2023
Movies I watched for the first time in 2023.
Potential spoilers in comments.
Favorites:
1. Oppenheimer (2023)
2. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023)
3. Black Dynamite (2009)
4. Super Mario Bros. (1993)
5. The Count of Monte Cristo (2002)
Honorable Mentions:
Potential spoilers in comments.
Favorites:
1. Oppenheimer (2023)
2. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023)
3. Black Dynamite (2009)
4. Super Mario Bros. (1993)
5. The Count of Monte Cristo (2002)
Honorable Mentions:
- Barfly (1987)
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- DirectorJessie NelsonStarsSean PennMichelle PfeifferDakota FanningAn intellectually disabled man fights for custody of his 7-year-old daughter and in the process teaches his cold-hearted lawyer the value of love and family.Date Watched: 1/4
Score: 6.5/10- The way it's shot and edited feels really frenetic, weird, and disorienting. I assume this is done on purpose to make the viewer feel confused like Sam. Not sure exactly how I feel about it.
- The performances are pretty good. Dakota Fanning is especially good. Probably the best child actor I've ever seen. A lot of critics criticize Sean Penn for his performance, but I don't think it's disrespectful or over the top. I don't think a mentally challenged person could play a mentally challenged person in the lead role in a movie like this, so I guess those people think a movie like this shouldn't be made. Rain Man was well-reviewed though, so I'm not sure why that is.
- It's a difficult subject matter, but I think it's handled alright. A lot of critics say it's oversimplified, but I don't really think that's the case.
- The movie feels a bit too long and a lil emotionally manipulative at time perhaps.
- DirectorTony MontanaMark Brian SmithStarsTroy DuffyJeffrey BaxterChris BrinkerA documentary on the rise and stumble of Troy Duffy, the bartender-cum-filmmaker who was swept up by Miramax's Harvey Weinstein to turn his script for The Boondock Saints into a feature film.Date Watched: 1/4
Score: 6.5/10- does a good job painting a picture of Duffy w/o needing narration. The lack of narration can make it feel a little meandering or aimless at times, but all of the footage together paints what seems like a pretty full picture of Duffy and the people he surrounded himself with.
- DirectorMike NicholsStarsElizabeth TaylorRichard BurtonGeorge SegalA bitter, aging couple, with the help of alcohol, use their young houseguests to fuel anguish and emotional pain towards each other over the course of a distressing night.Date Watched: 3/21
Score: 6/10- Very natural dialogue and performances initially. The dialogue when everyone is drunk together in the house is good too, but when the two men exit to talk outside, their dialogue feels very overwritten, especially considering they're drunk. Maybe they're supposed to come off as pretentious over-educated professors, but idk I still lost interest here.
- It's adapted from a stage play, and it feels very much like one. It takes place in a few pretty simple locations, and they stay in these locations for extended periods of time. The script also feels very much like a play. I don't tend to love stage plays and their adaptations, and this isn't really an exception.
- The scene transition from the car to the dance hall was cool. The dance hall scene itself is pretty good, kinda funny, and has more interesting action/movement (including the movement of the camera) than the rest of the film. It's shot in a much more interesting way than the rest of the film.
- DirectorJohn Francis DaleyJonathan GoldsteinStarsChris PineMichelle RodriguezRegé-Jean PageA charming thief and a band of unlikely adventurers embark on an epic quest to retrieve a lost relic, but things go dangerously awry when they run afoul of the wrong people.Date Watched: 4/4
Score: 7.5/10- Good fight choreography. Not just a ton of cuts; actually comprehensible, unlike a lot of modern action movies. Also more than just standard sword fights. There are cool uses of the environment, unique weapons, and magic.
- The plans they come up w/ involving inventive uses of magic, magical items, etc. are cool and feel like things real d&d p[layers may think up. Nothing feels like a deus ex machina or anything either. Most things are introduced earlier in lower stake situations before they become super important.
- I like the world. Everything looks pretty good. Feels like the forgotten realms. There isn’t much worldbuilding w/in the movie since it’s more character-primary and plot secondary focused, but for those already familiar w/ the forgotten realms, it does a good job of showing and telling you where you are in the world.
- The d&d stuff (locations, characters, monsters, spells, classes, abilities, etc.) isn’t shoved down your throat, but it clearly there for fans of d&d and the forgotten realms. People who are unfamiliar with d&d could watch this and enjoy it as a fun fantasy/adventure comedy blockbuster movie w/o the d&d stuff feeling intrusive or like a barrier to entry.
- The humor isn't cringe and is actually pretty enjoyable at times.
- The plot is well written, despite being predictable. It is often predictable because everything makes sense and is consistent. Character motivations are clear, limitations of magic are clear, etc., so the outcomes of interactions between these things tend to be predictable. That's fine, and it doesn't overly explain things or hand hold the audience through reexaminations of stuff when it becomes relevant again later. A good example of all of this is Edgin's decision to save Holga. Throughout the whole movie, we know Edgin wants to use a one-use magical item to revive his dead wife. Xenk warns Edgin that his wife has been gone for a long time, and that bringing her back now would be taking her away from the life she's built, just like the red wizards did when they killed her. When Holga dies, Edgin realizes that Xenk was right, and that Holga was more of a mother figure to his daughter than his wife was, so he brings her back. This was predictable, which undercut the emotion and drama of Holga's death for me, but that wasn't really a big deal for me. It would've been a lot more grating if it did a flashback of that scene with Xenk or something like that, so I'm glad the writers showed some restraint there.
- DirectorJennifer FoxStarsLaura DernJason RitterCommonA woman filming a documentary on childhood rape victims starts to question the nature of her childhood relationship with her riding instructor and running coach.Date Watched: 4/13
Score: 7/10- Some of the performances from minor characters feel a little stiff. The child actors' performances were a bit inconsistent but pretty good. Young Jenny’s role was very demanding and, I'm sure, difficult for a child, and she did well in some pivotal scenes.
- Changing the child actor for Jennifer after she sees what she actually looked like in the past is interesting. She downplayed everything that happened because she viewed herself as more mature and physically/emotionally developed than she actually was.
- There are some great little character moments, like Mrs. G grabbing her drink right off the tray the waitress is holding when Jennifer goes to have lunch w/ her. Shows how impatient and controlling she is. Doesn't like relying on anyone else.
- The parts with adult Jennifer interviewing people from her past were an interesting idea, but the implementation was a bit confusing initially. I had a few issues with how certain things were portrayed. Seems like it was trying too hard to be artsy/unique and those attempts didn’t always work. These were pretty minor issues, though.
- DirectorJustin FolkStarsMatt WalshGert ComfreyMarci BowersPolitical commentator Matt Walsh explores the changing concepts of sex and gender in the digital age, particularly the transgender rights movement, anti-transgender bigotry, and what it means to be a woman.Date Watched: 4/30
Score: 2/10- I've already seen some clips from this, and I don't like/agree w/ the daily wire on much Even among Daily Wire people, Matt Walsh is uniquely bad. He's way dumber than Shapiro or Knowles, and he's got some genuinely horrible takes on murdering drug dealers/users and other criminals, and he is one of the major figures going after Dylan Mulvaney for the crimes of being trans, being a little annoying sometimes, and taking sponsorship/ad deals w/ major companies.
- Link to murdering criminals tweet: https://twitter.com/MattWalshBlog/status/1618005083320647684
- I can't tell if he's trying to come across as ironic or genuinely curious. If you're at all familiar with him outside of this doc, you'd know he is not a curious person. He does not care what these people think or why they think what they think. He just wants to make them look dumb and make himself look smart, superior, and either funny or curious.
- Ok, after seeing the interview with the comic store guy, he's obviously just trying to be funny and sort of wrapping it up in a fake curiosity or "pushback" against his interviewees. The comic book guy's answer of why he knows the trans woman he confronted wasn't a woman was "common sense", and when asked how he knew he was a man he just said he had a dick. This is super shallow engagement with the topic, but Walsh acts as if it's the obvious answer that the woke SJWs just can't understand.
- long, complex explanation to a question that, on it's face, seems obvious (but in actuality is more complicated) = wrong and worthy of being mocked according to Walsh. Just skipping through his explanation for a joke shows that this is 100% a comedy special and not actually a serious political documentary. Kinda like Michael Moore stuff but even more shallow and pandering.
- A lot of the people he's interviewing are giving bad responses, but he has the power to edit their responses and to pick and choose who he wants to interview and what interviews he wants to include. He wants his opponents to look as bad as possible, not actually engage with the best arguments from the other side.
- While reading other IMDb reviews, I found someone say "I'm not usually a documentary fan because most of the time they're usually propaganda bs but this is not that." I find it very funny that they think something like this is interested in finding the truth and isn't propaganda just because they agree with it. Basically, all documentaries are propaganda, and this is pretty far along the propaganda scale IMO. Not all propaganda is bad, but I would say this doc fits into the bad kind of propaganda (mostly due to the dishonest tactics used, not just because I disagree with the message).
- The only redeeming quality is that it's fairly competently made. Nothing super interesting, but some thought was put into the presentation.
- DirectorBarbet SchroederStarsMickey RourkeFaye DunawayAlice KrigeBased on the life of successful poet Charles Bukowski and his exploits in Hollywood during the 60s, 70s, and 80s.Date Watched: 5/14
Score: 7.5/10- A strange little slice of life. Things just sorta happen, sometimes with no rhyme or reason, and there isn't really an overarching plot or anything.
- Well acted. The set design/locations feel authentic. The dialogue feels authentic.
- DirectorClint EastwoodStarsSean PennTim RobbinsKevin BaconThe tragic murder of a 19-year-old girl reunites three childhood friends still living in Boston--the victim's gangster father, a detective, and the disturbed man they both suspect of killing her.Date Watched: 6/10
Score: 7/10- Good movie overall. Well written. Great performances, especially from Sean Penn and Tim Robbins.
- I just don't feel particularly strongly about it for some reason. I like it, but I don't connect with it very strongly.
- Laura Linney's character suddenly acting evil at the end after not really playing much of a part in the movie at all before that was kinda weird.
- DirectorMorten TyldumStarsJennifer LawrenceChris PrattMichael SheenA malfunction in a sleeping pod on a spacecraft traveling to a distant colony planet wakes one passenger 90 years early.Date Watched: 6/28
Score: 5.5/10- The dialogue isn't great.
- I feel like this story would've been more interesting from Aurora's POV.
- Everything about this movie feels pretty generic. Not horrible or completely incompetent. Not even boring. It was relatively entertaining, but it was also super forgettable. The only interesting thing about this movie was the moral dilemma at the center of it, but it didn't really explore this dilemma in a very interesting way imo.
- The ending monologue going into a pop song like that felt very silly.
- DirectorJames GrayStarsBrad PittTommy Lee JonesRuth NeggaAstronaut Roy McBride undertakes a mission across an unforgiving solar system to uncover the truth about his missing father and his doomed expedition that now, 30 years later, threatens the universe.Date Watched: 6/29
Score: 6.5/10- The whole pirate chase action scene on the moon felt kinda weird and out of place. Also, if they know pirates are a problem, why not send more security? This mission seems to be important for humanity's survival, so you think they'd be able to find get enough security to scare off some pirates.
- Kinda disappointing. Way more action focused than expected, and the action was fine, but nothing super unique or interesting
- The whole third act was fairly cool though
- DirectorChristopher NolanStarsCillian MurphyEmily BluntMatt DamonThe story of American scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer and his role in the development of the atomic bomb.Date Watched: 8/4
Score: 8/10- The ost is great, but overused. Plenty of regular dialogue scenes could've been better w/o the music. It makes these scenes feel strange, sometimes like they're part of a trailer or montage or something. The lack of music and complete silence when the test bomb is dropped was cool tho.
- the pacing is odd. All of the stuff before Los Alamos feels rushed, but the stuff post Los Alamos drags a bit. I feel like this movie could've justified its runtime if it just cut a bit from the end and spent more time exploring Oppenheimer's young adulthood.
- It took me a bit to realize that the color schemes were from Oppenheimer's perspective and the b&w scenes were from Strauss'. Not really a criticism and not sure how this could've been conveyed any more clearly.
- A lot of the dialogue is pretty good, but some feels like its trying too hard to be profound or memorable/quotable.
- Nolan loves reincorporating dialogue. When it's done to throw a phrase back in someone's face, like Strauss' aid does to him near the end of the movie, that's cool, but the meta reincorporated dialogue where the audience knows someone else said this earlier, but the characters don't is weird.
- The audio is very intense and can get quite loud, especially in the IMAX theater I watched it in. Visually, it also looked quite nice on IMAX.
- Very well acted all around.
- Overall, this was very well-made and entertaining. I was never bored, despite any complaints I had, and none of my issues with it spoiled the experience too much for me.
- DirectorHarold CronkStarsMelissa Joan HartJesse MetcalfeDavid A.R. WhiteWhen a high school teacher is asked a question in class about Jesus, her response lands her in deep trouble.Date Watched: 9/1
Score: 3/10- Really dumb and poorly written, but fun to laugh at.
- DirectorScott SandersStarsMichael Jai WhiteArsenio HallTommy DavidsonBlack Dynamite is the greatest African-American action star of the 1970s. When his only brother is killed by The Man, it's up to him to find justice.Date Watched: 9/1
Score: 7.5/10- Very funny. Not much more to say than that.
- DirectorChris MillerRaman HuiStarsMike MyersCameron DiazEddie MurphyReluctantly designated as the heir to the land of Far, Far Away, Shrek hatches a plan to install the rebellious Artie as the new king while Princess Fiona tries to fend off a coup d'état by the jilted Prince Charming.Date Watched: 9/6
Score: 5.5/10- I'm watching this after rewatching Shrek 1 & 2 first.
- Shrek 1 was a fun little movie that introduced all of these characters, and 2 had a lot of great fairly high-effort reference humor and action set pieces. 3 isn't as funny or generally fun as the first 2, and the plot isn't spectacular. There are fun/funny moments, but it's not on the same level as the first 2 movies, and there are way more jokes that do not land here than in the first 2.
- The plot is really poorly written. Why did rapunzel escape into the sewers if she was just gonna reveal she'd turned coat immediately after exiting? The whole sewer scene is literally useless. And why did Charming interrogate Shrek's friends? Shouldn't he know everything from Rapunzel?
- I don't hate this movie as much as many people seem to, but I don't particularly like it either. It doesn't really justify its own existence.
- DirectorJeremy BoreingStarsJeremy BoreingBillie Rae BrandtDaniel ConsidineA down-on-his-luck former high school basketball coach will do anything to win, which in this case means leading his team of men to don wigs and brutally dominate in multiple women's sports.Date Watched: 12/5
Score: 2/10- Horrible writing. Even the few decent jokes are so poorly delivered that they aren't funny.
- Everything is so on the nose and overtly political propaganda. I could excuse it if there were any other redeeming qualities, but there aren't.
- Many of the "jokes" are so poorly conceived that they're not only unfunny but also occasionally incomprehensible.
- The razor ad like 30 minutes in is so bad. They try to pass it off as a "joke" but it's not funny at all was obviously just a real ad.
- Technically, it's mostly competent. It's shot about as good as a hallmark movie with a bigger budget. The writing and direction is just really bad.
- DirectorAnnabel JankelRocky MortonStarsBob HoskinsJohn LeguizamoDennis HopperTwo Brooklyn plumbers, Mario and Luigi, must travel to another dimension to rescue a princess from the evil dictator King Koopa and stop him from taking over the world.Date Watched: 12/8
Score: 7.5/10- Wacky and all over the place, but pretty fun. Doesn't take itself seriously.
- Cool sets.
- Some great actors. Hoskins does a great job as mario. Leguizamo works well as Luigi, too. Hopper's performance is crazy and over the top. Lotta fun.
- A lot of dumb exposition, but the whole movie is dumb and over the top so it doesn't feel out of place.
- DirectorBobby FarrellyPeter FarrellyStarsJim CarreyRenée ZellwegerAnthony AndersonA nice-guy cop with Dissociative Identity Disorder must protect a woman on the run from a corrupt ex-boyfriend and his associates.Date Watched: 12/10
Score: 5.5/10- Very edgy by today's standards. Some stuff crosses the line, some is pretty gross, but some of it is genuinely funny.
- DirectorTom TykwerStarsBen WhishawDustin HoffmanAlan RickmanJean-Baptiste Grenouille, born with a superior olfactory sense, creates the world's finest perfume. His work, however, takes a dark turn as he searches for the ultimate scent.Date Watched: 12/10
Score: 4/10- Saw the beginning, fragmented bits in the middle, and the end. Missed maybe ~45min (~30%) of the movie, so I can't completely fairly judge it, though I do think my critiques would remain the same if I watched it all the way through.
- Seems like it's trying to be really deep, but it's not. Just seems like it's trying to be shocking more than anything.
- Sucks that I found the story to be pretentious and annoying because the costuming, makeup, hair, sets, and on-location filming was awesome. The people and locations looked gross like a large city in the 18th century would've looked.
- A lot of the performances were good too, though there were some odd monuments that I would put more on the director than the actors.
- DirectorKevin ReynoldsStarsJim CaviezelGuy PearceChristopher AdamsonA young man, falsely imprisoned by his jealous "friend", escapes and uses a hidden treasure to exact his revenge.Date Watched: 12/11
Score: 7.5/10- Only saw the latter half of this after he escaped from prison, so I can't judge the entire movie totally fairly.
- Great story with great performances, sets/on-location filming, and costuming.
- The fatal flaw is its pacing. This is a 2 hour adaptation of a 1200 word book (~50hr audiobook). The book was serialized, so I'm sure some things might've been relatively unimportant to the main plot and could be cut, but there's no way you can cut it down to 2 hours.
- There's a series coming next year that's meant to be 8 (1hr long?) episodes, so I hope that adaptation is paced better.
- The ending feels particularly rushed. A lot of weird conveniences and things being glossed over.
- DirectorRob McKittrickStarsRyan ReynoldsAnna FarisJohn Francis DaleyYoung employees at ShenaniganZ restaurant collectively stave off boredom and adulthood with their antics.Date Watched: 12/25
Score: 3.5/10- Just another dumb mostly unfunny 2000s comedy movie that attempts to be really edgy and raunchy and just comes off as weird and cringe.