Best of 2023

 



Well, here we are again. Time to look back at 2023 and name what the best items were for TV, movies, and books. Here's what the most recent meeting of the Milwaukee Science Fiction and Fantasy League came up with for our Best Of lists. See if you agree:

Best Movies:

By full consensus, it was agreed that Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse was probably the best sci fi film overall. But there were lots of others that created a huge impression. For example, the movie They Cloned Tyrone was an excellent turnaround of "blacksploitation," to say nothing of outstanding performances by John Boyega, Jamie Foxx, and Teyonah Parris. Also agreed upon was Poor Things, and not just because our local heroes, Mark Ruffalo and Willem Dafoe, starred in it. Also included in our best of the best list was The Creator, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, and Godzilla Minus One. We also couldn't help but list Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Although it disappointed a little, it was much better than the second movie. I, personally, recommend Leave the World Behind, although some of feel the plot dragged on a bit too much. Also included is The Marvels, which underperformed due to the writers' strike thwarting its marketing. Also, perhaps, a bit of superhero fatigue.

Others worth mentioning are (of course) The Barbie Movie, which we all agreed counts as fantasy. We also heard good things about movies like Jules, Asteroid City, Last Voyage of the Demeter, and Renfield, though none of us had gotten around to watching those. Same was true for Wonka.

Universally agreed upon as overrated: Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, M3GAN, Ant Man: Quantumania, Haunted Mansion, and Five Nights at Freddy's.

Best TV Shows:

It was an absolute bonanza for new, great TV shows. But let me begin with one I wish I'd seen before our meeting, and now that I have seen it, I have to insist it's the absolute best. Season 6 of Black Mirror, only five episodes long, kicked off with Joan is Awful, which is far and away one of the most amazing things I've ever seen on television. It might be the best of the decade, never mind just this year.

Apple TV established itself as a sci fi haven with Season 2 of Foundation, and the continuation of For All Mankind, but the real winner was the premier season of Silo, starring Rebecca Ferguson. Together with her appearance as Jessica Atreides in the latest Dune movies, she is now firmly established as the queen of sci fi.

There was a bevy of shows from our favorite franchises. For Star Trek, there was Season 2 of Strange New Worlds, Season 3 of Picard, and Season 4 of Lower Decks. (Moopsy!) For Star Wars, there was the premier season of Ahsoka (which was technically Star Wars: Rebels season 5), Season 3 of The Mandalorian, and Season 2 of The Bad Batch. For Doctor Who, we had four, count them four, December specials, including the inaugural episode featuring Ncuti Gatwa, The Church on Ruby Road. But the episode, The Giggle that left many whovians with positive vibes.

Then, of course, there was that third episode of The Last of Us on HBOMax, Long, Long Time. It had so many viewers weeping into their pillows.

Best Books:

We're still evaluating these, because there were so many. But my picks so far are: Starter Villain by John Scalzi, System Collapse by Martha Wells, Translation State by Ann Leckie, and Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yaros. I'm also working through the Red Rising series by Pierce Brown, the latest of which (book 6) is Lightbringer. But I'm also curious about In the Lives of Puppets by T.J. Klune, since it won the Goodreads Reader's Choice Award this past year. Leigh Bardugo won for Hell Bent, so I'm also curious about that one.


Eric

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