The State of the Art: Television 2024

Playing catch-up with TV has never been more complex. Attempting to keep pace with currently-airing shows, while simultaneously trying to find time for shows from the past that I haven't been able to get to yet would be challenging enough, but then you also have to consider that there are shows I watch by myself, shows I watch with my husband, and shows I watch with my friends, which all have to be watched at particular times. I've officially given up on trying to get to everything, and sadly, there are tons of critically-acclaimed or friend-approved shows that'll just never get a slot on the packed schedule.

Fortunately, several of the shows I did make time for this year were terrific. In fact, everything that got a grade in the A range is a 2024 show. Also, a lot of the shows I watched flipped the script in interesting ways. A sitcom that's actually a tense drama. A murder mystery that's actually a comedy. A cartoon with extremely adult themes. A story about the frustrations with bureaucracy that's absurd and surreal. And sitting atop the pile, a show that managed to be heartfelt, funny, cute, serious, had unsurpassed world-building, and also...made me hungry.  

I don't watch a lot of anime, so Delicious in Dungeon came out of nowhere. Ostensibly, it's about a very RPG-ish party that explores a local dungeon in the usual hopes of treasure. Their motives change when one of their members gets taken by a dragon, and the rest have to (literally) dig deeper to get her back. Along the way, they meet a new member who introduces the concept of staving off hunger by eating the monsters they defeat. Half D&D, half Julia Child, it's really surprising that a show that can often be so silly is also really great at telling stories and building characters. 

Let's get to the year's full list!

Delicious in Dungeon (Season 1) (2024) (A)

X-Men '97 (Season 1) (2024) (A-) 

Agatha All Along (Season 1) (2024) (A-)

Fantasmas (Season 1) (2024) (A-)

The Afterparty (Season 2) (2023) (B+)
Kevin Can F**k Himself (Seasons 1-2) (2021-2022) (B+)
What We Do in the Shadows (Seasons 5-6) (2023) (B+) 
Minx (Season 2) (2023) (B+)
Dead Boy Detectives (Season 1) (2024) (B+)

Girls5Eva (Season 3) (2024) (B)

Harriet the Spy (Season 2) (2023) (B)

Severance (Season 1) (2022) (B)

The Franchise (Season 1) (2024) (B)

Abbott Elementary (Season 3) (2024) (B)
Only Murders in the Building (Season 4) (2024) (B)

The Great British Baking Show (Season 15) (2024) (B)
The Big Door Prize (Season 2) (2024) (B)

The Boyfriend (Season 1) (2024) (B)

Extraordinary (Season 2) (2024) (B)

Party Down (Season 3) (2023) (B)

Bob's Burgers (Season 14) (2023) (B)
Exploding Kittens (Season 1) (2024) (B)

Modern Family (Season 1) (2009) (B)

The Bear (Season 2) (2023) (B)

Ted Lasso (Season 2) (2021) (B-)

One Punch Man (Season 1) (2015) (B-)

Mob Psycho 100 (Season 1) (2016) (B-)

Modern Family (Season 2) (2010) (B-)

Sunny (Season 1) (2024) (C) 

Death and Other Details (Season 1) (2024) (C)

The State of the Art: Movies 2024

When I started putting together my final ranking for this year's movies, I became a bit alarmed. While I definitely saw some highly-entertaining films this year, on the whole, the movies of 2024 can be summed up as "Yeah, not bad." There was (almost) nothing as thoughtful and interesting as a Past Lives I feel the need to spread the word about, and definitely not an Everything Everywhere All At Once to light my heart aflame. Part of the reason seems to be me. I've only seen 14 new movies this year, and I still haven't gotten to a couple that have gotten very good word-of-mouth. But part of the reason seems to be Hollywood. The Golden Globes nominations are incredibly dull, and when it comes down to it, I seriously doubt future generations will be heralding 2024 as an incredible year for movies.

That doesn't mean there weren't good movies, though, and the top of my list is a thriller that actually thrilled.

Blink Twice is pretty amazing, especially given that it's Zoë Kravitz' directorial debut. When cocktail waitress Frida (Naomi Ackie) gets herself noticed by tech billionaire Slater King (Channing Tatum) at a party she's working at, he invites her and her friend Jess (Alia Shawkat) to his private island. King has been recently publicly disgraced, and is attempting to work his way back into the public's good graces. The privacy of his island affords him and his guests an opportunity to cut loose, with endless days and nights of incredible meals, and booze- and drug-fueled partying. Frida and Jess are having the time of their lives, but eventually begin to notice that not all is as it appears. And things...devolve. Rapidly.

There are countless thrillers - not to mention the recent spate of social message movies - about how douchey and awful the American upper class is, and it can be really easy for these movies to fall into the trap of being too predictable, too on-the-nose, too hamfisted, and entirely too pleased with themselves. Blink Twice expertly sidesteps those traps, making Frida's plight gripping and tense. I should also make special mention of Adria Arjona, who gives an amazing performance as Sarah, a intimidating fellow guest that Frida clashes with.

Let's get to the full 2024 list!

Blink Twice (B+)

Wicked (B+)

The Fall Guy (B+)

Hundreds of Beavers (2022, 2024) (B+)

Inside Out 2 (B+)

Carry-On (B+)

Babes (B)

Dune: Part Two (B)

I Saw the TV Glow (B)

Welcome Home Franklin (B)

Challengers (B-)

Night Swim (B-)

Tarot (C)

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (C-)

Of course, the majority of the year was spent catching up on movies from the past, so for the pre-2024 ranking:

The Apartment (1960) (A)

American Fiction (2023) (A)

Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (2022) (A)

River (2023) (A-)

Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes (2021) (B+)

Anatomy of a Fall (2023) (B+)

Godzilla Minus One (2023) (B+)

Problemista (2023) (B+)

Hot Fuzz (2007) (B+)

The Holdovers (2023) (B)

Three Minutes: A Lengthening (2021) (B)

Perfect Days (2023) (B)

Under the Shadow (2016) (B)

Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. (2023) (B)

Hit Man (2023) (B)

Downton Abbey: A New Era (2022) (B)

Saltburn (2023) (B-)
The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra (2001) (B-)

Dream Scenario (2023) (B-)

Being There (1979) (B-)
The Boy and the Heron (2023) (B-)

Drinking Buddies (2013) (B-)

27 Dresses (2008) (B-)

Shrek Forever After (2010) (B-)

Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget (2023) (B-)

Zone of Interest (2023) (C+)

All of Us Strangers (2023) (C+)

Cry Wolf (1947) (C+)
Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe? (1978) (C+)

Anyone But You (2023) (C+)

Puss in Boots (1988) (C+)

Pokémon: The First Movie - Mewtwo Strikes Back (1998) (C+)

7 Women and a Murder (2021) (C+)

Stay Tuned (1992) (C)

Waiting (2005) (C-)

Speed 2 (1997) (D)

Nothing But Trouble (1991) (D)

Madea's Big Happy Family (2011) (D-)

The Very Excellent Mr. Dundee (2020) (F)

The State of the Art: Games 2024

It's become clear that I'm going to be chasing the gaming high from 2022 for many years to come. That was an outstanding game year, but I shouldn't expect that I'm going to have such a wealth of favorites all the time. And I don't. 2024 was a perfectly cromulent year for games, but there were only a few that I'm super-excited about, and even of those, most weren't released this year. That's not to say there wasn't plenty of fun stuff to immerse myself in, but if I'm picking a favorite game played this year, rather than released this year, the choice becomes pretty obvious.

Ghost of Tsushima was originally released in 2020, and then on the PS5 in 2021, but I only just played it this year. Such a shame that I waited so long, because it is one of the most gorgeous games I've ever played. Some of the Assassin's Creed games were great, but none of their settings come close to the visual splendor of Japan during the first Mongol invasion. If it were only pretty, though, it wouldn't be top of the list. It's also really, really fun. This style of game can sometimes fall into the trap of having too much going on. The map becomes overwhelmingly littered with icons of people to talk to or pieces of parchment to find or whatever. Ghost of Tsushima keeps it to a perfect, manageable size, and goes a step further of doing the outstanding job of weaving directions and side content in organically. No need for a pop-up message telling you where to go next if a gentle gust of wind does it. You can bet that I won't be so slow to play Ghost of Yotei when it comes out next year.

If we're sticking to games released in 2024, just like last year, I won't be wandering off from the crowd. My choice, like so many others', is Astro Bot.

I used to really get into platformers such as Spyro the Dragon, but there hasn't been one that's grabbed my attention in a long time. It's almost confusing why something like Astro Bot hasn't come along, because its concept is simple: Go to various worlds, rescue your bot friends, and pick up some loot along the way. Of course, it helps that the visuals are terrific, and the music is the most joyous score I've heard in years (I actually often put it on my headphones to listen to while I'm working). This style of game also means they can add additional worlds, so I can see myself enjoying this one for a long time to come.

There were some other standouts as well this year, from the mystery solving hotel maid in This Bed We Made, to the cheeky British humor of Thank Goodness You're Here! to the soothing zen of PowerWash Simulator. There's even a late entry that I just started called Rolling Hills - Make Sushi, Make Friends, which is so right up my alley, I'm surprised the idea wasn't taken straight from my dreams.

And let's not forget tabletop gaming, either. We're still going strong with the Arkham Horror card game, but as far as new games, we had a lot of fun with Aeon's End and Dominion. But for video games, let's get to the loosely-ranked list!

Ghost of Tsushima

Astro Bot
PowerWash Simulator

Rolling Hills - Make Sushi, Make Friends
This Bed We Made

Thank Goodness You're Here!
Dragon Age: The Veilguard
Riley & Rochelle
Miles Morales

The Thaumaturge
Coral Island

Lake
Alone in the Dark

428: Shibuya Scramble

Marvel Rivals

Balatro

Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden
Scene Investigators

Coffee Talk

Immortals of Aveum

Lorelei and the Laser Eyes
Frog Detective
Murderous Muses

Book of Hours

The State of the Art: Books 2024

When I kicked off list-making season this year, I got an unfortunate sense of ennui while I was looking over all the cultural offerings I consumed. Usually, there's something in every category that I get really excited about, but in 2024, even the titles that took the top spot sometimes only got a "Eh, it was pretty good," out of me. Happily, I don't have to say that for the book category, because I had a handful of really great reads this year. As ever, I looked over the list to see if I could pick out a "theme":

2019: "Anywhere But Here"
2020: "Dealing with Loss"
2021: "What We Owe to Each Other"
2022: "Look Behind the Curtain"
2023: "Stay In Your Lane"

For 2024, it appears that the starkest theme I can see is "The Ones Who Are Overlooked". Whether it's because of their gender, nationality, sexual orientation, physical appearance, or... you know, because they've been cursed by a literal demon, the characters in the books I read this year aren't given the attention and credibility they deserve. 

Thanks to Goodreads, I have some actual stats, and as a fellow with a pretty busy life, I'm satisfied with my total of 20 books (7008 pages). I've got a good range of authors from different backgrounds, too, which is an evergreen resolution of mine. Hopefully, I can keep up the pace next year. I constantly wrestle with the concept of "best" vs. "favorite". Sometimes, I can recognize that literarily, one book is superior to another, but I just happen to like the latter more, so I guess suck it, impeccably-written novel! Let's get to the list!

How to Be Eaten (Maria Adelmann) (2022) (A)

The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida (Shehan Karunatilaka) (2022) (A)

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue (V.E. Schwab) (2020) (A)

Oscar Wars: A History of Hollywood in Gold, Sweat, and Tears (Michael Schulman) (2023) (A-)

James (Percival Everett) (2024) (A-)

How to Sell a Haunted House (Grady Hendrix) (2023) (B+)

The Kamogawa Food Detectives (Hisashi Kashiwai) (2013, 2023) (B+)

The Memory Police (Yoko Ogawa) (1994, 2019) (B)

Stone Blind (Natalie Haynes) (2022) (B)

The Annotated Northanger Abbey (Jane Austen, David M. Shapard) (B) (1817, 2013)

Six Wakes (Mur Lafferty) (2017) (B)

Zodiac: A Graphic Memoir (Ai Weiwei) (2024) (B)

The Leavers (Lisa Ko) (2017) (B)

A Haunting on the Hill (Elizabeth Hand) (2023) (B)

The Song Machine: Inside the Hit Factory (John Seabrook) (2015) (B)

The Thief (Megan Whalen Turner) (1996) (B-)

A Botanist's Guide to Flowers and Fatality (Kate Khavari) (2023) (C+)

The First to Die at the End (Adam Silvera) (2022) (C+)
The Anti-Book (Raphael Simon) (2021) (C)

Wilder Girls (Rory Power) (2019) (C)