HEAR YE!!! HEAR YE!!! My loyal followers, I originally planned to do a top ten for the movies I had seen this year. Yet after reviewing my picks, I realized half of them I had already talked at length about. I even struggled to think if I could add more to the conversation. So to remedy this issue, I decided to make this list exclusive to movies I didn’t get a chance to talk about, with some honorable mentions added. If you are looking to archive the rest of my picks then you can add The Last Voyage of Demeter, Landscaping with Invisible Hands, Dumb Money, When Evil Lurks, and Godzilla Minus One to the list. Hopefully, these picks and the other movies will give you something interesting to watch this weekend.
M3GAN
PRAISE THE HORROR GODS!!! THE CURSE OF BAD HORROR MOVIES IN JANUARY IS OVER!!! M3GAN HAS ENDED THE CURSE!!! For those who do not take part in the fun of horror movies, traditionally January is the month the studios release their embarrassing attempts at horror. Some examples include Alone in the Dark (2005), The Devil Inside (2015), and Season of the Witch (2011). They hope fans like me will forget these messes when October finally rolls around. Thankfully, Blumhouse, who has been hit or miss lately in my opinion, decided to seize the opportunity to take over theaters in January with M3GAN. A film about a robotic doll that specializes in helping grieving children. Unfortunately, things don’t go as planned as the titular doll, Megan, starts taking some plays out of Chucky’s playbook. As you can imagine, M3GAN isn’t trying to hide its inspirations, but it is doing enough of its own thing to make it a fun horror movie.
Skinamarink
This movie shook me to my core. The mere act of staring into my dark apartment gave me a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach after watching Skinamarink. A divisive film as many couldn’t overlook the lack of characters or plot. Honestly, I could see a world where I despise this movie if I didn’t heed a warning saying to focus on the atmosphere, not on the characters or plot. “Oh,” I said to myself, “that’s easy, that’s what I do when playing a horror game.” As I watched the father and the door and windows of the house suddenly disappear, I let the uneasy atmosphere seep around me like I was soaking in a bubble bath. I soon began to see what Skinamarink was: a nightmare. Not just any nightmare, that specific nightmare you had as a child. The one that made no sense, but continued to scare you night after night. For me, the nightmare was a hydra chasing me through an abandoned concrete parking lot. Skinamarink has no ravenous hydra or concrete jungle, but every time I watch this movie I feel as though I could return to that exact nightmare at any moment.
John Wick: Chapter 4
Let’s step away from horror, a genre about running from monsters, and move towards a movie about becoming a monster. John Wick: Chapter Four was a great conclusion to one of the greatest action series. So many memorable fights: poker with Killa, the apartment fight that evokes Hotline Miami, or simply John and Caine fighting up the stairs. However, I feel nothing is more satisfying than ending a good story. Right, Lionsgate? I wouldn’t blame you if you wanted to keep the world of John Wick alive. I would love to see stories of Winston, Caine, or the Bowery King, but a Chapter Five for John Wick? Please no. In my humble opinion, there is no cash left for the character of John Wick. What more could he do? Let Keanu Reeves and John Wick have their rest. They have earned it.
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
This was the metaphorical dip into the Dungeons and Dragons pool. I went in not expecting much from Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, as the trailer gave me flashbacks to the Warcraft movie. Yet, I walked out with a giant grin on my face. Complex characters who still look like they’re having fun. Action pack romp of a movie. Exhilarating energy that has been absent from a lot of popcorn flicks. I will not be surprised to hear similar stories to my own. How this film inspired them to give Dungeons and Dragons a try. I can’t wait to see all the innovative stories this new wave of D&D players will bring.
Evil Dead Rise
With Blumhouse’s treatment of both the Halloween and Exorcist franchises, some people might wince at the idea of digging the Evil Dead franchise out of the grave. Fear not horror movie fans, this spinoff sequel aims to capture what made the original successful, yet forge its own path forward. After discovering the Necronomicon (probably the only real reference to the original titles), a demon possesses the body of a single mother and begins terrorizing her children. Much like Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, the film looks like everyone had a great time filming this movie and it resulted in a gripping horror movie. Us horror fans were certainly eating well this year.
Brightwood
Although this movie came out in 2022, I wanted to give it a bit of an honorable mention. I saw Brightwood at the Salem Horror Film Fest in April and easily thought it stole the festival. Having just recently wrapped up my first playthrough of Silent Hill 2, I felt the movie had taken me to Silent Hill without even mentioning the town’s name. Mid-argument, married couple Dan and Jen find that their innocent jogging trail has trapped them in an endless loop that they can’t escape. With so much to say about relationships and isolation, I believe this is one of the most underrated horror films of the decade. Out of all the films on this list, please go support the small team that worked on this hidden gem.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3
The Marvel Cinematic Universe has certainly been on the hot seat this year. My arm-chair quarterback two cents? Many of the characters that people love from the MCU, i.e. Cap, Tony, T’Challa, and Black Widow, are gone, and Disney has not given the new cast of characters a chance to grow before trying to present a Thanos-level threat. Stop trying to race to the next blockbuster Avengers movies and give us well-written stories so we get to know these new faces. Also flooding your streaming services with fifty shows in a bit to monopolize our time, doesn’t help either.
Speaking of well-written stories, I loved Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. It felt like one of those heartfelt breakups where you know you can’t stay together and must move on. You remember all the good times but know moments like those will never happen again. Much like how Quill has to move on from Gamora, I feel a similar relationship between Gunn and Marvel was forming. It’s a happy ending for a group who throughout the series got the short end of the stick. A great bookend closure to arguably one of the best trilogies in Marvel’s history. Best of luck cleaning up DC, Mr. Gunn.
Oppenheimer
I am not sure what I could say about Oppenheimer that hasn’t already been said. A biopic of a man looking to create a weapon to defeat a great evil in the Nazis, realizing he kick-started the nuclear arms race that directly affects today’s current events. Then to watch the US government use every trick in the book to discredit and ostracize him should be a stark warning for what is to come. The final scene when Oppenheimer realizes he has doomed us all will forever be burned into my memory. Masterpiece is an understatement.
Talk to Me
Not only is this a haunting horror movie, but I think Talk to Me is the first Gen Z movie actually written by Gen Z and not some board room of aged writers. The movie is about a group of teens who find a porcelain hand that allows them to talk with the dead. Events soon spiral out of control as the addition of social media, drugs, and peer pressure push the group to talk with the dead for a dangerous amount of time, leading to an episode of full-on possession. Whether you like to accept it or not, stories often have something to say about society (and if they don’t ask yourself why it doesn’t) and Talk to Me is a perfect example of how to blend themes of nihilism and grief into a gripping horror film.
This year was not only a great year for video games but also a great one for films. I look forward to the other creative works coming out in the new year.