Things I enjoyed in 2024

Another year has passed. I am continuing the tradition of sharing some things I enjoyed instead of a standard "year in review" post. Finding the positives is increasingly difficult as a cynical person living in these unprecedented times, but I continue to try.

Moving into a house

My largest life event this year was buying my first (and plausibly last) home. I found the actual house-buying and moving process intensely stressful from start to finish. However, once we settled in, it has absolutely been a net positive.

Prior to moving, my partner and I lived in a one bedroom apartment in a downtown highrise. This was great when I worked in an office, and we had lots of things to do downtown. The pandemic changed that. Our bedroom had to pull double-duty as my home office, which was terrible for my sleep and work-life balance. Most of the things we enjoyed doing downtown were no longer accessible. Our world shrank down to the size of that apartment, and it proved to be too small.

We moved into a century home in a cozy city neighborhood that is so much better for our situation. I have a separate room for my home office. The kitchen reminds me I like to cook. The cats have space to chase each other like little furry hurricanes. We have a yard where we can enjoy fresh air on our own terms. We love walking around our neighborhood and seeing the greenery, flowers, and seasonal decorations. We even have space for hobbies (more on that later)!

Several months after moving in, it felt like we had been here forever — like it was home. For about four years, we were a bit like animals stuck in a too small enclosure. Moving into a bigger space with more options gave us room to grow.

It's not perfect. A house is basically a box you are obligated to put money into. The fridge broke two weeks after closing. It's drafty in the winter. We had to fix several things this year, and there's always going to be more. But it is our house. I'll take that over putting money into a landlord's pocket any day.

Obvious disclaimers here that not everyone can afford a home, and it is fucked up how out of reach it is for most people. That said, this is a "things I enjoyed" post, not my feelings about late capitalism.

Film

I continue to keep up with my love of film. I am behind on new releases because I cannot go to the theater, but that gives me the opportunity to look backwards. Below is a mix of films I enjoyed this year from a wide range of decades.

Catching up on classic horror

Last year I noted that I love horror, but have done very little exploration of older films. This year, I found at least three new-to-me horror classics.

I put off Rosemary's Baby for ages because of the director, but finally gave in when it was on The Criterion Channel. It is mystifying how a misogynist made a film that so effectively comments on women's bodily autonomy. I'm all for death of the author. Let's launch Roman Polanski into the sun.

I adored the Wicker Man (critically, the 1973 version). I never knew I wanted a diegetically musical horror film until seeing it. I most frequently find myself noticing Tarantino's not-so-subtle influences when watching older films, but this time I'm staring directly at Ari Aster.

I have no idea why it took me this long to see Candyman. I'm pretty good with the 90s onward. Thankfully, I fixed this glaring omission. I feel like I need to revisit it a few more times to have something effective to say beyond "damn, that's a good ass horror movie."

Body horror with a side of existential dread

This turned out to be a horror-heavy year. Two of the most challenging films I saw leaned hard into body horror, which is a tricky sub-genre for me. I like it best when it's in service to a more complex message and not solely there to gross me out.

Possession is a hell of a film. I don't really know what to say about it besides that I hope Isabelle Adjani is doing ok. I think it is worth going into without context, but wouldn't recommend it unless you like fucked up cinema.

The Substance made me a bit sad that I cannot go to the theater any more. I was screaming at the television through most of the final act, and I bet it would have been a blast with a crowd. The practical effects are so good it made me nauseous in parts, which is high praise that usually only Cronenberg can get out of me.

Three films from Yorgos Lanthimos

It's a bit on the nose that I watched three films from a director who put out a triptych this year. I swear it wasn't on purpose. This bit from my review for Kinds of Kindness summarizes my feelings.

I get why Lanthimos is a divisive director, but I appreciate his weird dark humor and the discomfort it makes me sit with. He's sort of in the same camp as Cronenberg, Lynch, and Ducournau in that way. I'm not always up for them, but when I am in the mood for their particular flavors of weird, it tends to hit the spot. All that said, I could really go with less violence against women and animals in Yorgos' films.

Poor Things was my favorite of the three. Kinds of Kindness did not live up to expectations, but gets bonus points for one of my favorite trailers of the year (that slap with the Eurythmics, chef's kiss). I love a good trailer, and they are so rare these days.

Action movies for everyone

On the less serious side of things, I had a lot of fun with action films this year. My partner and I went through an Arnold Schwarzenegger period where we rewatched a bunch of old favorites and filled in some we'd never seen.

On the new release side, The Fall Guy was a pleasant surprise. It's been ages since I enjoyed a blockbuster action film that wasn't part of the John Wick series. This explosive love letter to practical stunts put a giant smile on my face. In sad news, it was considered a box office flop, so I do not have high hopes for the near future of action movies.

Violence in the west

Last, but not least, I am attempting to tie three largely unrelated films together.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is my first foray into the spaghetti western, and I was immediately hooked. I really struggle with the western genre, but maybe the trick is to enjoy it by way of Italy. The Ennio Morricone score is perfection. I am hoping to get to the rest of the trilogy next year. P.S. I may have screamed "QUENTIN TARANTINO IS A CINEMATOGRAPHIC MAGPIE!" after watching this.

There Will Be Blood is another odd oversight for me, but I'm glad I caught up on it (thanks, Criterion Channel!). It's a beautifully shot descent into madness.

Love Lies Bleeding was a violent fever dream. Sometimes you just want to watch Kristen Stewart and her beefy girlfriend be gay and do crimes.

Music

This wasn't a huge year in new music for me. I spent a lot of time listening to old favorites, but there's a few notable additions.

Beyoncé and Halsey, artists I have enjoyed for many years, put out new albums that experimented with genre. I'm not that into country, but Cowboy Carter really works for me. The Great Impersonator stays closer to my musical taste, but I was most impacted by Halsey's meditations on the struggles of living with (and the risk of dying from) chronic illness.

I also enjoyed some new-ish to me artists this year. I know Charli XCX has been around a while, but this was the first time I listened to more than a single. Brat was my album of the summer, on repeat for weeks. The Last Dinner Party was completely new to me, and their debut album, Prelude to Ecstacy, was one of the best things I listened to this year.

Crochet

After settling into the house, I finally had space for a physical hobby again. I got into crochet over a decade ago, but never really left the beginner stage of making simple, single-skein scarves (try saying that three times fast). I paused the craft when Charlie was a chompy kitten and never managed to pick it back up until now.

I'm still a beginner, but I am slowly growing my repertoire. It turns out that I enjoy working in the round, which bodes well for my goal to learn amigurumi next year. Most importantly, crocheting is really good for my mental health. I cannot doomscroll and crochet at the same time. There's something really calming about methodically producing something with your hands.

Of course, I also enjoyed finding a way to computer at this hobby. I was pleasantly surprised by the Ravelry API being so easy to access after being burned by previous hobbies. I'm still grumpy about lack of API access with Letterboxd — my kingdom for the data exports to at least include TMDB ids.

Puzzle games with my partner

I like the idea of playing video games with my partner in theory, but in practice we've struggled with games that are intended to be played together. Co-op platformers can be really frustrating with screen management. Competitive games are a recipe for sadness. This year, we finally found a good fit in games that are theoretically single-player, but work really well with a collaborator: weird puzzle games.

We started with Lorelei and the Laser Eyes on the Switch with me driving and us working together on the puzzles. There is no way either of us would have finished this challenging game on our own. It turns out we're each good at very different sorts of puzzles, so our combined brainpower was critical. When we did get stuck, the engaging storyline helped us keep going. We made it through about 95% of the game before we got frustrated and looked a few things up, so we could find out what happened.

After finishing Lorelei, we wanted more games that scratched a similar itch. I'd already played Return of the Obra Dinn by myself, and Outer Wilds is guaranteed to make me nauseous, so the top recommendations were out. The Case of the Golden Idol, a point-and-click puzzle game, was a great fit. We just started the sequel, The Rise of the Golden Idol, which is a pleasant iteration on the game that keeps the good bits, but sands over a few of the sharper edges.

Solo video games

This was not a big video game year for me because I was so busy with everything else. However, I did play a catastrophic amount of Balatro across my laptop and phone. Apparently you can make me enjoy poker if you turn it into a roguelike deck-builder.

The other game that stuck out to me this year was Crypt Custodian. This cute but morbid metroidvania about pets in the afterlife has beautiful art, perfect ambient music, and just the right amount of story. I really appreciated some of the accessibility settings to help me power through the boss fights — without them I probably wouldn't have finished the game. The subject matter may be tricky if you're sensitive about the loss of a beloved pet, but I found it a helpful medium for processing some lingering grief.