The MadHouse

The first episode of the New Year is a countdown of the Best Movies of 2023.

With only 2 games left in the season, a majority of teams are still in the hunt for for a playoff berth. Thursday night saw the LA Rams hosting the New Orleans Saints, Christmas Eve featured the Denver Broncos and the New England Patriots and Christmas Day saw a triple header as the Las Vegas Raiders took on the Kansas City Chiefs, the Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants & the Baltimore Ravens against the San Francisco 49ers. This week also featured 2 Saturday night games. The Cincinnati Bengals vs. the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Buffalo Bills taking on the San Diego Chargers. Other Sunday afternoon games include Texans / Browns, Lions / Vikings, Packers / Panthers, Cowboys / Dolphins & Bucs / Jaguars.

This biopic was directed & written by Sean Durkin, stars Zac Efron, Jeremy Allen White, Holt McCallany & Lily James and is based the true of story of the lives and careers of one most famous dynasties in professional wrestling, The Von Erichs. In the 1980s, a wrestling promotion in Dallas, Texas was the home of the famous Von Erich brothers, Kevin, David & Kerry who were also the sons of Fritz Von Erich another famous wrestler. Their popularity skyrocketed in the decade but came at hefty price. The more famous they got, the more the pressure was placed on them. This film was based on several stories from WCCW, the wrestling promotion in Dallas as well as stories from wrestlers involved. Some wrestlers even severed as stunt coordinators such as, Chavo Guerrero Jr. & Maxwell Jacob Friedman, who performed under the name, MJF.

This was directed and co written by Tom Gormica and stars Nicholas Cage, Pedro Pascal, Tiffany Haddish, Neil Patrick Harris & Ike Barinholtz. In this film, when Hollywood actor, Nick Cage, hits a rough spot in his career, he considers retirement from acting. But all that changes when he’s been invited to a party held by a Majorca billionaire. The movie hit theaters in April of 2022 and then ended up on Prime Video 6 months later.

This week had 3 games on Saturday, as the Cincinnati Bengals took on the Minnesota Vikings, Detroit Lions hosted the Denver Broncos and the Pittsburgh Steelers against Indianapolis Colts. Meanwhile, Thursday night’s game saw the Las Vegas Raiders and the San Diego Chargers, Sunday night was the Baltimore Ravens & Jacksonville Jaguars and Monday night was the Seattle Seahawks and the Philadelphia Eagles. Sunday afternoon games included Texans / Titans, Cowboys / Bills, Chiefs / Patriots, Dolphins / Jets & 49ers / Cardinals.

This film was directed by Greta Gerwick & is based on the Mattel toy line of the same name. This is the first live action film based on the character after over 40 short films and animated series have been made since 2001. The film stars Margot Robbie as the titular character as well as Ryan Gosling, Kate McKinnon, America Ferrera, Simu Liu, Issa Rae, Rhea Perlman & Will Ferrell. Since her debut in 1959, Barbie has been the pinnacle of girls toys but things take unexpected turn when “Stereotypical Barbie” becomes flooded with unexpected emotions and finds herself in the “Real World” amongst society in present day. This film had originally been planned since 2009 but after multiple directors and actresses were replaced or removed, the film didn’t make any real headway until 2018 when Warner Bros. took the movies rights. This film hit theaters in the summer of 2023 and became the highest grossing film of the year before landing the streaming service, Max, in December later that year.

This movie serves as both a biopic about the life & career of Jann Mardenborough, a Motorsport driver from England, and based on the popular video game series of the same name. It stars Archie Madekwe, David Harbour, Orlando Bloom & Djimon Hounsou. In 2010, a young racing gamer from England wins a virtual race for the opportunity to race for Team Nissan in an actual Motorsport series which features several races across Europe, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France. The movie hit theaters in August of 2023 before landing on Netflix in December later that year.

This sports documentary follows the NFL Hall of Fame career of former Detroit Lions running back, Barry Sanders. From his college days at Oklahoma State to his shocking and abrupt retirement in 1998.

As the 2023 season begins winding down, the race the for the playoffs heats up. Thursday night’s game saw the Pittsburgh Steelers hosting the New England Patriots, Sunday night’s game was a historic rivalry as 2 top NFC West teams battled for the first place, Dallas Cowboys and the Philadelphia Eagles, Monday night saw a double header as the Miami Dolphins took on the Tennessee Titans and the New York Giants went up against the Green Bay Packers. Other Sunday afternoon games featured Texans / Jets, 49ers / Seahawks, Rams / Ravens, Chargers / Broncos & Colts / Browns.

This psychological thriller was written and directed by Sam Esmail and is based on the 2020 novel of the same name. The film stars Julia Roberts, Mahershala Ali, Ethan Hawke, Myha’La & Kevin Bacon. In this film, when a family is on vacation in Long Island, it quickly turns into a panic when a large blackout occurs that effects all electronics which include Wi-Fi, GPS, Cell Phones & electrics vehicles which causes people to loses their minds and a mass hysteria. This film was released in select theaters on October 25 but was dropped exclusively on Netflix on December 8th, 2023.