Mike’s Top Ten of 2024
I’m not sure we’ll fully know what 2024 was for a long time. At the very least, it’s a year affected by the labor strikes of 2023. Sure, we got some films that were pushed into this year because they couldn’t promote them in 2023, but more so we got a lot of films that got pushed out of 2024 because they couldn’t finish them in time. A lot of those films were big ‘anchor’ films that help define a year. And a year without those anchors becomes a year without an identity.
2024 feels like a year without an identity. Movies came out, some were good, some were fine. We ebbed back from 2023. Theaters were not as robust as they were, and it looks like we continued sliding down the path of streaming and limited theatrical windows becoming the norm, with an increasing likelihood that, unless people actively pay attention to what comes out and seek specific films to watch, a lot of films are going to get buried and not get the audiences they deserve.
I think that’s my main takeaway from 2024 — because most people couldn’t be bothered to go see good movies (especially with a lot of stuff that’s being pushed for them being super expensive, studio-driven, dog-shit films with ‘very long shelf lives’ and ‘multiple verticals’… you know… ‘content’) and because a lot of people probably don’t know about a lot of the good films that came out, I want to, more than most years, want to showcase the cool stuff so people can find it.
Most of the time this list is just something I do to wrap up a year. Increasingly it’s starting to feel like an important service to show people that there’s more than just ‘content’ that comes out each year. One phrase you’re gonna see me say a lot throughout this list is hidden gem — there are a lot of hidden gems this year and I’m so interested in seeing how time does to them. (more…)
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Pic of the Day: “The important thing is: we’re awake now. And hopefully… for a long time to come.” “Forever.” “Forever?” “Forever!” “Let’s not use that word, you know? It frightens me. But I do love you. And, you know, there’s something very important that we need to do as soon as possible.” “What’s that?” “Fuck.” (25th Anniversary)
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Pic of the Day: “We all are born with a certain package. We are who we are. Where we were born, who we were born as, how we were raised. We’re kind of stuck inside that person… and the purpose of civilization and growth, is to be able to reach out and empathize a little bit with other people. And for me, the movies are like a machine that generates empathy. It lets you understand a little bit more about different hopes, aspirations, dreams and fears. It helps us to identify with the people who are sharing this journey with us.” (10th Anniversary)
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Pic of the Day: ♫ “Ziggy played guitar / Jamming good with Weird and Gilly / And the Spiders from Mars / He played it left hand / But made it too far / Became the special man / Then we were Ziggy’s band.” ♫ (45th Anniversary)
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Pic of the Day: ♫ “I’m gettin’ bugged driving up and down the same old strip / I gotta find a new place where the kids are hip / My buddies and me are gettin’ real well known / Yeah, the bad guys know us and they leave us alone / I get around / Get around round round, I get around / From town to town / Get around round round, I get around / I’m a real cool head / Get around round round, I get around / I’m makin’ real good bread / Get around round round, I get around / I get around, round / Get around round round.” ♫ (60th Anniversary)
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Pic of the Day: ♫ “Honey, I know, I know, I know times are changing / It’s time we all reach out for something new / That means you, too / You say you want a leader / But you can’t seem to make up your mind / I think you better close it / And let me guide you to the purple rain.” ♫ (40th Anniversary)
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Pic of the Day: ♫ “I can’t seem to face up to the facts / I’m tense and nervous and I can’t relax / I can’t sleep ’cause my bed’s on fire / Don’t touch me, I’m a real live wire / Psycho Killer / Qu’est-ce que c’est? / Fa-fa-fa-fa, fa-fa-fa-fa-fa-fa, better / Run, run, run, run, run, run, run away.” ♫ (40th Anniversary)
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Pic of the Day: ♫ “You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen / Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen / But do you recall / The most famous reindeer of all? / Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer / Had a very shiny nose / And if you ever saw it / You would even say it glows / All of the other reindeer / Used to laugh and call him names / They never let poor Rudolph / Join in any reindeer games.” ♫ (60th Anniversary)
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Pic of the Day: “Is your house on fire, Clark?” “No, Aunt Bethany, those are the Christmas lights.” (35th Anniversary)
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Pic of the Day: ♫ “If you’re worried and you can’t sleep / Just count your blessings instead of sheep / And you’ll fall asleep counting your blessings.” ♫ (70th Anniversary)
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Pic of the Day: “Well, ya comin’?” “Where?” “Why, to the North Pole, of course!” (20th Anniversary)
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Pic of the Day: “Would you mind doing us a favor?” “I don’t see why I should. No one ever does anything for me. What is it?” “Could you let it snow in the south for one day?” (50th Anniversary)
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Pic of the Day: “You think I’m a fraud, don’t you?” “Fraud is a bit too strong of a word.” “But you don’t believe in me.” “I believe that Christmas is for children.” “Well your daughter doesn’t believe in me, either.” “I don’t think that there’s any harm in not believing in a figure that many do acknowledge to be a fiction.” “Oh, but there is. I’m not just a whimsical figure who wears a charming suit and affects a jolly demeanor. You know, I I I’m a symbol. I’m a symbol of the human ability to be able to suppress the selfish and hateful tendencies that rule the major part of our lives. If you can’t believe, if you can’t accept anything on faith, then you’re doomed for a life dominated by doubt.” (30th Anniversary)
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Pic of the Day: ♫ “Down to the village with a broomstick in his hand / Runnin’ here and there, all around the square / Sayin’, ‘Catch me if you can’ / He led them down the streets of town / Right to the traffic cop / He only paused a moment / When he heard him holler, ‘Stop’ / Because ol’ Frosty, the snowman, he had to hurry on his way / But he waved goodbye sayin’, ‘Don’t you cry / I’ll be back again some day, I’ll be back again some day / I’ll be back again some day'” ♫ (55th Anniversary)
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Pic of the Day: “Why do you want to stop the fireworks, Daddy? Aren’t you patriotic?” “Sure I’m patriotic. My only regret is I only have but one life to melt for my country.” (50th Anniversary)
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Pic of the Day: “We’re all different. Especially him. But there’s something kind of fantastic about that, isn’t there?” (15th Anniversary)
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Pic of the Day: “The music soars, and there, totally oblivious of the fireworks, the fountains, and the holiday mad throngs, they fall happily and tenderly into each other’s arms. Two enormous, highly paid heads come together for that ultimately inevitable moment, the final, earth-moving, studio rent-paying, theater-filling, popcorn-selling kiss.” (60th Anniversary)
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Pic of the Day: ♫ “Jim West, desperado / Rough rider, no you don’t want nada / None of this, six-gunnin’ this, brother runnin’ this / Buffalo soldier, look, it’s like I told ya / Any damsel that’s in distress / Be outta that dress when she meet Jim West / Rough neck so go check the law and abide / Watch your step or flex and get a hole in your side / Swallow your pride, don’t let your lip react / You don’t wanna see my hand where my hip be at / With Artemus, from the start of this, runnin’ the game / James West, tamin’ the West, so remember the name / Now who ya gonna call? / Not the GB’s / Now who you gonna call? / J Dub and A.G / If you ever riff with either one of us / Break out, before you get bum-rushed, at the / Wild wild west / When I roll into the / Wild wild west / When I stroll into the / Wild wild west / When I bounce into the / Wild wild west / We’re goin’ straight to the wild wild west / We’re goin’ straight to the wild wild west / Wild wild west.” ♫ (25th Anniversary)
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Pic of the Day: “After four months of investigation, followed by nine weeks of hearings, it is the conclusion of this committee that Senator Carroll was assassinated by Thomas Richard Linder. It is our further conclusion that he acted entirely alone, motivated by a misguided sense of patriotism and a psychotic desire for public recognition. The committee wishes to emphasize that there is no evidence of any wider conspiracy. No evidence whatsoever.” (50th Anniversary)
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Pic of the Day: “Bing would keep guys on the roster that had no business being there. He would keep a thirty-man roster or something. That’s fucking nuts, for a Class A baseball team with no funding. What’s he doing, keeping thirty guys on a roster? What he did was, he personalized the game in a way to where if you couldn’t find yourself as a fan in one of those players, you didn’t belong at the ballpark. There was somebody there for everyone. Bing knew he was giving the town of Portland a show, and he was going to give them the best show he could.” (10th Anniversary)
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Pic of the Day: “Mark, you’re coordinating the millennium goals on the press release, aren’t you?” “Yes.” “Coordinate it better, please.” (15th Anniversary)
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