Films That I Saw: December 2024

 

The year is nearly ending as everyone is making year-end lists, or some have started early as it has been a crazy year. This month has been chaotic as well as my washing machine went through some problems in late November as I had to spend some money to get that fixed and just around Christmas. The dryer started getting into trouble as I had to cough up more money. I am glad I had some money left over though the one thing I really needed for Christmas in a new bookshelf did not happen as I am still re-organizing my room and cleaning out my closet which is more than half-done so far. Still, there is a lot of work that needs to be done while I have been spending most of this month watching Berlin Alexanderplatz which has taken up a lot of my time. I think this will be the last Blind Spot that I will do for a while when it comes to projects longer than 5-6 hours.

In the month of December 2024, I saw a total of 18 films in 7 first-timers and 11 re-watches with three first-timers being films directed or co-directed by women as part of the 52 Films by Women pledge as I have failed to finish my quota. The obvious highlight of the month is Berlin Alexanderplatz as my final Blind Spot film for the year. Here is the top 5 first-timers that I saw for December 2024:

1. An Urban Allegory

2. The World to Come

3. The Making of Wild God

4. Spider-Ham: Caught in a Ham

5. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire

Monthly Mini-Reviews/What Else I’m Watching

Spider-Ham: Caught in a Ham



With the recent passing of Sony’s shitty Spider-Man spin-off cinematic universe that yielded some of the worst films ever made as its CEO claims that the films were unfairly maligned. It is a good thing that Sony’s animation department has created something great in relation to the Spider-Man in the form of a short film as it relates to Spider-Ham in an animated adventure. It is a simple story when all Spider-Ham wanted to do was eat a hot dog only to get into some trouble leading into the events of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse as it is necessary for anyone who loves Spider-Man.

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire

This was a good film although flawed in terms of its story as well in some of the execution as it is helmed by a different director in Gil Kenan who did a fine job but it isn’t as good as what Jason Reitman did though Reitman is on board as a producer in a film dedicated to Reitman’s father Ivan. McKenna Grace remains the big standout in the film as Phoebe Spengler who knows what she wants to do but is forced to sit things out because she is a minor while befriending a ghost as it relates to a mysterious deity that nearly caused an ice age to emerge in New York City. It is a fine sequel that has its moments, but it falls short of its predecessor.

The Making of Wild God



Megan Cullen’s 13-minute documentary short on the making of Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds’ 18th studio album is a fascinating look into a band that still has something to say. Even when they brought in Dave Fridmann to help mix the album as well as Radiohead bassist Colin Greenwood to play bass on some tracks as he would join the live band to fill in for regular bassist Martyn P. Casey who is sitting out due to illness. Fans of Nick Cave will enjoy this where they get to see the creative process with members of the band having a say though the record is written and produced by Cave and Warren Ellis. It is one of the best records of 2024 proving that there are bands who have been around for a long time and can still provide the goods.

‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’-The Story of the Official Band Aid Video



This documentary released in 1985 is a companion piece to the recent documentary short that was released earlier this month as it highlights the making of the song and filming the video. There is a bit of humor in the documentary as it relates to Nigel Planer playing the role of Neil from The Young Ones jamming with a couple of the guys from Status Quo. It is something fans of the song would like to see or revisit if they had not seen it in years as it has been given a nice restoration for its 40th anniversary.

An Urban Allegory

In her second collaboration with the artist JR, Alice Rohrwacher creates a short film based on Plato’s Allegory of the Cave is a short film starring Lyna Khoudri and Naim El Kaladoui as a ballerina and her son where the former is late for an audition in a ballet staged by Leos Carax. It is a tremendous film that explores art and a boy’s fascination with his surroundings where he makes a major discovery as does the people in Paris. The artwork by JR is a key factor of the film with Rohrwacher doing amazing visuals in her presentation as this is a short film that people need to seek out.

The World to Come

Given the praise and awards for Brady Corbet and his film The Brutalist, people tend to overlook that the film was written with his wife Mona Fastvold who is a unique voice herself. Notably as her 2020 period drama about two women living in mid-19th Century upstate New York as they deal with not just unhappy marriages but also isolation where they would fall in love. Katherine Waterston and Vanessa Kirby are great in this film as is Casey Affleck as the former’s husband as he is a kind-hearted man that does know what is going on and does not approve of it but does not say anything. Christopher Abbott’s performance as Kirby’s husband is more of a monster who spouts religious ideals as he is suspicious about his wife and her time with Waterston. It is a great film that features a chilling score by Daniel Blumberg as it is a film that audiences need to seek out.

The Story of Top of the Pops: 1991



The Story of Top of the Pops: 1992



I am a sucker for BBC documentaries as the British has better taste than us stupid Americans (most of the time). Top of the Pops is a show that the British were lucky to have (minus the presence of Jimmy Saville) as I found two episodes about the years of 1991 and 1992 as it marked a serious change for the show in not just a new location but also to explore a sense of change emerging. Yet, for all the good stuff that was coming out such as the Orb, Seal, Take That (that is right, Take That is awesome), Stereo MCs, and what was emerging at the time. There was also some awful shit such the Wonder Stuff and fucking Bryan Adams. It also explored what was happening in Britain as there was a recession and how music was helping to reflect what was happening as well as provide an escape from those hard times.

Star Wars: Skeleton Crew (episodes 1-5)

Five episodes so far and this is already an amazing show. Way better than The Acolyte in terms of the writing and acting as well as the visuals where it is about these four kids living on a remote planet that is part of the New Republic as they find a spaceship and are suddenly taken to a galaxy. On their journey so far, the show also explores the world of space piracy with Jude Law as a mysterious figure as he is simply great to watch where you do not know whether to trust him or not. Already, the show has had cameos and appearances from Kelly MacDonald, Jaleel White, Mathieu Kassovitz, and Alia Shawkat that aren’t too distracting as they do provide weight to the story while the four actors who play the kids in the show are great to watch as they have a lot of depth as it is a show that bears reminders of some of the best things to come out of the 80s such as Indiana Jones and The Goonies.

Top 10 Re-Watches

1. Days of Heaven

2. Safe

3. Barbie

4. Party Girl

5. Home Alone

6. A Charlie Brown Christmas

7. Mickey’s Christmas Carol

8. The Good Dinosaur

9. Home Alone 2

10. Cars

Well, that is all for December and for 2024 with a grand total of 267 films in 151 first-timers and 116 re-watches with 45 first-timers directed or co-directed by women. Not a good year overall although it could have been worse with only 5 films that I saw in the theaters, which is disappointing. Here is the final ranking of films for the 2024 Blind Spot Series as I have no plans to do a year-end thing mainly because I don’t really want to do one as I think this was an underwhelming year as I will not post an unofficial best of 2024 list because I didn’t see too many movies and I think the whole year fucking sucked. What is ahead for next month other than finishing my Auteurs piece on David Lean and watching Nosferatu to start work on my Auteurs piece on Robert Eggers. Along with my first Blind Spot for the New Year, I have no idea what I will watch though I now have more access to various streaming services including MAX while I am also keeping my options open to whatever services that have something strong to offer.



Before I bid adieu, this month saw the passing of many famous people including our former American president Jimmy Carter at the age of 100 as he was a great humanitarian who did a lot of things in his post-presidency and survived a battle with a killer rabbit. He was among those that passed this month that include Olivia Hussey, Marisa Parades, Linda Lavin, Charles Dolan, British radio DJ Johnnie Walker, Greg Gumbel, Maltese singer Joe Grech, Eric Carlson of the Mentors, film producer George Folsey Jr., Dayle Haddon, Charles Shyer, wrestler Jax Dane, music producer Richard Perry, Burt from Crocodile Dundee, Angus MacInnes of Star Wars, Rickey Henderson, Rey Misterio Sr., Slim Dunlap of the Replacements, Alfa Anderson of Chic, Ruth McArdle of Lords of Acid, George Cummings of Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show, Wolfgang Becker, Jill Jacobson, film producer Paul Maslansky, Niels Arestrup, Zakir Hussain, and Hudson Meek of Baby Driver. We will miss you all. Until then, this is thevoid99 signing off…

© thevoid99 2024