The Book Of Clarence

A down-on-his-luck man struggles to find a better life for his family while fighting to free himself of debt. Captivated by the power and glory of the rising Messiah, he risks everything to carve his own path to a divine life, ultimately discovering that the redemptive power of belief may be his only way out.  

Another movie that I really liked the premise of but the pacing and how it played out kind of lost the hook.  It kept going back and forth between being a satirical comedy and a character drama.   This reminded me alot of a bit coming off of the show Atlanta where it might have been too smart for its own good to fully deliver.

I would lukewarmly recommend this movie only because of the spiritual satire that I found kind of entertaining.   Otherwise, its not a bad movie but its not great either.

I.S.S.

Tensions flare in the near future aboard the International Space Station when a worldwide conflict breaks out on Earth. Soon, the U.S. and Russian astronauts each receive orders from the ground: take control of the station by any means necessary.

This was actually a really good premise and the movie was actually really good as it started to play out and stuff but it didn't really pay off after that.   The pacing kind of went eh and the hook that they had let up.  Kind of disappointing because it actually had a lot of good supporting actors and actresses in it that you recognize from other shows and movies but have no clue what their name is.

I would lukewarmly recommend this movie.  It's not a bad watch.  They just kind of dropped the ball as the movie went on from a really interesting premise.

Mean Girls

New student Cady Heron gets welcomed into the top of the social food chain by an elite group of popular girls called the Plastics, ruled by the conniving queen bee Regina George. However, when Cady makes the major misstep of falling for Regina's ex-boyfriend, she soon finds herself caught in their crosshairs.

Was always a fan of the original movie.  Was a fan of the musical.   So was kind of psyched to see the movie version of the musical for a whole new generation.  Was a little nervous that they went out of their way to not advertise it as a musical but ended up loving the movie.  There were great shout outs to the originals.  The songs from the musical translated really well in the movie.  The new crew of actors were great and seeing it in a sold out nostalgia enjoying audience made it a pretty fun experience.

I would definitely recommend people checking this movie out.  It was a very fun watch with some huge laughs.

The Beekeeper

One man's brutal campaign for vengeance takes on national stakes after it's revealed he's a former operative of a powerful and clandestine organization known as Beekeepers.

The Beekeeper ……… Transporter 32 ……….. Jason Statham 71.   Doesn’t really matter what you call this.  It’s just another Statham movie without The Meg.  Fights for the rights of a victim friend.  Kick kick kick punch punch punch.  Roll credits.  You see it because of the mindless escape and you forget about it twenty minutes later.

If you like his repetitive movies check it out.  It’s more of the same.  If you don’t why would you start now?  

Night Swim

Forced into early retirement by a degenerative illness, former baseball player Ray Waller moves into a new house with his wife and two children. He hopes that the backyard swimming pool will be fun for the kids and provide physical therapy for himself. However, a dark secret from the home's past soon unleashes a malevolent force that drags the family into the depths of inescapable terror.

This movie was trash.  Complete and total trash.  No scares.  No suspense.  A textbook lame January horror movie that is a waste of 90 minutes.

I wouldn’t recommend anyone bothering with this.  Ever.

American Fiction

Monk is a frustrated novelist who's fed up with the establishment that profits from Black entertainment that relies on tired and offensive tropes. To prove his point, he uses a pen name to write an outlandish Black book of his own, a book that propels him to the heart of hypocrisy and the madness he claims to disdain.

The social commentary of this movie was priceless.  Constantly made you go back and forth between laughing and being like that is so messed up.  The evolution of how it played out was also a great hook and made this movie a great watch.

I would definitely recommend people checking this out.  It was a very enjoyable well written movie.

The Ten Best Movies Of 2023

 Honorable Mention - Air

For a movie about a sneaker contract to be this entertaining and hook you so much is very, very impressive.  You find yourself hanging on with all sorts of emotions to what literally amounts to the signing of a sneaker sponsorship.

10 - The Creator

I am a huge fan of sci-fi done well.  When they take you to the alternate world that they have created and make you feel like it could actually be a thing then I am all in.  This movie did this very well and solidified Gareth Edwards as an awesome sci-fi director.

9 - Sound Of Freedom

Take out all the politics surrounding this movie and the people that made it and just watch it and this is an awesome movie and very well done.  The child actors were incredible.  This movie was definitely helped by the personal story of seeing it that even further solidified it as a movie I will never forget.

8 - Wonka

I was beyond suspect about this movie because of what the original has meant to me.  This movie did an excellent job of capturing the same whimsy and imagination of the first one.   I thoroughly enjoyed this.

7 - Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part 1

It's a shame that this movie got killed box office wise by the whole Barbienhopper thing because it really was an awesome movie and another great entry in the franchise.  Like if you enjoy action movies this movie was easily the best action of the year.  

6 - Guardians Of The Galaxy Volume 3

This was easily Marvel's best movie post Endgame so far.  It was a very fitting end to the trilogy and this absurd group of characters that we have grown to love.  I really hope James Gunn can carry this magic over to the DCEU and make it worthy rival to what Marvel was for the first 10 years.

5 - Killers Of The Flower Moon

I wish that this movie was not so crazy long but it was a very well done movie across the board.  This should easily be an awards season frontrunner on every level.  

4 - The Boys In The Boat

A very well done sports underdog movie that has you cheering throughout the movie and invested in pretty much every character.

3 - Leave The World Behind

This was a Netflix movie that was a real thinker with excellent social commentary.  Lots of people were annoyed by the ending but I honestly thought that was the most brilliant part of it.   Made me laugh out loud at myself.

2 - Cocaine Bear

This movie will likely go down as the best guilty pleasure movie ever.  I remember seeing the trailer and being like there is no way this is a thing.   I saw this movie twice in theaters and five times overall and laugh my ass off every time.   Few things can be more entertaining then when a movie doesn't take itself to seriously and really embraces the ridiculousness.

1 - Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse

There really was no contest of this movie as the best one for me this year.   This movie built amazingly on the awesome original.  The story is genius and keeps you hanging on every scene so much that you forget that you are watching an animated movie.  

The Ten Worst Movies Of 2023

 Dishonorable Mention - The Marvels

While it didn't make the 10 worst movies and honestly wasn't as close as others, this was another trainwreck of a movie for Marvel post-Endgame that has become incredibly concerning.  This movie was beyond flawed in sooooooo many ways and they really need to right the ship asap.

10 - 65

What the hell was this.  A barely 90 minute movie with little to no story where Adam Driver crashes a spaceship back in time where the dinosaurs are?   Why?   Who was asking for this movie?

9 - Magic Mike's Last Dance

A - How did this franchise end up as a trilogy?   B - How did they think that making a movie that was about as sexy as watching paint dry be a good idea?   This was such a mailed in money grab.   

8 - Thanksgiving

A serial killer pilgrim terrifies a town after a Black Friday Walmart incident from the previous year.   Read that again.  That was the movie.   Thanksgiving was always missing its own serial killer and luckily we found it in 2023.

7 - Winnie the Pooh: Blood And Honey

I'm still having a hard time accepting that this actually happened.  Even more alarming is that this might become a thing with other children's fables being turned into horror movies.  REALLY!?!?   Such total trash.

6 - Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom

And the DCEU as we knew it comes to an end with the biggest dud thud ever.  LOL!   This was so bad on so many levels and it was like they knew it.  Such a waste of time and money.   Honestly should have just owned that is was pointless and released it on Max instead.

5 - Meg 2: The Trench

How do you mess up such an obvious guilty pleasure movie?   The first one was great because it owned what it was.  This one tried for like a story and showed little to no Meg until like the last 1/3 of the movie.  Nobody is putting this on to watch Jason Stratham act.  Trust me.

4 - Expendables 4

Come on!  This is up to number 4?  Stop it!  This was completely a direct to blu ray kind of movie that got a theatrical release.  No clue why.  Between covid and the two writer strikes these are the kind of movies that break through.  Yuck!

3 - Beau Is Afraid

This is one of two movies that will show up on most movie critics best movies of 2023 lists but is on my worst.  This movie was THREE HOURS LONG.  I made it about 1/3 through the movie being beyond bored an not remotely understanding what was supposed to be so great about it.   Hate movies like this.

2 - Asteroid City

Here is the other movie that will show up on several critics top 10 lists.  I keep trying with Paul Anderson movies.  I want to like them.  The casts are always incredible because everyone wants to work with this guy but the movies are just babbling garbage to me.  So annoying.  

1 - Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts

My hatred of the Transformers franchise after the absolutely amazing original one is very well documented.  I swore off going to see them any more after the last one.  Only saw this one because of the movie pass thing I have.  Once a Transformer puked nuts and bolts I was out.  I really wish this franchise would die so bad.