2024 Pre-Oscar Ranking -- 137 Films

7 hours before this year’s Oscars, here’s a ranking of the 137 films seen since last year’s Oscars.

[Note: Titles I've seen since the end-of-2023 ranking are 𝐢𝐧 𝐛𝐨𝐥𝐝. Documentary Shorts [DS], Animated Shorts [AS], and Live Action Shorts [LAS] are identified by those initials.]

D: Pinocchio [2002], Priscilla

D+: Bottoms

C: Pinocchio [2022], NT Live: Good, Passages, Foe

C+: War Pony, Sorcerer [1977], Dream Scenario, Poor Things

B-: Jason Isbell: Running with Our Eyes Closed, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull [2008], Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Being There [1979], Saltburn, 𝐖𝐚𝐫 𝐈𝐬 𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫! 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜 𝐨𝐟 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐘𝐨𝐤𝐨 [𝐀𝐒], 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐲 𝐒𝐮𝐠𝐚𝐫 [𝐋𝐀𝐒]𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 [𝐋𝐀𝐒]

B: John Wick: Chapter 2 [2017], Broker [2022], Theater Camp, Stripes [1981], Sonatine [1993], 𝐈𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈𝐧 𝐁𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 [𝐃𝐒], 𝐋𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐏𝐢𝐠 [𝐀𝐒], 𝐏𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐲𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐞 [𝐀𝐒], 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐃𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐄𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥, 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐃𝐚𝐲𝐬, 𝐁𝐨𝐲𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐨𝐚𝐭, 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐙𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭

Catherine Called Birdy [2002], Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3, You Hurt My Feelings, Animal House [1978], My Sailor My Love, 𝐈𝐨 𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐨, 𝐆𝐨𝐝𝐳𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐬 𝐎𝐧𝐞, 𝐈𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 [𝐋𝐀𝐒]

B+: Blue Beetle, Dumbo [1941], Snow White and the Seven Dwarves [1937], Super Mario Bros Movie, John Wick: Chapter 3: Parabellum [2019], The Starling Girl, May December, The Little Mermaid, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade [1989], Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom [1984], Empire of Light [2022], Caddyshack [1980], Cassandro, The Boy and the Heron, Alice In Wonderland [1951], Mysterious Skin [2004], Fallen Leaves, Violent Night [2022], Lost in Translation, The Lesson, Joyland [2022], Eternal Memory, 𝐑𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧, 𝐈'𝐦 𝐇𝐢𝐩 [𝐀𝐒], 𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐨𝐧 [𝐀𝐒], 𝐍𝐚𝐢 𝐍𝐚𝐢 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐖𝐚𝐢 𝐏𝐨 [𝐃𝐒], 𝐁𝐚𝐫𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐋𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐑𝐨𝐜𝐤 [𝐃𝐒], 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐩 [𝐃𝐒], 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐁𝐂𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐁𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 [𝐃𝐒], 𝟐𝟎 𝐃𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐮𝐩𝐨𝐥, 𝐃𝐮𝐧𝐞 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐓𝐰𝐨, 𝐍𝐢𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐚

The Holdovers, Maestro, The Iron Claw, The Color Purple, Raiders of the Lost Ark [1981]

A-: Nobody Knows [2004], Somewhere in Queens, Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret., John Wick: Chapter 4, Slava Ukrani, Spider-Man Across the Spider-Verse, Joy Ride, Cinderella [1950], Out Summon [AS],

Chevalier, Seven Kings Must Die, Pinocchio [1940], Joan Baez: I Am A Noise, Wonka, Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning, Killers of the Flower Moon, Oppenheimer, 𝐅𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐢, 𝟗𝟓 𝐒𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐬 [𝐀𝐒], 𝐑𝐞𝐝, 𝐖𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐁𝐥𝐮𝐞 [𝐋𝐀𝐒], 𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐔𝐬 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬' 𝐋𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐞, 𝐃𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐌𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞

A: BlackBerry, Past Lives, Still: A Michael J Fox Movie, Groundhog Day [1993], Puss in Boots: The Last Wish [2022], Imagining the Indian: The Fight Against Native American Mascoting, Tetris, The Night of the 12th, Stop Making Sense, The Disappearance of Shere Hite, Finding Her Beat, The Mission, 𝐓𝐨 Kill 𝐚 𝐓𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐫

A+: Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, It Ain't Over, A Thousand and One, Pinball: The Man Who Saved The Game, How to Blow Up a Pipeline, Air, Sanctuary, Every Body, Bobi Wine: The People’s President, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, Fremont, The Last Rider, Enola Holmes [2020], Nyad, Radical, Beyond Utopia, Society of the Snow, Flora and Son, 𝐑𝐨𝐛𝐨𝐭 𝐃𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐬, 𝐊𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐞 [𝐋𝐀𝐒], Anatomy of a Fall, American Fiction, Barbie

2023 End-of-Year Ranking -- 102 Films

2023 was a year of new beginnings.

Setbacks that could have plagued the year led to genuine improvements. Hark's once great company took a nosedive, and he was out of work for months . . . before discovering a company with a dream position. 

An invaluable source of Frost mentors for years disappeared . . . just in time for every branch of the military to replace them. Thanks for the memories, Mason Wrestling; the Army, Navy, Marines, Coast Guard, Air Force, and Space Force are ready to take it from here. 

There's no way Danny returning to Oaxaca could be called an improvement, but the messages, phone calls, and Brody and Riley moving one year closer to Spanish immersion elementary school showed the bond was here to stay.

Brody and Riley had a bunch of new beginnings as well: Riley's first soccer practice, Brody's first basketball practice, Riley's first front/back float, Brody's first underwater swim, and both of their first trips to a waterpark -- the one at Great Wolf Lodge. 

Oh, and they saw their first full-length movie, the live-action Little Mermaid. It was also their first movie in a theater. I'm shocked their attention spans made it 135 minutes. Credit to the familiar, catchy songs, and me parceling out popcorn little . . . by little . . . by little. Toddler time can be trench warfare; you've gotta do whatever gets you through!

Here's where Little Mermaid fits in the annual year-end list. As usual, I've seen all the movies, and Hark's seen all the trailers. Hark's also added orange annotations to all my whiteboard reviews. Here's a ranking of all 102 films from 2023...

Note: Films are graded into tiers. Within tiers, films are not ranked.

D: Pinocchio [2002], Priscilla

D+: Bottoms 

C: Pinocchio [2022], NT Live: Good, Passages, Foe 

C+: War Pony, Sorcerer [1977], Dream Scenario, Poor Things

B-: Jason Isbell: Running with Our Eyes Closed

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull [2008], Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Being There [1979], Saltburn 

B: John Wick: Chapter 2 [2017], Broker [2022], Theater Camp, Stripes [1981], Sonatine [1993]

Catherine Called Birdy [2002], Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3, You Hurt My Feelings, Animal House [1978], My Sailor My Love

B+: Blue Beetle, Dumbo [1941], Snow White and the Seven Dwarves [1937], Super Mario Bros Movie, John Wick: Chapter 3: Parabellum [2019], The Starling Girl, May December, The Little Mermaid, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade [1989], Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom [1984], Empire of Light [2022],  Caddyshack [1980], Cassandro, The Boy and the Heron, Alice In Wonderland [1951], Mysterious Skin [2004], Fallen Leaves

Violent Night [2022], Lost in Translation, The Lesson, Joyland [2022], Eternal Memory, The Holdovers, Maestro, The Iron Claw, The Color Purple, Raiders of the Lost Ark [1981]

A-: Nobody Knows [2004], Somewhere in Queens, Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret., John Wick: Chapter 4, Slava Ukrani, Spider-Man Across the Spider-Verse, Joy Ride, Cinderella [1950]

Chevalier, Seven Kings Must Die, Pinocchio [1940], Joan Baez: I Am A Noise, Wonka, Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning, Killers of the Flower Moon, Oppenheimer

A: BlackBerry, Past Lives, Still: A Michael J Fox Movie, Groundhog Day [1993], Puss in Boots: The Last Wish [2022], Imagining the Indian: The Fight Against Native American Mascoting, Tetris, The Night of the 12th, Stop Making Sense 

The Disappearance of Shere Hite, Finding Her Beat, The Mission

A+: Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, It Ain't Over, A Thousand and One, Pinball: The Man Who Saved The Game, How to Blow Up a Pipeline, Air, Sanctuary, Every Body, Bobi Wine: The People’s President, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, Fremont, The Last Rider, Enola Holmes [2020], Nyad, Radical, Beyond Utopia, Society of the Snow, Flora and Son, Anatomy of a Fall, American Fiction, Barbie