La Ron S. Readus
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New 2023 Movies I'm Excited For (VIDEO SCRIPT)
🕑 Added 2023-01-04 21:00:02 +0000 UTC(sits on couch) Let’s talk about 2023 movies
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There are PLENTY of movies that have...been announced for 2023 that I’m REALLY looking forward to.
I said it like that because I don’t REALLY wanna commit to putting the release dates in stone, even if the studios ARE committed to the dates
And that’s mostly because the world is still a trash fire despite everyone getting their vaccines and boosters and regularly practicing social distancing and wearing masks.
What’s that? They’re not doing that anymore because they think the Panera Bread is over? (Heavy sigh)
Well, anyway, as of right now, there are movies that may or may not come out in 2023 that I wanna see. So here’s 8 of the ones that I REALLY wanna see, and a handful of honorable mentions that I also wanna see, but I’m not really rushing to see opening night
Now this just a reminder that despite this being a video I decided to write a script for, record on my camera, edit on my computer and both upload and release on my YouTube channel, me doing all of this amount of labor for a channel that hasn’t even been monetized yet upon the making of this video does not mean this final product is the end-all-be-all list of must-see movies of 2023.
These are my opinions, my points, and you are welcome to agree or disagree with them as you see fit.
But if you end up liking what I’m putting down, my name is La’Ron Readus; offering you critique and immersion of your favorite bits of geek and pop culture media
And if you like what I do here or on my main channel, feel free to join my Patreon...
/where you’ll get early access to my written articles and videos across every channel, discount codes to my merchandise store, and a whole lot more./
Also make sure you subscribe to the channel and turn on notifications. That way you’ll get a heads up on whenever I post a new video
Now on to the movies coming out in 2023 that I’m excited for!
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M3GAN
I, like I’m sure a lot of you, was more than likely an innocent bystander in this situation.
I was chilling on my couch, minding my business, scrolling through Twitter 12 days before Elon Musk’s deal to buy it finalized, and suddenly I see a trailer for the newest killer doll thriller Megan
And the trailer starts out as you’d expect; /a good amount of exposition regarding a girl who lost both her parents in a car crash, and has to stay with her rich, privileged and smart aunt on her mother’s side who doesn’t even know how to take care of herself. Let alone comfort a grieving little girl./ (I can barely keep my plants alive)
As you’d imagine, the aunt who would probably get red wine directly injected in her blood stream if it was possible has invented this robot with an AI -- codenamed Megan...
/Who pairs with the girl to be her bestie so that SHE doesn’t have to be there to emotionally console her through her grief./
And ALSO as you can imagine, because of passing that buck to Megan...
/that relationship becomes obsessive, overbearing, territorial, and deadly on the side of the AI/ (you should probably run)
Now anyone who knows anything about storytelling knows that angle is pretty much gonna be the main theme of Megan. The aunt is gonna have to step her game up and learn now to connect with her niece emotionally, now that this AI-controlled doll that she created is threatening the lives around her -- including her own -- in a way that teaches her the importance of interpersonal relationships.
That teaches this GROWN-ASS WHITE WOMAN the importance of interpersonal relationships
However, what threw the entire internet for a loop when the original trailer came out, and what solidified this film as a queer cult classic before the movie was even released...
/Was seeing Megan hit this dance right quick before getting a weapon to attack her latest victim./
And it was the combination of people seeing that bit in the trailer, peeps editing the dancing footage to songs by Beyonce and Megan THEE Stallion, and then Megan THEE Stallion herself reacting to the shit on Twitter and saying Annabelle need to watch her back...
That immediately turned the trailer for this movie that probably wouldn’t have gotten that much traction into a viral hit within the first few hours of its release and one of the most highly anticipated movies of 2023 not just among slasher horror fans that are both low and high-key Childs Play and Chucky stans, but also among the girls and the gays
And yes, now that I say it out loud I do, in fact, realize that they’re mostly one and the same.
Now am I interested in Megan because I wanna see how it plays out the trope I explained regarding the aunt having to fight her creation when she realized that passing the emotional labor she should’ve been doing for her niece to Megan was a very bad idea? Yes.
Am I interested in Megan because I too am fascinated with how quickly both trailers and its marketing team has secured its queer fanbase -- myself included -- and am incredibly intrigued to see how that’s gonna play out in the actual movie? Also yes.
After all, I think one of the sentences that came out of my mouth when I finished the trailer before seeing how quickly everyone and they mama ‘n them came to the same conclusion was “I need to see this movie.”
/Megan comes out in theaters January 6, 2023/
Cocaine Bear
Coincidentally enough, there was ANOTHER film coming out in 2023 that I said those exact six about. And that was just from reading the description about it before the trailer came out.
That movie was “Cocaine Bear”
I remember it like it was yesterday. Discussing Film released the initial statement while sourcing The Hollywood Reporter.
Elizabeth Banks directing the film was the main hook, and reading the summary of the film while also being told it was inspired by an IRL situation alone was enough to make me cackle out of my fucking mind.
Listen. If you were to tell me that you were able to be absolutely still-faced learning that Elizabeth Banks was gonna direct a thriller based on a real-life story of a bear going on a rampage after eating over 70 pounds of cocaine, I would never believe a word you would say again.
I feel like just from the announcement tweet alone -- not watching the trailer, but reading the announcement tweet -- I got light-headed at least twice from the same string of sheer laughter alone.
/Like, take Loki’s “I’ve been falling for 30 minutes” bit from Thor: Ragnarok and replace falling with laughing, and that was pretty much me./
/So when the trailer was released at the end of November 2022, and I saw that Banks and the Miller brothers knew...EXACTLY what type of movie this should be, the anticipation to watch this just grew all the more/ (the bear is on cocaine)
Is it a B movie? Yes, and it’s aware its a B movie.
/It has the “then die” guy from TikTok in it. The way the CGI bear is depicted tripping balls is HILARIOUS, including the carnage scenes. Ice Cube Jr. is WAY thicker in this movie, and I was ALREADY attracted to him before THAT happened; his current size is just more icing on the cake./
And yes, I DID mean it in that context!
Listen, I attended a Christmas get-together with a bunch of black bears and otters I’m friends with, and we ALL reacted how you thought we’d react to him when they put on the trailer to get the reactions of everyone who hadn’t seen it yet; it’s literally IMPOSSIBLE for you to tell me I’m alone here.
And I’ll be completely honest with you. Unlike Megan that HAS potential to have some type of message hidden within the pop culture and pro-femme energy it distributes and I wanna support...
The only thing attracting me to Cocaine Bear is that I just wanna see a 175 pound bear go on a rager after eating over 70 pounds of cocaine.
Now you’ve seen how HARD it is for me to either just turn my brain off to enjoy something without analyzing it on my main channel, or just enjoy something dumb and trashy.
This is the first film I have experienced -- in a long attempt at trying -- both before and after the trailer where I am excited to watch BECAUSE of the fact that I feel comfortable enough to not have to think. And I’m excited to know what that feels like
/Cocaine Bear comes out in theaters February 24, 2023/
Barbie
I’m gonna be completely honest with you, Readers. The last Christopher Nolan film I’ve seen that I was genuinely excited for was Interstellar.
Since then, he’s released the World War II movie Dunkirk -- a film that I already had no interest in -- and THAT was released after multiple instances of Nolan stating his unwanted opinion about the importance of HIS movies, not just movies in general, receiving theatrical releases and theatrical releases ONLY, which honestly turned me off from watching his next feature that I was pretty interested in, Tenet.
/Or as I like to call it, now that I’ve finally seen it for myself, Cop Inception for Time Travel./
So when they announced his next film was about Oppenheimer, the dude who helped invent the atomic bomb, nothing about this film appealed to me. The topic, the director, the salt mine of a cast, nothing.
However, over the course of the reveal of this new Nolan joint, I’ve been seeing set pics, casting reveals and behind the scenes recordings of a film that’ll be going up against it.
A movie that I initially had no interest in thanks to the little bit of heteronormativity left in my brain that survived the initial purge and held on for dear life, before I finally tossed that bitch into the void with his brethren like Scar yeeted Mufasa into the wildebeest stampede.
One that looks just as fun and enticing as much as it looks like it’ll scratch my film analysis itch both before and AFTER the trailer for it dropped.
/That film is Barbie/
One of the reasons I’m excited for this film is that this will be the first Greta Gerwig directed film I’ll ever see.
The reason why I didn’t watch 2019’s Little Women was because I always found 100% pure slice of life fiction boring, and stories that gave off period piece vibes similar to Little House on the Prairie and even Pride & Prejudice were never my jam.
Yes, that means I have no interest in Downton Abbey. Yes, that means I have no interest in Bridgerton. I didn’t even care for the Human Nature/Family of Blood two-parter in Doctor Who series 3 with my favorite companion Martha Jones, and I LOVED Series 3 of Doctor Who!
But from what I’ve seen of Greta’s Barbie movie so far has me absolutely intrigued.
/The casting of Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling as Barbie and Ken respectively was one thing. But then the reveal that Issa Rae would be playing Christie, the Black Barbie, along with what I assume will be the black and asian versions of Ken in the form of Ncuti Gatwa and Simu Liu respectively told me that this was gonna tackle some shit, and I needed to be there to witness it./
And when the TEASER TRAILER came out for it. The beautiful parody of the opening to Kubrick’s 2001 with Robbie as the very first Barbie doll.
/The display of what looks to be every single Barbie playhouse that Mattel has ever made as real-life homes./
The dance numbers, the glitz and glamor, remembering that there’s gonna be a scene where Robbie Barbie punches out a dude who gropes her in her 90’s skating outfit and Gosling Ken screams in retaliation.
I just KNOW that this film is gonna have some juicy social commentary and I can’t wait to cut into it and see if its my preferred medium rare
/Barbie is expected to be released in theaters July 21, 2023/
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts
I stopped watching the Michael Bay directed Transformers movies after the third one.
Even though the Dinobots were my jam growing up before Beast Wars came into the fray...
/The only thing I’ve seen of that fourth movie was Optimus winning his “my piston is bigger” screaming match with Grimlock before violently booping him in the snoot to assert dominance./
Bumblebee, however, was the perfect live-action Transformers movie to wash the remains of the Shia LeBouf trilogy out of my mouth, and allowed the franchise to be reset in a way that would be more considerate of the spirit of the animated series, along with the overall original looks of both the Autobots and Decepticons, while still acknowledging the five movies that happened before are still in the canon timeline, just in case you’re into that sort of thing.
/So when they announced that Transformers: Rise of the Beasts -- the film that would introduce the fan-favorite Maximals and Predacons from Beast Wars into the live-action franchise -- would be taking place AFTER Bumblebee in this Past Event timeline that happens before Michael Bay’s first movie, I was pretty interested./
And even though we didn’t find out that the film would be taking place after Bumblebee until the trailer came out -- which was AMAZING, by the way -- the idea that we’d see Opitimus Prime and Opitimus Primal -- the latter voiced by RON FUCKING PERLMAN...
/Together on the same screen to finally put an end to the secret identity allegations is enough to get me excited/
As well as seeing the boys Bumblebee and Cheetor together; that...that also got me hype when I watched the trailer for the first time.
But the one thing that’ll make me sit down in theaters to watch this film on opening night -- which thanks to Miss Pamela Isley, is something I rarely do nowadays...
Isn’t the fact that Bay isn’t directing this film. Isn’t the fact that its following Bumblebee with hopefully the same quality of writing that Christina Hodson contributed. It isn’t even the stuff I mentioned about seeing Prime and Primal or Bumblebee and Cheetor work together.
It’ll be receiving confirmation that my all-time number 1 out of my list of top 5 Maximal transformers of which Cheetor, Silverbolt and Rhinox are part of will be in the movie.
And that’s my boy from Jersey, Rattrap. You tell me he’s in this movie, and I’ll be there with BELLS on!
/Transformers: Rise of the Beasts comes out in theaters June 9, 2023/
Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3
The Guardians of the Galaxy franchise has the greatest potential in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to end up being the first trilogy out of the five about-to-be seven under Marvel Studios belt that’ll end up being a PROPER one. And that almost didn’t happen.
And while I’m incredibly interested in the plans he has in store for DC Studios now that he’s co-running it with Peter Safran, Guardians of the Galaxy Volumes 1 and 2 have been the most consistent installments in the overall MCU that have successfully connected to its overall vastness while still being self-contained enough to feel like you don’t need to watch it to understand the big overarching saga it’s attached to.
Yes, I know that Volume 1 was critical to watch in order to understand the overall Infinity Saga, but the important part is that Volume 2 was allowed to be its own thing, alright? Volume 1 was a contractual obligation
I still stick to what I said in my video essay about the Eternals being more of a MATURE Guardians of the Galaxy...
But even with both Peter Quill’s character and actor not necessarily being my favorites, I can’t deny that James Gunn so far hasn’t delivered stories about misfits stunted in their own way and learning to be better individuals through both victory and tragedy. Mostly tragedy.
/And from the looks of the trailer for Guardians Vol. 3, that tragedy is gonna hit super hard with a character a lot of casual moviegoers thought was too silly of a concept to get them to care./
But we furries knew. We furries ALWAYS knew.
But while everyone’s anticipating the foreshadowed death of Rocket to make them a blubbering mess, MY proper trilogy loving ass is anticipating figuring out what the thread Gunn’s bringing from Volume 1 to expand upon in Volume 3.
Y’know, assuming James Gunn knows about that being the main bread and butter of the third installment of a trilogy considering the type of films he’s a fan of.
There’s a possibility it might relate to Gamora, since this is technically a variant of her right before she went to retrieve the Power Stone during the events of the first movie but got sidetracked to joining Thanos Variant to the main branching universe in the Avengers Campus battle in Endgame.
/She may know something about something that happened in Volume 1 that might play a HUGE factor in the High Evolutionary’s overall plan in Volume 3 because she never experienced the same type of character development that the one we had for two films and half of an Avengers one experienced. And this is just me spitballing./
Nevertheless, with this being Gunn’s final Guardians movie, and final Marvel Studios film in general now that he’s the co-chair and CEO of DC Studios, I’m excited to see what his swan song is gonna be about.
And if it isn’t a proper movie trilogy when I go see it, well, we’ll just make it one here on the channel when it comes out on Blu-Ray
/Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3 comes out in theaters May 5, 2023/
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
If you’ve been following me on Twitter or seen like...the 5 or 6 videos on my main channel where I clearly reference it, I’m a huge fan of the tabletop roleplaying game Dungeons and Dragons.
I got introduced to the game through 3.5 edition and its Pathfinder equivalent, and have been enjoyingly playing the hell out of 5th edition for the past 5 or so years.
So when Hasbro decided to give the IP another shot with Hollywood after...whatever the hell that first theatrically released movie was, followed by the just as unimpressive follow-up and the surprisingly good 3rd one made for the SyFy channel, I was genuinely surprised.
/Especially since the movie in question, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves has proven with the trailer that it will be the first theatrically released D&D movie in its history to feature monsters, magic and character classes from D&D/
Like, we got ONE Beholder in the Marlon Wayans movie; that hardly counts
So yeah, we have humans. We have elves. We have Tiefling representation...though I wish they did a better job at Tiefling representation
And just as importantly, we have a cast that reflects the people who actually play the game in the 21st century.
Of course there are white folks like Chris Pine playing a bard and Hugh Grant being a rogue. But you also have one of my top 5 celebrity crushes of all time Michelle Rodriguez VERY type-castingly playing a Barbarian, ol’ dude from Bridgerton playing a Paladin...
/And JUSTICE SMITH PLAYING A SORCERER!/
He just like me! He just like me, for real!
Now before anyone gets on me for not knowing who Hugh Grant is potentially playing, I just want it on record that I’m the type of D&D player and Dungeon Master that despite owning module books, has never played a pre-written game a day in their lives. And if I had played them as a player, I was COMPLETELY unaware.
So I know nothing about Neverwinter, I know nothing about Baldur’s Gate. I’ve only ran and played in homebrew worlds over the course of my tenure playing this game
That being said, if Honor Among Thieves IS set in any of these famous locations in D&D, this will pretty much be my first real exposure to them.
And while I know that won’t be satisfactory to the peeps who enjoy the multiversal lore built into the game, the best part about that is that I am just one person. And you don’t have to give a fuck about the fact that I don’t know shit about which canon universe this movie is based in.
And if you do, well that says more about you than it does about me. Because what I care about is that this is the most D&D movie based on creatures, magic, classes and subclasses, fantasy lineages and the variety of people portraying them that we’ve experienced in the IP’s history in Hollywood.
That, and the fact that it looks hella fun, I feel is a bit more important
/Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves comes out in theaters March 31, 2023/
Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse
There’s honestly nothing that can be said about Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse that hasn’t been said already.
/The movie is amazing from beginning to end. It’s animated beautifully, its plot twists were impactful, and Miles Morales’ transformation into Spider-Man was some of the best development I’ve seen in a superhero film in years. Even Kingpin’s motive was the perfect blend of mad man and sympathetic./
To paraphrase a lot of film critics from the 1990’s, the movie was a triumph.
/This is partially why I’m intrigued to see how Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse not only adds to the experience we all had with Into the Spider-Verse, but also makes it better./
And while I’m a bit skeptical on the latter because it’s never a good idea to just IMMEDIATELY assume a sequel is gonna surpass the original without seeing it first from my experience, I’d be lying if I said I just wasn’t excited to see this version of Miles on screen again.
Although I do admit I wish his VA got switched after ol’ dude pulled a Kanye with his opinions on “Black on Black Crime” during the George Floyd protests, but that’s just me being tired of white supremacy.
And even as far as this being part one of a larger story they’re trying to tell, there’s just SO MUCH I’m interested in seeing.
I wanna see what’s causing Miles and Miguel to have beef with each other. I also wanna see them have secret conversations with each other in Spanish after they eventually squash said beef.
I’m interested in seeing how whatever’s going on in the Spider-Verse is gonna impact Miles’ perception of everything as he’s growing into the responsibility of being Spider-Man, especially now that he’s made it his own.
/I wanna see how big of a threat this multiverse-shaking event is going to be to justify giving this the Matrix Reloaded-Revolutions and Dead Mans Chest-At Worlds End treatment/
Like, Into the Spider-Verse has been solidified as one of the best superhero films of all-time. Even if this and the next sequel flop, there’s no chance in hell that they’ll flop so hard that it ruins the legacy that the original established for itself.
I’m not wishing that happens at all, and I only want the best for this franchise now that it actually is one and has proven to be more than just Avi Arad cranking out any and everything just to keep the rights from reverting to Marvel.
Yes, don’t worry, I’m adding the Kraven the Hunter movie to the Patreon stretch goals for movies I’m reviewing drunk off wine; it’s gonna happen...
But despite knowing all of this, and prepared for both the best and the worst to happen as a result, it would be a lie if I said that Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse was not on my radar at all.
And to lie about that would be an incredible disservice to my credibility and character. Because the Ra-honest truth is that I can’t wait to see this.
/Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse comes out in theaters June 2, 2023/
Blue Beetle
I’m not gonna lie; I’m afraid to talk about this next movie.
Yes, the reason why is based around superstition and I completely understand if you believe that superstition is hella dumb. However, once I explain the situation behind why I’m afraid to mention this movie, I feel like you will IMMEDIATELY understand why.
Are you ready? One of the movies I’m REALLY looking forward to seeing...is Blue Beetle.
Oh, you need more context? Sure, fine, whatever. I’m afraid of mentioning that I’m looking forward to it...because it’s a movie about a DC superhero.
Oh, more context! Alright, sure! Every recent DC movie that has piqued my interest to the point of actual anticipation since Discovery bought Warner Brothers has been -- say it with me now -- that’s right, canceled!
That’s right! I was REALLY looking forward to Batgirl. It was another Batman project with the Batman of my childhood in the forefront Michael Keaton, directed by the duo that directed Bad Boys for life, written by the writer of Bumblebee, starring an afro latina playing Barbara Gordon, Brendan Frasier as FIREFLY??? I had SO MANY REASONS to want to see this film!
Which was why I did my best not to get my hopes up for Blue Beetle as much because I felt that it would meet the same fate if for some reason Zaszlav and his penny-pinching execs realized that this was a film I really wanted to see!
“Oh, La’Ron wants to see this Mexican superhero movie the studio is working on? Better take it off the bracket and write it off as a tax expense; we can’t have him be black, bi AND happy at the same time! Imagine how POWERFUL he’d be!”
Now the only thing keeping the hope alive for me right now is that James Gunn retweeted the teaser poster for the movie when DC and Warner Brothers Discovery’s twitter account posted it in the last quarter of 2022 after he took the job as co-chair and CEO of DC Studios. So I’m hoping that means the film is safe from TurboTax.
Because I tell you, I REALLY want to see this.
It was originally slated to just be an HBO Max exclusive like Batgirl was, and Michael B Jordan’s Superman project is, which made me realize and ask why all of the superheroes with POC as their stars were being placed on HBO Max instead of having theatrical releases.
But then they shifted Blue Beetle from streaming to theaters after I initially had and tweeted that thought, and I was like “Oh, they must’ve heard me.” And now you see why I’m paranoid!
And while there’s no trailer for it yet, the pictures of the suit that appeared online are GORGEOUS.
/Nearly comic accurate, easily giving Guyver meets Kamen Rider with its alien otherworldly presence./
All that’s left is to see it in action, in the form of a TRAILER, so that I can have 100% guarantee that this movie is still happening. PLEASE.
/Blue Beetle is currently scheduled to come out in theaters August 17, 2023./
Honorable Mentions
Now there are PLENTY of movies that I’m looking forward to watching that didn’t make this initial list for various reasons
Evil Dead Rise was initially on the list because at the time I thought it was gonna be a direct sequel to the 2013 Evil Dead remake; a film that I have no problem admitting that I enjoyed WAY more than Sam Raimi’s original because of how it was able to handle its character arcs, and act as a prompt metaphor for how addiction affects you and the people around you.
But I have no problem admitting that after learning it’s literally in the same universe as the original trilogy and Ash vs The Evil Dead, my interest in it definitely lessened.
They Cloned Tyrone looks like it’s gonna be fun, and I’m all for more opportunities to see John Boyega on screen. Especially since he’s gonna be sharing time with Monica Rambeau herself Teyonah Parris.
But I’m also fine admitting that despite being interested, it’s not causing me to have to watch it the moment it hits Netflix at 3pm Eastern Standard Time.
And it’s not because Jamie Foxx is in it! I can tolerate movies he’s in when there are OTHER people I like in the same movie!
Of COURSE I’m looking forward to seeing Halle Bailey as Ariel in the live-action adaptation of Disney’s The Little Mermaid. But that’s the only thing it has going for it, because it’s still a live-action DISNEY remake, so I’m not holding my breath! HA
Maybe if they ALSO cast Lizzo as Ursula -- which is a role she actively wanted to play for Disney -- instead of Melissa MaCarthy. Maybe my anticipation factor for the film would gotten to the point where the film made the list.
I’m still gonna see it, even IF Awkwafina’s voicing the seagull. It’s just not UP THERE, y’know?
And Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania? I understand its required viewing for The Multiverse Saga, but all it has going for it outside of that is Kang.
I mean, Jonathan Majors is great. I gotta watch Creed 2 before the third one comes out so I can see him and Michael B. Jordan box out their toxic masculinity.
But I’m too old to pretend that every single Marvel Studios production is truly worth my time. Especially when over the course of certain Phase 4 films they’ve proved that they’re not.
Conclusion
But those are some of the movies that I’M excited to see that are coming out in 2023, and I’m absolutely sure that this list will only grow as the year progresses
(Snaps) Right! Yes! Homework!
Write in the comment section below what movies coming out in 2023 YOU’RE looking forward to seeing
Are any of them on my list? Any that didn’t make it that you wanna gush about? Feel free to let me know!
/Thank you to ALL of my patrons -- big and small -- for your financial support and making this possible! If you want to support the creation of the videos for this and the main channel, make sure you click the card at the end or the link in the description to join.
But until then this is Readus 201. Class dismissed./
