The best books, movies, TV and more of 2024
By Ryan Fonseca
Hopefully, you’re making the most (or least?) of dead week — this lovely slowdown between Christmas and New Year’s Eve.
This is the time of lounging, leftovers and a glut of year-end lists. So of course, Times critics and entertainment writers have compiled several of their own, featuring their picks for the best films, music, TV shows, books and more over the last 50-some weeks.
Here’s a sampling of those, in case you’re looking for something to watch, listen to or read before 2025.
🎞️ The year’s best films
For her list this year, Times film critic Amy Nicholson focused on what felt fresh and in the moment as the movie industry struggles to rebound.
“Seven of the movies on my top-10 list come from first- and second-time filmmakers, a supermajority that augurs well for 2025 and beyond,” she wrote. “Talent exists and it’s getting seen.”
Below are a handful of Amy’s picks and honorable mentions. You can read through her full list here.
- “Anora”
- “Dune: Part Two”
- “Love Lies Bleeding”
- “The Seed of the Sacred Fig”
- “Nickel Boys”
- “Conclave”
- “The Brutalist”
📺 The year’s best TV shows
This year’s top tier programming did not share some sweeping cultural throughline, according to Times television critic Robert Lloyd, who grouped his picks by themes.
“There are big historical dramas, avant-garde comedies, dual-reality science fiction series, cheeky period romps, true crime, personal tales in political frameworks, an eccentric comic mystery,” Robert wrote. “What they share is the sense that they have been made with evident commitment by people — people with a point of view, even a vision, not by an algorithm or artificial intelligence.”
Here are several series and how he categorized them.
A banner year for period satirical adventure comedies: “The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin,” “Renegade Nell” and “Time Bandits”
“Shogun” was “too big, too sumptuous, too grand, too Emmy-awarded, too popular to ignore,” Robert wrote.
Female-fronted mysteries in three keys: “Under the Bridge,” “Land of Women” and “Elsbeth”
Sci-fi series that play loose with reality: “Dark Matter” and “Constellation”
Explore Robert’s full best-of piece here.
💿 The year’s best albums
Times pop music critic Mikael Wood crafted a list of 20 albums that runs the gamut from inescapable breakout artists to returning legends from decades long passed. Here are several:
- “Brat” – Charli XCX
- “Songs of a Lost World” – The Cure
- “Cowboy Carter” – Beyoncé
- “One Hand Clapping” – Paul McCartney & Wings
- “Two Star & the Dream Police” – Mk.gee
- “Hardstone Psycho” – Don Toliver
- “Hit Me Hard and Soft” – Billie Eilish
📖 The year’s best books
Times book critics Mark Athitakis, Jessica Ferri and Bethanne Patrick selected 15 books (though some double picks) that were published or reissued in 2024.
“The diverse narratives tackle thorny topics such as illness, racism and the dissolution of marriage; one selection employs experimental storytelling that shouldn’t work but does, while another is positively Joycean in its length,” they wrote. Below are six of their picks and the full list is here.
- “Cahokia Jazz” by Francis Spufford
- “Martyr!” by Kaveh Akbar
- “Ours” by Phillip B. Williams
- “Liars” by Sarah Manguso
- “The Safekeep” by Yael van der Wouden
- “Small Rain” by Garth Greenwell
My picks
I don’t know about “best,” but here are some films, TV shows and albums I enjoyed this year.
Three films (I was disappointed by a lot of movies this year, plus I didn’t see as many as usual)
- 🪱 “Dune: Part Two”
- 💉 “The Substance”
- 🤫 “A Quiet Place: Day One”
Five TV shows (not necessarily new to 2024, but new seasons this year)
- 🍽️ “The Bear”
- 🗾 “Shogun”
- 🪨 “Shrinking”
- ✏️ “English Teacher”
- 🍰 “The Great British Baking Show”
Seven albums
- “Poetry” – Dehd
- “Tangk” – Idles
- “Only God Was Above Us” – Vampire Weekend
- “A LA SALA” – Khruangbin
- “All Born Screaming” – St. Vincent
- “GNX” – Kendrick Lamar
- “Mid Spiral” – BadBadNotGood
Also, here are some great newsletters (because I read way more of those than new books these days)
- Torched by Alissa Walker
- Garbage Day by Ryan Broderick
- Boiling Point by Sammy Roth
- Life Kit by NPR
- User Mag by Taylor Lorenz
Also read: History of Christmas
Main photo source: den of geek
Source: Ryan Fonseca, Los Angeles Times
