These Are A Few of My Favorite Things… from 2024

Joshua Beck
18 min readDec 7, 2024

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Image Credit: Netflix

It’s been a while since I’ve published anything here.

I didn’t mean to stop writing on Medium; it just kind of happened. Over the last year, I’ve started over a dozen stories — everything from tech reviews to my thoughts on the latest movies and TV shows — but they all sit in my drafts, unfinished and unpublished; while there were plenty of things I wanted to talk about, I never seemed to find the drive to write about them, not like I used to.

I think a part of me simply wanted to enjoy the things I loved without dissecting them and to save my discussions on plot points and theories for my friends. That said, I’ve missed writing love letters to the latest movies, gushing over the newest tech, and stretching my non-fiction fingers (don’t worry, I’ve been doing plenty of fiction writing in the past year — another reason I’ve taken an unplanned break from writing here is so that I could focus on writing my first book and planning my second).

So, I’m going back to a format that I had started a few years ago: I’m taking everything that I loved over the year and I’m putting it into one story. This is everything that I’ve loved in 2024.

Movies

Image Credit: Universal Studios

I could do a top ten list, ranking everything I’ve seen throughout the year against each other. But instead, let’s just take it chronologically, shall we? After all, it’s not really fair to compare Deadpool & Wolverine to Dune Part 2, now is it?

But, we can start with Dune. It was the first movie I saw in theaters this year, and it still is one of the best. It took everything I loved about the first one and made it even better. It was cinematic, it was beautiful, and it culminated in the epic showdown that the first movie promised us. Quentin Tarantino is missing out by not watching Denis Villeneuve's two-part masterpiece because it is just that: a masterpiece of filmmaking. I spent most of this year thinking that Dune Part 2 would be my favorite movie of the year, and it came very close to that; as it stands, it’s a close second for me, and an amazing start to a great year of movies.

The next movie theater excursion didn’t come until Furiosa (which was ironic, given that it was also a sand-based movie featuring Anya Taylor-Joy. I really loved Mad Max: Fury Road when it came out, but I honestly think I enjoyed Furiosa even more; where the first was a great action movie set in the post-apocalyptic outback, Furiosa was a deep character study. Fury Road always felt like a complete picture to me (and no, I’ve never seen any of the old Mad Max movies), but Furiosa managed to build on what its predecessor put down and flesh out the character and story in a fulfilling way that most prequels fail to accomplish.

Following that, I did a bit of a pivot from the highly cinematic desert films. I saw Inside Out 2, which quite simply was amazing; the first one is my favorite Pixar movie and I really didn’t expect them to strike the same lightning twice, but Pixar proved capable of making a sequel every bit as good and emotional (no pun intended) as the first one. A Quiet Place: Day One was another good dive into John Krasinski’s quiet world of alien invaders; I’m very excited for Part III, but as much as I liked Day One, I kinda wish that it had come with a few more answers to the origins of the invasion. That said, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie for what it was. Likewise, Twisters was a thrilling pseudo-sequel to the 90’s classic; though it lacked a good cameo from Helen Hunt, it captured the essence of what made the first one good and delivered something I think Bill Paxton would have been proud of.

Ah, but now we come to Deadpool & Wolverine. Marvel Studios has had a bit of a rough time of it lately; that said, with the rare exception (The Eternals, Quantumania, Secret Invasion), I’ve still thoroughly enjoyed damn near everything post-Endgame. I loved last year’s The Marvels (one of the most criminally underrated MCU movies to date, in my opinion), and both Spider-Man and Doctor Strange had their best stories after the close of the last Avengers flick. That said, I think it probably was a smart move for Marvel to take a bit of a step back and only release one movie in 2024. And what a stroke of luck that this one movie was the next Deadpool. By a clear mile, Deadpool & Wolverine is my favorite in the Fox-branded universe. It was a genius decision to bring Hugh Jackman back for this one, and it turned out to be a love letter to the now-defunct 20th Century Marvel universe. As always, the humor was on point, and I loved the use of the TVA and other Loki-related shenanigans to really make fun use of the multiverse. If ever the MCU felt like it was losing its steam (which again, I disagree with wholeheartedly), it just got its second wind.

Alien: Romulus felt like a return to form for the Alien franchise; it was terrifying, action-packed, and beautifully shot. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice was the sequel that I never knew I wanted; also a return to form for Tim Burton, it was easily my favorite of his flicks.

There were a few movies that I streamed this year as well. Some of them — like Argylle or Godzilla x Kong— were a bit underwhelming, but others, such as Netflix’s Damsel and the Peter Dinklage-led western The Thicket, were pretty entertaining. The best movies that I streamed this year were probably My Old Ass, starring Maisy Stella and Aubrey Plaza, which was surprisingly heartfelt, and If, which was as good as any Pixar movie, despite being (mostly) live-action. Seriously, don’t sleep on these movies.

There were a few that I skipped as well, though I fully intend to get to them at some point; that list includes Monkey Man, Saturday Night, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, and Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. There are a few that have yet to come out that I’m looking forward to as well, such as Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim and Nosferatu. And as of this writing, I’m going to see Gladiator II tomorrow, so we’ll see how that ranks on my list (update: I saw it, and I was entertained; I think it was probably better than the original, though it’s been over 10 years since I’ve watched that one).

But my favorite movie this year has to be Wicked: Part One. Every now and then, a movie comes along that completely captures me. A movie that feels like it has become a part of my soul, which I instantly know will always be with me and will always be one of my very favorite movies for the rest of my life. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone was one of — and perhaps the first of — those movies for me. Fellowship of the Ring was another. Over the years, a few other movies have hit me like that, but as much as I love so many movies, the ones that make this very exclusive list of mine are the exceptions, the ones that hit like a hurricane and leave their mark permanently. Movies like 2011’s Hugo, 2022’s The Batman, 2023’s Across the Spider-Verse. These movies, above all other movies that I love, are the special ones. These are the movies that fully pull me into their worlds and never let go, movies that I will learn everything I can about; I’ll devour the source materials, I’ll read all the interviews, I’ll watch all the behind-the-scenes, I’ll learn all the secrets, and I’ll listen to all the soundtracks.

This year, Wicked joined that list. This movie is a masterpiece; it is phenomenal. Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, as well as director John M. Chu and the entire cast and crew, deserve every award they’ve got coming to them. I’ve seen musicals before, and I’ve seen fantasy movies before, but never have I seen a movie go 100% in both directions; the musical elements are fully realized and done to perfection, while the fantasy elements of Oz are equally fully embraced and brought to life. It captures the epic scale of this world and its inhabitants, while also being an utterly personal and emotional story. It is a masterclass in how to adapt a musical to the big screen and it makes no compromises. I am counting the days until Part 2 hits theaters next year.

(I realize that I took my break from writing on Medium before I published my list of favorites for the second half of 2023; so as honorable mentions on this list, here are the movies that I would have included on my 2023 list: Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (surprisingly my favorite movie of 2023), TMNT: Mutant Mayhem, The Marvels, The Creator, A Haunting in Venice, and Wonka)

Television

Image Credit: Amazon

Okay, so after ending the movies segment on that high, what can TV possibly offer? Turns out, quite a lot.

I loved Taika Waititi’s Time Bandits, which did not deserve to be canceled after only one season. It was hilarious in the way that Monty Python is hilarious, such a smart comedy that I already miss dearly (but at least it’s still available to watch, unlike Willow… yes, I am still bitter about that). Similarly, I thought the new Star Wars show, The Acolyte, was a great adventure into an unexplored era of the franchise, and Disney made a huge mistake canceling it; sure, it was a much slower burn compared to most stories in the galaxy far, far away, but it felt like it was building to something big, so I hope we get to at least see some of the characters and story threads picked up in a future show or movie. And that full episode of lightsaber fighting was brutal and epic.

While Marvel took a step back from their movie releases this year, they definitely made their presence known on Disney+. Echo was a pretty good show, though I was mostly there for the appearances of Daredevil and Kingpin (I cannot wait for Daredevil to return). X-Men ’97 was the return of the animated classic that we’ve all wanted for years and it did not disappoint in the slightest; even if it takes Marvel a few more years to introduce the X-Men in the MCU properly, the wait will be made much easier with ’97 around. Agatha All Along was a bit of a slow build, much like its predecessor WandaVision, but it proved to be an exceptional piece of storytelling that showcased Katherine Hahn’s iconic villain and kept the twists coming through to the final episode; hands down, the best part of the MCU on the small screen this year. And I’m still looking forward to the final season of What If coming out in a couple of weeks.

But as good as the MCU’s television efforts have been this year, they pale in comparison to DC’s The Penguin. Serving as a follow-up to Matt Reeve's fantastic The Batman, Penguin puts the spotlight on Colin Farrell’s unrecognizable villain, and I’ve got to tell you, I was blown away. I mean, honestly, I’ve always had a bit of a problem with comic book stories that don’t feature the main character; Sony keeps making a mess of it with their Spider-Man-less Spider-Man movies, and even The Joker struggled with a lack of Batman for me. And yet, The Penguin never once made me ask where Batman was; it did a fantastic job of keeping the story personal and centered on Oz as he grasps for power in Gotham’s underworld. It was brutal, it was shocking, and the way it ends (spoilers) with Oz taking his place at the top of the criminal food chain, just as the bat signal lights up the night sky, has me anticipating The Batman: Part II more than almost any other movie coming out. This is how you do a companion show to add depth between movies, and I hope we get more deep dives like this into Batman’s rogues gallery.

Star Trek has had a pretty good year as well, though it is a bittersweet one; two of the shows that aired this year are ones we are saying goodbye to. Star Trek: Discovery aired its fifth and final season, which was probably my favorite season behind the fantastic second season (which birthed Strange New Worlds, my current favorite Trek show). Likewise, I’ve been enjoying Lower Decks’ final season and I’m not ready for it to end, either. I really enjoyed Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender, which I think did justice to the original; no it didn’t adapt everything from the animated classic’s first season, but it respected the source material in a way that the previous movie adaptation did not (and I personally loved their inclusion of the iconic music from the original). And Apple TV’s Shrinking remains one of my favorite television shows. I also really enjoyed the second season of House of the Dragon more than I did the first season — maybe because it wasn’t competing with Lord of the Rings every week.

Speaking of Lord of the Rings, Amazon’s Rings of Power is one of my two favorite shows this year. I’ve been a fan of Lord of the Rings ever since Peter Jackson’s movies came out; like the Harry Potter movies, they were a formative part of my childhood. And Rings of Power, to me, is a perfect addition to the franchise. What I love most about it is that it is bringing context to the story for me. It is filling in the gaps in my knowledge of Tolkien’s world. You see, unlike Potter, I never read Tolkien’s books; I always wanted to, but I’ve always struggled getting into the first book. And sure, I know that Rings of Power takes liberties — so did Peter Jackson’s movies — but that’s the nature of adaptations. And while Rings may not be 100% faithful to Tolkien’s lore, it is 100% respectful of it and is building an amazing story out of his work. For the first time, I am understanding the power that the Rings have. For the first time, I am understanding how cunning and dangerous Sauron is and why he is considered the big bad of Middle Earth (as cool as it looked, a big fiery eye on a tower simply can’t compare with the cool and collected acting of Charlie Vickers). And for the first time, I am reading Fellowship of the Ring, I’m over halfway through the book, and it is all thanks to Rings of Power making me want to finally take in every detail I can get of Middle Earth. Not to mention, Rings is a beautifully shot and designed show (the sets and costumes look just as good as Peter Jackson’s movies), the actors are amazing, and the music is simply stunning. And season two, in my opinion, blew season one out of the water, it was so good.

My other favorite show in 2024 was, of course, Netflix’s Arcane. Like Rings of Power, the first season of Arcane was instantly iconic for me. The animation was something to behold, the music was beautiful, and the story was tragic. And like Rings of Power, season two of Arcane surpassed the first one in every way. The culmination of this story into an epic — and heartbreaking — finale was everything I had hoped for. The Ekko episode, in particular, was the highlight of the series for me. All I can say about this show is that if you haven’t seen it, it should be added to the top of your list.

(Like with the movies, I failed to publish my favorite TV Shows for the second half of 2023 as well, so here are those shows as honorable mentions here: Ahsoka, Loki, A Murder at the End of the World, Fall of the House of Usher, The Crown, Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, What If…?, Star Trek: Lower Decks, Foundation, Good Omens, and Only Murders in the Building. I also forgot to include the new season of Only Murders on my 2024 list, but that season was just as good as the rest)

Music

Image Credit: Aurora

The easiest way I can show you my favorite music from 2024 (songs that came out in 2024, that I discovered in 2024, or that I continued listening to in 2024) is to share my 2024 Favorites playlist from Apple Music.

There you go. Next category.

Okay, fine, I’ll say something about some of the songs.

I love movies and TV shows, and that love extends to their soundtracks. My standouts for 2024 include the Arcane soundtracks (both the album and the three separate releases for the score), Hans Zimmer’s Dune Part 2 (which totally deserves to be nominated for an Oscar, damn their rules), and Bear McCreary’s extensive works for Rings of Power season 2 (he’s quickly becoming one of my favorite composers working today). Michael Giacchino’s son, Mick, has done some incredible work with The Penguin and Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, and I loved Michael Abel’s work on The Acolyte. “Down the Witch’s Road” from Agatha All Along will forever be stuck in my head, and Murray Gold’s triumphant return for Doctor Who has been nothing short of iconic (if only he’d get to work on actually releasing the soundtrack for us to listen to).

But of course, my favorite soundtrack this year has to be the Wicked soundtrack. Wicked Part 1 was my introduction to the musical; of course, I had heard about it before, but I have not yet had the chance to see it for myself. That said, I feel like the movie has spoiled it for me, as no one I could possibly see on stage could ever hope to out-perform Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande. I have literally listened to the entire soundtrack every single day since seeing the movie, and I have yet to get tired of it. Every time I hear them singing “Defying Gravity”, it makes my heart stop and my eyes well up with tears. This movie couldn’t be my favorite movie of the year without this amazing music to back it up.

Outside of the realm of soundtracks, Bear McCreary makes the list again with his album The Singularity, which blends his expertise with orchestral tracks with rock and heavy metal. And Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poet’s Department was a work of poetry.

My favorite album, however, would have to be Aurora’s What Happened to the Heart? Aurora has skyrocketed to become my favorite artist ever since I was introduced to her music in 2020; her voice is melodic and mesmerizing, and with every new album, she just gets better and better. My personal favorites from this album are “Starvation”, “The Blade”, and “Dreams”.

Books

Image Credit: Dial Books

For the past few years, I’ve struggled a bit with reading. I’ve picked up books only to put them back down again. But this year, I’ve found myself reading a lot. In part, it has helped that I’ve joined a book club, but I’ve also found myself more and more interested in devouring stories again, like I used to when I was younger.

When it comes to books, I don’t focus as much on which books came out in 2024, but rather which books I discovered this year. With that said, some of the books on this list will be from 2024, and a few others will be older. Do with that what you will.

From the book club, I’ve discovered books like Carissa Orlando’s The September House, which was a great read about a woman who refuses to leave her haunted house (and written by a friend of my wife), Joanna Wallace’s You’d Look Better As a Ghost, which follows a part-time serial killer as she copes with loss and tries to avoid getting caught, and Martha Wells’ brilliant Murderbot Diaries, which follows a security robot that just wants to watch streaming television and keep its humans from dying.

Cornelia Funke released the long-awaited sequel to her Inkheart trilogy, The Color of Revenge, picking up the story of Meggie and her father Mo, who can read characters out of books, and Dustfinger, one such character, as they deal with the revenge of one of the antagonists from the first book (I am currently reading this one), and Derek Landy released the latest in his hilarious Skulduggery Pleasant series, A Mind Full of Murder, which follows the latest case of the flame-throwing living skeleton detective and his partner, Valkyrie Cain (we’re 16 books in and counting, but it is my second favorite franchise behind Harry Potter, so I highly recommend catching up). I am also currently reading Fellowship of the Ring, as I mentioned earlier, and working on that slowly as I read other books on my list.

My three favorite books that I read in 2024, however, were the ones that truly surprised me. The first, Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone’s This is How You Lose the Time War, was one that I read in two days (which is pretty fast for me). Following the correspondence between two enemies in an everlasting war through time and multiverses, it was a simply beautiful piece of work. I loved it so much that I started reading it again as soon as I finished it, just to see the foreshadowing I missed the first time around. It plays perfectly with the messiness of time travel. The details of the war are a bit sparse, but I think that works in its favor; while we get snippets of the worlds and times they are visiting, what’s important is the messages that each character leaves for the other and how their relationship changes over the course of the story. For me, it goes right up there with V.E. Schwab’s Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, a story that keeps building and building until its electric final pages.

The other two books at the top of my list were both written by Helena Fox: How It Feels to Float, and The Quiet and the Loud. When I read How It Feels to Float, it was like lightning striking. It was the absolute right book at the absolute right time for me. It was nowhere in the same galaxy as what I usually like to read — no fantasy, no sci-fi — but when I saw it at the bookstore, something told me I needed to read it. Following a girl named Biz through her inner struggles and her mental breakdown, it was a story that I could not put down. It was this book that took me out of my reading slump. But as soon as I started reading about Biz and her dead dad and her high school troubles and everything happening to her and around her and within her, her story grabbed me and wouldn’t let go. The way Helena Fox writes feels like a stream of consciousness. It is engaging and so natural. And she keeps the story building until the last words, like Addie, like Neil Gaiman’s Ocean at the End of the Lane, like my very favorite books always do.

I didn’t think that lightning could strike twice. When I finished How it Feels to Float, I wanted to take some time to process Biz’s story. But I also wanted to keep reading. I rarely read two books from the same author back to back; even if I love the author, I sometimes find it difficult to stay in the same author’s voice for multiple books. For example, I tried reading V.E. Schwab’s Fragile Threads of Power as soon as I finished Addie LaRue and as much as I wanted to read that book, I couldn’t get interested. I needed a new voice. But after reading Biz’s story, I wanted to stay in Helena’s voice. So I immediately purchased her second book, The Quiet and the Loud, and started reading. At first, it felt wrong to get into George’s life so soon after leaving Biz’s. It felt like I wasn’t giving Biz enough time to settle in my mind and wasn’t giving George the room to tell her story. But I kept reading, and soon enough, I was living through George even more than I had through Biz.

With Biz, I was taken on a journey to see what it’s like being the one going through a mental breakdown. But with George, it felt like I was experiencing her story like it was my own. I connected with her in a way I don’t think I’ve ever connected with a book character before. When she fell in love with Calliope, I did too. When she was dealing with noise and staying quiet and internalizing her emotions, I felt like I was doing the same, would do the same if I were in her story. I found myself so engrossed in her life that when my dad texted me while I was reading, I had to take a moment to separate myself from George so that I didn’t see his texts like she saw her father’s. How It Feels to Float instantly became one of my all-time favorite books. If I had a bookshelf containing my very favorite books, it would sit with Addie and Oceans easily. I expected Quiet to be good, but I didn’t expect to love it even more than Biz’s story. And yet, I did.

Both Biz and George will sit with me for a long time. I already know I’ll read both books again while I wait and hope that Helena writes another book. Not only were these the first two books I’ve been unable to put down in a long while, but they — along with How You Lose the Time War — are the first books since Harry Potter that I’ve instantly wanted to read again.

So there you have it; my favorite movies, TV shows, music, and books from 2024. There’s a lot to look forward to in 2025 as well, so I can’t wait to see how this list looks in 365 days.

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Joshua Beck
Joshua Beck

Written by Joshua Beck

I am just clever enough to get into trouble…

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