2024 Festivus: Film and Television
Written by Andreas Babiolakis
Three years ago, I started celebrating Festivus here on Films Fatale. Because Festivus is all about not giving a crap and being as effortless as possible, let me just unashamedly copy and paste last year’s opening paragraph.
I decided that it would be fun to start doing a Festivus celebration on Films Fatale every December 23rd (which, Happy Festivus, by the way!). For those who aren’t familiar with this holiday, it is a part of Seinfeld lore. Created by the character Frank Costanza as a way to combat against the traditions of Christmas (especially the forced cheer and capitalist rat races that he observed), Festivus is a contradiction of the typical seasonal warmth and joy. Outside of the putting up of an aluminum pole (instead of a tree) and the serving of dinner, there are two main traditions: the airing of grievances, and the feats of strength. The former is the sharing of problems one endured from loved ones and/or acquaintances that year, and the latter is a physical contest where the first person to pin the other down is the winner. We can’t really do those as-is here, but I’ll put my own spin on Festivus to detail 2024 as a year in film and television. It’ll be a quick wrap-up of the year that we just finished (almost), and it will be a good way to look ahead. Something to note is that these are not my picks of the best or worst elements of the year, rather just a fun selection of breakthrough surprises and slight disappointments (this is mainly just a means of celebrating Festivus more than anything).
Okay. Let’s continue.
THE AIRING OF GRIEVANCES
What will follow in this category are film and/or television moments or projects that I considered a letdown, or events that bothered me. I won’t just put bad films here. Let’s see what problems I had this year (and now, you’re gonna hear about them).
The Golden Age of TV is Basically Dead
Last year, I pondered about the potential end of the modern Golden Age of Television, which you can read more about here. We’ve been blessed with decades of insanely strong television content — and so frequently — for long enough that we can consider ourselves spoiled. Well, we are long separated from the strikes of last year to sadly see that television is in quite a rough shape right now. With so many amazing shows having concluded (one of my favourite series of 2024 is Arcane, and that literally just finished this year, which doesn’t help prove my point), we latch onto the very few strong series that remain. Compared to just two years ago, which isn’t a lot of time, there really aren’t that many great shows to catch up with when it used to be impossible to stay on top of every strong series at the same time. Tides may turn, but 2024 may have been the weakest year in television of the twenty-first century; this isn’t to discredit some of the shows I loved this year like Fallout, Hacks, Shōgun, or The Penguin, but try naming more than these handful of titles and see how many you can compile. That’s my point.
Theatres Continue to Suffer
Great films won’t be rewarded with shoddy box-office numbers, and we’re currently in a state of limbo right now. Some films have crushed their theatrical runs, but many of this year’s best titles didn’t earn enough to make the splash needed to breathe life into the cinema circuit again. Films are forced onto streaming and VOD almost instantly, giving them almost zero chance of doing well at the box office. Those of us who actually want to go to the theatre are being met with nonsense that is only making our hobby even worse. These include the recent suggestions by celebrities like Cynthia Erivo and The Rock to sing-along to films at public screenings of musicals (please. Fucking. Don’t. There are sing-along screenings for you to belt your notes out to. Leave public screenings for those of us who want to just watch the damn films), the lack of discipline regarding using phones in films (turn your God damn phones off, you selfish sacks of shit), and developments like Cineplex’s focus on location-based entertainment which prioritize games and events over, you know, films being shown at movie theatres. If you want cinephiles to come back to the theatres, you’re going to have to make it more appealing for them to actually come.
Moguls Continue to be Idiotic
Do I really need to go into detail here? I understand that many CEOs and presidents are in crisis mode during the economic struggles of the entertainment industry, but from the plethora of bad decisions from across the board (Warner Bros. Discovery and HBO Max, Paramount, NBC, Disney, et cetera), it’s hard to not be annoyed by almost every piece of movement this year. I’d be more understanding if the bulk of decisions were made with the products and clients’ best interests at heart, but when coveted projects are canceled for tax write-offs, series and films are boiled down while subscription prices skyrocket, and some projects are left dead in the water with next to no promotional marketing to assist (hell, I will always disapprove of the use of AI, but AI costs next to nothing, and the lack of any effort shows that this isn’t as much a money issue as much as it is executives just not even caring), it’s hard to not feel angry at how entertainment has been handled this year, recession or not.
Film Continues to be Dumbed Down
Going back to a point I made earlier about how daring films aren’t being rewarded, 2024 saw yet another cesspool of your typical, watered-down output; remakes, franchises, cheap biopics, and the like. That’s clearly not all that we got, but there’s enough there to be frustrated with a lack of options, especially when something like Kraven the Hunter takes up three or four different cinemas at the local movie theatre. Considering that these films — which are clearly commercials for merchandising, follow-up films, and studios — are being bogged down by trailer packages that last half a fucking hour (I didn’t bring this up earlier in my rant about the current state of movie-going experiences, but don’t think that I forgot), are people really wanting to put themselves through roughly two-to-three hours of advertisements? Can we please start appreciating ourselves as cinephiles and human beings more than this?
THE FEATS OF STRENGTH
Since I don’t know if there is a simple way for me to have a physical competition with anyone, I’ll change how the feats of strength function in Films Fatale’s version of the feats of strength. Here, I want to highlight the breakthrough successes of 2024. These can be the debuts of filmmakers and/or performers, or even a brand new series that came out of nowhere and shook up the year.
Actors-Turned-Directors Fared Well
Usually, an actor trying to take on the role of film or television director can yield worrisome results. However, in 2024, this became a safe bet. When one of the “weaker” examples is Anna Kendrick’s strong debut, Woman of the Hour, you know you’re in for a treat this year. Jesse Eisenberg delivered his best film as a director and screenwriter, A Real Pain, alongside his greatest performance in tears. Ayo Edeberi stepped behind the camera for one of The Bear’s best episodes this year (the Tina-focused “Napkins”), showing that there is even more potential in one of Hollywood’s strongest stars working today. Then, there is actor-turned-auteur Brady Corbet, who returns with his magnum opus, The Brutalist: a film so brilliant that it’s next to impossible to remember that this director was once an indie darling on screen (he has now turned into one of the must-watch names in contemporary American cinema).
Horror’s Getting Really Good Again
Last Festivus, I complained about how horror sucked. Boy, did the genre’s gods listen to me on this one. 2024 is perhaps the strongest year in horror in quite some time. There are many films I didn’t quite care for that still made a massive splash, like Longlegs or Cuckoo. However, these are only the tip of the horror-2024 iceberg. With an amazing horror-comedy The Substance next to the hypnagogic limbo I Saw the TV Glow, and Robert Eggers’ glorious return with an incredible retelling of Nosferatu (one of the very few remakes to actually matter this year), there are potentially three horror films making my top ten list this year, which is a staggering amount, considering how unreliable the genre can be. Then there are other greats like Strange Darling and Smlle 2 (a sequel that’s worthwhile? Shocking), and I could honestly keep going but I think the point is made: horror ironically cleaned itself up this year and is in quite a good spot.
2024 was the Year of the Genre Film/Show
In fact, horror wasn’t the only genre that was bumping this year. 2024 saw some noteworthy musicals (Emelia Pérez, especially), family films (mainly The Wild Robot), and one-offs from so many other genres (Challengers for sports, Furiosa for action, and, why not go out on a limb here here and consider Anora the next great comedy gem despite its clearly dramedy roots). I usually find genre films to be limited by their conventions, but we saw enough exceptions in 2024 to prove that any film genre can be pushed by inspired storytellers.
Comebacks! Get Your Comebacks!
Finally, 2024 saw some beloved names return to screens big and small. Demi Moore has never been better received than her fantastic role in The Substance. On a similar note, Pamela Anderson being considered during the award season feels like a fever dream, but her noteworthy turn in The Last Showgirl is certainly not going unnoticed; perhaps a new career path for the star is imminent. Alongside these two is Marianne Jean-Baptiste, who never went anywhere but has been criminally underrated her entire career; maybe her turn in Mike Leigh’s latest triumph, Hard Truths, will have her getting the kinds of roles she’s always deserved. Finally, I’m going to bend this feat of strength a little bit. Sebastian Stan has steadily been working, but we can consider 2024 the return of the best kind of Stan, with two whopping performances in The Apprentice and A Different Man here to remind us of just how damn good he can be when given the proper roles.
Andreas Babiolakis has a Masters degree in Film and Photography Preservation and Collections Management from Toronto Metropolitan University, as well as a Bachelors degree in Cinema Studies from York University. His favourite times of year are the Criterion Collection flash sales and the annual Toronto International Film Festival.