Favorite Articles of 2023 – Part 2

Let’s Continue Looking At The Year’s Best Articles

It was difficult limiting this to only ten favorite articles. Ultimately, it boiled down to a quirk of memory. Which ones, upon looking through the year, evoked the strongest memories, the most potent feelings. Did any of them make me cry? Will any of them become cultural touchstones? Which ones were the most fun personally?

If I did this list again, even a week from now, I might choose slightly differently, but here we are. Here’s the second half of my favorite articles of 2023.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

This is the longest article I’ve ever written for the website. Not since Infinity War have I been this hyped for a superhero movie. As a critic, as a fan of movies, and as someone who loves pop culture, this is a sublime work of art. I’m almost sure—when it’s finished—this trilogy will be considered the most important films of the decade.

Campfire Radio Theater

This one is on the list because of how badly it scared me. I still haven’t been brave enough to listen to another episode. Of all the media that I’ve called the scariest, this currently holds the true record. If you are a die-hard horror fan and nothing has been able to work on you lately, this is the podcast for you.

I Found Puppets Living In My Apartment Walls

Everything I just said about Campfire Radio Theater also applies to this book. I’m utterly fascinated by how Ben Farthing writes such horrific scenarios. Sometimes, the concepts don’t seem like they should work, and some really don’t, but I’m always left deeply unsettled. Keep an eye out for anything this author releases.

Elemental

I’m not big on romance movies, generally. I enjoy romance books and have read a fair number of them, but those routinely seem to put a lot more effort into making sure the character dynamics work and that it feels like a real, healthy romance that should continue past the story. Elemental is obviously the exception and possibly my favorite romance movie. It hits every checkmark I would put on a list.

Doctor Who: Wild Blue Yonder

I’m a Doctor Who fan (it’s one of my two favorite fandoms) who hasn’t watched a lot of Doctor Who in the past few years. I fell off for a while and didn’t realize how much I missed it. But here was “Wild Blue Yonder” to remind me. Despite how it sometimes seems, Doctor Who is more often a murder mystery than an adventure show. Though the killer is often revealed early, the new mystery becomes how to beat them with whatever tools are available. This episode just leaned into it more and did so with a good understanding of how to seed information without giving too much away. It’s just an amazing episode.

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And that’s it! Those are the ten out of many, many options. I can’t wait to see what 2024 has in store. What books, movies, podcasts, television shows, and more can we find that excite, delight, and prove once again why nerdy things are secretly the coolest things of all.

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• Friday Fiction: I Saw a Librarian At Night
• The Far Reaches Reviews: “How It Unfolds” by James S. A. Corey