Anime Watch of 2024

Anime continues to grow in popularity and acceptance in America, all thanks to 2024 being another banner year for the art form. Netflix certainly deserves major kudos, as the streaming platform hosted and produced what many considered the best new offering of the year, Delicious In Dungeon. They also expanded their selection by being the backer behind Blue Box and the remake of Ranma 1/2. And in order to steal some of Crunchyroll's thunder, Netflix sub-hosted and gave the biggest exposure to other acclaimed fare, most notably the breakout fall hit Dan Da Dan. Blue Box and Dan Da Dan weren't the only popular adaptations from works published by Shueisha and featured as part of Shonen Jump. Kaiju No. 8 was a huge favorite in the spring and The Elusive Samurai proved to be a real winner, the latter more so in Japan than in other parts of the world though given its subject matter. Romantic comedies continued to sprout up, with the clear favorites being Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings In Russian, Makeine: Too Many Losing Heroines!, and the acclaimed second season of The Dangers In My Heart. Despite generating a lot of controversy and some backlash from certain anime fans, the very kinky Gushing Over Magical Girls shockingly became more and more well received as its progressed through its first season and became a surprise hit. Solo Leveling was the latest adaptation of a South Korean work to become majorly popular, largely thanks to the animation of A-1 Pictures. Quiet hits came in the form of The Apothecary Diaries and Girls Band Cry, the latter having to suffer from colossal mismanagement from Toei Animation before it was officially released overseas in the fall. Author Fujino Omori was on cloud nine, as his light novel Is It Wrong To Try To Pick Up Girls In a Dungeon? continued on with a successful fifth season and his manga Wistoria: Wand And Sword was finally adapted and became a summer hit. And to close things out on a high note, Oshi No Ko once again stormed the charts with its second season while Frieren: Beyond Journey's End, which ended its 28(?) episode run in March, stormed a different chart, when it dethroned Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood to become the new number one top anime series on the popular website MyAnimeList.

Amid all of this great fanfare and entertaining, well, fare, there of course were some bad titles. However, instead of focusing on the ones that are doomed to be forgotten (hello The Banished Former Hero Lives As He Pleases!), I want to highlight the projects that left an indelible impression last year for all the wrong reasons. 2024 started with many critics and viewers thoroughly impressed with the first episode of Metallic Rouge, with some going so far as to call it best of the year material. Then the rest of the series transpired and it steadily lost its luster and all of its goodwill, with many anime fans lamenting the pacing and numerous story issues. Speaking of losing their goodwill, former Crunchyroll Original and 2020 big hit Tower Of God became a total laughingstock with its elongated and much hated second season. That may have been pretty bad, to the point where it seemed you couldn't go anywhere without someone lambasting it, but it wasn't as near universal as the poor reception for the fourth season of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba. This season could be summed up with one word: Boring. I'm still not caught up with the show to totally confirm this assessment but considering my opinion of the To The Hashira Training movie last year, I can totally believe it. And despite harsh critical reception and being a presence on many worst of the year lists, the edgy isekai Failure Frame was a popular hit with many and a true guilty pleasure for some but was no Arifureta.

One of the biggest negatives of Failure Frame was its fluctuating animation quality, a complaint that proved to be a very notable issue in other shows but for a few, it became the death blow. Shonen soccer drama Blue Lock ramped up the stacks for season two but you wouldn't have felt it because the sports action was practically a slideshow, largely thanks to alleged poor production conditions and decision making. Whisper Me A Love Song became a bizarre affair because of similar production issues as the yuri romance was scheduled for January, delayed to April, aired its first ten episodes until the end of June, then ghosted until December 29 when the final two episodes aired. But there were two that took the cake of infamy last year. First up was Our Last Crusade Or The Rise Of A New World, whose second season was greenlit back in 2021 but by the time it premiered last July, only four episodes were made. It was quickly announced that all future episodes were delayed indefinitely in order "to maintain the quality" of the show, with no word since of any progress or cancellation. And then, there was Uzumaki. Dear lord, Uzumaki. The television adaptation of the beloved manga from horror maestro Junji Ito was heavily hyped up for several years, had the backing of both Production I.G. and Adult Swim, and looked to finally deliver what Ito fans wanted. The first episode aired to utter rave reviews due to its breathtaking animation, haunting black and white art style, and faithfulness to the original story. Then episode two aired and everything quickly went to shit. The animation was now completely poor and horribly executed. Clips were quickly shared online and memeified, the show started to negatively trend on social networks, and its issues were becoming more widely noted by mainstream outlets. Nothing improved with the third and fourth episodes and the miniseries would become the biggest fiasco of the year.

Those were some pretty bad shows but there were worst things happening in the news front of anime. The biggest news story for all American anime fans was the official closure of Funimation. The distributor/streaming service fully merged with its Sony compatriot Crunchyroll in April, with users given the option to unite their accounts and watch history. However, there were two very big problems, one of which drew the most ire. Not only were a great amount of Funimation shows not coming to Crunchyroll, including anime classics like Crest/Banner of the Stars and Escaflowne, but user's digital copies of anime shows, which came with the purchase of Funimation blu-rays, would be nontransferable. Myself and a ton of others were rightfully furious at the latter issue, to the point that it made mainstream business news. The president of Crunchyroll would later state that they are looking to compensate users for the digital copies but nothing has been heard of the action since. Crunchyroll would further draw anger when in July the streaming service removed all fan reviews and episode comments, as in the entire history of them since the service's inception. This decision apparently was brought on due to an online hate campaign and review bombing of the new yaoi romance show Twilight Out Of Focus but others also point out that it coincided with the negative reception to the poor subtitling of another new show My Deer Friend Nokotan, allegedly due to it being A.I. generated and an attempt for Crunchyroll to justify cutting costs and reducing staff.

When it comes to poorly received dubs, however, Crunchyroll had nothing to do with that last year. Instead, it came from the near mishandling of the American blu-ray release of Lovely Complex. The popular 2007 romcom was finally coming to blu-ray via Discotek Media and it was also announced to be getting a new English dub. However, the release became product non grata when one of the dub writers, Brendan Blaber aka YouTuber JelloApocalypse, opened his smug mouth and stated in an online post that he hated the show and how he helped "fix" it by changing a lot of its original elements. Apparently, Discotek noticed the changes and removed them in the nick of time, right before they and everyone else in the anime distribution, translation and localization industry blackballed Blaber from all future projects. But the biggest declaration of blackballing actually came from Japan, when legendary voice actor Toru Furuya, the man who was the voice behind Amuro Ray, Tuxedo Mask, Seiya, and Sabo, self-imploded his own career after a damning interview in late May. Furuya shockingly admitted to previously having a 4 1/2 year long affair with a fan, where he physically and mentally abused her and disturbingly forced her to have an abortion. A month later, when the outrage refused to go away and companies began to pull him from current and future projects, the actor announced that he would be stepping down from his talent agency and from all of his famous roles. One anime production company that also didn't have any future projects and didn't survive to the end of 2024 was Gainax, the legendary animation studio that gave us Gunbuster, Neon Genesis Evangelion, and Gurren Lagann. After more than a decade of controversy, poor business decisions and creative exodus, the studio declared bankruptcy and ceased operations in June.

While there were a lot of bad things that happened in the anime industry last year, nothing was as worse as when we lost several people that helped shaped it. Noriko Ohara and Atusko Tanaka were two of the greatest voice actresses ever, giving life to such famous characters as Nobita Nobi and Mokoto Kusanagi respectively. Hinako Ashihara was a popular shojo manga artist that just wanted her work to be faithfully adapted by others. Rachel Lillis was one of the American queens of anime voice acting from the late 90s to mid-2000s, being the original and signature voice behind the tomboy gym leader turned Ash's traveling buddy Misty, Team Rocket villainess Jesse, and the ever troublesome singing creature Jigglypuff in the Pokemon franchise. She also became a hero for many girls and/or those looking for a strong character that matched their sexuality when she voiced the titular character/queer icon of Revolutionary Girl Utena. And then, there's Akira Toriyama. The man who created Dragon Ball, the title that changed the medium of manga and the shonen genre. The man who created Dragon Ball Z, the title that was so revolutionary and different for the American public that they were able to accept this thing called anime. The man who co-created Dragon Quest, the video game franchise that became an institution of the role-playing genre and a true cultural phenomenon in Japan were it not for his contributions as character and monster designer.

I wanted to get all of the good, bad, and really heavy stuff out of the way first because, well, there was a lot of it in 2024 and they were far more important than the so-called plights facing this anime viewer. I only watched a little more than I did last year but I didn't feel like I squandered anything besides not paying for one last month of Funimation before it was wiped from online existence. I really had a hankering to watch Crest of the Stars again and to finish up Chrome Shelled Regios but not so much as to go and buy them on DVD. I of course also didn't hit any of my goals, with the one I'm really angry at myself for not doing was watching and cheering on the second season of Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki-kun. Despite getting really good reviews, the show seemed to have suffered the same audience apathy that befalls all second seasons of anime shows. But the thing that really pissed me off, more so than the Funimation digital copies issue strangely, came in August when iTunes suddenly without explanation ended its $4.99 anime sales. For a long time now, an anime fan could biweekly get a 13 to 26 series/season digitally and spend only five bucks, whether it was one of their favorites or a title that looked interesting or simply to grow their digital library. And this just ended late last year with no announcement why, leaving myself and many others truly dismayed. Seriously, there are a lot of Americans that don't want to support Crunchyroll or Sony but would gladly give up a Lincoln to Apple. Whatever or whoever was responsible for the demise of the sales, Apple certainly suffered the consequences of the action, as their anime television sales have dropped significantly on iTunes according to their daily top charts. 

Now let's just get on to the main event, shall we? Here are the list of anime shows that I watched last year. As always, the list goes from what I dubbed was the best all the way down to the least liked or worst. The rules are the same: The overall quality of the show and my response to it are the major factors toward their rank. However, other additional factors such as replayability, voice talent, and lasting impact can help sway their placing. Only new shows/new viewings count; rewatches are immediately disqualified and if I watch a show that I already started, only the continuing unwatched episodes will be reviewed. I treat and grade all series fairly, even ones that I haven't actually finished or may not choose to finish. If you see a * next to the title, that means I had a limited sampling of the show or didn't complete the series/franchise fully.

1. The Wrong Way To Use Healing Magic

Next time somebody says that there isn't any good isekai shows around, point them to this one. This series gives us a really likeable mc, an awesome twist on "healing" magic, characters that we actually care about, a lot of great action and comedy, and a fantastic English dub. Seriously, my favorite quote of the year was Alexis Tipton's delivery of the line, "Look at all of this BEEF!". And once, RIP Atusko Tanaka. Colleen Clinkenbeard may have pulled off her usual badassery as the hardnosed, hardcore healing mage Rose but Tanaka brought the goods, especially the comically maniacal side of the character.

2. My Happy Marriage* [eps. 1-8]

Oh, I just love a good melodrama when it is pulled off well. With this show, you get six excellent episodes and a fantastic climax only to go, oh wait, there are another six episodes left. Unfortunately, I fell off with the next storyline, mainly because of that stupid boring interloper, but I do plan on catching up with the show so I can watch the second season, which has currently started on Netflix. This show also gets bonus points because I actually got my mom interested in watching it.

3. Chillin’ In Another World With Level 2 Super Cheat Powers

Yep, another isekai but with a slight twist. I frankly just enjoyed how this show spent a lot of time on the main couple and their ever evolving relationship, to the point where holy crap the main characters actually had sex! Also, the protagonists' first encounter with the djinn character was one of the best anime moments of the year. It did have some notable issues though specifically how the other summoned so-called hero just becomes a gag character despite his evil actions and how the Demon Lord's ordinary form doesn't make him good looking at all. Still, the show was straight up funny and I had a good time with it.

4. The Ossan Newbie Adventurer, Trained To Death By The Most Powerful Party, Became Invincible

One of the sleeper hits of 2024, this had a lot more to it than just a goofy premise and hot dark elf girl. It has a great message about how even when the world gets you down and says you can't, holding on to your dream and pursuing it any way you can will always be a just cause. Yeah, I'm reading a little too much into something that basically presents what if Izuku Midoriya lived in a fantasy world and was in his 30s but the show was still a nice surprise treat to enjoy. Lastly, having the opening tune be a throwback to old hero anime theme songs was the perfect cherry on top.

5. Fairy Tail* [eps. 87-118]

Finally cleared the Edolas arc, only to get stuck in the Tenrou Island arc. I swear I'll eventually "all clear" this series simply so I can finally play the franchise's recent JRPGS. Also, "Soul of Iron"/"Iron Soul" is a great watch.

6. Let This Grieving Soul Retire

I loved how this series played with standard fantasy tropes and its satirization of so-called heroic adventurers and the fearless mastermind who oversees them. Unfortunately, the show slugs a bit in the middle episodes, especially since the action is literally taking place at the same dungeon from the first storyline but now with more forests. Still, it gets by with its humor, creative touches to its opening credits and ending previews, and great performances from Kensho Ono and Fairouz Ai.

7. Hokkaido Gals Are Super Adorable!* [eps. 1-10]

This was the first anime I watched last year and I had a lot of cozy fun with it, even with all of the blatant "come to Hokkaido" story elements. My only guess as to why I didn't finish it was probably because I didn't like how the protagonist's grandma suddenly turned heel and actual stakes were thrust into the story. I'll try to get around to finishing it, or at least re-watch the Valentine's Day episode, which I felt was the best of the series. 

8. In Another World With My Smartphone 2* [eps. 2-4]

Yep, I'm still chugging through this second season, even though it is not as great or fun as the first. After seeing three more episodes, I can now safely say that man, what a terrible first episode this season had! It needed to spend less time staring at all of the heroines' bras and breasts and more time on the comedy and interpersonal relationships. No wonder I gave this up in 2023.

9. Ladies Versus Butlers [eps. 1-7]

I would love to say that fan service shows aren't always that bad but then I watched this one. It has its moments and the dub is okay given that it's coming from Media Blasters. However, to paraphrase the great Crow T. Robot, this is a good display of when sexy becomes annoying. And come the fuck on with that female artist character and how she is totally "19" years old.

So, what do I have geared up to do this year? First, I want to dabble with HIDIVE and their selection of shows, especially since Amazon did another one of their special subscription sales through Prime Video. I want to finally give two big Funimation titles a watch, those being Classroom of the Elite and High School DxD (yes, I will be watching the dub despite you know what). I want to catch up with Fire Force, especially before the final season starts later this year. I also want to catch up with my beloved Iruma-kun before season 4 comes about. And finally, I want to finish up the second season of My Next Life As A Villainess, which I have putting off for three years now!

Best To Worst Films of 2024

2024 seemed for the most part to be a repeat of 2023, a second season of it if you will. Several things from the previous year continued to plague the world: the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the demoralizing actions happening in the Gaza Strip, anti-Semitism and other horrific racism spewed via online social media and/or fueling horrendous acts of violence, and the debate over and pathetic usage of AI. And just when you thought things would get better in this show we call life, a special guest star, someone who draws cheers from audiences across America yet an equal or more so ire as well, got to be a main player (again) thanks to what happened in November. While I was not happy with the "decision", the backlash against them went way too far when two separate people tried to cancel them out of existence.

Weird analogy aside, 2024 also did give us some exciting major events to shake things up but there was always some controversy to ruin the fun. The Super Bowl became the most watched televised program ever in American history but gave us a lame game (Chiefs Win LOL), plenty of camera cuts to Taylor Swift, a flat halftime show from Usher, and then later a victory parade shooting. The Eurovision Song Contest had one of its potential winners unfairly disqualified, allowed Israel to participate amid much outcry, struggled with multiple accounts of misconduct by certain delegations, and went full WWE by using anti-booing technology to silence the live audience's jeers aimed at Israel's artist and EBU director Martin Österdahl. The Summer Olympics in Paris were great but seemingly everybody refused to get over a "daring" drag tableau of "The Last Supper" in the opening ceremony, an Algerian female boxer, an Australian "breakdancer", a gymnastics final, and a certain someone not being included on the American women's basketball team (the anger at Joel Embiid was totally justified however). And speaking of American women's basketball, the WNBA had its most popular season ever since its inception thanks to a new crop of talented rookies, extensive media attention, and an exciting Finals yet it was often hampered by despicable "fan" behavior in the stands and online and the clueless response to it by the league's commissioner Cathy Engelbert.

There was more drama/controversy to go around in every corner of culture, whether it was television (Quiet On Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, the third season of The Bear), music (the Drake/Kendrick Lamar feud), video games (Concord, more studio closures and job losses), comedy (The Roast of Tom Brady, that twerp from the MSG Trump rally), and royalty watch (everything involving Princess Kate). I would include anime in the discussion but I have a whole separate article for that, But what happened in 2024 in my most beloved part of life on Earth, that of course being the wonderful world of film?

Warner Bros. CEO David Zaslav continued his asshole ways by threatening to make the completed film Coyote vs. Acme into a tax write-off and refusing to give it to anyone else unless they pay an insane asking price ($70-80 million). A lot of sure-fire hits ended up being big bombs and total misses in theaters, most notably Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, IF, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, and the complete fiascos that were Joker: Folie à Deux and Red One. These many failures help led to a depressing summer season which was so bad that director Denis Villeneuve (Dune: Part Two) lamented that he's "disappointed to still be number one" at the total box office for the year. Redbox closed up shop, further signaling the slow death of physical media. Robert Downey Jr. went from Oscar winner to persona non grata after it was announced he would get $100 million to play Doctor Doom in the MCU, a ridiculously huge paycheck especially coming one year after the Hollywood strikes. The investigation and trials involving the shooting on the set of Rust concluded with the armorer getting 18 months in jail while Alec Baldwin saw his charges dismissed with prejudice due to concealed evidence. Another wave of celebrity deaths unfortunately came including the passings of Carl Weathers, James Earl Jones, Maggie Smith, and Tony Todd. And right before we dropped the curtain for the year, there was a depressingly quiet fall season, with many Oscar hopefuls not generating any major buzz or attention among the general populace, and a bizarre yet still distressing dilemma, which is still ongoing, surrounding It Ends With Us, its star Blake Lively, and its co-star/director Justin Baldoni.

But everything wasn't all bad for film. Even with all of the flops and misfires, I would say we had one of the weirdest, most eclectic years in film possibly ever. Disney got to have their own Barbenheimer when the company conquered both the summer and the whole year with the #1 and #2 highest grossing movies for 2024, one of which is a shockingly gory rated R superhero movie. Animation flourished with acclaimed works from across the globe and anime became more of a welcome presence in theaters and an easy bet to generated money at the box office. Concert films and more adult driven affair were more plentiful to experience. Netflix saw much more success with their Netflix Film lineup, particularly when it came to their action fare, one of which recently was their top film every day for three straight weeks. While horror generally was a mixed bag, Terrifer 3 proved to be a huge draw, becoming the highest grossing unrated film of all time while at the same time highly grossing out audiences with another wave of disturbingly gory practical effects. Letterboxd gained more popularity and acceptance among the social media sphere. And finally, to throw everybody through a loop and make many Oscar watchers even more nervous, there really wasn't a lot of consensus when it came to the best films or even the best film of 2024. Everybody seemingly had a different pick for numero uno.

Now comes the annual time for me to proclaim my top pick, along with all of the other films I got to experience. Oh wait, just one moment. I usually talk about my personal life in 2024. I'll try to be quick about it: my New Year's resolution to eliminate appetizers when I go out to eat helped me feel better and certainly helped my wallet ($15 for 6 mozzarella sticks?!); I went to my hometown arena to see four days/six exciting games of the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball tournament, including the amazing Iowa/LSU regional final; my beloved local independent movie theater closed down nearly for good only to be saved and reopened two months later; saw Stop Making Sense in IMAX again and it's still phenomenal; finally was able to beat not one but two JRPGS (Trails of Cold Steel I and II), each of them taking 90 hours to complete and I loved every second of it; rejoiced and grappled with several life-changing moments among my precious family and friends; and I had to pay for a new garage door even though I wasn't at fault for breaking it. There, done. Now let's have some fun.

My final total of 2024 films that I watched is 32. It is now time to arrange them in the order of my opinion, from the best to the worst.

First up is my top ten of the year. I had some struggle when it came to the last pick of the set.

1. Civil War

Alex Garland's mission so far as a writer-director is to terrify the viewer right down to their core with provocative topics and unsettling imagery that is near impossible to scrub from your mind. His last two films were truly "mileage may vary" but in 2024, he became absolute lord and ruler of the land with this tantalizing tale about the power and the art of journalism, all transpiring amid the horrifying landscapes of a truly divided and weaponized United States of America. Evocative in every shot, this road trip through the hell of humanity was an exquisitely visceral experience, supplemented further by Kirsten Dunst's stellar lead performance, a stomach-turning scene with one-scene wonder Jesse Plemons, and an exhilarating yet still disheartening finale that brings the sights, sounds and dream scenarios we see often in video games and other sci-fi stories and makes them all the more too real.

2. A Real Pain

Finally escaping the treacherous wilderness that is superhero movies, Jesse Eisenberg went full Jesse Eisenberg with this indie to superb results. Eisenberg wrote, directed, produced, and starred in this simple but very rich story about kinship, emotional maturity, and the family legacies we carry. Instead of fully following the standard Sundance dramedy formula, the refreshing script is full of dialogue and interactions that are more realistic and/or thorny, where no one is truly right and the willingness to forgive and/or forget solely in order to move forward, especially when on vacation, is brutally enforced. And I can't fully declare my love for this movie without mentioning the amazing Kieran Culkin as Eisenberg's turbulent cousin.

3. Flow

Latvia isn't a widely known country, thus any art spawned from the small Eastern European nation tend to be lost in translation. See their success rate recently at the Eurovision Song Contest as further proof. But the little Baltic was able to fully break through on the world stage thanks to this exceptionally animated tale. How did they and animator Gints Zilbalodis pull if off? By crafting a mysterious tale that is equals parts haunting and majestic with an all animal cast, no dialogue, fantastic camera work, and a spiritually moving score. A word of warning: be a little wary of letting your kids see it. The lack of celebrity voices, funny jokes, and many displays of animal peril caused one little girl at my screening to cry her eyes out all the way through to the end credits.

4. Rebel Ridge

This film had my curiosity with its perilous premise and Don Johnson as the heavy. Then it had my full attention when I saw that it was from the mind of Jeremy Saulnier. An expertly executed action-thriller with a star-making lead performance by Aaron Pierre and a palpable first third that juices you straight up and keeps the danger levels constant all the way until the stunning final shot.

5. Memoir of a Snail

One of the few joys I rarely indulge in life is going through all of the movie showtimes on a given day, finding a movie I never heard about and go and view it on a whim. I did that very thing with this stop-motion animated indie and it caused me to tear right up. My first engagement with the works of Adam Elliot, this film spins a masterful, all too real feeling narrative about struggling to survive mentally when the world isn't very kind. I know that sounds pretty dire but please note that there's a lot of humor and heart to liven up things, including a religious apple cult, special magic tricks, and an elderly woman who's seen and done everything.

6. Speak No Evil

I want to signal boast this horror remake as much as I can. I was completely taken aback at how much I enjoyed this disturbing little ditty and how brutal it gets, more so with its social satire than with its actual violence. I don't know what was better, James McAvoy with his overwhelming pounds of muscle and the psychotic cartwheels he performs or the big climax that puts a nice twist on a home invasion. Yes, I'm perfectly aware that writer-director James Watkins changed the ending from the original Danish film but I rather steal away with this one any day.

7. Dune: Part Two

A bit of a drop from the first film but I'm glad that Denis Villeneuve got to see his vision through. Still breathtaking in all of its glory, from the sandworm riding to the black and white world ruled by the Harkonnen. The climatic final battle could have been better if Warner Bros were willing to open their pursestrings some more but in return we get a great exploration on the savior narrative and fantastic performances from Timothée Chalamet, Austin Butler, and of course Javier Bardem.

8. Inside Out 2

I have not been a big fan of the sequels Pixar has been making as of late, with even Toy Story 4 losing some of its luster as time moves forward. But even with some trepidation, not to mention a lack of joy going into it due to the Bill Hader/Mindy Kaling pay controversy, I was really touched with the latest chapter of human girl Riley and her anthropomorphized emotions. The film expands what would otherwise be a simple sitcom plot in order to draw up more goofy gags (love that "sar-chasm"!), finally experiment with other animation aesthetics, and carefully explain why the development of more complicated emotions requires the same amount of acceptance and appreciation we give to the standard ones. This also had to make my top ten list simply for the gut punches it delivers, whether it was "that scene" or a certain four word feeling that we all as humans struggle with at some point.

9. The Wild Robot

While there were three better animated films that wowed me significantly, this one however had the purest heart and drive to truly win me over, even after its heavily enforced marketing campaign. More than just a wannabe WALL-E, it weaves a wondrous ode to the joys and pains of parenting and paints it upon an immaculate canvas with stunning watercolor-inspired animation. Like its lead character, however, not everything is perfect; I was quite boggled by the sudden inclusion of a last act villain when one wasn't really needed. Still, I greatly admire this wild and creative streak Dreamworks Animation has been mostly pulling off.

10. Conclave

An odd choice to include in my top ten but quite frankly this prestigious drama was too delicious in its pulpiness to pass by, like a ruby red apple that is forbidden to taste. The film is immediately compelling from frame one, as it tries to create what we think actually happens when the current pope dies and a new one must be anointed. Director Edward Berger keeps the momentum up with some outstanding visuals and rich mise en scene and the entire cast is on point, particularly Ralph Fiennes as a conflicted cardinal and Isabella Rossellini as a silent sister that has seen and heard all of the secrets and sins that plague the church. But it is the script that is the film's biggest blessing and curse. The story keeps you guessing and the twists do deliver but it's a little too reminiscent of Angels & Demons, the Dan Brown novel turned 2009 film which also deals with a contentious conclave and unknown forces that wish to sabotage the process. All that being said, the film is just way too effective overall to not give it its due.

Next up are six films that I thought were very good and were true highlights of the year. They just had a thing or two that kept it from making my top ten.

11. Mars Express

I had a lot of fun with this Sam Spade in space tale, which mixes Chinatown and Blade Runner together and coats it with a beautiful French animated touch. But that overextended ultra bummer ending just kills the momentum of the story and the replayability of the film. I really wanted this to be in my top ten but whenever I randomly accessed my memories of the film, the finale was the only thing that truly stuck with me.

12. Blink Twice

A great directorial debut by Zoe Kravitz. It may lean a little too close to Get Out and often forgets that a satire needs to have some more comedy to balance things out but the film delivers some beautifully devilish visuals, fascinating editing, a committed cast led by a subversive performance from Channing Tatum, and a whopper ending that is truly debatable.

13. Look Back

Kiyotaka Oshiyama and Studio Durian did a really fine job bringing Tatsuki Fujimoto's exceptional one-shot manga to the masses. I adore the animation experimentation on full display, particularly the "skipping in the rain" sequence, and it gives you a nice tight glimpse at the human passions and struggles to draw. Unfortunately, the film just didn't have the same punch as the original one-shot, which turned me into a complete mess one fateful Sunday. I point to the bizarrely slow slideshow of memories at the film's conclusion as the main culprit.

14. Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Freedom

It took nearly two decades but Sunrise and series director Mitsuo Fukuda were finally able to make Mobile Suit Gundam SEED a popular thing again thanks to this impressive space opera. Come for the delightfully well animated mecha battles, stay for its examination on the relationship between main hero Kira and space princess Lacus, the character redevelopment of Shinn Asuka, and plenty of "where are they now?" updates. Still ended on a weird note with the whole naked on a beach thing though.

15. Deadpool & Wolverine

It got all the money people were willing to spend to see a summer flick and it got the American public to briefly care about superhero movies again. Yes, the film is near impenetrable if you don't care for Deadpool, appreciate or barely tolerate meta fiction/meta humor, or have some knowledge of the superhero movies produced, or in one special case never produced, by 20th Century Fox. But it was still a lot of fun, ultra gory fun to be more honest, and had a nice message about respecting all of the previous work that was done in order for us to get to this point in pop culture where superhero movies are to be treated and seen as actual films.

16. Piece By Piece

I commend director Morgan Neville and the animation crew for the wild and crazy Lego art they crafted in order to vividly express music wunderkind Pharrell Williams' musings on his own life, his philosophy on music, and the history behind the songs that changed hip-hop and pop history. However, I can't fully commend Pharrell himself because he could have sabotaged the whole project with his often blatant refusal to delve deeper on many topics, especially with what happened to The Neptunes.  Also, a special shout out to the family of four who stormed out right near the end when the movie dared to visualize social injustices right before Kendrick Lamar's "Alright" was discussed.

Next are the "creamy middles", the films that were effective in their execution, engagement, and entertainment and are worth a viewing. I just wasn't fully enamored with them as I was with the films above.

17. Saturday Night

I greatly applaud the efforts of director Jason Reitman and the cast and crew in recreating a pivot moment in American comedy. But the film just spends too much time on fan service, tributes to the fallen, and sketch callbacks (or would that be call-forwards?) rather than actually explaining why we should care for these young guns and why this new show is so important and needed to be made.

18. Wicked

Though the near three hours flew by thanks to great and charming lead performances, amazing production craftsmanship, and bringing the best songs from the 2003 musical to the big screen, it sadly chose not to expand on the several flat supporting characters, doesn't ever realize that the whole racism angle of the story doesn't work on film if you have a multi-racial cast and an army of extras, and has a head-shaking "finale" that shoehorns two random action sequences and a bizarre, thoroughly cut-up version of "Defying Gravity".

19. Transformers One

The most fun I had with the Transformers in a very long while and features an excellent voice performance from Brian Tyree Henry. I just wish Chris Hemsworth worked better on his vocal attempt to channel Peter Cullen and some of the laser-filled, steel crushing action was more easily decipherable to the human eye.

20. Spy x Family Code: White

A simple fun shonen anime flick that proves to be an easy gateway into the series. Just don't expect anything major to happen, as this is just a small diversion. And that god of butt sequence was a total head scratcher, featuring creative animated visuals but filled to the brim with lame potty humor.

21. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

Great to see Tim Burton have fun again while making a film, especially with the little tribute to Mario Bava. Needed more Catherine O'Hara and less of Jeffrey Jones, even if he's replaced by a ghoul with a half eaten torso. Also, Justin Theroux, Monica Bellucci, and "MacArthur Park" did not have to be included at all, especially since that trio often stops the picture dead in its tracks.

22. Haikyu!! The Dumpster Battle

Terrible name for a film but quite accurate, as it consists entirely of one high stakes volleyball match. It has some exhilarating shonen sport theatrics but good luck trying to figure out who anybody is or truly care about any of them if you're a non-fan, besides of course the energetic short fry with the orange hair.

23. My Hero Academia: You're Next

Keeps the streak alive of entertaining My Hero Academia movies but it is certainly the weakest of the bunch. Sure to fade quickly from your mind despite the high stakes it imposes and the dream battle of All Might vs. Deku it wishes to bring to life.

24. Daddio

I remembered liking this little indie, which is set entirely in and around a New York cab and is actually better executed than you think it would be, but I don't exactly remember actually why I did beyond the performances of Sean Penn and Dakota Johnson. Would have further faded from existence if not for that humorous news story where passengers on a Qantas Airways flight voted to watch this together due to a technical glitch the plane was experiencing, only for them to not pay attention to the R rating and the reasons for it.

Next are the unfortunate disappointments, the ones that had a few shining moments but were overwhelmed with poor creative decisions and flat showmanship.

25. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

The king of disappointments of 2024. I say king because this sci-fi epic spent more time and energy focusing on Chris Hemsworth and his wasteland story than the life of the near silent main heroine. Why bother watching this, even with another exciting tanker sequence, when everything important was literally spoiled in the trailers. And dear lord, the horrendous CGI used in place of real fire and dog actors.

26. Enter The Clones of Bruce

A dream subject I always wanted to be covered, only to sit through a bog standard, paint by numbers documentary that, despite featuring plenty of kung fu fighting, often had me nodding off in the theater.

27. Heretic

Some really good performances, particular Hugh Grant, but the script sure did love to smell its own farts, thinking it is hot shit with all of its dissections of religion and who's really in control. It was kinda hard for me to take things seriously or be scared when the film literally starts with its two female leads chatting about the acting in pornos and how "magic underpants" are an important thing to the story.

28. Longlegs

This is supposed to be the scariest film of 2024? Could have been really creepy but then it had to over explain everything and ruin the specialness of its characters before delivering a lame "that's it" conclusion.

29. Never Let Go

Did very well examining the existential plight of its protagonists but the majority of the twists were easy to spot, it quickly loses steam after pulling a major stunt, and it just wasn't scary at all.

Finally, we end with three of the worst films of 2024. Honestly, none of them were complete trash but they also weren't worth a ticket to the cinema, nor truly worthy of your time. I spent more energy huffing and puffing or rolling my eyes than actually engaging with these films.

30. Solo Leveling: ReAwakening

Solo Leveling may have been one of the big anime hits of last year but outside of some stellar action animation from A-1 Pictures, you would have a hard time understanding exactly why while watching this compilation film. How can a viewer really enjoy the power fantasy aspects of this story when this thing starts by literally obscuring the backstory of its protagonist and barely tries on world-building, solely in order to give more time to crafting a YouTube-like compilation of battles where "the bullies get what they deserve" or "the villain should have fled instead of taunting the mc". When it gets to the second half of the film, aka the first two episodes of the upcoming second season, things settle down and you can relax and enjoy it for what it is: the first two episodes of the upcoming second season!

31. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba - To The Hashira Training

We go from a new anime hit to a hit anime series that took a mighty tumble in popularity last year. Make no mistake, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba is still pretty popular but the show was heavily criticized for delivering a very poor season 4. But before that season aired its pitiful eight episodes, the series did another compilation film/special preview that just wasn't as good as the last one. While I did really enjoy seeing a pivotal story moment for the first time and treated with reverence on the big screen, this "film" utilized the exact same strategy as To The Swordsman Village, consisting of just two overextended episodes. However, this one is a far worst sell because the second half of it largely is a total bore, mostly featuring people sitting around saying "we should do something" before finally, finally deciding that oh yeah maybe it's a good idea to actually train our soldiers properly for the big bad and his crew instead of treating them like meat to the slaughter.

32. Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1

We all saw this movie's fate come riding in from a mile away and sure enough it did. Kevin Costner wanted to do another big budget project centered around an odd idea but this time he foolishly put his own money into it. It failed, oh boy, did it fail, and it technically isn't buried in the ground yet. Make no mistake, this three hour film genuinely starts off fantastic with a nice eerie prologue, culminating with a devastating attack on the titular town by a renegade group of Native Americans. But after that showstopper, the movie then bombards you with multiple storylines, whose scenes often coming crashing in out of nowhere and can be hard to follow due to jumps in time, introduction of more new characters, and random switches in the characterization of previously established characters. And then it just ends with little to no real advancement in any of the plots, before giving us a truly bewildering "to be continued" montage, with the only thing standing out from it is Giovanni Ribisi and his really evil moustache. Did Costner not watch how every single American televised miniseries concludes on Night One, or how big film epics end before intermission in order to entice and enrapture their audiences?! I can't call this a total failure because that is reserved for the finished Chapter 2, since it didn't get picked up by anyone after being screened at the Venice Film Festival. But hoo doggies, what a fiasco.

2024 Eurovision Song Contest Predictions

Another year, another round of predictions for the Eurovision Song Contest.

But alas, my predictions this year will severely lack a good deal of enthusiasm. Since the end of February, my excitement for Eurovision has drastically dropped. I was still looking forward to it and still tried to attend it live but I wasn't feeling very happy.

What happened to cause this dreadful emotion? Simple. I frankly just wasn't enjoying the songs or selections at the same level as previous years. Some of the early fan favorites were okay at best and suffered from immense cringe or and/or dodgy live vocals. Then Sweden decided to have their most blandest Melodifestivalen in some time, complete with the most pathetic Second Chance round of all time and a winner that while competently made was truly bleh.

Now after listening to the entire album, pouring through a lot of podcasts while at work, and checking out the official rehearsal footage, I'm now back in the groove for the most part. With that being said, let's get to my predictions!

But before I do, here are my top ten favorite songs from this year's contest pre-rehearsals, in alphabetical order:

Australia

Austria

Cyprus

Denmark

Estonia

France

Ireland

Lithuania

Slovenia

Switzerland

SEMI-FINAL 1 COUNTRIES THAT WILL QUALIFY TO THE GRAND FINAL

Australia - Great to see Electric Fields at Eurovision. And they brought another fine tune with some easy audience participation.

Croatia - They have a great story with Baby Lasagna. The song sounds great on the album. It would be great for Croatia to win or get a high placement. Baby Lasagna's real singing voice? Not so great. It will do well with the audience but it needs to be on point in order to steal votes away from the other meme-worthy fan favorites aka the weird little guys of Eurovision 2024.

Cyprus - All I want is for there to be a kickass girl pop song. Cyprus brought it to me again. I am however afraid of it being the very first song of the event but the constant song recaps will refresh everyone's mind.

Finland - I don't loathe "No Rules!" but it was such a terrible selection, a huge drop from "Cha Cha Cha". It will either easily make it through the semi-final thanks to the televote only to then die on Saturday or it will die a quick death on Tuesday. And no, it will not win.

Ireland - They have a 50/50 chance at advancing with "Doomsday Blue". The rehearsal footage so far makes it look it will finally break Ireland's non-qualifying streak.

Lithuania - My absolute favorite song of the entire contest. I really wish it does well, giving Lithuania another top ten placement.

Luxembourg - Expecting to qualify solely as a thank you for coming back. Very meh song.

Portugal - Okay song that appears to be enhanced greatly with the staging. Portugal being Portugal.

Slovenia - I like Raiven and "Veronika" is really cool and unique but all of her artistic screaming at the end of the song might kill its chances or cause it to drop to the lower 13 come the Grand Final.

Ukraine - I love Ukraine but this selection is very bland. Good enough to qualify though. And what the hell is going to happen with that paper mache hill?

SEMI-FINAL 1 COUNTRIES THAT WILL BE ELIMINATED

Azerbaijan - Wait, they are competing this year? Really? Are you sure? I know their song came out right before the deadline but it so unbelievably forgettable.

Iceland - Oh Iceland. Even with the nice return of Hera Bjork, you chose poorly.

Moldova - I actually enjoy "In The Middle" and was one of the few people happy that it won the national selection over yet another meme pop tune. However, it looks to potentially be swallowed up by the big stage.

Poland - Like the song but my god, they ruined it thanks to the expected staging and costumes.

Serbia - Somber and quickly washes away from your mind. Why Serbia?

SEMI-FINAL 2 COUNTRIES THAT WILL QUALIFY TO THE GRAND FINAL

Armenia - A total dark horse and total folk fun.

Austria - Could fall apart live but the rehearsal footage seem to show Kaleen ready to make "We Will Rave" a blast on stage.

Belgium - Remember when many people though this would win? It's good but not too stellar.

Czechia - It was either this or Greece. I think Aiko and her fun but still Olivia Rodrigo wannabe song will do well in the arena.

Denmark - What a glow-up! Not the most original song but Saba looks like a total diva commanding the stage. This will do very well with the juries.

Estonia - Really hoping this becomes the Moldova spot of the evening. I love these guys and their song so much over the other folk pop dance tracks.

The Netherlands - No, this will not win Eurovision. Second place at best, even with a big televote. Though "Europapa" is pretty catchy, it is also a bit lame if you take a step back and look at it as a whole. And that depressing ending is so odd.

Norway - The live performance version is far and away better than the song version. Still a lot of wailing and screaming though. Still wish Keiino or Super Rob the giant robot were here.

San Marino - Holy crap! Megara and their song "11:11" were a total mess at the national final but they seemed to finally put the pieces together for Thursday and possibly Saturday.

Switzerland - We finally have a POTENTIAL WINNER. Nemo appears ready and able to do all of the vocal theatrics necessary to make "The Code" shine live and the expecting staging looks to complement it.

SEMI-FINAL 2 COUNTRIES THAT WILL BE ELIMINATED

Albania - I don't hate the revamp with a passion like everybody else but yeah, it's pretty questionable and dire. Should have sticked with the original version and the metal bikini top.

Georgia - Can Georgia just get a break please?

Greece - I enjoy "Zari" but I don't think it will translate well live in a big arena.

Israel - Remember, the semi-final qualifiers are determined via the public.

Latvia - Dons can sing and "Hollow" is pretty fine, especially if you're a fan of Hozier's "Take Me To Church", but the expected staging looks to ruin Latvia's chances to break the streak of non-qualifying.

Malta - Yes, it's just a lame "SlowMo". At least it's better than that monkey song. Moving on.

COUNTRIES THAT AUTO-QUALIFY TO THE GRAND FINAL

France - The second POTENTIAL WINNER. It is so very French but Slimane has shown that he has the pipes and is ready to unleash everything for another win for France.

Germany - Love that elephant roar! Has potential to do okay compared to Germany's previous entries ("Blood and Glitter" deserved better!) but it also could be another unmemorable flop.

Italy - This was a potential winner at one point, especially after Sanremo, but somewhere along the way, "La Noia" lost a lot of steam. Still expected to do well enough and be top ten worthy.

Spain - Good throwback to 80's synthpop but doesn't stick with me at all. Don't expect the same to happen with juries and televoters save for maybe Portugal.

Sweden - Last year, I was so happy Marcus & Martinus didn't win Melodifestivalen. They did it win this year however with a lesser song called "Unforgettable". It's the first song on Saturday. Even with the recap videos, non-jury people will forget it.

The United Kingdom - "Dizzy" is great when listening to it on the radio or a playlist. It's a breezy tune of simple synths but it doesn't hang well as a stand alone track. I liked Years & Years but Oily Alexander needs to do something to stand out. Their solution so far? Dancers in boxing gear doing very homoerotic routines. It's Can't Stop The Music all over again!

The semi-finals take place on May 7 and 9, both starting at 3 PM EST. The Grand Final will take place on May 11 at the exact same time. All three events can be watched here in America via Peacock if they have a paid subscription to the streaming service. No word yet on whether Johnny Weir will show up to host again but viewers will able to follow along with the event's presenters, Swedish expert entertainer Petra Mede and Hollywood actress Malin Akerman.