In innumerable ways, 2023 was a year marked by profound disappointments. We needed all the good stuff to be even better, to make up for how much everything else sucked! Sometimes this worked out okay, but overall we just learned to make do.
From ES:
Best Music of 2023:
Best Anime of 2023
Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury (Season 2)
Magical Destroyers
Hell’s Paradise (Season 1)
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba — Swordsmith Village Arc
Jujutsu Kaisen (Season 2)
The Boy and the Heron
Best Horror Movies of 2023
Saw X
M3GAN
Talk to Me
When Evil Lurks
Skinamarink
Godzilla Minus One
Infinity Pool
Beau Is Afraid
From TB:
Favorite Films of 2023
Not ranked, and with the disclaimer that there were many fab releases which I still haven’t gotten around to:
May December
Saltburn
Barbie
Talk To Me
The Color Purple
They Cloned Tyrone
Nyad
Couldn’t Stop Watching…
Fargo Season 5 (Hulu)
…Because they’re adapting and re-imagining the home invasion/kidnapping plot from the actual Fargo movie, with campy (but rock-solid) performances from Juno Temple and Jennifer Jason Leigh.
Escaping Twin Flames (Max)
…Because so far this real-life cult is still completely operational and has faced no federal charges, but this heartbreaking docuseries is stuffed with interviews from survivors which may actually turn the tide.
Phrogging: Hider In My House (Hulu, via Lifetime)
…Because the first episode scared me out of my wits, so I needed to watch ALL of them in order to become an expert on the subject. Now I’m sure to recognize the signs of someone secretly living in the attic space that connects all the apartments in our building.
Love Has Won: The Cult of Mother God (Max)
…Because unlike the Twin Flames doc, the interviews here were mostly true believers who regret very little about mummifying their leader in a sleeping bag wrapped in Christmas lights.
The Fall of the House of Usher (Netflix)
…Because Flanagan has a plan again, and we cannot help but stan again. Extremely gothic family melodrama with lots of gruesomely unpleasant surprises — many involving Carla Gugino.
Mayfair Witches (Roku, AMC+)
…Because despite being kind of ass, it was still more entertaining all-around than Interview With the Vampire or American Horror Story.
Best Music Releases of 2023
I wrote about many of these at some point throughout the year!
Powders - Eartheater
New Blue Sun - André 3000
GUTS - Olivia Rodrigo
The Age of Pleasure - Janelle Monáe