My 2024 Year-End Lists

Movies, series, books, music, and everything entertainment.

With my daughter about 20 months old, the minutes spared to watch TV is a rarity. It typically means a trade between sleep or escapism for relaxation.

Compiling a year-end list is a fun way to look back on how the entertainment and books consumed may have had a heavy influence on me. Last year a theme that emerged was asian themed shows, while this year’s theme is a guilt free enjoyment of simple male-driven action flicks made well.

Check out my previous years’ reviews: 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023.

Best Movies:

1. Dune Part 2
2. Tetris
3. Civil War
4. Deadpool & Wolverine, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, Alien Romulus
5. Transformer One

Dune Part 2 being my fav movie should be the least surprising thing ever. I caught Tetris while sick on the couch and it was a fun, incredibly true story that left me super satisfied. Civil War felt heavy but also something that needed to be said on film. A three-way tie between franchise sequels wasn’t life-changing but served its purpose of popcorn-movie spectacles. Finally, Transformer One was a surprise hit, full of heart and story.

Action Fun:

1. Equalizer 3
2. Road House
3. Hit Man
4. Carry On
5. Rebel Ridge

A honorable mention category this year is Action Fun, where the action took center stage, not the story. From Denzel’s still-got-it to Jake Gylennhael’s fight bod, to Glen Powell’s magnetic performance. Carry On, despite a tad formulaic, had all the right moves and great performances by Taron Egerton and Jason Bateman. Rebel Ridge did have a story that got the blood pumping and looking forward to what Aaron Pierre brings to the Green Lantern Corp.

Most Disappointing:

1. Rebel Moon (Netflix)
2. The Marvels
3. DC movies — Aquaman: Lost Kingdom of Atlantis and Blue Beetle
4. Monkey Man
5. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

Another category I couldn’t help adding was the movies that left me so disappointed. Time is precious and I felt bad that these movies seemed to waste it for me. Rebel Moon lacked the innovative action sequences that Zach Synder should’ve delivered. The Marvels had an utterly forgettable villain. The DC movies were too formulaic. Monkey Man substituted action with a shaky cam effect, leaving me literally disoriented. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes was a tv series-level story, wasted on the big screen.

Shows

1. Dark Matter (Apple+)
2. Shōgun (FX)
3. X-Men’97
4. 3 Body Problem (Netflix)
5. Silo (HBO S2) — Unfinished
6. House of Dragons (HBO S2)
7. Slow Horses (Apple+ S1, S2, S3, S4 — Unfinished)
8. Only Murder in the Apartments (S3, S4)
9. Arcane (Netflix S2)
10. Dune Prophecy (HBO) — Unfinished

What the movies lacked, the TV shows this year really picked up on! Fantastic shows like Dark Matter blew my mind and Shōgun made me want to play chess. X-Men’97 packed an emotional wallop and 3 Body Problem, despite a slow start, brought on the gravitas by the end. I went ahead and included Silo and Dune Prophecy despite the show’s season not yet being finished.

Books

1. Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence by Max Tegmark
2. Make It So by Patrick Stewart
3. Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond
4. Be Useful: Seven Tools for Life by Arnold Schwarzenegger
5. Slow Productivity by Cal Newport
6. Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution by Cat Bohannon
7. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
8. Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
9. Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI by Ethan Mollick
10. Parenting Getting It Right by Andy Stanley and Sandra Stanley

Of the almost 30 books read this year, these top 10 made quite the impact, both intellectually and emotionally. A couple autobiographies/self help books by Patrick Stewart and Arnold Schwarzenegger provided huge entertainment value and some classic life lessons. Then the power books of Guns, Germs, and Steel, Life 3.0, Slow Productivity, and Eve dived deep into the evolution of humans and the science that backs up our to live productivity in alignment with ourselves. And then a couple great fictions to change things up and inspire.

Music

1. Fortnite by Taylor Swift
2. Too Sweet by Hozier
3. Rockstar by Lisa
4. Mamushi by Megan Thee Stallion