In January, I biked some 31 kilometers of the Angkor archeological grounds in Siem Reap. Two days earlier, I was at the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh, silently cursing the Filipino boomers and Gen X-ers on the "right side of history" for failing to properly hold the Marcoses to account. Outside of Ho Chi Minh City a few days later, I found myself wearing one of those hats from 'Miss Saigon' as part of the tourist-trap Mekong River Delta boat ride I'd cluelessly signed up for.
In April, I ate those heavenly Bakehouse cinnamon rolls in Hong Kong, hanami-ed the shit out of Osaka and Kanazawa, wore a kimono for a couple of hours in Kyoto, went onsen-hopping in Kinosaki, biked the pine-laden Amanohashidate causeway. Then, turned 32. In July, ticked off some items from my bucket list for Europe: the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb altarpiece in Ghent, the Bruges belfry, the Eiffel Tower and Montmarte, Da Vinci's Virgin of the Rocks and Palma Vecchio's Adoration of the Shepherds with a Donor in The Louvre. Strolled the banks of the Seine, spent a golden sunset in the Hall of Mirrors in Versailles, saw Seurat's Sunday in the Park croquetons in the Orsay. Listened to a touring youth choir in the Chartres cathedral. Got properly stoned in Amsterdam. Beheld Fabritius' The Goldfinch in The Hague's Mauritshuis and marveled at the fascinating architectural landscape of Rotterdam. Also finished my MA and started my PhD. Then the blur that was the year's last quarter: koyo peeping and my first solo hike in Nikko. 'Sunday' at the Sydney Opera House and 'Jesus Christ Superstar' at the Capitol. My maternal grandmother's funeral. More-than-friend-ing one of my oldest friends. Such is life.
All of that to say, I saw only 146 films in 2024, according to my Letterboxd--the downward trend continues--and not counting TV series. For accountability: I hereby declare this post to be the end of my brief life as an awards season completist. Thanks for reading! Now go live.
1. 'Somebody Somewhere' Season 3 (HBO; created by Hannah Bos & Paul Thureen)
I'm not sure this is the best thing I watched in 2024. What I'm sure of is that it's the one thing I want to remember the year for, if I could pick only one. In its final season, this miracle of a show became a much-needed appeal to choose love, always, and kindness, always. To love someone, this show asserts, is to completely come to terms with one's self--and to share that healed self wholly with another. In the end, we have only our family, our friends, the friends who become family, the small connections we make and sustain, our town, our neighborhood, our small place in the world--all the things that bring us joy and ease our sadnesses little by little.
2. 'Baby Reindeer' (Netflix; created by Richard Gadd)
Nothing but admiration and respect for Gadd and Jessica Gunning. Would make for a terrific, necessary triptych with 'I May Destroy You' (2020) and 'Procession' (2021).
3. 'The Zone of Interest' (dir. Jonathan Glazer)
Free Palestine!
4. 'Interview with the Vampire' Season 2 (AMC; Rolin Jones, showrunner)
The gayest show of 2024 also happened to be its most romantic. So unserious, so theatrical (a compliment), so histrionic (an even bigger compliment), and chock-full of hot, beautiful people. "Siri, pause."
5. 'Conclave' (dir. Edward Berger)
Someone wrote on Letterboxd that this film has the best third-act use of a photocopier since 'Mean Girls', and honestly, I can't argue against that. When John Lithgow said he will pretend the conversation never took place, and Ralph Fiennes replied, "But it has taken place!," I felt the quiver in Fiennes' voice in my bones. Fiennes here is literally me during Gawad Buhay deliberations.
6. 'Pachinko' Season 2 (Apple TV+; created by Soo Hugh)
To appropriate Roxana Hadadi, a show that fully grasps how the only way one can endure amidst the cumulative largeness of "family, history, war, culture, capitalism, nationalism, debt, love, [and] faith" is "to understand how small [one] might be in the face of all that." Season 1 made me cry over rice; this season made me cry over tofu.
7. 'The Substance' (dir. Coralie Fargeat)
Movies should be fun! And I must say, Margaret Qualley has excellent suturing skills.
8. 'Civil War' (dir. Alex Garland)/ 'Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga' (dir. George Miller)
The two most "movie" movies I saw in 2024: the former a delicious vision of America (and the myth of liberal Western benevolence) shitting itself and finally breaking apart, the latter just kind of insane for how confident it is with its visual language.
9. 'Hacks' Season 3 (Max; created by Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs & Jen Statsky)
A perfect season of television. Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder flawless.
10. 'Ghosts of Kalantiaw' (dir. Chuck Escasa)/ 'Gitling' (dir. Jopy Arnaldo)
Hiligaynon supremacy! (Okay, that's not entirely accurate, but you get what I mean.)
* * * * *
The rest of my 5-star titles, in alphabetical order:
'Didi' (dir. Sean Wang)
Izaac Wang delivers one of the season's best--and most underrated--performances in this exquisite study of all-consuming sadness masquerading as a run-of-the-mill Asian-diaspora-in-America story. So painfully honest, and real, and beautifully unembellished.
'Flow' (dir. Gints Zilbalodis)
Never thought I'd give a capybara entrance applause, but here we are.
'Four Daughters' (dir. Kaouther Ben Hania)
Life becomes a lot less stressful--and makes a lot more sense--I think, when one starts thinking of one's mother as just another 20-something stuck in a middle-aged person's body. Of course, cycles need breaking at some point.
'Godzilla Minus One' (dir. Takashi Yamazaki)
Now this is an action/superhero movie. Ryunosuke Kamiki a star.
'Jerrod Carmichael Reality Show' Season 1 (HBO; dir. Ari Katcher)
This is so good, but also so sick and disturbing, like masturbation done on the world's biggest stage, under the world's brightest lights, with the world's largest audience. For real, though: We all need to learn to care less about what other people think; to give less fucks; to seek approval less.
'Juror #2' (dir. Clint Eastwood)
Just all-around solid filmmaking, like one of those ancient texts done exceedingly well. What a way to go for Eastwood.
'When This Is All Over' (dir. Kevin Mayuga)
The most accurate depiction of Filipino (upper-)middle class apathy I've seen of late, with a scene-stealing turn from Chaye Mogg (giving Poveda/Woodrose realness), and Juan Karlos continuing to prove himself a reliable screen performer.
* * * * *
PLUS--23 other titles worth checking out:
'Abbott Elementary' Season 3 (ABC; created by Quinta Brunson); 'American Fiction' (dir. Cord Jefferson); 'Anora' (dir. Sean Baker); 'Ate Bunso' (dir. Angelica Llanera); 'The Boy and the Heron' (dir. Hayao Miyazaki); 'Challengers' (dir. Luca Guadagnino); 'The Curse' Season 1 (Showtime; created by Nathan Fielder & Benny Safdie); 'Drag Race Philippines' Season 3 (HBO Go/ WOW Presents Plus; dirs. Arnel Natividad & Ice Seguerra); 'English Teacher' Season 1 (FX; created by Brian Jordan Alvarez); 'Fargo' Season 5 (FX; created by Noah Hawley); 'Ghostlight' (dir. Kelly O'Sullivan & Alex Thompson); 'His Three Daughters' (dir. Azazel Jacobs); 'Hito' (dir. Stephen Lopez); 'The Idea of You' (dir. Michael Showalter); 'Io Capitano' (dir. Matteo Garrone); 'Mr. & Mrs. Smith' Season 1 (Amazon Prime Video; Francesca Sloane, showrunner); 'The Old Man and the Pool' (dir. Seth Barrish); 'Nowhere Near' (dir. Miko Revereza); 'The Seed of the Sacred Fig' (dir. Mohammad Rasoulof); 'Thelma' (dir. Josh Margolin); 'Third World Romance' (dir. Dwein Baltazar); 'Tumandok' (dirs. Richard Jeroui Salvadico & Arlie Sweet Sumagaysay); 'Tumatawa Umiiyak' (dir. Che Tagyamon)
* * * * *
Here are 30 of my favorite performances of the year, apart from the ones already mentioned earlier:
1. Tim Bagley ('Somebody Somewhere' Season 3)
2. Penélope Cruz ('Ferrari')
3. Ben Daniels ('Interview with the Vampire' Season 2)
4. Enchong Dee ('Here Comes the Groom')
5. Kirsten Dunst ('Civil War')
6. Mark Eidelstein ('Anora')
7. Maya Erskine ('Mr. & Mrs. Smith' Season 1)
8. Dakota Fanning ('Ripley')
9. Nathan Fielder ('The Curse' Season 1)
10. Ralph Fiennes ('Conclave')
11. Mary Catherine Garrison ('Somebody Somewhere' Season 3)
12. Anne Hathaway ('The Idea of You')
13. Jeff Hiller ('Somebody Somewhere' Season 3)
14. Jung Eun-chae ('Pachinko' Season 2)
15. Karren Karagulian ('Anora')
16. Keith Kupferer ('Ghostlight')
17. Justine Lupe ('Nobody Wants This' Season 1)
18. Patti LuPone ('Agatha All Along')
19. Mikey Madison ('Anora')
20. Lesley Manville ('Disclaimer')
21. Paul Mescal ('All of Us Strangers')
22. Demi Moore ('The Substance')
23. Lupita Nyong'o ('A Quiet Place: Day One')
24. Gabby Padilla ('Gitling')
25. Glen Powell ('Hit Man')
26. Florence Pugh ('We Live in Time')
27. Sebastian Stan ('A Different Man')
28. Kakki Teodoro ('Isang Himala')
29. Zoe Saldaña ('Emilia Pérez')
30. Zendaya ('Challengers')
* * * * *
I have 10 more things to say:
1. The year in musical numbers: 'El Mal' in 'Emilia Pérez' (Saldaña pop-rapping in that red pantsuit? Hot.), and 'Dancing Through Life', the only number that actually improves upon the original in 'Wicked' (Jonathan Bailey and that rotating library!).
2. The music work of 'Io Capitano', alternating between subdued and loud in all the right places, conveying joy or hope or muted terror with simple precision.
3. The sound design of 'The Zone of Interest' is the thing.
4. Kudos to the cinematography, editing, and sound design of 'The Taste of Things' for making me actually hungry while watching this. Two other noteworthy cinematographic works of 2024: the stunning black-and-white photography of 'Ripley' and the sand-covered wastelands of 'Dune: Part Two' (those floating mercenaries!).
5. Best opening title sequence ever: 'Pachinko' Season 2! Never skipped this every episode.
6. Best animation I saw in 2024 was from 'The Wild Robot'--those flying geese turning into specks of autumn leaves? Gorgeous.
7. At the start of 'The Substance', an entire career--and Hollywood's habit of discarding its women--told through a single time-lapse of a (fake) Walk of Fame star.
8. Opposite examples of evoking horror: The opening sequence in 'A Quiet Place: Day One', plunging us into Lupita's disoriented POV amid the smoke-filled chaos of the initial NYC attacks; and episode 3 of 'Pachinko' Season 2--airplanes in the provincial sky, fires erupting in the distance.
9. Speaking of perspective, 'When This Is All Over' really nailed the privileged druggie's perspective, thanks to incisive editing and cinematography.
10. The Patti LuPone-centric episode in 'Agatha All Along' was an all-timer in the Marvel canon. And 'Drag Race Philippines' Season 3 gave us the best snatch game in global 'Drag Race' history.
* * * * *
Finally, my favorite non-2023/24 titles that I saw for the first time in 2024:
'All About My Mother' (1999, dir. Pedro Almodóvar)
'BPM (Beats per Minute)' (2017, dir. Robin Campillo)
'Election' (1999, dir. Alexander Payne)
'E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial' (1982, dir. Steven Spielberg)
'My Best Friend's Wedding' (1997, dir. P. J. Hogan)
'A Prophet' (2009, dir. Jacques Audiard)
* * * * *
