2024 Snack Wrap

The year of Midweek beginnings

Author

Julie Jones
December 31, 2024

In 2024 I grew my first garden, got a tattoo the size of an eraser, bought my first humidifier. I started (almost) consistently brushing my teeth before bed, learned how to meditate, learned how to let go. I went to Switzerland and Albania. I cried way less than in 2023 and slept way more. My capacity for love grew, people I love left, and others I love came back. New little white hairs moved in on top of my head but I got my right split back down to the floor. I made two zines, wrote a short film, and at the top of my list - I started Midweek Snack. Thanks, 2024, for giving us an arbitrary unit to the unending march of time. And thanks to the following films for helping time pass in ways most pleasurable. My picks (in no particular order):

This movie is perfect. It is clever with a wry tone of voice that is masterfully consistent. I giggled at the little vampire girl’s antics, and I cried during its beautiful final scene. A dark movie that is surprisingly family friendly with a heart of filmmaking gold.

Another perfect little jewel, this Cannes Grand Prix winner is soulful and rich in its portrait of female relationship. The storytelling is simple yet vibrant as it weaves a traditional narrative with subtle experimentation. Familiar, transportive, deeply moving.

This movie is pure craft. The tension is relentless, the acting is superb, it was shot in one take, it is chilling and thrilling and totally fresh. I’d watch it again and again if I didn’t suspect each watch takes a year off your life.

A wild ride, an absolute blast, two fantastic female leads, I left asking “wtf” and “can we go again??” I think it could afford to lose 20 min, but then again it’s the big swings and unapologetic camp that make it in a class of its own. Fav quote from the press tour is Margaret Qualley re: her prosthetics - “It was the chance to have the tits of a lifetime.”

I am scared even writing about this movie. I love a good old fashioned horror film, the kind that keeps you on the edge of your seat, makes you afraid to go to sleep at night, and wedges terrifying images into your brain for (ever)? Smile 2 delivers!

A sweet, thought-provoking odyssey through themes of individualism vs community. It is free-flowing, challenging the need for instant gratification and formulaic plot. But its meditative meandering is the very thing that makes this film so powerful. Fun fact: all the animal sounds were created by recordings of real-life animals!

I’m not usually a slasher girlie, but this movie passed the fresh test with flying colors. The premise is tried and true, but the lens through which the story is told is flipped on its head. Traveling with the killer through wildflowers and hushed forests, this horror flick proves to be surprisingly serene.

Yorgos goes back to his more surreal roots with this bizarre anthology. Each of the 3 experimental shorts study our craving for control with an ensemble including my favorite actors of the moment. At times the movie feels a little up its own, but the command of tone and tension is undeniable.

Perhaps with time this is not a film that will live in my mind rent free, but for now it still feels revelatory. The sex is restrained, the orgasms are ugly, there is clever metaphor exploring the robotic precision with which women are expected to employ femininity. The characters are dynamic and complex and painfully human. There is a backstory plot point that is totally unnecessary, but I’m happy to defend this movie as one of the year’s best with fervor that is also unnecessary and painfully human.

Maybe I am a slasher girl after all! While this isn’t at the top, there is no doubt it’s on my list. Beautiful cinematography is matched with gripping performances, and I don’t wanna say too much but I will say I had a hell of a good time.

Thank you for coming to my little table of snacks for one whole year. Feeding you has been more filling than you could know.

<3 Julie

Reply

or to participate.