Connection/Fate

As much as I'm mixed on Mutant Mayhem, I still give it my most favorable, most sincere wish for success.

May three of the most successful movies in 2023 be animated movies. May artistry be celebrated. May the ratings go higher than PG and beyond if the storytellers need it to be.

"Chained" ("Conan the Usurper") by Frank Frazetta.

Parasite (Korean: 기생충) by Bong Joon-ho.

I have loved and respected Bong Joon-ho and his body of work since "Okja" and "Snowpiercer" and he never fails to surprise, delight, and move me every time. So it means a lot to me to be able to say this is his best film. It is.

A movie full of sadness, wit, and depth. Irreverent but benevolent. Amazing.

Some adapted superhero movies I love:

Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 1 and 2

Blade

Richard Donner's Superman and Lester/Donner Superman II

Superman Returns

Batman (1989)

Batman Returns

The Dark Knight

Black Panther

Unbreakable

X-Men and X2: X-Men United

Guardians of the Galaxy

Jon Favreau's Iron Man

Logan

Wonder Woman

Doctor Strange

Thor

V for Vendetta

Watchmen

Chronicle

Split

RoboCop

Dredd

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990)

Halloween (1978) by John Carpenter.

One of the greatest horror movies of all time. A genre supernova. Created a taxonomic category that still lives. Unsparing precision, a simple premise and style.

While the original Halloween may not be the first slasher movie, it is the film that set the groundwork for the genre and paved the way for all the other great slasher franchises like Friday the 13th and A Nightmare on Elm Street. If you claim to be a horror fan and you haven't seen the original Halloween, first of all, shame on you. Second of all, watch it NOW. This one is required viewing.

Also, it is my personal opinion that John Carpenter's Halloween has the greatest opening scene in horror history.

"Conan the Barbarian" by Frank Frazetta.

Merry Little Batman by Mike Roth.

Saw it and loved it!

The Ronald Searle-esque art style is amazing!!

An animated superhero film full of personality and genuine invention!!

An anime/manga I highly recommend...

Battle Angel Alita (titled Gunnm in Japanese).

Fun Fact:

God of War's Grýla was based on a real giantess from Norse mythology.

In myth, she's not actually related to Angerboda at all, but the game got a lot of other things right. Like how she's enormous, absolutely disgusting and she did still have a cauldron you didn't want to end up in. Sagas from 13th century Iceland describe Grýla as a parasitic beggar woman who wanders around town, asking peasant farmers to give her their disobedient children. The parents could easily turn her away, but if their kid had been a real tachrán lately, they might just give him/her up. When Grýla was given a child, she'd throw them in a sack attached to one of her 15 tails, then take them home, toss them in the cauldron and get a stew going. Legend says that the naughtier the kid, the better the stew tasted and that she never ever had a shortage of food.

In God of War, she's not exactly nice to Angerboda, but she's never so horrible as to try and eat her. Instead, she uses her cauldron to harvest the souls of animals she traps around Jotunheim.

Compared to her mythology, her God of War counterpart is actually kind of nice...

"The limits of your language are the limits of your world." ― Ludwig Wittgenstein