It’s that time of year again! Time to talk about what I liked most out of this surprisingly nice year outside of several world events that will once again very harshly change the course of our well being. There were lots of highs and lows on my end, film-wise. Some interesting, some not so much. It was a bit of a rollercoaster to say the least! But perhaps my one of my most visited pages this year was the statistics feature on Letterboxd to track silly little numbers. It proves I'm extremely predictable.
Take my most watched actors, for example. Is there any surprise?- Udo Kier (36 individual films)
- Jeffrey Combs (12)
- Howard Vernon (8)
- Dietrich Kuhlbrodt (8)
- Fulvio Mingozzi (7)
Jeffrey is the only American in that mix! How about directors?
- Christoph Schlingensief (17 individual films)
- Walerian Borowczyk (12)
- Jess Franco (9)
- Joe D’Amato (7)
- Dario Argento (7)
As you can see podcast research and blindspot covering really had me down bad this year. Apparently my most watched genres were horror, comedy, and drama, and my most watched countries were the US, Italy, and Germany. Also, only 1% of my logs in total were films from 2024, probably because most of that 1% gave me a rather sour taste in my mouth.
Outside of basic statistics, I did compile a list of my favorite first time watches this year. It’s possible I rewatched these throughout the year, but I had to have seen them first in 2024. There is no ranking or order. Don't be shocked if this is the most basic list you see out of all of these.
Eraserhead (1977): This is what hell looks like and I will not be hearing any conflicting view points at this time. Cold, industrialized, droning, and full of peculiar relationships that are nonsensical and hard to understand,
Eraserhead is hit or miss amongst genre fans. It puts half its audience to sleep and terrifies the piss out of the other half, the black and white version of dread set to the tune of radiators and the world’s worst baby. Definitely one of the scariest things I saw this year, second only to finding a link to Jack Nance’s appearance in a
fetish spanking video.
Videodrome (1983): Odd to reflect on this film seeing that I genuinely like watching shock films for fun (hopefully not irreversibly damaging my brain). This is the penultimate commentary on mass media and the harm it can do to both the people consuming it and the people involved. Part of me loves how well this has aged; it can apply to not only television (which is what I assume it was targeting), but now social media, streaming services, and video games. It also applies to how stupidly attached we are to our technology, as Max Renn’s
stussy and cancer gun are shown painfully attaching to him, perhaps as a punishment for perpetrating genuinely harmful media onto the masses. Cronenberg is definitely working through some things here; there is no crystal clear message or interpretation, but then again I have yet to see a film of his where he makes it straight to the point, no slime attached. And that’s just the way I like it, with this being my favorite so far and
Crash (1996) being a runner up.
Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019): Every. Single. Shot. Should. Be. In. A. Museum. It’s that beautiful, both in its visuals and its characters. This film does everything right in both being period accurate and correctly showing “what it feels like for a girl” (
thank you Madonna). This is a relationship at it’s most pure, which makes this film all the more heart breaking; fire does not last forever no matter how strong it burns. Maybe one of the best films ever made? I feel like I’m rambling. Go watch this.
Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter (2001): Why did this change my life? Why is this part of the reason I started my own podcast? I don’t know. Maybe it’s because I firmly believe
Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter is made with the thing Jesus valued the most: love. It feels a bit like a fan-made comic book film, and I’m very curious to see Lee Demarbre’s stance on Christianity. I refuse to believe there is even a droplet of hate involved with the production and viewing of this film and if there is then you are wrong. The equivalent of an ice cream social and puppies, but in homemade B-movie clothing.
Breaking the Waves (1996): I didn’t watch as much Lars Von Trier as I anticipated, mostly because the length of his films scare me off in my busy schedule.
Breaking the Waves is something I made time for, despite its nearly 3 hour run time. Happy I did, as it quickly became my favorite Von Trier film (surpassing
The House That Jack Built (2018), something I had to walk away from because it freaked me out so much upon initial viewing). I love his handheld style so much; it adds this rawness to what already promises to be a tough watch. Emily Watson gives a flooring performance as a small town girl who is asked by her husband to have extramarital affairs in order to give him a reason to live. She tests the value that you must be faithful to your husband in order to be faithful to God. She goes against the values of her community and the Church, but she is being faithful. At what cost? A harrowing love story, with a sad ending that only Von Trier can make feel remotely positive.
Possession (1981): What new thing can I say about this? Probably nothing. There are people I know who complain about several modern horror films taking from Possession. My retort is who cares? This film is great, people see it as great, and that is all that matters. Frankly, it only makes me want to see things like Nosferatu (2024) more. It is a Lovecraftian dive into the hellish side of marriage and deception. This is trauma put onto celluloid. Please don't touch it, Robert Pattinson.
Silence = Death (1989): We did an
episode on one of Rosa Von Praunheim’s happier films,
City of Lost Souls (1983), which is in the ilk of
Paris Is Burning (1990) when it comes to displaying a small community and the celebration of it’s culture, all while being grounded in the fact that they are part of the alternative. Ironically
Silence = Death was also shot in NYC around the same time, but takes a much different tone than both of those films. Simply put, this is the grim reality of the AIDS epidemic, which I realized is not really taught in public schools at the time of this writing. It is an angry film, taking a particular ire towards the government which stood by and did nothing. Unfortunately, it has also aged quite well, and it was probably a bad idea to watch near an election cycle. A powerful push for activism in the LGBTQ community, both then and now.
Perfect Blue (1997): Fame eats you. Everything and nothing are real. There is no difference between fantasy and reality. This is what hell looks like. Far and away my favorite anime film to date. Also a lot of my friends are into anime and Eastern culture and they have told me that idols often have very toxic fanbases, and that there is
less legislation for the protection of women, so I refuse to believe that something similar to this hasn’t happened.
The People’s Joker (2023): Let trans people be trans people. We're just silly little clowns. Need I say more? Vera Drew created perfection with this. Between the portrayal of dysphoria, exploration of self identity, and willingness to go against the norm, this film is made for me. Plus, I understood and loved all the comic book references she uses. And I got a free banner from my advisor of this film that proudly hangs by my desk.
My Own Private Idaho (1991): How many people can say they watched something for
Udo Kier doing a lamp dance, but ended up having their life completely changed? This is a film I watched fairly early in the year and have since seen several more times in order to reaffirm my thinking, but also to bring comfort. Following a pair of friends on a road trip to discover themselves, every single viewing I was brought to tears. My first sit through of this triggered several revelations about my gender, sexuality, and the relationships I had in my life up to that point; I did not expect to find the gay hustler movie so relatable and applicable to my life (particularly the duo of River Phoenix’s Mike and Keanu Reeves’s Scott). Gus Van Sant uses everything at his disposal to carefully craft this film into a moving tale of young adulthood and self discovery, and that closely applies to myself both at the beginning of this year and today. Safe to say this may be my new favorite film ever, and that if anyone ever wants to get to know me outside of schlock, this would be what I tell them to watch.
Parker S.
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