The Year in TV & Movies

hey it's Michael as I mentioned. yesterday for our last few episodes of. 2024 we're bringing you something really. special today and for the next 3 days my. colleague Melissa kersch is going to. talk to times critics reporters and. editors who have spent the last 12. months making sense of the year in arts. and culture take a listen I think you're. really going to like it. [Music].

from The New York Times this is the. daily I'm Melissa kersch Deputy editor. of culture and. lifestyle as we close out 2024 I'll be. talking with my colleagues Around The. Newsroom about what they watched and. listened to and read this year about the. things they loved and the things they. didn't love today Chief television. critic James pazik is here to talk about. why TV might feel a little blah right.

now and then our chief film critic. Manola dargas on her favorite movies of. 2024 and why you shouldn't let the. algorithm tell you what to. watch it's Thursday December. 26th Jim pazik thanks so much for being. here oh thanks for having me okay so Jim. fill in the blank in the world of. Television 2024 was the year of mid TV. mid M TV yeah it's not great it's not.

terrible it's just mid explain what you. mean by that um Mid TV is okay TV of the. present that kind of reminds you of. great TV of the past mhm it's you know. got a famous cast it's was shot in fancy. locations it's sleekly produced it's. tasteful but it's just not especially.

memorable it doesn't have the quirks and. bumps and. idiosyncrasies that Mark a show that you. are going to remember and will stick. with you for a long time so give me an. example of what you mean uh pal marale. on Apple TV there are no doors on the. back of the pal. marale I never said I use the door I. barely remember this show exactly who. Among Us does.

the cast was absolutely loaded uh. Kristen wig Laura D Carol Bernett uh it. looked fabulous and if you watched the. whole thing you probably forgot that. you'd seen it a week later I am never in. over my head it would be disrespectful. to my. hairdresser okay but it it wasn't that. long ago that everybody was talking. about Prestige TV right like these. highly polished hourlong dramas that. were as good as movies.

walk me through how we got from Prestige. TV to Mid TV so I think of The Prestige. television era as the era beginning. around the turn of the 21st century uh. when you had the emergence of a lot of. new cable Outlets ones like. HBO that in order to distinguish. themselves in the marketplace started. taking big bets on.

unusual shows that they had freedom to. produce that traditional broadcast TV. didn't and a classic example of this is. The Sopranos whatever happened to Gary. Cooper the strong silent type right on. NBC ABC you couldn't do a show about a a. kind of sympathetic mobster on HBO you. can and then it's dysfunction this and. dysfunction that and dysfunction my. f we get the wire we get Breaking Bad I.

am the one who knocks people like Martin. Scorsese start making TV series actors. like Glenn Close start starring in cable. TV series Hey Big Man you want to get. into it TV was you could argue the. premier popular art medium of its. time and also it's now big business.

[Music]. Netflix which used to be the company. that you got DVDs from in the mail. starts making original TV programming. you look great I mean who knew you could. Rock orange and then It ultimately is. joined by Amazon we don't need cops like. you anymore Bush by Apple hey how y'all. doing I'm Ted lass Disney guilty of. being the god of your honor the issue. here is not intellectual on and on and.

on and that creates this money gusher. directed at starting up a lot of new. shows in order to create enough content. for these platforms to produce a lot. of presy looking thumbnails when you get. to the home screen of the. app and what is serving up those. thumbnails to you it's the algorithm. it's deciding what you are like to click.

on and keep watching to generate those. viewing hours for them and that creates. a different kind of incentive that's not. the kind of incentive where you're like. oh I'm going to create a drama about a. mobster in New Jersey because people. haven't seen that before and it'll be so. surprising they'll watch it it is I'm. going to generate something that kind of. reminds you of that show that you. watched about the mobster in New Jersey. so that you'll click on that and.

watch our streaming platform for a. little longer medals or wounds each man. in the 101st Airborne would be going. home you loved Band of Brothers back. when it was on HBO all right Apple TV is. going to give you masters of the air. which is more boring but it's good. enough for now right the hund bomb group. was sent to England in the spring of 194. uh you liked big little lies on HBO I. feel so ashamed for saying this but. being a mother is not enough for me okay. with make apples never fall another.

Leanne Mor novel not as distinctive or. original or surprising but probably good. enough for now never even a thank you. you just give it all up because that's. what having a family demands of a woman. it's this. tsunami of. familiar safe content that results in. just a deluge of mid. TV so you you hear so much about how.

people's attention spans are limited. these days and there's so much buying. for their attention with social media. and Tik Tok and Instagram if TV is mid. how can TV hope to retain its audience. well I think it's definitely a danger. for the TV industry you know I think if. you have a lot of same seeming stuff out. there um you run the risk of just. oversaturation of the market which in. fact is what we seem to be experiencing. now I mean I don't think that the.

artists of Television have gotten less. creative uh I think that it is more. difficult in this environment to pitch. off-the-wall. idiosyncratic uh and personal ideas you. know something like flea bag which was. an amazing show that really represents a. a risk for a programmer that is. responsible for answering to boards and.

all the people who have put up all this. money I met someone what really yeah oh. my God that's amazing what does he do. he's a. priest I mean as a viewer I want. off-the-wall and idiosyncratic and. personal you know and what you're. describing you know I'm familiar with. this kind of zombie version of prestige. TV and it's not satisfying it's not. you know the show that I want to binge.

I'm just I'm wondering you what what the. Outlook is is mid TV the future of TV is. this just the way TV is now you know. Talent always finds a way out there are. times in the history of any medium when. it gets a little more difficult for. talent and originality to find its way. but artists want to create even when all. the forces of money and business and the.

culture and Technology are pushing. against that and trying to smooth out. the bumps and that's what gives me hope. okay so reasons for optimism so tell me. about the shows that really stood out. for you this year uh one show this year. that I absolutely loved and can. recommend unreservedly uh was we are. lady Parts 1 2 3. 4 it is is this fresh.

irreverent screamingly funny uh British. sitcom about uh a band of female Muslim. Punk musicians so uh maybe instead. of Boldore under my head scarf you could. do I love to wear my head scarf you know. uh less more yay I don't know yeah part. of what works so well about we lady. Parts is that it is very much a story. that is about trying to make original.

outspoken art under the constraints of. working for a big entertainment. [Music]. Corporation another show that uh I. really liked and is so original that I. almost have a hard time characterizing. it was. fantasmas uh which was a comedy on on. HBO this year uh starring uh the.

comic funny person Julio Torres thank. you thank you but the reason I'm here is. because I was tossing and turning all. night thinking about how you need to. make a clear crayon clear like the color. clear yes uh I think a term I used for. it was sketch fantasy about a young man. trying to rent an apartment in New York. it's kind of this this surreal stream of.

Consciousness look into his imagination. and the workings of his mind Julio you. need a new apartment and to get a new. apartment you need proof of existence no. I can't think of the apartment because. I'm I I'm I'm I'm sick no Julio don't go. into your thoughts come back look at the. real it's the opposite of mid TV it's. not trying to be familiar or safe or you. know kind of a a turn your brain off.

experience it's a surprising fun show. that makes you pay attention because. it's so. original I don't go here and why are you. here cuz I'm waiting for class to be. over so I can yell at a. hamster oh I'm going to check this out. that's one thing I love about television. is that it's a medium that ideally is. very responsive to changes in the. culture and shifts in the currents and. it's a way for different voices that you.

may not have encountered before to to to. percolate through and kind of shift your. perspective mhm so Talent will out. Talent will out it may take a little. longer sometimes than the others but. Talent will. out well I am feeling a little more. hopeful than I was at the outside of. this conversation so thank you so much. for talking with me Jim thank you so. much for talking with me. [Music].

after the break I'll talk with Chief. film critic Manola dargas about the best. movies of 2024 we'll be right. back Manola dargas thank you for being. here thanks for having me so I'm. wondering if you could do something for. me which is I'd like you to read the. list of the top grossing movies of 2024. sure easy enough to do um.

inside out to which is a Charming sequel. from Pixar uh Deadpool and Wolverine. which I could not stand Despicable Me. for which I will never see unless I'm. forced by gunpoint Beetle Juice Beetle. Juice which was fine fine uh Dune part. two Wicked Twisters Moana 2 Godzilla. Kong the new Empire Kung Fu Panda 4 okay. now of the movies you just mentioned n. out of 10 of them are sequels and wicked.

is technically a prequel to The Wizard. of Oz what's going on here well it's. very familiar sequelitis this is the. current model for the um you know the. big companies so very similar to what's. going on with TV where Studios aren't. looking for necessarily Innovative or. original work they're looking for safe. bets if you're in charge of a. multi-million dollar you know outfit. much less a multi-billion dollar. conglomerate you're not really going to.

be one to take big chances like oh let's. bankroll this tiny little movie from no. and that whole mentality is really. that's been part of the mainstream. entertainment business for some time and. when you start introducing things like. algorithms at a certain point it's just. going to start suggesting things that. you've already you know that are like. what you just saw it's kind of. depressing M and we should say that not. all sequels are bad you liked some. sequels oh I like the Gladiator sequel. very.

much I never forgot. it that a slave could take revenge. against an emperor first of all sharks. versus Gladiators what's not to like and. also it's a f there's a fantastic. performance from Denzel Washington it's. one of the Great Performances of the. year I have a. Destiny the gods delivered you to. me you will be be my instrument he's.

wildly entertaining so don't please. people do not tell me that there's. nothing to see there are things to see. okay so let's talk about some of those. things to see I've got your list of the. best films of the Year here your number. one movie of 2024 is an Indian film. called All We imagine as light I have. not seen this movie I would say that. most people have not seen this movie. it's a quite a small movie it is made by. pel kapadia um and is a deeply touching.

movie that even when I start talking. about it I get a little Misty so forgive. me it's set in Mumbai and it focuses on. one woman but mainly three women who all. work at a hospital two nurses and a cook. and it is about both their individual. lives but also their relationships with. one another. [Music]. has worked in documentary before and she.

inserts these documentary scenes of of. people just Milling about celebrating. walking in streets and you get the sense. from the movie that she could have. picked another three people and told you. know their stories and what she's saying. is each of us has a story that is. [Music]. there it is uh something I have never. seen and that I was delighted to see um.

it's an independent film and it's. glorious and now let's talk about a very. different kind of movie another film you. loved this year was furiosa a Mad Max. Saga this is the latest entry in the Mad. Max franchise it's directed by George. Miller and stars Anya Taylor Joy and. Chris Hemsworth I had gas Chan I had.

bullet Farm without I could have Cel The. Citadel to rule the Whit land the Whit. land would have been a far better place. for all of us no George Miller great. director from Australia he makes these. incredibly uh they're just pure Cinema I. think um and I love the stories this one. did move me it's about a woman's. empowerment you know and can I say I'm a. sucker for female empowerment my. childhood my mother.

I want them back of course you did I. want them back that's exactly one of the. things I really love about it is George. Miller uses practical effects rather. than relying on just computer generated. imagery and so you are really watching. people doing these crazy things and it's. beautifully choreographed the way let's. say a 1930s or 40s Fred is stair number. would be beautifully choreographed we. are talking about you know visual. pleasure you know um maximum it's just.

so. wonderful I think a movie people might. be surprised to find in your top 10 is. megalopolis this is the movie that. Francis Ford Copa who directed The. Godfather and Apocalypse Now uh self-. financed and wrote and directed it Stars. Adam Driver it was um divisive but you. loved it listen man I'm going down on.

this ship I don't. care this is a wildly. ambitious. Ely imperfect movie but you are going to. see things much like with you know a. George Miller movie that you have never. seen before this is a movie that Copa. has been thinking about for you know. decades he's been working on it and it's. a very optimistic movie filled with. beautiful imagery and it is kind of nuts. in a but in a glorious way I mean why.

you know it's not Despicable Me 234 you. know it's not it's something different. it is funny it is strange it is. unexpected and why you know why do you. go to the movies do you just want to see. the same thing over and over and over. again no maybe see something that you. have never seen before and I guarantee. you that you have never seen this before. Oh hear me. time for Julia.

just. try hey time to stop. now resist the algorithm seek out movies. resist the algorithm this is going to be. my new t-shirt all right sister I think. we're ready for a revolution now right. we're going to go like to the. [Laughter]. [Music]. barricades okay let's take a little. break and when we return we're going to. talk about movies you can see in the. theater right.

[Music]. now so here we are in the week between. Christmas and New Year's a lot of people. have time off from work this is a time. when a lot of people go to the movies. what do you recommend there are some. really interesting movies that I highly. recommend that people can look at um one. of those I really like uh September 5.

do you hear that those gun. shots it's about the. 1972 Olympics where the Israeli team was. taken hostage and ABC was covering it. live what do I tell the cameras what do. you mean I mean can we show someone. being shot on live. television you know it's a very modest. movie it's really short it's about 90. minutes long and it just seems like oh. it's just about the fact that they were. covering it no I think it's about.

journalistic ethics and it's really. interesting and I think it's very. Germain uh to the moment our job is to. tell the story of these individuals. whose lives are at stake it's not okay. we made it. worse um I also like a movie coming up. called uh the brutalist uh which is a. movie um by Brady Corbett and it stars. Adrian Brody um who when we first see. him is actually just stepping off onto. Ellis Island it's post World War II and. he comes America and he kind of runs.

face first into the wall of American. capitalism tell me why is an. accomplished foreign architect shoveling. coal here in. Philadelphia um it is a really big. ambitious movie and it has one of the. other Great Performances of the Year. from Guy Pierce who plays an American. capitalist oh my God it is an amazing. performance so highly recommend that. movie it's a beautiful movie if you can. see it in theaters please do it is one.

of the most beautiful kind of monumental. looking I mean he just it's tremendous. looking and then of course there's like. the movie that I think is going to be a. very very big Oscar movie uh is a. complete unknown starring Timothy shalam. as the very very young and cutie Bob. Dylan the movie opens with him arriving.

in uh New York City and it takes us. through to when he first uh you know. when he goes electric um and it's a. movie that I think is going to surprise. people in terms of Timothy shalam it's a. opening a whole new shalam chapter um. and it's a movie that is going to be. talked a lot about in terms of the. Oscars so you're going to hear a great. deal about that for the next couple. months oh have you been my blueeyed son.

well it sounds like there's a lot of. good stuff to see in the theater right. now Manola thank you so much for being. here it's been a pleasure. Melissa today's episode was produced by. Alex Baron with help from kit lesty it. was edited by Wendy door with production. support by Franny car Toth and original. music by Diane Wong Pat mccusker and Dan. Powell it was engineered by Daniel. Ramirez. special thanks to Saia Michael Sam.

sifton David maletz Jason Bailey Jeremy. eggner Stephanie Goodman Lauren Manley. Ben Calhoun CLA tennis Alexandra Lee. Young Alicia B Sarah Curtis John White. Tina Antolini Paula Schuman and Sam. dolnick that's it for the daily I'm. Melissa kersch I'll see you tomorrow. [Music].