What I Watched in 2023

I watched more TV than I originally thought in 2023, though the list looks long because a good amount of it was shorter series than I usually get into. There were a few movies as well, but I have not seen Barbie (or Oppenheimer) yet. Here are the highlights, a lowlight, and some quick-ish reviews.

Movies:
Thor: Love and Thunder – I know people hated this movie, but I liked it. It was ridiculous, which I’m fine with after the conclusion of the Infinity Saga with Avengers: Endgame.

Knives Out and Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery – Enjoyed both installments. The plots held up well enough, and the casting was solid.

Galaxy Quest – A movie making fun of Star Trek that could only have been made by people who love Star Trek. By Grabthar’s hammer, never give up; never surrender.

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves – A good adaption of a tabletop RPG to a movie, with enough nods to D&D mechanics without getting bogged down in dice rolls and rules lawyering. The “speak with dead” scene was particularly funny.

Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. – Though I never read the book, I thought the movie was good.

Jungle Cruise and Sonic the Hedgehog/Sonic the Hedgehog 2 – Perfectly fine adaptations of a Disney ride and a videogame. I like watching them even if they’re a bit forgettable.

Blue People Avatar 2 Avatar: The Way of Water – The cinematography was great; I hate Jake Sully so much I wanted the comically evil antienvironment military zealots to turn Pandora into a strip mine and/or desolate post-apocalyptic wasteland.

TV shows:
Jane the Virgin (S3-5) – Especially liked the telenovela aspects and Petra’s character arc, but Rafael’s role too often felt like “hot rich guy” with no other personality traits, and I wanted more for Michael.

Star Trek: Lower Decks (S2) – It’s growing on me; I’m mainly just annoyed that of all the ships in Starfleet, Mariner ended up on that specific ship with that specific captain, when their personal relationship clearly affects the professional lives of the rest of the crew.

Wednesday – Wednesday’s teenage angst would have been an interesting jumping off point for the show, but part of what makes the movies so good is that everybody around the Addams family is completely, 100% normal, and they’re weird, but not edgy. It was too much of a character departure for me to fully enjoy the show.

Somebody Feed Phil (S4-6) – More food, more travel.

New Amsterdam (S5) – A not-entirely satisfying conclusion to the show. The main character was marginally less annoying than in previous seasons; the supporting characters were generally more interesting.

Game of Thrones (S1) – The books are better. Same amount of incest and decapitations, less backstory and details that fill out the world of Westeros.

The Chair – The parts about women in academia were good, but it felt like they tried to do too much with the rest of the show.

Derry Girls – Catholic school shenanigans in 1990s Ireland. One of my favorite watches of the year.

Bojack Horseman (S1) – Don’t like the animation style, also a bit depressing to watch for too long, but I might come back to the show because of the character development.

Heartstopper – Good adaptation of the comic.

Friday Night Lights – I do like a good sports movie/show. More optimistic and less racist than the book.

Heartland (S15) – Continuation of the series; more settled than the previous season.

Grey’s Anatomy (S19) – The drama at Grey Sloan just keeps on going.

The Baby-Sitters Club – Never read the books, but I liked this series.

Pokémon Indigo League – Surprisingly clever writing for a kids show, even if the plotlines are nothing to write home about. And Team Rocket make excellent dumb sometimes villains.

Great British Bake Off (S14) – A more grounded season than they’ve had the past couple years.

XO, Kitty – A spin off series from the To All the Boys movies featuring Lara Jean’s younger sister Kitty. The drama was sometimes a bit over the top, but overall a cute show.

Anne with an E – Inspired by the Anne books, an exploration of the darker aspects of Anne’s story. I thought they stayed true to the characters, if not the plot, and I liked the depth they added to some of the characters, particularly Diana and her Aunt Josephine.

The Dragon Prince (S1/2) – Often recommended after watching Avatar (A:TLA), but I’m still not sure how I feel about this show, and using Sokka’s voice actor as one of the main characters is distracting if you watch it right after A:TLA.

The Good Place (S1) – Another show I’m withholding judgement on until I get farther into it. The last episode of season 1 makes it worth it, but I still haven’t really gotten into the show.

Overall, I was disappointed the most by Wednesday and The Dragon Prince, and my favorite watches of the year were Lower Decks, Derry Girls, Bake Off, and Anne with an E.