Most Anticipated 2023 Films

1. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse-The sequel to the best movie of the 2010s will have so many different versions of the wall crawler and done in different animation styles.

2. Cocaine Bear-Based on the true story of a bear going on a rampage after ingesting a bag of cocaine. The title says it all.

3. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania-Scott Lang's adventure through the Quantum Realm will introduce Kang the Conqueror and set up the next Avengers movies.

4. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny-Harrison Ford returns and James Mangold takes on directing duties in the fifth installment that will involve the Nazis that took part in the Space Race of the late 60s.

5. Oppenheimer-No doubt a powerful biopic about the man who helped create the atomic bomb.

6. Dune: Part Two-Sand Worms, Denis Villeneuve, and Spice.

7. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3-James Gunn's last project with Marvel will see the end of the current iteration of the team in what will no doubt be an emotional and over the top rump.

8. Elemental-Pixar and anthropomorphic elements.

9. Creed III-Michael B. Jordan takes over in his directorial debut as he takes on an old friend, played by Jonathan Majors.

10. Inside-An entire movie mostly with just Willem Dafoe.

Honorable Mentions:

Asteroid City

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One

The Marvels

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

The Flash

Shazam! Fury of the Gods

Evil Dead Rise

John Wick: Chapter 4

The Expendables 4

Renfield

Scream VI

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom

The Color Purple 2023

The Last Voyage of the Demeter

Chevalier

Wonka

M3GAN

When You Finish Saving the World

Blue Beetle

Knock at the Cabin

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts

Barbie

The Blackening

The Little Mermaid 2023

Marlowe

The Super Mario Bros. Movie

Spinning Gold

Fast X

Kraven the Hunter

65

Infinity Pool

Haunted Mansion 2023

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem

Saw X

Nope

Nope is Jordan Peele's third feature length film and reunites him with Daniel Kaluuya since his debut with Get Out. This movie combines new-Western elements with the science fiction horror genre that Peele is best known for. Kaluuya plays OJ Haywood, a horse wrangler for movie and tv productions whose ranch is under threat by a mysterious creature that hides in the clouds. Together with his sister, played by Keke Palmer, they try to find proof of its existence while also defending themselves from its attacks. A lot of elements of this film definitely give a Jaws-of-the-sky vibe but Peele's writing makes it more than just a standard monster film. Using the combination of the ranch's decline, the story of a sitcom set attacked by the show's chimp star as told by Steven Yeun's character and him then getting eaten by the monster he was trying to profit from is a great use of metaphor for how the entertainment industry tries to look around safety standards to not spend so much. The performances from Kaluuya, Palmer, Yeun and the rest of the cast are all strong thanks to Peele's direction being so precise. One huge plus is the strong cinematography that helps enhance Peele's visual style as well as the effects in showing off the monster and its many changes. With Nope, Jordan Peele continues to perfect his craft that first began with the small sketches from Key & Peele. Over all: 100%

2022 top list so far:

1. Top Gun: Maverick

2. The Black Phone

3. Nope

4. The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent

5. The Northman

6. The Batman

7. Lightyear

8. Dog

9. Everything Everywhere All at Once

10. X 2022

11. Scream 2022

12. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

13. Thor: Love and Thunder

14. Jurassic World: Dominion

15. Sonic the Hedgehog 2

16. Uncharted

Thor: Love and Thunder

Being the first fourth entry of an individual superhero series in the MCU, Thor: Love and Thunder sees the Norse god of thunder reunite with his old love, a cancer stricken Jane Foster who has gained Thor's powers from Mjolnir, to take on a god killing alien. Taika Waititi returns to direct, cowrite, and costar as Korg while bringing back and upping his over the top comedic style. While a lot of Waititi and Jennifer Kaytin Robinson's script does work in terms of storytelling, some of it gets weaker due to having way too many jokes that either distract or clash with certain dramatic scenes. The same feeling is felt with Taika's direction as even though he has a really fun and energetic technique, the gags he employs happen too often. Never missing a beat since 2011, Chris Hemsworth shines as he always does playing Thor with a good balance of drama and comedy. Alongside him are Natalie Portman portraying Jane with great tragedy as she suffers from cancer but trying so hard to hide the pain, Tessa Thompson having a lot of fun as Valkyrie, and Christian Bale in a dark and terrifying performance as this entry's villain Gorr the God Butcher. For the most part the visuals are really good and often stunning, but due to so many projects the MCU has been doing lately and needing just as much VFX it does start to show in small parts that do look poorly and rushed. Similar to the previous entry, this one also has a kick-ass soundtrack and score reminiscent of 80s fantasy films and using music by Gun N' Roses and others of that era that go with what's going on throughout the movie. This does not reach the heights of Ragnarok or the first Thor, but Thor: Love and Thunder is still better than Dark World and is a lot of fun despite its overuse of jokes and the tone going all over the place. Over all: 87%

2022 top list so far:

1. Top Gun: Maverick

2. The Black Phone

3. The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent

4. The Northman

5. The Batman

6. Lightyear

7. Dog

8. Everything Everywhere All at Once

9. X 2022

10. Scream 2022

11. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

12. Thor: Love and Thunder

13. Jurassic World: Dominion

14. Sonic the Hedgehog 2

15. Uncharted

The Black Phone

Adapted from the short story of the same name by Joe Hill, The Black Phone is the film that Scott Derrickson took on after departing Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. This horror film, set in 1978, sees a young boy, Finney Blake, get kidnapped by a child serial killer known as The Grabber, played by Ethan Hawke. As The Grabber feeds him for a while before he kills him, Finney gets help from the ghosts of the past victims by talking to them through a broken phone. At the same time, Finney's younger sister, Gwen, tries to help find him thanks to having latent psychic abilities inherited from her mother but feared by her alcoholic father. Derrickson's direction and his writing with C. Robert Cargill gives us such a superb, meticulous, and frightening production. But, also having some really good laughs here and there between the more dramatic and frightening moments that work well. The characters are well liked and never feel one dimensional and you get a sense of each person's motivations, fears, and needs. Besides Hawke, you also have Mason Thames and Madeleine McGraw as the Blake siblings who give just as big and powerful performances as the more older actors. In fact, all of the child actors involved all play their roles so believably, whether they're the bullies or the spirits that help Finney. Capturing the right look for 1978 isn't easy, but thanks to the cinematography from Brett Jutkiewicz and the production design not only captures the time period but helps elevate the horror. Another factor is the good use of effects depicting the ghosts that help Finney and the minimal score from Mark Korven. One great factor that makes this film so great is its slow, yet well executed pacing thanks to Frederic Thoraval's cinematography. While horror is often a genre often not well respected due to being cheap and quick to make, The Black Phone is proof that the genre isn't just constant jump scares. Over all: 100%

2022 top list so far:

1. Top Gun: Maverick

2. The Black Phone

3. The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent

4. The Northman

5. The Batman

6. Lightyear

7. Dog

8. Everything Everywhere All at Once

9. X 2022

10. Scream 2022

11. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

12. Jurassic World: Dominion

13. Sonic the Hedgehog 2

14. Uncharted

Superman vs. Predator

When you get crossovers between different franchises, the one thing many expect is that the characters will fight each other for whatever reason. So, having a comic titled Superman vs. Predator one may think it will just be that, but it may not be as clear as so many expect. DC's Man of Steel goes to the jungles of Central America to help Lois and S.T.A.R. Labs scientists who have found an alien ship, belonging to then Dark Horse owned Predator. Investigating the ship causes Superman's powers to weaken due to an unknown virus, which doesn't help when he, Lois, and the scientists stumble upon a eugenics terrorist group who plan to use the Predator's technology to kill anyone with genetic disorders. Struggling against the terrorists and even the Predator, Superman convinces the alien hunter to help him defeat the group as they stole its technology. The comic is really fun to read and intelligently doesn't just give us constant fighting between the two iconic characters. It treats the history and mythology, as well as the reader, with respect but still does fan service in a way that feels natural. Writer David Michelinie does such a fantastic job at getting the characters right while making the writing so engaging. He gives the right amount and perfect balance between narration and the dialogue that the characters' conversations have. The combined work from Alex Maleev and Matt Hollingsworth, in terms of the art, coloring, and inking is really good. Coloring is bleak, but in such a way that pops out very well, while the characters are finely detailed, though a few shots are a bit murky. Crossovers will always be my favorite type of story concept, and Superman vs. Predator is a great example as to why. Over all: 100%

Top list so far for 3rd set of comics:
1. The Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 2 #36

2. Superman: Secret Identity #1 (of 4)

3. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers FCBD 2018 Shattered Grid Special

4. Countdown to Infinite Crisis #1

5. Fantastic Four: Reckoning War Alpha #1

6. Superman vs. Predator

7. Savage Avengers (2019-) #1

8. Action Comics Vol. 1 #800

9. Aliens: Dead Orbit #1

10. DC First: Flash/Superman #1

11. Aliens: Defiance #1

12. Iron Man (2020-) #1

13. Free Comic Book Day 2018: Riverdale

14. Free Comic Book Day 2018: 2000 A.D. Regened

15. DC Universe: Legacies #1

16. Free Comic Book Day 2017 I Hate Image

17. Shang-Chi (2020-2021) #1 (of 5): Brothers & Sisters Part One

18. Champions (2020-) #1

19. Infinite Frontier (2021) #0

20. Green Lantern Vol. 2 #76

21. DC Retroactive: Green Lantern - The 70s #1

22. Star Wars: Doctor Aphra (2020-) #1
23. Showcase (1956-1978) #17
24. Tintin in the Land of the Soviets

25. Werewolf By Night (2020-) #1 (of 4)

26. Free Comic Book Day: Bongo Comics Free For All 2018
27. Free Comic Book Day 2017: Riverdale
28. Marvel Comics (1939) #1

Top 10 New Shows and Season Premieres of 2021

New Shows:

1. Them

2. The Problem with Jon Stewart

3. Made for Love

4. The Underground Railroad

5. Reservation Dogs

6. Squid Game

7. Kevin Can F**k Himself

8. CSI: Vegas

9. Hawkeye

10. Yellowjackets

Honorable Mentions:

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier

Maid

The White Lotus

Schmigadoon!

Loki

The Shrink Next Door

Chucky

Rutherford Falls

WandaVision

Resident Alien

Brand New Cherry Flavor

American Horror Stories

Maya and the Three

Only Murders in the Building

Star Wars: Visions

Just Beyond

Scenes from a Marriage 2021

Superman & Lois

The Story of Late Night

Star Wars: The Bad Batch

Arcane

What If…?

MacGruber

Marvel Studios: Assembled

Invincible

The Center Seat: 55 Years of Star Trek

Y: The Last Man

Foundation

Young Rock

Ghosts 2021

The Mysterious Benedict Society

Physical

Saturday Morning All Star Hits!

Masters of the Universe: Revelation

The Watch

Blade Runner: Black Lotus

Monsters at Work

Midnight Mass

Ordinary Joe

Hit-Monkey

The Serpent

History of Swear Words

iCarly 2021

The Ghost and Molly McGee

Kenan

Nine Perfect Strangers

Season Premieres:

1. Rick and Morty fifth season premiere-Mort Dinner Rick Andre

2. Creepshow second season premiere-Model Kid/Public Television Of The Dead

3. Infinity Train Book Four: Duet premiere-The Twin Tapes

4. Doctor Who series 13 premiere-Flux: The Halloween Apocalypse

5. Fear the Walking Dead seventh season premiere-The Beacon

6. Manifest third season premiere-Tailfin

7. Impeachment: American Crime Story premiere-Exiles

8. 9-1-1 fifth season premiere-Panic

9. What We Do in the Shadows third season premiere-The Prisoner

10. American Masters 35th season premiere-How It Feels To Be Free

Honorable Mentions:

Two Sentence Horror Stories second season premiere-Bag Man

Stargirl second season premiere-Summer School: Chapter One

The Walking Dead eleventh season premiere-Acheron: Part I

The Rookie fourth season premiere-Life and Death

Miracle Workers: Oregon Trail premiere-Hittin' The Trail

Legends of Tomorrow seventh season premiere-The Bullet Blondes

Disenchantment second season premiere-Subterranean Homesick Blues

The Flash 2014 eighth season premiere-Armageddon, Part 1

The Rookie third season premiere-Consequences

Brooklyn Nine-Nine eighth season premiere-The Good Ones

Supergirl sixth season premiere-Rebirth

Are You Afraid of the Dark? 2019: Curse of the Shadows premiere-The Tale of the Haunted Woods

Batwoman second season premiere-Whatever Happened to Kate Kane

Locke & Key second season premiere-The Premiere

NCIS 19th season premiere-Blood in the Water

The Great second season premiere-Head It's Me

Lucifer sixth season premiere-Nothing Ever Changes Around Here

The Last O.G. fourth season premiere-Staying Alive

The Sinner fourth season premiere-Part I

Power Rangers Dino Fury premiere-Destination Dinohenge

Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist second season premiere-Zoey's Extraordinary Return

American Horror Story: Double Feature premiere-Cape Fear

Black Lightning fourth season premiere-The Book of Reconstruction: Chapter One: Collateral Damage

Solar Opposites second season premiere-The Sacred Non-repeating Number

Castlevania fourth season premiere-Murder Wakes It Up

Carmen Sandiego fourth season premiere-The Beijing Bullion Caper

Grace and Frankie seventh season premiere-The Roomies

Snowpiercer second season premiere-The Time of Two Engines

Eli Roth's History of Horror third season premiere-Sequels That Don't Suck

On My Block fourth season premiere-Chapter Twenty-Nine

Final Space third season premiere-...And Into The Fire

Nancy Drew third season premiere-The Warning of the Frozen Heart

Selena: The Series second season premiere-Como la Flor

Nancy Drew second season premiere-The Search for the Midnight Wraith

Tiger King: Tiger King 2 premiere-Beg Your Pardon

Ted Lasso second season premiere-Goodbye Earl

Kenan second season premiere-Christmas Show

Robot Chicken eleventh season premiere-May Cause a Whole Lotta Scabs

High School Musical: The Musical: The Series second season premiere-New Year's Eve

Big Mouth fifth season premiere-No Nut November

Crossing Swords second season premiere-Shamrock Shakedown

The Good Doctor fifth season premiere-New Beginnings

The Moodys second season premiere-Episode 201

Lightyear

Pixar's first theatrical release since Onward in early 2020, Lightyear is the movie that inspired the Buzz Lightyear toys in the Toy Story films and from which Andy was highly inspired by to get his own Buzz action figure. Chris Evans takes over from Tim Allen as this Buzz scouts the area of a new planet that his Star Command exploration vessel has landed in. When he and other officers, including his best friend Alisha, are attacked, their attempt to escape causes the vessel to crash and trap the rest of its inhabitants to make a new home in this planet until they figure out a way off. Feeling guilty over these events, Buzz volunteers as a pilot to test out experimental fuel that each time causes him to travel forwards two years in the future. Due to still feeling guilty and obsessed with his mission of finding a way home, Buzz keeps experimenting with the fuel to the point that he witnesses Alisha aging the more he flies out until she dies during one of his flights. With the help of a robotic cat assigned to help him, named Sox, Buzz figures out the right way to use the fuel and despite this last test flight being a better success than before, it caused him to return over twenty years later. When he lands back however, Buzz finds the colony under attack from a robot army led by the mysterious Zurg. With the help of Alisha's granddaughter Izzy and other recruits, they must figure out how to save the colony and defeat Zurg's robots. The story itself may not be entirely new, but being a movie that is apparently from the 90s a lot of that familiarity makes sense. Angus MacLane and Jason Headley's writing has subtle touches that call back to certain story tropes from other films of that era. I do feel that much of it does feel slow at times and some jokes don't land as much, but one thing it does right is the characters and how well written they are. Another strong aspect is the twist over Zurg's identity and how that fits into Buzz's character arc throughout the film. Alongside Evans, you also get strong and fun vocal performances from Keke Palmer, Taika Waititi, James Brolin, and Uzo Aduba. While Pixar's work is always great, this has definitely been some of their strongest work that they've ever done. So much of the background feels so real and the characters are all highly detailed, while the lighting is exquisite. Unlike the Toy Story films, this has Michael Giacchino composing instead of Randy Newman, and his work definitely has a lot of inspiration from other big sci-fi franchises like Star Wars but still being its own. Lightyear is a fun adventure that while not having the most original story ever, doesn't mean it doesn't tell it in its own unique way. Over all: 100%

2022 top list so far:

1. Top Gun: Maverick

2. The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent

3. The Northman

4. The Batman

5. Lightyear

6. Dog

7. Everything Everywhere All at Once

8. X 2022

9. Scream 2022

10. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

11. Jurassic World: Dominion

12. Sonic the Hedgehog 2

13. Uncharted