Favorites of 2023: TV, movies, video Games, lego, apps, gadgets

As I did last year, I thought it’d be fun to go through various media I most enjoyed this past year 2023. I might be a little bit early for this kind of post but I want to get it out of the way before others start popping off and I get too self-conscious of my choices.

📺 Favorite TV Shows

1. Last of us
2. Silo
3. Foundation
4. One Piece
5. Monarch: Legacy of Monsters
6. Loki
7. The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon & Dead City
8. Abbot Elemntary
9. Shrinking & Ted Lasso
10. Lego Masters

I watched a lot more tv shows this year in comparison to last year. I consider it a favorite show if it motivates me to watch it with no distractions every week with a good bucket of popcorn. I benefitted from not knowing anything about the source material of my top 2 shows, one pice and Last of Us. It definitely amps up the surprise factor. Apple TV+ killed it this year with 5 amazing shows. While the Daryl and Dead City were good enough to get me back into the Walking Desd franchise.

🍿 Favorite Movies

1. Godzilla Minus One
2. Barbie
3. Elemental
4. Leo
5. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
6. The Super Mario Bros. Movie
7. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
8. Air
9. Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1

It was really fun to get back to having weekly Movie dates with my wife this year with the pandemic being over. Barbie was at the top of the list but I watched Godzilla Minus One yesterday and I was in awe. I loved everything about the movie, the story, the effects, oh and the score were terrific! Elemental and Leo were pleasant and heartwarming surprises!

🎮 Favorite Video Games

1. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
2. Hogwarts Legacy
3. Super Mario Wonder

This list is more of a game I've played, rather than favorites lol I wrote about tips I use to play more Video Games, and while it worked for a while things got busy at work. Jedi Survivor was by far my favorite game in a while, amazing story and great gameplay. I was very surprised by Mario Wonder, it just feels nice to lay back at the end of the day and play some levels on the TV.

🎶 Favorite Music

1. GUTS by Olivia Rodrigo
2. ONE MORE TIME by Blink-182
3. Barbie The Album
4. The Loveliest Time by Carly Rae Jepsen
5. Ashoka - End Credits by Kevin Kiner
6. Godzilla-1.0 Godzilla Suite III by Naoki Sato

I'm more of a playlists/radio kind of person. I mostly listen to actual music when I'm at the gym. So this is more a list of the albums I had on repeat while lifting weights. I'm just Ken. I also loved Godzilla's Minus One and Ashoka's scores.

🎙️Favorite Podcasts

1. Connected
2. App Stories
3. Upgrade
4. Unwind
5. The Best One Yet
6. Automators

Podcasts didn't change much from last year. Connected keeps being the one I wont miss no matter what, the rest I listen to sporadically or skim the notes.

📲 Favorite New Apps

1. Sequel (Universal)
2. Chronicling (Universal)
3. Artifact (iOS)
4. Broadcasts (Universal)
5. MacGPT (Mac)
6. Replacicon (Mac)

They are not necessarily released this year but they got incorporated into my daily routines. Sequel, Chronicling, and Broadcasts have amazing widgets that I use daily. Artifact's personalized feed has been scary and accurate to my interests. Replacicon is the best Mac utility I've found in a while, makes sure that the custom icons you set to apps remain that way.

🧱 Favorite Lego Sets

1. 75290: Mos Eisley Cantina
2. 75357: Ghost & Phantom II
3. 75356: Executor Super Star Destroyer
4. 76961: Visitor Centre: T. rex & Raptor Attack
5. 43217: 'Up' House

I wish this list was longer, but I'm running out of a display room in our apartment lol. Jurassic Park's new wave of sets was very nostalgic. Lego should make more sets on the same scale as the Executor.

📱 Favorite Products

1. Playstation Portal
2. LG C2 55″ OLED TV: We got the 75 for out living last year and loved it! Our bedroom’s 10 year old samsung stopped working so we decided to get the same model but smaller. Best purchase ever! We watch a lot of tv in bed haha
3. iPhone 15Pro
4. Aqara Lock & Doorbell
5. Bombas Slippers Bootie
6. Spigen Tesla OneTap Screen Mount
7. Elago Magsafe MS1
8. Elago Folio Case for iPad

The Playstation Portal was the gadget I did not knew I needed, after some tweaking of my wifi setup it works perfectly now. The iPhone was a close second, I love the new feel and weight. Check out some of my favorite cases. I wrote this year about both the Aqara Doorbell and the Elgato Magsafe if you want more details.

📚 Favorite Books

No books this year! And proud! There seems to be this social stigma that everyone must read books to learn. At least I used to feel that. But I finally accepted that I'm ok with just reading articles, and comics, or consuming content in other ways.

👎 Disappointments

1. TV Shows: Secret Invasion, Not Dead Yet
2. Movie: My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3, Wish
3. Product: Apple's Everything Fine Woven

For most of these, my expectations were just too high, either because of the cast or the franchise. Marvel shows have been getting worse and worse. Going after Encanto was just too much for Wish.

How about you?

I would love to hear if we have any favorites in common! Or if you disagree with any pick too. Also if you end up creating your own list I would love to read it and add it to this post. Thanks for reading!

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