Screen Favorites of 2024
My personal favorites from the year's film and TV releases.
As the year comes to a close, it’s time to follow the time-honored tradition of film critics and media journalists everywhere: listing my personal favorites of 2024.
What a year it has been! Despite recent years’ pandemics, industry strikes, algorithm-driven streaming content, “secondary screen experiences,” and the looming specter of an “AI apocalypse” in the film and TV community, the film and TV industry still managed to deliver some of the finest releases in recent memory.
Before I present my top five picks for film and TV, I want to stress that these are purely personal favorites based on my enjoyment—not necessarily how I would rate them as a critic. As a Golden Globes voter, where all ballots are confidential, it’s important to clarify that these selections don’t necessarily reflect my voting choices this year.
Let’s begin:
The Big Screen
Here are my top cinema picks for 2024, listed in no particular order, with each director’s name noted in parentheses.
Dune: Part Two (Denis Villeneuve)
No surprise here. Denis Villeneuve’s first Dune: Part One basically floored me with its visuals, meditative atmosphere, amazing acting, and terrific, Oscar-winning soundtrack from my favorite movie soundtrack composer, Hans Zimmer. It is perhaps my favorite science fiction film ever, and those who have read the books knew it was only the first half of the first book.
Dune: Part Two continues the story of Paul Atreides, now exiled and hunted by the evil House Harkonnen. It’s one piece of a massive, epic and complicated science fiction saga that focuses on a series of ever-relevant topics: ecology, warfare, greed, religion and the dangers of blindly following charismatic leaders.
Denis Villeneuve’s Dune’s films, and its spin-off series Dune: Prophecy, are must-watches for any science fiction fan. Check out my review section for my thoughts on all three titles, and the press conference article about Dune: Prophecy.
The Wild Robot (Chris Sanders)
This year, animation veteran Chris Sanders, who was behind some of my favorite animated films of all time, such as How to Train Your Dragon and Lilo & Stitch, delivered something that is becoming something of a rarity: a successful, original animated film. Based on the book by Peter Brown, The Wild Robot hits all the right notes.
The Wild Robot follows the domestic robot Roz, who is washed up on an uninhabited wilderness island. Soon, she learns to communicate with the local wildlife and becomes the adoptive mother of a young gosling. Through trials, tribulations, and the challenges of instinct, nature, and nurture, she finds new friends and a purpose.
I don’t say this lightly, but The Wild Robot is perhaps my favorite animated film of all time. Beautifully animated and voice-acted by some amazing actors (Lupita Nyong’o, Pedro Pascal, Kit Connor, Mark Hamill just to name a few), it hit me right in the heart. Check out my review of the film here.
A Quiet Place: Day One (Michael Sarnoski)
Despite being a fan of science fiction, I wasn’t a big fan of the first two A Quiet Place movies. While the concept was intriguing and the acting solid, the films often undermined their own premise with the nature of the alien threat. They prioritized atmosphere over logic, asking you not to overthink things too much.
But A Quiet Place: Day One worked much better. True, it’s the same aliens and the same threat, but this time the story shifts from rural America to New York City—one of the loudest places on Earth—on the first day of the invasion.
Perhaps most intriguingly, the film follows a young cancer-stricken woman (played by the excellent Lupita Nyong’o) whose main motivation isn’t survival, but to get what might be the last slice of New York pizza before she dies. Her chemistry with the traumatized survivor Eric (played by Joseph Quinn) makes this one of my personal favorites of the year.
Flow (Gints Zilbalodis)
Another animated film featuring animals, Flow came as a big surprise when I first watched it as a “For Your Consideration” screener for the Golden Globes. It tells an unusual, meditative, and calm story set in a mythical land where only animals remain in the ruins of an old human civilization.
We meet the Cat, who one day notices the water beginning to rise rapidly. Escaping in a small boat, the Cat drifts downriver toward an uncertain destination. Along the way, the Cat encounters other creatures—new friends and potential rivals—each with their own motivations, desires, and instincts.
Flow is a unique, beautifully animated story with no dialogue at all. It’s a must-watch for anyone who appreciates great animation.
Alien: Romulus (Fede Alvarez)
In Alien: Romulus, the dark future of the Alien franchise is alive and well, with something rotten in the colonies of the ever-pragmatic megacorporation Weyland-Yutani. In other words, nothing new.
This time, we follow a group of young colonists escaping a dying mining colony where workers are pushed to their limits in brutal conditions. When an opportunity to escape arises, they set plans in motion—only to stumble into one of Weyland-Yutani’s darkest secrets and the jaws of the xenomorph.
Alien: Romulus is perhaps my favorite entry in the franchise since Scott’s 1979 original. With gripping atmosphere and standout performances—particularly David Jonsson as the android Andy—it’s slightly hindered by one or two clunky callbacks to the earlier films. Still, it’s a fantastic addition to the series.
Check out my deep-dive article into the Alien franchise here.
The Small Screen
Here are my streaming picks for 2024, listed in no particular order, with streaming platforms where they can be watched noted in parentheses.
Shōgun (Hulu/Disney+)
When I first heard about this series and watched the trailer, my initial thought was: while it looked interesting, I’d already seen the 80s version—which was great—so I didn’t feel the need for this remake.
Oh, how wrong I was. From the very first episode, it became clear that this wasn’t just a remake but a reimagining that drew inspiration from both the 80s series and James Clavell’s 1975 novel. With fantastic acting, stellar directing, and breathtaking cinematography, Shōgun transported viewers to Japan at the end of the Sengoku era (circa 1600), where honor-driven politics and shadowy backstabbings dominated the fight for the Shogunate.
Surpassing the original in every way, this series became a true heavyweight among this year’s streaming offerings, sweeping the Emmys and confirming its place as one of the best small-screen productions in years.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power - Season 2 (Prime Video)
The tale of Middle-earth’s Second Age continues in the second of five planned seasons of The Rings of Power. This time, the story shifts to Eregion, where Celebrimbor forges the Seven for the Dwarf-lords and the Nine for Mortal Men, all while being seduced and deceived by Sauron in his guise as Annatar, the Lord of Gifts.
A marked improvement on the already excellent first season, this outing feels smoother, with the cast settling fully into their roles and the writers hitting their stride.
But, of course, this is the internet, and toxic fans once again crawled out of the woodwork like clockwork. Admittedly, the backlash wasn’t as loud this time compared to the first season. Yes, the first season—before a single episode even aired. I covered this extensively, including the uproar over the first character art and posters. “What? A brown Dwarf? And a female one, no less? Scandal! Quick, let’s storm Reddit with our outrage!”
As one who has read many of J.R.R. Tolkien’s books and considers Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy the best films ever made, I love this series with all my heart.
A Gentleman in Moscow (Paramount+/SkyShowtime)
In A Gentleman in Moscow, based on the best-selling novel by Amor Towles, Ewan McGregor stars as Count Alexander Rostov, a final remnant of the dying (quite literally) nobility in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution of 1917.
Through sheer luck, Rostov avoids the fate of so many of his peers under the brutal new regime and is instead sentenced to permanent house arrest in Moscow’s luxurious Metropol Hotel, forbidden to ever leave.
Within the confines of his opulent prison, Rostov watches the march of history unfold outside his window, while forging relationships with an ever-changing cast of friends, rivals, and strangers. Amid this bittersweet existence, he discovers a newfound family, an adoptive daughter, and love in a tale that is both deeply sad and heartwarming.
With outstanding performances throughout the eight-episode limited series—particularly from Ewan McGregor, who earned a Golden Globe nomination—the series offers an authentic and often unflinching portrait of early 20th-century Russian history.
Check out my interview article with Ewan McGregor here, where he talks about his role in A Gentleman in Moscow and the making of the series.
3 Body Problem (Netflix)
Imagine this: one day, humanity receives undeniable proof that a highly advanced extraterrestrial civilization is on its way to Earth—not as peaceful visitors, but as conquerors, enslavers, and destroyers. If they arrived today, we would stand no chance and be wiped out in minutes.
However, physics governs us all, regardless of species. With the vast distances they must travel, the aliens won’t arrive for another 400 years. During that time, they won’t advance—but we will, potentially giving humanity the upper hand in this future confrontation.
The aliens know this, and plans are set in motion to counter it. But how would we react to a danger that looms generations into the future? With hope? Despair? Indifference?
3 Body Problem, based on Cixin Liu’s best-selling science fiction novel, explores these questions. Adapted for a global audience by the creators of Game of Thrones, it delivers science fiction storytelling at its finest.
Check out my interview with Liam Cunningham, who plays the pragmatic intelligence chief Thomas Wade, here.
And please enjoy this beautiful trailer. It is one of my favorites this year:
Fallout (Prime Video)
For decades, it seemed as though a “curse” plagued adaptations of video game franchises. That was true—until recently. With excellent series like The Last of Us and now Fallout, it feels like someone has finally broken the so-called “video game adaptation curse” in the film and TV industry.
Of course, bad adaptations will still happen, but Fallout is undoubtedly one of the greats. Based on Bethesda’s iconic, post-apocalyptic, and satirical Fallout game series, the show remains remarkably true to its source material. In fact, if rumors are to be believed, Prime Video was even provided with 3D files of in-game items to create completely accurate props for the series.
The result is a masterfully bonkers and ultra-violent series crafted by people who clearly understand the games—not just their story, but also their tone and style.
I will have an interview article with showrunner Jonathan Nolan and actor Walton Goggins (the Ghoul) early next year, so feel free to subscribe.