Inspiring Ideas for this year’s Hugo Awards

By Erin Underwood: The start of a calendar year always brings out the best and worst lists in reviewers. While I won’t do a “Worst of 2023” list because that’s just not my style, I did get inspired to create lists for the Best Movies of 2023 and the Best TV Episodes of 2023 for my YouTube channel where I regularly review films and television shows.

While putting together my “Best of 2023” lists, I realized they were also great suggestions to consider for the Best Dramatic Presentation Hugo Awards ballot. So, I decided to refine my “Best of 2023” lists to double as suggestions to consider for the Hugo Awards because it’s always so hard to remember what I liked while trying to fill out my Hugo Awards ballot.

In addition to my “Best of 2023” lists, which I have included below, I’ve also included links to my videos for each list in case you want to hear my thoughts on these Best of 2023 titles. At the bottom of this post is the full list of films and series that I watched in preparation for making my lists. You may find some good suggestions there, too!

I hope you find these lists valuable since my primary purpose for sharing them with File 770 is to start a discussion about the episodes, series, and movies that we loved in 2023. Hopefully, this will give us a chance to share suggestions with enough time to get caught up on shows that we might have missed before submitting our nominations. If there are titles that I missed that you think people will enjoy, please share your ideas in the comments below.

The Hugo Awards & Glasgow 2024: The Hugo Awards are 100% nominated and selected by thousands of fans, like you and me. From the Hugo Awards website:

During the nomination period, ballots may be cast by anyone who is a member of the current and/or previous year’s Worldcon (as of the end of the previous calendar year). After the nomination period closes, only members of the current Worldcon are eligible to vote on the final ballot.

Learn more about the Hugo Awards and the nomination process here.

Learn more about Glasgow 2024, “A Worldcon for our futures” here. (August 8-12, 2024)

Best Movies of 2023, in no particular order:   

• Wonka
• Godzilla Minus One
• The Last Voyage of the Demeter
• Hypnotic
• Jules
• Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
• Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
• Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
• The Creator
• Star Trek: Picard, Season 3

Best TV Episodes of 2023, in no particular order:

Star Trek Strange New Worlds, Season 2 (Paramount+)

·        Episode 3: Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow

·        Episode 7: Those Old Scientists

·        Episode 9: Subspace Rhapsody

The Doctor Who Special Episodes (Disney+)

·        Special Episode #3: The Giggle

·        Special Episode #4 / Season 14 Episode 0: The Church on Ruby Road

Ahsoka, Season 1  (Disney+)

·        Episode 5: Part Five: Shadow Warrior

The Last of Us, Season 1 (Prime Video)

·       Episode 3: Long, Long Time

Loki, Season 2 (Disney+)

·       Episode 6: Glorious Purpose

The Mandalorian, Season 3  (Disney+)

·        Episode 7: Chapter 23: The Spies

Good Omens, Season 2  (Prime Video)

·        Episode 5: Chapter 5: The Ball

Star Trek: Picard, Season 3  (Paramount+)

·        Episode 10: The Last Generation

Star Wars: The Bad Batch, Season 2 (Disney+)

·        Episode 3: The Solitary Clone

·        Episode 8: Truth and Consequences

The Films and Series that Inspired My “Best of 2023” Choices: Listed below are the films and television series that I watched in preparation of my Best of 2023 lists. These are not exhaustive lists, but they are large. Again, if there are titles that I missed or you think people will like, please share your ideas in the comments below, and let’s enjoy some great storytelling together!

2023 Movies and Films that fit the Best Dramatic Presentation (Long Form) Hugo Award:

This Award can be given a dramatized production in any medium, including film, television, radio, live theater, computer games or music. The work must last 90 minutes or longer (excluding commercials).

• 65
• A Haunting in Venice
• Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
• Asteroid City
• Barbie
• Bird Box: Barcelona
• Blue Beetle
• Dream Scenario
• Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
• Elemental
• Godzilla Minus One – Subtitles
• Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
• Haunted Mansion
• Hypnotic
• Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
• Jawan
• John Wick: Chapter 4
• Jules
• Jung_E
• Knock at the Cabin
• Landscape with Invisible Hand
• M3GAN
• Migration
• Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One
• Oppenheimer
• Poor Things
• Rebel Moon: Part One – A Child of Fire
• Scavengers Reign – Season 1 (Max)
• Shazam! Fury of the Gods
• Simulant
• Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
• Star Trek: Picard, Season 3
• Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Season 2
• Talk to Me
• Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle: Mutant Mayhem
• The Creator
• The Flash
• The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
• The Last Voyage of the Demeter
• The Little Mermaid
• The Marvels
• The Shift
• The Super Mario Bros Movie
• They Cloned Tyrone
• Transformers: Rise of the Beasts
• Wish
• Wonka

2023 Series that have episodes that fit the Best Dramatic Presentation (Short Form) Hugo Award:

This Award can be given a dramatized production in any medium, including film, television, radio, live theater, computer games or music. The work must be less than 90 minutes long (excluding commercials).

• Ahsoka, Season 1 (Disney+)
• Black Mirror (Netflix)
• Bodies (Netflix)
• Carnival Row, Season 2 (Amazon Prime Video)
• Doctor Who Special Episodes (Disney+)
• Fear the Walking Dead, Season 8 (AMC)
• For All Mankind, Season 4 (Apple TV)
• Foundation, Season 2 (Apple TV)
• From, Season 2 (MGM+)
• Good Omens, Season 2 (Prime Video)
• Gyeongseong Creature (Netflix) – Subtitles
• Invasion (Apple TV)
• Loki, Season 2 (Disney+)
• Monarch: Legacy of Monsters (Apple TV)
• Mrs Davis (Peacock)
• Percy Jackson and the Olympians (Disney+)
• Scavengers (Max)
• Secret Invasion (Disney+)
• Silo, Season 1 (Apple TV)
• Star Trek Strange New Worlds, Season 2 (Paramount+)
• Star Trek: Picard, Season 3 (Paramount+)
• Star Wars: The Bad Batch, Season 2 (Disney+)
• The Arc, Season 1 (SYFY)
• The Last of Us, Season 1 (Prime Video)
• The Mandalorian, Season 3 (Disney+)
• The Swarm, Season 1 (CW)
• The Walking Dead: Darryl Dixon, Season 1 (AMC)
• The Walking Dead: Dead City, Season 1 (AMC)
• The Witcher, Season 3 (Netflix)
• Twisted Metal (Peacock)
• Upload, Season 3 (Amazon Prime Video)