{"id":34941,"date":"2024-01-01T10:41:26","date_gmt":"2024-01-01T15:41:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/?p=34941"},"modified":"2024-01-01T10:41:26","modified_gmt":"2024-01-01T15:41:26","slug":"best-of-2023-films-books-posts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/?p=34941","title":{"rendered":"Best of 2023: Films, Books &#038; Posts"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/stallonezone.com\/zone\/2024\/z010124best_of.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"500\" \/><\/p>\n<p align=\"JUSTIFY\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">As we start 2024, let&#8217;s pause for a look at the BEST OF 2023. I hope you see something that you enjoyed or gets you interested to check out. Here we go&#8230;<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"CENTER\"><strong><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">Movies and Limited Series<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p align=\"JUSTIFY\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">In 2023, I watched 409 movies and limited series. That number is up 04 from last year. None were seen in a theater! My favorite films and limited series released in 2023 included (in alpha order):<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">1923<\/span><\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">Agent Elvis<\/span><\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">AKA <\/span><\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">Bill Russell: Legend<\/span><\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">Bye Bye Barry<\/span><\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">Dark Winds: Season 2<\/span><\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">Extraction 2<\/span><\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">Fall of the House of Usher, The <\/span><\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">Family Stallone, The<\/span><\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny<\/span><\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">Joe Pickett: Season 2<\/span><\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">Justified: City Primeval<\/span><\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">Knock at the Cabin<\/span><\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">Lawman Bass Reeves: Season 1<\/span><\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">Leave the World Behind<\/span><\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">Night Agent, The<\/span><\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">Perry Mason: Season 2<\/span><\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">Sly<\/span><\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">StarTrek: Strange New Worlds Season 2<\/span><\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">Tulsa King: Season 1<\/span><\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p align=\"JUSTIFY\"><strong><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">Books<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p align=\"JUSTIFY\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">In 2023, I read 21 books (16 down from last year, but considering the year we had, that&#8217;s not bad). My favorites from this year included (in the order I read them):<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p align=\"JUSTIFY\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><span style=\"color: #1f1f1f;\"><u>It<\/u><\/span> <span style=\"color: #1f1f1f;\"><u>Dies<\/u><\/span> <span style=\"color: #1f1f1f;\"><u>With<\/u><\/span> <span style=\"color: #1f1f1f;\"><u>You<\/u><\/span> by Scott Blackburn<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><u>Blood<\/u> <u>Standard<\/u> by Barron Laird <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><u>Chasing<\/u> <u>the<\/u> <u>Boogeyman<\/u> by Richard Chizmar<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li>\n<p align=\"JUSTIFY\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><span style=\"color: #1f1f1f;\"><u>Black<\/u><\/span> <span style=\"color: #1f1f1f;\"><u>Mountain<\/u><\/span><span style=\"color: #1f1f1f;\"> by Laird Barron<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><u>Worse<\/u> <u>Angels<\/u> by Barron Laird (A) 5.29<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><u>The<\/u><\/span><\/span> <span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><u>Last<\/u><\/span><\/span> <span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><u>Action<\/u><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"> Heroes by Nick de Semlyen<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><u>All<\/u> <u>Sinners<\/u> <u>Bleed<\/u> by S.A. Cosby<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li>\n<p align=\"JUSTIFY\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><u>Too<\/u> <u>Many<\/u> <u>Bullets<\/u> by Max Allan Collins<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p align=\"JUSTIFY\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><u>But<\/u><\/span> <span style=\"font-size: small;\"><u>Enough<\/u><\/span> <span style=\"font-size: small;\"><u>About<\/u><\/span> <span style=\"font-size: small;\"><u>Me<\/u><\/span><span style=\"font-size: small;\"> by Burt Reynolds<\/span> <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><u>Things<\/u> <u>Get<\/u> <u>Ugly:<\/u> <u>The<\/u> <u>Best<\/u> <u>Crime<\/u> <u>Stories<\/u> <u>of<\/u> <u>Joe<\/u> <u>R.<\/u> <u>Lansdale<\/u> by Joe Lansdale <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li>\n<p align=\"JUSTIFY\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><u>Dirty<\/u><\/span> <span style=\"font-size: small;\"><u>Words<\/u><\/span><span style=\"font-size: small;\"> by Todd Robinson <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><u>Everybody<\/u> <u>Dies<\/u> by Lawrence Block<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li>\n<p align=\"JUSTIFY\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: large;\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><u>The<\/u><\/span> <span style=\"font-size: small;\"><u>Big<\/u><\/span> <span style=\"font-size: small;\"><u>Bundle<\/u><\/span><span style=\"font-size: small;\"> by Max Allan Collins<\/span> <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p align=\"JUSTIFY\">\n<p align=\"CENTER\"><strong><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">My Most Popular Posts of the Year<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p align=\"JUSTIFY\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">I continue to find some surprises in what became my most popular posts each year. Here are the top ten for 2023 and some thoughts for each&#8230;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">10. Top 10 Most Iconic Horror Movie Villains<\/span><\/strong> \u2013 <span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">Hung in the 10<\/span><sup><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">th<\/span><\/sup><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"> spot for the second year in a row.<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"JUSTIFY\"><strong><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">09. RIP: Rachel Welch. <\/span><\/strong><strong><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">New to the list<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p align=\"JUSTIFY\"><strong><span style=\"color: #202020;\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">08. The Different Covers for David Morrell&#8217;s <\/span><\/span><\/strong><strong><span style=\"color: #202020;\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"><u>First<\/u><\/span><\/span><\/strong> <strong><span style=\"color: #202020;\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"><u>Blood<\/u><\/span><\/span><\/strong><strong><span style=\"color: #202020;\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">. <\/span><\/span><\/strong><strong><span style=\"color: #202020;\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">Same spot as last year.<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p align=\"JUSTIFY\"><strong><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">07. Meeting Sly Stallone. <\/span><\/strong><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">New to the list!<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"JUSTIFY\"><strong><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">06. Paul Gulacy Week: Day Four. <\/span><\/strong><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">New to the list!<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"JUSTIFY\"><strong><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">05. Red Sonja, Conan and Dan Panosian.<\/span><\/strong><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"> New to the list.<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"JUSTIFY\"><strong><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">04. Louis Meyers: Evidence He was the Zodiac Killer.<\/span><\/strong><strong><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"> Same spot as last year.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p align=\"JUSTIFY\"><strong><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">03. Dracula Through the Ages<\/span><\/strong><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">. Same spot as last year.<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"JUSTIFY\"><strong><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">02. Schwarzenegger in \u201c<\/span><\/strong><em><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">King Lear<\/span><\/em><strong>\u201d <\/strong><strong><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">&amp; Robin Williams in \u201c<\/span><\/strong><em><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">Jack and the Beanstalk<\/span><\/em><strong>\u201d<\/strong><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">. Fell from the first spot last year.<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"JUSTIFY\"><strong><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">01.<\/span><\/strong> <em><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"><b>SYFY&#8217;s 2023\/2024 TWILIGHT ZONE<\/b><\/span><\/em><strong><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"> New Year\u2019s Eve Marathon is Up!<\/span><\/strong><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"> The most popular post last year.<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"CENTER\"><strong><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">My All-Time Most Popular Posts<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p align=\"JUSTIFY\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">The top 4 didn&#8217;t change and only one new post broke in to the All-Time most popular posts. Let&#8217;s see how things shook out&#8230;<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"JUSTIFY\"><strong><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">10. Joel Osteen in Jacksonville \u2013 <\/span><\/strong><strong><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">held on to the <\/span><\/strong><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">10<\/span><sup><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">th <\/span><\/sup><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"> spot for two years in a row.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">09. Gadot &amp; The Rock Strike a Pose<\/span><\/strong> <span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">&#8211; was in the 9th spot for the last three years.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">08. Steve Reeves as Superman \u2013 <\/span><\/strong><strong><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">No change.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">07. TOP 10 MOST ICONIC HORROR MOVIE VILLAINS! &#8211; <\/span><\/strong><strong><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">from 5<\/span><\/strong><strong><sup><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">th<\/span><\/sup><\/strong><strong><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"> to 7<\/span><\/strong><strong><sup><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">th<\/span><\/sup><\/strong><strong><sup><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">.<\/span><\/sup><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">06. Dracula Through the Ages \u2013 <\/span><\/strong><strong><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">still in the 6<\/span><\/strong><strong><sup><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">th<\/span><\/sup><\/strong><strong><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"> spot. Vampires are in.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">05.<\/span><\/strong> <strong><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">New Billy the Kid Photo Discovered<\/span><\/strong><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"> \u2013 No change!<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"JUSTIFY\"><strong><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">04. <\/span><\/strong><em><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"><b>SYFY&#8217;s 2023\/2024 TWILIGHT ZONE<\/b><\/span><\/em><strong><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\"> New Year\u2019s Eve Marathon is Up!<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">03. Zodiac Killer Code Cracked?<\/span><\/strong> <span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">&#8211; No change!<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"JUSTIFY\"><strong><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">02. Louis Meyers: Evidence He Was the Zodiac Killer<\/span><\/strong> \u2013 <span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">No change!<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"JUSTIFY\"><strong><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">01. Schwarzenegger in \u201cKing Lear\u201d &amp; Robin Williams in \u201cJack and the Beanstalk\u201d<\/span><\/strong> <span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">&#8211; was #1 last year and continues to be our most popular post of all-time.<\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"JUSTIFY\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial, sans-serif;\">It&#8217;s always interesting to see which topics resonate with fans and continue to be popular long after their initial post.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As we start 2024, let&#8217;s pause for a look at the BEST OF 2023. I hope you see something that<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":912,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[52,54,65,50],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34941","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books","category-movies","category-trivia","category-tv"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34941","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/912"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=34941"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34941\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38090,"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34941\/revisions\/38090"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=34941"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=34941"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/craigzablo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=34941"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}