Movies in 2023 - What to watch?
If like me and find that choosing a movie to watch can sometimes feel overwhelming, then let data be your friend!
Earlier this year, I built a Machine Learning model to predict the best movies for 2023 and an automated dashboard to keep an eye on the results. The great thing about this is its ability to uncover some of the hidden gems!
If you missed the previous article, then catch up here.
The biggest and best movie so far?!
Let’s start off though with a film that is smashing ratings and the box office everywhere.
John Wick 4
This movie has been crushing it, with fans (8.3), critics (78 Metascore) and box office takings ($137.8M) all pointing towards the 4th installment being the best so far!
Our model had predicted a mediocre 6.7, so why was that? Especially given the previous three installments all settled between 7.4 and 7.6.
Well, our model also uses the writer’s and producer’s last movies and for this one, writer Shay Hatten and producer Wesley Coller both had previous contributor ratings in the low 6’s.
Shay Hatten with the screenplay for Day Shift, starring Jamie Fox and rating 6.1.
Wesley Coller producing Army of Thieves, which only clocked up a score of 6.4.
Movie storyline: Condemned by the tyrannical High Table to be on the run for the rest of his life, deadly assassin maestro John Wick (2014) embarks on a Sisyphean mission of suicidal fury to decide his fate after the merciless carnage in John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum (2019).
Ukrainian animation winner
Mavka: The Forest Song.
With all that’s going on in the Ukraine, it’s fantastic that great movies are being made, especially when they’re averaging an 8.4 rating score!
Our model had given it a 6.2, based on poor previous results from the director Oleh Malamuzh and writer Jeffrey Hylton, even though the producer Anna Eliseyeva had a reasonable 7.2 for her last effort, The Best Weekend.
Movie storyline: Mavka - a soul of the Forest - faces an impossible choice between love and her duty as guardian to the Heart of the Forest, when she falls in love with a human - the talented young musician Lukash.
Unreleased but drawing the right kind of attention
Evil Dead Rise
With a release date in April, it seems odd that this movie would have 650+ reviews but a little digging does suggest that this can happen. Legitimate results, perhaps from some illegitimate viewing?
We predicted 5.9 but it’s currently pre-rating at 8.1!
Director Lee Cronin’s last movie Hole in the Ground, was slated with a score of 5.2.
However Sam Raimi (writer and exec producer) gave some expected class to this movie, given his legendary status of creating the original Evil Dead film.
Movie storyline: Moving the action out of the woods and into the city, "Evil Dead Rise" tells a twisted tale of two estranged sisters, played by Sutherland and Sullivan, whose reunion is cut short by the rise of flesh possessing demons, thrusting them into a primal battle for survival as they face the most nightmarish version of family imaginable.
Where does the model hit the mark?
Machine learning algorithms need data and it takes time for movies to be released / reviews to come in, so we’re not expecting instant miracles but here are a handful that took my attention, where our model hit the bullseye:
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
Predicted 6.1, currently averaging at 6.4
Predicted 5.8, currently averaging at 6.0
Predicted 6.6, currently averaging at 6.8
Automated dashboard using Looker
Keep up to date with the scores and our predictions from the daily refresh dashboard below.
About the author
Louis Keating is the Founder of White Box, with over two decades of experience in data science and advanced analytics.
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