Best and Worst Hit Songs of 2023 / Best Albums 2023

The year is almost over, finally! 2023 was a strange year, especially when it came to popular music. I've been hoping to see a change in the landscape of pop music as it has felt stuck in the same gear for what feels like too long now. I was also hoping to see some new artists innovate and start to change the future of pop music and see more new ideas out there and we did get that this year... just not in the way I thought? Hip-hop has dominated the charts for so long now I wasn't expecting it to have such a weak year on the top of the charts (compared to the last decade), but for the first time in forever, it actually showed signs of slowing down. The most shocking thing is what took its spot this year was a genre I wasn't expecting to see dominate. Country?!

Country music had some big names really shine for better or for worse with Morgan Wallen's latest album totally dominating and his single "Last Night" most likely taking the spot for the biggest song of the year in 2023. That alongside some politically charged country singles doing surprisingly well on the charts too due to getting tons of attention for their lyrics. But we also had a few artists return with new albums that had a lot of success too. Doja Cat, Olivia Rodrigo, Travis Scott, and Miley Cyrus were some of the artists who dropped big albums that were incredibly popular this year. That along with the continued dominance of Taylor Swift and her latest album "Midnights" paired with her Taylor's Version releases and Eras Tour are keeping her as the top artist in the US/World right now. Just recently Drake and Bad Bunny dropped new albums, but those are coming in pretty late in the year and may affect next year's charts as well as the late months of 2023. On a side note, can someone tell Drake to stop making albums that are almost an hour and a half long? He clearly doesn't have enough energy to fill out an album of that length, even though it's maybe one of his better recent releases... but not by much. 

Anyway, with that out of the way, it's time for the best and worst hit songs of the year 2023. Just like previous years, this is a list of songs that were popular this year. Some of the songs were from last year but didn't become hits until this year. I'll also be keeping out songs that I already put on my list in previous years like all the Taylor Swift songs that made the charts again from old albums (Cruel Summer/Anti-Hero/August) and hits like "As It Was" and "Made You Look" that were on the list too. 

STARTING WITH THE WORST

10th Worst: Oliver Anthony Music - "Rich Men North of Richmond"

I must say looking at the album artwork for this one made me nervous about what exactly this was going to be (a picture of Oliver Anothony singing)... that alongside all the arguments it started on Twitter. I actually ended up enjoying a tiny bit of this song, especially the first minute of the song where it feels a lot more relatable. At first, the song feels like a message of solidarity amongst the struggling lower to middle class and how everyone is just barely getting by these days as the rich get richer and I can feel what he was going for there. It isn't until the second verse that things start to get pretty strange. He goes on to complain about politicians and how they spend their time looking for minors on an island, which is really specific. The problem lies more with him just randomly shifting his whole message about how the poor are struggling to instead blame people on welfare for his struggles. That one small part just completely drives the song off a cliff and makes Oliver Anthony seem pretty naive. While I think his voice is pretty decent, at the end of the day the song just feels like it's missing something for me, paired with those dumb lyrics put the song on the list.

9th Worst: Oliver Tree - "Miss You" (ft. Robin Shulz)

I've known about Oliver Tree's music for a while now, but I can honestly say I never really understood his popularity. For a while, I thought that maybe I just didn't get his music, but I think over time I've come to the conclusion that his music just sucks. His big single this year "Miss You" was I think what made me realize this. The song is just so awful there's no way a person who knew anything about good music could make something this annoying. I feel like this song was designed to be annoying like those old gummy bear and crazy frog songs from back in the day. The high-pitched chipmunk vocals pretty much confirm that. You have to really try to make something this bad, so either he just hates his fans or he truly doesn't understand the concept of music. I really hope it's the second option. I don't know if maybe I just don't get this whole meme as music thing that he seems to be going for because he is incredibly popular on streaming platforms. Listening to some of his other songs just makes me question what exactly people are looking for in music these days. At the end of the day, to me, it's not funny or clever enough to make it worth listening to terrible music.

8th Worst: Morgan Wallen - "Thinkin' Bout Me"

As I said in the intro, it's been a huge year for Wallen and his career. He released a double album early in the year that's almost two hours long (there is no god) that was wildly popular and had tons of chart success. Things were looking a bit bleak for Wallen after he was caught on camera saying a racial slur, but he was somehow able to make a big comeback and become one of the biggest country artists out there. The thing is... his album wasn't very good or original. Just another country artist putting tons of hip-hop and pop elements into his music. Add generic modern bro country lyrics to the mix and you have an album that's an hour and a half too long with barely enough to keep it interesting throughout its bloated runtime. "Thinking Bout Me" is an incredibly generic song about how Wallen is wondering if his ex is thinking about him while she's moving on with her life. Something that's never been done before in the history of music. He does absolutely nothing new with this overdone idea as he half-heartedly sings the most generic lyrics possible. It's just completely overdone bullshit and Waller has absolutely no charisma on this track or even emotion to make it stand out in any way at all. Garbage. 

7th Worst: Gunna - "Fukumean"

Yeah, this was a huge letdown. This song somehow became a huge hit this year and ended up being the 31st-best-performing song in the USA (2023). I guess the good thing about this song is that's not much more than 2 minutes long. Even those two minutes feel way too long for a song that really doesn't have much to offer. Typical brag raps where he talks about the tons of women he's sleeping with as he of course makes it all bout himself and how much they need to please him. That's pretty much it, not like Gunna could even be bothered to make it more interesting with his low energy unclever rapping. Well at least I wasn't expecting too much from this artist... unlike the next artist on this list. 

6th Worst: Drake / 21 Savage - "Rich Flex"

From the Drake and 21 Savage collab album of late 2022 comes "Rich Flex". Drake continued his streak of mid albums, but this time bringing in another name to the mix. It's frustrating to see Drake continue to put out all these mediocre playlists and albums when we know he's capable of actually putting out some good stuff. Actually, I'm not even sure that's true anymore because it's been so long since he's put out an album that's more than mediocre. With "Rich Flex" you get the amazingly generic brag rap lyrics with the regular low-energy Drake rapping where even he sounds tired of talking about all this shit. I think I've fully given up on the idea of Drake ever going back to being interesting because it's been like six or seven years of this now. If he still has all the success without any of the innovation or creativity then what's the point of making anything more than decent? 

5th Worst: HARDY - "TRUCK BED"

This guy really popped out of nowhere this year to have a handful of hits and get significant play around the USA. This guy feels straight out of the early 00s post-grunge scene, but not in a good way. It's like Puddle of Mudd had a baby with Morgan Wallen to make a very unlikable creature that makes boring music. Boring lyrics and uninteresting music all with frontman HARDY's talentless singing. Oh yeah, a country song about a truck, that's cool. In this song, Hardy wakes up in his truck bed because his girl made him sleep outside after he kept coming home late after drinking. The verses aren't interesting and the chorus isn't as clever as Hardy seems to think it is with the amount of times he repeats it in this song. Well if this is the amount of talent you need to become a hit maker in the country scene, then I guess I better drink a bottle of Jack and pick up a guitar. There's also the implication of him shooting his girlfriend because of her finally kicking him to the curb for being a drunk asshole, so that's nice... God, this guy sucks. 

4th Worst: Meghan Trainor - "Mother"

"The fact that Meghan Trainor is literally mother right now." That's how the song starts so you know we're in for a good time. Yeah, this song is a continuation of her hit last year "Made You Look", but only much worse. She continues with the 1950s doo-woop style that she used to become popular when she first became a big name. The thing is, it just feels overdone by her at this point and it feels more like a safety net that she needed to use when her music started getting fewer hits. This time she samples the classic "Mr. Sandman" by the Chordettes and butchers it with annoying production. It just feels like a mess of a song that's trying desperately to become a viral hit... which it kind of did so good job on that one. Maybe try something new next time Meghan... though that hasn't really worked out for her in the past so never mind just keep doing whatever this is. 

3rd Worst: Morgan Wallen - "Last Night"

Could you make a more boring song, Wallen? Actually, he likely will. This song is most likely going to be the biggest hit of the year and honestly, it kinda deserves it because this boring ass year of pop music needs a representative like this. I don't even know how Wallen qualifies as a country artist as he pretty much just uses basic hip-hop production for all his boring ass music. I guess the twangy guitar is enough to keep this in the country genre? It certainly isn't the heavy bass and finger snaps that make this a country hit. Lyrically, we get yet another overdone topic by Wallen, as he once again uses no emotion to talk about a toxic relationship. But it truly seems like he doesn't really care about anything because of how little energy he puts into these hit songs. If you have no charisma, boring production, and uninteresting lyrics then what are we supposed to remember at all from this mega-hit? Nothing... the answer is nothing. It's not even so bad it's memorable like "Mother" and "Gently". It's just a whole lot of nothing. 

2nd Worst: Jason Aldean: "Try That In A Small Town"

Generic country song by a generic country artist. At any other time, this kind of song would just exist in a small space and not even come close to becoming a hit. How do you make a song with boring music and an even more boring artist a hit? You add pandering controversial lyrics at a time when that is almost guaranteed to get people talking and spreading your song around. A guy who's not from a small town pretends to be all about that life. You get all the hits here with lines like:

"Got a gun that my grandad gave me, they say one day they're gonna round them up": It wouldn't be the South without loving guns and respecting my grandad who's most likely a Vietnam vet. Also the obligatory "THEY AIN'T TAKIN' OUR GUNS!" line. 

"Stomp on the flag and light it up, yeah you think you're tough": Maybe it's not so much the fact that people ARE burning USA flags, but WHY they are doing such a thing that matters? 

"Full of good ol' boys, raised up right": Ready to shoot anyone who messes with the American flag! Also, what does raised up right mean to this guy?  Gun-loving, trigger-happy dudes that's what. Probably the kind of guys who fall for a super pandering song by a rich country artist who doesn't actually care about them.

And yes, the music video was shot in front of a historic lynching site while splicing footage of protesters. Wonder what Jason and his team were going for there? (sigh)

Like I said when I first reviewed this song, it's just not good at all. Jason Aldean brings nothing interesting vocally and lyrically it's lazy pandering that's trying too hard to offend the left and trying too hard to appeal to the right. The thing is, it doesn't even really do that right. The most offensive thing about this song is how boring it is. Even the guitar solo sounds like it doesn't want to be in this song. So it's best to just leave this song to die over time as it's 100% going to be forgotten in a few months by most people. Please. 

The WORST Song of 2023: David Guetta - "Baby Don't Hurt Me"

Two years in a row. Two years in a row with awful 90s samples turned into shit songs. Last year it was the awful "I'm Blue" sample that was somehow worse than the original because it took itself too seriously. Now we get one of the most iconic club songs of the 90s in "What is Love?" by Haddaway being butchered. David Guetta proves he has no idea what made the original song amazing by taking all the parts of it and completely shredding all the fun out of it. The original had some of the most memorable synths and catchy melodies, but all that is somehow gone in this new version. 

It actually blows my mind how badly he messed this up, it can't be that hard to make a new mix of "What is Love" and put a few new elements into it. The main problem is everything Guetta changes is significantly worse than the original. The song tempo feels slightly faster which throws everything off instantly. Anne-Marie just doesn't have the voice to pull this off either, as she sings the iconic chorus it just sounds so bland and passionless. There's literally no reason for this to exist as it only makes me want to play the original every time I hear it. Please for the love of God, David Guetta, don't touch "This Is Your Night" by Amber. I beg of you. 

AND NOW... the best songs of 2023

Special mention:  Megan Thee Stallion - "Cobra"

A song that came out when I finished making my list and I thought about putting it on, but I think my final list is what I'm sticking to now. This does have the potential to grow on me though and maybe I'll get a chance to put it on the list next year for best songs since it's technically not on it this year. I really enjoy the use of guitars for this song as it feels totally different than anything Megan has done up to this point and a fresh sound for the charts in general. Hopefully, it sticks around in the charts long enough to become a significant hit for next year's end list. 

Special Mention 2: Dua Lipa - "Houdini"

Another great song that came out too late. Pretty much the same as "Cobra" in that I can see this making the list next year. BUT Dua Lipa also has a new album coming out next year, so I can see there being even better songs than this one on that. 

10th Best: Bailey Zimmerman - "Religiously"

After reading my worst songs you probably think I hate all pop country, but I'm here to tell you that's definitely true. Okay, not really because there are some decent songs out there and this is one of those good ones. Bailey Zimmerman reminds me more of Morgan Wallen's early albums in which they actually were pretty good. Before he became a huge pop-country star he was actually making some decent music and Bailey Zimmerman feels like the better version of what Wallen is now. That's to say this song still feels like it's actually country and not trying hard to be something else. Bailey has a good voice and the music feels a little more like traditional country here. The lyrics are also a lot more interesting than anything Wallen and Jason Aldean are putting out there right now too. The song "Religiously" is all about Bailey's past relationship that ended in heartbreak. He blames himself for not doing enough for her and even though his life is going great it feels empty without her. It feels a lot more personal and emotional than Wallen's "Thinkin' Bout Me" as you can actually feel what Bailey's going through here. A nice surprise for sure and I'll be keeping an eye on Zimmerman's new music. 

9th Best: Tainy - "MOJABI GHOST" (w/ Bad Bunny)

Producer Tainy teams up again with Bad Bunny to make another great song. Tainy is a legend in the music scene, working with pretty much every big Reggeaton artist over the last 20 years. Of course, Bad Bunny doesn't need an introduction as he's one of the biggest artists in the world right now even outside of his genre. In this song, we get a more synth-heavy pop sound that sounds very cyberpunky. I think that's why I like the song so much because it sounds like something straight out of a cyberpunk movie/game soundtrack. I like the idea of Bad Bunny trying different things with his music as it keeps his sound fresh and from getting too repetitive like a lot of mainstream artists who rely on one style to stay popular. The rest of this album (Data by Tainy) is an interesting mix of this same sound and reggeaton beats with a lot of classic and modern artists. 

8th Best: Beyonce - "CUFF IT"

Beyonce's fantastic album "RENAISSANCE" was a big hit last summer and it shined showing Beyonce trying some new styles with her music and was a great return after her 2016 album "Lemonade" (unless you count the Lion King album from 2020). "CUFF IT" is the second big single from that album following the big hit "BREAK MY SOUL". This one features a more disco vibe that reminds me of something out of Dua Lipa's "Future Nostalgia" album. You get that awesome bass dominating the song along with some funky guitar and horns that are all elevated by Beyonce's amazing vocals. I guess it's not surprising that her vocals are still as good if not better than ever at this point. The song is fun no doubt and the kind of song you can pretty much play over and over and not get tired of.

7th Best: Grupo Frontera/Bad Bunny - "un x100to"

The last few years on my end-of-the-year lists I've complained about how a lot of TikTok music is terrible and makes me feel old as I don't really get it. There are always exceptions to everything as this Texas-based band proves that not everything that gets popular because of TikTok is bad... in fact it can be really good. Grupo Frontera teamed up with mega-star Bad Bunny to make one of the best charting songs of the year and something that feels like a breath of fresh air in a time of repetition. The continuing rise of Latin music in America is pretty cool and seeing artists like this make a name for themselves making a cumbia-style song is encouraging. The song is about the tough times you go through when you miss someone you care about and you're sad that you're the reason it didn't work out. Add a little bit of Reggeaton flavor with Bad Bunny and you got yourself a certified hit. Everything about this just works though, and it makes me hope that more songs like this and more different genres can get some attention in the mainstream. 

6th Best: Billie Eilish - "What Was I Made For?"

Billie Eilish returns to the charts with a heartbreaking song called "What Was I Made For?" The song was made for the Barbie movie that was released this summer to huge success. If the idea was to make a song that would somehow make you feel like crying no matter what mood you were currently in then it was a huge success. It's not as simple as playing a sad piano to make it all work though, it takes talent for sure and this song has plenty of that with Eilish. Her voice works perfectly for this type of song and the slow piano does well to elevate the emotion she's singing about. That and the way the song slowly builds throughout as it adds little touches like adding some strings and layering her voice. The only problem is this is the kind of song I won't be coming back to very often for all the reasons mentioned above so that takes some points away there. 

5th Best: Olivia Rodrigo - "Vampire"

Olivia made her triumphant return after her breakout year in 2021 where she became one of the biggest names in music with her first album "Sour". "Vampire" was the first single from her new album "GUTS", which so far has been a great follow-up in terms of popularity and hits. I reviewed this song a few months ago on this blog and while I gave it a positive review, I did make fun of the basic lyrics where she refers to her ex as a vampire who bled her dry. It's not very clever sure, but it's easy for me to move past when I just really enjoy everything else about the song. It's certainly grown on me the last few months a little more and now I can just have fun with it.

4th Best: Dua Lipa - "Dance The Night"

Not only did the Barbie movie save the box office with Oppenheimer, but it also provided some great hits on the charts. Dua Lipa released the single "Dance the Night" to promote alongside the movie's release. The song pretty much feels like an unreleased single from "Future Nostalgia", which is one of the best modern pop albums made. I mean the world could always use more "Future Nostalgia". This one has got the same disco vibes with modern production as her last few hits. It's just as fun as the rest of that album, which makes me hope this means there's more music from Dua Lipa coming soon. She just confirmed a new album coming out next year so I look forward to having more of her songs on this list next year. 

3rd Best: Miley Cyrus - "Flowers"

A song that dominated the entire year as it came out in January and still hasn't gone away. This song actually grew me a lot over the months as when I first heard it I found it pretty disappointing overall. While I really enjoy the song now, I unfortunately never really turned around on the album "Endless Summer Vacation". The album was one of the first big releases of the year and I was very excited to hear her follow-up to the fantastic "Plastic Hearts". The album didn't live up to the hype I had for it, but one thing that it did accomplish was my appreciation for the song "Flowers". It's a standout in the album for sure and it deserves its massive success. The song has that loud funky bass that a lot of pop songs have these days and I'll never get tired of hearing that. The lyrics are all about how Miley is doing great in her single life as she can do all the things she used to do with her partner all by herself and enjoy it just as much if not better. The song dropped on her ex-husband's birthday so that's maybe a hint as to who the song is about. 

2nd Best: Tyler Childers - "In Your Love"

A name I was unfamiliar with until earlier this year when this single was released. A song that instantly captured my attention and got me to dive into Tyler's previous works. I was not disappointed in what I found, actually, I quite liked a lot of what I heard from Tyler Childers. "In Your Love" is Tyler's biggest hit to date as it actually got some chart success enabling me to qualify it for this list here. As someone who's not aware of what's going on in the country music scene, I wouldn't know that Tyler has been on the rise for a while now and this success isn't a big surprise, especially after listening to some of his previous work. It probably also helps how country music itself has been on the rise the last few years and had plenty of huge breakout stars really show up on the charts this year. The song is a love song about working hard and fighting for your love. The video though, is heart-crushing if you haven't seen it yet it's worth the watch for sure. 

THE BEST SONG OF 2023: SZA - "Kill Bill" 

Sza continued to prove why she's one of the best mainstream artists out there currently when she dropped her hit album SOS late last year. The album had multiple hits, but none of them bigger than "Kill Bill" as it had the potential to be the biggest hit of the year if it wasn't for Morgan Wallen's "Last Night" taking that spot. "Kill Bill" is all about how SZA is going to murder her ex and his new girlfriend after he moved on from SZA. The idea of him being happy without her makes her sick to the point where she wants to end him instead of seeing him move on. The name "Kill Bill" inspired by the movie implies that she was hurt by him and this is her way of getting revenge just like in the film. It makes for a great song with a bit of a darker edge to it for a pop song. Of course, SZA's vocals drive the song as she doesn't really miss in that aspect. The music fits in perfectly with the lyrical content too with some interesting bass lines. Congrats to "Kill Bill" for winning best song of the year from this random blog nobody knows about : )

That was my list and I hope you enjoyed it and check out the songs you might have missed. As I usually do on these lists I will include non-mainstream music recommendations below. This time I'll put some of my personal favorite songs and albums of 2023 on a list. Also, I'll include some other albums I liked and include the genre in case you are looking for new music to check out. 

This year I found myself gravitating towards the pop genre more than ever. A huge part of that is how many great albums dropped this year in that genre as I'll share down below. A few rock bands came back from long hiatuses to drop some really good albums as well, which was a great surprise for me. It was a great year for discovering new artists who won me over with some fantastic albums like Chapell Roan, Jessie Ware, and Jordan Ward to name a few. But here's the list of albums and songs I loved starting with my personal favorites:

MY 10 FAVORITE ALBUMS

Paramore - "This Is Why" (Alternative)

Chapell Roan - "Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess" (Indie Pop)

Caroline Polachek - "Desire, I Want to Turn Into You" (Pop)

Sufjan Stevens - "Javelin" (Indie Folk)

The Aces - "I've Loved You For So Long" (Indie Pop/Rock)

Fall Out Boy - "So Much (For) Stardust (Rock)

Aluna - "MYCELiUM" (Dance/Electronic)

Jessie Ware - "THAT! FEELS GOOD!" (Pop)

The Hives - "The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons" (Rock)

Grouptherapy. - "I Was Mature For My Age, but I Was Still a Child" (Hip-Hop)

MY 10 FAVORITE SONGS

Caroline Polachek - "Sunset" (pop)

Chapell Roan - "Red Wine Supernova" (pop)

Aluna /Chris Lake - "Beggin'" (dance/electronic)

Sufjan  Stevens - "My Red Little Fox"

Noname - "boomboom" (Hip-Hop)

Depeche Mode - "Ghosts Again" (synthpop)

The Last Dinner Party - "Nothing Matters" (Indie Rock)

Troye Sivan - "Rush" (Pop)

Paramore - "Thick Skull" (Alternative)

Carly Rae Jepsen - "Shy Boy" (pop)

Other Great Albums

Boygenius - "the record" (Indie Rock)

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit - "Weathervanes" (Country)

Lana Del Rey - "Did you know there's a tunnel under Ocean Blvd" (Indie Pop)

Carly Rae Jepsen - "The Loveliest Time" (Pop)

The National - "First Two Pages of Frankenstein / Laugh Tracks" (Indie Rock)

JPEGMAFIA - "Scaring the Hoes" (Hip-Hop)

Hozier - "Unreal Unearth" (Singer-Songwriter / Alternative)

Mitski - "The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We" (Indie Pop)

Geese - "3D Country" (Indie Rock)

Creeper - "Sanguivore" (Punk / Goth Rock)

Blur - "The Ballad of Darren" (Indie Rock)

Dominic Fike - "Sunburn" (Indie Pop/Rock)

Troye Sivan - "Something to Give Each Other" (Pop)

Kelala - "Raven" (R&B)

Sofia Kourteis - "Madres" (Indie Pop/Electronic)

Cautious Clay - "KARPEH" (R&B Soul)

ROMY - "Mid Air" (Dance/Electronic)

Joey Valance & Brae - "PUNK TACTICS" (Hip-Hop)

Spiritbox - "The Fear of Fear EP" (Metalcore) 

Meet Me @ The Altar - "PAST // PRESENT // FUTURE" (Pop Punk)

Jordan Ward - "FORWARD" (R&B)

Iusillon - "Pensando mucho y mal" (Indie Rock)

MxPx - "Find a Way Home" (Punk)

And as always, a playlist of songs from all the artists on this list and a few other songs I really liked. 

Top 20 hit songs of the 1970s

 After making the best song lists for every decade from the 1980s to the 2010s I decided to go back and finish the last decade of music I'm familiar with. So no, probably won't be making one of these for the 1960s anytime soon, maybe after some time diving deeper into that library of music. The 1970s were an incredible time for music though, as you can see lots of different genres started to peak in terms of quality. There's just something about that decade's music that feels so unique and it's hard to put it into words really. From the blues and soul to disco and rock, there was something for everyone to express themselves in entirely new and unique ways. Some of the greatest and most influential albums of all time were released in this decade, albums that would change the landscape of music forever. 

I was not expecting this list to be so hard to make. Out of all the lists I've made this one seemed to give me a lot of trouble because I had so many songs I wanted to include but couldn't because I wanted to keep it to a small number so this wouldn't be too long. Even when I felt like I was getting closer to finishing up, I would remember another song that needed to be on the list. So I managed to narrow it down to 20 songs with a lot of amazing songs being left out. I made a rule to only include one song per artist to help me out and not just fill the list with some of the iconic artists like Fleetwood or Bowie. Even with all the time it took to pick 20 songs I still feel like I'm probably forgetting some classics that should be on here. ANYWAY... here are the top 20 songs of the 1970s! Starting out with a Beatle no less...

George Harrison - "My Sweet Lord" (1970)

When people debate who the greatest Beatle is, they often say Paul or John, when in reality it's George Harrison. Releasing his big album "All Things Must Pass" just a few months after the final Beatles album he showed that he really had something to offer the world with his voice outside of the group (not that anyone doubted that). "My Sweet Lord" was the big song from that album that many people remember fondly. There's something so relaxing about the song it carries this feeling of hope and peace in its music and lyrics that it's hard not to just chill out and enjoy every second of it. The blend of Christianity and Hindu makes for an interesting vibe at the end, almost felt like a twist ending the first time I heard it not expecting that part to come in. It all works well to make one of the most memorable songs of the Beatles singles outside of the band. But if I'm being honest with myself... Paul is the best Beatle. 

Talking Heads - "Psycho Killer" (1977)

I'm going to say this about a lot of the artists on this list, but Talking Heads/David Byrne were innovators in music and were a glimpse in the 70s of what was about to come in the 80s music scene. So yeah, they were ahead of the times for sure. Still to this day, I can't say I've ever really heard a song quite like "Psycho Killer" with its interesting music and David's unique vocal style. There are certain people in this world that just "get" music and art and David Byrne is just one of those guys. He understands how to entertain while also creating some unique and spectacular art. 

Redbone - "Come and Get Your Love" (1973)

A lot of us have to thank Guardians of the Galaxy for introducing us to this gem of a song. The Native American-led band made some great rock music infused with soul and funk. Their standout song "Come and Get Your Love" is the perfect example of the unique style they brought to music in the early 70s. The great funky bass mixed with the strings and guitar just sounds so good together.  That along with some of the catchiest hooks make this one of the more memorable songs of a decade that had tons of amazing rock music. Being able to stand out amongst some of the best songs of all time shows how much talent this group had, and it's great to see a small resurgence thanks to the MCU. 

Bob Marley - "Three Little Birds" (1977)

The most famous name in reggae certainly deserves a mention here. With lots of iconic songs in his catalog, it was hard to really pick which one was truly standout. I decided to go with "Three Little Birds" because it's the song that usually pops into my head first when I think of Marley. It's got great lyrics and music and it's just the kind of song you can listen to at any time. You can say that about a lot of his music to be fair, but just my personal choice here. There's just something so joyful about "Three Little Birds" that I think is hard to replicate in other music. You can really feel Marley just smiling through the track as you listen to it even without actually seeing his face. I think that's the perfect image to have of him as an artist. 

ELO - "Mr. Blue Sky"

You know, I always imagined listening to ELO back in the 70s wasn't what the cool kids did. ELO is just so out there sometimes with their music and imagery... maybe kind of like the band Rush? But I think that's why I enjoy the music so much, because of how out there it can be. But "Mr. Blue Sky" is a song that I think everyone just likes or lies about not liking. It's just such a likable song and it feels like the band is having a blast playing it as I'm listening to it. It does go a little "out there" in the closing minutes and maybe that's why it's not too high on this list? There's little to complain about here so maybe I'm just trying to justify why it didn't get a higher spot to myself. But if you're not too familiar with Electric Light Orchestra, go check them out. 

Led Zeppelin - "Black Dog" (1971)

One of the most beloved albums of all time from another giant of the 70s. Lovers of rock music certainly weren't starving for great music in the 1970s, especially with bands like Led Zeppelin completely changing the game. Imagine making an album with "Stairway to Heaven", "Rock and Roll", and "Black Dog" all included... It's insane. The album really took the band to an iconic status that would continue pretty much until today. Even the band Greta Van Fleet became incredibly popular recently just by doing a decent job at mimicking the Zeppelin style, that's how much people love the band Led Zeppelin. "Black Dog" is the song that always pumps me up with its awesome guitar riffs and solos alongside some of Robert Plant's best vocals. 

Al Green - "Let's Stay Together" (1972)

Possibly the most beloved R&B singer of the 1970s (and maybe all time) in Al Green. So many classics to pick from in Al Green's catalog, but it's hard not to stick with the always classic "Let's Stay Together". A showcase of Al's smooth voice just totally kills it for nearly three and a half minutes. Simple lyrics are elevated by amazing vocals and some great funky soul music to back him. It's timeless romance music that is still honestly better than a lot of what's being put out there these days. 

Michael Jackson - "Don't Stop Till You Get Enough" (1979)

Michael Jackson was already a well-known name in music before his 1979 album, but this was where he really came into his own as a solo artist. One of the most memorable songs of the decade in "Don't Stop Till You Get Enough", was just a small preview of just how big he would become in the 80s and 90s. Almost every part of this song has become so iconic with Michael starting the song by talking, the horns that kick in right after, and the perfect verses and chorus. Not a single negative thing to say here... okay, maybe the song is slightly too long. BUT THAT'S IT!

Lou Reed - "Walk on the Wild Side" (1972)

Lou Reed had already found success with The Velvet Underground before working on his own solo project. He created his own groundbreaking album in 1972 with "Transformer". The album is fantastic from start to finish, but also has the song that really defined his solo career in "Walk on the Wild Side".  The song was inspired by Andy Warhol's Superstars, which were his friends who were well-known actors and models most of whom. The cool thing is the people he talks about people who were not the kind you would really hear about in a lot of other mainstream songs at the time, as the song talks about trans women and drag queens. The song would later be sampled in one of the more iconic hip-hop songs "Can I Kick It?" by A Tribe Called Quest.

The Clash - London Calling (1979)

The most iconic punk group of all time changed music forever with their 1979 album "London Calling". Not only one of the best albums of all time but one that influenced an entire generation of music. The song reflects on how life was for the band members in the late 70s in the city of London. The problems with debt, fear of nuclear chaos, police brutality, and the river flooding their homes were all issues mentioned in the song. It's a song that's often used in movies and shows when introducing the location of London. It's a song that became synonymous with the city itself and is even the song for London football team Fulham, which plays right next to the river Thames the song is referring to. From the lyrics to the music this song is perfection. How awesome is that cover art by the way? It was a reference to Elvis Presley's first album that had the same font and colors. 

Marvin Gaye - "What's Going On" (1971)

This is arguably one of the most important songs of all time and by an artist who no doubt changed the world of music forever. "What's Going On" was originally inspired by the unrest and protests of the Vietnam War and the police brutality that was happening in a lot of the protests. The song was also inspired by the Watts Riot of 1965, which was another even involving police brutality. The song itself is a call to put peace over violence, to talk to each other and understand each other better. Featuring Marvin's amazing vocals along with some amazing soul music to back him. A song that still feels incredibly timeless (in some ways that's unfortunate).

David Bowie - "Moonage Daydream" (1972)

It's hard to find an artist who was as consistently great through the entire 70s as David Bowie.  From "The Man Who Sold the World" to "Low" it was all pretty much great. There are arguments for most of his albums in the 70s being the best of the decade and possibly his entire career. For me, I'll always love "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust..." as it's just an awesome rock album with banger after banger from start to finish. The first song that always comes to mind when I think of Bowie is "Moonage Daydream", probably because he starts it by calling himself an alligator. There's so much to love in this song from the spacy lyrics to the great instrumentation and of course Bowie himself. There are very few songs that just give me a special feeling when listening to like this song, it's hard to describe but if you love this song you might know what I mean... maybe it's just a Bowie thing. 

ABBA - "Dancing Queen" (1976)

The hit machine known as Abba dominated the late 70s with their insanely catchy hooks that must have been a blast to dance to at the disco. Surprised it took this long on the list to get to some disco-inspired music, though ABBA put more of a pop/rock twist into it to create their own brand of music. When people think of Sweden there are usually two things that come to mind and one of those things is ABBA.. along with some furniture-making company. Being the most famous thing to come from a country is a pretty big feat. The music they created instantly transports you back in time to the late 70s and how the world was partying back then. "Dancing Queen" is a song that most people, even younger people, are at least aware of probably more than any of the other songs on the list so far. It certainly has the most views/streams on all the music services out of all these songs. It's a song that from start to finish is burned into my brain and I get excited when it comes on even after hearing it countless times. There's just nothing quite like ABBA in music today. 

Queen - "Somebody to Love" (1976)

Here's another artist that's never been able to be replicated in style and popularity. The power of Freddie Mercury's vocals is something that will never be replicated again, he's just one of those once-in-a-lifetime kind of talents. That along with the brilliant music that backs him up with the rest of the signature backing vocals put Queen on the map and pushed them into legendary status. Choosing a song as my favorite of the decade wasn't easy with all the great choices there are to pick as a best Queen song. I think I chose "Somebody to Love" because it has everything I love about the band in one song. The music is also just fantastic with the great bass lines, piano, and memorable guitar solos. It also has that great build-up in the bridge that never fails to pump me up. 

Elton John - "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" (1973)

The thing a lot of these artists have in common on this list is how they were able to captivate live audiences by doing stellar performances and just being really creative with their presentations. Elton John was and is a one-of-a-kind performer who just got music and performance like so few did. He's the kind of artist who put his soul into every show and was heartbroken when he couldn't live up to his own standards. "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" is a timeless song from one of the best albums of the decade. It's got everything I love from Elton John with the piano-focused music alongside his memorable vocals and the lyrics by Bernie Taupin (Elton's lifelong songwriting partner). 

Blondie - "Heart of Glass" (1978)

One of the most innovative bands of the 70s and an important part of punk and new wave history released one of the catchiest songs of the decade in "Heart of Glass". Debbie Harry was a star and the rest of the band were great at creating some of the most memorable songs of an entire decade and beyond. "Heart of Glass" feels like the song I personally love the most, but arguably not their biggest hit with songs like "Call Me" and "One Way or Another" also having a good argument. The thing about "Heart of Glass" that always draws me in is the music, with its iconic bass and guitar that are instantly recognizable from the first second. Debbie herself is fantastic in this song not missing a single note... not that she ever did from what I imagine. Being a crucial part of creating what would be the future of music in the coming decade is impressive enough, but making a song that stands the test of time is even better. 

Patti Smith - "Because the Night" (1978)

1978 was a great year for punk artists it seems. Here we have Patti Smith, another innovative force of music in the 70s, with her big hit "Because the Night". It was Patti going in a slightly new direction from her previous work as she teamed with Bruce Springsteen to create this classic song. Patti Smith is a name that is often said with the likes of Lou Reed, Nico, and the New York Dolls as innovators of music in the 60s/70s, and rightfully so. She has so many classic albums and songs that really pushed boundaries in those decades. The best artists can go beyond the genres in that they made a name for themselves in and I think that's what Patti did here with "Because the Night". Not that it's extremely out of her more punk sound, but it's certainly different. Two great creative minds create an amazing song, who would have thought?

Stevie Wonder - "Sir Duke" (1976)

Usually, when I think of amazing albums of the 70s there are two that come to mind as perfect works. I'll get to the one that comes to mind first, but the second is definitely Wonder's "Songs in the Key of Life". Even more impressive is the fact that it was a double album with 21 tracks altogether. Just going through and listening to it, it's crazy how good it all is. "Sir Duke" is my favorite big hit from Stevie Wonder because it's got so much going for it. The amazing bass line is the first thing that really drew me in, but it's just a small part of so many amazing layers. The horns, percussion, guitars, keys and vocals are all just perfect here. Everything from the melodies to the lyrics just pushes this song into legendary status. I mean, it's Stevie Wonder, one of the best and most influential musicians of all time. What would the 70s and beyond be without this guy? Certainly not the same.

Earth, Wind, & Fire - "September (1978)

One of the greatest choruses of all time. The rest of the song is pretty much perfect too to be fair. I mean this has to be the catchiest song of all time, right? Or at least the most fun song of all time? I mean I can certainly say it's a song that will never get old no matter how many times I hear it. Earth, Wind, and also Fire made tons of great tracks back in the day and most of them hold up to this day. I mean if you're looking for a good time just throw on some of their music and you won't be disappointed in the slightest. Did you know that the water element wasn't included in the band name because it's based on the astrological sign Sagittarius? I'm sure that information just changed your life... 

Fleetwood Mac - "The Chain" (1977)

The first album that comes to my mind when I think of the 70s is easily "Rumours" by Fleetwood Mac. An album that had no right being as perfect as it ended up being. Most people know the stories behind the creation of this album and the tension that all the members had with each other when making it. From partying way too much, tons of drugs, affairs, and divorce, it's truly a miracle this album even came out at all. Not only did it come out, but it's considered by many to be one of the best albums of all time. You can pretty much pick any song from this album and argue that it's the best one. I personally choose "The Chain" as my favorite song here and it's mostly for one reason... the ending. Even after 100+ listens, when that bass line kicks in at three minutes it gives me goosebumps every time. The build-up to that moment is so masterful that it's honestly probably my favorite moment in all of music ever. That alongside Stevie and Lindsey's vocals (and Christine's) and how well they work together and harmonize. I mean it's just perfection through and through.

 

So that's it... the 1970s are done. I'm currently trying to finish my WORST SONGS OF THE 90s list. The amount of novelty songs in that decade is pretty exhausting, to be honest. 

Reviewing the Current Biggest Songs

 It's been a while since I've posted about modern music on here... mostly cause it's been pretty uninteresting this year and has felt pretty stale overall. There have been enough changes recently that I decided to check out the biggest songs in the USA right now and see what's been popular this year and if anything has really changed in 2023 pop music. Well, the short answer to that is yes, things have changed... but not in the way I would have thought. The top four songs in the USA right now are a K-Pop song and three Country songs, which is definitely different. There's also a song from like 4-5 years ago on the charts, one from an artist who recently released two albums and the song that's in the top 10 is from neither of those albums. There's also not a lot of Hip-Hop in the top 10 right now, which also feels strange considering how dominant the genre has been for so long. So I'm going to listen to and review every song in the top 10 right now and see how good they are and how they feel any different than the last few years. 

1. Jung Kook (Ft. Latto) - "Seven"

Jung Kook is one of the hundred BTS members, one that seems to really be breaking out on his own. Nothing makes that more clear than him landing his own number-one hit in the USA in its first week. I thought maybe the K-Pop craze was starting to slow down a bit with BTS going on a break last year. It looks like Jung Kook is keeping all the momentum the band has gotten and has used it to really push his own career until BTS eventually returns. Teaming up with another new star in Latto to make the song "Seven", keeping in the style of BTS. I guess this song is a little more "risque" compared to what BTS was doing in that it's a little more straightforward in its message. Jung Kook will be having lots of sex with you is the message and it's pretty subtle, you might just miss it. The song is mildly catchy, though it's clearly missing the energy that a lot of the other members of BTS usually bring alongside Kook. Still got the fun bass lines and beats, and Kook of course can sing great. I'm not sure if I should appreciate a song like this just tossing subtly out the window and not just finding "clean" ways to say how good they are at sex. A catchy song, but not one I can see myself ever really wanting to listen to again.

SCORE: 2/5 

2. Jason Aldean - "Try That In A Small Town"

This one was rough. I didn't have much knowledge of Jason Aldean before I heard this song and I kind of liked it better when I didn't even know who he was. This song is just a mess in so many ways it would take a short novel to explain it all. It's a boring song musically and Jason Aldean doesn't sing like he actually has any conviction or understanding of what he's saying. That's probably because he didn't even write the song, but also because the song is just lazy pandering to his main audience. Even the guitar solo, if you can call it that, fails to be interesting. 

Really where the main interest lies in the song is the lyrics. The song is clearly trying to gain popularity by feeding into outrage with its not-so-subtle political leanings and trying to upset anyone outside of that lean. Well, it seems to have worked so far because the song did make it all the way to number 2 on the USA charts and would have been 1 if it wasn't for Jung Kook's new single being released at the same time. The obvious joke here is that Aldean isn't even from a small town nor does he live in one currently. But none of that matters, at the end of the day this is just a shit country song from a mediocre artist that really doesn't deserve any outrage or attention, but rather to just be forgotten about by next week like it probably will because everyone will move on to things that actually matter. There is great Country music out there, just listen to that and ignore this waste of space. I already gave it more attention than it deserved.

SCORE: 0/5

3. Morgan Wallen - "Last Night"

Well, this Country song isn't nearly as bad as the last one, but it's still not good. Morgan Wallen with his generic pop country production that features the same boring finger snaps you'd hear in a trap song. I thought we were past the whole country trying to sound like trap music phase, but I guess it's still going strong. This song spent months at the number one spot and only just this week finally go down to three. The sad part is this is one of Wallen's worst songs he's maybe ever made? Besides the boring trap/country music, Wallen himself is just half-heartedly going through the motions here as he mumbles the lyrics. The song seems to be about some kind of toxic relationship that's on and off with drinking and fighting. Morgan sounds so uninterested in it that it's hard to really care about anything he says. Just another song that brings nothing new to the table and uses lazy pop tropes without being inventive or fun or thoughtful or... anything. Maybe actually try next time. 

SCORE: 1/5

4. Luke Combs - "Fast Car"

The third country song in a row, but this one is actually... good? The song is a cover of one of the most iconic songs of the 80s by Tracy Chapman. This cover pretty much does everything exactly like the original, but I think in this case it's not a bad thing. Luke's voice works really well in the song and I think his vocals bring a new enough element to make this cover worth checking out. I like that he clearly respects and loves the original and put his heart into singing it. If you've never heard the original, it's for sure worth checking out as it's even better than this one. Overall though, I enjoyed this cover. 

SCORE: 4/5

5. Gunna - "fukumean"

The first hip-hop song of the list comes from Gunna and it's certainly a... song? I don't know about this one, it sounds like the kind of song that should have been left behind in the last decade. It's not terrible, it's not good, it just exists. I have no strong feelings towards this song, but I know I'll forget it exists in a few hours and I kind of look forward to that moment.

SCORE: 1.5/5

6. Rema &Selena Gomez - "Calm Down"

I saw the name Selena Gomez and immediately panicked. Anyone who's read my previous music blogs knows how much I can't stand Selena Gomez's music as I find her to be extremely bland. To my surprise though, this song was actually... good? The chilled-out tropical groove really fits in with Rema and Selena's voices along with some great melodies. Both artists just work well together and make it really easy to listen to this song and just relax. 

SCORE: 3/5

7. Olivia Rodrigo - "vampire"

Olivia returns to the pop charts with her new big single "VAMPIRE". It's strange to see this big song already dropping out of the top 10 so soon, or at least that's what it looks like now. Started at number one and two weeks later already down to 7. Not sure if that's because the song just doesn't have much interest or the other songs above it just have more. Probably a bit of both. 

The song is about Olivia's crappy ex-boyfriend who she realized was a bad person and she dwells about what a mistake it was dating him. The song uses the not-so-subtle metaphor of him being a blood-sucking vampire that was just using her and her status and was not really in love with her. I guess that's a theme this week, lots of not-so-subtle songs. The lyrics are the weakest part of the song, but I still ended up really liking this one. The melodies are really good and Olivia still brings good energy and enough anger to make the song feel true. It ends up being a solid song, held back by the lyrics.

SCORE: 3.5/5

8. Taylor Swift - "Cruel Summer"

From her 2019 album "Lover" comes a really late hit "Cruel Summer". I'm not entirely sure why this song just randomly came back into the spotlight, but I am happy to see it as I always thought it deserved more love than it got originally. To me, it's clearly the standout track from her 2019 album. It's just such a well-done and fun song that really has everything you would want in a Taylor song. The good lyrics, catchy melodies, and great production. This also means Taylor currently has songs from three different albums on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, which is pretty crazy when you think about it. 

SCORE: 4.5/5

9. Miley Cyrus - "Flowers"

A song that has a good chance of being the biggest song of the year since it's been on the charts since the start of the year. It does have some competition with Morgan Wallen's "Last Night" and SZA's "Kill Bill" which have also dominated the charts this year. Miley's big single from her new album dropped in January on her ex-husband's birthday to tell him how she's going to be perfectly fine without him. The song has a throwback 70's vibe to it with the funky bass and synth. It works really well overall and Miley's vocals are great as usual. Personally, I was a little disappointed to see her following the current trend of pop music, especially after her last album was so different than anything else in the pop music scene. Overall the album was just fine, but this song is still a standout from it along with some other great songs. Even after 7 months, this song still hasn't gotten old and that's really impressive.

SCORE: 4/5

10. Lil Durk (ft. J. Cole) - "All My Life"

I was disappointed to find out that this was not in fact a cover of the famous K-Ci & JoJo song. Dated references aside, this song was a nice surprise. An uplifting song with the stereotypical chorus of children singing the hook is just what the charts needed. Actually, the only part of the song I don't like is the chorus of children, because it sounds a little to Kidz Bop for me. Besides that, you get some good lyrics from both artists backed by a solid beat. It helps that the song feels like it has good energy unlike a lot of these songs seem to have on the charts. Okay, but if we could somehow bring K-Ci & Jojo back onto the charts that would be great too.

SCORE: 4/5 

Things started out a little bleak on this list, but it ended up being pretty strong overall. Some pleasant surprises and some long-running hits I really like on this list made this a pretty easy listen. I still have no idea where music is headed in the next few years and this list doesn't really help me in that regard. It's strange to think that maybe there's a future where Country music in the USA starts to get bigger than Hip-Hop. I'm not sure that's a future that's actually possible with how strong Hip-Hop has been in the last 20 years. The reality is that K-Pop is the real future and we all need to learn Korean. 

Barbie and Oppenheimer Reviews

 It's been a crazy weekend at the theatres with two huge movies opening on the same day in what feels like a long time. Two completely different movies in Barbie and Oppenheimer opened this weekend to a lot of great buzz and attendance. Seeing lots of people dressed up for the Barbie premiere was nice and all the manly men who rather watch Oppenheimer because it's a Nolan movie. Mostly kidding about that last part, but I did hear a lot of older men talking in the theatre about how they don't want to see Barbie. The hype for these two movies was pretty big, did they live up to all that or were they letdowns? Here's MY opinion. 

BARBIE

Greta Gerwig returns to the director's chair after creating a lot of great movies so far like Lady Bird and the recent Little Women adaptation. This is her first big blockbuster that she's a part of and it's a movie that got a heavy push from Warner Bros. The movie stars Margot Robbie as Barbie as well and Ryan Gosling as Ken. The story follows Robbie's Barbie as she lives a perfect life in Barbie Land, where everything is always amazing and every day is just one big fun party. In their world, women rule the nation and all the men (known as the Kens) are just there to try to impress them. Everything changes when Barbie starts having dark thoughts and everything around her starts falling apart. She must travel to the real world (with Ken) to find her original owner and see what is wrong with her to fix their connection. The story ends up going to a lot of wacky places and I won't go further than that to not spoil the fun that happens after. 

The thing I loved the most about the movie was just how visually pleasing it was. The use of real sets and cool visual tricks really make this movie feel so unique and like it's really taking place in a toy set. The sets are all real and painted up like an actual Barbie play set along with the great outfits taken straight from the real toys and brought into life. The movie just has this really fun atmosphere that is really fun to look at. It's not just the visuals though, but the performances are all pretty good too, especially from Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, but the other stars do bring a lot of fun with maybe a few exceptions. Will Ferrel is in this movie, but he was one of the few parts that I wasn't too big on. 

I think this movie does a good job with the message that it's trying to tell young girls and women. It does so with a lot of great humor that works for the most part, but also some nice slower moments that really feel like they're speaking a heartfelt message to their audience. While yes, the movie is mainly focused on women and their struggle, there are still some good messages here for the men and a fun story involving a reverse equality storyline that was often times hilarious, but also had a good message at the end. 

Overall this movie was a ton of fun, with lots of great visuals and laughs throughout. There weren't very many dull moments and when the movie slowed down it did so with good reason, to tell its story and to speak to its audience. While not all the moments worked and some characters felt like maybe didn't need to be there, it's still overall very good. 

Overall Grade: B+ 

Oppenheimer

This one was not nearly as fun but for very good reasons. Christopher Nolan returns to the big screen with his new movie Oppenheimer. A story that many people know about, but not as many know about the man behind it all. Cillian Murphy plays J Robert Oppenheimer in this movie that tells the story of the man who led the team behind that created the atomic bomb that changed the world forever. This movie has a ton of well-known actors in it that all make short appearances, but the movie is always focused on the main character. 

It goes without saying at this point that Nolan knows how to make a beautiful-looking film, and this one is possibly the most beautiful looking one yet. Yes, the big explosion looks amazing, but outside of that, it's still an amazing-looking film. The way to visuals are used to tell this story is the kind of thing that only great directors like Nolan can really pull off masterfully.

The story is told in a non-linear way but never feels confusing in the way it's told. There are moments where we flash into a black-and-white scene that feels appropriate as it's an easy indication that this is happening at another time. The story is being told through the eyes of Oppenheimer for the most part, as we see his rise through school and his groundbreaking research leads him to eventually be chosen to lead the Manhattan Project. I think the story and writing do a good job at not just presenting Oppenheimer as this hero character who accomplished a great thing and helped the Allies win WWII. It shows a lot of struggle in the character as he fights with what it means to create something as powerful as an atomic bomb and how it's going to be used eventually. It goes beyond that into a lot of political fights and moral dilemmas. 

I can't lie and say there weren't moments where I found myself checking out a little, the story can be a little slow at times, especially in the beginning. Nothing feels like a waste of time though, even through its slower moments it's clearly telling you something important about Oppenheimer and where his story is heading. There are some truly scary moments in this movie, which was not surprising when you think about the subject matter, but I'm glad the movie wasn't afraid to go into the darkness to tell a complete story.

It's interesting to see these two movies come out on the same weekend and be the completely opposite of each other in their presentation. But I think it shows how amazing movies can be and how many different stories there are to tell through film. Whether it's a funny movie with a heartfelt message or a darker movie that leaves you thinking at the end of it, it's all pretty awesome. Nolan and Gerwig made two great movies and if you have the chance to watch them both, you should. 

Overall grade for Oppenheimer: A-

Disney: Land of Nostalgia and Sequels

So it's been about a month or so now since Disney released their latest live-action remake of a beloved animated classic (Little Mermaid this time). I started to really think about what Disney as a company has been doing the past decade with its movie releases and how it's using its well-known IP and history to try and make money. I think it's clear that Disney has reached a strange place in their history, one that feels like it relies too much on nostalgia and its past for its movie ideas. I just want to focus on Disney's long-running studio, so that doesn't include all the MCU, Star Wars, and Fox properties they have acquired the last decade-plus (though those have their own issues I could rant about too). I will be including Pixar though, as even before Disney acquired them, they had been working together for decades. 

In 2015, Disney released the live-action Cinderella remake, which was actually really good. This wasn't the first live-action remake they had made as movies like 101 Dalmations and Alice In Wonderland had come out before this one. The thing about Cinderella was that it was the movie that really kick-started Disney's obsession with remaking every animated classic they had into live-action. Ever since that movie's release Disney hasn't gone a single year without releasing at least one live-action remake, sometimes even releasing more like in 2019 when they released four remakes. The thing that makes this more annoying is how they've gotten progressively worse in quality as they keep coming out, reaching a new low with last year's awful Pinocchio remake. Even more embarrassing when another Piccochio movie comes out the same year on Netflix and wins an Oscar. Out of all the live-action remakes, there are only two I can say I truly liked and that's Cinderella and Jungle Book... the first two that came out pretty much. 

Okay, so Disney's live-action remake plan isn't going so well. Still, they plan on making 4-5 more in the next two years. But what about the Disney animation studio and Pixar? Well, those haven't been doing so hot either. When you look at the quality of movies released by Disney Animation in the last few years, it's been really hit or miss. When you look at the last 5-6 years of Walt Disney Animation movies, you don't really see a lot of movies you could see becoming classics outside of Encanto. Besides that one, you got mediocre sequels to Wreck-it-Ralph and Frozen, a big flop in Strange World, and an okay movie in Raya and the Last Dragon. Not the best lineup there especially when compared to the movies that came before those that included new classics like Frozen, Tangled, and Moana. Of course, they announced another Frozen movie is coming, big surprise there. I will say the upcoming movie "Wish" does look promising, and I hope it actually ends up doing well. 

As for Pixar, well they haven't been in the best form recently themselves. At one point in time, this was a studio that couldn't make a bad movie if they tried. Now its releases are very hit or miss and seem to have trouble really finding success. Looking at the releases they've had in the last 4 years you'll see a lot of decent movies that are nowhere near the quality they once were known for. Especially last year's Buzz Lightyear movie, which felt so unnecessary and ended up being a mediocre movie that didn't make much sense in the Toy Story saga. Wouldn't you know it, they recently announced another Toy Story movie is being made, because they can't just let the story end and the characters be happy. Just a few weeks ago the movie Elemental came out to a mostly good reception, but most people seem to think it's just fine. I think it's an okay movie too, some great visuals put into a very underwhelming story that's about as predictable as you'd expect in another Romeo and Juliet love story. It's still missing that Pixar storytelling that would get you all emotional and really connect you to the characters and their relationships with each other. I mean they could make me root for two Robots that can't talk falling in love at one point. 

I wouldn't even say all these problems are just on Disney, but a lot of the big studios are falling into a lot of these same business practices. Constantly throwing out sequels and remakes in the hopes that nostalgia will bring in the box office numbers, but it just doesn't seem to be working as well as it did anymore. So afraid to put out new ideas because of the fear that they will fail because people only like things they recognize is pretty lame honestly. It sucks that when Disney and Pixar do try new ideas they haven't been extremely successful recently. But again, I don't think it's because people don't want new things, but because the new things we're getting just aren't very good. Even Disney's most popular brand in the Marvel Cinematic Universe seems to be reaching a point where people might actually be starting to get a bit exhausted by how much they rely on it. Hell, even the video game industry is going through something kind of similar with its reliance on remakes and sequels.

There's actually been a sort of animation revival over at Netflix, a place where they actually let new ideas come to life and really seem to give those ideas the attention and time they deserve to become really good movies. Just the past few years they have released some amazing animated projects on Netflix, which I'll recommend some down below. All this to say that, the once untouchable Disney and Pixar studios are now floundering. An over-reliance on nostalgia remakes and sequels is really showing how much they prefer the money over actually coming up with new ideas and letting creators bring them to life. While other smaller studios are really shining and showing that there are still so many creators and writers out there with fantastic ideas just ready to come to life on the big screen. 

But here are some animated movies specifically that you can watch from the past few years that really show how many great ideas are still out there to be explored and creative new directions that animation can still take.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Theatres)

Marcel the Shell With Shoes On (Showtime)

Puss In Boots the Last Wish (Peacock)

Wolfwalkers (Apple TV+)

The House (Netflix)

Nimona (Netflix) 

The Sea Beast (Netflix)

Entergalactic (Netflix)

A Whisker Away (Netflix)

With a studio as big and powerful as Disney, you would think a lot of these movies and ideas could be coming from them. Instead, they often turn down things like this and just go with the safe choice. We've seen recently a lot of other studios pushing the boundaries of animation as Disney and Pixar fall behind, which was unheard of before this time. You don't always need a ton of money to make a great movie, tons of great movies are made on a small budget and just a great team of visionaries. Disney needs to look for those voices to bring in a new fresh era of movies and stories that don't always rely on nostalgia to get over. 

10 Worst Songs of the 2000s

After making my best songs list for the last four decades I decided to go back and find out what the truly worst songs of the last few decades are. A few months ago I posted my 2010s worst songs list if you haven't seen that one yet. This time things felt a bit more... nostalgic. A lot of these songs were heard on the radio hundreds of times or seen on MTV and VH1 when they still had those music video shows. The 2000s are kind of split into two halves it feels like. The first half had a lot of rock music that was carried over from the late 90s and a lot of crunk carried over as well. Then the latter half of the 2000s felt like it found its own identity with new artists innovating and finding new sounds to make popular. To me, going through the first half of the decade's music felt a lot more painful than the second half. If you're a fan of post-grunge rock then you might hate this list cause... yeah. My only rule here is that it had to be a hit song or at least a song that a lot of people knew back then or today.

Before the actual list, I usually put some songs that just barely missed out on making it. This time I thought it would be more fun to put songs that are pretty hated, but I still like or don't mind. Here are a few of those:

Hinder - "Lips of an Angel"

I always hear people make fun of this song or hate this song for only being only liked by older women and moms. I guess that might be Hinder's fanbase, but I still find this song pretty fun in a cheesy way. The chorus is catchy enough and the music isn't too bad. It's got a fun post-grunge style going for it, really the only bad thing is the pretty lame lyrics, but to me, it's easy to ignore as it's a pretty fun song to just jam to and sing along with.

Nickelback - "How You Remind Me"

Yeah, it's Nickelback, a band that gets enough hate just for existing at this point. This song is too catchy to really hate though. Fun to sing along to and it's got a lot of memorable moments that are burned into my brain. Even after 20 years, it's still good to go back to, not that I do it very often, but it's clearly better than a lot of people want to admit it is. Though this is a good time to bring up the totally random fact that this album came out on September 11, 2001. 

Jason Mraz - "I'm Yours"

I never knew how much hate this song got until I started researching and going through old songs from the 2000s. It's weird because I always thought this was a pretty well-liked song. It's got pretty good music and it's very catchy and just fun. I guess maybe the lyrics can be a bit nonsensical at times and Jason's scatting in the bridge feels a bit too random. Still, that's not enough for me to not like this song. 

Miley Cyrus - "Party In the U.S.A." 

Nah this song is pretty much flawless. Although I do wonder what JAY-Z she was listening to in that cab that made her want to dance. 

Creed - "My Sacrifice"

Nah just kidding, this song sux. 

Alright here's the actual list: THE TOP 10 WORST SONGS OF THE 2000s!

10. Staind - "It's Been A While"

Take the edgy "I'm mad at the world" lyrics of Limp Bizkit and mix them with some of the most boring and generic Post-Grunge music you could make and you get the band Staind. One of the whiniest bands of the 2000s that pretty much never had anything interesting to say. Frontman and songwriter Aaron Lewis never found a way to make his songs any interesting even after trying to change genres into country. Now he's one of those idiots complaining about how America was better in the "good ole days" when we had statues of traitors all over the country. It's probably safe to say that Staind was a big part of the reason this genre fell off before the end of the decade. Dark and depressing with nothing interesting to say is all you get here. 

9. Jason Derulo - "Watcha Say"

I've talked about my hatred for this song a few times on this blog. Safe to say the years have not changed my opinion of it, nor of the artist who made it. It's sad that this isn't even his worst song, but it's still up there in songs I really dislike. From the bizarre choice of sampling one of the saddest songs ever made in "Hide and Seek" by Imogen Heap and turning it into a pop song to Jason's own messy vocals it's all just very bad. At least Jason has gone on to make a few decent hits in his later years, but this song was the first of many terrible hit songs from Derulo.

8. D4L - "Laffy Taffy"

With one of the laziest music loops in all of the 2000s comes Laffy Taffy by D4L. Crunk was incredibly popular throughout the 2000s and it produced a lot of fun songs by some artists who would become huge mega-stars like Nelly, Lil Jon, and Lil Wayne. That being said, there were plenty of lazy copycats and artists trying to find a hit by making a lazy song in that genre. D4L was one of the artists lucky enough to bag a hit before completely disappearing into the void. It feels like a song that's missing the energy that made the genre so much fun and enjoyable. It kinda has the idea down, with the somewhat catchy chorus, but it lacks any charisma beyond that to really make it any fun. It just feels like it's a crunk song being played in slow-motion, which is the exact opposite of what I look for in this genre. Where's the fun? Where's the energy? 

Jadakiss - "Why"

Admittedly, I don't know much about Jada outside of a few of his more popular songs and features. One song I've always known about and really disliked though is the song "Why". The song is supposed to be asking some tough questions or questions that normal people would be "afraid" to ask. Instead of actually asking real and tough questions about life and the music industry, he ends up going into a lot of weird places that make him come across as not a good person and a bit of an idiot. He does bring up a good point at the start when he asks why the music industry mistreats and takes advantage of its artists. After that, he starts going all over the place by asking dumb and offensive questions that no one cares about. It gets really bad when he calls an alleged rape victim a whore and then throws in some Bush did 9/11 conspiracy theories in there just to really make himself look stupid. Any decent observations he has are just completely overshadowed by those horrible questions amongst some other facepalm-worthy things he throws in there. 

Nickelback - "Rockstar"

I always felt that Nickelback gets way more hate than deserved in the music world. Yeah, their music isn't the best thing out there, but they got some pretty good songs and even some of their hits are really catchy and fun to jam out to now and then. Some songs aren't worth defending though and that's where the song "Rockstar" comes in. The song is a commentary/parody of the old rockstar lifestyle where the big stars would be all about parties, drugs, and living in giant mansions with lots of useless stuff. It felt a bit outdated by the time it came out and the era of the "rockstar" was a lot less relevant by 2005. The commentary they're going for just doesn't really hit, like it doesn't really sound as tongue-in-cheek as I think they wanted it to sound. I guess they wanted to be above all that stuff, but it comes across a bit like they just think they're better than all those guys cause they don't do drugs and live in mansions with tons of cars. The song just doesn't do it for me at all. 

Eamon - "F*ck It (I Don't Want You Back)"

I remembered the song, but there was no way I was remembering this guy's name. Eamon had a career that lasted a month or two before this song got old and he never had anything close to another hit. Honestly, he should've never even had this one hit, cause this song is just crap. Unfortunately, it's just a case of a guy who just doesn't quite have the talent to pull this off. It seems like there's a good reason behind this super bitter and hateful song, that being he caught his lover cheating on him. All that bitterness and pain turned into a mediocre track that couldn't deliver on the pain that he was trying to put on the track thanks to weak production and vocals from Eamon himself. It kind of feels like it relies too heavily on the gimmick that the chorus is basically just dropping F-bombs over and over to become a popular song. Also, the radio version's chorus is kinda hilarious since half the words are censored. Well, he got his 15 minutes of fame, so that's nice. An artist named Frankee later made a song called "F**k you right back" in response to Eamon. She said she was the ex the original song was about, but Eamon said it wasn't her. Still, her song ended up being pretty popular on its own, so that's pretty funny I guess?

Puddle of Mudd - "She Hates Me"

While Eamon had a song that had a decent idea with poor execution, this song here is a terrible idea with awful execution. The juvenile and immature lyrics paired with the boring post-grunge music and Wes Scantlin's painful vocals make for some nightmare material here. Another song that relies on the gimmick of the chorus being full of curse words and being "edgy". I guess if you're under the age of 12 maybe this is edgy? Then you add on the LALALAs and you got yourself a mess of a song with no redeeming qualities. The only reason this song isn't higher on the list is that I expect trash from this band... the next few artists are ones that were fully capable of making better songs and have plenty of good stuff in their catalog.  

Black Eyed Peas - "Imma Be"

The Black Eyed Peas had a solid run in the 2000s where they put out hit after hit. Right before the end of the decade, they put out what became the worst and most annoying song they ever created. "Imma Be" is one of those songs that instantly makes me angry as soon as the song starts. The song basically just repeats the phrase "Imma Be" over and over again until it doesn't even make any more sense. The phrase is repeated over 100 times in this 4-minute song. Despite how insanely annoying this song is, it still somehow became a hit song in 2009. Proof that you don't need to really try that hard to become successful in the music industry once you're a big enough name. It's annoying that even the parts that aren't just repeating "Imma Be" aren't very good either. Some pretty terrible lyrics on top of the annoying repetition really make this one of the worst songs of all time. Nothing makes me sadder than hearing Will.i.am say "Imma be a bank, I'll be loaning out semen". This is an attempt at saying he sleeps with a lot of women, but it sounds more like he's just very into donating sperm. 

Will.i.am would go on to make more terrible songs in the next two decades. Fergie would "sing" the national anthem and the other two guys did stuff too. 

Madonna - "American Life"

Madonna was one of the few artists who had maintained her huge level of popularity and fame through three decades (80s-00s). She's also one of the few artists who had number-one hits in three separate decades as well, with "Music" hitting number-one in the year 2000. Her big follow-up to that huge hit was "American Life" in 2003. Madonna was going in a totally new direction with this single, one that was supposed to be more ambitious and topical. What we actually got was a mess of a song with some of the most confusing production and lyrics that didn't connect with anyone or anything. It's tonally all over the place with whatever message Madonna was trying to say with this song and it even features a terrible rap verse from Madonna. A song and album so bad it's a miracle Madonna was able to recover from it at all. Thankfully she was able to bounce back with her big single "Hung Up", which was a return to form after the mess that was "American Life". 

1. Eminem - "Just Lose It" (With bonus song "Ass Like That")

In the late 90s and early 00s, Eminem was untouchable. It's hard to argue that any rapper had as big of a rise as Eminem did from 1999 to 2002. By the year 2002, he was a mega-star and one of the most famous artists in the world. Starring in his own movie that was well received and dropping one of the most iconic songs of the 2000s, "Lose Yourself", it seemed like Eminem could do no wrong. That was until the year 2004. Encore was the big follow-up to his iconic album "The Eminem Show" and needless to say the world was incredibly excited to hear more. That is until the first single dropped...

"Just Lose It" was an interesting direction for Em to take after his huge serious role in 8-Mile and the also serious "Just Lose It". Here, Eminem returned to his more outrageous and funny side as he wrote a comedy song about... Michael Jackson... with jokes about pedophilia, fart jokes, and lame dad jokes all over the track. The song not only felt like a step backward but multiple steps backward after the great work he had done up to this point. The worst part was that the rest of the album pretty much followed in the same direction with its terrible sense of humor and somehow worse production and beats. 

I also felt the need to include a mention of the song "Ass Like That" here because it's one of the dumbest things ever. Everything about this song is so incredibly lame. Talking about how he gets boners from looking at the Olsen twins (who were barely 18 when this song came out) and Hilary Duff (who actually wasn't even 18 yet). Then he makes jokes about peeing and touching himself in a theatre and it's so incredibly unfunny and lame I honestly can't believe this was the same guy who made songs like "Stan" and "Till I Collapse". It was a new low for Eminem, one that he thankfully never really reached again as an artist, but it's still painful to go back and listen to some of this era of his music. 

Ranking the Failure That Was the DC Extended Universe

 We're a few weeks past the release of The Flash in theatres, and after watching the movie, it's safe to say that the DCEU really did need to die. The DCEU has been so all over the place in terms of quality that it's honestly confusing how many different directions it went in. For the most part, most of the movies were okay or worst, but there are a few gems in there. In all, there were 14 movies (if you count the Snyder Cut as its own movie) and only a few of those movies were really loved by most of the audience that watched them. 

From the start, the biggest problem that seemed to plague this cinematic universe was how rushed everything felt. Unlike its counterpart in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the DCEU did not try to take its time to establish the main heroes before trying to throw them together into a team-up movie. We got one Superman movie in "Man of Steel" and then in the next movie he was already fighting Batman and introducing Wonder Woman before she even got her own movie. After Wonder Woman got her own movie they jumped directly into a Justice League movie without establishing the characters of Flash, Aquaman, and Cyborg. It took Flash 5 years to finally get his own movie after Justice League. All that would be easily forgiven if the movies had just been good... but no, most of them were not. So here's my list from Best to Worst because I feel like it's more fun that way in this particular case. Two things won't be included here and that's Peacemaker (because it's a show, but it's actually really good) and the Snyder Cut of Justice League because it's way too freaking long... like 4 hours too long. Though I've heard it actually does improve the original so maybe one day I'll try it out. 

THE BEST. (13) The Suicide Squad (2021) 

This is by far the best thing that came out of the DCEU, and the fact that it came after the first piece of trash Suicide Squad movie just shows that with the right visionary, you can make a great movie for all the DC characters. This movie had everything from heart to hilarious moments to some great action. It's probably the only DCEU movie you could argue for being a perfect comic book movie. Every actor does an amazing job with their characters. Even a bizarre character like Polka-Dot Man ended up being a favorite because of the great writing and performance. But taking a terrible character from the first movie in Rick Flag and completely redeeming his character was pretty impressive. All in all, it's one of the best comic book movies of all time and it stands way above all the other DCEU projects. 

12. Wonder Woman

   After a very mediocre start to the DCEU, it was this movie that really gave me hope for the future projects that were coming. This movie had everything that had been missing in the first three movies that started the DCEU. It was actually well-written and directed, which meant it had great characters and a ton of heart that was missing from this universe to that point. Wonder Woman felt like the first project in this universe that knew how to actually portray its leading hero. Gal Gadot played the part perfectly and had great chemistry with Chris Pine to make two really likable characters you root for in the whole movie. It's not a perfect movie, as it has some problems with its third act and the villains, but it's not enough to take away all the good things this movie did. The only sad thing was it gave me hope for a future that never came in the DCEU. 

11. Shazam

Much like Wonder Woman, this was a movie that really understood what it was trying to do and did it well. The movie knows how to have fun with its characters while still having enough emotional moments to carry the story. The child-like performance by Zachery Levi was really fun and felt natural for a character that is literally a child in a man's body. It's a fun movie to come back to now and then, which is more than I can say for most of these movies coming up. There was real potential here for a nice side series in the DCEU that could have eventually tied into some of the other characters and movies, like a Shazam and Superman movie or Shazam Vs Black Adam, but... well we'll get to that later. 

10. Birds of Prey

I would say this is the last good movie on this list, though it's known for dividing audiences. A lot of people don't love this one, but I really thought it was a fun ride with a great character in Harley Quinn. The supporting cast is actually great too and each of them had great chemistry with each other. The character of Harley Quinn is really likable though and it's her growth that really carries this movie. They do a great job at making you feel sympathy for what was a villainous character. Overall, a fun movie that's another good one to rewatch, but it certainly has its fair share of flaws. Fun fact though, this was the last movie I saw in theatres before the pandemic. Probably something a lot of people can say as it came out a few weeks before it all went down. 

9. The Flash

Going into movies that were very OKAY. This might be the most okay movie I've seen in a while? The movie suffered from a lot of things, the main noticeable problem being the rushed CGI that oftentimes looks worst than a movie from the 90s. It was very distracting watching some of the outdated visuals just all over the screen with no shame whatsoever. That and a story that was just fine, with lots of missed opportunities for fun. The best part of the movie is seeing Keaton's Batman return to the big screen once again, he hasn't missed a step. But that nostalgia rush can only take you so far when most of the movie struggled to capture my attention. Aside from a few well-done moments involving Barry and his family, I mostly felt nothing watching this movie and the nostalgia bombs were not enough to make me feel anything more for this movie. It was all just OKAY. Supergirl was awesome though. 

8. Man of Steel

If you want to talk about a movie that made me feel nothing, well here's Man of Steel. It's weird because I remember liking this more when it came out, but over the years I feel less and less for this movie. I think the sequel probably had a huge role in that, to be honest, and the way they handled Henry Cavill's Superman really left a bad taste in everyone's mouth. So much potential here was squandered as they picked the right man to play Superman, but never gave him a good movie to star in and really establish himself as THE SUPERMAN.  This movie was all over the place in quality with some dumb choices by a lot of the characters being written into the movie. I'll still never understand his earth dad letting himself die just to prove some kind of dumb point. There are still enough decent moments here to keep this from being a truly terrible movie, but it's certainly not a good one. 

7. Shazam: Fury of the Gods

I think I need to rewatch this film to really see how I feel about it. I think it honestly might be more enjoyable than Man of Steel, but my expectations were higher for this one after how much I enjoyed the first, maybe I was harsher towards it. So maybe after a rewatch it could go a few spots higher here, but it's still not quite what I was hoping for in a sequel. It doesn't help that this movie felt like it was destined to fail with the way the studio was treating it and the announcement of the new direction DC was about to go in with the new creative head James Gunn taking charge. That and The Rock as Black Adam not wanting to be seen in this movie despite being a huge part of the Shazam universe. It all just feels disappointing, to say the least. Maybe next time let the movie come out before you announce a restart of the whole cinematic universe. 

6. Black Adam

Speaking of Black Adam, boy was this movie a mediocre mess. Honestly, this movie did more damage to The Rock's career than I thought anything could do. The man seemed untouchable, but after this flop of a movie came out his aura just seemed different. The man seemed like for the first time in his career he was defeated. He tried desperately to make this movie seem better than it actually was and at times even lied just to save face. Eventually, he would call it quits and confirm that he wouldn't be back to make any sequels to this crap movie. The worst part is the giant tease at the end of the movie where they were starting to set up a possible Superman VS Black Adam storyline with Henry Cavill returning. All that was just a big tease that is not even going to happen. That on top of this movie that felt like a generic comic book movie really made it clear that it was time for the DCEU to end and a new era to start. Now The Rock went crawling back to the Fast franchise to try and salvage his movie star career. Oh and a live-action Moana that definitely does not feel desperate at all by The Rock and Disney. Be sure to try his tequila though, it can't be worse than this movie? 

5. Aquaman

Jason Mamoa's charm was not enough to make this movie anything more than a boring slog. This was by far the most boring DCEU movie out of all of them, but still not the worst. It wasn't really a terrible movie in that it didn't really do anything offensively bad, but it didn't have anything that made it stand out above an average action movie. The movie felt way too long and the story felt very slow at times with the few action scenes not really bringing anything that exciting besides more CGI-filled fights that just didn't really do it for me. The movie pretty much peaks at the start where they introduce Aquaman for the first time and he is very charming and likable. That charm is wasted on a boring story filled with a lot of characters that I can't even remember. Even the villain is pretty forgettable and almost feels like an afterthought in a movie that feels way too long. I literally had to fight sleep just to finish watching this one.

4. Justice League

Like I said before, the DCEU felt rushed and that was very clear when watching the first release of Justice League. There were some obvious problems with the movie like the reshoots that involved Henry Cavill getting his mustache removed with special effects. It was incredibly distracting and kind of hilarious. But the thing that made this movie really bad was just how all the characters were rushed together and had little to no chemistry with each other. It felt like they were just trying to catch up to what Marvel was doing without actually doing any of the work to set up their universe and build a big villain for the team to take on. It all happens so fast in just this one movie it all feels forced. It just shows how important it is to actually take time to build your characters and get the audience to like each of them individually before you throw them all together in a big team-up. 

3. Wonder Woman 1984

The biggest disappointment by far in this whole DCEU mess. How do you go from one of the best comic book movies to one of the worst? Well, you make a mess of a movie that has no idea what it's trying to be in Wonder Woman 1984. The story is all over the place with confusing villains, dumb action scenes, and none of the charm of the first movie. So much talent involved in this movie it boggles my mind how this one came out so bad. You get Chris Pine and Gal Gadot back together with the addition of Kristen Wiig and Pedro Pascal and you somehow waste all their talent. The only thing keeping this movie from being the worst is the next two movies being somehow worse than this pile of garbage. That and Gal Gadot and Chris Pine do have some nice moments together at the very least, so at least that was nice to see more of. 

2. Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice

The name of the movie sucks, the characters suck, the writing sucks, the action sucks, and the visuals suck... this movie is just the worst. Well, not the worst, because there's one more movie on this list, but still. I could probably go on and on about why I hate this movie, but it's probably not worth the energy to go that deep into it. I'll just say how disappointing it was to go into a big movie that tons of people had been waiting to see in live-action only to be completely blown away by how terrible it was. Batman kills people, Lex Luthor is a weirdo for no reason, Batman doesn't kill Superman because their moms have the same name, and the Justice League is announced through weird cam-footage. It's all just bad. The movie looks dark and ugly and it feels like a heartless corporate cash grab trying to get the most money it can by sticking its two most popular characters in a movie and not doing anything interesting with them. One of the biggest disappointments of my movie-going experience. The only reason it's not the worst movie is because there's somehow something even more soulless and pointless coming up next.

THE WORST: Suicide Squad (2016)

This movie is one of my most hated pieces of media ever created. Not just comic movies, but movies in general. It's a giant mess of a movie that has no idea how to be interesting or entertaining outside of being just terrible from start to finish. It's not even the kind of bad you can laugh at (okay maybe a few parts are bad funny), but the kind of bad that leaves you empty inside. I honestly had lost all hope for the DCEU after watching this movie, but thankfully Wonder Woman came after it and reminded me what DC movies actually look like when done well. This movie really seemed like it was trying so hard to be Guardians of the Galaxy with its quirky characters and use of licensed music. But everything Guardians did well, this movie struggled with. The characters all fell flat and felt like they had no real growth throughout the story. Most of the characters were one-note and forgettable with the exception of Harley Quinn who was the only decent thing this movie had going for it. It wasn't enough to make up for the terrible dialog and sloppy storytelling. The use of licensed music always felt out of place and didn't really seem to have a theme outside of just using as many popular songs as possible. The movie was dark and ugly with lots of over-the-top effects and fonts that felt like they were trying too hard to be quirky. At the end of it all you're left with an ugly, boring movie with no redeeming qualities outside of a few minutes of Harley Quinn. I don't know how James Gunn took this mess of a movie and made a sequel that was one of the best comic book movies ever made. Killing off almost all the characters probably helps? Some people just understand how to present these types of characters in a story and how to get audiences to like them despite how weird they may seem. This first movie got everything wrong and I didn't even talk about their version of the Joker... but I don't think there's enough time in the world to go into that disaster. 

If these movies had taken more time to build their characters and find the right directors and writers to tell their stories, then there would have never been a need to restart the entire universe over. Lots of these actors were great choices for the characters they were playing and it sucks that we might never see actors like Henry Cavill, Ben Affleck, and Jason Momoa in good movies playing their characters. Well, there is still another Aquaman movie coming out before the DCEU completely gets wiped out, so maybe that'll be good? Probably not...