trevor von Eeden, inking by Dick Giordano, and coloring by Tom Zuiko. Their work certainly brings the characters to life and keep the backgrounds fresh while managing to give many of the scenes match the moody tone of the writing. Being only the debut of a four part series, Green Arrow Vol. #1 grabs you immediaetly and keeps you wondering how the rest of the story will play out. Over all: 100%

Top list so far for 3rd set of comics:

1. Green Arrow Vol. 1 #1

2. Star Wars: Dark Empire #1

3. Deadman: Love After Death #1

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

5. Hulk Vol. 5 #1

6. Avnegers: War Across Time #1

7. The Yellow Kid

8. Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #1

9. Action Comics Vol. 1 #674

Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #1

Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #1 is the premiere issue to one of comics' earliest use of crisis crossover events. Being the first of a twelve part story, having been released from 1984 to '85, this comic is all about setting up the story of the original Secret Wars. It all starts with the cosmic entity known as the Beyonder who takes various superheroes and villains from the main universe into a makeshift planet he created known as Battleworld. Heroes include some of the Avengers, X-Men, a few of the Fantastic 4, Spider-Man, and even Magneto. As for the villains there's Galactus, Doctor Doom, Ultron, some of the Wrecking Crew, and Doctor Octopus. The Beyonder asks them to take part in a planet scale battle and will grant the remaining winner whatever they desire. While the heroes are reluctant to take part in it, the villains end up fighting each other with Galactus and Doom going after the Beyonder but brought down easily. While initially avoiding the villains, Captain America and Iron Man both get the heroes to work together to take them on. This is a pretty good start, though a lot of the information it gives at once does feel a bit rushed and the dialogue is a little clunky. But Jim Shooter's writing manages to still keep the story in this comic very engaging, and knowing the combination of needing it out before DC's Crisis on Infinite Earths and being a tie-in to a toy-line does make me appreciate what he had to go through. He captures every hero and villain perfectly while making the mystery of the Beyonder compelling enough to want to read the rest of the event. The artwork is the comic's biggest advantage as the rushness behind the scenes didn't keep this from looking great. It has the light colorful brightness well known for the decade but with more details and features featured thanks to the Battleworld setting. You also get numerous characters in one issue, and often in single panels or and entire page spread, that never loose their signature looks thanks to pencilling by Michael Zeck, the inking from John Beatty, and Christie Scheele's coloring. Over the years, DC and Marvel has had incredible events with intriguing first issues to draw you in, but never forget Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #1's iconic status for being one of the first, even through its flaws. Over all: 99%

Top list so far for 3rd set of comics:

1. Star Wars: Dark Empire #1

2. Deadman: Love After Death #1

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

4. Hulk Vol. 5 #1

5. Avnegers: War Across Time #1

6. The Yellow Kid

7. Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #1

8. Action Comics Vol. 1 #674

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts

Set a few years after 2018's Bumblebee, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts takes inspiration from Beast Wars as it has Optimus Prime and the Autobots teaming up with the Maximals to take on the Terrorcons in their attempt to help bring Unicron and devour Earth. The first of the mainline films to not be directed by Michael Bay, though he still serves as a producer, Steven Caple Jr.'s work is less frenetic and manages to feel smoother without too many large explosions in the action scenes. As for the writing, it still relies on the previous entries's use of globetrotting MacGuffins hidden under well known monuments. It's not terrible, especially with better character development for the human characters that help the Autobots, but it has gotten very tiring on relying on the same plot every time. The human characters, mainly played by Anthony Ramos and Dominique Fishback, are more well defined and don't feel too cartoonish compared to the Bay directed ones. Their chemistry between the Autobots work really well thanks to their performances and the vocal performances of Pete Davidson, Ron Perlman, and Peter Cullen once again reprising Optimus. There's a positivity to be had with the action scenes thanks to how clear it is with the cinematography and not being overly edited to death with constant cuts, but since you're so used to it coming from the previous films you almost miss it due to the camera not moving as much. Being set in 1994, you of course get highly memorable songs appropriate for the period, though too many are used from one scene to another. Transformers: Rise of the Beasts improves from the other Bay Transformers films, but comparing to Bumblebee it is sadly rather lacking. Over all: 78%

2023 top list so far:

1. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

2. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

3. Air

4. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

5. Creed III

6. John Wick: Chapter 4

7. Scream VI

8. M3GAN

9. Cocaine Bear

10. Knock at the Cabin

11. The Super Mario Bros. Movie

12. Renfield

13. Fast X

14. The Little Mermaid 2023

15. Shazam! Fury of the Gods

16. Transformers: Rise of the Beasts

17. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

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

Collecting the first thirteen comic stories written and drawn by Don Rosa, Walt Disney's Uncle Scrooge and Donald Duck: The Don Rosa Library Vol. 1 sees the many works that were done under him from 1987 to '88 through Gladstone Comics. The majority of them centered on Uncle Scrooge, but a few of them did focus on Donald and/or Huey, Dewey, and Louie. These stories include the iconic The Son of the Sun, which was not only Rosa's first professionally published story but immediately popularized him, the Beagle Boys centered Cash Flow, and Last Sled to Dawson centering on Scrooge's early days. Having been inspired by Carl Barks and his work on Donald Duck comics from the '40s to the '60s, Don's stories owe a lot to his predecessor. His writing has a lot of great wit, charm, and lots of good gags and comedic bits, while his artwork is well detailed. The stories are well told and it's easy to see how both the original and newer DuckTales were highly inspired by Rosa and Barks's comics. If Walt Disney's Uncle Scrooge and Donald Duck: The Don Rosa Library Vol. 1 shows how incredible Don's work from the first two years of his twenty year run are, then there's no doubt that the rest will be just as fun. Over all: 100%

Top list so far for 3rd set of comics:

1. Star Wars: Dark Empire #1

2. Deadman: Love After Death #1

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

4. Hulk Vol. 5 #1

5. Avnegers: War Across Time #1

6. The Yellow Kid

7. Action Comics Vol. 1 #674

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

To paraphrase Mary Poppins, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is a practically perfect film in nearly every way. Its animation being done in different styles in such unique ways is astounding, its story and writing an absolute blast, the performances from Shameik Moore, Hailee Steinfeld, Oscar Isaac, and Jason Schwartzman are incredible alongside everyone else, the music is phenomenal, the references and tributes to Spider-Man's history is fun, and the over the top frenetic direction is impossible to forget. Lord and Miller have another hit to their astounding filmography, though one aspect that hurts the movie is that many of the animators suffered poor working conditions due to the many demands and the small amount of time for the release date. I do hope that with the revelations of what the animators had to go through that we could get a movie as incredible as Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse but without the unnecessary behind the scenes trouble and time crunch that this one went through. Over all: 100%

2023 top list so far:

1. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

2. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

3. Air

4. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

5. Creed III

6. John Wick: Chapter 4

7. Scream VI

8. M3GAN

9. Cocaine Bear

10. Knock at the Cabin

11. The Super Mario Bros. Movie

12. Renfield

13. Fast X

14. The Little Mermaid 2023

15. Shazam! Fury of the Gods

16. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

The Little Mermaid 2023

Disney's latest live-action remake of one of their animated classics is The Little Mermaid 2023, remade from the 1989 film that launched Disney's Renaissance throughout the '90s. It tells the same story of the mermaid princess Ariel who falls in love with a human, despite her father's hatred towards them, and makes a deal with Ursula the sea witch to help her unite with the prince in the surface. Halle Bailey portrays Ariel with such incredible and wonderful grace, making her just as memorable as Jodi Benson. Rob Marshall, the director, manages to add a lot of warmth in this remake, something often lacking in them. Though it pales in comparison to the 1989, Marshall's theatrical roots does give it some gravitas with the memorable dance routines and strong performances. Its biggest aspect are the underwater scenes, and while it is no Avatar: The Way of Water it still looks good for the most part thanks to the CG effects looking at worst slightly decent and Dion Beebe's strong cinematography that works well in the surface as well. The script from David Magee is pretty descent, being mostly the same as the animated version though adding or changing some small things. Some of them are a bit dumbfounded and unnecessary like Ursula killing Triton only to be brought back a few minutes later, but stuff like making Ariel forget about the curse or giving Eric the curiosity about exploring the world are good. Alan Menken returns as the composer and adds more to the old songs alongside new ones with Lin-Manuel Miranda. "Part of Your World" is still a jaw-dropper thanks to Bailey, and the rest of the old songs all vary between passable to absolute bangers. The few new ones don't really work all that well, especially a rap duet between Sebastian and Scuttle. Although when Ariel is turned human and can't talk we do hear her thoughts through singing and they're okay. Besides Bailey you also have Jonah Hauer-King as Eric and they have strong chemistry, Javier Bardem portrays Triton with such gravitas, Melissa McCarthy steals it as Ursula, and voicing Sebastian, Flounder, and Scuttle to such great delights are Daveed Diggs, Jacob Tremblay, and Awkwafina respectively. Realistically, The Little Mermaid 2023 pails in comparison to its predecessor, much like the other live-action remakes, but at least this one feels like there was an attempt to make it feel on its own while still honoring the past. Over all: 80%

2023 top list so far:

1. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

2. Air

3. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

4. Creed III

5. John Wick: Chapter 4

6. Scream VI

7. M3GAN

8. Cocaine Bear

9. Knock at the Cabin

10. The Super Mario Bros. Movie

11. Renfield

12. Fast X

13. The Little Mermaid 2023

14. Shazam! Fury of the Gods

15. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

Fast X

Continuing the franchise's love of defying the laws of physics, Fast X is the first part to the finale of the series. Dom and his team are targeted by Jason Momoa's Dante Reyes, the son of the main villain from Fast Five, who manages to be one step ahead as he frames them for an attack in the Vatican and plans to humiliate and make them suffer before he kills them. While Justin Lin stays as a cowriter with Dan Mazaeu, he left as the director due to Vin Diesel's over controlling nature and in his place came in Louis Leterrier. The script is pretty much what the franchise has always been with over the top plots, out of nowhere twists, and everything relating to cars. However, Leterrier does give his own unique stamp with his much more frenetic action scenes that stand out more thanks to expert editing, good cinematography, and strong effects, whether practical or CG. The cast, as always, all give strong performances including newcomers Brie Larson, Daniela Melchoir, and Alan Ritchson. But if anyone is absolute having a blast is Jason Momoa hamming it up in one of the most fun villain portrayals of all time. While there's nothing that new in Fast X, the more elaborate action scenes and the villain's charismatic presence, more than makes up for it. Over all: 80%

2023 top list so far:

1. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

2. Air

3. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

4. Creed III

5. John Wick: Chapter 4

6. Scream VI

7. M3GAN

8. Cocaine Bear

9. Knock at the Cabin

10. The Super Mario Bros. Movie

11. Renfield

12. Fast X

13. Shazam! Fury of the Gods

14. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

Swan songs don't come as more emotional than with James Gunn's final MCU outing in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. After Rocket is attacked by Adam Warlock, the Guardians must find a code related to his creation in order to heal him. They, alongside the alternate timeline version of Gamora, have to contend with the corporation that created Rocket, including its founder the High Evolutionary. Meanwhile, as Rocket clings between life and death, flashbacks to his past reveal his tragic origins and his connection with the Evolutionary. While Gunn continues to have as much fun and energy as the two previous entries, often a bit too much, there's a sense of brutality and honesty that gives it a more dramatic sense. Rocket's origins and much of the High Evolutionary's motivations have a lot of parallels to how cruel animal testing can be and the corruption of large scale corporations. The flashbacks are just as important as the main story, introducing other animals that Rocket befriended and all leading to how he became a loner who has a hard time trusting others after the High Evolutionary killed them. While the returning cast all shine, Bradley Cooper delivers the most not only as the present Rocket but the younger version as well, making it so gripping and tragic. Zoe Saldaña may be reprising her role of Gamora again, but she does it differently due to being from another timeline. While Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, and Sean Gunn all return in spectacular fashion. Newcomers Will Poulter as Adam and Chukwudi Iwuji as the Evolutionary are great additions thanks to their charm and menace. But much like with the younger Rocket, the best performances come from the other animals that Rocket befriends voiced by Linda Cardellini, Asim Chaudhry, and Mikaela Hoover. While a few recent entries in the MCU have had problems with their cinematography and effects, not only is there a good mix of practical and digital effects but Henry Braham does a stellar job with how the movie is photographed. Thanks to Gunn's keen eye for action scenes and love of music, you get some incredibly stellar set pieces, edited seamlessly by Fred Raskin and Greg D'Auria, with either phenomenal songs from the 90s and 2000s or John Murphy's rousing score. With the members of the team going their separate ways at the end, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 not only sees the end of an era for the MCU but in a way that is highly satisfying. Over all: 100%

2023 top list so far:

1. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

2. Air

3. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

4. Creed III

5. John Wick: Chapter 4

6. Scream VI

7. M3GAN

8. Cocaine Bear

9. Knock at the Cabin

10. The Super Mario Bros. Movie

11. Renfield

12. Shazam! Fury of the Gods

13. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

Evil Dead Rise

Evil Dead Rise continues to prove how strong of a franchise Evil Dead is with its fifth film, and the first entry since Ash vs Evil Dead ended in 2018. Unlike the usual setting of most of the past films taking place in a cabin in the middle of the woods, this one mainly takes place in a dilapidated apartment complex in Los Angeles. Centering on the residents of the very top floor, things start to go wrong when one of them finds a strange book and recordings from the 1920s underneath the basement parking lot after an earthquake uncovered them. Upon the recordings reading the contents of the book aloud, the Deadites are once again unleashed, praying on the top floor residents when the elevators, stairs, and fire escape are inaccessible. You'd think that after four films and a show that lasted three seasons, that this franchise that began back in 1981 and deals with incredibly bloody and over the top violence. gore, and death would get stale but you'd be wrong. Original creator and director Sam Raimi and original star Bruce Campbell are still involved in this one so at least it's an assurance that the same vision is kept. Especially with Campbell providing a lot of the kill sound effects himself and briefly being heard a bit in the recordings. Director and writer Lee Cronin injects a mixture of the typical Raimi and his own style that fits smoothly while giving us some unique aspects that the franchise hasn't done before. The writing for the characters all manage to let us connect with them and the unique setting is handled perfectly. Dave Garbett's cinematography is astounding and helps elevate the horror, enhanced even further by Stephen McKeon's score. All the while the effects and the makeup, especially for near the end of the movie, prove that the Deadites are still as terrifying as they were in the early '80s. But, all of that wouldn't matter if the cast chosen for this movie didn't give as strong a performance as needed. Fortunately, everyone in here is phenomenal with Lily Sullivan and Alyssa Sutherland having a strong chemistry as siblings while the kids of one of the siblings are played to perfection by Morgan Davies, Gabrielle Echols, and child actress Nell Fisher who surprisingly manages to be the strongest out of all of them. It's rare for a franchise, let alone a horror based one, to have lasted so long with all of its entries being so acclaimed, and Evil Dead Rise is a testament to why this is one of those rare ones. Over all: 100%

2023 top list so far:

1. Air

2. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

3. Creed III

4. John Wick: Chapter 4

5. Evil Dead Rise

6. Scream VI

7. M3GAN

8. Cocaine Bear

9. Knock at the Cabin

10. The Super Mario Bros. Movie

11. Renfield

12. Shazam! Fury of the Gods

13. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

Air

With Air, Ben Affleck directs his fifth film and reunites with frequent collaborator and best friend Matt Damon in the story about how Nike came to work with a young Michael Jordan to help him start his basketball career and create the Air Jordans. Damon portrays Sonny Vaccaro, the Nike talent scout who learns about Jordan and must convince the CEO, played by Affleck, and everyone else, why the gamble of this little known player would help the company despite its low sales. The screenplay from newcomer Alex Convery is excellent, giving us well defined characters, writing with lots of great wit and drama, fresh dialogue that isn't too stereotypical for the biographical genre, and managing to be inspiring even if part of the story is about a corporation. While I've only seen two of his other directorial efforts, Affleck proves why being behind the camera is just as great for him as he is in front of it. He masters this story thanks to the rest of the cast, as he, Damon, Jason Bateman, Chris Tucker, and especially Viola Davis as Jordan's mother stealing the whole movie. Every single member of the cast pull off incredible performances, proving why actors make for incredible actors. If there's one aspect to this movie that doesn't work is when Michael and his family visit Nike to hear what they're offering and Affleck does anything he can to not show his face. It works at first but the more it goes on, the more ridiculous you can tell the staging and blocking really don't work, but it makes it really funny that they did. Air may not have intended to have been released to theaters and instead go straight to Amazon Prime, but I'm glad they made that decision. Over all: 100%

2023 top list so far:

1. Air

2. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

3. Creed III

4. John Wick: Chapter 4

5. Scream VI

6. M3GAN

7. Cocaine Bear

8. Knock at the Cabin

9. The Super Mario Bros. Movie

10. Renfield

11. Shazam! Fury of the Gods

12. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

Renfield

In his over 40 year career, Nicolas Cage has played very memorable characters, but one you wouldn't have expected from him is Dracula opposite Nicholas Hoult as the title character in Renfield. Somewhat of a sequel to the 1931 Dracula, this sees the two surviving into the present day as they take on vampire hunters. Staying in New Orleans, Renfield starts to realize that his relationship with his master is very abusive and tries to get out of his clutches. However that won't be easy due to Dracula needing him as well as a crime family whose business Renfield gets entangled with. With the help of a traffic cop, Rebecca, whose father was killed by the mob, they have to contend with the combined forces of their opposing enemies. The best part about this movie is the cast, with Cage fitting so perfectly as the legendary vampire, Hoult playing someone so helpless with so much sincerity that you feel and believe his attempt to get out of an abusive relationship, Awkwafina doing well with drama and comedy as Rebecca, and Shohreh Aghdashloo managing to be just as menacing as Cage. Ben Schwartz also appears as part of the mob family and both gives a fun performance, but also doesn't entirely fit due to how over the top he is and how he looks. With the story being thought up by Robert Kirkman, you do see it fit his usual work, and while Ryan Ridley does craft the script rather well with a unique take on the classic monster and his servant, having some really good jokes, and tying well together the recovery program themes, the story often meanders a bit. It's fun at first going from fun over the top vampire story to emotional support groups dealing with abuse and then dramatic police procedural, but after a while they don't blend as well as they hoped, similar in a way to what one expects from a Max Landis script. Chris McKay does prove he can craft these many different aspects together, however, thanks to over the top action scenes, huge amounts of bloody carnage mapping up the camp and gore, impressive use of makeup, and fun tone. Whether or not we'll get to see this cast reprise their roles in the future or not, Renfield, despite huge flaws in its writing, still did an incredible job owing much to the actors involved. Over all: 82%

2023 top list so far:

1. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

2. Creed III

3. John Wick: Chapter 4

4. Scream VI

5. M3GAN

6. Cocaine Bear

7. Knock at the Cabin

8. The Super Mario Bros. Movie

9. Renfield

10. Shazam! Fury of the Gods

11. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

The Super Mario Bros. Movie

After the initial failure of the original Super Mario Bros. film from 1993 made Nintendo very hesitant to let Hollywood take another crack at their most beloved video game character, Illumination surprisingly proved it could do a more accurate take on the franchise with The Super Mario Bros. Movie. Chris Pratt and Charlie Day portray the iconic Brooklyn-based plumbers as they struggle to start their own business. After an attempt to fix a water main leak, the two go through a warp pipe that separates them throughout the Mushroom Kingdom. Mario meets up with a Toad who takes him to Princess Peach so as to help him find his brother and get them home. Peach agrees to help so long as Mario aids her in defeating Bowser, who has captured Luigi and wants to use a Power Star to destroy the kingdom unless Peach marry him. With the use of power ups and getting help from the Kongs, Mario and Peach set out to defeat the King of the Koopas. So yeah, this is definitely way better than the original live action adaptation with Bob Hoskins and John Leguizamo. Illumination still had a tough task due not only their reputation with their filmography but the usual reception towards video game adaptations. Fortunately, while a bit far from perfect, this movie proves that there is staying power in both the studio and the medium, as well as Chris Pratt's casting. Pratt, while not seeming like the right choice to voice Mario, still gave it his all injecting both his own take and having some slight nuances towards previous portrayals. The rest of the cast also give strong vocal performances, with Day perfectly portraying a scared but kind Luigi, Anya Taylor-Joy as a kickass Peach, and Jack Black being hilarious as Bowser. While Illumination may have a reputation with its weak writing, one aspect that everyone agrees with their work is the incredible animation. This movie is no exception thanks to how colorful, fluid, and detailed it is but how it perfectly captures the look of the franchise. Something else that captures the spirit of the source material is the score Brian Tyler gives that is a mix of original and bits of the franchise's. The use of popular songs throughout does often feel highly out of place, but some of the song choices and where they're placed is rather fun. Now, the most divisive aspect to this film above anything else thus far is the writing from Matthew Fogel. It's not terrible, after all it does have the iconic characters we love and gives them huge personalities that helps them connect with the audience. The story itself is rather mundane and the writing doesn't give anything unique from either the franchise or similar stories, but it's told really well and manages to be entertaining. As expected with something as long lasting as the Mario franchise, there are numerous references and gags relating to them in this movie. A lot of them are fun and noteworthy, but often it feels like it's dependent on these references just to show fans they can be trusted, and it can be really distracting. There's a chance that if there are followups to The Super Mario Bros. Movie that they'll be improvements over this one, but let's give credit where it's due as while not perfect it still well made and a blast. Over all: 86%

2023 top list so far:

1. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

2. Creed III

3. John Wick: Chapter 4

4. Scream VI

5. M3GAN

6. Cocaine Bear

7. Knock at the Cabin

8. The Super Mario Bros. Movie

9. Shazam! Fury of the Gods

10. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

While I never had an interest in playing Dungeons & Dragons or any other tabletop role-playing game, the lore behind it was fascinating enough to get me to see Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. Set in a fantasy world much like in the games, the film sees a party consisting of a bard, a barbarian, a paladin, a sorcerer, and a druid on a quest to defeat a necromantic witch. This film from start to finish is an absolute blast, taking its mythology seriously but also being highly comedic. Having directors Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley, who cowrote alongside Michael Gilio, commit to their trademark over the top comedy certainly helps. The writing is great, giving each of the characters unique personalities and the story well told even if it's a very typical fantasy story. Though combining that with heist comedy tropes definitely gives it some unique leeway to its memorability. With any fantasy based film there is of course the numerous settings and locations that show off its diverse world, and thanks to the combination of practical and CG effects as well as Barry Peterson's cinematography, you get that in spades. Another aspect to make it such a memorable fantasy is the score, all thanks to Lorne Balfe who mixes the fantastical and comedic with fast paced and whimsical. Of course, what is a typical D&D quest without the actors behind the characters to finally flesh them out. Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, Justice Smith, Sophia Lillis, and Rege-Jean Page are all excellent in not only the roles they play but capturing really great chemistry. You also have Hugh Grant as a rogue you initially start off liking until showing how his charm hides his true despicableness. Hopefully, even though this film didn't do so well at the box office, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves it will lead to more adaptations from the same franchise and become a cult classic. Over all: 100%

2023 top list so far:

1. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

2. Creed III

3. John Wick: Chapter 4

4. Scream VI

5. M3GAN

6. Cocaine Bear

7. Knock at the Cabin

8. Shazam! Fury of the Gods

9. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

John Wick: Chapter 4

Keanu Reeves proves that age doesn't slow him down thanks to his incredible work with John Wick: Chapter 4. John Wick goes on a rampage of revenge throughout the world to fight for his freedom against the mysterious High Table and any and all assassins that are sent for him. Figuring out how to free himself from the underground crime society, Wick must either get help from or deal with old allies, high ranking members of the Table, and even his own family. You may think that being almost three hours, that this film would feel sluggish and have too much padding, but because of how fast many of the action and fight scenes are and the high octane energy never bores you, it definitely feels earned. Chad Stahelski, who has directed the entire franchise thus far, manages to craft such incredible and unique set pieces all this despite being the fourth entry. Of course that's not to say that all this movie has to offer is action scene after action scene, as Shay Atten and Michael Finch weed out such a great script with the expansion of the High Table mythology and continuing to make characters like Wick, Winston Scott and new characters like Caine and the Marquis so interesting. It helps that while the characters are wonderfully written, the performances from the cast like Reeves, Donnie Yen, and Ian McShane ensure that they make them worth watching. While there is incredible stunt work, fight scenes, and fun chase sequences, without the sharp cinematography of Dan Lausten, Nathan Orloff's exquisite editing, and incredible music from Tyler Bates and Joel J. Richard, it wouldn't be as memorable. If this is the last we see of John Wick, then John Wick: Chapter 4 is an incredible end, and if not then it'll be hard to try to top this. Over all: 100%

2023 top list so far:

1. Creed III

2. John Wick: Chapter 4

3. Scream VI

4. M3GAN

5. Cocaine Bear

6. Knock at the Cabin

7. Shazam! Fury of the Gods

8. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania