John’s top 10 movies of 2023
2023 movies: Action movies had grand finales, superhero fatigue drove off audiences, and horror and comedy became niche genres in a wild year in film.
DC Extended Universe
‘Blue Beetle’ should’ve been given the ‘Batgirl’ treatment
Movie review: The DCEU’s latest entry suggests there’s a decent movie under its carapace, but regularly hits wrong notes (except in its soundtrack).
‘Flash’ brings multiverse to DCEU with thrills, tears, cameos
Movie review: The writers of “Spider-Man: Homecoming” bring their talents to the rival company to shape the best of the first 14 DCEU films.
‘Shazam! Fury of the Gods’ mostly continues original’s fun
Movie review: The sequel doesn’t totally play to its strengths, but it has enough humor and warmth to be fairly painless to watch.
‘Black Adam’ a goofily fun but hypocritical superhero romp
Movie review: The Rock is nicely understated as a rare Middle Eastern superhero, but the setting feels more like a computer than reality.
James Gunn cuts loose in DCEU’s ‘Peacemaker’
First episode impressions (TV review): The first DCEU TV series focuses on the B-list Peacemaker, but Gunn wins me over with his humor.
John’s top 10 movies of 2021
2021 movies: The pandemic is getting old, but you gotta admit getting new movies straight to our homes is a silver lining. Here are my 10 favorites of 2021.
‘The Suicide Squad’ is Gunn’s latest pop-art masterpiece
Movie review: James Gunn can make colorful entertainment like this in his sleep, but it’s the extra attention that makes this sequel better than the original.
Snyder’s ‘Justice League’ beefs up Steppenwolf, DCEU
Movie review: The Whedon and Snyder versions are polar opposites. The most notable metric is that the original is 2 hours long and this one is 4 hours.
3 TV shows and 3 movies to see in 2021
2021 preview: This could be hugely entertaining year for audiences, as we get all those delayed 2020 releases plus some new ones.