123 Movies for 2023!

[Deku Tree]

I just watched some highlights. They are kind of delightful. Not that I want to watch it, but I do enjoy seeing a good actor having a bit of fun with cheesy material. My favorite might be Tim Curry doing Command and Conquer scenes.

[I REALLY HATE POKEMON!]

Tim Curry is really funny, especially in Home Alone 2 and Out to Sea.

[Booyakasha]

Tim Curry is the best part of 'Muppet Treasure Island' (villain song about how being a pirate is rad? Yes please).

[Deku Tree]

Tim Curry was the real treasure all along.

[I REALLY HATE POKEMON!]

I finally watched Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie: Conqueror of Shamballa. I think I saw part of it before, but not the whole thing. I'm in the minority of people who prefer the first FMA anime over Brotherhood but even I have to admit this was not great.

[CaptHayfever]

106) Finding Santa - D+. The entire plot hinges on it somehow being *impossible* to hire an actor to play Santa in a parade with a week's advance warning. Contrast the inciting incident of Miracle on 34th Street, which is that it was incredibly easy to hire an actor to play Santa in a parade with about 5 minutes advance warning.
107) Sugar Plum Twist - C+. A Hallmark film with an actually creative premise & plot, at least 1 lead in a dance movie who can actually dance, & a Florence Henderson lookalike.
108) The Muppet Christmas Carol - A.

And remember, "I'm-a Luigi, number one!"

[Bomby]

The Handmaiden (Park Chan-wook, 2016) 🟣
Strays (Josh Greenbaum, 2023)
L.A. Confidential (Curtis Hanson, 1997) 🟣

The Handmaiden and L.A. Confidential are both excellent films that I had only watched once before each years ago, and they were every bit as good as I remember them being.

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As for Strays, I didn't really dislike it while I was watching it, but the more it's crossed my mind in the days since, the more my mind says "wow that was actually pretty bad and I kind of hate it." There were a handful of genuinely funny scenes, but the bad scenes were so awful that they've made the film rot like milk in my memory. Bug the Boston Terrier (played by Jamie Foxx) got annoying really quick. We get it, he likes to swear and hump couches. At least all the dogs are cute.

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I also re-watched Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One. I'm not gonna count that toward my total since I saw it in theaters back in July. However, I gotta say - holy crap, this movie is fantastic. But that's pretty much a given considering that it's a Mission: Impossible film. Usually it's the directors who find actors that are a perfect match, but in this case it's Tom Cruise as an actor who has found his perfect match in director and screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie. The first four films were handled by a slew of great and well-known directors, but the far less-known McQuarrie has taken the series to dizzying new heights. Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, and Rebecca Ferguson continue to thrive in their supporting roles, and Hayley Atwell is a welcome new presence. The same must be said about the new villains, played by Esai Morales and Pom Klementieff - the latter in particular truly stands out. I don't know how they're managing to not only maintain but improve upon such a consistently excellent franchise, but I can't wait to see Dead Reckoning Part Two in 2025.

Anyway, for the fun of it, here's my ranking of the series:
1. Fallout (Christopher McQuarrie, 2018)
2. Dead Reckoning Part One (Christopher McQuarrie, 2023)
3. Ghost Protocol (Brad Bird, 2011)
4. Rogue Nation (Christopher McQuarrie, 2015)
5. 3 (J.J. Abrams, 2006)
6. Original (Brian De Palma, 1996)
7. 2 (John Woo, 2000)

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Korean films: 43
Total films: 79
Previously seen: 15

[Booyakasha]

^Nice to hear a breakdown of the MI flicks. Only one I've seen is the first--------sounds like a general trend upwards in quality from there. Pretty rare for a movie franchise to be better seven movies in than it was at the start.

[I REALLY HATE POKEMON!]

I almost watched Jujutsu Kaisen 0 again on accident, for some reason I keep forgetting I've watched it.

Ended up watching Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie. It's no Street Fighter II V, but it's pretty good.

I also watched Paprika. I don't know why I watched this.

[Booyakasha]

...so the Times was showing 'Holiday Inn', and so I played hooky from work and took my ma to it. It's one of her favourites, and she'd never seen it on the big screen. It was a good time.

[CaptHayfever]

109) Waitress (2023) - B+. Very welcome surprises in the plot, great performances, creative staging, some muddled audio & odd camera tricks.
110) The Super Mario Bros. Movie - B. Pratt was better than expected (the trailers did NOT do him justice), & the attention to detail was fantastic, but it felt overstuffed with set pieces.
111) Barbie - A-. Witty writing, stylish filming, brilliant acting, but a couple of off moments that undercut the message.

And remember, "I'm-a Luigi, number one!"

[I REALLY HATE POKEMON!]

Urusei Yatsura: Only You. I probably should've finished the series first, but I decided to watch this in a whim. The animation is amazing.

Lady Ballers. Decent enough, but I remembered why I almost exclusively watch Japanese stuff nowadays.

[CaptHayfever]

Happy Christine Baranski Christmas Movie Day to all who observe!

112) How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) - B+
113) A Bad Moms Christmas - B+
114) Wild Kratts: A Creature Christmas - D. What is this Ben-10-ripoff nonsense? I thought the Kratt Brothers did funny nature shows?

And remember, "I'm-a Luigi, number one!"

[CaptHayfever]

115) Die Hard - A
116) Klaus - A

And remember, "I'm-a Luigi, number one!"

[CaptHayfever]

117) Arthur Christmas - A-
118) It's a Wonderful LIfe - A
119) The Santa Clause - B

And remember, "I'm-a Luigi, number one!"

[emporornapoleon]

what did everybody think of barbie?

[CaptHayfever]

^Great film, that.

120) The Man Who Invented Christmas - A-

And remember, "I'm-a Luigi, number one!"

[Bomby]

The Moon Is... the Sun's Dream (Park Chan-wook, 1992) 🟡
Trio (Park Chan-wook, 1997) 🟡

After years and years of curiosity, I finally was able to watch Park Chan-wook's little seen first two feature films and... they are definitely some of the films ever made. The Moon is... the Sun's Dream has some interesting ideas in it, but the end product is mediocre at best. It's pretty blatantly inspired by Wong Kar Wai's debut film, As Tears Go By, and it just isn't nearly as good.

Trio isn't exactly a great film either, but I did enjoy it for what it is. It's far less ambitious than his previous film - or any of his other films, for that matter, and is probably the closest thing he's ever made to a conventional commercial film. Ironically, it's also his least successful.

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Exit (Lee Sang-geun, 2019)

This is just a really fun popcorn flick, and it held up well on my second viewing. Once again not counting it toward my total since I watched it a few months ago. It blends disaster, action, and comedy perfectly and has an award-winning performance by Yoona from Girls' Generation. What more could you ask for?

Korean films: 45
Total films: 81
Previously seen: 15

[CaptHayfever]

121) Blue Beetle - B-. The action scenes suck, but everything else actually works pretty well.

And remember, "I'm-a Luigi, number one!"

[CaptHayfever]

122) My Neighbor Totoro (2005 dub) - B+. Very jarring to give Mei a lower voice than Kanta.
123) Head - A+

That was a close one! Not doing such a high goal next year. Here's the list in summary:

Spoiler.

1) Pottersville* - C
2) The Fifth Element - B+
3) Matilda: The Musical* - B
4) Secrets of the Universe* - B-
5) He's Just Not That Into You* - C+
6) The Other Woman* - B-
7) Ever After - B
8) Black Panther: Wakanda Forever - B+
9) The Muppet Movie* - A-
10) The Great Muppet Caper - B
11) The Muppets Take Manhattan - A-
12) Muppet Treasure Island - B
13) The Lion King II: Simba's Pride* - C-
14) Felicity: An American Girl Adventure* - C
15) Kit Kettridge: An American Girl* - C+
16) Samantha: An American Girl Holiday* - C+
17) Ant-Man & the Wasp: Quantumania* - B-
18) Muppets from Space* - C+
19) The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants* - C+
20) The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2* - D+
21) Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret* - A-
22) Andre - B-
23) Twister - B
24) VeggieTales: An Easter Carol - C
25) Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always* - C+
26) Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century - C
27) Luck of the Irish - C-
28) The Big Store - C+
29) Rush Hour - A-
30) Rush Hour 2 - B
31) Saving Christmas (2014) - F*
32) Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3* - A
33) Wizard People, Dear Readers - A
34) Beauty & the Beast (2017) - B+
35) The Jungle Book (2016)* - A-
36) Stargirl - B+
37) Hollywood Stargirl - B+
38) The One & Only Ivan - B
39) Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made - A-
40) Flora & Ulysses - A-
41) The Princess* - B
42) Rosaline - B+
43) Artemis Fowl - D
44) Shrek - A-
45) Shrek 2 - A-
46) Nimona* - A
47) 1917* - B+
48) Jungle Cruise - C+
49) The Incredible Hulk - B+
50) Stan Lee* - B
51) Indiana Jones & the Dial of Destiny* - B
52) The Muppets (2011) - A-
53) Antarctica (2020)* - B+
54) Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse* - A-
55) Muppets Most Wanted - B
56) Titanic - B
57) Deadpool 2 - A-
58) Murder Mystery* - B-
59) Red Notice* - B
60) In the Heights - A
61) Holes - A-
62) Daydream Believers: The Monkees' Story - D+
63) The Phantom Tollbooth - B-
64) Robin Hood: Men in Tights - B-
65) Beauty and the Beast (1991) - A-
66) Chicken Little* - C
67) UHF - A+
68) Aliens Ate My Homework* - C
69) Mean Girls - A
70) Bubba Ho-Tep* - B-
71) Aliens for Breakfast* - B-
72) Kubo & the Two Strings - A
73) Ocean Odyssey* - B-
74) The Flash* - D+
75) Parts: The Clonus Horror - D
76) Mrs. Doubtfire - A-
77) The Little Mermaid (2023)* - B
78) Batman: Mask of the Phantasm* - A-
79) Where the Heart Is* - B-
80) Jurassic World: Dominion* - C+
81) Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie - A+
82) Dragnet (1987) - A-
83) Kung Pow: Enter the Fist - A-
84) Spirited Away - A-
85) Prince of Space - D+
86) Santa Claus (1985)* - D
87) Santa Claus (1959)* - D
88) Hamlet (1961)* - D
89) Santa Claus Conquers the Martians* - D
90) The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special - B+
91) Werewolf By Night - A
92) Men in Black - B+
93) Hocus Pocus - B
94) The Shining - B
95) Christmas with Holly* - B
96) Silver Bells (2005)* - C+
97) Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken* - C
98) The Marvels* - A-
99) 13 Going on 30* - C
100) One Christmas Eve* - D
101) Moon Zero Two* - D+
102) Violent Night - B+
103) Jack Frost (1998)* - C+
104) Elf - A-
105) Carbon Dating (2023)* - B+
106) Finding Santa* - D+
107) Sugar Plum Twist* - C+
108) The Muppet Christmas Carol - A
109) Waitress (2023)* - B+
110) The Super Mario Bros. Movie* - B
111) Barbie* - A-
112) How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) - B+
113) A Bad Moms Christmas - B+
114) Wild Kratts: A Creature Christmas* - D
115) Die Hard - A
116) Klaus - A
117) Arthur Christmas - A-
118) It's a Wonderful Life - A
119) The Santa Clause - B
120) The Man Who Invented Christmas - A-
121) Blue Beetle* - B-
122) My Neighbor Totoro (2005 dub) - B+
123) Head - A+

Bold = Saw in theaters
* = first time viewing

And remember, "I'm-a Luigi, number one!"