A Look Back at 2024 in Writing, Etc.
A Selection of My Favorite Pieces I Wrote in 2024
This year I wrote for a lot of different outlets, guested on a bunch of podcasts (and the radio!), contributed to several Blu-ray releases, and even tried my hand at some film programing again for the first time in a few years. Overall, I found the year to be mostly incredibly rewarding, if a little exhausting. I also went through the edit process for my book and it was A LOT, but also incredibly rewarding. Especially since I just received my author copy a few days ago!!
Over the next few days I will also be sharing my Favorite Fifteen Films of 2024, my December wrap-up, and my list of favorite new-to-me film discoveries. But before then, here’s some of my favorite writing pieces and podcast appearances from 2024.
January started out with several interviews, including Nancy Savoca about Household Saints, Ava DuVernay about Origin, Lina Soualem about Bye Bye Tiberias and Molly Manning Walker about How To Have Sex. I discussed the Criterion World Cinema Project on the Screen Drafts Podcast. And I also reviewed sixteen films, including one of my favorites of the year: Sometimes I Think About Dying.
In February I wrote four reviews, including another of my favorites of the year: The Monk and the Gun, I interviewed Erige Sehiri about her film Under the Fig Trees, and I guested on The Next Picture Show podcast to discuss Where The Boys Are // How To Have Sex
Although March was spent in my hometown helping my dad after his hip surgery, I did not slow down at all. For Women’s Writers Week at RogerEbert.com I wrote A (Not So) Brief History of Silent Film Influences on Pop Music. For Autostraddle I wrote about Paul Giamatti Is One of Cinema’s Great Listeners. For Rotten Tomatoes I wrote about 10 Women Writers You Didn’t Know Were Also Film Critics. I also reviewed four films and interviewed Rose Glass about Love Lies Bleeding, Marlo McKenzie about Carol Doda Topless at the Condor, and Radu Jude about Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World.
In April I attended the San Francisco Silent Film Festival, for Autostraddle I interviewed Patricia Rozema, I talked about Joan Tewkesbury's Old Boyfriends on Pod Casty For Me, and wrote about Gillian Armstrong's Little Women at 30 ahead of a 35mm screening at the Chicago Critics Film Festival.
May was also filled with interviews. I spoke to Marija Kavtaradzė about Slow, which is one of my favorite films of the year, Lily Gladstone about Under the Bridge and Fancy Dance, Alessandro Nivola about The Big Cigar, and Ethan Hawke about Wildcat. I also reviewed a few films and wrote about MoMi and the Japan Society’s Hiroshi Shimizu retrospective.
In June I was featured on Ezgi Eren’s amazing newsletter
talking about my favorite movie theaters. I interviewed Bridgett M. Davis about Naked Acts and Jake Allyn about Ride, reviewed a handful of movies, wrote about the Golden Age of VHS Trailers and Promos, appeared on a podcast talking about the best films of 2024 so far and a podcast talking about the best films of 1924, and contributed nine blurbs about silent films that make up part of the 100 Greatest Westerns of All Time.
July started out with my third trip to the Czech Republic for the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival where I reviewed the best film of the year: No Other Land, spoke to Daniel Brühl for IndieWire, and interviewed Juho Kuosmanen on his Silent Trilogy and Trương Minh Quý about Viet and Nam. I also wrote a tribute to the late Richard Simmons, made the case for Plan 9 From Outer Space as a good movie, and interviewed Agnieszka Holland on Green Border, another of the year’s best films.
I didn’t write as much in August — but did spend an insane amount of time watching movies in theaters and twenty-four-hours of John Gilbert movies — so it was a great month. I reviewed It Ends With Us, which I enjoyed but will probably never watch again given the news about the film’s abusive production. I also wrote about Gena Rowlands in Hope Floats, interviewed Angela Patton and Natalie Rae about Daughters and Tina Mabry and Edward Kelsey Moore about The Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat, and also contributed an essay to the Blu-ray release of Robert Altman’s Thieves Like Us.
September came in hot with the Toronto International Film Festival where I wrote about fourteen films and interviewed Marielle Heller about Nightbitch and Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, and Galen Johnson about Rumours. I also wrote about the 100th anniversary of Aelita: Queen of Mars and Hope Floats as an Anti-Capitalist Romance. Lastly, I interviewed Mika Gustafson and Alexander Öhrstrand about their film Paradise is Burning.
In October I attended the Iowa City Book Festival and Refocus Film Festival, where I recorded an episode of Filmspotting Live! about our favorite “Moms Going Through Ir” movies. I also guested on the radio show Nite Lite with Pete Schwaba — twice! I reviewed two movies, including Anna Kendrick’s Woman of the Hour, one of my favorite films of the year. I also interviewed Coralie Fargeat about The Substance and Jon Landau and Stevie Van Zandt about Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. For Letterboxd I wrote about The Remarkable Life of Ibelin and why Claude Rains in The Invisible Man is my favorite horror performance.
November was the was the 15th anniversary of Noirvember and in celebration I curated a collection of films on Criterion Channel, programmed a screening series of Columbia Noir at The Brattle in Boston1 where I was on hand to introduce the films, wrote about five under the radar Columbia Noir gems for Letterboxd, and conducted a Criterion Channel Columbia Noir Double Feature Live-Tweet. Also for Letterboxd I wrote about The Last Showgirl, Maria, The Piano Lesson, and Small Things Like These. For RorgerEbert.com I reviewed three films and interviewed Hannah Peterson about The Graduates. On the Screen Drafts podcast I took part in a two-part François Truffaut Super Draft. I also wrote about some great Cinematic Memoirs, and contributed an essay to the long-awaited Blu-ray/4K release of Looking For Mr. Goodbar.
Which brings us to December. My final review of the year was the great sunshine noir Lake George. For Inverse, I wrote about The Return of Doctor X, Bogart’s only horror film. Over at Letterboxd I wrote about The Girl with the Needle and Reinas, my favorite first-time watch: Your Father Was Born 100 Years Old, and So Was the Nakba, and wrote a a comprehensive breakdown of A Complete Unknown and the relationship between Bob Dylan and the movies. At RogerEbert, I wrote about Jomo Fray’s innovative cinematography in Nickel Boys, Josh Hartnett’s beguiling performance in Trap, Tayarisha Poe’s lo-fi sci-fi romantic drama The Young Wife as one of the best movie of the year that you haven’t seen. On Filmspotting, Adam, Josh, Michael Phillips, and I broke down our favorite films of the year. And on this newsletter I wrote about Last Christmas, The Remarkable Life of Ibelin, and my own teenage near death medical experience and 73 films directed by women from 2024 that you can rent or stream.
So what do I have in store for 2025? I have several interviews that will be dropping in early January and, of course, my book Cinema Her Way: Visionary Female Directors In Their Own Words publishes on March 4th and I already have events in the works in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Boston, and Atlanta, so keep an eye out for more details as I have them.
Over the last three years I have recommended almost 1200 films in my Weekly Directed By Women Guide, which will continue to publish every Friday. I also have a few more Blu-ray booklet essays in the works, so watch out for those!
Also, one last reminder that as a freelancer my finances are always a bit perilous, so if you enjoy my work every little bit helps and paid subscriptions to this newsletter are always appreciated:
The programming is no longer on their website, but it included the new 4K restoration of In A Lonely Place, Experiment in Terror, My Name is Julia Ross on 35mm, The Big Heat, Human Desire, Over-Exposed on 35mm, The Sniper on 35mm, Underworld U.S.A., and The Crimson Kimono on 35mm.
I'm so grateful to have met you this year!