2024 Top Fives

Rankings can be nonsense, and if I were to go through my lists of stuff on another day it might shake out differently, but hey, let's go for it.

Film

5 - Self Reliance (2023; Directed by Jake Johnson)

A comedy about an aimless guy who gets involved in a life and death gameshow on the dark web. Variations of this premise have been used for thrillers and horror films, but it worked really well as a comedy. Written by, directed by, and starring Jake Johnson, who is always enjoyable. Quite silly at times. I really liked it.

4 - The Fountainhead (1949; Directed by King Vidor)

I'm surprised to have a film written by Ayn Rand on this list, but here we are. It's bonkers. This movie has a capital M Message and is very direct about it. People have intense conversations about their principles repeatedly and take bizarre actions to uphold them. It's a real experience - I haven't seen a film like it before. My wife and I often talk about it when some architectural detail reminds one of us of Roark, the architect played by Gary Cooper who goes to extreme lengths not to design boring buildings.

3 - Unfrosted (2024; Directed by Jerry Seinfeld)

The (fictionalised) inside story of Kelloggs creating Pop Tarts. I laughed so hard at the character being buried with "full cereal honours." Very fun.

2 - The Holdovers (2023; Alexander Payne)

A story about a troubled boy at a New England boarding school forming a bond with an antisocial teacher during the Christmas break. This film has tonnes of charm, wit, and heart. It should become a classic.

1 - Godzilla Minus One (2023; Directed by Takashi Yamazaki)

A film about post-war Japan and trying to rebuild after losing everything, both as individuals and as communities. The performances are great, the emotions are strong, and Godzilla is on form as a force of nature.

Honourable Mentions:

~ The Fall Guy (2024; David Leitch) - A bundle of fun. Ryan Gosling at his best.

~ Please Don't Destroy: The Treasure of Foggy Mountain (2023; Paul Briganti) - Extremely silly comedy about friends looking for treasure. 

~ The Beast (2023; Bertrand Bonello) - Art house sci fi about a treatment that expels trauma from past lives. Goes to unexpected places.

~ Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (2023; Jeff Rowe and Kyler Spears) - A fresh and very funny take on the familiar concept.

Books

5 - Foundation and Earth by Isaac Asimov (1986)

The Foundation series is a playground of ideas. This is the fifth book, and its territory is quite different than the first, though there's a clear thread tying them together. I dropped away from the series for years, after not enjoying the third book, but these later additions (written 30 years later) are great. There's a real sense of mystery and exploration.

4 - Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner (2024)

3 - Tom Lake by Ann Patchett (2023)

This is a Covid novel. Three adult children have come to live with their parents in rural Michigan during the pandemic. Together they harvest the cherries on the family farm, and the mom tells her three daughters an extended version of some family history they know snippets of. Although there are some traumatic elements, the story is infused with love and I found it a comforting and heart-warming read. 

2 - American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld (2008)

A novel inspired by the life of the former first lady Laura Bush. The names are changed and it is fictionalised, but the germ of the idea is that Laura Bush seems to have had traits and beliefs that don't gel with George W Bush and the legacy of his presidency. It's a fascinating and credible speculation on how a person can make choices and move further and further along a path without really setting out in that direction. It's compelling writing with characters that have stayed with me.

1 - Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel (2009)

A masterpiece, based on the life of Thomas Cromwell, advisor to Henry VIII. This first book in the series covers the period where Henry breaks with the Catholic Church and remarries for the first time. There's so much going on here, in both the story and how it is told. Oddly, I would recommend this to people who enjoy space opera or epic fantasy, because it fully transports you to another time and place and the scope is grand.

Honourable Mentions:

~ The Mercy of Gods by James S. A. Corey (2024)

The first book in a new series by The Expanse guys. I'm on board!

~ The Three Musketeers by Alexander Dumas with Auguste Maquet, translated by Richard Pevear (1844, translation 2006)

I've not finished this yet. It's great fun.

Comics

5 - Alien: What If Carter Burke had Lived? (2024)

Writers: Paul & Leon Reiser, Adam F Goldberg, Hans Rodionoff, Brian Volk-Weiss

Artist: Guiu Villanova

Color artist: Yen Nitro

Letterer: Clayton Cowles

So, 38 years after the film Aliens apparently it is time to tell the story of what would have happened if Paul Reiser's character hadn't died. It is oddly comedic, lost of workplace humour mixed in with rampaging xenomorphs.

4 - Seeking: Dad 2.0 (2015)

Text: Gwedoline Raisson

Artwork: Magali Le Huche

Translation: Joseph Laredo

The story of a single mother trying to deal with a rubbish ex, her career, judgemental friends, celebrity mothers talking about how easy it all is, and dating. Nice comic, quite fun.

3 - Once and future (2019)

Written by: Kieron Gillen

Illustrated by: Dan Mora

Colored by: Tamra Bonvillain

Lettered by: Ed Dukeshire

A group of far-right British nationalists magically ressurect King Arthur. He then kills most of them because they have Saxon blood, and sets about reclaiming Britain from invaders. A grandmother in the know, and her confused grandson have to fight back. The concept, the art, and the storytelling are all great.

2 - Thorgal: The Betrayed Sorceress (1980, translation 2018)

Artwork: G. Rosinski

Script: J. Van Hamme

Translator: Jerome Saincantin

I enjoyed this so much. A classic sword and sorcery adventure. I'm looking forward to reading more in the series.

1 - Giant Days (2020)

Written by: John Allison 

Art by: Max Sarin

Colors by: Whitney Cogar

Letters by: Jim Campbell

Honourable Mentions:

~ Spy × Family Vol 2 (2019)

Story and Art by: Tatsuyo Endo

Translation: Casey Loe

Ridiculous and fun. Super clean art.

TV

I'll keep this brief because this is a pretty long post!

5 - X-Men '97 (2024)

More than just a nostalgia buzz, this is an improvement and maturation of the original 90s X-Men cartoon.

4 - The Diplomat (2024; season 2)

The story is good, but what makes this shine is the characters and the central relationship between the US ambassador to the UK and her husband.

3 - Legend of the Galactic Heroes (2018; seasons 1 and 2)

A great anime. Lots of ships and lots of shipping.

2 - Killjoys (2015; seasons 1 - 3)

I will have to write a post about Killjoys. It is an underappreciated gem.

1 - The Devil's Plan (2023)

I love this show so much. Anyone who enjoys strategic games or puzzles should find something to enjoy here. 

Honourable Mentions:

~ Scavengers Reign (2023)

Creepy bugs and plants terrorize some unfortunate humans. 

~ Attack on Titan (2023; The final season)

This would be worthy of a post some time. I spent a lot of time with these characters and the end was satisfying, but something was maybe amiss in my overall experience with the show.

~ Celebrity Race around the world (2024)

A surprisingly fun and heart-warming show. The relationships - between couples, a father and son, and two cousins - make it worth watching. Also shows some beautiful parts of South America.

RPGs I played or ran

I'm going to list these alphabetically rather than ranking them. It feels weird to rank creative projects when friends are making them!

Cairn is great. I'd recommend it as an entry into the hobby. It's totally free, has accessible rules, loads of resources, and a welcoming community. This year I played in a Cairn one shot which was fun, and also I'm playing it solo and recording it here:

This link is to the free two-page edition of Cthulhu Dark. There's a larger book, which I haven't read, but which a friend was running our game from. I've ran a one shot in 2023 with the two-page version and it is super easy to pick up and play with. Very well suited to horror stories. The current short campaign I'm playing in is a prewritten module set in Arkham University between the world wars. An academic has died in mysterious circumstances and his papers (relating to historic witch trials) have been stolen. The mystery is great, and there are some creepy elements. I'd like to get more experience with this kind of roleplaying.

This links to the free quickstart PDF for the official Dune RPG. (The quickstart has enough to play - it doesn't include the combat rules, but you can just handle that with the standard rolls instead.) I have the physical book (unusual for me, with RPGs, but I'm a Dune fan). This year I ran a short campaign with a session zero and three sessions charting a crisis in a Minor House. I learned a lot and gained confidence running something in quite a different type of system than what I'm used to. The story was pretty satisfying. I might write it up some time next year.

Shawn Tomkin has carved out a great corner of the tabletop RPG space with his Ironsworn games. After listening to a Starforged solo play podcast (Errant Adventures) I bought the game and tried it. (The original Ironsworn is totally free and worth trying if you are curious about solo or GM-less RPGs.) It's a great system, with a great balance between creative freedom and narrative guide rails. I played solo this year and also one co-op session. Both were fun and I'd be happy to play more.

I have had the best time with this game in 2024. I found a new group to play with, and what began as a short campaign has grown into the most successful campaign I've been involved in. We're 20+ sessions in and the enthusiasm is still high. I'll write about it again. I love this game.

Podcasts

5 - Normal Gossip

Stories of normal people getting into silly situations. There's an episode called Forbidden Feline Fanfiction which is fantastic.

4 - Between Two Cairns

My go to podcast for an easy listen. The hosts review OSR adventures. It's fun and I enjoy mulling over the RPG ideas that they discuss.

3 - Off Panel

A great comic podcast. I got into it later in the year so I haven't listened to too many episodes. David Harper is a great interviewer.

2 - Errant Adventures

I'm overdo sending an email to Steve Morrison to share some positivity for making this. It's a labour of love from one individual and he's a great GM and ambassador for the hobby.

1 - Ain't Slayed Nobody

The (ongoing) series using The Between game is a great actual play. The performers are great. The game brings out the story and doesn't get in the way (I am very much done with actual plays that feature a lot of detailed combat mechanics). I started listening just to get more familiar with the game, but now I'm totally into the story.

Conclusion

Lots of things are good and it is good to enjoy things and think about them :p