Time to conclude our yearly wrap-up and move onto the shows and movies that I watched this year! As before, they might not have actually come out this year, I just simply need to have watched them for the first time (or experienced a transformative re-watch) in 2024.
Let’s get into it!
(Also, because of the goofy release schedule of Cobra Kai’s Sixth Season, I’m just not going to bother putting it on a list until it’s done. Rest assured that it’s quite good!)
Honorable Mentions: The Acolyte, Agatha All Along, Jack Reacher (2012 Film)
10) Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows
In lieu of Benedict Cumberbatch’s version of the Sherlock Holmes mythos, I think the two Robert Downey Jr movies tend to go overlooked. They’ve got such an impeccable sense of style and charm that is wholly unique to them, given that other Sherlock show focuses around a more modern retelling. I’d seen the first film in this duology a while ago, but finally got around to watching the sequel. It’s so much fun! There’s some really brilliant moments of action and intrigue that I really enjoyed here, and the film also benefits from having a much better antagonist than the rather weak one from the first movie. This is a super fun flick that I would highly recommend you check out if you haven’t already, even if only for the fantastic running-through-the-woods scene.
9) The Dragon Prince (Seasons 1-3)
After years of telling myself to give this show a try, I finally started working my way through Netflix’s The Dragon Prince, though at this moment I’m still only halfway through. Yes, let’s clear the air here: the first season or two are pretty rough with animation. Honestly, it’s like the exact opposite of RWBY, wherein RWBY’s first seasons had rough visual quality, but excellent animation movement. The Dragon Prince looks quite appealing, but character movement is pretty iffy for a bit. Still, it clears up, allowing one to much more easily appreciate just how fun and bingeable this show is. It’s very ATLA-coded (not least of which because the main character shares a voice actor with Sokka), but that’s not a bad thing! It’s a fun and engaging show with some enjoyable characters and neat worldbuilding. I can’t wait to watch more.
8) 3 Body Problem
Similar to how I almost forgot I ever even played Unicorn Overlord this year, I almost forgot I even watched 3 Body Problem oh-so-many months ago. The closest thing to so-called ‘prestige television’ I watched this year, 3 Body Problem still is one of the best shows of the year, hands down. It’s shorter season and more heady/heavy subject matter might mean that it loses out to others on this list from a pure standpoint of enjoyment and rewatchability, but seriously don’t pass this show up if you haven’t seen it yet. It’s some fantastically written and acted sci-fi goodness, with a healthy dose of drama and politicking to entice people who may be put off by spacey shenanigans. It’s got some thrilling edge-of-your-seat moments, and I’m super excited for when season two finally comes out so I can devour-and-obsess over it too!
7) Godzilla: Minus One
I’ve always found Godzilla as a character pretty cool, but the movies, shows, and all the other extended universe stuff never really appealed to me (I guess I’m just not a big Kaiju fan). So it was actually with a little bit of hesitance that I finally watched this film. If you’re out of the loop…uh, yeah, it’s awesome. And while the mindbogglingly great CGI for Godzilla is a highlight, and the action scenes and unexpected little humor bits area nice touch, the clear draw of this film is just how emotionally investing it is. Credit where credit is due, I’d heard before that Japanese-made Godzilla films have actually good human stories compared to American-made ones, but I was still blown away by just how wonderfully written the human heart of this film is. I bet you’d never even considered crying during a Godzilla film before, and I also bet that you absolutely will if and when you see this movie!
6) The Matrix Reloaded
In yet another case of ‘seriously, never listen to the internet‘ I finally watched the sequels to The Matrix, and holy cow is Reloaded incredible! This film trilogy is a classic case of an audience trying to steal creative control away from the original creators by insisting that their own headcanons and ideas are what the series was ‘really about’, and so when a sequel that doesn’t align with that comes out, suddenly the creators have ‘betrayed their fans‘, or what have you. Regardless, Reloaded is a superbly entertaining film that expands upon all of the ideas and worldbuilding elements of the original while layering in one jaw-dropping action set piece after another. So much entertaining action in this movie, it’s been a long time since I’ve sat with a big dumb smile on my face for so much of a film’s runtime. Super enjoyable film that I highly recommend to any lovers of sci-fi, action, martial arts, or stubborn OG Matrix enjoyers who have held back from giving this film a try.
5) Fallout
Though I’m miffed it won the Game Award for Best Adaptation over Arcane, Fallout is still genuinely a really solid show. Honestly, it’s arguably one of the best literal adaptations of source material in the gaming world, so I see why it won. Like, I haven’t even played a Fallout game before and this show still feels like a new Fallout game but in television form. It’s insane the level of detail and polish that this show had in terms of evoking the world, themes, and consistency of the video game series. But, like any good video game adaptation, it doesn’t just rely on fandom praise and empty references.
It’s a very well written and acted show that manages to balance a plethora of varying characters, motivations, and plotlines, and rolls it all into one conclusively satisfying product. Everyone gets a moment to shine, every plot beat gets time to develop, and the core tone isn’t lost even amongst some silly shenanigans on one end of the spectrum, and brutal violence on the other. This is another show that I just can’t help but recommend to basically anybody, because there really is something for everyone to love her. Fallout enthusiasts, sci-fi/survival fans, intrigue and mystery lovers, Ella Purnell appreciators…it’s got it all!
4) Hazbin Hotel
This show is fantastic, despite why the extremely loud and extremely annoying vocal minority tries to say (an unfortunate side-effect of Hazbin Hotel being one of the lucky few indie animations to get picked up by a major studio, thus sparking cries of jealousy and misplaced hate). For such a simple premise (a hotel opening up in hell that tries to rehabilitate sinners), it really leans all in to its zany potential and inspired world-and-character design to bring forth some fantastic moments. Great animation too, which really lends a lot of charm to the show. Also, quite funny!
But, of course, I’d be remiss to fail to mention the show’s real highlight, which is in the music numbers. Hazbin Hotel is a musical, and by golly does it feel exactly like a high-quality Broadway production. The music composition is excellent, the lyrics are fantastic, and the vocal performances are amazing. You wouldn’t think a show like this would produce some of the best musical theater songs you’ve ever heard, but it sure does, and pretty effortlessly too! The entire soundtrack is amazing, so honestly even if you just go out and give the soundtrack a listen, I’ll still feel like I did my job in trying to sell this experience to you!
3) A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder
Don’t you love it when you’re a fan of a book, and then a visual adaptation of it (whether show or movie) comes out, and you also end up loving that? It’s awesome to have different two ways to enjoy a story you love! Some more stubborn book lovers may try to claim that this is a phenomenon that doesn’t happen very often, but for someone who often has a more open mind on these sorts of circumstances, I get to enjoy this quite a lot! And, like I talked about in my dedicated article on this show from a few weeks back, this television adaptation nails the story of the novel in its own unique way!
Seeing one of my favorite YA novels come to life like this was incredible, and I binged nearly the entire show in a single day simply because of how hooked I was from start-to-finish. The style, the acting, the (most surprisingly of all) awesome soundtrack? Everything was on point, and even though I knew the twists and turns that were coming I still eagerly watched every single minute with a full smile. I can only imagine that complete newbies to the source material would enjoy this show even more, which is why it gets another wholehearted recommendation from me. Mystery lovers, please give this show a watch when you get a chance. Otherwise, main heroine Pip (pictured below) will keep staring at you judgmentally!
2) Stranger Things
Fine, fine. Though I never said it was ‘bad‘, I did specifically avoid watching Stranger Things because it was so popular (but also not directly up my alley), making it a misplaced sort of protest thing. But I finally watched it, and yes, it’s awesome. I can very easily see why it took over the world like it did (unlike a certain other bafflingly popular show I’m watching right now at the behest of a sibling of mine…). Stranger Things really just has that secret sauce of being nostalgic enough to bait in parents, but modern and popular enough to hook younger generations, and then just being so overall well produced, written, and acted that you stick with it!
One of the biggest strengths of Stranger Things is probably its cast. There’s a lot of characters, but all of them are so varied and unique that you undoubtedly end up with your own favorites to latch onto and eagerly cheer for in each new season (unless you’re a poor soul who latched onto Barb in early season one, RIP). The show does a really good job at giving its cast a time to shine, even as the stakes continuously rise, and the grotesque beasts from the Upside-Down get more and more twisted and dangerous. As we head into the final season, I’m left wondering how it’ll all turn out, but I definitely have faith in the writers and the cast by this point!
1) Arcane (Season Two)
I mean, there was no contest. My apologies to every other entry on this list, but releasing (or being watched by me) in the same year as Arcane’s second season was a death knell even before this season came out. I knew in my very soul that the people who created the absolute masterpiece that was Arcane’s first season would be able to do it again with the second season, and I was absolutely proven right by the final product. Season two is every bit as perfect as the first season, making it’s placement at this spot on my list a foregone inevitability.
I just recently did my article reviewing this season, so I don’t want to repeat myself too much, but really what else can I even say? It’s the most gorgeous animation to ever exist in a show (or even in any movie), the voice acting is as top-notch and invigorating as always, the soundtrack is somehow even more hype than the first season’s, the action scenes are mind-blowing, and the writing continues to blow the competition out of the water through sheer mastery of the craft of storytelling. You’re hooked from the opening seconds, and you stay glued to the screen even long after the final credits roll, as the conclusive ending to Arcane sits with you for a good long while.
There’s never going to be another show like this, and that really does make me sad, upon reflection. Yes, the company behind Arcane is already prepping to do other shows in the universe of League of Legends, and I have full confidence that those shows will be phenomenal. But nothing is ever going to be able to directly replicate the magic that Arcane had…so I guess the only recourse is to spend the rest of time itself re-watching these two seasons over and over! Sounds like a plan to me!
But hey, that’s just my opinion!
The Contrarian Corner 