Happy New Year: 2023 Review!

Greetings, as hard as it is to believe it’s time to say farewell to 2023 and to welcome in 2024! The year has seemingly flown in as it doesn’t feel that long since we were ushering in 2023. As its New Year’s Eve, that means it’s also time for my yearly round up of the entertainment I immersed myself in these past 12 months. If there was any particular media you enjoyed and you think it should be highlighted, feel free to mention it in the comments as I might be tempted to check it out myself.

Television Show of the Year: Better Call Saul

‘Better Call Saul’ is a spinoff of the smash hit ‘Breaking Bad’ and focuses on the side character of Saul Goodman, a crooked lawyer who played a crucial role in Walter White’s criminal empire. It is certainly a different type of show from the one that spawned it but despite a slow start, I rate both of these series very highly. I really enjoyed how it expanded the ‘Breaking Bad’ universe, introducing new characters and adding more depth to already established ones as the viewer learns how Jimmy McGill slowly transforms into his flashy alter ego of Saul Goodman.

Book of the Year: Full Dark, No Stars

A collection of four stories by renowned horror writer Stephen King, ‘Full Dark, No Stars’ was released in 2010 and the works within are connected as they share the same thematic idea of retribution. Undoubtedly, ‘1922’ is the work most would be familiar with thanks to the movie adaptation that came out in 2017. It is about a farmer and his son who make a monstrous decision when their lifestyles are threatened by the metropolitan aspirations of their wife and mother. In usual King fashion, their decision comes back to haunt them quite literally.

Game of the Year: Devour

‘Devour’ is a four player horror game in which players must banish satanic forces by destroying or incinerating 10 sacrificial items or livestock before they find themselves hunted down by a demon possessed cultist. It is a very fun and often challenging game that was published by a small British based studio which is still in its formative years as they only opened their doors in 2019. At present there are only a handful of maps available to play but I’m looking forward to returning to this game in 2024 when new levels have been added and seeing any new additions that have been included since I played it last.

Film of the Year: The Whale

Brendan Fraser of ‘The Mummy’ trilogy fame made a welcome come back to the cinematic world after a long period of absence as he stars in a unique offering from director Darren Aronofsky. 2022’s ‘The Whale’ is a depressing but engrossing film about a morbidly obese English teacher called Charlie who has more or less given up on life and is slowly killing himself with his poor diet. After he suffers a near death experience, Charlie realises that he wants to repair his relationship with his estranged daughter Ellie and makes active efforts to be part of her life once more.

That’s all for 2023! It has been one of the better years recently in my own opinion and I hope you had a great time. As always, I’ll be back to blogging in January with regular updates and I’m already playing around with various ideas for future Write Wise projects. I’ve decided to take it easy for a few months however after the considerable effort that went into the 2023 entries. Until then, I’m wishing you all the best for 2024!

Quote of the Day

I'm just a mean, green mother from outer space and I'm bad!

Audrey II

The Little Shop of Horrors