1- INDIA JONES & THE DIAL OF DESTINY: Steven Spielberg probably made a wise decision not to direct another Indiana Jones movie. While nostalgia has made the surprising return this century of Twin Peaks, Evil Dead, and Star Wars at least somewhat palpable, none of those have been nearly as good as the original TV shows and movies. It probably would have been best to have left Indy back in The Last Crusade. While this movie is entertaining, practically the entire movie is special f/x, making it look more like a video game than a fleshed out, real movie. And while Raiders did have a box full of ghosts and Crusade had a thousand year old knight still alive, going back in time is just, well, fucking idiotic. You would think the script writers would have understood this obvious fact. **
2- DUNE: PART TWO: They delayed this to March of 2024 because of the writers & actors strikes that ended before this was supposed to come out anyway. They didn't fucking delay Wonka! What gives?
3- OPPENHEIMER: My second favorite movie of 2023 (Killers of the Flower Moon is currently my favorite). Even though it's 3 hours long, it moves at a hurtling pace. Just a fantastic, super entertaining film. And who would've figured that Robert Downey, Jr. would steal the show? ***1/2
4- BARBIE: Last January I said: First off, it's not some dumb, kid's, Hollywood romp. Sadly, that's exactly what it turned out to be. I figured we'd get the type of movie Baumbach and Gerwig have made their entire careers; a funny, amusing, quirky, interesting, fresh, indie type of film. Nope. If any Hollywood studio made a big budget Barbie movie it would have looked like this. It was also weird that Ken got all the good stuff (plot, lines, song) in a movie supposedly about Barbie. *1/2
5- WONKA: I did watch the first 15 minutes of this and was unimpressed. It didn't particularly get great reviews, so I'm not holding my breath when I eventually watch the whole thing.
6- THE HUNGER GAMES: THE BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS & SNAKES: They actually followed the book exactly, which is a bit of a surprise considering the ending is a total downer. Rachel Zegler is great in this and I was thoroughly entertained. ***
7- THE KILLER: This movie was boring. There is one excellently choreographed and shot fight sequence, but that's about it. *1/2
8- REBEL MOON: While this movie at least held my interest and was somewhat entertaining, it looked so cheap, like it was a badly funded video game. I guess Netflix didn't give Zack Snyder the budget he wanted or something, because his last movie, that Las Vegas zombie movie, looked fantastic and expensive. **
9- BEAU IS AFRAID: The best I can say about this movie is that, for the first hour or so, it's at least interesting. The second half is a total, dour slog, though, leading to one of the most depressing endings in modern film. I'm really shocked that A24 gave Ari Aster such a gigantic budget for this after reading the script. *
10- GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3: This was also way too depressing. We just want jokes, action and fun! Not some animal cruelty plot. Good movie, just a bit of a downer. The Flash was by far the best superhero movie that came out in 2023, though. **1/2
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