As I noted last year, my favorite podcast Grierson & Leitch records a mid-year show that celebrates the critics’ six favorite movies from the first half of the year. Will all those films make it into their year-end top tens? Of course not—but that’s why a report at the midpoint matters.
Nothing is more “journey over destination” than celebrating the middle, but I’d like to think reflecting and recording now is also convenient. This is my assessment of what went well as 2024 got moving. Whether you’re looking for an old essay to read or some current movies or stimulating videos to watch, this snapshots the year thus far by presenting the picks from a guy who thinks deeply about these things.
To keep this brief, I limit myself to one sentence of justification for each item. The lists also get shorter as they proceed. I’ve listed the categories below, with links to each section.
Thank you for reading in the first half of 2024. I know you have a choice in entertainment, and I appreciate your choosing my introspective creative non-fiction.
7 Essays
6 Movies
5 Videos
4 Books
3 Events
2 Foods
1 Album
7 Essays
(in alphabetical order)
All published in 2024 on Substack
Inheritance (Volume 5.07)
It will be an upset if this essay about my dad isn’t the best piece of non-fiction I ever write.
Lost Words (Volume 5.23)
There’s a serendipity to this one because it turns on lost things being found, but it’ll forever be elevated because the ideal ending I imagined played out for real a few days later.
Power Ballad (Volume 5.12)
I understand, objectively, that “Wooly Bully” is a far super media-analysis-as-reflection essay, but this overwritten one about a Foreigner song I used to love features one of my favorite recontextualizing endings.
See You Then (Volume 5.10)
I could have written 10,000 words about Past Lives and still felt like I hadn’t scratched the surface.
Symbolic Consequences (Volume 5.06)
This piece boasts the largest scope of anything I’ve ever posted on Substack, and while I worry I never did the two stories justice, when I read it as a tribute to Rylee, Biola, and those who walked out, I’m proud to have told it.
The Hand-Holders (Volume 5.02)
I hope someday I can replace the pseudonyms for Carl and Sam, because that will mean I shared this past-bridging-present tribute piece about inspirational relationships with the real Janice and the real Carl.
Two-Way Player (Volume 5.22)
The artwork really raises my esteem for this piece about my poor sleep hygiene, but it also accessibly ties in baseball for non-fans and grapples with something personal that causes physical, rather than emotional, distress for a change.
6 Movies
(in Alphabetical Order)
All released in 2024 in theaters
Challengers
A gorgeously-shot film set in professional tennis, this is the most popcorn-chomping fun I’ve had watching a new movie, with the juicy drama, sweaty action, and propulsive score elevating a Zendaya love triangle into a high-stakes crowd pleaser.
Dune: Part Two
This second installment presents the best sections of the original novel, and it’s thrilling to see the epic battles and messianic mystery on the big screen alongside characters fleshed out from their original written versions.
Furiosa
Yet another massive-scope blockbuster, I appreciate Furiosa, as well as its predecessor, Fury Road, for its technical construction, with kinetic action and inventive battle sequences galore that leave my mouth feeling dry and my eyes eager to see what the next sequence will pull off.
Hit Man
Among my biggest cinematic pet peeves are movie scenes where teachers give on-the-nose lectures that directly address the film’s themes, but Adria Arjona and Glen Powell convince me to overlook, if not completely forget about, that annoyance in Hit Man because their chemistry really is that exhilarating.
I Saw the TV Glow
Marketing I Saw the TV Glow as a horror flick, rather than a haunting film about identity, loneliness, and the media that shapes us, marks the only misstep for this mysterious melancholic movie and the only 2024 release I saw twice in theaters.
Love Lies Bleeding
I wanted to honor the body horror mind-bender Stopmotion, but its 2023 release status means I instead tip my cap to this romantic drama with a meet-cute involving anabolic steroids, murder canyons, competition-fueled psychosis, noir magic realism, and Ed Harris in a wig.
5 Videos
(in alphabetical order)
All posted on YouTube in 2024
Creative Insecurity
Creator: @LocalScriptMan
I’m convinced this discussion about writing to please an audience says as much to me about teaching as fiction, and also that I need to watch it every week until I retire or die.
Midsommar - The Complete Guide (Everything Explained)
Creator: @Novum
I learned more in any fifteen-minute segment of this video than I did in a lot of classes I took in school—about art, about cults, about Ari Aster’s brilliance, and about the beauty of loving something so much you can triple its runtime dissecting it.
Morning Bulletin for Tuesday 6-4-24
Creator: @madisonhighschoolhaekeyene2779
I’ll explain this in full in a later newsletter, but I’ve never felt more giddy with purely positive emotion than when the special moment arrives.
The Sanitised Lie of OCD Representation
Creator: @Rowan Ellis
People often describe a piece of media or literature as making them feel “seen”, but Rowan’s personal stories and analysis in the first half make me feel understood.
The Spectacular Failure of the Star Wars Hotel
Creator: @Jenny Nicholson
If Jenny posted four hours of her talking about concrete, I would be enraptured, but this combination travel vlog and what-went-wrong retrospective of the Galaxy’s Edge resort combines her trademark thoroughness with frustration over what could have—and maybe should have—been.
4 Books
(in alphabetical order)
All read in 2024 in my living room
Antkind
by Charlie Kaufman
I loathe this messy, grating book about a terrible film critic losing track of reality, but finishing the damn thing—just to be able to say I did—marked an important milestone toward regaining my reading endurance.
Hyperobscure
by Tor-Anders Ulven
Reading my favorite short-fiction writer’s one released anthology let me enjoy the creepy discomfort of surrealist horror from a master of the craft while paying tribute to the lesser-known authorial influence on The Gray Valley.
Killing Commendatore
by Haruki Murakami
This isn’t peak Murakami, but it’s definitely a Murakami I love, telling a surreal story involving noisy ancient spirits, paintings come to life, casual adultery, and rich neighbors seeking not cups of sugar but inroads to long lost relatives.
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow
by Gabrielle Zevin
Pitched to me for featuring relationship dynamics reminiscent of Sweet Appeal, Zevin’s novel is a sprawling story about video game-obsessed friends turned business partners who struggle to reconcile their bond as their lives drastically change across years of successes and losses.
3 Events
(in chronological order)
All happening in 2024
Opening Day
The A’s played awful baseball and couldn’t even score a run, but I enjoyed my last March trip to Oakland for the nine innings with Nate and Bria and the opportunity to amplify my message to my classes about establishing priorities.
Senior Finals
So many special moments from the school year intersected on this day, and I left school that night with a ready-to-go Steeplechase, a flood of new positive memories, and two massive piles of transformative yarn.
Feedback Blitz
I deviated from my meticulous plans for the College Essay class only once, and in the process, I unintentionally discovered the overlapping region occupied by PIQ writing and a certain social-emotional learning workshop.
2 Kitchen Creations
(in alphabetical order)
All baked/cooked in 2024 in my kitchen
Korean Beef
Handling raw meat still bothers me, but this recommended recipe makes that discomfort worthwhile, producing a delicious dish that puts me in danger of eating the entire pound of well-seasoned ground beef on rice in a single meal.
Mini-French Silk Pies
I’ve almost exclusively baked familiar desserts this year, but these miniature pies, made with Karli Bitner’s Oreo Cookie dough recast as crust, were a hit with all who tried them—including me.
1 Album
(in there’s-only-one-here order)
All released in 2024 on iTunes
The Tortured Poets Department
by Taylor Swift
Only one song from the soundtrack to I Saw the TV Glow has gotten any play beyond TTPD since Taylor released the double-album in April, and I love it so much musically that I can overlook several choices on it that actively frustrate me.
The normal schtick returns on Sunday. Thanks for reading whatever part of this rundown—and this newsletter as a whole—that you do.
As a reminder, please feel free to respond to anything! Most people send texts, but comments or emails come through as well. I respond to everything.
I like the idea of taking a midpoint look at your year. Journeys over destinations indeed! :)