2024: Best and Worst of the Year Awards
As we turn the final page of our 2024 calendars and head off into 2025, it’s time to take one last look back at the year that was and hand out some much deserved Best (and Worst) Awards!
Movies
It was an up and down year for movies for yours truly. The highs were sky high. The lows were oh so low. I concentrated most of my movie viewing time on recent releases. And it’s from amongst these newer films that I’ll crown the best film of 2024. That honor goes to a movie that feels as relevant as ever, a movie that is both purposeful and thought-inspiring.
Best Movie of 2024: Civil War
Writer-director Alex Garland’s movies have been somewhat hit or miss for me, but Civil War is his best movie since Ex Machina. It might not be an easy watch at times, but Civil War is an all-around fantastic film.
Of course, I didn’t just watch movies from the past few years in 2024. In the early months of the year, I wrapped up the Reviewing the Best Movies Ever Made series that I began in 2023. Also, in October, in honor of Halloween, I watched some supposedly spooky movies (to see just how spooky they seem today). These projects led to me watching (and in some cases re-watching) other superb films.
I’m a tough critic though when it comes to cinema. Over the entire year, I only rated six films an 8.5/10 or higher. I think it’s worth giving them their due here.
Best Movies Jeff Watched in 2024
The Silence of the Lambs (1991): 10/10
Civil War (2024): 9.5/10
In the Mood for Love (2000): 9.5/10
The Promised Land (2023): 9.5/10
A Royal Affair (2012): 8.5/10
Anatomy of a Fall (2023): 8.5/10
But for all of the good, there was no shortage of clunkers. I have to give the award for the biggest stinker of 2024, despite some solid competition, to a movie that is both simply awful and also encapsulates everything wrong with Hollywood today.
Worst Movie of 2024: Blink Twice
Blink Twice is the directorial debut of Zoë Kravitz, and that makes sense since this movie would never have been made if not for nepotism. It’s a movie that tries to have a point while at the same time being a colorful, fun film. It’s fails miserably at both goals. Throw in awful acting and horrible pacing and you’ve got the worst film of 2024.
Somewhat surprisingly, a couple of the worst movies I saw were from the Reviewing the Best Movies Ever Made project. In total, seven movies scored a 3/10 or lower. Let’s call them out here so that you can avoid them.
Worst Movies Jeff Watched in 2024 (Ordered by how much Jeff disliked them)
Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975): 1/10
Blink Twice (2024): 2/10
A Quiet Place: Day One (2024): 2/10
Lawrence of Arabia (1962): 2.5/10
The Beekeeper (2024): 3/10
Alien: Romulus (2024): 3/10
Tokyo Story (1953): 3/10
When it comes to disappointments, there were quite a few movies that let me down this past year. For me, the award for most disappointment movie goes to a film that’s not bad, but that was a big letdown since I liked the film that preceded it so much.
Most Disappointing Movie of 2024: Dune: Part Two
I loved 2021’s Dune and was looking forward to Part Two. While the look of the movie is outstanding, the story is just alright and the pacing is a bit too slow.
Most Disappointing Movie of 2024 Runner-Up: MaXXXine
I really, really enjoyed the first two movies in Ti West’s X trilogy, X and Pearl. MaXXXine is nowhere close to those films in terms of quality. While Dune: Part Two is disappointing but still not a bad movie, MaXXXine is a really below average movie overall. It’s a disappointing end to an otherwise enjoyable trio of films.
Just as there were disappointments, there were also a few pleasant surprises. In part because of it’s awful title, I expected the movie that takes home the next award to be one that I definitely would not enjoy.
Most Pleasantly Surprising Movie of 2024: My Old Ass
My Old Ass is a heartfelt, coming-of-age drama that is far better than its silly title suggests. The movie is well-acted and has a lot of heart. Just ignore the awful title and give it a try.
TV
It wasn’t a great year for me in terms of finding great TV shows. In past versions of this yearly post, I awarded Best Show to programs that I’d rated a perfect 10/10, Andor in 2022 and A Small Light in 2023. This year, no series I watched graded higher than an 8/10. As such, I’ll be awarding this honor to the one of those scorers that I enjoyed the most.
Best Show of 2024: The Penguin
The Penguin offers a more realistic take on one of Batman’s most underappreciated villains. Colin Farrell is fantastic as the lead on the show, while Cristin Milioti, who plays antagonist Sofia Falcone, is equally impressive. As far as shows or movies based off of comic book characters, The Penguin is by far the best piece of media that’s come out recently.
It was a close race for the worst show I watched in 2024. So close that through a loophole I will be able to award each of the two contenders with an award to denote their awfulness.
Worst Show of 2024: Fargo Season 5
Some early seasons of Fargo are great black comedy crime shows that feels worthy of having the same title of the 1996 film. Fargo Season 5 is not such a show. Without a doubt this season o Fargo is awful TV, managing to be both goofy and zero fun at the same time.
Worst Show Jeff Watched in 2024 (that didn’t come out in 2024): Outer Range Season 1
I watched the first season of Outer Range (which originally aired in 2022) with the plan to watch Season 2, which released this year, afterwards. Well, that will not be happening. If you’re looking for a dull, snoozer of a series to watch, look no further than this first year of the blandest Western ever made.
Video Games
Last year, I added a Video Games section to What Jeff Watched, and the games I played in 2023 did not disappoint. The award for Best Game that year went to Sea of Stars, but The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Hogwarts Legacy, were also fantastic titles.
Unfortunately, I didn’t really play any truly amazing games in 2024. I played Pokémon Ruby early on in the year, and that was pretty good (it’s your basic Pokémon game), but I’d prefer to give this award to something more recently released.
Best Game: Star Ocean: The Second Story R
Though I didn’t enjoy it as much as any of the titles I mentioned playing in 2023, Star Ocean: The Second Story R takes the award in 2024. This game is a remaster of an RPG initially released in 1998 (and that’s what the titular R stand for). It has some fun characters, and though the story drags a little bit later on, I’d still definitely recommend it.
What Jeff Read
It’s hard to believe, but I can actually read books. To showcase this ability, I added a What Jeff Read section to the site to focus on books and graphic novels. At the start of the year, I read more standalone stories, but as the months went by, I found myself becoming more interested in multi-part stories. My favorite work that I read this year was such a work.
What Jeff Read Best Book: The Green Bone Saga by Fonda Lee
Fonda Lee’s trilogy crosses into multiple genres. There are definitely a few fantasy elements, but mostly I would classify the books as a family crime drama. The three books tell a complete story that covers multiple generations of the family we focus on, and the series is nothing short of fantastic.
What Jeff Read Best Graphic Novel: Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees by Patrick Horvath
I didn’t read any graphic novels in 2024 that I was blown away by. Of the comics I did read, Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees was my favorite. Horvath, who both wrote and illustrated the graphic novel, has a pleasant, fairytale-esque art style that sharply contrasts with the brutally dark, serial killer subject matter of the book. It’s a solid 8/10 book that’s noteworthy for its uniqueness.
Want to take a journey into the past? Check out past versions of this awards post!