Movie Monday: My Favorites of 2023

Okay- I've seen about 40 movies that were released this year... and of those 40 movies I saw 22 in theaters... and this has been one of my favorite years for movies. I'm going to do my top movies and I'll have some categories also. This is not in any particular order- but Barbie is probably number 1.

Barbie

Okay some movies just kind of change you and for me... Barbie was kind of that movie. It's okay to be whatever woman or man that you want to be... you don't have to just follow the norms or follow what you think people want you to do. That's not really my main takeaway from the movie or the main message... but because I begged my boss to take off the day Barbie and Oppenheimer were released- I have been the Barbie of my work... and I LOVE that... and it's just more fun that way! I don't have any shame in it or anything. I even watched this movie with my family for my family birthday party and THAT was really fun too.

Oppenheimer

I can't not put these two movies together right? I saw Oppenheimer before I saw Barbie the day it came out... and I'm glad I saw it in that order... I watched Oppenheimer with my parents- they really liked it. My boyfriend and I could not stop talking about it after... it was really a great movie!

John Wick Chapter 4

I heard this was the best action movie of all time before I saw it... and it definitely was sort of the perfect action movie. This was the best movie of the year for me for a really long time... overall I just really liked it. It was an exciting plot with some really great new characters as well as all the best old characters... I just really loved it!

Saltburn

I just watched this movie today at noon and I want to watch it again already now that I know the end of it. I had kind of forgotten what the movie was about and I thought it was just a psychological thriller about a regular guy that goes to an insanely wealthy family's house for Summer Vacation... it's more than that and there's a lot to this movie in general. The soundtrack was good, the acting was good... this was just a ride I was not expecting.

Talk To Me

This was probably one of the scariest movies I've ever seen and I really really enjoyed watching it. It all kind of makes sense too and seems very much like something that could happen... so I really like that!

The Blackening

I had a big smile on my face watching this one. The friend group in this is SO RELATABLE its not even funny. We literally just kept calling one character the name of a friend of mine because that was her role in the group for sure. This one was a little bit predictable but it was a fun movie all in all.

Spider Man: Across The Spider Verse

This was so good! Any normal year- this would be my top favorite movie of the year... it still might be my favorite movie of the year like... slightly under Barbie but... this was great. It was really exciting and fun to watch. And the animation in this was even better than the first one in a lot of parts.

Honorable Mentions

My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3

Okay this isn't really that good of a movie at all... but I still had a lot of fun watching this and I was highly anticipating this one as I am a massive fan of the My Big Fat Greek Wedding movies. It was also released the same weekend as a Greek Festival in my area so that was a perfect Big Fat Greek Weekend!

Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning Part 1

Okay so this almost made the top list for me... but it's more of an honorable mention. This was a really exciting movie and it was worth seeing in theaters even though it was a very long movie... I loved it. I loved the stunts and the villain and the new characters were all great.

The Little Mermaid

I really liked seeing Halle as The Little Mermaid. This was a really fun movie and probably the best Disney Live Action so far. There were some parts that weren't the best but mostly- I love this one!

The Return of The Raunchy Comedy

Joy Ride

I'm really glad that we had a return of the raunchy comedy with movies like this and No Hard Feelings. Strays was also released but I didn't see that one yet- and I'm not sure that one's for me. Joy ride was really really funny though... and there were a lot of "the big scene" moments that they have in those types of comedies... so much so I can't really even pick a favorite. I wish this movie got more love- I feel like The Sound Of Freedom overshadowed this in the box office a lot... and I don't think it deserved it.

Animated Movies

This was a great year for animated movies! Not just Across the Spiderverse... but there were tons of fun ones. I saw The Super Mario Brothers Movie with a group of my boyfriend and my friends and that was really fun. I also really liked Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem. There was just something really fun about it and I loved April O'Neal particularly in this movie. And Elemental was better than I thought it was going to be and I actually sort of saw it twice.

Horror Movies

I don't know if this year was the best year for horror movies but I did really like M3gan, Scream VI, and Saw X. I'm sad that I don't think there will be another Scream movie for a while and I don't think I would watch any more if Spyglass is producing it- but the way Scream 6 ended I think was great and if that's the last scream movie I ever watch that's fine with me. It was a good one.

M3gan was also the first movie released in 2023 so it kind of set the standard for the silly and fun releases and some of the funny characters. This was another horror movie that left me smiling and laughing in the movie... and I think the humor in the movie actually elevated the horror which was awesome.

The Rise and Fall of Marvel

So while this wasn't the best year for Marvel overall- I think my favorite Marvel movie in a long time was released this year and that is Guardians of The Galaxy Volume 3. I really liked this movie- it was fun and funny and a good ending for the characters. It really felt like Rocket and Drax were just goners in this movie but they were not. It was great!

Other fun movies

Dungeons and Dragons was a really fun movie and I liked Haunted Mansion but I think it could have been better if there was less product placement.

Okay- That's everything! Happy New Year everyone! Here's to a great 2024 and next week... I will talk about the worst movies!

Bye!

-Shannon