2023 End of Year Movie Survey

Happy Saturday everyone!  Today, I'm sharing my 2023 End of Year Movie Survey!  I've been doing my Mid-Year Movie Freak Out for a few years now (check out my 2023 list here) and the End of Year Book Survey for ages (you can see my 2023 list here).  With this I thought I would borrow some of the questions from the book counterpart, or some from my Mid-Year Movie Freak Out as well.  Also, all of these will be movies I watched for the first time in 2023.  If anyone would like to link up with me and share their End of Year Movie Survey, I'd love to see your answers to the questions.  By the way, the titles are linked to my Letterboxd review or their Letterboxd page.  Without further ado, here we go:

1. Best Movie You Watched In 2023? 

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023) - I watched a lot of great movies this year, but I'd say this one takes the cake.  My favorite new Spider-People were easily Pavitr and Hobie.  I hope we get to see more of them in the future.

2. Movie You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn't

Rebel Moon - Part One: A Child of Fire (2023) - The two minute long trailer was probably the best part about it, unfortunately.  I will say though that it was cool to see Stuart Martin for a couple of minutes as one of the farming villagers - I've been missing Miss Scarlet and the Duke and I'm so happy it returns on Masterpiece PBS tomorrow night!

3. Most Surprising (In A Good Way Or Bad Way) Movie You Watched?

The Sword of Doom (1966) - Tatsuya Nakadai's performance was so surprising in the best way.  His character Inspector Tokura in High and Low is one of my favorites, and his character in this is a brutal 180 from that.  His stare in this is completely soulless and crazy - and when I say that I mean it as the highest compliment.

4. Movie You “Pushed” The Most People To Watch (And They Did)?

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022) - My library has a copy of this and I definitely found myself talking about it often.  Seriously, if you haven't seen this, you need to watch it!  I'd say that it's as good as Shrek 2.

5. Favorite New Actor Or Director You Discovered In 2023?

Catherine Clinch from The Quiet Girl (2022) - She gives a powerful performance and I wonder what she'll achieve in the future given that this was her debut film.

6. Best Movie From A Genre You Don’t Typically Watch?

Past Lives (2023) - I don't often watch romance dramas, but you can't skip this one.  I totally watched it on all the recommendations I was getting for it and it was so worth it.

7. Most Action-Packed/Thrilling Movie Of The Year?

John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023) - It's no question really!  John Wick should have invested in some bubble wrap along with those special suits of his!

8. Movie You Watched In 2023 That You Would Be MOST Likely To Re-Watch In 2024?

Nimona (2023) - This was just so much fun and I need to see these characters again asap.  I loved the graphic novel, but I actually think I preferred this adaptation.

9. Most Memorable Character of 2023?

Naru and Taabe from Prey (2022) - This movie is a close runner up to John Wick: Chapter 4 for most action-packed, and it really surprised me in that it gave me a new favorite sibling relationship in Naru and Taabe.  I'm looking forward to seeing more of Amber Midthunder and Dakota Beavers (this was his movie debut) in the future.

10. Most Beautifully Made Movie Watched in 2023?

The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (2023) - This Wes Anderson short film adaptation of the Roald Dahl story is just so cleverly made - the style of all 4 of the short films in this collection were just plain delightful. 

11. Movie You Can’t Believe You Waited UNTIL 2023 To Finally Watch?

Prince of Darkness (1987) - John Carpenter is one of my favorites and I can't believe I somehow just totally managed to miss this.  It's so atmospheric and I was so on edge the whole time!  Plus, as a fan of Big Trouble in Little China, it was cool to see Dennis Dun and Victor Wong in major roles here. 

12. Movie That Shocked You The Most (Because of a plot twist, character death, left you hanging with your mouth wide open, etc.)

Prisoners (2013) - This whole movie was something else!

13. OTP OF THE YEAR (you will go down with this ship!) (OTP = one true pairing if you aren’t familiar)

Ballister and Ambrosius from Nimona (2023) - These two are just great!

14. Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship Of The Year

Kamala, Carol, and Monica from The Marvels (2023) - They were such a good team!

15. Best Movie You Watched In 2023 That You Watched Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else/Peer Pressure Etc.:

Die Hard (1988) - I've been told to watch this so many times and I finally did.  As it was, I  found out I was really missing out for all those years!  Hans Gruber is one of the best movie villains ever.

16. Best Worldbuilding/Most Vivid Setting You Watched This Year?

The Thief of Bagdad (1940) - I'm really surprised to say that for a movie that's 84 years old this year, but this is just so cool.  Plus, Abu is totally the MVP of the whole movie!  And, it's fun to see elements that specifically inspired Disney's Aladdin (1992).

17. Movie That Put A Smile On Your Face/Was The Most FUN To Watch?

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023) - This was just delightful.  I'm glad I had the chance to see it on the big screen! 

18. Movie That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2023?

Guardians of the Galaxy, Volume 3 (2023) - I don't often cry at movies, but I was really surprised to find myself getting misty eyed at this one.  I'm so attached to these characters and this was such a good send off to them!

19. Hidden Gem Of The Year?

Hamlet (2009) - I've seen several different productions/ adaptations of this Shakespeare play, but I think this one might be my favorite.  It doesn't hurt that David Tennant is one of my favorite actors and it's always good to see Patrick Stewart.

20. Movie That Crushed Your Soul?

The Descent (2005) - If you're looking for one of the best claustrophobic and intense, monster/ survival movies, you can't miss this!

21. Most Unique Movie You Watched In 2023?

But I'm A Cheerleader (1999) - I can't say I've ever seen a movie quite like this one before, but this was delightfully campy.

22. Movie That Made You The Most Mad (doesn’t necessarily mean you didn’t like it)?

Speak No Evil (2022) - Yep, this made me mad and I didn't like it.  It was so irritating!

23. Best Book To Film Adaptation?

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (2023) - I was really surprised by how much I ended up loving this prequel.  I actually liked it quite a bit more than the novel - I'd even say it's just about as good as Catching Fire, my favorite of the originals.  Tom Blythe and Rachel Zegler are fantastic.  Plus, the soundtrack of the movie is fantastic.

Honorable Mention: Red, White & Royal Blue (2023) - I liked this more than I was expecting to and I very much appreciated that it makes Henry a POV character as well.  Plus, it was cool that Casey McQuiston had a little cameo and in one scene you can see Alex himself reading a copy of One Last Stop.

24. Best Book To TV Adaptation?

Lockwood & Co. (2023) - I honestly couldn't have asked for a better adaptation, except for another season or two.  Why did Netflix have to cancel this?!

Runner Up: American Born Chinese (2023) - I really appreciated this graphic novel adaptation.  I think I might even prefer it to the source material as much as I liked that.  It's a fun adventure, but it handles all of the serious topics very well.  Everyone is great in their roles, but Jimmy Liu as Wei-chen is the real standout.  Plus, any day I get to see Michelle Yeoh or Ke Huy Quan is good day.  It was just announced that Disney isn't renewing it for a second season which is really disappointing, but at least they're supposed to be shopping it around.  Please, I hope someone saves it/ picks it up!  Anyway, if you haven't watched it yet, do yourself a favor and try it out.

Honorable Mention: Percy Jackson & the Olympians (2023) - I'm adding this even though this series is still airing as of now, but began on Disney+ back in December.  I was so nervous for this, but I' enjoying it so far.  The main trio really have what it takes and show feels like the books even if there have been a few changes.

25. Best Book Adaptation That Made You Want To Read The Source Material?

Bodies (2023) - I had no idea this limited sci-fi murder mystery series was based on a graphic novel by SI Spencer until after I watched it.  I loved the show so much that I think I'm going to have to try the source material even if it doesn't have the best reviews on Goodreads.  The show has been one of my favorites of the year.  It handles all 4 timelines well, but I especially loved the 1890 portions with Alfred Hillinghead and Henry Ashe.  Kyle Soller totally steals the show with his performance as Alfred.  I also really enjoyed the 1941 scenes with Karl Weissman.  If you liked Dark, I have a feeling you'll appreciate this series too.

26. 2024 Movie Releases You're Looking Forward To?

The Fall Guy (2024) - The 1980s tv show that this is based on is a lot of fun and this action comedy looks like it could be really cool.  I'm looking forward to seeing Ryan Gosling get to put his comedic skills to use.

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024) - This looks like so much fun.  I really liked what they did with the last movie, so I have high hopes for this one.

Mickey 17 (2024) - Mickey7 by Edward Ashton is really crazy and I can't wait to see what Bong Joon-ho does with it.  Plus, the cast looks great with Robert Pattinson, Mark Ruffalo, Toni Collette, and Steven Yeun.

Have you seen any of these movies or tv shows?  What are you looking forward to watching this year?  As always, thanks for visiting my blog and perhaps even commenting down below!