Siskoid Awards 2023

At the start of the year, we look back on the year that went before, and as usual, I do this by handing out Golden Typewriter Monkeys - nothing more than bragging rights, only jerks would @ me for physical copies! - for excellence in what I've read or seen during the year (regardless of when it was originally released, unless I decide it's important). As usual, only newly experienced material will be up for consideration (no old favorites!). For television episodes, no more than one per show can be put up for nomination. Other limits may apply. In any case, your write-in votes and anti-votes should go in the comments section.

Best Book of 2023 - The runners up are...
5. Swords and Deviltry by Fritz Lieber
4. How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe by Charles Yu
3. Elizabeth Finch by Julian Barnes
2. Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata

...and the Siskoid goes to: This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone. To tell you the truth the top 3 here all got 5-star reviews from me, but this little volume won the prize. Let's go back to my capsule review: "Hey, Canadian Content! The award-winning novella This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone is an intensely beautiful love story between two time travellers from opposing factions, each trying to push history towards their particular futures (one where humanity gave itself up to hard technology, the other to genetic engineering, both examples of transhumanity), but in starting to send each other letters, fall in love and secretly communicate across a vast tapestry to times and places. Red and Blue, as they are named, give one hope that their love could end this war, but the book isn't so naive, and eventually sets them against one another. With all their resources, can they still pull of a win? And for which side? The prose and world-building are wonderful and surprising, and I'm particularly intrigued by the collaboration of these two writers. Did one write Red and the other Blue? One the prose and the other the correspondence? It feels so of a piece, yet the two characters' voices feel different (and must, coming from two separate SF traditions) - to me, one sounds British and the other American, a linguistic shortcut that nevertheless helped make the characters come alive very early, though by the time we're deep in epistolary mode (now there's a bit of "time travel" for you! How old-fashioned!), they are alive in us. We think their words. Which is closer to the point of the book than we realize at first..."

Best Film of the actual 2023 (in theaters and streaming) - The runners up are...
5. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
4. The Boy and the Heron
3. Anatomy of a Fall
2. Women Talking

...and the Siskoid goes to: Godzilla Minus One. I don't usually go for genre stuff in this category, but I was so taken with this, that it immediately jumped to #1 at the tail end of the year. And this was a pretty strong year! "Though it naturally owes a debt to the 1954 original, it's with confidence that I declare Godzilla Minus One the best Godzilla movie ever made. It's certainly the most emotional, and in a franchise where the human story is often lacking, that's where Minus One shines. This Godzilla, appearing a few years before the original attack, represents the post-war guilt and shame of an entire nation (note how civilians have to stage a kind of Dunkirk as they are abandoned by their own government and the U.S.), but it's also personal to our lead Koichi for whom the big G is his own PTSD. Minus One is crafted like a straight war drama. It just happens to have a giant monster in it, and I've got to say, I don't think I've ever seen this good an effects picture coming out of Asia. It is absolutely gorgeous and more photo-real than the Monarchverse efforts despite their surely having more money to work with. That's because the monster action is doled out in the right proportion, and doesn't mind casting the light of day on the beast. As a 70th Anniversary project is also knows to use the original Godzilla's two themes (which I always miss when absent), recreates the train scene (except this time we're inside it!), and even pays homage to the now-silly oxygen destroyer, but with a plan that feels entirely novel and believable. But again, no matter how well the kaiju stuff works, it's our caring for the cast that makes this work as well as it does, and that's something few if any Godzilla movies have EVER done."

Best Film of 2023 (at home, not actually from 2023) - The runners up are...
5. The Invisible Guest
4. Scarborough
3. Another Round
2. The Green Fog

...and the Siskoid goes to: Decision to Leave. Hey, there are a couple of Canadian films in the Top 5 and absolutely NO American films, huh. Top prize goes to Korea however: "With Decision to Leave, I've seen 10 of Park Chan-wook's films now, and he has yet to do me wrong. In fact, this murder mystery/romance is top tier for me. A man falls off a mountain, the police suspect foul play, his wife is investigated. But the detective is rather too entranced by this Chinese immigrant, and from there, as is usual in director Park's films, there's no telling where it's going to go, and I don't want to blow any surprises. Suffice it to say, the film looks gorgeous, and there's an especially interesting play between high and low places, mirroring the relative positions of the two main characters - a cop above all reproach and a woman whose hand may be bathed in blood. Park's visual tricks to show the detective and surveillance work are clever and lean into the theme of obsession at the heart of the romance portion of this tale, blurring the lines between the detective's compulsion to solve a crime, and his feelings for the suspect. A beautifully tragic crime picture."

Best TV Series of 2023 - The runners up are...
5. Poker Face
4. The Glory
3. 7 Lives of Léa
2. Squid Game

...and the Siskoid goes to: Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (Season 2). Honestly, that Top 5 could have been all Korean fare. I know I screwed up my Netflix cue with such. But it's been a great year for the Star Trek franchise, and Season 2 of Strange New Worlds had several stand-out episodes and no turkeys. What takes it over the top is how much temerity it showed this year with gonzo episodes like the Lower Decks crossover and the musical. Plus, it really redeemed Paul Wesley's Captain Kirk for me. I wouldn't say it did the same for La'an, because I liked her fine, but Chong's touching performance in several episodes made her fly up to the top position among my favorite characters. While a lot of my nominees are more cohesive wholes with definite end points - which gave them a leg up in this race - SNW has just gone from strength to strength this year and I wish the studio would listen to the production team and give them 20+ seasons to work with just like in the old days.

Best TV Episode of 2023 - The runners up are...
5. "Võx" (ST Picard, S3)
4. "The World Vs Scott Pilgrim" (Scott Pilgrim Takes Off)
3. "In the Dark Night of the Soul It's Always 3:30 in the Morning" (The Morning Show S1)
2. "Old Friends, New Planets" (Star Trek: Lower Decks S4)

...and the Siskoid goes to: "Subspace Rhapsody" (Star Trek: Strange New Worlds S2). It divided fandom, but I, for one, loved the musical. It was brave, it was fun, and I still listen to those songs. La'an make me cry every time. The two full-crew numbers are huge fun. I bop along to Chapel's break-up scene... Yeah, definitely a highlight for me this year. But props to the entire Trek team because an episode from three of the shows made it into the Top 5, including one from ST: Picard, which I had sort of given up on after the terrible second season. Way to make us feel all the feels with the correct sort of nostalgia. And while I thought Lower Decks's fourth season was generally just okay, it had an amazing finale and almost took the prize (though to be fair, the LD/SNW crossover MIGHT have come in at #2 here if the same show were allowed more than one spot on the list. But hey, that's why Strange New Worlds won the previous Typewriter Monkey.

Best Comic of 2023 - The runners up are...
5. Peacemaker Tries Hard!
4. Peter Cannon - Thunderbolt
3. The Complete Essex County
2. World's Finest: Teen Titans

... and the Siskoid goes to: Do a Power Bomb! Been recommending to everybody, so perhaps no surprise... "Daniel Warren Johnson's fantasy wrestling opus Do a Powerbomb! will be out soon as a trade paperback, and having finished the 7 singles, I'm a wholly endorsing it. I'm not really a fan of pro wrestling, but when blown up like this and influenced by luchadore culture and Manga/anime, it really sings. The premise: There's a cosmic tournament out there for tag teams from across the multiverse, and if you win, you can bring a loved one back from the dead. But tell you what, while that's a great fantastical hook, I could have just watched the travails of second-generation wrestler Steelrose trying to live up to her mother's memory played STRAIGHT. The art and most importantly the HEART is good enough to carry the story without going cosmic. I'm reminded of Infinite Kung Fu in terms of choreography, which is a very positive comparison. What I'm trying not to mention here is all the twists and turns the story takes, because Powerbomb does NOT go where you think it will. Just awesome stuff."

Let us know what YOUR picks would have been in all categories. And the day after tomorrow: The Technical Awards as given in a ceremony prior to this one, just like with the Oscars (at a fraction of the time required).