Posted by My Top Songs of 2024
Honorable Mentions
“Good Luck, Babe!” – Chappel Roan
“Joker Lips” – MJ Lenderman
“Sticky” – Tyler, the Creator
“Not Like Us” – Kendrick Lamar
“No Problems” – Ginger Root
“Apple” – Charli XCX
“Terrapin” – Clairo
“Mood Ring” – Dehd
“May Ninth” – Khruangbin
“Every Little Thing I Say I Do” – Dayglow
“Slow Dance” – Clairo
“Capricorn” – Vampire Weekend
“Deeply Still In Love” – ROLE MODEL
“Motorcycle” – Remi Wolf
“Prep-School Gangsters” – Vampire Weekend
“She’s Leaving You” – MJ Lenderman
“THINGS BEHIND THINGS BEHIND THINGS” – Bon Iver
“dodger blue” – Kendrick Lamar
“So Sick of Dreaming” – Maggie Rogers
My Top 20 Songs of 2024
20. “Balloon” – Tyler, the Creator (feat. Doechii) – Really fun song with a unforgettable verse from the rising star Doechii. In my opinion the most re-listenable song on Chromakopia and it felt like an exciting new sound for Tyler.
19. “The Tower” – Future Islands – This singers voice sounds like he is from an undiscovered island off of the Icelandic coast and this song feels like a prophecy that was bestowed upon him by the Sun God. It rules.
18. “Love Me Jeje” – Tems – Tems has one of my favorite voices in the game. Songs like “Higher” and “Essence” have been consistently played by me for years. This song felt like a perfect way to show off her talent of having a beautiful voice while keeping things fun on a super catchy afro-beat. One of my most played songs this summer for sure.
17. “Love Takes Miles” – Cameron Winter – This song is from the solo project of the lead singer of my favorite new band “Geese” and it has all the elements I love from that band but stripped down a bit more. Some really abstract lyrics, interesting instrument choices, Cameron’s incredibly unique voice, and tons of passion and soul. Highly recommend checking this out as one of the more off-the-beaten path tracks on this list.
16. “Ice Cream Piano” – Vampire Weekend – VW proves once again that they are the best album sequencers of all time with this opener to Only God Was Above Us. I waited patiently for the band to drop this album and the first time I played this track in my room I was FLOORED. The change in pace, the distorted guitar, the maximalist lyrics (with some welcome, but unexpected cussing from the boys). Just a perfect opening track to this album, making a perfect statement and setting the tone for what’s about to come.
15. “Sadness As a Gift” – Adrianne Lenker – Beautiful song here, as you’d expect from the frontwoman of one of my favorite groups, Big Thief. This song’s lyrics bluntly capture the devastating yet complex feeling of ending a relationship, but still having gratitude for the experience. The guitar is simple, the strings add the touch of sadness necessary for a song like this, and the sprinkled in piano brings it all together for a heartbreaking but relistenable track. Adrianne is one of the best songwriters working today and this song is just another example why.
14. “Tipsy” – Shaboozey – C’mon now, this song’s a blast. I think there’s a lot of contemporary country that I dislike, not because it’s about boozing and dancing and being with friends but because a lot of the time it feels like the singer comes off as disingenous. Like they’re just singing the words someone told them to because it could be relatable and make money. But not Shaboozey. He wrote this unbelievably catchy song and it he’s delivering the song in a way that makes you feel like he knew it was special and he’s really connected to it. Every time this came on the radio or at a bar or at a wedding festivity with family even, everyone lit up and started singing along. Songs like that are the best.
13. “Guess” (Remix) – Charli XCX (feat. Billie Eilish) – So sick. The almost dubstep vibe of this song is pure gasoline. The booming bass, the click-clacky production, the over-the-top tongue-in-cheek lyrics from both Charli and Billie who are matching eachothers energy the whole song…electric. This was on my running playlist ever since it came out and would always get me going just a tad bit faster.
12. “Cinderella” – Remi Wolf – This is a perfect representation of what Remi does best: funky horns, a catchy-as-hell chorus, lots of soul, and most of all she is having FUN and wants you to as well. There were several times this year when I felt tired or in a funk and I’d just toss this on and bob my head and sing along and immediately feel more energized, confident, optimistic, and ready to take on the day. Give it a listen if you haven’t heard yet and hopefully it’ll do the same.
11. “Talk Talk (Remix)” – Charli XCX (feat. Troye Sivan) – I don’t really even know how to describe why I like this song so much, but I love it, and I have listened to it over and over again without it losing any steam. The almost 90s-sounding techno production of this coupled with Troye’s vocals and both of their wild lyrics just made this song such a blast to listen to and completely unlike anything else dominating pop music right now. I think what excited me so much about the moment Charli XCX is having right now can be represented in this song.
My Top 10 Songs of 2024
10. “Sexy to Someone” – Clairo – One of my favorite kinds of songs is one that seems quite simple on the surface but is just so damn good that you start finding deeper meaning in it that might not have even been intended by the artist, and that was this song for me this year. At it’s most simple, this song is about wanting to feel attractive and the allure of that flirty energy. But after listening to it 500 times this year I started seeing it as so much more. The need to interact with strangers, the power of putting effort into how you look and feel, really savoring when something small but positive happens – all things I’ve been thinking about a lot this year. A great poster song for the best parts of the album Charm for sure.
9. “Arrival” – Yung Bae – I am very specific in which kinds of EDM songs I like, and my clear favorite sub genre is Disco House. This song literally says the line “Well that’s just House Music, that’s just Disco baby” multiple times, and that locked me into it immediately. It has the chopped up horns that would excite Daft Punk, it’s doing the popular sped up hyper drums better than most DJ’s, and the lyrics (although basic) are just the kind of fun and encouraging words you need to hear when listening to a fun booming ballad like this. Made me want to be in a big crowd with some loud speakers, a ton of lights, maybe some foam, and just absolute lose it on the dance floor.
8. “Soft Power” – Ezra Feinberg – I really got into more instrumental music this year. From classic jazz, to more modern jazz fusion, to movie soundtracks…but this instrumental song from Ezra Feinberg opened up a world to me. This song, just using some strumming guitars, soft shakers, electronic keyboard notes, and a catchy bass-line made me feel so “human” for lack of a better word. It felt like looking at a beautiful painting and uncovering the layers and meaning of every brush stroke with more to find the longer you look at it. I had a lot of weddings and bachelor parties this year and I usually left them very grateful to have connected with so many people I love and part of my ritual leaving those gatherings was listening to this song and thinking about how awesome it is to be together when celebrating these important life milestones they will remember forever. This song was the perfect score to those thoughts.
7. “Mary Boone” – Vampire Weekend – The drums on this song are the reason Vampire Weekend has not missed on a single album after almost 2 decades in the game. The beat-drop on this is outside of what we’ve seen Vampire do in the past, and would be especially strange on a project like Contra or Father of the Bride, but they work perfectly here. Pushing their music forward while keeping elements that are core to the band. These are classic Ezra Koenig lyrics, I love the choir in the background, I love the hip-hop drums, I love the fluttering piano, I love the “OOOOh” noise that pops in sporadically. This is just such a special song and something different and unexpected from a band I love – which makes it all the more exciting. Also, if this came out in 2015 we’d have some unbelievable Soundcloud remixes over that beat.
6. “Modern Girl” – Bleachers – Alright before any of you get mad, yes this came out as a single in 2023. BUT the album version came out in early 2024 so I’m counting it as a release this year. This song is so damn good. Obviously Bleachers borrows a ton from Bruce Springsteen but I think this really is the best modern interpretation of the magic Springsteen brought in the early days. This song feels like it is from a real talented BAND, not just a songwriter who brought in some randos to play backup, which is a feat on it’s own. But this song has those feelings of opportunity, romance, humor, and passion that you get from a song like Bruce’s “Rosalita”. I played this constantly this year and it was my real opener to Bleacher’s music which I ended up really enjoying as well.
5. “Connect” – Vampire Weekend – This song is such a fanastic trip of a track. Feels like watching an Oscar-worthy movie in the span of a 5 minute track. It’s so hard to describe it’s beauty so I won’t even try. Just listen to this song for the love of God.
4. “Le Risque” – King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard – Absolute ripper here from King Gizz. I didn’t know too much about the band apart from a few songs and that they were very experimental and jammy. Then I discovered this song and their new album Flight B741 and my mind was blown. These guys are having so much fun and this song really shows that off. The bass in this is so raw, the southern-rock guitar, the sharp 80s-sounding vocals and the humorously dark and over-the-top lyrics all just work so perfectly together. The song structure is unbelieveable too. A hilarious breakdown in the middle of the song that feels almost Johnny Cash-esque and then breaks into a blood-pumping bridge starting with “HELLLOO EVIL KENIEVEL, RUNNING THROUGH THE RED LIGHT”. But beyond the goofiness and fun of the song, it was clearly made my an extremely talented group of dudes all showing off their musical abilities. This made me believe that rock and roll is still 100% alive and well.
3. “Classical” – Vampire Weekend – That’s right. Another Vampire Weekend song. This one has the baroque qualities that made me fall in love with the band in the first place, some distant beachy guitar, a hook that’ll get stuck in your head and a theme that will have you thinking about it for months afterwards. It feels like we are living through modern history right now between technological advancements, political uncertainty, climate change, wars in Gaza and Ukraine… All of this is going on all at once, and this song asks what happens to atrocities as time goes by. It’s just seen as “history”, almost normal, when they are horrible things. How do we stop these things from happening? How do we make sense of all this chaos (perfectly captured by a distorted saxophone solo and some bleating piano)? The band presents this unique sentiment in a song only they could pull off, and it happens to be one of the catchiest songs in their discography.
2. “Juna” – Clairo – Honestly I don’t really know how to describe this song other than that it HIT different. Sometimes you hear a great song and the more you listen to it the more that feeling you had the first time diminishes, but not with this one. Each time I listen to this song it hits me deep in my bones. The soulful jazz, the immaculate drums, the vocal performance from Clairo…each piece of this puzzle of a song came in to work perfectly together. And the secret sauce on top? The mouth trumpet towards the end. GENIUS. Literally genius. And a risk to add to an already amazing song, but it was that big swing that made this an absolute home run. This song is sexy, it’s creative, it’s soulful, and it was the song I played the most this year by a decent margin. It feels like the song Clairo has been trying to make her whole career.
1. “Espresso” – Sabrina Carpenter – That’s right, the best song of 2024 is Espresso. I do these lists every year and looking back on them I think I usually reserve the #1 spot for something that hit me more emotionally, but when I really think about it the songs that leave the most lasting impact are the ones I keep returning to, the ones I associate with different times in my life, and I can safely say that Espresso will be associated as the banger of 2024 for the rest of my life. A year where I got to go on trips with friends before they got married shortly after, a year where I got to stand by family members side’s as they got married, one of the last years where I think the majority of my friends will all be in relatively close proximity to one another and be ready and willing to have some fun when we want. It was an eventful year and at each of those events this heater would come on and make everyone smile and dance and feel joy. It’s a pop song like this that comes once every few years and reminds people how important fun (kinda dumb) pop music really is – because it’s these catchy ass songs that you can play with anyone that end up standing the test of time. So yes, shoutout to the breakout star of 2024, Sabrina, for creating this hall-of-fame summer slapper. I will cherish it for the rest of my life.
My Top Albums of 2024
15. Bright Future – Adrianne Lenker – Beautiful songwriting, raw and emotional.
14. Bleachers – Bleachers – Felt like Being Funny in a Foreign Language Part 2, and I’m not mad about it.
13. Soft Power – Ezra Feinberg – Unreal instrumental album I would always put on when I didn’t know what else to play. Emotional and interesting.
12. Short n’ Sweet – Sabrina Carpenter – The hits on this are incredible (“Taste”, “Please, Please, Please”, and “Espresso” obviously). I was never really tossing this on front to back just playing certain songs when I wanted to hear them. You can’t go wrong hitting any song on this album whether it was “Bed Chem” or “Juno”, but I do think as a complete project I would’ve liked a little more diversity in the sound/sequencing. But a great pop album nonetheless and I hope it wins Grammys.
11. A La Sala – Khruangbin – Another great album from Khruangbin. There’s some standout songs like “Hold Me Up”, “May Ninth” and “A Love International” but the songs in between help tie together the beautiful journey of this album. Funky, fun, and full of life as you’d expect from the group.
10. Heavy Metal – Cameron Winter – Not going to be for everyone, but definitely for me. This takes what I love about Cameron’s band Geese and turns it into a bit more of a mellow musical experience. He’s unpacking existential feelings, dealing with heartache, finding joy but all in a totally weird and unique way with production choices that are out of the box but totally work. And sprinkled throughout is his signature quirky sense of humor. I really enjoyed this project in all of it’s complexity and it got me excited for whatever Cameron creates next, either solo or with the band.
9. Big Ideas – Remi Wolf – Another great album from Remi here. She’s bringing all the funky sauce on tracks like “Cinderella” and “Soup”, but also shows off her emotional range on the slower “Motorcycle”, while spicing in other songs like “Kangaroo” and “Frog Rock” into the tracklist to keep the vibes going. It’s tough to compare to the lightning in the bottle of her last album Juno, but still a great sophomore effort from her and I can’t wait to see what she does next.
8. Don’t Forget Me – Maggie Rogers – I’ll be honest on a first listen of this, I didn’t love it. I liked it enough but didn’t feel totally special. I liked the title track and the single “So Sick of Dreaming” (of course, it rules), but besides that wasn’t really returning to this. Then in preparation for her concert I went back and found myself enjoying it more, and after seeing her live I started to actually love it. Maggie is one of the best live performers touring today. Her voice, her song choices, the way she controls the crowd, it really creates one of the best concert experiences I’ve been to. And it made this album click for me. There’s a lot of fun to be had on songs like “So Sick of Dreaming” and “The Kill”, while she continues to show off her singer-songwriter skills on songs like “All the Same” and “I Still Do”. This was another great addition to Maggie’s discography and highly recommend seeing her perform these tracks live if you get the chance.
7. GNX – Kendrick Lamar – Kendrick was the saving grace of Rap this year. Besides Tyler, there was barely any rap music that really impacted me this year beyond Kendrick. Seeing the beef songs go back and forth and then Kenny absolutely burying Drake with the hit “Not Like Us” was just so much fun. Seeing that song pop off and then Kendrick continue to make it bigger by filming a video, hosting a star-studded concert, and watching it go to #1 ruled. Then dropping a surprise album filled with bangers basically as a victory lap? Amazing. The opening track “wacced out murals” had me so gassed up, and then of course the iconic “tv off” had me laughing but also filled with excitement. He knew he could scream “MUSTAAAAAARD” like a goofball and still have the song be a banger because he was so on top. That’s dominance. Put R&B songs on there like “luther” and “dodger blue” (which has one of my favorite hooks of any song this year) on the album and you’ve got a great project. He’s spitting bars, he’s keeping things interesting, and he’s really leaning into those West Coast influences.
6. Chromakopia – Tyler, The Creator – This may seem high up for me if you know my music taste. Tyler is a top 3 rapper of mine and I consistently say he has one of the best discographies of any artist. Period. And while I really liked this album on a first listen and still see the musical genius behind songs like “Take Your Mask Off”, and “Noid”, I just haven’t gone back to this as much as I was expecting to! It’s a very personal album, talking about the weird coming-of-age you have to do when your friends start getting married and having kids, which I find super relatable. But the music itself isn’t as fun/relistenable as something like Call Me If You Get Lost. Of course though I did go back and listen to the bangers “Sticky” and “Balloon”, both with great features. Songs like “Darling, I” show off the fun side of Tyler while songs like “Hey Jane” and “Like Him” do some of the most emotional unpacking of Tyler’s psyche that we’ve seen in a long time.
5. Brat – Charli XCX – So many absolute bangers on this album and it having such a huge cultural impact and commercial success was really inspiring. So many popular artists are having some AI robots engineer the most basic sounding songs and lyrics that are so bland and boring and manufactured but this album was completely it’s own unique sound and vibe that Charli has been curating for years and to see it finally pop off in this big of a way was so cool and a big F you to all the fraud sell-outs. I had songs like “Von Dutch”, “360”, “Apple” and “Talk Talk” on repeat this “brat” summer and then those remixes just took it into another stratosphere.
4. Flight B741 – King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard – Dudes rock. This ripped. King Gizz is known for changing their sound on each project, and the sound they chose for this one just totally worked for me. I think I liked it for the same reasons I loved Geese’s 3D Country last year. It takes the fun energy and soul of southern rock but made it their own with modern twists and sheer musical talent. I don’t think any music can really excite me the way that a just absolutely ripping guitar riff can and this album is full of them. It’s nostalgic, it’s fun, it feels totally cohesive and all tied together with a blend of psychedelic lyrics and instruments. I had a blast listening to this album this year and was my favorite for long drives with the windows down. Songs like “Field of Vision” and “Le Risque” make you want to drink seven PBRs and drive a beat up car around a demolition derby course, while songs like “Rats in the Sky” and “Hog Calling Contest” feel like they should be played at a rowdy county fair. This album is so jam packed with energy and it was cool to see a band fully commit to a certain sound that isn’t just an imitation but a modern homage to an era.
3. Manning Fireworks – MJ Lenderman – I probably listened to this front to back like 50 times in the month of November. It’s the perfect length and shows how good of a curator MJ Lenderman is. The songs don’t sound the same, but they have the same spirit. And although it’s only 9 songs, it says so much in those 9 tracks that you don’t see the need for any more. This guy is the male Phoebe Bridgers: some darkly humorous lyrics, simple but effective instruments, and speaks perfectly to some of the feelings most dudes in their late 20s feel. The best part of this album though is the amount of memorable lyrics, so here’s some of my favorite lines. On “Wristwatch” he sings, “I’ve got a house boat docked at the himbo dome”, whatever that means, I’m here for it. Which can be rivaled by my favorite song on the album “Joker Lips” that includes the lyrics “Kahlua shooter, DUI Scooter. With a rolling start on a hill, ’cause this morning’s trying to kill me”. And lastly, from the more emotional “You Don’t Know the Shape I’m In”, we’ve got “We sat, under a half-mast McDonald’s Flag”. He’s got such a wide range of topics covered in this but does it all in a unique way with beautiful alternative country-tinged instruments and sung by his unique voice. Was really cool to fully buy-into an album from an artist I hadn’t listened to much of before.
2. Charm – Clairo – Every song on this is very very good. Even some of my favorite albums there’s 1 or 2 duds occasionally, but this is the definition of no skips. Clairo’s first album was bedroom alt rock, her second was jazz-pop, and this album really feels like the culmination of all her work: soulful jazz bedroom pop rock? Teaming up with El Michel’s Affair to executive produce this album was a match made in heaven. The super clean piano, horns, and percussion felt so live and natural, like it was recorded on a big silver microphone standing on a shag carpet in the seventies. Clairo’s soft voice and charming (pun intended) lyrics are a unique compliment to these sounds, but it completely works. I think this album’s name is perfect for the project, not only because it’s her third studio album and the “third times a charm” but also because so much of this album is about the little subtle charming romances of life. Songs like “Slow Dance” are bubbly, sweet and soft, while “Sexy to Someone” is a poppy sing-a-long you’d expect to hear on a college radio station. As much as Clairo’s lyrics and vocals are important to the album, she lets the instrumentals shine when it’s necessary. A song like “Terrapin” might scare other artists because of just how good the music is, it almost overshadows the singer – but Clairo welcomes it to create this masterpiece that is begging to be sampled by a rapper like Westside Gunn. This album was so good it got me, a straight white dude in his late 20s and light social anxiety, to attend her concert alone. That alone has to earn her the #2 spot.
1. Only God Was Above Us – Vampire Weekend – This should not be a surprise if you’ve been reading this far, or if you know me at all. Half the songs on this album were on my Top Songs of the Year list, and they deserve to be because they are all so damn good. Vampire Weekend is my favorite band and has been consistently for years now because of how much care they put into their work. It’s been 5 years since their last album Father of the Bride and immediately when the opening track “Ice Cream Piano” comes on, you understand why. It’s an incredibly complex song with twists and turns and musical risks and lyrics that shouldn’t quite work but they absolutely do. The kind of magic a song can only have if you spend a lot of time, without the pressure of a marketing campaign or fear or relevancy, influencing it’s creation. And following it are “Classical”, “Capricorn”, and “Connect”. Those 3 songs are some of the best of the year overall AND you get to here them all in a row on this album. It’s insane. Songs that seem like B-Sides on this, “Prep-School Gangsters” and “The Surfer” are still better crafted and more enjoyable to listen to than a lot of other songs that topped the charts this year. While songs like “Mary Boone” prove that even 2 decades into a bands career they still have boundaries to push in a good way. This is what creating a timeless album is all about. Take your time to find unique lyrics that stick with the audience, explore timeless but also timely subject matter in an abstract way, bring in new instruments and don’t be afraid to mess with traditional song structure. This is what’s allowed this band to keep selling out shows across the country with a dedicated fanbase as opposed to other groups who came up in the post-Strokes indie rock hay-day. That is why it’s my #1.
And the Grammy’s have zero credibility after not giving this album a single nomination. Wild.
My Top Movies of 2024
To save myself time, won’t be diving too deep into why I love these movies. But I have reviews for all of them on my letterboxd (djchickenparm) so feel free to add me there and check them out!
Honorable Mentions
Self-Reliance – Jake Johnson is the man, so many laugh-out-loud moments and a fun premise.
Kneecap – These guys rule. Surprised by how good their performances were, the music got me hype, and loved the rebelling irish spirit as a McSweeney of course.
Nosferatu – What you’d expect from Robert Eggers, a totally freaky gothic tale with some really strong performances.
Furiousa – Has all the good parts of Fury Road, an interesting lead character in Anya Taylor Joy, a very fun villain in Chris Hemsworth’s Dementus and you are locked in the whole runtime. What more can you ask for?
Gladiator 2 – Didn’t deserve all the hate it got. Yeah it wasn’t as good as the first but still, it was a great Roman epic! Denzel stole the show! Fun action sequences! And a great in-theater experience!
The First Omen – I haven’t seen the original Omen but if it’s anything like this one, I gotta watch ASAP. Disturbing, super cool setting, and great acting from a cast I hadn’t really seen much of before.
10. I Saw the TV Glow – I heard this was really strange and stylistic and not the easiest movie to understand – but when I watched I totally thought I understood it as commentary on how people dealing with depression distract themselves with media and the dangers of getting too lost in distraction…turns out that wasn’t the intent? It was about dealing with conflicting feelings of gender as a trans person? Which totally made me understand the movie in a different way, and made a powerful message for sure that I’m sure resonated with people and is important – BUT I thought it was really cool how I got this totally different meaning from it that hit me super hard. Not to mention this looks absolutely beautiful the color choices are sick. Also has cameos from the alt-comedy goat Conner O’Malley, the lead singer of Snail Mail and my girl Phoebe Bridgers. This was just a really cool well-done story and it stuck with me for a while.
9. The Last Stop in Yuma County – What a wild ride this movie is! Felt very early Tarantino-esque. Contained story, lots of actors I didn’t really know, and some really fun characters and tension building. This was a huge surprise for me watching without really hearing too much about it beforehand. Definitely recommend checking this out if you haven’t heard of it!
8. Smile 2 – For my full review I definitely recommend checking out Letterboxd, not gonna type that all out again but I loved this. It’s fun, it’s actually really scary for the entire runtime, it has awesome performances, it brings up great themes in a very cool way and the cinematography and framing and long shots in it are so damn cool. This is the kinda movie that made me fall in love with horror back in the day.
7. Conclave – Really really interesting movie. I grew up in the catholic church and went to a catholic high school and college all while so many aspects of the church sort of seemed to be coming under scrutiny and disbanding – for good reason I might add. And it’s something I’ve been thinking about a lot recently, how faith and religion isn’t inherently a bad thing, it provides hope in dark times, but inevitably when it becomes an institution it will become poisoned. This illustrates that at the highest level in the selection of a new Pope, but it also very obviously connects to the recent election we had. Do I vote for the lesser of two evils? Or do I cast my vote for the person I truly believe is most suited for the job in my heart, despite that basically being a vote for the wrong candidate in itself? There is so much to unpack in this movie in their conversations alone, but also some really fun symbolism and imagery in the Vatican of all places. With an all-star cast to go along with it. Highly recommend to any semi-retired practicing Catholics such as myself.
6. Saturday Night – I’m a huge SNL fan and even got to see a Dress Rehearsal of the show in NYC this year, so of course I was going to love this. Some perfect casting, clever editing, witty dialogue, and at it’s heart, a love for comedy all shone through to make this one of my favorite watches of the year. I also think it goes to show what real risk-taking in comedy is – not just “being edgy” but showing people that something that shouldn’t work, can work. That you can find humor in anything, and when you do, that magic of laughing with eachother can last decades.
5. Wicked – I got chills multiple times in the theater seeing this. Haven’t seen that much excitement from a crowd since like Barbie, where everyone is going in ready to have a blast. Ariana and Cynthia were perfectly cast and ate up their roles, and obviously nailed the vocal performances. I thought the sets looked great, the choreography was a blast and all the supporting characters did their jobs perfectly. Seeing this with my mom after growing up listening to the soundtrack in our car and her starting to hum every song when it started just brought me so much joy too. And that’s why this movie ranks so high I think it just reminded me of the joy of a real big blockbuster movie that everyone can get behind. The movie has incredible music, all-time performances from established stars and newcomers alike, and it looks different from a lot of things I’ve seen before. What a blast (I know I’m saying Blast a lot but that’s what it was!)
4. Anora – I really appreciate Sean Baker as a director. The Florida Project blew me away with how beautiful he could make a simple story, and although I didn’t love Red Rocket as much it was still a good time watching the events of that movie unfold in a mesmerizing way on screen and thinking about the really complex characters. This film does all those things and more. Mikey Madison deserves Best Actress at the Oscars there’s no question about it – everything she did felt 100% natural, and the same goes for her counterpart Ivan (played by Mark Eydelshteyn) who was effortlessly hilarious and had everyone’s full attention every time he was on screen. The pacing choice in this movie was a big swing but it works, it was the most I’ve laughed in a theater in a long time, it was totally unique, and featured a completely unknown cast to me which I thought was really cool. Every time this man makes a movie you better be in a theater to see it, and Mikey Madison better be on a rocket ship to stardom.
3. A Complete Unknown – I’m gonna say what I said in my letterboxd review: In the spirit of Bob Dylan, I will not be explicitly explaining why I love this movie so much, but I sure did.
2. Civil War – I can not believe how much people were hating on this when it came out just because it wasn’t the movie they were expecting it to be. Loser behavior. If you wanted this to be like “what if trump became president for a third time and starting killing democrats” you’re an absolute clown. What it really was was a totally thrilling exploration of photo-journalism and being obsessed with your work set behind a super cool dystopian background. Cailee Spainey (I think that’s how you spell it), Kirsten Dunst and even the 5 minute performance from her husband Jesse Plemons are all Oscar-worthy. I loved the way they interacted, I loved the music, I loved the cinematography, I loved trying to figure out what would happen next and that last 30 minutes had me ripping the leater off of my theater arm chair. I also think I was totally locked in from my theater experience with this one because I went in not knowing what to expect at all and left with my head spinning with thoughts and thrills. Between Ex Machina, Annihilation and this, Garland is making some of the most interesting movies of the last decade or so.
1. Dune Part 2 – Yeah look I’m a huge Dune head (I’ve read the first 4 books of the series) and I’m also a huge Denis Villnueve head – the man made Prisoners, Sicario, Blade Runner 2049, and Arrival…enough said. So of course I loved Dune Part 1 and could not wait for Dune Part 2 to cover the 2nd half of the first book – as that’s when things really pop off. And boy did they! This is such a great “part 2” movie. He established the world in the first one and now he gets to have all the pay off, and even improves on a lot of the payoff of the book. Paul riding the sandworm, Jessica becoming a Reverend Mother, exploring the sietch’s of Arrakis, seeing the gladiator battles on Giedi Prime, communicating with Alia, experiencing the fight between Feyd Rautha and the crysknife-wielding Paul who eventually makes his play for the throne. AHHHHHH. COME ON BABY. SO COOL. Stuff that when I was reading the book I was like this is dope but idk how they’re gonna pull this off AND THEY DID. This is what happens when you get a visionary director to adapt source material they truly understand and appreciate, allow them to blend practical and visual effects to create a believable world, and cast it perfectly to bring a story to life. Very very cool franchise here and although I’m nervous for Denis to adapt “Messiah” I have no reason to doubt him (unless of course whoever worked on Max’s “Dune: Prophecy” gets involved, then we’re in trouble).
My Top Books of 2024
Unlike these other lists, these are just books I read in 2024, they didn’t necessarily come out in 2024. I read 22 books this year (not quite hitting my Goodreads goal of 25, but it’s fine) but I didn’t read 10 books from this year so it’s just all over the place.
Alright I keep saying I’m gonna do quick reviews of these and then I spend an hour writing about them so this time really I’m gonna keep it short – if you want more add me on Goodreads (I think just search my name my profile pic is Gary from spongebob in that dream where he’s a librarian). OK!
10. Carrie Soto is Back – Taylor Jenkins Reid – TJR is my favorite guilty pleasure author. Another banger from her.
9. The Midnight Library – Matt Haig – I love these kind of positive second-chance stories with a fantasy/sci-fi twist.
8. The Little Liar – Mitch Albom – Mitch doesn’t miss – another interesting story describing an important life lesson in an endearing way.
7. The Thursday Murder Club – Richard Osman – I loved the characters in this, all had such defined funny personalities. And the mystery was fun and kept me guessing! Yeah it’s not as “deep” and more “cute” than a lot of the other books on here, but it didn’t make it any less “smart”.
6. All the Sinners Bleed – S.A. Cosby -This was FREAKY. Felt like reading a new season of True Detective (when that show was good). There’s a religious serial killer on the loose doing unspeakable things in a small southern town? Yeah I’m gonna wanna know how that unfolds. Really hope this gets turned into a limited series or something.
5. The God of the Woods – Liz Moore – An interesting meaty novel here. Tons of great fleshed out characters, interesting time period, an intriguing mystery with a satisfying and unsuspecting ending. Really felt unlike a lot of the books I’ve read before and I can see why it got so much love this year. When I closed the book I was upset that it was all over.
4. God Emperor of Dune – Frank Herbert – Super super heady book that I’d really only recommend to people who have read and enjoyed the first 3 Dune books. This one is completely bonkers but streamlines the ideas and themes of the entire Dune franchise to the reader in a really cool way. Per usual in these books, interesting plot devices, conversations, and moral dilemmas that have plenty of relevancy today as it did all the decades ago when this came out.
3. Kala – Colin Walsh – have been dominating Irish media this year from music by guys like Kneecap and Kojaque to movies like Oddity and, well Kneecap again, and TV shows like Bad Sisters and Bodkin. Something about the country has such an interesting tone and culture that lends itself to great stories and Kala is just another example. A great mystery set in a small-ish town in Ireland. Told from all different perspectives all from sympathetic and relatable characters with full personalities. The story is pretty wild and always keeps you guessing too. Just a blast to read and figure out what’s going on, and lots of complex characters you both love and hate getting to know.
2. There Was Nothing You Could Do: Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA” and the End of the Heartland – Steven Hyden – If you are a music nerd this is a must-read book. It’s so different from just a biography or memoir of a certain period of a person’s life – it’s a full analysis of the importance of his work, including what it was influenced by and how it influenced culture afterwards. The author is speaking the language that I feel like I speak when talking about an artist I love, going off on passionate tangents about how powerful music is and how much it has affected society at large and himself personally. In a time with a lot of political unrest, it was really interesting to look at figure like Bruce Springsteen in the 80s who was seen as one of the last artists who could really honestly stand in front of the biggest crowds in the world and sing songs in earnest about wanting what’s best for America – without dividing the two. It’s something we just can’t really have today and exploring what that means through Bruce’s legacy and the other artists of the time just totally lit up my love for music in general.
1. The Glass Castle – Jeannette Walls – There’s something so incredible to have a wild real-life story but also the perfect set of skills and perspective to tell it, and that’s exactly what Jeannette Walls did with this memoir. As you’re reading this story it’s crazy to think that the author actually lived it. And it’s a story from a part of America that you usually don’t see represented in literature, especially right from the source. What really blew me away though is Walls perspective on her upbringing. What most of us would describe as a horrible, traumatizing, heartbreaking childhood – she remembers quite fondly. It would have been so easy for her to talk about growing up in poverty with a mentally ill mother and alcoholic father and use that to gain sympathy and take a traditional route to a sad sap “I made it out of there” book – but instead she explains the love she had for these flawed people. How much she and her family enjoyed and made the most out of what they had. Although it was hard, she seemed to take a lot of the lessons her crazy life and crazy family taught her to heart and is grateful for them. I feel like the best thing a book can do is totally change your worldview and this really impacted mine. In a world that feels totally black and white sometimes and wants you to be judgmental of people from a certain class, mental state, or even region of the country this book asks you to consider everyone as an equal human being. It’s beautiful.
There you have it folks! Tell me what I missed or what you agree with! God bless ya if ya made it this far! Thanks!
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