Best of 2023 - Movies

This week I'll be doing my "Best Of" lists. As I do every year, I will do my personal top 5 picks in movies, music, television, podcasts and sports. I enjoy doing these. I like to go back and see other people's lists and see if I agree or disagree. It's also a good way to reflect on the year in pop culture for me, and to see what I have missed and need to catch up on over the next few months. I'm going to start with my top 5 movies of 2023.

Before I get into my list it needs to be said that I have not yet seen "Oppenheimer", "Poor Things", "The Holdovers" and many other movies I am excited to see. I have two young kids involved in many after school activities, so getting to the movies is a tough one for me. Just keep that in mind.

Coming in at number 5 for me in 2023 is "Cocaine Bear". This movie has a senseless and, for lack of a better word, stupid plot. A wild bear ingests some cocaine that has fallen out of a plane and goes on a rampage. And I loved every second of this movie. I was howling at some of the things I saw. This movie is hilarious. It is also incredibly gory. This movie has some of the most gruesome kills that I have ever seen in a movie. The actors are clearly having a good time, led by Kerri Russell who is magnetic. The story, as I said, is so dumb, but the writers and actors took it all in stride and really made something entertaining, funny, gory and an absolute blast. I did watch it on Peacock, but I kind of wished I got out to the theater to see it. This deserves to be seen on a big screen. "Cocaine Bear" is one of the funnest movies that came out all year.

At number 4 I have "M3GAN". Here we have another gruesome and gory movie. What does that say about me? That is for another day I guess. "M3GAN" is "Robocop" for a new generation. The doll of M3GAN is meant to be a comfort to a girl who loses her folks to a car accident at the beginning of the movie. M3GAN is not that. She is a murderous doll who will stop at nothing to protect this young girl. At times I sided with the doll. Other times, the things she did were horrendous. But the movie kept my attention. The dance that the doll does coming out of an elevator has become very viral and very big in pop culture. Allison Williams continues to prove time and again how good of an actor she can be with proper material. The young girl that plays Williams' niece does a great job. But this movie is all about the idea of AI becoming more destructive than good and how we try to come to grips with all of that. I was astounded that a movie like this could make me think of things like AI and all the good and bad it could bring. "M3GAN" is a total blast and I have watched it way more than once since it came to streaming.

At number 3 I have "John Wick: Chapter 4". These movies continue to get bigger, more and more violent, more and more outrageous and longer and longer. And I am totally here for it. "JW4" is an achievement in non-stop action in a nearly 3 hour movie. There are so many beautifully violent choreographed action scenes that come at you relentlessly. This movie is long, the longest in the series to date, but it never drags. There is always something to keep your attention. They find ways to keep the story moving from one movie to the next. I cannot imagine they are going to stop anytime soon because these movies keep adding characters and keep having John Wick stick around. Keanu Reeves is doing some of the best work of his career with this character. It is a perfect fit for him. I cannot wait for the next chapter to come out and see where they go from here. "John Wick" is the best action series that has come out in a long time. I hope they keep making these and they keep making each one longer and longer.

At number 2 I have "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse". I don't know how they do it, but these are the coolest looking movies I have ever watched. I feel like it is watching a comic book come to life. The way they weave in multiverses is the best way to do it. You need to be animated for all of this to make any kind of sense, and the writers here are at the top of their game. The way they have introduced us to multiple Miles Morales' is an achievement unto itself. I don't even care that the movie ends on a major cliffhanger. That just means I get to see another one of these exceptional movies. I do have superhero fatigue, but not with the "Spider Verse" movies. These movies tell the best, and most intriguing superhero stories. Give me more and more of these, just like "John Wick".

Finally, at number 1 I have "Barbie". There is no better movie that came out this year. "Barbie" is an instant classic. To take a toy and make a movie this profound and intriguing, Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach are true geniuses. Gerwig's idea for this movie was perfect and no one else could have done what she did with this movie. She made a movie about Barbie that is going to go down in history as an all time classic. Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling need to be considered for Oscars. So does America Ferrera. To give these famous Barbies and Kens faces, like Issa Rae and Simu Liu, was such a wonderful idea. My wife and I took our kids to see it and they both seemed to have a good time. I have not stopped humming "I'm Just Ken" since I saw this movie this summer. I will think about random scenes daily and laugh or contemplate my life. Margot Robbie gave a masterclass in making this plastic doll come to life. I had super high expectations before seeing this movie and it well surpassed any of those with flying colors. "Barbie" is an achievement unlike any other on this, or anyone else's best of 2023 list. It was always going to be "Barbie" for me, I just had to see it and see it on a big screen. It is now streaming, so if you haven't seen it yet, rectify that and watch it instantly. You will be blown away.

Those are my top 5 movies of 2023. Come back tomorrow for my top 5 albums/music I discovered, or rediscovered this year. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Ty Watches “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse”

Over the weekend I took my kids to see “Across the Spider-Verse”. It was the only movie the three of us could agree on and my wife had a friend over so we wanted to go out.

I loved the first movie in this series. I think it’s the best “Spider Man” movie to date. The way they shot it was so cool and unique. It was filmed to look like a moving comic book. It was amazing to see. That happened with this movie as well, and they even pushed a little further. This movie had saturating colors within scenes. There was more writing of movement. You’d see stuff like “ZIP” on the screen when they were slinging webs. It was like the old “Batman” show, but way, way, way cooler. There were even moments of what looked like comic book panels in this movie. I was sitting in my chair in the theater and thinking how cool the whole thing looked. It is a moving work of art. It’s astounding.

The first movie has great voice acting. It’s quite the cast. This movie adds on to that, and then some. We have actors like Issa Rae, Oscar Isaac, Jason Schwartzman, Daniel Kaluuya, Jack Quaid, Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone and so many more. Some of these people appeared in very minor role. You add all that to the first movie’s cast, people like Hailee Steinfeld, Brian Tyree Henry, Mahershala Ali, Luna Lauren Velez and Shameik Moore, this is a real stellar cast. And they all crush their roles. You fully buy into the voice acting.

The first movie does a great job of giving us another origin story, but in a cool, interesting and different way. This movie adds on to that while adding seemingly endless Spider People. There are a ton of Spider People in this movie, and we get quick backstories with the important ones. And the first movie gave us some excellent villains, a great story and even a possible love story. Again, this movie pushes all of that further. Miles Morales and Spider Gwen clearly like one another. They have a web slinging type of date in this one. Schwartzman was excellent as The Spot, who looks to be a terrifying villain. Oscar Isaac brings a certain gravitas to his character, and I don’t know if I like him at all.

What makes this movie work, what makes it so enjoyable, besides the way it’s filmed, I am fully in on the main story. I’m invested. I cannot wait to see the third installment. This movie ends on a massive cliffhanger, but I’m not mad about it. I simply cannot wait to see where they go from here.

These “Spider Man” movies work because they’re so cool to look at. It helps that the writing is amazing. It helps that the animation is next level. It helps that the cast is giving their all. And it helps that the movie is good, and cool. “Across the Spider-Verse” may be the best movie of the year. It’s incredible and fun and a total work of art. I cannot recommend this movie enough. My son and I were thrilled. It kept my daughter’s attention. This movie rules. Go see it.


Ty