My Favorite Movies Of 2023

Damn fine year for movies again. There seemed to be fewer forgettable one word titles. Maybe execs are finally learning that literally nobody will remember what a movie like "Vengeance" from 2022 was about, let alone that it was a great dark comedy. One thing I could do without is how many trailers feature a breathy slowed-down version of a retro hit used for dramatic effect. I hate it every time.

Anyway, I was so enthralled by the pink zeitgeist surrounding Greta Gerwig's amazing film at theaters all summer. It was fun, colorful, moving, profound, and a total Trojan Horse for feminism. I hope it has a ripple effect on our culture for years to come, but I see it's already being snubbed at award shows. Poor Things was also a feast for the eyes, and just as empowering in it's own shocking way. I couldn't decide which I loved more, so I gave a tie for first place, which I've never done before.

My criteria for ranking, and maybe I'm a weirdo, is: would I watch the movie again? Some of the films on this list I've already watched three times.

P.S.: I obviously have a soft spot for horror, fantasy, and sci-fi movies. 

BEST FILMS

1. Barbie/Poor Things (tie)

2. American Fiction

3. Killers of the Flower Moon

4. Dream Scenario

5. Past Lives

6. Anatomy of a Fall

7. No Hard Feelings

8. Wonka

9. Talk To Me

10. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

11. Moonage Daydream

12. Oppenheimer/Zone of Interest (tie)

13. Rustin

14. May December/Eileen

15. The Flash 

16. Godzilla Minus One

17. Jules

18. When Evil Lurks

19. The Holdovers/Dear God, It's Me, Margaret

20. TMNT: Mutant Mayhem

21. How To Blow Up A Pipeline

22. John Wick 4

23. Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning

24. Cocaine Bear

25. Knock At The Cabin

26. No One Will Save You

27. Evil Dead Rise

28. Guardians of the Galaxy 3

29. Saltburn

30. You Hurt My Feelings

Movies I haven't seen yet: Eight Mountains, Little Richard: I Am Everything

And now...Summer Indie Music 2023!

 A little easier making this playlist. I guess some of the kids emerged from the pandemic ready to dance. There's still plenty of weepy insincere shit out there, but who cares? Activate. Motivate. Change the world.

1. Death Valley Girls - Magic Powers

2. Phoenix - Alpha Zulu

3. The Go! Team - Gemini

4. Temples - Afterlife

5. Miss Grit - Follow The Cyborg

6. CVC - Good Morning Vietnam (album version is better the single version)

7. Guerilla Toss, NEU! - Zum Herz

8. Spiral Drive - Space Train

9. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Fleez

10. Bass Drum Of Death - Everybody's Gonna Be There

11. Girl Ray - Everybody's Saying That

12. Tame Impala - Wings Of Time (Dungeons & Dragons ST)

13. Panic Shack - It's Good To Be Back (Metronomy cover)

14. Royal Otis - Oysters In My Park

15. Fazerdaze - Thick Of The Honey

16. Foals - 2001 (LCO session)

17. CIA - Impersonator

18. THUS LOVE - In tandem

19. Eggy, Traffik Island - Upon Reflection (remix)

20. JW Francis - Casino

21. Lime Garden - Bitter

22. Fujiya & Miyagi - Olympian Heights

23. Altin Gun - Ask

24. Hifi Sean - Beautiful

Summer Indie Music 2022 -- A Year Late

 Looks like I also forgot to post my annual playlist from last year of the happiest uptempo indie music. If you follow me at David Blanconada Ray on Spotify, you'll get all this shit well ahead of time. I don't blog much anymore, because what's the point? I'll try to do better. Below is the Spotify embed. Cheers.

1. Band Of Horses - Lights

2. Rolling Coastal Blackouts Fever - The Way It Shatters

3. Wet Leg - Chaise Lounge

4. Parquet Courts - Sympathy For Life

5. Spoon - Hardest Cut

6. Johnny Marr - Counter Clock World

7. Pip Blom - Keep It Together

8. Lazy Eyes - Fuzz Jam

9. Nation Of Language - Across That Fine Line

10. CMAT - No More Virgos

11. Andy Bell - Sidewinder

12. Superchunk - This Night

13. St. Paul & Broken Bones - Last dance

14. Arcade Fire - The Lightning II

15. Dehd - Bad Love

16. Johnny Marr - Sensory Street

17. Vinyl Williams - Exopalace

18. Destroyer - It's In Your Heart Now

Favorite Movies Of 2022

You should at least see the top-5 if you haven't already. My taste leans toward fantasy and horror, so apologies in advance. This marks the first year in my memory that I saw a film early in the year, instantly knew it was going to be my favorite film, and the Academy actually remembered and agreed with me.

1. Everything Everywhere All At Once

2. Barbarian

3. Neptune Frost

4. Tar

5. Moonage Daydream

6. Good Luck, Leo Grande

7. Puss In Boots: The Last Wish

8. Vesper

9. Stutz

10. Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent

11. Northman

12. You Won't Be Alone

13. Hatching

14. Nope

15. Knives Out

16. Prey

17. Windfall

18. Thirteen Lives

19. Vengeance

20. Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio

21. Avatar: Way of Water

22. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

23. Apollo 10 1/2

24. Black Phone

25. Lost City

26. Adam Project

27. Hustle

28. Emily The Criminal

29. Spirited

30. Innocents

31. Turning Red

32. Pearl

33. X

34. Fire Of Love

35. Banshees Of Inisherin

Ummm...Favorite Movies of 2021? My bad.

I was about to post my fave films of 2022 when I realized I'd never shared the 2021 list. Yikes! There were so many, I had to divide them into two categories:

GROWNUP FILMS

1. No Sudden Move

2. Riders Of Justice

3. Summer Of Soul

4. In The Heights

5. In & Of Itself

6. Moxie/CODA (tie)

7. I'm Your Man

8. King Richard

9. French Dispatch

10. Eyes Of Tammy Faye

11. Sparks Brothers

12. Electric Life Of Louis Wain

13. Bo Burnham Inside

14. Last Night In Soho

15. Nightmare Alley

16. Power Of The Dog

17. Tragedy Of Macbeth

18. Val

19. Licorice Pizza

20. Lost Daughter

POPCORN MOVIES

1. Dune

2. Spider Man Multiverse

3. Cruella

4. Free Guy

5. Shang Chi & Ten Rings

6. Stowaway

7. Cop Shop

8. Boss Level

9. Psycho Goreman

10. Barb & Starr Go To Vista Del Mar

11. Werewolves Within

12. Luca

13. Oxygen

14. Green Knight

15. Nobody

16. Jungle Cruise

17. Quiet Place 2

My Favorite Movies of 2020

With the strange pandemic year, and the accompanying inertia, it was hard to sit still on my couch for a movie meant for the big screen, and also a lot of great cinema probably slipped under the radar. I'm grateful I got to see a few films in the theater, like Tenet, Bill & Ted 3, and Nomadland. Anyway, from what I managed to watch, here are my favorites in order of greatness. Try to see them if you can.

1. The Trial Of The Chicago 7

2. Judas & The Black Messiah

3. Personal History Of David Copperfield

4. Soul

5. Sylvie's Love

6. His House

7. Minari

8. White Tiger

9. Nomadland

10. Mucho Mucho Amor

11. Waiting For The Barbarians

12. Synchronic

13. Tenet

14. Enola Holmes

15. News Of The World

16. Another Round

17. Love & Monsters

18. Palm Springs

19. Archive

20. Bill & Ted Face The Music

21. The Go-Gos

22. Birds Of Prey

23. Saint Maud

24. Spontaneous

25. The Mauritanian

26. I See You

27. Shirley

28. Shadow In The Cloud

Movies from 2020 I haven't seen yet, but want to: First Cow, Kajillionaire, Greyhound, Relic, Antlers, Blood Quantum, Rental, Amulet, Riders Of Justice

2021 Summer Indie Music Playlist

 Sometimes I worry the indie kids don't make dance music anymore, only heartbreak albums. It's why I quit going to Coachella. Anyway, I combed through thousands of new songs to prove myself wrong (mostly I was right, crybabies), and managed to find some pretty fetching jams. Seriously, don't let slow sad music define your life, or you'll never survive an apocalypse with a smile on your face like I will.

Copy these links in your browser to hear the tracks

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7u3pAlB6kEqMJfJkVQuC7r?si=bbfafabef3394ec1

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLc6Qvcv7x3Rpxz4V48Yuv-9MMJnDPBRfp

2021 SUMMER INDIE MUSIC PLAYLIST

1. The Knocks (w/ Foster The People) - All About You (Knocks VIP Mix)

2. Brijean - Wifi Beach

3. Neil Frances - Music Sounds Better With You

4. BENEE - Kool

5. Durand Jones & The Indications - Witchoo

6. Remi Wolf - Photo ID (Free Nationals Remix)

7. Jungle - Talk About It

8. Japanese Breakfast - Be Sweet

9. Gardens & Villa - Disco Kitchen

10. Poolside (w/ DRAMA) - I Feel High

11. Argonaut & Wasp - Signal

12. Brijean - Hey Boy

13. Flamingosis - Cosmic Feeling

14. Remi Wolf - Sauce (Beck Remix)

15. Babe Rainbow - Ready For Tomorrow

16. Lake Street Drive - Hypotheticals (Single Version)

17. Toro Y Moi - Still Sound (there's also an instrumental version that's dope)

18. Molly Burch (w/ Wild Nothing) - Emotion

19. King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Yours

20. Nick Waterhouse - Vincentine

21. Du Blonde - Ducky Daffy

22. Fruit Bats - The Balcony

23. Tigers Jaw - Lemon Mouth

24. Benny Sings (w/ KYLE) - Kids

25. Neil Frances - Mr. Blue