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Song of the Day #5,716: ‘The Power of Love’ – Frankie Goes to Hollywood

Continuing my countdown of last year’s best films…

Best Films of 2023
#8. All of Us Strangers

In recent years I’ve come to embrace imperfections in the movies I love. In the past, I’ve found myself rationalizing moments that don’t quite land, as if in order to treasure a film I have to first sand away any rough edges. Now, I’m quicker to say “that part didn’t work, but this is still a five-star masterpiece.”

What does that have to do with writer-director Andrew Haigh’s All of Us Strangers, you ask? Well, there’s an element of this film that I haven’t quite wrapped my head around. I really need to rewatch it to figure out how certain pieces fit together with the whole (I apologize for the vagueness, but I’m avoiding spoilers).

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Song of the Day #5,715: ‘Live That Way Forever’ – Richard Reed Parry and Little Scream

Continuing my countdown of last year’s best films…

Best Films of 2023
#9. The Iron Claw

My unwritten rule when it comes to biopics is the less familiar I am with the subject matter, the more likely I’ll enjoy the film.

My familiarity with professional wrestling basically starts with Hulk Hogan in Rock III and ends with Florence Pugh in Fighting with My Family, so the extraordinary true story of the Von Erich family was not on my radar.

Turns out it’s the perfect raw material for a heartbreaking, yet life-affirming, movie about pain and perseverance in and out of the ring.

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Song of the Day #5,714: ‘Eye For An Eye’ – Rina Sawayama

Continuing my countdown of last year’s best films…

Best Films of 2023
#10. John Wick: Chapter 4

This fourth installment in the John Wick franchise might just be the best pure action movie ever made. Director Chad Stahelski, a former stuntman who doubled Keanu Reeves in the Matrix films, crafted enough breathtaking set pieces for three blockbusters, then stuffed them all into this one as if it’s the last movie he’ll ever get to make.

While the action is certainly the biggest draw here, I’m equally astonished by the look of the film. This is the most gorgeous cinematography I saw all year — how it was passed over for an Oscar nomination is beyond me.

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Song of the Day #5,713: ‘Me, Myself and I’ – Beyoncé

The week of February 21, 2004, saw a few repeats at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart: ‘Slow Jamz,’ by Twista feat. Kanye West & Jamie Foxx; ‘Yeah!‘ by Usher feat. Lil Jon and Ludacris; and ‘The Way You Move‘ by Outkast.

In the fourth spot that week was a rising star named Beyoncé, with the third single from her debut album Dangerously in Love. While the first two singles (‘Crazy in Love’ and ‘Baby Boy’) reached #1, ‘Me, Myself and I’ stalled at #4.

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Song of the Day #5,712: ‘The Power of Love’ – Celine Dion

Throwing back to the week of February 19, 1994, we find Celine Dion atop the Billboard Hot 100 with ‘The Power of Love,’ a cover of Jennifer Rush’s hit from a decade before.

Rush co-wrote the song and released it on her eponymous 1984 debut. It was a minor hit in the U.S. but tore up the charts in the UK, becoming that regions biggest single of the year and ninth-biggest of the decade.

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