Monday, July 3, 2023

2023 in Movies: Mid-Year Review

Another 6 months worth of new movies have been consumed and for now at least, the 2023 cinematic year is shaping up to be pretty damn good. Multiple franchises (John Wick, Guardians of the Galaxy) have come to what at least appears to be an end in triumphant fashion. A24 unleashed another excellent early-awards contender (Past Lives) into the world that could net them another slew of gold trophies for a 2nd consecutive year. More films pivoted from the black hole of streaming releases to the bright lights of theatrical (Evil Dead Rise, Air, The Boogeyman, Magic Mike's Last Dance, 80 for Brady, House Party), which is a great sign for the industry moving forward. Gerard Butler got to do Gerard Butler things on the big screen twice (Plane, Kandahar) before Memorial Day. Mia Goth was provided with another golden opportunity to further cement her status as a modern horror icon with a maniacal yet regularly hilarious turn in Brandon Cronenberg's Infinity Pool. Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves boggled the minds of the many people out there that believed D&D was a property that couldn't be successfully adapted to a narrative format. If the massive second half slate that is set to include titles like Dune: Part II, Killers of the Flower Moon, Barbie, Oppenheimer and The Killer can deliver, we could be looking at the best year of the decade so far.  Here is the full ranking of every movie I've seen so far in 2023 from worst to best along with a fairly large collection of mid-year awards/accolades.

January-June Titles I Still Need to Watch:

BlackBerry

Boston Strangler

Chevalier 

Enys Men

Every Body

Flamin' Hot 

Inside

Kill Booksoon

Little Richard: I Am Everything  

The Machine

Master Gardener

The Mother

Nimona

The Old Way

Palm Trees and Power Lines

Quasi 

Reality

Shin Kamen Rider

Shooting Stars

Showing Up

Sick 

Sick of Myself

Smoking Causes Coughing

Somewhere in Queens 

The Starling Girl

The Super Mario Bros. Movie 

To Catch a Killer


57.Fool's Paradise (D)

56.Your Place or Mine (D+)

55.Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (D+)

54.Hypnotic (C-)

53.Polite Society (C-)

52.Asteroid City (C-)

51.Murder Mystery 2 (C)

50.The Flash (C)

49.White Men Can't Jump (C)

48.House Party (C)

47.80 for Brady (C)

46.Sisu (C+)

45.Shotgun Wedding (C+)

44.You People (B-)

43.65 (B-)

42.We Have a Ghost  (B-)

41.Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (B-)

40.Elemental (B-)

39.Shazam!: Fury of the Gods (B-)

38.The Pope's Exorcist (B-)

37.Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (B-)

36.The Wrath of Becky (B-)

35.Champions (B-)

34.Plane (B-)

33.Somebody I Used to Know (B)

32.You Hurt My Feelings (B)

31.Kandahar (B)

30.Beau is Afraid (B)

29.The Blackening (B)

28.Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre (B)

27.The Boogeyman (B)

26.Magic Mike's Last Dance (B)

25.Knock at the Cabin (B)

24.M3GAN (B)

23.How to Blow Up a Pipeline (B)

22.Of an Age (B)

21.Are You There God? It's Me, Margret. (B)

20.Renfield (B)

19.Rye Lane (B)

18.Evil Dead Rise (B)

17.Infinity Pool (B)

16.The Covenant (B)

15.Missing (B)

14.Sanctuary (B+)

13.Fast X (B+)

12.No Hard Feelings (B+)

11.A Thousand and One (B+)

10.Extraction 2 (B+)

9.Air (B+)

8.Scream VI (B+)

7.Cocaine Bear (B+)

6.Past Lives (B+)

5.Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (B+)

4.Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (A-)

3.Creed III (A)

2.Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3 (A)

1.John Wick: Chapter 4 (A)

Awards:

Top Movie: John Wick: Chapter 4  

Top Director: Chad Stahelski, John Wick: Chapter 4

Top Lead Performance (Male): Joaquin Phoenix, Beau is Afraid 

Top Lead Performance (Female): Teyana Taylor, A Thousand and One

Top Supporting Performance (Male): Chris Messina, Air 

Top Supporting Performance (Female): Rachel McAdams, Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret 

Top Breakthrough Performance: Teyana Taylor, A Thousand and One 

Top Script: Celine Song, Past Lives

Top Cinematography: Dan Laustsen, John Wick: Chapter 4 

Top Score: Daniel Pemberton, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse 

Top Editing: Jessica Baclesse and Tyler Nelson, Creed III 

Top Visual Effects: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3 

Top Sound: Creed III 

Top Villain: Dante Reyes (Jason Momoa), Fast X  

Worst Villain: General Zod (Michael Shannon), The Flash

Best Performance in a Bad Movie: Michelle Pfeiffer, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania 

Wort Performance in a Good Movie: Dermot Mulroney, Scream VI   

Top Piece of Overracting: Mia Goth, Infinity Pool 

Worst Piece of Overracting: Nimra Bucha, Polite Society  

Top Action Sequence: "Arc de Triomphe chase/fight", John Wick: Chapter 4

Worst Action Sequence: "Final Ant-Man vs. Kang Fight", Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

Movie I'm Most Excited to See in The Second Half of 2023: The Killer  

Top Performances:

1.Teyana Taylor, A Thousand and One

2.Margaret Qualley, Sanctuary

3.Greta Lee, Past Lives

4.Joaquin Phoenix, Beau is Afraid

5.Jennifer Lawrence, No Hard Feelings

6.Tee Yoo, Past Lives

7.Mia Goth, Infinity Pool

8.Chris Messina, Air

9.Jason Momoa, Fast X  

10.Donnie Yen, John Wick: Chapter 4   

Most Underrated:

1.Cocaine Bear

2.A Thousand and One

3.Fast X 

Most Overrated:

1.Asteroid City

2.Polite Society

3.Sisu

Biggest Surprises:

1.Missing

2.Evil Dead Rise

3.Rye Lane

Biggest Letdowns:

1.Hypnotic

2.Fool's Paradise 

3.Sisu 

Top Acting Ensembles:

1.Past Lives

2.Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3 

3.John Wick: Chapter 4 

4.Air

5.Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves 

Top Miscellaneous Great Things I Didn't Mention Above:

1.The high volume of incredible practical effects and makeup in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3 and Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.

2.The goofy scenery-chewing from Russell Crowe that helped make The Pope's Exorcist more than just another generic exorcism movie.

3.The electrifying chase scenes in Scream VI.

4.The pristine execution of the 21-minute single shot action sequence in Extraction 2.

5.The beautiful sight of watching Eddie Murphy actually put effort into a performance in You People.

6.The perfect use of Mariah Carey's "Always Be My Baby" in Beau is Afraid   

7.The non-stop hilarity of the gazebo scene in Cocaine Bear

8.The Deadite one-liners in Evil Dead Rise.

9.The top-notch splatter hijinks and turn from Nicolas Cage as Dracula in Renfield.

10.The dynamism, elaborate scope and impeccable choreography of the fight scenes in John Wick: Chapter 4.    

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