So. Much. Great. TV!!

I know I say this every year, but there has been so much great TV this year! I try to stay on top of as many new cinema releases as possible throughout the year, but when it comes to TV, there’s just so much and not enough time to see it. I’m sure there are dozens of shows released this year that would have made my top five if – a) I had the money to subscribe to all the streaming services (I don’t have Apple TV or Paramount so none of those shows here), and b) I was able to give up work and free up the time to watch everything.

My number one show of the year is a prime example of something that I so easily could have missed out on, even though I subscribe to the service that it streams on. I was definitely late to the party with this one, but recently I found myself absolutely falling in love with Arcane. Beautifully animated, with incredible characters, rich storytelling (some of which went a little over my head), jaw-dropping action, and a killer soundtrack that’s been heavily played during my recent work commutes. Quick side note – Arcane features the voice talents of Ella Purnell, who actually stars in three of my top five shows this year!

Having only recently concluded its run, The Day of The Jackal is a show that had me gripped and on the edge of my seat throughout. The cat-and-mouse game between the two brilliant leads (Eddie Redmayne and Lashana Lynch), the calmly resourceful killer trying to keep the peace with an increasingly suspicious wife back home and the moody bond-esque opening sequence all came together to form one hell of a show. 

Ella Purnell stars again, this time in Sweetpea, where she plays Rhiannon, an overlooked, downtrodden girl who finally gets pushed too far and becomes a serial killer. This one was a lot of fun and highly bingeable too, ending on a really good cliffhanger. Thankfully, season two is coming, although I don’t know how much further it can go without Rhiannon getting caught.

Hats off to The Penguin for making a show about a Batman villain that apart from a couple of very casual references, manages to not even mention or show Batman at all. Colin Farrell is superb as the story expertly fleshes out his take on the character that was recently introduced in Robert Pattinson’s turn in The Batman, delivering us a powerful mix of crime and family drama. Cristin Milioti also shines as Sofia Falcone and that gut-punch ending left me wanting more.

I’ve never played the games, so I had nothing to base my expectations on when it came to Fallout. But this was just wildly inventive and a lot of fun, weaving several different character stories together in a post-apocalyptic Los Angeles. Another great performance from Ella Purnell too!

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Suck it, Fox! I’m going to Disneyland!

When Cineworld threatened cinema closures earlier this year, it was a worrying time – obviously more so for those people fearing for their jobs, but also for those like me who love their local Cineworld like it’s their second home. Thankfully, my local escaped the cut and by the time Wicked arrived recently, I found myself struggling to find a parking space, facing big queues for snacks and a packed screen that whooped and cheered. I hadn’t experienced any of that since before the pandemic, so it was good to see. 

This year though, I did find myself in the minority yet again – after finding Barbie and Oppenheimer to be fairly average last year, here I go again when it comes to Wicked, which I was also pretty disappointed with. Still, I can’t really fault it if it managed to make my cinema, and so many others, busy and healthy again.

Anyway, while I’m going to list my top five favourite movies in order of preference, it’s fair to say that my entire top ten is all pretty interchangeable, depending on my mood on any given day. In fact, I even swapped some of the following five around a little before writing this!

So, my overall favourite 2024 movie for its action, big laughs and pure entertainment value, is Deadpool & Wolverine. You certainly don’t need me to say any more than that, and if you were looking forward to this team-up and saw it on the big screen, then I’m sure you were not disappointed.

A close second is a movie that I seem to have enjoyed far more than most other people – Furiosa. As always, Anya Taylor-Joy is superb, as is Chris Hemsworth. And while the pacing and characters are a little off in places, the action is still incredible and I had an absolute blast with it.

Next up are a couple of animated movies – Transformers One and The Wild Robot. I’ve managed to avoid the last two or three live-action Transformers movies, so wasn’t sure what to expect from a new animated prequel. In fact, I wasn’t even that impressed with the trailer for it. But, I saw some early positive reviews, decided to give it a shot and I loved it. Similar story with The Wild Robot, which I thought was just beautiful.

Following the trauma of watching the 2022 movie Speak No Evil, I wasn’t sure if I really wanted to watch the American version this year, especially as the trailer seemed to indicate pretty much a like-for-like remake. And as I watched it, there were certainly a few triggers that started bringing it all back to me – like the stuffed bunny that gets left behind or the ‘babysitter’ – but then the movie completely changed direction for the final act and while I do still respect the original, I absolutely love what this version did, even if it was a typical American finale. 

Talking of horrors, special mention has to go to three other movies from my top ten that just missed out on the top five. Abigail, which was an absolute blast, Smile 2, which steps up the crazy shocks of the original, even if I now have no idea how they’ll pull off a third movie. And then Heretic, which wasn’t what I was expecting at all. And I loved it for that. A great year for horror movies.

See you in 2025!