The best books, movies, television shows, and comics that released last year
Ah, 2024. The 2016 of the 2020’s. A year that made 2022 feel like 2019. The year after 2023 but before 2025. Etcetera.
A couple of movies came out this year. A few people even wrote some books. I think I read a comic? And there was some stuff on the medium screen… the one that’s bigger than my phone but small than the one in the cinema. You know the one.
Here’s a list of some of the best stories that I enjoyed in 2024.
Da Movies
I went to the cinema 71 times last year. Here in Ireland, we had some great releases at the beginning of the year. This is mostly because many movies that contend for Oscars don’t release worldwide at the same time they’re released in the U.S. for some reason.
In the first few months of the year, then, I saw The Boy and the Heron, Poor Things, Zone of Interest, The Holdovers, The Iron Claw, American Fiction, and many more.
Then I moved to Barcelona for a few months and the pickings got even slimmer. Still, I managed to catch a few films being screened in English, such as May December, Civil War, and Challengers.
It’s hard to pick favourites… but I’m going to anyway. Here’s my top five (click the title to read my full review):
5. My Old Ass
This movie was such a delight. I really wasn’t expecting much from this coming-of-age movie wherein a teenage girl manages to commune with her future self by taking shrooms, but not only was it laugh-out-loud funny, it was also incredibly heartwarming and life-affirming.
The most polar-opposite film from My Old Ass. An absolute nightmare of a movie (complimentary) that affected me on a visceral level in a way no other horror movie—even body horror—ever has. I never want to see a frame of it ever again.
One of the most visually stunning action movies of the decade with an unconventional decades-spanning narrative that evokes the kineticism of Mad Max: Fury Road while firmly maintaining its own identity.
2. Challengers
I didn’t expect to like this movie as much as I did. From the marketing, I was expecting something lascivious—primarily aimed at women—about how much of a girlboss Zendaya is. Instead, it’s one of the best sports movies ever made, with one of the best soundtracks of the year, too.
Not only am I huge fan of Frank Herbert’s novels, but I consider 2021’s Dune, also directed by Denis Villeneuve, to be a masterpiece. This was my most anticipated movie of the year and, for me, it managed to live up to my sky-high expectations.
The soundtrack, the set design, the scope of the story... everything about Dune: Part Two works in harmony. Bringing Dune to the big screen and making it not only comprehensible but compelling was surely no easy task, and I am in awe of Denis Villeneuve.
Books
My Storygraph account tells me that I read forty-eight books this year, but some of those were graphic novels, and most of them weren’t even released this year. I’ll make this simple by dividing things into a couple of subcategories.
Best Novel That Actually Released in 2024:
This is the third book in Ellis’ Noumena series, which is my favourite ongoing science fiction series right now. The story follows Cora, a twenty-something who develops a strong bond with an alien; maybe even a romantic one. That might sound silly, but the series is grounded, weighty, brimming with rich subtext, and makes for un-put-downable reading.
Most Emotional Read of 2024:
The Dark Tower by Stephen King (first published 2004)
My completion of Stephen King’s Dark Tower series has been a long time coming. I fully admit to crying when I finished it. I’ve read nearly every single Stephen King book out there, and I maintain that the Dark Tower contains the best characters he’s ever written.
Best Graphic Novel of 2024:
A superhero story that had me grinning ear-to-ear. I love Marvel’s latest ‘Ultimate’ line of comics, set in a new universe where an evil, time-travelling force has done its best to stop superheroes from ever existing. But a thirty-five-year-old Peter Parker can’t quite shake the feeling that he’s destined for bigger things… Just tons of fun for Spider-Man fans like myself.
Best Surprise Hit of 2024:
Epic fantasy on a super-condensd timescale. Set over the course of just a few hours, Knight of Gaelgara jumps between multiple points of view, tracking the invasion of a port city by a foreign nation. Some fun character arcs, kinetic action scenes, and unique magical races really captured my attention and imagination.
Television:
I’m not going to waste your time with a big list here because I don’t have the time to watch as much television shows as I’d like. I only have one recommendation:
This animated show from Marvel is one of those shows that feels like it has no right to be as good as it is. The show has blossomed beyond its Saturday-morning-cartoon roots into something complex, nuanced, rich in subtext and vibrant.
The X-Men had fallen on hard times pop culture-wise since the slow and embarrassing decline in the quality of their live-action films throughout the late 2010’s, but X-Men ’97 proves there is still life in these characters. It’s also simply stunning to look at, and with at least two more seasons coming down the pipeline, X-Men fans like me have a lot to look forward to in the coming years.
Overall, it was a great year of stories. I also started this blog in February and have had such incredible fun writing regularly here. If you've read even a single one of my 150-plus (!) articles this year, I appreciate you beyond words. Happy New Year!
Thanks for reading my best stories of 2024 list! If you liked it, consider checking out my wishlist or buying me a cup of coffee at https://ko-fi.com/kieranobrien or below.
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