Best and worst of 2024

Film

Best: Le Vourdalak 

Le Vourdalak is not even mentioned in any critics’ lists but I loved this film that predated Dracula by years! It’s about a nobleman who gets lost in the forest and finds refuge in a weird family’s home. Gorcha, the patriarch has left to fight the Turks and has left a cryptic warning. If he comes back after 6 days do not let him in. It’s low budget and old school. No fancy CGI, using puppetry instead and it works. It’s like a fairy tale and I couldn’t recommend it enough to everyone I know. What’s more, it’s available for free on tv5! https://www.tv5mondeplus.com/en/cinema/fantastique/le-vourdalak

Special mentions: I also liked Civil war, Blink twice , Wicked, and Anora

Edited to add : A Real Pain. Jesse Eisenberg is a great writer , director and actor. Kieran Culkin is also excellent!

Worst: Madam Web is the only one I saw online. I didn’t bother to see Joker: Folie à Deux, or Kraven, and I don’t intend to. People are growing tired of superhero films and these certainly didn’t help. Wolverine and Deadpool seemed more like the exception than the rule. 

TV

Best comedy : Fisk

I am again choosing something that has gone under the radar of most lists and crowning this hilarious Australian comedy about a low key lawyer, Helen Fisk, who is surrounded by loony office mates and a kooky family. Thank goodness for Netflix for giving us shows other than the usual US and British shows. 

Best Drama: Penguin

I thought it was a gimmick, making Colin Farrell don that ugly prosthetic mask but I admit it, I was wrong , it titally works. It’s like The Godfather set in Gotham City. That story, the actors… wow! From Cristin Millioti ( the mother in HIMYM!) down to the young Oswald , just perfect! And that ending, still lingers even weeks after I saw it.

Special Mentions: Slow horses, Shogun, Abbot Elementary ! Sex lives of college girls were some of the best out there that made me look forward to every week. And everyone knows I love X-men 97, but for me, the best 90’s cartoon remake would have to be Ranma 1/2! It captures all the feelings we had for the original! 

Also shoutout to What We do in the Shadows which aired their series finale. 

Worst: Rings of power, had a billion dollar budget but it pales in comparison to Peter Jackson’s magical trilogy that holds up even today. Rings just had bad writing that was either boring or cringey. Meanwhile, Abot kamay na pangarap was an afternoon soap that started out so well, but became a victim of its success. It was extended for more than 2 years and got sillier and sillier that my parents, who were once avid fans, just slept through it. 

Book

Best: Cabinet of curiosities by Ambeth Ocampo. I didn’t read a lot if books this year but when I looked for a nice book to give to my cousin, I found this compilation of my favorite historian. Every short article usually comes with a photo to help make the stories come alive. 

Special Mention: Doobiedoo asks by Bambi and Roland Amago. Like the Paul series by Michel Rabagliati, this is a heartfelt comic book that is based on the authors’ real life. It’s about their struggles of raising their autistic child. It’s an eye opener for me and a must-read for parents and teachers. 

Worst: Isang kaibigan by VP Sara Duterte. I have to thank my readers for contributing this. This is a book that cost the taxpayer ₱10 million and will probably be best known for starting the downfall of the Davao dynasty. Not just a waste of money, it’s also full of errors and even accused of using clipart from Canva! 

Song

Best: Espresso by Sabrina Carpenter has got to be my favorite song if the year, much as i wanted it avoid it, I just couldn’t stop bopping to it. It was only later I found out she was the blonde girl Olivia Rodrigo was singing about in her song Drivers License.

Special Mentions: Apt by Rosé and Bruno Mars was so entertaining but I must applaud Bini for Pantropiko. They went from one of my most hated girl groups to obe of my faves! Good job girls! 

 Worst: soredemo by skygarden and jillian ward. I don’t know if it’s because it was so anachronistic on the Pulang Araw show about the Japanese invasion or Skygarden guy’s voice but it totally took me out of the scene. Jillian actually sounded better than the supposed professional singer. 

Best and worst of 2023:

We are permanently working from home now so kinda bored but here goes:

Best film: 

Note that I haven’t seen the good roster of MMFF films yet.

 So hard to choose. I loved Barbie  and Killers of the Flower Moon, but i have to give it to Oppenheimer because i wasn’t even interested in it but it successfully made a film about science so interesting. My only complaint is that there were too many stars in cameos. 

*** update: also saw The Holdovers, which was great, but I really loved Anatomy of  a Fall, which might be even better than Oppenheimer. It’s about a German writer who is accused of killing her French husband while their blind son is caught in the middle. I thought it would be a suspense or court drama, but it really was an examination of the little resentments that snowball in a marriage. Also note to myself: don’t get involved in a french court trial. Stressful!

Worst film:

 The Little Mermaid. I don’t care about the race of the lead actress. What i hated was how they ruined the emotional tug of the original. This just left me cold with their realistic cgi of the animals. 

Best tv show:

 Ghosts. Now on its final season, it consistently entertained us, even until the last. Christmas special that had my sister in tears. 

Ted Lasso was also good, as well as Jury Duty, which felt like The Truman show. I was also surprised at how much i liked Blue eyed samurai. But Pluto was a great retelling of Astroboy.

Worst TV:

 Voltes V. The writer ruined it with the awful , idiotic subplots. The robot scenes were world-class and proudly made by Pinoys, which made the soap opera story so disappointing. 

Runners-up were Black Rider which is just too much mindless violence and sex for an early timeslot when kids are watching. The Crown became cringey with the ghost appearance of Diana and Dodi. 

Best book: 

i only read Ducks, two years in the oil sands by Katie Beaton and it’s really deserving of all the awards. I feel so proud of her because I was a fan of her Hark, a Vagrant

I only bought one book this year, Trese book 8: Shadow Agents. I thought it was going to build up to something big, but it was kind of a dud. Too much like a superhero story. I prefer the old cases. 

Best song:

i have never been a fan of Miley Cyrus but i loved Flowers and Used to be young. 

I crowdsourced these from my crazy jhenny fans and I agree that Raining in Manila was the mood of the season and JK Labajo’s Ere proved he was a real artist to watch.

Worst song: 

Carlos Agassi’s songs. It’s like he’s still stuck in the 90’s Andrew E style of rappingbwithout the humor.

Best Trend: 

Revenge travel. I’m glad we were able to fly to Boracay with my nephew, which was a promise I made before covid happened. But I am so envious of my retired balikbayan tita who has traveled all over the country from Sagada to Marawi! 

Worst Trend:

 Breakups. Sad about the celebrity split ups of Kathniel and Kim Chiu and Xian Lim, whose blogs we even watched. The only breakup I don’t mind is the end of Uniteam, Marcos and Duterte camps.