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

Top 10 2022 TV Moments

1. The events leading to the Iranian Revolution in American Experience.

2. Emmett's wake in Women of the Movement.

3. Andor and the other inmates taking part in an escape in Andor.

4. The struggles Joan Collins went through in her early career on This Is Joan Collins.

5. Morpheus and Hob meeting each other every 100 years in The Sandman.

6. The musical tributes to Julie Andrews's career in the AFI Lifetime Achievement Award: Julie Andrews.

7. The reveal of Halbrand being Sauron in the season finale of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.

8. President Zelenskyy on the spirit of Ukrainians when dealing with Russia's invasion in My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman-My Next Guest with David Letterman and Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

9. Betty White's daringness to have a black entertainer on her 50s talk show in Celebrating Betty White: America's Golden Girl.

10. The Upside Down invading Hawkins in the season finale of Stranger Things.

Honorable Mentions:

Barry's arrest in the season finale of Barry.

Saul's trial in the finale of Better Call Saul.

Rue's violent breakdown in Euphoria.

Gideon revealing that he and Lucy are in a time loop in the season finale of The Devil's Hour.

The reveal of Jackie freezing to death in the season finale of Yellowjackets.

The ending of Ozark.

Obi-Wan and Vader's duel in the finale of Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Trevor's thankful and emotional goodbye on his final episode of the The Daily Show with Trevor Noah.

Putin's Control of the Media and the Truth during the Ukraine War on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

The tribute to the cast members who've passed in Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts.

Jennifer breaking into the real world to complain over her finale in the finale of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law.

The Skype conversation between Harry and Grieff at the end of the finale of Inside Man.

Kamala witnessing her family's involvement during the partition of India in Ms. Marvel.

Kevin's drunken stupor from Allison revealing how she feels leading to his death in the finale of Kevin Can F**k Himself.

Jack Russell's transformation into Werewolf by Night in Werewolf by Night.

The Thirteenth Doctor's regeneration in the BBC Centenary special of Doctor Who.

How Native American Children Were Forced to be White in The Amber Ruffin Show.

Jon Stewart inspiring political satire in the Middle East in The Mark Twain Prize for American Humor: Jon Stewart.

Selena being open with her mental health struggles in Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me.

The cast succumbing to AIDS in the finale of American Horror Story: NYC.

Conditions worsening at the hospital in Five Days at Memorial.

Venturing beyond the fourth wall in Rick and Morty.

Obama and his family being threatened from just announcing a presidential run in the premiere of The First Lady.

The farm battle in the season finale of Peacemaker.

Zeke sacrificing himself to save Cal in Manifest.

The bear attack in the season premiere of Documentary Now!.

Richard Pickman's paintings driving people mad in Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities.

A Closer Look on the Right's use of Racist Replacement Theory causing Violence on Late Night with Seth Meyers.

Diana's BBC interview in The Crown.

Finding a satellite full of cannibalistic serial killers in Avenue 5.

A calendar print error leading Steve to file for bankruptcy in Welcome to Chippendales.

The influences that Norman Lear's work has accomplished in his long career in Norman Lear: 100 Years of Music and Laughter.

Homelander lashing out on live television in The Boys.

Topa wanting to be a girl again and the controversy surrounding it in The Orville: New Horizons.

Ismael Cruz's journey from living on the streets when working on Sesame Street to being cast in The Rings of Power on Jimmy Kimmel Live!.

Colin Robinson regaining his old memories and personality in the season finale of What We Do in the Shadows.

Dooku's turn to the dark side in Tales of the Jedi.

The origins of the room 13 ghost in Are You Afraid of the Dark?: Ghost Island.

The campers given a small preview of the documentary in the season finale of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series.

Anya's Two Danas story in The Midnight Club.

Rejected Supe teens killing their parents in The Boys Presents: Diabolical.

Becky revealed to be Bunny's killer in the season finale of Only Murders in the Building.

Tanya's death in the finale of The White Lotus: Sicily.

Boba killing Cad Bane in the finale of The Book of Boba Fett.

Dexter's death in the season finale of Dexter: New Blood.

Chris accidentally causing Marco's death in the season premiere of The Cleaning Lady.

Pyre losing his faith in the finale of Under the Banner of Heaven.

Detective Davis finding the bodies of replicants in the desert in Blade Runner: Black Lotus.

Robert's manipulation of Jan throughout A Friend of the Family.

The many attentions to detail towards various African cultures that are used for Black Panther in 20/20 Presents Black Panther: In Search of Wakanda.

Eddie learning of his army squad's death in 9-1-1.

The tributes to the James Bond and Godfather films at the 94th Academy Awards.

Jeffrey dragged by zombies into Lake Preston in the season finale of American Horror Stories.

The origins of Steven and Marc in Moon Knight.

The Gemstone siblings finding multiple dead bodies in The Righteous Gemstones.

The lives of those in Bizarro World in Superman & Lois.

Helly revealed to be the daughter of Lumon's CEO in the season finale of Severance.

Mabels family gathering together as she is dying in Reservation Dogs.

Ahmed's kidnapping being a false-flag operation to increase cooperation with Pakistan in Slow Horses.

Lestat's church massacre in the premiere of Interview with the Vampire.

Penelope Cruz on How Her Oscar is a Reminder of Her Father in The Late Late Show with James Corden.

Bruce's story of how he got injured in The Wonder Years 2021.

The tributes to Ukraine at the 28th Screen Actors Guild Awards.

Roosevelt's formation of the Rough Riders in the premiere of Theodore Roosevelt.

Fogg standing up to and exposing Bellamy in the season finale of Around the World in 80 Days.

The ten year time jump at the end of the finale of Stargirl.

How Domee She used her own childhood experience when directing Turning Red on Embrace the Panda: Making Turning Red.

The special screening of The Godfather for Colombo's associates in The Offer.

Principal Clanton being behind the events of A and his motivation in the season finale of Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin.

Rosalind putting Bailey in a trap to get to Nolan in The Rookie.

Jason hearing his family killed over the phone in the finale of Fear the Walking Dead: Dead in the Water.

Molly's joy defeating the Chairman in the season finale of The Ghost and Molly McGee.

Balir and Gina getting caught in a time loop in Tales of the Walking Dead.

Martin's troubling family life in The Simpsons.

How the writers of Better Call Saul still kept tension despite being a prequel in Talking Saul.

Finding Sam and Violet inside a cave and without having aged 15 years in the finale of The Resort.

The serpent revealed to be a wayward whale in the finale of The Essex Serpent.

Percy telling his story and connection to the Briarwoods in The Legend of Vox Machina.

Sam killing Alan in the finale of The Patient.

Martha kept locked up in her hotel room in Gaslit.

The reveal that Goliath was a future version of Harry in Resident Alien.

Hazel taking control of the Hub in the finale of Made for Love.

A radio personality accused of rape being killed live on air in Law & Order: SVU.

Lim's struggles with paralysis after Shaun's surgery in The Good Doctor.

Brian Wilson suffering from mental health problems in American Masters.

The road to reopening Broadway during Covid on Great Performances.

The siblings ending up in a rebuilt universe without their powers in the season finale of The Umbrella Academy.

Reagan letting Staedtler lose his memories and live happily without her in the finale of Inside Job.

Grace and Frankie getting a second chance at life after ending up in heaven in the finale of Grace and Frankie.

The reveal of Gibbs donating money for McGee and Palmer's kids in NCIS.

Rachel dealing with the fallout of Anna's spending in Inventing Anna.

Dahmer's arrest in the premiere of Dahmer - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story.

Pamela agreeing to the sex tape being online under a paywall in the finale of Pam & Tommy.

Ptolemy killing the man who murdered his nephew in the finale of The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey.

The origins of Ms. Chalice in The Cuphead Show!.

The exorcism of Chucky in Chucky.

The reveal of multiple Shlorps being destroyed in Solar Opposites.

The effect of 9/11 on horror films in the finale of Blumhouse's Compendium of Horror.

Madison revealed to be alive in the season finale of Fear the Walking Dead.

How Eleanor became a vampire in Let the Right One In.

Laura and Chrissy's mother-daughter war in Little Demon.

Westhead needing to take over coaching after Jack McKinney's bike accident in Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers.

Joe, Jim, and Bernadette getting caught in a shootout in Dark Winds.

The tribute to Lily Tomlin's career at the 21st AARP Movies for Grownups Awards.

Dilbert/Die Hard sketch in Robot Chicken.

Rebecca's death in This Is Us.

The montage to George Clooney's life and career at the 45th Annual Kennedy Center Honors.

Maya and KG being shunned at school due to having two dads in The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder.

Temuera Morrison on how his Maori ancestry helps him get into the role of Boba in Disney Gallery: The Book of Boba Fett.

Rocky unwilling to do a racist act to sell out in Young Rock.

Tyler revealed to be the monster controlled by Thornhill in the season finale of Wednesday.

Dan's fight and escape from his captor in the premiere of The Old Man.

Dwight killing the man who raped his daughter in Tulsa King.

The discovery of Betty's corpse in the premiere of Candy.

Zog's time in an insane asylum in Disenchantment.

Norman Reedus on the feeling towards the show ending in Talking Dead.

Keene unable to get in contact with the FBI after being put on solitary confinement in the finale of Black Bird.

The three way Law & Order crossover.

The real world being set on a starship in space in 2099 in the finale of 1899.

Nora and Bart's multiple attempts to change the future in The Flash 2014.

How Dutch lost his eye in the season premiere of Sherman's Showcase.

Much of the cast body swapping in the season finale of Big Mouth.

Joanna lying about her cancer returning in the premiere of I Love That for You.

Mr. Big telling his story at his daughter's wedding in Zootopia+.

Stede faking his death to make his wife happy and he go back to pirating in the season finale of Our Flag Means Death.

The discovery of walker variants in The Walking Dead.

Brock revealing he's alive in his own funeral in the season finale of Killing It.

Eloise figuring out Penelope is Lady Whistledown in the season finale of Bridgerton.

Shrub's attempt to burn other scarecrows causing fireworks to go off in the premiere of Welcome to Flatch.

The parodies of HBO shows in Family Guy.

How Dario Argento uses color for Suspiria in The 101 Scariest Horror Movie Moments of All Time.

Jimmy Kimmel and Fallon switching hosting duties for The Tonight Show and Jimmy Kimmel Live! as an April Fools prank.

The reveal of Nathan staying in the museum's attic for two months in the season premiere of Rutherford Falls.

The reveal of Justin irradiating a colleague in The Man Who Fell to Earth.

A solar storm shutting the internet causing a large amount of people to rent DVDs in the finale of Blockbuster.

Cornelia revealed to have syphilis in the finale of The English.

The Lockes using the Timeshift Key to meet Rendell before giving up the keys in the finale of Locke & Key.

The reveal of Amelia being Void Knight and Santaura's alien daughter in the finale of Power Rangers Dino Fury.

The International Creature Convention in Human Resources.

Franklin's troubled relationship with his son who supported the British in the finale of Benjamin Franklin.

Cheryl's attempt to stop a comet's destruction of the town causing everyone to revert to 1955 in the season finale of Riverdale.

Lewbert suing Carly on iCarly 2021.

The many iterations of Buzz's design in Beyond Infinity: Buzz and the Journey to Lightyear.

Fjall's transformation into the first Witcher in The Witcher: Blood Origin.

Liv standing up against the hallucination of her mother in Keep Breathing.

The meticulous production design for Interview with the Vampire in Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire: Behind the Scenes.

Bremer thinking that film extras are mayors from other countries in Mr. Mayor.

Conan O'Brien going undercover at an anti-magic movement in the premiere of Murderville.

The team hosting a Chinese delegation in Space Force.

Pat sent to psychiatric hospital in the season finale of Shining Vale.

The reveal of David Choak responsible for Nathan's death in Upload.

Sheila not going to therapy for her bulimia in Physical.

Joaquin learning his sister is part of a cult in Good Trouble.

The reveal of a rogue faction wanting to revive the Soviet Union in Jack Ryan.

Mary Mack's standup in The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

Jimmy and Marco's late night Chicago adventure to get to the comic book store in Slippin' Jimmy.

The summoning of Seth in Night at the Museum: Kahmunrah Rises Again.

Mother regaining her eyes in Raised by Wolves.

Calvin selling his auto shop in The Neighborhood.