I swear to God, I wrote the end of year wrap up for 2022 last week, time is going too fast make it stop make it stop…
Ahem. Sorry about that. Anyway, how are you all? How’s every little thing? Merry Christmas.
2023 was…a year. Ups and downs. Highs and lows. Swings and roundabouts.
October saw the release of my second book, Knock Knock, Open Wide to polite, restrained acclaim. I must take the opportunity now to thank Alex Grecian and Brian Evenson for kindly providing blurbs, and oh my God, BIG thanks to Clay McLeod Chapman who was an absolute LEGEND promoting the book online. You should check out his novel What Kind of Mother, it’s a heartbreaking story of loss set in the backwoods of Virginia with terrifying yet symbolic crabs. Mouse recommends.
And, of course, if you were kind enough to support me by picking up a copy, you have my eternal thanks.
Anyway, this year’s reviews:
In 2023 I reviewed 1 Canon Disney movie, 3 MCU movies with another to follow before year end, 1 animé, 2 live action movies (I’m counting Dark Crystal as live action and not animation because it is), 4 non-Disney canon animated features, 1 TV series, 1 Bats versus Bolts (it lives again!), 6 Batman movies plus the Gotham Knight series of short films and one weird essay that was supposed to be a review of Inherit the Wind but turned into me having an existential breakdown over the impossibility of knowing objective truth.
This was definitely a year when I pulled back from my usual staples of the MCU and Disney Canon but…Jesus, can you blame me? Not a hot take, I know, but whenever I have a bad year I will remind myself that at least it wasn’t as bad as Disney’s 2023. Holy shit what a dumpster fire. And we’re not done yet.
You were supposed to be the Chosen One!
So, as a Disney reviewer and fan am I disheartened or saddened by this sudden, catastrophic reversal of the company’s fortunes? No, not at all. It’s a massive, rapacious corporation that doesn’t care in the slightest about any of us and thinking it’s your friend will get you eaten alive like that dude in Grizzly Man. If you do find yourself feeling sympathy, watch the Oh My Disney! sequence from Wreck It Ralph 2 to remind yourself of the rather sickening hubris that brought them to this point. Or, indeed, just watch any of their recent output. But the other reason why I’m not worried is because we have been here before. The canon always goes through highs and lows. They’ll course correct and come back stronger than ever. Happened after the second world war. Happened after the death of Walt, happened after the end of the Renaissance. Sunrise, sunset.
Anyway, my never-ending quest to clear my review backlog has reached some of the weirder and grungier items on the menu and this, combined with the aforementioned pant-shitting of two of my regular series, meant I honestly did not review that many good films this year. Best film?
Well spoilers, but yeah, it’s going to be Guardians 3.
Worst film?
Holy moly, spoiled for choice. This year had no less than FOUR new entries into the Hall of Shame which I think may be a record? And while a fair man might say that Freddie as FR07 was the worst film I’ve seen this year, I am neither fair, nor a man. I fucking hate Thor: Love and Thunder and I want to get one more kick in the goolies before New Year.
And on that happy note, thanks so much for reading and commenting. You guys are, as always, the best.
Nollaig shona daoibh go léir,
Mouse.
unshavedmouse 
Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Happy every other relevant holiday, and thanks for everything, Mouse. Congrats on your second book (which is currently languishing on my wishlist, but I promise I’ll be picking it up 😅) and I can’t wait to see what you have for us next. Take care and be well! ❤️
So I guess that I must be the dissenter and say that I look forward to seeing “Wish”.
But I must wait until it comes to Disney+ because of my back and neck pains.
And speaking of being a dissenter and Disney+, this was my first year on that streaming service.
Which made it possible for me to watch several movies, that I never saw before.
And I can’t agree with the general low opinion on the DTV sequels, at all.
So I would have wanted to find more positive reviews on them.
However, it is clear that I won’t get that from this blog…
Love what you want to love, my friend. We are all possessed with unpopular opinions.
This has certainly been a year with some ups and downs, and that’s just with reviews. But I’m glad that your new book has done well and I’m looking forward to what comes next. On a more immediate case, I’m certainly looking forward to Guardians 3.
Merry Christmas to you and the family.
And Athbhliain faoi mhaise dhuit.
(I hope that’s correct)
My favorite of your reviews this year is Batman Returns followed by Return to Oz and Hoodwinked.
Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year, Mouse. May you and your family have a wonderful holiday and upcoming year. I’m excited to read your Guardians 3 review, too. (That’s one of my favorite films I’ve seen this year.) I’m still shocked it’s been 11 years, coming in on 12 since I started reading this blog!
Merry Christmas, mouse. Remember that according to Christmas law you are forbidden to stir during these evening hours, so get plenty of rest. Between work, school and family stuff I haven’t seen a new movie since September, so I continue to live vicariously through you. Much love to Spouse, Mini, and Micro.
Merry Christmas, and take care of yourself and the fam. Thank you also for the enjoyable reviews (the Inherit the Wind not-review was really interesting), and congrats on the book.
Merry Christmas, Mr. Sharpson! Hoping as always that you and yours are well in the new year!
Ouch, now I can see that I forgot to wish you a merry Christmas like the others did.
So, merry Christmas!
And I’m even reading a book about Ireland right now and will think about you.
I am glad that you had such a great year, Mouse. I concur that at this point, they really do seem to exist just to end and leave us another 12 months further and further away from our precious youth.
Still, as much as I look forward to your Wish review, I look forward even more to the time when I and Disney will again have created something of real value to festoon upon the world in pride.
Happy new year! And for the record (admittedly not having seen most of them) my pick for best film of the year would be BARBENHEIMER!
This makes me seem like a total glutton for punishment, but I do want to read the review for Wish. How did a film that promised to provide everything Disney fans wanted (A shorter runtime! A different animation style! A proper villain!) leave so many fans disappointed?
Well, what I feel is that they’re just joyless complainers.
“Wish” will maybe not be my new favorite, but I know that I will like it.
Best Wishes to all in the Mouse House and all the joy of the season to your family – thank you for all your hard work and congratulations on your latest publication! (-:
P.S. It just struck me today that the true measure of Disney’s latest animation era is that they’ve had the MCU on tap for fourteen years, yet we continue to live in a world without a FROG THOR animated feature film.
Truly, this cannot be the Best of all possible worlds.
…
I am now imagining a FROG THOR movie made with Muppets and I am howling to the uncaring stars for the lack of such a thing.
Iunno if a second renaissance for Disney could work as things are. A lot of company output seems to be in free fall and it’s been DreamWorks et al doing the legwork for good animated films. Would be cool to be proven wrong but the house of mouse doesn’t seem interested in *doing* what made them great so much as *using* what made them great.
Or people can just stop complaining and be happy for what we get.
Hi, no pressure or anything, but do you have a timeline for finishing your wish review? I know it’s not on disneyplus but don’t look me in the eye and pretend you don’t know how to pirate
Madam I am APALLED at the suggestion