After collecting my favorite art pieces of 2024, I realised that one color tied them all together: the color of the burning fire, the dazzling and silent desert, but also of the gold medal and the enthusiasm of youth. In a year that has seen many dark ideologies, such as the false promises of thinking machines, pushed even further, let's hope the worm will turn and we'll see the sunlight.
Cinema
There's too much to say about cinema in 2024:
The omnipresence of A24, the phantom comeback of musicals I've all missed (Joker: Folie à Deux, Emilia Pérez and Wicked). Adam Driver continues his strange career by starring in two films from legendary directors with complicated financing and results (Ferrari and Megalopolis). The Rebel Moon disaster. The directorial debut of my favorite Jake Johnson (Self Reliance). The emergence of Cailee Spaeny. A sequel to Gladiator and Beetlejuice? A remake of Road House? The real farewell of Jim Carrey?
I saw a lot of good films from this year. I would recommend most of them. And above all my best 2024 film:
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🏆 Civil War
I saw it twice in cinema, which I rarely do, and it was a ride both times. I love everything about this film, I can't find anything to remove. Civil War is the sum of Alex Garland's previous works (Ex Machina, Annihilation, Devs, Men). The story is more realistic and straightforward while the atmosphere remains eerie.
The film gives just enough clues about this war to make everyone debate about it. I think it's simple and clear enough but it's funny how much people are arguing.
Ultimately, it's a film about war photography and makes us experience the constant dilemma of a photographer.
The music choices seem out of place and yet fits perfectly, I still listen to the soundtrack to this day. -
🥈 The Zone of Interest
All the arty choices from Jonathan Glazer (cinematography, music) are perfectly designed to fit and enhance the difficult subject. I've never felt that much the pettiness of the Nazis. And like the rest of the film, the final speaks volumes without saying anything. It's unsettling.
Mentions
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Poor things
I'm a Yórgos Lánthimos curious, but not a fan. I think this is his best film, for the costumes and the performances of Emma Stone and Mark Rufalo alone, the rest is off-putting. I simply hate the music and most of cinematography's choices. But the film is funny and occasionally pretty.
Seeing the path Lánthimos was taking, I got excited for his next film Kinds of Kindness, also released in 2024, and the fall has been furious. -
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga and Dune: Part Two are the two desert action films of the year, in diametrically opposite styles.
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The Wild Robot is a solid film that manages all its emotional moments perfectly.
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The Iron Claw is a good tragedy about brotherhood and the real story is even worse. Don't be put off by the casting like I was. Trust A24 :D
I could also mention the very good Love Lies Bleeding and Society of the Snow (La sociedad de la nieve).
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I watched 114,5 films in 2024 (the half is the first part of the 7 hours long Napoléon vu par Abel Gance), including 42 films in theatre (27 recent ones and 14 more or less vintage, thanks to the amazing programs of indie cinemas in Amsterdam, especially Lab111).
I saw two of my favorite films in the cinema, for the first time, this year: Porco Rosso and Speed Racer. I could have completed the podium if the new release of Interstella 5555 had not been a sloppy AI upscale.
I’ve started the year with Calmos and ended with Climax, two French films that almost sound the same, but are very different.
You can see the rest in my top on SensCritique, Mubi or Letterboxd.
Titles
I often forget title sequences in my awards, but I love this art format. Two bad news: one of the best ressource online, Art of the Title, is looking for funding, and I don't have many titles that I enjoyed to list here this year.
- 🏆 DAN DA DAN Opening - Otonoke by Creepy Nuts
When you the most hyped studio Science Saru (Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, INU-OH) adapts a great manga with a new track by Creepy Nuts, you get a pretty good result.
I was happy to discover Creepy Nuts in 2024. Even if everyone already knew them since Bling‐Bang‐Bang‐Born for the opening of MASHLE, by the way, I recommend the live version on THE FIRST TAKE channel.

- 🥈 John Mulaney Presents: Everybody's In L.A.
I was surprised by the quality of the opening credits for this weird series. Like Kyle Hilliard put it, it’s such a good GTA trailer.
Mentions
A quick mention for the Fallout TV show: it's always a good idea to have a short animated logo. They reminded me of the ones from Watchmen_ TV miniseries. But, most interestingly, the ending titles, different on each episode, are quiet classy while being a subtle reminder of the video game.
Music video
- 🏆 Danza Marilù (feat. Fabiana Martone) - L'Impératrice
We need more elder ladies dancing and having adventures!

Mentions
After my best 2023 music video, Atarashii Gakko! keeps on delivering funky videos: Toryanse and Fly High.
I usually hate puppets (I don't know why), but this video for Content 4 U is fun and the song is so catchy. I'm looking forward to see TWRP live in 2025!
Little Foot Big Foot: The new collaboration between Childish Gambino and Hiro Murai after This Is America.
Sport
For once, I added Sports in my year review, but I had the chance to assist to many competitions of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Rugby sevens in the Stade de France, beach volleyball in front of the Eiffel Tower, archery, tennis table and more. I also had the chills experiencing my first French anthem in a stadium, for a field hockey game against the Netherlands.
As a side project, I had fun listing all nation uniforms I could found on ococo.thenew.fr
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Another exceptional, and more unexpected, experience was to support my small hometown club, L'Union Saint Jean FC, in Toulouse Stadium. They played against a top club, AS Monaco, for the French national cup, during the Christmas holidays. There was no miracle, but I was a really nice moment to experience with my family.
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On a more personal level, I continue to enjoy playing in my football club, with some good results as well.
Live music
Funny that I can’t set a winner in a live category, but if I would, Puggy would be my top of the year. I listened to their songs so much, I was delighted to see them coming to Amsterdam. Check out this Belgian pop-rock band if you don't know them, thet deserve to be more famous.
Another long time waiting: I saw Max Richter in Luxembourg. I was supposed to see him in Paris in 2020 but it was cancelled because of covid.
I was happy to see my discovery from last year: Atarashii Gakko!. I was suprised by the number of fans.
Hania Rani in Paradiso was also a remarkable event.
Another type of experience, less enthusiastic, was the new L’imperatrice tour, with a new singer (the original singer Flore Benguigui left because of serious disagreements with the rest of the band).
Video game
This year, I have played and finished many more games than usual. Let's start with the best games of the year:
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🏆 Prince of Persia The Lost Crown
I just wanted to try it because it was in the Ubisoft+ subscription on Xbox and got sucked in for 23 hours. A perfect recipe of Metroidvania for me, more linear. I was very surprised by the diversity of biomes and powers. And the shonen spirit in the cutscenes was a nice touch. -
🥈 Balatro
It’s the surprise of the year for everyone. I can’t deny the talent in the mechanics and the satisfaction of the game feel, but the game is not as deep as people pretend. Still, I enjoyed it a lot, not bad considering I first came just for the shader animations. -
🥈 Helldivers II
Blasting democracy, with friends, upon bugs that were minding their own business is a blast. The definitive unofficial adaption of the masterpiece Starship Troopers.
Mentions
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Star Wars Outlaws is a bit broken, but is more fun the more you play it, despite a rocky start. I'll definitely finish it in 2025. With two good games, is 2024 Ubisoft's swan song?
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Pacific Drive is too long for its own good, I finished it after 32 hours in spite of some annoying farming. The rest is fun, tough. The best being the handling of the car: all mundane actions like parking, taking stuff in the trunk, etc. become a real pleasure.
About free online games, I still play almost every day the cinema wordle Framed and The Mini Crossword from The New York Times.
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Last year, I bought a PS5 and caught up on games of PS4 (that I never owned), based on my If I had a PS5 list:
- I finally finished Horizon: Zero Dawn and its DLC, that I started on PC, with PlayStation Now, in 2020.
- The excellent Astro's Playroom (free with the console). I’m looking forward to put my hands on the sequel released in 2024.
- I played Spider-Man: Miles Morales to test a short episode of the series and it was a good choice, longer would have be too repetitive for me.
- The free “interactive exhibition“ Kid A Mnesia is better than most exhibitions.
Also finished this year, Sayonara Wild Hearts and Cocoon join my list of visually perfect games. Star Wars Jedi Survivor and Chants of Sennaar were also great.
Video game trailers
No clear winner for 2024 in this category for me, but a bunch of interesting trailers.
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
Kojima still got it, even though the idea of a sequel to Death Stranding didn’t won me over (yet?).
Light No Fire
The obsessive people at Hello Games reused, once again, the same trailer structure as for all No Man’s Sky’s trailers, for their new game. It is either sticking to one's beliefs or lacking imagination.
Little Devil Inside
10 years after its announcement, this charming project is still alive and delivered a long in-depth trailer, out of nowhere. What a chaotic development!
All the trailers for INDIKA are something. Something else.
PVKK: Planetenverteidigungskanonenkommandant
A mix of escape room, Papers, Please and pushing satisfying old school buttons.
Ghost of Yōtei
Just for the shamisen western music!
REMATCH
The most surprising and exciting announcement of the year.
The new Naughty Dog's Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet
Mostly for the music of Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross. So far, I'm not a fan of the 80s aesthetic and product placement.
A side note about Reznor & Ross, they've been busy this year with the awesome Challengers soundtrack and the title theme for the funny HBO Franchise series. I can't wait to play a video game with music composed by these two.
Finally, special mention for the soundtrack of the French JRPG Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and their hilarious baguette trailer.
TV
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🏆 Samuel
Despite the simplicity of the black and white and the naivety of the hand drawing, the 21 short episodes of Samuel touch directly into universal memories. This nearly one-woman show by Émilie Tronche depicts well how stupid but touching kids can be. And the perfect soundtrack finished to take me over. -
🏆 DJ Mehdi : Made in France
This documentary series in 6 episodes from Arte (so it exists in French and German), created by Thibaut de Longeville, a longtime friend of Mehdi (1977-2011), is a touching journey into the French electronic music through one of its most peculiar figure. While DJ Mehdi is not very well known, the documentary was a public success. I recommend the French podcast Vous avez aimé... ? to understand why.
It's available on Youtube. -
🥈 Dandadan
Mentionned in the Titles category, Dandadan is my favorite anime of the year. And the manga is as good. Try the first episode, every ingredients of the show is already there.
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But my most wonderful TV experience of the year is with a show listed in the trailers of my last awards.
Mrs. Davis is the latest series from Damon Lindelof (Lost, The Leftovers, Watchmen). What a show!
I was initially thrown out by the tone, expecting something more serious, but behind the comedic and expertly measured cartoonish style, I found the well written and misterious touch I was expecting from Lindelof.
At the end of each episode, I was audibly exclaiming to myself “What the fuck!”. Wihtout kidding, it's the best piece of fiction about our current AI.
Fin