Best of 2023
Here’s my favorites of the year. Movies, TV, Music, Books,
50. Priscilla - still in theaters
49. Afire - Mubi
48. How to Blow Up a Pipeline - Hulu
47. Godzilla Minus One - still in theaters
46. El Conde - Netflix
45. The Starling Girl - showtime/paramount plus
44. No Hard Feelings - Netflix
43. Maestro - Netflix
42. May December - Netflix
41. Magic Mike’s Last Dance - Max
40. Huesera The Bone Woman - AMC+
39. De Humani Corporis Fabrica - Amazon Prime
38. Godland - Criterion Channel
37. The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar/Other Wes Anderson Shorts - Netflix
36. The Covenant - Amazon Prime
35. You Hurt My Feelings - VOD
34. Saltburn - Amazon Prime
33. Ferrari - still in theaters
32. Knock at the Cabin - VOD
31. Rye Lane - Hulu
30. Passages - Mubi
29. When Evil Lurks - AMC+
28. A Thousand and One - Amazon Prime
27. Theater Camp - Hulu
26. Barbie - Max
25. Other People’s Children - Amazon Prime
24. The Burial - Amazon Prime
23. Infinity Pool - Hulu
22. The Five Devils - Mubi
21. Master Gardener - Hulu
20. To Catch a Killer - Hulu
19. Showing Up - Showtime/Paramount Plus
18. Smoking Causes Coughing - Hulu
17. John Wick: Chapter 4 - Starz
16. Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1 - VOD
15. The Eight Mountains - Criterion Channel
14. Full Time - Amazon Prime
13. Blackberry - AMC+
12. The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial - Showtime/Paramount Plus
11. American Fiction - still in theaters
10. The Boy and the Heron - still in theaters
9. Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret - Starz
8. Killers of the Flower Moon - still in theaters, soon to be AppleTV+
7. Anatomy of a Fall - still in theaters
6. Poor Things - still in theaters
5. Oppenheimer - VOD
4. Beau if Afraid - showtime/paramount plus
3. The Killer - Netflix
2. The Holdovers - Peacock
Asteroid City - Amazon Prime
TV
My favorite TV of the year! Understand this is the least TV I’ve watched in a long time. Still watch a lot of movies, but TV show time has gone down.
How to with John Wilson - Max
Succession - Max
Justified: City Primeval - Hulu
Barry - Max
Mrs Davis - Peacock
The Other Two - Max
The Righteous Gemstones - Max
Poker Face - Peacock
Beef - Netflix
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia - Hulu
Honorable mentions
Shows I didn’t finish
The Curse - I only watched one episode but I know it would be in my top 2 shows if I still had the streaming service it was on. The Bear, The Diplomat, Silo, White House Plumbers, Hello Tomorrow, Shrinking, Daisy Jones and the Six
Shows I finished and liked to varying degrees
Full Circle - Max
Ted Lasso - AppleTV+
Servant - AppleTV+
Copenhagen Cowboy - Netflix
Waco: The Aftermath - Showtime/Paramount Plus
Paul T. Goldman - Peacock
Show I finished almost out of hate but truly because I thought it was bad and was also entertained and wanted to see if it had any redeeming qualities and The Weeknd is a terrible actor so anytime he showed up it made me happy in a mean way - The Idol
MUSIC
HELLMODE - Jeff Rosenstock
Doom Singer - Chris Farren
The Record - boygenius
Lucky for You - Bully
Death is Nothing to Us - Fiddlehead
Cousin - Wilco
Multitudes - Feist
Eye on the Bat - Palehound
First 2 Pages of Frankenstein - The National
Jenny from Theibes - The Mountain Goats
Honorable Mentions
The Land, The Water, The Sky - Black Belt Eagle Scout
Principia - En Attendant Ana
Like dying stars, we’re reaching out - Runner
Honey - Samia
All of This Will End - India de Souza
Joy’All by Jenny Lewis
The Land is Hospitable and So Are We - Mitski
Javelin - Sufjan Stevens
Laugh Track - The National
Breaking the Balls of History - Quasi
Rat Saw God - Wednesday
La La Land - Guided by Voices
Electrophonic Chronic - The Arcs
South End Legend - KingTrey
Romantic Piano - Gia Margaret
BOOKS
just books I read, in order of preference
The Passenger by Cormac McCarthy
The Mist by Stephen King
Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy
The Wager by David Grann
The Collected Poems of Sylvia Plath
Stella Maris by Cormac McCarthy
Z213: Exit by Dimitris Lyacos
Cinema Speculation by Quentin Tarantino
A Little Blood & Dancing by Tyler Parker
The Angel Esmeralda by Don DeLillo
Went to my 40th state (North Carolina) and only have 8 to go in the continental 48.
2023 was more stressful than previous years just because of financial changes and the sacrifices that come with that plus taking care of a 1 turning into 2 year old. I had great times but I mostly spent my days at home trying to teach, care for, plan fun days, and kill time with a toddler. I celebrated 4 years of marriage and am so happy with my family. I just hope 2024 eases up on all of us. I hope there is a ceasefire in Gaza. I hope the election is less crazy than it feels it will be. I also have less serious hopes like the Ravens winning a super bowl. The Grizzlies somehow making the playoffs. Other sports related things. I hope Paul Thomas Anderson makes his next film. I hope I continue to play pick up basketball. I hope all of you feel better than you did in 2023. Thanks for reading. Sorry I don’t have more to say but I feel less interesting and less intelligent than ever before. Blame it on stay-at-home Dad brain, or just general deteriorating of my mental capacity. I love conversations but my writing feels worse than before. One resolution I have for 2024 is to try and challenge myself intellectually in ways that are not visual. I am cheering for you to make your resolutions happen as well. Let’s make 2024 as good as we can.