All art “Isn’t for everyone.” And these picks, in addition to being creatively conceived and deftly executed, have a coherent narrative and successfully implemented character arcs, which some others never bother with. And even if all of that weren’t true, it’s still a creative achievement … These are the top spots in my mind.
Film:
Love Lies Bleeding
Kristen Stewart definitely possesses an unnerving quality of vulnerability and restlessness that is always interesting to behold, her beauty adds another layer. I thought with “Saint Maud” Rose Glass announced herself as a huge talent- this one cements it. Feels very Elmore Leonard-esque. Katy O’Brian is HUGE (in this) and is going to be A LIST huge.
Rebel Ridge
Jeremy Saulnier is our generation’s John Sayles. He and Sean Baker are truly telling stories about a decaying America the same way Robert Altman, John Sayles, Bill Duke and Wim Wenders were telling stories about the rot within the American Empire itself. The biggest twist is looking up Aaron Pierre and finding out he is British. Breakout role!
Nosferatu
Robert Eggers is low-key one of the most influential filmmakers of our time and Nosferatu is one of those movies where I get what it was going for. His commitment to that ‘old’ form of storytelling is just, chef’s KISS. Few can top Kinski – Is that even Skarsgård?
Honorable Mentions: Late Night with the Devil & Nickel Boys.
Best of the SEQUELS & GENRE: Furiosa, Dune pt 2, Terrifier 3 & Alien: Romulus.
*this might change once I get a chance to see …
Hundreds of Beavers
From what I’ve heard that It’s the most unique film in years and has the confidence of a young Sam Raimi. Wacky and creative (Looney Tunes?) and experimental, and importantly, never not entertaining.
TV/Streaming:
Shogun
I’m so bummed that Shogun is getting a second season. Easily the best PRESTIGE TV in 2024, season one was PERFECTION. However on S.2, the writers and directors delivered excellence with already some big departures from the book, so I remain hopeful. But c’mon, know when to stop a good thing. Spoiler. The final really was a great surprise as Toranaga was a true anti-hero and was not the good guy white knight we all thought. He DID want to be shogun and sacrificed his son and his best friend, and of course destroyed John’s boat with the reveal he has no desire to ever have him leave. His line shrugging off his son’s death, “I have more” was pretty telling.
Fallout
I played some of the Fallout games, but wasn’t heavily invested in it. So, I liked how the show really did a great job balancing the show for those who played the game and for those who played very little or not at all. This show is something to see. It is one of the few in recent memory that has not left me knowing what is coming up next , and that is a joy. Another big boss of a video game adaptation – The Ghoul is 100% evil.
The Penguin
Spoiler. Thank God they didn’t kill Sofia. Christin Miloti’s performance was too good for them to not give her the chance to chew up some more scenery – either in the next movie or another show. This series was fantastic. Better than I had ever expected. The Fat suit has grown on me. Farrell elevates Oz and did I ever hate Oz’s fucking guts by the end of this. BIG RIP VIC.
Honorable Mentions: X-Men 97 & Creature Commandos.
And look, X-Men ’97 was a masterclass in nostalgia done right. Rather than repurpose old stories or appease fans with meaningless cameos, it challenged itself to grow up alongside its OG, now-middle-aged audience. Bits of fan service (Wolverine and Morph maybe being a thing! Cyclops being the badass we always knew he was!) were fully in service of the characters, and “Remember It” proved they weren’t afraid to blow up the rules of the world they’d reconstructed. As a longtime fan, it was everything I could have hoped for and more. The mutant metaphor has never felt more relevant, it’s way more mature than the original show, and it made a really compelling case for “Magneto is right.”
Video Games:
Thank Goodness You’re Here!
It’s about an hour-and-a-half long, has almost no real gameplay, and has you revisiting the same areas and routes quite frequently… but damn if I didn’t enjoy every minute of it.
UFO 50
A gish gallop of decent-to-fun games is a clever way to win people over who don’t even intend to actually play and finish all 50. We (BSR) saw this game in early development YEARS ago at PAX. Devilition is my fave.
DA Veilguard
I’ve heard this referred to as Baby’s First Bioware Formula. It’s not an absolute disaster like the reactionary crowd claimed and it’s obviously not a masterpiece – Sure, if I waited ten years for this, I would be disappointed. But I didn’t and I wasn’t.
Additional games worth consideration:
‘Bigger’ games: Kunitsu-Gami, Space Marine 2, Sonic X Shadow, Like a Dragon & Alan Wake 2 expansions.
‘Smaller’ games: Dungeons of Hinterberg, Plucky Squire, Steamworld Heist 2 & Crow Country.
Also, shout out to Prince of Persia, the best metroidvania in years.
Musics:
2024 was a great year in music. BUT, it was a fantastic year for Hip-Hop.
Kendrick Lamar, in my opinion, has gone from the heir apparent of Rap to a Lauryn Hill level out-of-touch celebrity in an astonishingly short amount of time. No one had a bigger 2024 than this guy did. In terms of both numbers and cultural impact? Yeah, “Not Like Us” is Song of the Year by a mile. Award circuit might say something else next year, but they’ll be wrong.
Doechii has this electric otherness that she’s bringing to the rap scene right now. She’s just operating differently– albeit subtly– and it shows. Her live performances are what HIP HOP should be.
Drake and Diddy both got washed in 2024 and I’m crossing my fingers for The Weeknd next.
My favorites of 2024: Ab Soul “Soul Burger”, Kendrick Lamar “GNX”, Vince Staples “Dark Times”, Common & Pete Rock “The Auditorium Vol.1”, JPEGMAFIA “I Lay Down My Life For You”, Redman “Muddy Waters Too”, Rome Streetz “Hatton Garden Holdup”, Tyler The Creator “Chromakopia”, Rapsody “Please Don’t Cry”, Kurious “Majician”, LL Cool J & Q-Tip “The Force”, Ice Cube “Man Down”, Blu & Evidence “Los Angeles”, Black Milk “PT. 1”, Stress Eater “Everybody Eats!”
And for you non-Hip Hop heads, check out: Michael Giacchino “Exotic Themes for the Silver Screen – Volume One”
Books/Comic Books/Lit:
I’ve long come to the conclusion that authorial voice is the key thing I look for not just in novels but also in non-fiction* , and that I either resonate with the authorial voice or I don’t. It has nothing to do with bad mouthing people or saying they’re no good or talentless or anything of the sort (I mean those could be true) but even when none of them are the case, I can find myself just unable to persist through trying to scan the rhythm and cadence of the sentences put in front of me, and just feeling constantly blocked, lost and unmotivated, as If I’m mired in a tricky encounter at a party where I don’t know what to say and I don’t want to encourage the person either. What that said …
Emily St. James & Noel Murray’s “Lost: Back to the Island” is an ESSENTIAL read (especially, if you like the TV series). I’m rewatching now. Anyone who criticizes it is mid. especially considering they were making 20-25 episodes a year, almost all worthy of watching. compare that to some streaming show that takes 2-3 years to churn out 10 episodes, 3 or 4 are great, one episode is the standard “not typical episode” trying for an Emmy, and the rest filler. Lost is basically perfect.
Charles Burn’s “Final Cut’ is an absolute beauty. After finishing I went straight back to page one to pick up every available nuance on a second reading. There’s so much love and sympathy for the characters from the author that make it such a melancholic delight to read. The intertextual references to ‘Invasion of The Body Snatchers’ & ‘The Last Picture Show’ are also expertly handled.
Chuck Palahniuk’s “Shock Induction” seems like it flew under the radar. If you like his work, this was his most accessible read in years. Do you remember when the top of a car’s windshield was tinted blue? “Can you picture it? Everyday a blue sky.”
Non-fiction wise, I thought Paul Cooper’s Fall of Civilizations (based on his hit podcast) should be required reading. Poignant, impeccably researched, and more than a little frightening.
The NEXT-est 2025
2025. Let me start with each month, I’m going to try out a new soundtrack that I have never listened to – front to back. I’m going to watch more good and bad films from the 70’s. Also, keep investing in physical media. AND… I’m looking forward to all of THIS:
In The Grey
The Alto Knights
Sinners
Mickey 17
Ballerina
28 Years Later
Superman
Predator: Badlands
The Running Man
Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery
Frankenstein
Severance S.2
Andor S.2
Daredevil: Born Again
The Last of Us S.2
Alien: Earth
Yellowjackets S.3
Stranger Things S.5
Criminal
Blade Runner 2099
Gen V S.2
Sundance is only a few weeks away as well (going to try and catch all of these): By Design, Dead Lover, Didn’t Die, The Legend of Ochi, LUZ, OBEX, Opus, Rabbit Trap, Rains Over Babel, The Thing with Feathers, Together, Touch Me & The Ugly Stepsister.
In 2025 … Win the Party!
Peace, The Wizeguy.