Author: Adam

For anyone familiar in the film industry, you would know that January is usually never the brightest month for movies. After the holiday blockbusters and Oscar nominated films being released at the end of the prior year, it leaves a time to where studio is practically given free realm to dump whatever movie they have zero faith in quietly onto the big screen in the hopes of not losing too much financially from it. Every once in a while you’ll get a Kung Fu Panda 3, Split, or Scream (2022), but for the most part, it’s usually a month in the dump for movies and always gives early nominations for critic for Worst Movies of the year, which they usually tend to forget until they got to make their end-of-the-year lists. While a legit good new movie to come out January is rare, a legit good movie in the very first weekend of it is even more rare. Yet here we have M3GAN, which is here to say, let’s kick off this new year in the best way they can and get us excited what 2023 has to come for films. While I can’t say M3GAN is a great movie overall, it’s a damn good one. As it’s own thing, that’s awesome but for a January movie, it’s sensational.

Premise: A roboticist/inventor named Gemma (Allison Williams) is developing a new artificial intelligence for her toy company called the Model 3 Generative Android, M3GAN for short. This AI is created to be a lifelike doll programmed to be a companion for a child and a big help towards a parent. After a terrible tragedy occurs for her little niece Cady (Violet McGraw), Gemma wants to use the M3GAN prototype in the hopes to help her heal and mourn during these troubled times. Little does anyone working on the M3GAN program know that the AI is created to be too self-aware and be massively overprotective to their child’s counterpart, so much so that it can lead to her kill and harming anyone that gets in her way. Can Gemma find a way to make the proper version of M3GAN to save herself, her niece, and the rest of the world or is it simply too much of a good thing and needs to be shut down for good?

Horror movies with the premise involving toys and AI are nothing out of the ordinary. It’s clearly done as a means to create an unrealistic threat to provide some genuine scares and brutal kills to keep the audience on their toes the whole way through. These mostly tend to provide surface level entertainment with not much commentary or unpredictability thrown into the mix. Despite it being a familiar premise, M3GAN does actually put more thought and effort to it than you would think.

While yes, M3GAN herself is clearly there in the hopes of being a new horror movie villain icon to provide the most memorable lines, laughs, moments, and especially kills, she does also exist to be at the center of a human and surprisingly heartfelt story the movie provides. She exists to be a companion to Cady in the wake of a horrific life changing event that will mentally scar her. While M3GAN is certainly the friend Cady needs now, is she really the one that should guide her for the rest of her life? Eventually she will have to put her tragic past behind her and blaze her own path. When that happens, should M3GAN still be there for her or should she be cast aside kinda like when a kid grows up and give away his toys? The movies goes into lengths of that commentary a bit more than most of these movies do.

M3GAN might be special but she is still deep down a form of technology and not a real person. No matter how hard one might work hard to create a real person through technology, you will never be able to capture the complete heart and soul of a human being. Technology is important and A.I.s can be as well but going too far with either one of those could result in replacing actual human beings. It’s then that makes the characters in the movie wonder whether special projects like M3GAN are actually worth it in the end.

Even if you are not fond of all the commentary with the relationships between human and technology, the movie does provide enough entertainment on the surface value. It’s take a while to get going as the first half-hour take it’s time to set up the human drama for the characters along with getting a bit too bogged down in exposition but once, M3GAN arrives at her new home, it starts to take off. It’s then we see the way that M3GAN interacts with her new family along with others that she believe might cause harm to them. We see her responses to that in ways that are funny, touching, scary, and especially brutal.

While no doubt M3GAN is going to open the floodgates for the most glorified memes in the upcoming days, she is sill quite entertaining and an engaging presence whenever she appears on the screen. Even if most of her actions from scene to scene are ones you can predict, hers ways of doing it and the timing off it are what will keep you off guard. It also helps that Jenna Davis provides a unique voice that helps gives the character the small sense of humanity that she deep down doesn’t have.

There are times where the tones can collided with each other a bit too much as there are certain scenes that feel like they should be funnier than they should while other scenes feel like they should be scarier than they should. It has a ending that feels rather abrupt, mostly so the final shot can give a hint at an upcoming sequel. And just like with the majority of these kind of movies, I don’t think you will be all that surprised where all of this will lead too.

Allison Williams is able to hold the whole movie on her shoulders with her captivating performance, able to balance being an ambitious creator but also being forced into being a mother figure for her nephew. She’s not quite as good her as she is in Get Out but she just might be a new lucky charm in the horror genre. Violet McGraw is admittedly a bit flat in certain scenes but is engaging enough to make you care enough. And as I mention, Jenna Davis works wonders as M3GAN, helping the character stand out in a very unique way.

I’m sure a question someone will have reading this is whether or not M3GAN would be judge differently if it came out in any other month. My answer would be Yes and No. While the flaws here are more forgiving than other films that usually come out this month, there is a certain warmth and heart here with some meaningful messaging that doesn’t feel forced or phony that helps make the picture stand out. Sure, it’s uneven and not the most unpredictable, but it definitely makes for a fun, engaging time. If movies can stand out quite well like this to start the year, than 2023 will definitely be a year to look forward to for movies.

Other comments:

• During my early advance screening of this, the promo actually spoke during it. I will definitely be seeing that in future advance screenings.

• I sure can’t wait for all the memes from this movie in the next few days.

• The marketing for this movie has been genius btw.

Last night saw an incident that was absolutely scary and heartbreaking to witness. During the Monday Night Football match-up between the Buffalo Bills and the Cincinnati Bengals, young Bills safety Damar Hamlin collapsed on the field and went into cardiac arrest.

This came after delivering a tackle, which sources said felt very routine and nothing out of the ordinary. Following the play, Hamlin immediately got up on his feet only to completely collapse to the ground a split second later. As trainers and paramedic raced onto to the field less than ten seconds after it happened, they gave the kid everything they could possible give him at the moment before getting him to the hospital. CPR, defibrillation, oxygen and a IV. After that, Hamlin was taken to University of Cincinnati Academic Health Center at around 9:25 EST. He’s been reported to be in critical condition and was intubated. The game was suspended immediately after this incident occurred but was only postponed by the league about a full hour after he had collapsed.

As much as I want to take this time to go on about how poor the NFL is when it comes to taking care of their own players and of the health and safety of them, I want to talk about something else. While, yes, NFL deserves to be called out by fans and press everywhere of how it should not have took them this long to call the game, I want to put the spotlight on strictly Damar Hamlin itself. Because, no matter what happens now or how he is able to get through this process, I think there remains a good chance he had played his last ever NFL game.

Damar Hamlin is just 24 years old. He’s only played in his second season in the NFL with the Buffalo Bills after playing five seasons of college football with the Pittsburgh Panthers. He’s played a part of two very good Bills teams thus far, a core group that has potential to be Super Bowl favorites. He is also a very well respected individual off of the field, with him starting his own GoFundMe in 2020. That charity was an organization designed to organize annual Christmas toy drives in his hometown of McKees Rocks. With being a core piece to a potential elite Bills squad for years to come along with the great work he has done off the field to those who need it most, the kid seemed like he had a great, bright career ahead of him. That was until what happened last night.

As a sport fan from Missouri myself, this awful situation feels too similar to what happened to former St. Louis Blues defenseman, Jay Bouwmeester. For those who don’t know, Bouwmeester was a hockey veteran when he came to the St. Louis Blues. He was loved by fans, players, and coaches and he helped play a role in helping the Blues win their first ever Stanley Cup in 2019. However, his career came to a depressing end after collapsing on the bench and going into cardiac arrest in a game against the Anaheim Ducks on February 11, 2020. It was an incredibly scary situation to witness on tv and one that I do not wish on anyone, not even my worst enemy. While Bouwmeester was thankfully able to survive all of that, he would never play another professional hockey game again as he would miss the rest of that season and announce his retirement nearly a full year after going into cardiac arrest. All of this sounds too similar to what has just happened to Damar Hamlin.

Now, I don’t want to get into the question right now of if he should play another football game or not. What matters now is that Damar is able to make through this process and make a recovery in some form. However, this just shows the scenario of how quickly one’s career in sports could end just like that. It’s bad enough when it happens to a respected sports veteran but when it happens to a young kid who has the potential to be a breakout-star, that is just as soul crushing.

Sport athletes are never guarantee safety in the sport they play no matter how hard they try to avoid injuries. Whether the harm comes from the other team or a situation like this where the person themselves collapses on the field, a career in sports can end just as quickly as it can begin. A life-changing injury can come at you fast and ruined the one great you have worked your entire life to accomplish. That’s why we should always feel grateful to those players that are able to overcome injuries to continue playing until they decide they are done and feel nothing but sorrow whenever players’ careers end because they just couldn’t get past it. As much as sports is suppose to be entertainment, it should never come at the expense of the life of a single player no matter what game they are playing.

Right now, I just want to take this time to say that I wish nothing but the fastest recovery imaginable for Damar Hamlin and his family. I can’t imagine how scared and worried they are right now after witnessing such a scary event. No matter what happens for the rest of Hamlin’s playin career, I really hope this will all lead to some sort of light at the end of a tunnel. I just hope he is able to carry on to be the respectable individual he has made himself to be and be an inspiration of others to power through after a life-changing experience. We can only hope and pray now but hopefully, God is on Damar’s side.

Other comments:

• Between this and what happened with actor Jeremy Renner this weekend, we really need to learn not to take any famous person for granted and remember these are real human beings. No one is invisible or is guarnteed safety.

• It has been reported that after the in-game collapse, the GoFundMe campaign for his 2020 toy drive, which had an initial goal of $2,500, had received a massive influx of donors, which now has raised over $3 million in donations. That is absolutely incredible! It really shows how great the world can be when we all come together to try to make a significant difference. Massive respect to anyone that donated!

• Here’ an announcement directly from Damar Hamlin’s family that just got released:

Announcement directly from Damar’s family: pic.twitter.com/MdzgxUmVfg

— Jordon Rooney (@jordonr) January 3, 2023

2023 is looking to be a big year for movies! Whether it’s for the big franchise blockbusters or the smaller indie flicks, this looks to be a year that will have something for just about anybody that loves movies. As new year begins and we approach our very first weekend of movies for 2023, set to be kicked off by M3GAN, why not share the movies that I am looking forward to the most this year.

How I’m going to arrange this is that I will first put my ten honorable mentions in the exact order of their intended release date. Then, I will have my top ten most anticipated movies in the order that I’m most looking forward to.

Also, just to let you know, you are probably going to see mostly movies, particularly sequels, from well-known franchises/IPs on this list. Sorry if there’s not enough original movies for you but it’s usually hard to build up anticipation for those because we usually know little to nothing about them at the beginning of the year aside from the names involved with it. I do have a few mentioned here but that’s mostly based on the talent involved with it and not so much based off of trailers, marketing, and such. So, fair warning on that part.

Let’s not waste any more time and start off with ten honorable mentions (in order of release date):

Knock At The Cabin (February 3rd)

Say what you will about M. Night Shyamalan (and I can sure say a lot) but no one does films like he does. His latest entry based off the 2018 novel, The Cabin at the End of the World, seems like it will be one of those psychological horror thrillers that is “so bad it’s good” or be an engaging/intense ride. I don’t know which half it will be but I’m definitely curious to see how it turns out. Also, it’s nice to see Dave Bautista continuing to grow as an actor.

Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania (February 17th)

I think most folks don’t realize how big of a movie this is going to be for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Not only will this most likely help set the stage for Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars but it will also established the Ant-Man movies as being perhaps among the most important in this universe. While the first two movie were relatively self-contained and somewhat inconsequential, Quantumania will give Peyton Reed the chance to make an epic in-scale Ant-Man adventure that will surely give Marvel fans a taste of what is to come. Let’s see how round three goes with Paul Rudd!

Cocaine Bear (February 24th)

This mention is mostly based off it’s surprisingly amusing trailer that came out recently. Based off a true story of the actual “Cocaine Bear”, Elizabeth Bank is looking to add a black comedy spin to this real-life tale. With a solid cast and a premise this crazy, this could be a really fun time. I just hope this is something where the true events don’t feel insultingly done or that this is a story that is worth poking fun with/at. Guess we’ll just have to wait and see!

Creed III (March 3rd)

The upcoming entry in the Rocky franchise has gotten under the radar from a lot of people. The first two Creed movies were a textbook example on how to do these kinds of legacy sequels right but this one looks as though it will have to forge it’s own path. With this being the first installment in the series to not have Stallone’s Rocky in it as his story seemed to have wrapped up nicely in the last one, this will see Michael B Jordan in the complete forefront, both in front of the camera AND behind the camera, where he will make his official directing debut. It’s undeniably unfamiliar territory for this series but let’s see how it turns out.

Scream VI (March 10th)

A year later and we already got another Scream movie, which will release just 14 months after the last one. You can definitely argue that this series has worn out it’s welcome but if this remains as entertaining as last year’s entry was, then I won’t have a problem with seeing more. The big downside here is that the face of the franchise Neve Campbell won’t be returning as Sidney after being insultingly lowballed by executives. We’ll see if these younger stars will be able to carry the baton they are given now to make this another entertaining installment. At least, Hayden Panettiere as Kirby will be back though.

Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts (June 9th)

2018’s Bumblebee was a nice and welcoming surprise for the Transformers franchise that gave it another leash on life. Despite the initial low box office numbers, it has apparently gained enough popularity since then for there to be a follow-up. With this one taking inspiration from the Beast Wars storyline, Steven Caple Jr. is looking to continue what Travis Knight started with the last one and crafting a Transformers live-action flick that best resembles the brand. Let’s hope there is even more Transformer focus and action than before!

Elemental (June 16th)

I am always curious to see what Pixar does with a new movie. I’m even more curious to see what they do with it involves an original idea. While this does sound like an odd premise that I’m not entirely sure can carry a whole film, I will definitely be there in theaters to see how it turns out. Hopefully this doesn’t turn out to be another The Good Dinosaur.

The Marvels (July 28th)

I honestly think this has a chance to be a legit surprise for many people. While the first Captain Marvel got a quite lukewarm reaction, I think the ingredients are here for a better follow-up. We’ll get to see Brie Larson as Carol Danvers team up with Iman Vellani’s Kamala Kahn and Teynoah Parris’s Monica Rambeau to save the world. If those three end up having the right chemistry together and if Nia DaCosta’s directing skills is up to the task, then this could potentially be to Captain Marvel what The Winter Soldier was to Captain America and what Ragnarok was to Thor. Of course we have to see for ourselves but I got quite a good feeling about this one.

Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom (December 25th)

With what is looking to be the finale to whatever we are suppose to call this DC movie universe for the last decade, Jason Moama and James Waan will be back for one last ride together before James Gunn and Peter Safran hit the reset button. I’m not entirely sure what to expect but no doubt we will be gifted with a beautiful, action packed spectacle just like last time around that might be good enough to distract you from everything else going on in the world. Regardless how it turns out, it should at least provide some much needed escapism for the holidays.

Killers Of The Flower Moon (TBD)

I’m not gonna pretend I know anything about this movie or the book that it’s based upon. All I do know is that Martin Scorsese is back in the director’s chair with Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro returning by his side so that’s good enough for me. Can we just please not ask Martin anymore about Marvel movies? Pretty please!

Here we go with the main top ten!

10.) Barbie (July 21st)

Yeah, yeah, I see you laughing but hear me out! I do think this has a chance to be legit good. It has a tremendously talented cast and crew and there’s plenty of fun things you can do with this absurd premise. If the correct approach is used when tackling this material and they are able to find the right balance of humor, meta, and self-awareness, this could be like a live-action equivalent of The Lego Movie. You might find that insane but it’s got the right people to make that happen. Great Gerwig has a near-perfect track record thus far and I believe she’s gonna step it up big time with this one. Also, it will have Margot Robbie in a swimsuit. How can any of us lose?

9.) Shazam: Fury Of The Gods (March 17th)

While we awaited the inevitable outcome of the beginning of the end of this DC universe, we will at least be blessed to see another Shazam! movie before that occurs. The original Shazam! was a refreshingly fun and heartfelt superhero flick that felt like the kind of comic book flick I imagined myself wanting to make as a kid. With Fury of the Gods, it’s looking to expand on the themes of family that the first one provided even further along with giving more screen time for the family in their super forms. I don’t expect this to be my favorite movie of the year but this should still make for some more nice time spend with this lovable group of superheroes.

8.) The Super Mario Bros. Movie (April 7th)

On the surface, this movie should have several red flags attached to it. It’s being made by Illumination Animation who is known for making below average and forgettable kids movies that are always somehow a big box office success. It’s also a movie adaption of a video game series which should also raise some level of concern despite recent success with it. However, with what we have seen so far, the Mario movie seems to be hitting all the right notes. The animation is jaw dropping, the aesthetics and music feel like they are ripped straight out of the games, making Luigi the damsel in distress instead of Princess Peach is absolute genius, and holy smokes it will even have Mario Kart in it! Yes, we’ll likely still have Chris Pratt trying (and failing) to pull off a convincing Mario voice but if the rest of the movie can deliver, then we can live with it. Let’s-a-go!

7.) Dune: Part Two (November 3rd)

Denis Villeneuve returns once again to finish what he started by giving closure to the original story of Dune. We will see the majority of the cast members from the first one return here along with a couple of new faces. This is looking to be another sci-fi tale of revenge and vengeance as Paul Atreides will look to avenge his family from the conspirators. Facing a choice between the love of his life and the fate of the known universe, he endeavors to prevent a terrible future only he can foresee. Part One ended on an intriguing cliffhanger, hopefully Part Two is able to stick the landing. If it does, then perhaps we even see even more from this world of Dune and these movies will be looked upon as being some of the finest accomplishments in sci-fi history.

6.) John Wick: Chapter 4 (March 24th)

It’s another John Wick movie! I don’t need to say anything else!

5.) Guardian Of The Galaxy Volume 3 (May 5th)

Our favorite galactic band of misfits is finally coming back to the big screen with what is looking to be their last adventure together. After watching The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special back during the holidays, it made me realize just how much I love these characters and how much I will miss them when they are gone. With what is looking like his final work with Marvel Studios, James Gunn is looking to finish his trilogy on a high note delivering the perfect amount of character, humor, heart, and emotion that he provided with his first two Guardians movies along with something extra. I don’t know if I’ll be ready to say goodbye to these characters but no doubt I’ll be ready to watch this once it hit theaters in May.

4.) Oppenheimer (July 21st)

Similar to a few directors I’ve already mentioned, Christopher Nolan is a director whose movies I’m always curious to check out regardless of what I thought of the previous one. The man just has the kind of distinct vision and grand mindset that very few directors have. Here, he will lead a cast filled with just about every notable star in Hollywood (seriously go look the cast up) about J. Robert Oppenheimer, the American theoretical physicist credited with being the “father of the atomic bomb” for his role in the Manhattan project. Like with Nolan’s prior movies, this will no doubt be worth the IMAX experience and one you’ll at least want to see in any kind of theaters. Between this and Barbie, July 21st will likely go down as being the most interesting weekend of movies in 2023.

3.) Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny (June 30th)

What can I say? I’m a sucker for a new Indiana Jones flick! I love them all, even the one that everyone says it’s bad I actually kinda like. There’s plenty to be curious about with this one. How will a new Indy movie fare without Stephen Spielberg as director and George Lucas as writer/producer? How can Harrison Ford still be believable in his iconic role when he is now in his 80s? Will the de-ageing effects be at least more real than say Luke Skywalker or Grand Moff Tarkin? Those are all questions I’m extremely interested in seeing answers to. These movies are just a blast to watch and I’m definitely game for at least one more. If it’s good, then we get another great Indiana Jones movie. If it’s bad, then we can just pretend the third (or fourth one) was the last one.

2.) Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning- Part One (July 14th)

The beginning of what likely will be the end of Tom Cruise’s run with these movies. I can’t think of a franchise that simply refuses to peak like this one. Ever since Part III, they just seem to get better and better with each new installment. Somehow always finding ways to top themselves in terms of action, stunts, stakes, and the impossible missions. With Part One of what is supposed to be the final story of Mission Impossible, Christopher McQuirre and Tom Cruise are looking to save the best ones for last, making the impossible even more impossible by being able to top themselves after Rogue Nation and Fallout. Will they succeed? Who knows! However, no doubt it will be really fun to watch them try.

1.) Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse (June 2nd)

If you know me, you would have most likely guessed that this would be number one. Into the Spider-Verse was my favorite movie of 2018 along with one of my favorite superhero movies ever and I have been desperately been looking forward to a sequel ever since. For what we’ve seen, this is looking to deliver everything that people loved about the first one in even grander fashion. The animation looks more beautiful and creative, the Spider-Verse looks like it’ll be even more fun to explore, the relatable themes from the first one will likely carry over, the actions looks even more epic and packed, and anyone’s favorite version of Spider-Man will get their moment to shine here. The wait for this movie has been killing me but I got a good sense it will all be worth it by the time it comes out. Spider-Man is one of my personal favorite characters and I will always look forward to seeing him on the big screen. With Across the Spider-Verse, it’s looking as if I will get exactly that and even more.

In regards to other notable movies that didn’t make the list:

• M3Gan could be fun and scary but it’s a January movie.
• I’ve never seen a Magic Mike movie before but a new one is coming out in February for those that are interested.
• Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey will probably be an unintentional comedic masterpiece.
• I’m burnt out on Fast & Furious movies but a tenth one is out in May that I may check out if I’m bored.
• The Little Mermaid will likely be another massively inferior Disney live-action remake.
• The Flash is……the Flash (and Ezra Miller *shivers*).
• Not the biggest Wes Anderson fan but I might give Asteroid City a chance.
• I’ve lost track on the Insidious movies so I will likely not check out Fear The Dark.
• Hopefully Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem will be the first legit good TMNT movie since TMNT (2007).
• Blue Beetle exists I guess.
• The Equalizer 3 and The Expendables 4 also just exist.
• Kraven The Hunter is getting his own movie believe it or not. Hopefully, it’s another Morbius.
• A tenth Saw movie is coming out as well. I’ve lost track of that series as well.
• I was indifferent to the Hunger Games movies aside from Catching Fire but The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes could be a new fresh start for the series.
• I’ve never got around to the Trolls movies so I won’t see the third one.
• Wish is the new Disney Animation movie but we know nothing about it yet.
• I surprisingly don’t have much interested in Wonka but Timothee Chalamet is perfect casting and I can see Paul King surprise us all once again like he did with Paddington.
• The Color Purple feels like yet another unnecessary remake.
• I didn’t care much for Ghostbusters: Afterlife so I don’t think it’s sequel will do much for me. I’m also not the biggest Ghostbuster fan in general.

Another year of entertainment has come and gone so it’s time to look back at some of the very best that it had to offer. I decided to add a feature that I didn’t last year where I will also reveal what my favorite new games were of 2022.

Granted, it’s only two games I’m referring too but these are two games I actually planned to do a review of but never could get around to it by the time they were both still relevant. I figured they deserved a shout-out in some way, shape, or form so why not also include them in some other best of the year list like this one. Keep in mind, there were plenty of well-received games I didn’t get around to such as Stray and Elden Ring. Gaming is much more expensive now than ever and I only purchase games that I have extreme interest in and believe I will actually enjoy in some capacity. Plus, I still have yet to get a proper next-gen console, which I’m hoping to fix soon.

And of course, I will also mentions the best movies of 2022 (that I actually saw).

Again, just like with video games, I haven’t gotten around to EVERY single movie released this year but I more or less, did see just about every single one I had legit strong interest in. If you find a well-received movie that wasn’t on this list, then that means I either a.) didn’t care as much for it or b.) I just didn’t have any interest in it. Considering the Regal theater in my area closed and I can no longer use my Unlimited pass, I also had to be more considerate with my limited budget on entertainment. I’m in the middle of job hunting and I need to be more careful with the way I spend. Be sure to keep all of that in mind when viewing this list.

I will also do what I did last year and included an unqualified mention and special mention for two specific films. Two films that I don’t think are anywhere close to being the best movies of the year but deserve a shout-out nonetheless.

Anyways, now to start off with what was my two favorite games of the year.

Best Games of 2022

Kirby And The Forgotten Land

I’m not gonna lie, I had NEVER play a Kirby game before this one. My only familiarity with the character was in the Super Smash Bros series. After playing through The Forgotten Land, I certainly might want to consider changing that. Excluding spin-offs, this actually was the first ever Kirby game to be fully 3D and taking that into perspective, it’s about as good as you can hope to be. I can criticize certain aspects such as the clunky movement of the controls at times along with the repetitive mini-bosses but this definitely helped me understand the appeal of Kirby. Not only is he incredibly lovable and adorable but he can be a complete badass who can basically do anything you want him to. It looks great, sounds great, the level design is top notch, it’s a never a chore to collect items or grind to upgrade, and was just overall a really fun experience. If you are a Kirby fan, then you probably already have played the game and love it. Even if you are not, then I strongly recommend checking it out.

God Of War: Ragnarok

2018’s God of War was an absolute fresh air for the God of War franchise. It struck a near perfect line between being a soft reboot and also a direct continuation of previous games. And what better way to follow-up the 2018 game with what was arguably the most popular tale when it comes to Norse mythology, with Ragnarok itself. Following up the promises that the original teased, 2022’s God of War feature is able to deliver all of that in terms of story, gameplay, and the development of the main characters of Kratos and Atreus A.K.A. Loki. The narrative is among the most engaging of any game that I’ve played, it’s always able to provide that sense of levity without it being too serious, and is it ever satisfying to slice and dice up your enemies like they’re nothing. Were their moments where I die repeatedly that caused me to rage a bit like any other game? Absolutely! But when all is said and then, God of War: Ragnarok is about as good of a follow-up as one could except and hope for. Very curious to see how this series will continue going forward!

And those were my best games of the year! Now, onto the best movies of the year!

First off, my unqualified mention.

Avatar: The Way Of Water

As I mentioned in my review, while this was undeniability an amazing visual accomplishment that is more than worth seeing on the big screen in IMAX 3D, I do wonder how this movie will fare once it hits Blu-Ray/4K. Will the story, characters, and themes actually resonate with folks this time around or will it only be the visuals, action, and the theater experience stick with them like the original Avatar? Time will tell but no doubt this was worth the trip to theaters to see it on the biggest screen in 3D. Let’s just see how many will be able to say that this will have any staying power.

Now, my special mention.

Sonic The Hedgehog 2

What can I say? I like Sonic and good movies! And Sonic 2 was a pretty damn good movie. In many ways, this is pretty much the movie I wanted the first one to be. There’s more focus on the Sonic characters, more lore from the games that is introduced, the human characters are more properly utilized, and the third act delivered about all the Sonic goods I could possibly ever want from a Sonic movie. It’s also able to do more justice to Tails and Knuckles then the overall series has done for over the past decade. I wouldn’t necessarily call it a great movie as it is quite predictable with it’s story beats (aside from that bizarre wedding subplot with a laughable plot twist) and some of the humor can be quite hit and miss but in a year which was undoubtedly the year of Sonic, this was a worthy addition to the series. Bring on Part III and the Knuckles show!

Ten Honorable Mentions (or #22-12)

22.) Tar

I’m not quite in love with this one like most critics are. It’s too slow for my liking with not a whole lot of things going on through it’s bloated runtime. However, it has Cate Blanchett in it. And Cate Blanchett can make any movie good or watchable no matter what it is about.

21.) Bodies Bodies Bodies

A funny/scary thriller that sees yet again a bunch of young rich folks partying like there’s no tomorrow only to find themselves in a deadly game of live and death with a mysterious killer in the group. Can it be a bit excessive and obnoxious for some? Sure but there’s enough here to keep you entertained and engaged for 95 minutes. Not the very best from A24 or even for these kinds of “party” movies but still worth a watch!

20.) The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent

You can never get enough of Nicky Cage. You can Nicky Cage in, you can Nicky Cage out. You can never have too much Nicky Cage. Oh and the movie’s real good btw. And it has Pedro Pascal.

19.) Weird: The AL Yankovic Story

An incredibly refreshing change of pace for these kind of musical biopic flicks that’s able to make fun with it’s material without exactly making fun of it, historical inaccuraties and all. Daniel Radcliffe stands out very well here a Al Yankovic and this is basically like a Walk Hard for a new generation.

18.) Pearl

I liked X but this one stuck with me more. In fact, it stuck with me a bit too well. So much so that I’m pretty sure I now see Mia Goth with an ax in my nightmares. I guess you can say this movie about an origin story of a psychopath did it’s job a little too well. You might be right but it’s definitely still worth a mention. Now, let’s stop talking about this movie because it scares me.

17.) She Said

Certainly not the most pleasant movie to watch on this list but definitely a solid movie about the two women who were successful on shining the spotlight on Harvey Weinstein. Similar to 2015’s Spotlight, it’s able to tell it’s story in a very strict and straightforward matter without being too dramatic about it. Far from the best ever film about serious subject matter but it still works.

16.) Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

This is about as good and thematically rich of a sequel as it could have been given the circumstances surrounding it. Despite losing a main key piece and a few too many subplots that feel like they’re only here to tease future movies and shows, it is still able to follow the remaining characters and themes from the first one in a way that feels organic and right. It’s beautifully acted and made, the handling of Chadwick Boseman’s death is done to near perfection, and is certainly a film you will want to bring tissues too. Of all the Marvel movies to release in 2022, this was definitely the best one.

15.) The Black Phone

Scott Derrickson returns to the horror genre after his departure from Doctor Strange 2 to make what is perhaps his best film to date. A chilling suspenseful thriller with a haunting atmosphere and superficial elements that proves Derrickson knows how to properly build tension without strictly resulting into cheap horror tropes.  Looking back, it looks like having Sam Raimi take over the Multiverse of Madness and Scott Derrickson crafting this gem ended up being a win-win for both parties.

14.) The Woman King

This is a strong work of art and entertainment from one of the more underrated action directors today in Gina Prince-Bythewood. It’s work as it’s own compelling action-packed historic drama as well as an inspiring feminist empowerment piece. This time around, the women come together and they are indeed strong! Also, Thuso Mbedu should be in more things! Along with Lashana Lynch!

13.) Barbarian

Easily the most unpredictable movie that I saw this year. This is a movie that you should go in knowing as LITTLE as possible. I promise it makes the experience even better. It definitely plays differently than most horror films out there and certainly break some traditional rules of screenwriting. However, if you are able to roll with it, then it’s a blast. Also, without giving too much away, this is probably a better Resident Evil movie than any of the Resident Evil movies released thus far. Go figure!

Now, decided to spice things up this time to include my top main 12 movies of the year instead of 10. Why? Because there was at least two other films on here I knew I had to put on the list. Also, because it’s my list and therefor my rules!

Best Movies Of 2022 (#12-1)

12.) The Batman

No, it’s not my favorite Batman movie ever made but I’d be hard-pressed to think of a movie that didn’t feel more Batman than this one. Matt Reeves brings his style and influence on the Caped Crusader and David Fincher films to make a well-crafted detective tale showcasing the early years of Bruce Wayne as Batman. We get to see a Gotham City that has never been more corrupted, Batman in a younger, insomniac, and more reckless stage, and get a glimpse of the criminals/vigilantes in the underworld that has helped made a corrupt town the way it is. The near three-hour long runtime may be taunting to some and has a sequel tease that feels needlessly tacked on but it does it’s job at ticking the right boxes for what most people want out of a proper Batflick movie. Off all the superhero/comic book movies that came out in 2022, this was my favorite.

11.) Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

Not quite as good as the first one but this was still a rocking good time. Rian Johnson is clearly at home with these movies, knowing exactly what he wants to do and exactly how to do it. It’s entertaining, the cast is stellar, the screenplay is air tight, there’s plenty of laughs and shocks along the way, and it might even make you hungry for even more of these kind of movies. I’ll definitely watch a third one and maybe even more after that. I can never enough of Daniel Craig and that lovely accent he has in these movies. Also, suck it Ben Shapiro!

10.) Nope

Might be a divisive one (just like a handful of movies on this list) but I love it! It was truly nice to see a pure original film with a blockbuster-like scale make it’s way to theaters. It’s a great mix of multiple sub-genres such as horror, mystery and sci-fi, the performances from the cast are all top-notch, it’s cinematography is a treat for the eyes, it’s scale is as epic as it can be, and it’s exceeds exactly in the same merits as it’s intended to be. Similar to my feelings on another certain movie on this list, while I’m not sure this is the overall best film from director Jordan Peele, it’s certainly his biggest and most ambitious feature to date that was definitely worth the theatre experience. Also, cast Keke Palmer in more things please!

9.) Turning Red

There are definitely Pixar films I’m more attached too and several I think are better than this one, but I can’t recall a Pixar movie that is just so open and honest with itself as this one is. It take risks and tackles subject matter that at least 99% of other animation studios are probably afraid of tackling for a supposed kids film, it has a strong thematical and emotional core that holds the whole thing together near perfectly, and has animation that serves it’s purpose and executed in all of the intent and purpose imaginable. This is a wonderfully, lovable movie about an awfully, cringe-able time period that we all have or will have to go through. Just a shame this movie is remembered not for it’s overall quality but for resurrecting 9/11 memes! Thanks Mr. Enter! Thanks!

8.) Prey

This, more so than any other movie in this series since the original, gets the appeal of the franchise. It’s the action, it’s the tension, it’s the suspense, it’s the subversive genre, it’s the haunting atmosphere, and it’s just the plain badassery from the main characters that are likable, fun to watch, and easy to care about. Amber Midthunder is a revelation and the whole “back-to-basics” approach is exactly what Predator needed after a handful of inconsistent sequels. Hopefully, the success for this movie is so big that it might encouraged feature Predator sequels to be released in theaters and not just for streaming services! Only time for tell but this still rocked!

7.) Puss In Boots: The Last Wish

An exciting, triumphing Part Two to go along with the other great Part Twos that DreamWorks animation has created with their filmography. The animation is spectacular, the characters are engaging, the set pieces are fun and inventive, the humor is well done, the story goes into dark places you wouldn’t except a simple “kids” movie would go, and it teaches a very valuable lesson on how we should live our life to the fullest with the ones we love before it’s too late. Never in a million years would I guess that it would be frigging Puss in Boots of all characters that could potentially give the Shrek series another lease on life but I guess anything is possible.

6.) The Northman

Here is proof that The Witch and The Lighthouse were no flukes and Robert Eggers should be notified as one of the next big directors to keep an eye on for future projects. While it’s not as well-made as the former or as bizarrely entertaining as the latter, this is undeniably Egger’s biggest and most ambitious film to date. It looks amazing, the cast is terrific, it’s delightfully excessive and action packed, and has probably one of the most satisfying third acts I’ve seen in quite some time along with one of the best final shot I’ve seen. This is proof that it’s not just the big blockbusters that are worth savoring the theaters for, it’s also the big independent films as well!

5.) Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio

There was quite a bit of Pinocchio movies that’s been released in recent memory. There was the one that came out this year on Disney Plus that quite sucked and there was another one with the subtitle A True Story that sucked even harder. Thankfully, we have Guillermo Del Toro to prevent the trifecta of bad recent Pinocchio movies with his own spin of this iconic character that came out on Netflix. This beautifully made and wonderfully animated tale is perhaps the darkest and most realistic version of Pinocchio that has ever been presented in movie form, going deeper into the horrors of war and how it can take away the ones you love. The animation is tremendous, the stop motion is flawless, the voice cast is great, it will pull your heart strings, and gives more depth to the characters than any other version I’ve seen. This is the first Pinocchio movie I can recall that lives up the original 1940 version and perhaps even surpasses it.

4.) Top Gun: Maverick

I’ll admit a part of me does respect this movie more than I actually love it. Not just for what it has done at the box office (grossing over a shocking billion dollars worldwide) but what it does for these kind of sequels. However, there is still plenty I love about this movie. You can say what you want about Tom Cruise as a person but he definitely knows his own reputation as an actor and will do whatever it takes to entertain his audience. Whether it’s Mission Impossible, Jack Reacher, or Top Gun, he still act as the best kind of action hero that anyone can except. Unlike other legacy sequels, this seems to give the notion that it’s titled main character can still be on top form with what he is still able to do even if he can’t seem to do anything else. He can still best the best at what he does even when it’s time to pass the baton to a new generation. Sometimes it’s okay to let Tom Cruise be the Tom Cruise that audience knows and loves about him without the need for anything else. And if the 1.6 billion dollar signs at the box office has anything to say about it, I think mainstream audience would agree.

3.) The Fabelmans

This is Steven Spielberg’s newest coming-of-age feature that is a part autobiography and part fictional tale of Steven’s early years as a boy and as a filmmaker. While this is far in away not the biggest or most aspiring film in his filmography, this is easily his most personal one. The one that feels like he has waited his entire career of making up to this point. The one that honestly feels like that everything has come full circle from in. The one that symbolically and thematically should be his final one or at least the beginning of an end to one of the most influential directors of all time. Not only is this one of the best films of the year, it easily stands as one of the top-tier works of Spielberg and possibly my favorite film of his in the 21st century thus far. I’m sure many of you reading this will find that all to be hyperbolic but just like the film itself, I find it to be aspiring.

2.) Babylon

Well, the world seems to be against me on this one and I would be lying if I couldn’t see why. Damien Chazelle’s newest feature is undeniably graphic, excessive, long, and can certainly make for a rather exhausting and overwhelming experience for many folks. However, for me, this was one of the best times I had at the movies all year. It’s hard to say exactly what appeals to me but I just love films that feel like it’s own animal and just plain “out there”. I love films that plays by it’s own rules without a care or worry about how audience will react. I love films where you can tell the love and passion the director has behind the camera. I love films that could go on for three hours and I wouldn’t mind if it kept going. Throw in a tremendous cast, with Margot Robbie, Diego Calva, and Brad Pitt being the stand-outs, top-notch production values, superb direction, a great screenplay, and a fantastic score and you get absolute pure cinema. Also, it has Tobey Maguire in of the best extended cameos in recent memory. I didn’t love La La Land or First Man, but this and Whiplash proves that Damien Chazelle is one of the better directors working today. You all can have Top Gun: Maverick as your movie of the year but let me have this and #1 as mine.

1.) Everything Everywhere All At Once

Yep, this one is still my favorite. This is a movie that feels like existing at all seems like some sort of miracle. It’s proof that there are still movie directors out there that aren’t afraid to put their own stamp on filmmaking. It’s proof that creativity and surprise is still possible for movies out there. It’s proof that you can take a concept that is sure to get tiresome soon or later by can still make for something completely worthwhile. It’s as if the Daniels are taking a great look at the future of films and decided to make a movie with a familiar concept, not to simply mock or critique it, but show the best possible version of it without the need to neglect or devalue the ones that come before it or will after. This still stands as one of the most creative, inventive films I’ve ever seen with some of the best execution of any idea or concept on film that I’ve ever seen. I love films that is able to give me an experience I’ve never had before and this excelled greatly at that. This was the best movie of 2022 and might even join my list of my personal favorite movies. This is Michelle Yeoh’s universe and we are all living in it. Also, Ke Huy Quan’s world as well. And Stepheanie Hsu.

And that does it for 2022. Thank you so much to everyone who took their time to read my pieces this year! I have no idea what 2023 will have in store for me but I’m hopefully I will at least be available to continue writing entertaining pieces on here involving movies, tv shows, video games, sports, or whatever is on my mind that I would like to write about. These are always a ton of fun to make and I hope you all had just as much fun reading them.

Thanks again to everyone that reads or follows me on here! Happy New Years! Cheers to a great 2023!

No movie is ever 100% original. Every single film that has ever been made has been inspired by something. Whether it’s from a film one watched when they were a kid or an event that happened to them in real life, everything has an inspiration. However, there comes a point in time when watching something that just has a certain spark to it. Even if you have seen that kind of movie a million different times before, there’s something about that one particular one you are watching that just hits you in a way that others movies of it’s kind have not. Almost as if you are actually watching this story told for the very first time. The kind of movie that can inspire you the way that other movies were clearly inspired by the director who made it. It’s the moment you realize you have discovered a masterpiece of it’s own kind.

In the case of The Fabelmans, this is Steven Spielberg’s newest coming-of-age feature that is a part autobiography and part fictional tale of Steven’s early years as a boy and as a filmmaker. While this is far in away not the biggest or most aspiring film in his filmography, this is easily his most personal one. The one that feels like he has waited his entire career of making up to this point. The one that honestly feels like that everything has come full circle from in. The one that symbolically and thematically should be his final one or at least the beginning of an end to one of the most influential directors of all time. Regardless of what the complications are for making this film and what will follow afterwards, I can say with confidence that not only is The Fabelmans one of the best films of the year, it easily stands as one of the top-tier works of Spielberg and possibly my favorite film of his in the 21st century thus far. I’m sure many of you reading this will find that all to be hyperbolic but just like the film itself, I find it to be aspiring.

Premise: Taking place in a post-World War II era in Arizona, a young boy named Sammy Fabelman (Gabriel LaBelle) is going through a rough childhood with his family and wants to become a filmmaker. His family consists of his mother named Mitzi (Michelle Williams), his father named Burt (Paul Dano), and his three sisters named Reggie, Natalie, and Lisa (Julia Butters, Keeley Karsten, and Sophia Kopera), who are often joined by time by Burt’s coworker/surrogate uncle to Sammy named Bennie Lowey (Seth Rogen) and granduncle named Boris (Judd Hirsch). It’s through his time throughout his grade school years that Sammy finds himself dealing with complicated issues and finds that making films help him get through those troubled times. Whether it’s trouble going on with his parents, having to adjust to a new school, and getting picked on by bullies, filmmaking is Sammy’s one form of escapism and the kind of career he want to pursue. Sammy must discover within himself if making movies is the path he wants to go down at the expense of his family and friends that he makes along the way.

Okay, so this kind of story is not the most original in the world. You’ve always heard dramatic tales about directors being inspired to become what they are due to living through a rough childhood and finding that making movies was the one way they could discover the truth about themselves and those around them. I can’t say for certain how much of this movie is for real and what isn’t real but you can definitely feel the kind of motion picture is going for. However, there’s just something that the way Spielberg decide to tell this tale that make it all the more magical and meaningful. Mostly because it all feels real even if it is all 100% not. Just like when making a movie.

With Sammy, filmmaking is the one way that he is able to view things in the same lenses as everyone else in his family. It’s the only way he sees the truth. With all the twists and turns that goes through his childhood to adulthood, making movies is his way of communicating to everyone else. We see Sammy make movies for himself, his school and his family throughout the movie and his way of sharing his voice onto everyone else. Whether what’s happening on screen is real or what he wishes to be real, it comes from a personal place that the young boy we follow has had to visit over and over and over again. No matter what the case is or what circumstance, he is now afraid to show what he feels from behind the camera. That is what makes for a true filmmaker.

While Spielberg is never afraid to show the dark side of his family and what Sammy has to put up he, he never forgets to show the light side with them as well. Despite having parents that are clearly troubled with themselves and their kids, they are all doing what they do because that is what they believe is best for everyone. That’s why when the dark secrets come out, you can’t help but feel sadness for everyone involved because there was simply no other way. Desperate times call for desperate measures. And how Sammy is able to react to all of this with his motion picture can make for what is basically his overall response to such troubled family matters. It may suck at the moment but eventually, you have to roll the camera and move on to the next scene. It’s a part of filmmaking and it’s a part of life.

The performances from the entire cast is sensational. Gabriel LaBelle is ride at home as what is essentially Spielberg Jr. as Sammy Fabelman, able to capture the inner turmoil and sweetness of Spielberg’s most well known main characters along with being able to see a part of Spielberg himself in there. Paul Dano plays the uptight but dweeby daddy to perfection. Michelle Williams plays the adorable yet troubled mother incredibly well that you just want to get a big hug too, even when her character does something terrible. Jeannie Berlin suits the classic Jewish grandmother well. Judd Hirsch as Mitzi’s Uncle Boris despite having a somewhat brief role is able to make his importance to the story feel noted, even going on to deliver arguably the most important monologue in the film to Sammy. Even Seth Rogen, who at times can be very hit or miss for me, got some good laughs out of me this time as Bennie.

From a production standpoint, it’s about as well made and polished as you can except from a Stephen Spielberg motion picture. While it’s definitely still the style that we are all familiar with Spielberg, it still is the style we have all come to love. The lightning and cinematography are perfectly on point that displays the time period the movie is set in to near perfection along with being able to properly showcase the importance of each scene. John Williams’s score is outstanding and easily one of the very bet of the entire year. Although there might be a handful of scenes that could have been trimmed down to cut down on the runtimes, the editing is still very well done by Michael Kahn and Sarah Broshar.

Going into The Fabelmans, I remember reading some lukewarm takes with those claiming this would not be viewed as important if Spielberg wasn’t the director. That may or may not be true for most out there but for me, that’s kind of the point. Everyone has their own origin story of what they wanted to be when they grew up. Everyone has their own story to tell and a certain way that they want to tell. In the case of The Fabelmans, while this is certainly Stephen Spielberg’s story to tell, that’s why I wanted to watch it and why it’s so wonderful to me.

I’m not someone that just wants to see my own story be exactly the same as others on the big screen. I want to see different stories told from different people. While it may not always be the same or relatable to me, it’s still what makes us all special. Not that we’re one the same but we are all different in our own unique ways. We live in our own worlds with how own ways we want to run things. When we have the time, money, and passion, we can allows ourselves to share it to the world. In the case of The Fabelmans, this is Stephen Spielberg sharing his origin story to the world.

It’s such a tragedy how this movie which is arguably the most personal, uplifting, and the biggest passion project of Spielberg’s career is also the one that is projected to be the biggest financial bomb of his career. I guess that’s the price of wanting to tell your own personal story after telling several others for the whole world. As much as it’s about what you do behind the camera, it’s also about how much the audience will appreciate your work. While it will always be your own baby, it’s only after you let the kid out into the open world where it’s in fate’s hands. Regardless of it’s tragic fate from making it’s financial return, I’m certainly grateful that Spielberg got to share his own story on the big screen and once again was able to think for himself.

There’s an old meaning of “if you’ve seen one, you’ve seem them all”. That terms is always used when it comes to big franchises or genres that give you exactly what you expect from that and can only experienced once to gain that same sense of something fresh and new. People always know the kind of things you are gonna get out of Star Wars, James Bond, or a Marvel movie. The things those movies provide as become a blueprint since the very first film of their respective franchises. With The Fabelmans, it’s yet another story about a young director having to go through rough times with his family to accomplish his dreams to make films.

However, if you are gonna watch at least one of those, why not have that one be this one? I can’t think of why not and I don’t the movie does either. That’s why I love it and that’s why I highly recommend checking it out for yourselves!

Other comments:

• I’m not gonna lie. The very first scene of Sammy’s first ever time going to the theaters was exactly like my reaction of going there for the first time. That the screens are just SOOOOOO big!

• One nitpick is that I did find some of the characterization of the bullies to be quite inconsistent. Almost as if the dialogue for both of the main bullies got mixed up without anyone knowing which one was suppose to be for which. They still act the same regardless but I did find that a bit jarring.

• Sorry if this review will comes out as a bit rushed when this published. I wanted to get this uploaded by Christmas day as I have evening plans to spend with other family members. I’ll polished it up more shortly after Christmas!

• Be on the look out for my Best Movies and Games of 2022 coming very soon!

• Happy holidays to everyone! Have a very merry Christmas and a very happy new year!

You would be hard pressed to find a franchise that has been as successful for DreamWorks as the Shrek franchise. While not quite the critical darlings of Kung Fu Panda or How To Train Your Dragon, I don’t think there is one that has been the most financially successful or as iconic. Despite the fact it’s last main installment came out over a decade ago, the series continues to be cherish and meme-ed to death years later. Although it’s been since 2010 since the last Shrek movie, there has been at least two spin-offs that have come out, first with the prequel that was the original Puss In Boots released in 2011 and the second being Puss In Boots: The Last Wish, releasing just in time this year for Christmas day. So why not take the time as we approach the final days of the holiday season/year to rank all six of these movies from worst to best? A disclaimer, I’m only including the films in the franchise and leaving out the shorts, tv specials, or the musical because that would just making this list more complicated than it should. Anyways, let’s do this.

6.) Shrek The Third (2007)

Often regarded as one of the biggest letdowns in movie franchise history, this is the installment that lacks the heart and creativity of it’s predecessors in favor of something more gag heavy, tonally inconsistent, and just plain soulless. Throw in a cold opening with a laughably out-of-place Live and Let Die track, a rather annoying new main character in Arthur, Shrek’s awkward parenthood/mid-life crisis arc, and a completely unengaging main villain in Prince Charming and you get quite an underwhelming experience. It has it’s moments such as the body-swap gag between Donkey and Puss (even if that ultimately goes no where) and the admittedly badass princess escape scene (which re-introduces the world to Zeppelin years before Thor: Ragnarok did) but this was when you could tell that this series was running on fumes and relying strictly on the name of it’s brand to make a quick buck.

5.) Shrek Forever After (2010)

The (to-date) final entry of the Shrek series is another bland and unneeded continuation of the franchise, even if it is an improvement over the last one. This attempts to take a page from the book of It’s A Wonderful Life to make this the culmination of the entire franchise up to this point, which ultimately exposes the lack of creative ideas they have left and sets everyone back to square one. Shrek’s arc is a repeat of his arc from the last one, he’s unsatisfied with his current life and wants to go back to the old one, and it somehow feels even more out-of-place/character than it did before, especially with the outburst he has at the beginning, which makes the movie’s ill-conceived character arc for Shrek fall apart in the first ten minutes. Still, the animation is stellar, Rumpelstiltskin is one of the better antagonists in the series, and has a handful of pay-off moments that might just satisfy long-time fans who grew up with the franchise. I suppose you can do worse but you can also do a whole lot better. Or at least be more memorable.

4.) Puss In Boots (2011)

Puss has always been a side character with unlimited potential for engaging stories of his own. While he mostly acts as comic relief in the Shrek movies, he still does have an interesting backstory of his own and an unique presence onscreen that you could see him carrying his own movie without the worry of not having enough Mike Myers or Eddie Murphy thrown into the mix. The first Shrek prequel/spin-off is able to display that quite well, with Antonio Banderas in the front seat this time with his Desperado-co star Salma Hayek’s Kitty Softpaws along side him, to tell a fun, engaging tale with plenty of creative, beautifully animated action sequences and feeling like it’s own self-contained story. Perhaps more could have been down with some of the other side characters, especially the villains, and it does have an unescapable sense of inconsequentiality to the whole thing but it’s definitely better than the last two Shrek movies.

3.) Shrek (2002)

The original DreamWorks hit that started it all back in 2002 still holds up gracefully! Being able to bring together the traditional fairytale characters and tropes while also doing something incredibly fresh, funny, and subversive with them. Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, and Cameron Diaz all fit their roles like a glove and help make their characters of Shrek, Donkey, and Fiona more iconic than they have any right to be. It also helps that song choices here are inspired, the pop cultures reference actually work well without it feeling pandering or obnoxious, and has an overall nice moral of never judging someone solely on their appearance. Some of the humor might be too adult/juvenile for some and Lord Farquaad is definitely not the most menacing bad guy ever but this still remains a timeless classic. It’s a shame though that certain folks out there only recognize this movie for it’s memes nowadays as they tend to forget that this is still a great movie overall.

2.) Puss In Boots: The Last Wish (2022)

An exciting, triumphing Part Two to go along with the other great Part Twos that DreamWorks animation has created with their filmography. I have a few grips such has as how the different tones can collided with each other at times and the very final scene is a bit of an eye roller, but there’s nothing major that could bring it down for me. The animation is spectacular, the characters are engaging, the set pieces are fun and inventive, the story goes into dark places you wouldn’t think a simple “kids” movie would go, and it teaches a very valuable lesson on how we should live our life to the fullest with the ones we love before it’s too late. This also has perhaps the most scary and intimating villain in not just Shrek but possibly any DreamWorks movie. Never in a million years would I guess that it would be frigging Puss in Boots of all characters that would be carrying this franchise for the past decade but I guess anything is possible.

1.) Shrek 2 (2004)

This is about as perfect as a sequel can get. Taking all the elements that made the original so good and somehow managing to make them even better here. The story is more engaging, the characters are more lovable and charming, the animation is more gorgeous, the voice work is more stellar, the set pieces are more creative, the fairytale/pop culture references are even better utilized, and the humor is much more funny this time around. Add in the wonderful presence of Antonino Bandera’s Puss in Boots, the Fairy Godmother as the main villain, and one of the best climaxes arguably in film history with an AMAZING usage of I Need A Hero and you got one beautifully done animated sequel. There are a handful of logic issues (Like how it takes forever for Shrek and company to get to Far Far Away but only takes Gingy, Pinnochio, and others like a couple of hours to get there) but when a sequel is this well-made, heartfelt, and absolutely HILARIOUS (The C.O.P.S. gag gets me EVERY time!), it’s impossible to care. It’s so whole and satisfying that the Shrek franchise could have stopped here and I would have been perfectly fine with it. Great comedy sequels are really hard to come by and this stands out as one of the very best!

There you have it! I’m unsure of what the future holds for this franchise or where else you can actually go with it. However, after the stellar reception that The Last Wish has gotten thus far along with the strong ratings/viewership this year with the Shrek movies on big streaming services such as Netflix, I wouldn’t be surprised if DreamWorks has something in the works for our favorite ogre and pussy cat in the near future. Until then, we can only cherish the great ones that have come from this series and ignore the not-so-great ones.

Happy Holidays everybody! Have a very, merry Christmas!

It’s always a bold claim to say something is the greatest thing ever just right after being able to witness it before your very eyes. However, after back-to-back days with matches involving American football and worldwide football where historic achievements were made and unforgettable events were displayed, I would be hard pressed to not think of a particular weekend in a longtime that had been amazing for sports fans everywhere. The rarity of being able to witness history like we’ve never seen before in two particular competitive matches that could have not been played in any more different circumstances. The games I’m referring to is the match-up between the Indianapolis Colts and the Minnesota Vikings that took place on Saturday December 18th and of course, the World Cup finale between the countries of Argentina and France that was played Sunday, December 19th! Two games that didn’t really have anything to do with each other but was still shocking to watch.

33-0 Is The New 28-3!

On paper, the game between the Colts and Vikings didn’t really seem all that destined to be a classic. Compared to the other game that I will later discuss, it seemed rather inconsequential. While the Colts went into this game with a poor 4-8-1 record and had been struggling for the majority of the season, the Vikings with a strong 10-3 record needed one more victory of the season to secure a division title, their first since 2017 and clinch a playoff birth, their first since 2019. Little did anyone know that this would result in the best comeback ever along with the perhaps the greatest choke job ever in NFL history!

Everything was going the Colts way in the first half of the game at US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. Indianapolis’s defense had absolutely shut down the offense of the Vikings and spur some offense of their own with two touchdowns on an interception and blocked punt, which were both later returned for touchdowns. After the first two quarters and halftime rolled around, Colts were leading an absolute laugher at 33-0 in front of a Minnesota home crowd who were just anxious to see their Vikings clinched the title on their home field! However, just as we’ve seen numerous times over the course of this season in football as well as some other recent history (*cough* Super Bowl LI *cough*), the game is never over until it’s over. Thankfully for Minnesota and their fans, the Viks would later seem to agree.

Once the second half roll around, the stars had finally aligned for the Vikings. The defensive lines were able to come back strong by allowing only one field goal the entire second half and the offense finally woke up by scoring a total of five touchdowns, including an incredible 64-yard run by running back Dalvin Cook just before the two-minute warning hit. It’s then that quarterback Kirk Cousins passed the ball to tight end T.J. Hockenson in a successful two-point conversion to tie the game. What was 33-0 before was now a tie ball game at 36-36 to end the regulation, with the Vikings overcoming a massive 33 point deficit. Inevitably, Vikings kicker Greg Joseph pulled off the finishing touches by successfully kicking a 40-yard field goal just as time expired in overtime. Just like that, Minnesota won the game 39-36, the largest comeback any team has overcome in National Football League history!

While this was certainly not the biggest football game ever, it was able to achieve the kind of history we’ve technically never seen before. The previous largest comeback took place in the 1992 Wild Card round where the Buffalo Bills overcame a 32-point deficit to beat the Houston Oilers, 41-38. And of course, who could forget that jaw dropping Super Bowl LI, where the New England Patriots overcame a 28-3 deficit to beat the Atlanta Falcons to win it all, another heartbreaking choke job that quarterback Matt Ryan was a part off. What could have been a forgettable clincher of game for a sports town that has had their own fair share of heart break over the years turned out to be one for the absolute history books! I guess we will find out in the coming months if the momentum from this stunning victory will be able to carry over to the playoffs.

Greatest Game Ever?!

If you ever wonder why there is such love, heart, and passion for soccer/football or any sport, all you have to do is watch this game and know why. Not only was the final of the 2022 World Cup between Argentina and France is everything you can possibly ask for, it is instantly up there as an absolute classic in sports history and will easily go down as one of the greatest game, if not THE greatest game of all time! There were both countries that had won two prior World Cups with France itself winning the previous one. If they won this game, they would be the first country to pull off back-to-back titles since Brazil in 1958 and 1962. On Argentina’s side, there was the legendary Lionel Messei who is looking to call it a career after this game. The only thing missing from Messei’s phenomenal resume was winning a World Cup and was hoping to help Argentina win their first one since 1986. At Lusail, this match-up had perhaps the highest stakes and most tension than any game in any sport that has ever been played.

Similar to the Colts and Vikings game, it started off being a rather one-sided match-up. Argentina stroke first when Messi scored a penalty kick at the 23rd minute and would get another thanks to Angel Di Maria at the 38th minute. Once the first half came to a close, Argentina had taken a 2-0 lead. If you watch soccer, you would know goals are really rare to come by, especially in a World Cup game. With fields as massive as the ones in this sports along with players who get more tired and exhausted the longer the game goes, it can be quite hard to get points on the board. Any sort of comeback down two later in a World Cup game would take a miracle. Despite having nearly all odds gets them, France was determined to come back to make it game.

After failing to make an attempt on goal until the 70th minute, France finally got on the board when Kylian Mbappe scored on a penalty kick at the 80th minute, to make it 2-1. Then, in a massive 1uick turn of events, less than two minutes later, Mbappe scored again to tie up the game 2-2. In an absolute stunner, France was able to take away the lead that Argentina held for the majority of the game just like that. After 90+ minutes were completed, the game remained tied and when into extra time.

At the 108 minute mark, Messi scored his second goal of the game to give Argentina a 3-2 lead with around ten minutes. However, thanks to the advance of yet another penalty kick, Mbappe was able to complete the hat trick by scoring his third goal of the game to tie the game once again making it 3-3. Both teams failed to score for the rest of extra time and it went to shootout. Yes, unfortunately, we live in a world where a game as glorious as this had to end in a merely shootout. It’s a sad world we live in but it is the only world we live in.

With the way this game has gone, you would think France is the team destined for victory here. After all their amazing comebacks they pulled off, you would think they would be more than deserving in winning their second consecutive World Cup. However, the sports gods seemed to have other thoughts. Argentina, thanks to successful goals by Messi, Dybala, Paredes and Montei, beat France in penalty shots, 4-2, where they won the game 4-3, and won the World Cup! With all that hard fought effort, France simply ran out of miracles and Messi is now able to leave the game fully on top like he deserves. A stunning yet storybook ending thanks to an absolute excellent game played by both sides!

Sports Can Be Meaningful

As much as one can give credit to these comebacks being even remotely possible thanks to controversial calls by the referees or B.S. overtime rules of both sports, it’s games like these two that are so rare to see at around the same time but always remind us all why we love sports. It’s games like these that shows why one can easily become so invested in something that they love so much. It shows that sports can be meaningful to just it’s fans but also it’s players.

These two games involved teams being forced to crawl their way back into it after being down for so long. One team was rewarded for overcoming such adversity while the other team wasn’t so lucky. Regardless, the fact that either one of these games were close or actually ended up having some sort of competition to it is astounding. As much as fans of teams would always love for their side to secure an absolute drama-free victory for each big game, for fans of the sport, they always want to be action and competitiveness down to the last play. While I’m sure millions to billions of hearts were in stomachs from fans of all four teams, that is what sports it’s all about and why we love it so much. While the Colts and France will look back to how they let their chance at victories slip away in heartbreaking fashion, the Vikings and Argentina will be able to look at the right side of history as being able to overcome immense pressure to win a nail biter.

Sports are made for games such as these. Because of that, I don’t think we have ever had a weekend of sports that perfectly displays the meaningfulness of it than we did for these two games. Let’s see the Super Bowl top this in two months!

The release of Avatar: The Way of Water should feel more like a grand event than it actually does. It’s a sequel to the highest grossing film of all time that has has been 13 years in the making along with the triumphing return of legendary (if not ego-filled) director James Cameron. However, aside from the promise of getting an amazing, eye-popping 3D visual spectacle made for the big screen, nothing has come in the way of the hype involving what the actual movie will be about.

I was wanting to write a retrospective piece on the original Avatar a week before this one came out but I couldn’t figured anything that was worth discussing about it. It was the big Christmas blockbuster that came out at the tail end of 2009 right when the 3D wave took movie theaters by storm. Most were enthralled by the impressive visuals and non-stop action that the movie provided in a way that no other movie had done in theaters at the time. It came out at the right place at the right time in cinema. However, if it wasn’t for those incredible visual achievements, then it’s mind blowing success would almost come across as some happy accident.

If you were to ask anyone the name of a certain character or a story beat that DIDN’T remind them of something from another movie, then you will likely be left with that person going “Uhhhhh”. While Avatar more than accomplished it’s goal of being a beautiful spectacle to see on the big screen, it didn’t really leave much of an impact within pop culture when it came to memorable characters, resonated themes, quotable lines, or even some form of meme. Save what you will about the quality of other billion dollar grossers such as The Force Awakens or Infinity War but you can at least remember the names of the actual characters of the movie and even a joke or two. Yet since 2009, aside from that brief nine month stint where Endgame took it’s turn sitting on the throne for #1 movie of all time, Avatar has stood alone in it’s own isolated kingdom of the highest grossing film ever despite not being remembered fondly for it’s actual quality.

Now, we have The Way of Water, a movie that is hoping to make lightning strike twice in cinema by expanding upon the things people like (Visuals, Action Sequences, World Building) about the first movie and perhaps fix the things that they didn’t (Plot, Characters, Dialogue). How does Cameron do on Round Two? Well, about what you expect, for better and for worse. While I still don’t think this is a movie that will stand the test of time nor is it close to the best sequel James Cameron has made, it does meet the expectations of folks wanting to immerse themselves into the world of Avatar with even more effort being put into the things people remember fondly about the original. That being said, I still wonder if I’m gonna feel similarly when watching the movie again when it comes to 4K.

Premise: Taking place over ten years after the first film, Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) has been able to settle down with Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) and raise a family with two biological sons named Neteyam (Jamie Flatters) and Lo’ak (Britain Dalton), a biological daughter named Tuk (Trinity Jo-Li Bliss), an adopted daughter named Kiri (Sigourney Weaver), and a human boy named Spider (Jack Champion). Their time of peace is interrupted as humans return once again to Pandora to colonize it, some of which have turned into avatars themselves, led by Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang). Jake’s family and tribe is forced out of their homes and retreat to the Metkayina reef people clan at Pandora’s eastern seaboard, led by Tonowari (Cliff Curtis) and Ronal (Kate Winslet). The family must learn to adjust their daily lives there, get along with the reef people, and prepare for battle once again against the humans that threaten their race.

When watching The Way of Water, it’s clear that James Cameron is well aware of the things people like about the first one. There is much more emphasis on the visuals, action, and world building than there was at all in the first film. There’s is more time and thought put into developing the universe this franchise is now a part of along with creating set pieces that has it’s own massive scale that I haven’t seen with any movie in recent memory. While we are mostly gone from the main village in Pandora that we spend the majority of the time with in the first movie, the seaboard ocean that we explore here is even more impressive. Plenty of time is spend on how the family communing with undersea life with the reef people with plenty of beautiful water visuals and dry land shots. If you thought Aquaman looked beautiful underwater, you ain’t seen nothing yet.

And speaking of the visuals, they get an A++ for me! While there was no doubt heavy CGI involved, 99% of it looks convincing and matches the word perfectly that you would be hard pressed to find any screenshot for “Film Twitter” to make fun of. The world itself look incredibly gorgeous with the standout scenes being the mesmerizing flying sequences and any scene taking place at or underwater which feel incredibly relaxing. This is a movie that is undoubtedly worth seeing in IMAX and even in 3D if you have interest in watching it.

Also, as expected the action sequences are masterfully done. James Cameron tend to be the master of action and set pieces when it comes to his sci-fi pictures and there is no exception here. Every action scene is brutal, intense, and redefines epic. Whether it’s on land, in the skies, or underwater, each one is a standout in it’s own right that helps show off the skills of each character and the location that they fight in. Now, you pretty much expected for the visuals and spectacle to be top-tier but what about the elements that were rather iffy about the first one, i.e. plot, characters, dialogue. Well, that is where The Way of Water is both better and worse than the original.

The film gets off to a rather clunky start which contains the same, dull one-note dialogue dump of countless expositions that plagued the first film, which comes across as if Cameron constantly explaining the characters and events from the first movie repeatedly just in case no one remembers. There’s moments throughout the second half which contains a build off to certain subplots that doesn’t get the resolution it should because it’s most likely being saved for the next one. There also doesn’t seem to be as much narrative focus or connective tissue as to of the two main character from the last one as Jake and Neytiri are mostly pushed to the way side this time around to spend more time with the kids, which is both a blessing and a curse at the same time. However, once it starts to take big focus on the family dynamics and the movie lets it visuals do the talking, it’s an absolute marvel!

The family dynamics are well-handled and are the most engaging part of the movie. I did like seeing the children themselves developed and learn to grow with the others, with the exception of that “Spider” kid who is honestly rather obnoxious. The big standouts is the oldest son Neteyam and the adopted daughter Kiri, the ones that go through the biggest arcs of being able to follow in their parent’s footsteps so they may someday be ready to take their spots to lead. At times, they can come across as the audience’s POV, where we see the family discover the ways which this world works and how the people inhabit it operate. It’s still far from the greatest character work ever put film but it is overall more engaging than whatever Jake’s journey was suppose to be in the first one.

The performances are a real standout as well, with even the cast that fell flat in the first one feel more properly utilize here. All of the children are well-casted and make their characters stand out through their already impressive motion capture, especially Sigourney Weaver playing the daughter of her character from the first one, which was an absolute genius move on the part of the casting. Zoe Saldana is still amazing as Neytiri, continuing to prove herself as being one of the best actresses when it comes to franchise movies. Stephen Lang looks as if he’s even having more fun here as the main human turned Avatar baddie. Cliff Curtis and Kate Winslet get a few moments of shine to himself. And surprisingly, even the weak link of the original with the usually uncharismatic Sam Worthington, actually works much better here as the father figure. Perhaps this has to do with Jake not getting as much focus and not having to do as much of the heavy lifting this time around but even he is actually quite serviceable here.

It’s really difficult for me to say whether or not this is better than the original as a whole or that it was worth the 13-year long wait. The stuff is better is better and the stuff that works does in fact work very well. I love exploring the worlds of Pandora and being able to witness this amazing imagery on the big screen while even find some of the family elements engaging. However, the things that don’t work such as the dialogue, plot points not being given a proper resolution, and not having a cohesive narrative still stick out like a sore thumb and will most likely impact repeat viewings. No doubt that James Cameron has a strange passion and love affair for Avatar and it’s world but I’m still not sure if I’m fully on board with it yet.

Then again, in a time in a post-Covid era where people are not going to the theaters as much as before, perhaps making movies that are mostly experiences made for the big screen isn’t necessarily the worst thing in the world. While The Way of Water will still be a box office smash, it’s success this time around might just be a necessary evil. Just like the original, only time will tell. It’s only then that we’ll see whether or not if better is the new worse or worse is the new better.

As a feature film, this is probably a two and a half out of four stars. As a theater experience, which is my main verdict at the moment, it’s a solid three out of four stars.

Take that as you will!

(Update on December 21st, 2022: As it turns out, the Carlos Correa signing with the Giants never went through so he is now with the Mets, signing a 12-year, 312 million dollar contract! Steve Cohen is now officially the next George Steinbrenner!)

This MLB offseason has possibly been the biggest, most insane and certainly most expensive offseason we have ever seen in this sport. Left and right, we are seen well-known baseball stars gets huge contracts consisting of seven to eight zeros and number of years on it that would take as long to finish as grade school. The stove continues to be smoking red hot at every turn and there’s still just two months to go before spring training rolls around. If you want to know exactly what I am talking about, here’s a little quick summary of the most expensive contracts that certain well-known players has received during this offseason so far.

• Aaron Judge- 9 years, 360 million dollars
• Carlos Correa- 13 years, 350 million dollars
• Trea Turner- 11 years, 300 million dollars
• Xander Bogaerts- 11 years, 280 million dollars
• Jacob deGrom- 5 years, 185 million dollars
• Brandon Nimmo- 8 years, 162 million dollars
• Edwin Diaz- 5 years, 102 million dollars
• Masataka Yoshida- 5 years, 90 million dollars
• Willson Contreras- 5 years, 87.5 million dollars
• Justin Verlander- 2 years, 86.6 million dollars
• Kodai Senga- 5 years, 75 million dollars
• Taijuan Walker- 4 years, 72 million dollars

There’s still a handful of key free agents to go such as Carlos Rodon, Dansby Swanson, J.D. Martinez, and Noah Syndergaard, all of which are projected to have a salary in similar range with at least a few of the ones I mentioned. I’m willing to bet Nolan Arenado is kicking himself for opting in too soon and not banking on his MVP-caliber 2022 campaign for a better, longer, and more dollar signs heavy contract. Regardless, superstars that hit the free agent market are getting paid big time. So much so that it’s starting to become too much of a good thing.

On one hand, it’s great to see certain billionaire owners such as Steve Cohen stepping in and spending as much as possible to try to give their teams a championship. As much as there are certain teams with owners that pride themselves as being “small market” teams, this offseason proves that’s a load of bollocks. Every owner of every team has the power, resources, and most of all, money to go out and get the best players they can. Every team can spend 180 to 220 million on their team per season if they wanted to but it’s only if they chose to do so.

The Mets, Padres, Phillies, Rangers, and Yankees chose to spend their cash because they want to win now. The Athletics, Reds, and Pirates chose not to spend and elected to tanking for years to come. However, with the contract signings as enormous as we have seen this offseason, one has to think if this will come with some sort of breaking point.

You might think the contracts of the likes of Trea Turner and Aaron Judge are nuts but those weren’t actually the biggest contracts offer to them. The Padres initially offered Trea Turner 11 years and 341 (!) million dollars, 41 million dollars more than the contract the top-tier shortstop actually signed with the Phillies. After missing out on Turner, the Padres went to Aaron Judge and countered him with an absolutely whopping 14 years and 400 (!!!) million dollars, which would have carried him until he was 44 years old. This was a contract so insane that there’s a chance it would have been vetoed by MLB if Judge chose to take it. It’s then that San Diego was finally able to blow their money-wide load onto Xander Bogaerts with 11 years and 280 million dollars. This was a strange move on the Padres part since they already have a shortstop with Tatis, which many assuming will be moved to outfield for the foreseeable future, and kinda felt like spending lots of money just for the sake of it. It’s good to spend big money in baseball but you have to do it responsibility, which I don’t think very many teams are this offseason.

You have the Mets that are paying the potential final years of future hall of famers Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander a combined 86.6 million this year in spite of them being in their 40s and have dealt with their fair share of injuries in recent years. You have the Phillies giving Trea Turner a contract until he’s 41 in spite of not-so-great recent outcomes with long-term contracts giving to players who are known for their speed (I.E. Carl Crawford, Jacoby Ellsbury) and paying a ridiculous amount for starting pitcher Taijuan Walker, which advanced stats claims he should have been pitching much worse than he has the last couple of years and his luck will certainly run out at some point. You have the Giants who decided to spend their Aaron Judge money on Carlos Correa just so they have some sort of all-star caliber player who can sell tickets and merchandise. You even have the Rangers who will likely being paying more for Jacob deGrom’s retirement plans than his on-field stats just as they did with Prince Fielder.

I don’t want to be the guy that wants to tell people the way they should spend their money in sports but most of these signings feel like the mindset of a ten-year old kid playing franchise mode on MLB The Show. Just giving out of contracts to certain players just because you can. It’s basically like the equivalent of an 18-year old with a $10,000 credit card, spending for the sake of spending without thinking how damaging it could be for the future. Sure, perhaps these players will live up to their contracts but if they don’t, then there’s a big chance that all of these teams’ farm system will be wrecked and needing long term rebuilds once their championships windows have fully closed. Just ask the Detroit Tigers who are still stuck in rebuild mode five years later!

At some point, I can’t help but feel MLB will have to stop this insanity by adding a salary cap to the league. Not only to avoid any potential legal and economic issues with the league but to add some much needed restraints for teams going mad with power and hunger with pursuing big names. Even if it’s not strictly a salary cap, there should be some sort of new policy that can help balance each teams payroll so that each one gets a fair chance of claiming any potential free agent on the market. Otherwise, we’re just gonna see the same teams over and over spend like they’re the president of the United States with little to no consequences aside from overpaying for their players in their last years after they have reached their peak.

Back in August, I wrote a piece about the potential need of a salary cap after the Juan Soto trade occurred because I fear it will only add to an never ending cycle of a handful of teams getting the only legit superstars while everyone else just doesn’t bother to get in their way. Now, I’m in the mindset that MLB might have to force itself to do it to avoid another offseason like this. Where players are getting paid massively for over a decade plus with contracts that will likely work out well for the first half but will leave many teams regretting for the second half of it. It may not matter to them as long as they win a World Series title or two but if they don’t, then they will likely wish they were giving some sort of salary cap or at least chose to spend more wisely.

If MLB choses to left teams spend however they much they want on players, then that is their choice. However, if the unthinkable happens to many teams that fall to reach their ultimate goals and the league has to pay for their mistakes, then no doubt to will lead to certain limits being made on how a team choses to spend. It’s then that we might look at this year’s offseason as the beginning of the end of baseball spending willy nilly without a care of the world. Only then that MLB might have to force itself to gain a salary cap just to keep everyone’s sanity in check by 2030. Somewhere Billy Beane is smiling right now!

Sonic Frontiers has been out for a month now. It looks as though everyone that had any interest in the game whatsoever has played it by now. While the reviews from critics were certainly quite mixed, the fan response, if the game being voted into the finalists for Players’ Voice at The Game Awards show is any indication, has been much more favorable. If you read my review, you know that I enjoyed the game a lot but it felt too uneven and repetitive for me to consider it a truly great Sonic experience.

However, there is a promising foundation that has been set by the game in spite of its imperfections. The way Sonic controls, the overall gameplay formula, and the ideas around the open zones and cyber space levels themselves are assets that can work wonders for future titles.

If recent quotes by Sonic Team is true, this looks to be the kind of core gameplay we should except with future Sonic games going forward. While I know Sonic Team is not done with Frontiers quite yet considering the recent announcement of upcoming DLC for next year, there are some areas from the game that I feel can either be improved or expanded upon to make future Sonic installments even better. Perhaps they already have these sort of things in mind but I feel these are worth bringing up anyway.

Here are five elements of Sonic Frontiers that future Sonic games can learn from!

1.) Explore Sonic’s Own World

This is an element that most Sonic games haven’t explored much of outside of the comics and cartoons but I believe future Sonic games should put more emphasis on exploring Sonic’s own home world. Whether that is Mobius or just making up a wholly original world, I would like to know more of where Sonic lives and where exactly he and his friends come from.

If I had any complaints about the open worlds in Frontiers itself, it’s that they felt more like they belonged in a Zelda game rather than a Sonic one. It took quite a while for me to get used to the fact that Sonic is now apart of these strange, hidden worlds despite looking more comfortable in one of Link’s adventures rather than Sonic’s. That problem can be fixed next time around if you chose to create more open zones surrounding Sonic’s own world instead of him visting yet another new one.

Don’t have us go back to Earth with humans or wait for Tears of the Kingdom to come out to take inspiration from that, let us explore Sonic’s actual home where he can have his own epic, crazy adventure at. Heck, I might even tolerate seeing Green Hill for the millionth time if the open zone itself is still fun to explore at. Stop taking aesthetics and designs from Zelda and start taking them from yourselves! Let us see where Sonic and company actual came from!

2.) Original Cyber Space Levels

From a story point itself, it’s understandable why Frontiers had level designs and zones reused from prior Sonic games. The idea of cyber space itself is that it’s this strange isolated place that is stuck inside of Sonic’ head and is suppose to remind him of his past adventures. It worked from a storytelling perspective as it helped with the development of the characters themselves. Their overall arcs was about them reminiscences how far they’ve come as characters and how they look to move past that in the future. If that is the case, then I sure hope Sonic Team takes their word for it and bothers to make actual original cyber spaces/boost-centric levels.

It’s been quite underwhelming how Sonic Team has been unable to come up with original boost levels of their own that play as well as Generations for the past decade. Next time around, they have their chance to redeem themselves in that regard. Come up with different levels, designs, and zones next time around. Provide a fresh and new experience with these kinds of levels like you were able to do with the open zones the first time around. I’m fairly certain it won’t kill any Sonic fan if they didn’t have to play through Chemical Plant zone yet again.

When it comes to the story for the next one, perhaps have that be reminiscence of Sonic’s unknown future instead of his well-known past. It would make for a great contrast with Frontiers and make it a thematically worthy follow up as it could be about Sonic and his friends looking towards a future that they hope it’s bright but might have plenty of rough spots along the way.

Have the cyber space levels be about those rough spots. Have it be places that Sonic is unfamiliar it and ones that look like will be quite a handful for even the speedy blue blur to overcome. Having a past zone in or two won’t kill you but make the majority of the cyber spaces next time out the kind of levels we have never experienced in a Sonic game before. The kind of levels that would make sense for both a story perspective AND a gameplay perspective!

3.) More Playable Characters

Granted, this does seem to be a feature that the upcoming DLC for next year will include. Perhaps this is something that Sonic Team has in mind for future games but even so, the next point is worth noting. Future Sonic games should have Sonic Team coming out of their closet and just make Sonic’s friends playable again.

There have been numerous reasons as to why Sonic Team has strictly made Sonic the only main playable character in recent main title games, most notably reason in that critics has some sort of unknown grudge against Sonic’s “annoying” friends. However, I do think the main unspoken reason for that is that there have been times in 3D Sonic games where playing as Sonic’s friends was an absolute chore. No one wants to play as Big the Cat to just fish or Knuckles and Rouge to just go treasure hunting. They want the characters to play similarly to Sonic with levels design similarly to Sonic with their own gimmick to it that help enhance the experience rather than take away from it. That’s something that the 2D Sonic games such as 2, 3 & Knuckles, Advance, and Rush did incredibly well and there should be no reason for future 3D games to not do the same thing.

All you have to do is copy what the 2D Sonic games did in have the characters themselves control the same as Sonic but have their own unique ability attached to it. Have Tails fly further than Sonic can, have Knuckles glider in the air further than Sonic can, have Amy fly herself into the air with her hammer further than Sonic can, and give every single one of them their own combat style that Sonic doesn’t have. Heck, even throw in characters such as Shadow, Silver, Rouge, and Blaze if you are able to find a story purpose for them. Regardless of which of Sonic’s friends return in future games, it’s time to give them some love. Just don’t make them an absolute slog to play through and I’m pretty sure it won’t negatively affect review scores.

4.) More Sage

I don’t think there was a more delightful surprise in Frontiers than the character of Sage herself. From her early presence and pre-release marketing, I was expecting her to be another generic, forgettable “who gives a s*it” villain that I could care less to ever see again. However, Sage was actually something more than that. Unlike recent baddies in the series such as Infinite and the Deadly Six, Sage is actually giving a compelling, emotional arc that I was shockingly invested in. She actually manages to be something a bit more than just a one-note antagonist but an actual character that learns to grow and inhabit the actions and feelings of living creatures. Her relationship with Eggman made for a rather bittersweet father and daughter relationship that gave the doctor himself a bit more dimension. It’s not the greatest character development in the world but Sage was giving more care and attention than she had any right to be.

Sage is the first new Sonic character since Blaze the Cat that I actually want to see return in the future. And if the overwhelming love and support that the voice actress for Sage, Ryan Bartley, has received from fans on Twitter since the game’s release is any indication, I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one who feels that way.

It’s hard to get too deep into details about Sage without going into spoilers as that would give away the character’s fate by the end of the game. However, if one of the final scenes (which may or may not be post credit scenes) is anything to go by, this may not actually be the last we see of Sage. If that is the case, then there is plenty of room for the character to go.

Things such as a deeper dive into the origins of Eggman creating Sage, as that is mostly glossed over in Frontiers, to developing a relationship with her so-called brothers in Orbot and Cubot, and perhaps an even more threatening version of the character, one I imagine was more closer with Eggman’s original vision. It feels like we just scratch the surface with her that future games can explore.

I’m not always one to push for certain characters to come back when they normally should serve their purpose for one game but I believe Sage has the potential to be the most engaging antagonist the Sonic series has had since Shadow the Hedgehog. Hopefully, they won’t feel the need to bring in guns, aliens, and a whole lot of “damns” this time though.

5.) Cut Down On Grinding and Repetition

The last and arguably the most important lesson to learn from Sonic Frontiers, which is something that Sonic Team still has yet to figure out, is to STOP with the constant grinding and repetition of each game. There are many times with Sonic games that the main problem is with Sonic Team constantly getting in it’s own damn way and not knowing when to leave things well enough alone. This is particularly when they feel like their game isn’t long enough and feel the need to design different gameplay styles in a limited amount of time to give gamers more bank for their buck, which ends up just taking them out of the experience rather than adding to it.

In the case of Frontiers, a big issue was how much grinding you are forced to do in order to progress through the story. The grinding involved collecting hundreds to thousands of collectibles to give to characters before getting to the next part of the story. That made the whole experience of Frontiers feel completely exhausting. It may not be too bad once you know every single away to earn and find hearts but it’s still quite ridiculous.

The grinding in of itself makes less sense than prior Sonic games as Frontiers would already be long enough without most of it. A campaign that took 10 to 15 hours to complete and with an extra 5 to 10 hours to 100% the game along with upcoming free DLC would be more than enough to give players their full money’s worth. However, the grinding makes what should be a 10 to 15 hour adventure into a bloated 20+ hour one. As enjoyable as the story of the game was to follow, there’s no where near enough going on in it to last as long as it does.

You especially start to feel the repetitiveness once you realize the familiar pattern that each open zone goes through and you starting asking yourself questions like how Sonic keeps losing the same damn chaos emeralds over and over and over again?!

And don’t get me started on that effing pinball level that is the absolute BANE of my existence or the practically non-existent final boss!

That is what makes Sonic Team so frustrating! They always end up getting so close to making something special but end up so far by feeling the need to throw a bunch of other random gameplay styles in that they don’t need. That has to stop for the foreseeable future!

If you want to have players grind, have so to either level up your power ups and abilities or completing missions in the post-campaign, NOT to progress in the main campaign. There’s no need to introduce other gameplay styles out of no where to pad the game. There’s no need for a random pinball level just like there was no need for a random ball puzzle in 06 or being forced to play 10 different storylines to get the final one in Shadow.

Stop designing gameplay styles just for the sake of padding the game! Stop designing gameplay styles that don’t fit with the rest of the game! Stop designing gameplay styles you deep down don’t want to design but feel like you have to when you actually don’t! Just stick with the main core gameplay you established and then save the rest for the post-campaign! I promise you fans will be much more appreciative if you didn’t make them eat green vegetables in order to enjoy everything else.

Stop getting in your own way, Sonic Team! Stop trying to fix things that don’t need to be fix and breaking what was never broken before! You have a promising foundation ahead of you. Now make the most of it!