Fav TV Shows 2024

Fav TV Shows

Actually got to watch a decent amount this year, not everything but a good amount. Looking forward to 2025 and Severance S2 and Andor S2

Shogun

I get that this being mostly spoken in old Japanese can be a bit of a put off this is an amazing show, initially centring on our fish of water John Blackthorne its really about the Japanese civil war and the establishing of the order that has had a major influence on Japan today. It’s a grand show but it is telling a specific story and really focuses on the characters as opposed to its grand setting.

Fallout

I was expecting this to be decent given Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy’s involvement but yeah this turned out a lot better than I expected. Its very true to the games and while the story does start out a bit similar to Fallout 3 it does its own thing. This is what happens when you give competent people who are passionate about something lots of money to make a thing. Just slots in with the rest of fallout really well both old and new while being its own thing.

Arcane Season 2

Slightly disappointed that this was only going to get 2 seasons but while this does not live up to the exact highs of season 1, season 2 gets very close and luckily there should be more in store for the good version of league of legends. Also episode 7 is amazing.

Xmen 97

I was young enough to watch a bit of the OG 90s Xmen show but tbh apart from “I’m the juggernaut bitch” and marvel vs capcom my xmen show was evolutions. Anyway that does not really matter much Xmen 97 while continuing from the 90s show does a good job of onboarding people and once it gets into it damn what an amazing revival. It’s a bit more mature and it knows its audience has aged and it does not patronise them. It also leans into the weirdness of xmen that we have not really seen since first class. Overall amazing show, hopefully S2 can keep up the quality.

Conan O'Brien Must Go

Oh wow an unscripted show, this was awhile in the making but hey it was worth the wait. If you liked Conan O'Brien's remotes this is a show just of that. Highlights include Conan cameoing on an Irish Language Soap, and singing in Thai on a variety show. This show did fly under the radar a bit I only watched it while flying luckily it is streaming in NZ now there is a legal way to see it. Also Conan showed up in NZ for a bit so looking forward to that episode.

Notables Shows

Interior Chinatown

Bit hard to describe, starts out about a guy wanting a more exciting life and find his missing brother told through the guise of a police show styled like law and order but its much more and becomes much more. Maybe check the trailer out, its really good, very meta almost similar to some 30 rock mixed with Wandavision though more on the comedic side. Also this is the second time I saw a true detective parody in a Disney+ show this year which is a bit weird.

Silo Season 2

Got an Apple TV+ trial watched season 1 and the timing has lined up so that season 2 started a week later. Anyway Season 2 has been pretty good. This show is very fallout coded, the accent stuff is a bit weird but overall its really good. If you liked fallout but watched more time in the vaults this show is just that minus the humor/Americana.

Agatha all along

I really liked Wandavision but Marvel TV has been a bit mixed here and there, overall decent but yeah not exactly as consistent as it could be. Anyway queue Agatha all along a refreshing addition to Marvels TV slate, bit of a smaller story but very fun, __ is amazing in it but it still manages to sink those emotional hooks and have some good payoff. Overall a fun show looking forward to “VisionQuest”

Skeleton Crew

Still a few episodes to go but I have been really enjoying this. I know that Star Wars has been a bit of a mess lately though I have tended to enjoy the output it has been a bit inconsistent and I think what went down especially with the acolyte was pretty bad, that thing really could have used a season 2. Then again we have gotten the best Star Wars thing possibly ever with Andor so its not all bad. Anyway Skeleton crew is pretty good and shows you can do other different stories in Star Wars. Vey much a throw back to older movies like ET, the Goonies, Treasure Island etc. very much that Amblin Entertainment style adventure. Its been good so far hope it sticks the landing.

Fav Movies 2024

Did not get to the movies as much as I would have liked and did not watch as many smaller movies as id liked but 2024 has some good stuff. Also flying a bunch was pretty good for watching movies.

Favs

Dune 2 - Denis Villeneuve does it again with Dune 2. Also the usual Denis Villeneuve stuff, amazing visuals, audio, the epic scope but attention to detail it's all here. Like the first the cast is great but Timothée Chalamet as Paul really steals the show at the end.

The Fall Guy - really enjoyed this and while I was disappointed with the box office the discourse around it was a bit weird. Anyway don’t look any of that stuff up, just check the movie it pretty sure it's on Netflix atm.

Furiousa - This was a long time coming and yeah it was pretty good, maybe not as much of a surprise as Fury Road but it did its job. Love the background stuff on the wasteland factions. Hemsworth is great as the villain and Anya Taylor Joy as Furiosa just does the work and it pays off.

The Iron Claw - Wrestling not really my thing but a good movie is a good movie, people familiar with the story will know it’s a sad one but man its really is a sad movie. Really good though highly recommend.

Notables

I Saw the TV Glow - watching this on a plane was probably not ideal but I still liked it. This movie has amazing vibes, soundtrack. I did feel it was lacking a bit of substance personally but I know this will resonate with a lot of people.

Late Night with the Devil - another one that is a bit more style of substance, still pretty good though yeah it does not go as crazy as it could have. Aesthetics, style were amazing and David Dastmalchian is really good as the lead. (Caveat that whole AI cut away poster thing, that was bad/ a poor choice)

The Wild Robot - Another film with an amazing style though at its core a really good family movie. I think this is on par with good Pixar movies, only thing that really lets it down is it is a bit predictable. But then again family movies tend to be that.

Fav Music 2024

Music

Wish I listened to more music this year but im glad I got to discover Joey Valance and Brae aka JVB. Brat was pretty good as well.

Favs

JVB No Hands

Charli XCX Brat

Notables

Sabrina Carpenter Short and Sweet

Kendrick Lamar GNX

Fav Video Games 2024

I feel like a played a decent amount this year but wish I could have finished a few more of these.

Balatro - This game is insanely addictive and just a total package, amazing gameplay with great aesthetics and an amazing soundtrack.

World of Warcraft: The War Within - A WoW Expansion on my best of again, turns out Blizz has been able to keep up the quality since Dragonflight and yeah TWW is a great start to the World Soul Saga. Lots to do, many ways to do it, the ability to play at your own pace and one of the best zone in years in HallowFall. The War Within is pretty good.

Persona 3 Reload - Caveat I have not finished this but im 40 hours in and its pretty good, I had started playing P4 Golden earlier in the year but eventually started this and im glad im getting through this first. What I have played of the newer games feel a bit more refined/confident but this one feels like its where the series started to define itself. Really liking it so far wish I got to it earlier in the year.

Age of Mythology Retold

I played so much Age of Mythology back in the day but that was mostly when I was a kid so coming back to this all these years later is pretty interesting. Very familiar but with some modern touches, also coming to this after playing Starcraft 2 has been a very interesting experience especially no using a bunch of cheats. The game still holds up and if you played back in the day you will probably enjoy it now.

Other Notables

Hades 2 Early Access - its pretty good though I am a bit weary of it being early access, played a few hours and it has that similar hades feel but different with the new character. Looking forward to the 1.0 when its out in 2025.

Star Wars Jedi Survivor - this came to game pass in 2024 and while it launched with some issues these are mostly fixed on console so I have enjoyed playing this on and off.

Astrobot - its pretty good and probably would have made the best of it I had sunk more time in. Very much a Mario galaxy type feel though without the planetoids. Looks amazing, sounds amazing and the little bot cameos are pretty cool.