In this week's episode, I take a look back at the movies and TV shows I watched in Autumn 2024, and rate them from my least favorite to my favorite.

TRANSCRIPT

Hello, everyone. Welcome to episode 230 of The Pulp Writer Show. My name is Jonathan Moeller. Today is December the Sixth, 2024, and today we are looking at my movie/TV show roundup for Fall 2024. Before we get to that, we'll have an update on my current writing projects and then we will do Question of the Week.

First up, I'm pleased to report that the rough draft of Orc Hoard is done at 78,000 words, so it'll probably end up being about exactly the same length as Half-Orc Paladin, the previous book in the series. I've also written a short story called Commander's Wrath that newsletter subscribers will get a free ebook copy of when Orc Hoard comes out and hopefully we're on track to have that out before Christmas. I'm also 7,000 words into Shield of Deception, which will be the fourth book in The Shield War series and if all goes well, I'm hoping to have that out in January or February. In audiobook news, recording is currently underway for Cloak of Masks and that will probably be out towards the end of January or perhaps February, depending on how long processing takes.

00:01:02 Question of the Week

Question of the Week is designed to inspire enjoyable discussions of interesting topics. This week's question, what do you listen to while working: genre of music, audiobooks, podcast, nothing else so you can concentrate, et cetera. No wrong answers obviously, and we had quite a few answers.

David says: I listen to audiobooks and music. Music ranges from classical to country to pop, bands and soul artists to instrumental. No rap or heavy metal or dance music or I listen to music from YouTube channels. If I have to really focus on what I'm doing, I'll turn it low so it doesn't distract.

Justin says: video game music is my first choice. It can help you grind in real life just like it does in the game. If that isn't working for me, then rock or classical music with movie soundtracks at third.

Brooks says: I tend to gravitate towards hard rock/punk rock. I have to stay adrenalized. Outside work, I'll listen to almost anything.

Michael says: I find I can't listen to words or lyrics without getting distracted by them, so instrumental music is the way to go. Usually video game music too (the Stelara soundtrack is particularly epic), movie scores (Kingdom of Heaven is one of my favorites), or Dungeon Synth, an amazing music genre I only discovered recently.

Barbara says: sometimes I play music while writing, but most of the time I prefer the silence so I can better hear the voices in my head. Of course, I prefer very specific types of music that always end up coming back no matter how much I try to stray.

Jenny says: lots of EDM and techno if words would distract me or my solid nineties pop punk angsty mix. I also have a giant one I called “I heard it in a video game” for background music.

John says: When I did/could work, I enjoyed outlaw country music, particularly that from Texas. Put me in a kick butt and take names kind of mood. When you're a plumber who gets paid by the work done, not the hour, that's where one wants to be.

(A different) John says: I only listen to music when I'm working in the kitchen. I'm eclectic. Sometimes classical music, sometimes ‘80s prog rock with Hawaiian music and occasionally jazz tossed in.

Juana says: I like rock and roll from many eras. I put my eclectic music on shuffle. I also listen to movie soundtracks: Star Wars, Star Trek, Harry Potter, Animal House, et al.

Brandy says: If I'm cooking, I listen to Pandora. There's a pop ‘90s - ‘20s station. I do have a few that are specifically listed, angry or sad, one more angry German metal or Mongolian throat metal, the other more goth and industrial. I read books instead of listening. If I'm proofing, I usually have something on in the background. Today it's Sanctuary Season One.

Morgan says: ADHD means I jump around a lot on what I'm listening to depending on the day, but audiobooks- usually fantasy or horror. Podcasts- Pathfinder actual play podcasts, horror podcasts, and wrestling/gaming news podcasts. Music, whatever artist/album I'm obsessing over at the time, but usually prog rock, metal, or rap.

Matthew says: I always have my iPad for background noise. If I'm particularly invested in getting chapters done, I'll put on something largely audible.

Gary says: audiobooks, podcasts, worship music, Christian hard rock.

Bob says: Retired now, but when I was working I didn't listen to anything-needed to concentrate on what I was doing. When paying bills, I sometimes have some Morse Code on in the background (one of my previous means of paying the bills). On long car trips, it's nice to have some distraction -whatever radio station I can find, preferably one with a story. In truck stops, we used to find some stories on disc that had the actors doing the voice of the characters and some of them were pretty good.

For myself, I almost always listen to music while I'm working and that genre is usually soundtracks and video games, movies, and TV shows (in that order) that I liked, which makes it difficult to discuss music with people, I have to admit. I do listen to podcasts when I'm working outside, so long as I'm not using a power tool that requires earplugs for safe operation (which sadly seems to be most of the time).

00:04:42 Main Topic: Autumn 2024 Movie/TV Review Roundup

Now on to our main topic, the review roundup of the movies and streaming shows I watched in Autumn 2024. I was going to do a combined Autumn/Winter 2024 one, but it was getting a bit too long, so Winter 2024/2025 will be its own post in a few months.

I seemed to watch a lot of time travel movies this time around and quite a few with Space Magic. As ever, the grades are totally subjective and based on nothing more than my own thoughts and opinions. Now let's take a look at the movies and streaming shows from least favorite to most favorite.

First up is Escanaba in Da Moonlight, which came out in 2001 and it is a surrealist comedy about hunting traditions set in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. 42-year-old Reuben Sodi is the only man in his family who has never shot a buck, so when he complains about this to his Native American wife, she casts a spell to help Ruben bag his first buck, which results in a very bizarre nighttime journey/vision quest. This includes UFOs, visitations by nighttime spirits, and a Department of Natural Resources officer having a mental breakdown. This was a funny movie, but it was definitely very weird and even more specific. If you're at all familiar with the hunting culture of Upper American Midwest, you'll get the humor. If you're not familiar with it, this will be like watching a movie from another planet. Overall grade: C.

Next up is Looper, which came out in 2012. I didn't actually like this movie very much, but I respect how well done it was. Joseph Gordon Levitt plays Joe and is a type of assassin called a looper living in the US in 2044. About 30 years after 2044, time travel is invented but immediately outlawed. Since it's difficult to get away with murder in 2074 due to advanced technology, crime syndicates have taken to sending people they want eliminated back in time to 2044 where the loopers immediately execute the target in exchange for a big fat payout. Loopers can live like kings, but there's a price. Eventually the loop is closed and the looper’s future self is sent back to be killed by his past self.

Failure to comply results in an extremely grisly fate at the hands of the syndicate. Joe, being a hardened killer and drug addict, is fine with all this and even helps turn in a fellow looper who failed to close his own loop. Then Joe's future self arrives. Joe is about to kill Future Joe (played by Bruce Willis), but Future Joe escapes and Present Joe has to hunt down and kill Future Joe if he wants to survive.

In the process, Present Joe stumbles across the farm of a woman named Sarah (played by Emily Blunt) and her young son Sid. Present Joe realizes that future Joe has traveled back to kill the child, Sid, who will be responsible for the death of Future Joe's wife in the future. Despite everything he's done, Present Joe is not okay with this and gears up to help Sarah defend Sid from Future Joe. This movie was on the very dark side of noir filmmaking: no good characters, essentially only various degrees of bad people trying to navigate their way through the maze of time crimes. I did strongly dislike how fundamentally nihilistic the movie was and the addition of telekinesis did seem like kind of a plot crutch. There is also some unnecessary nudity. Rian Johnson is actually an excellent filmmaker. Knives Out and Glass Onion were both very good, but I cannot imagine how someone will watch Looper and think, hey, this guy is a good choice for a Star Wars movie. Overall Grade: B-

Next up is Agatha All Along, which came out in 2024. It was extremely well written and well-acted. You almost have to watch it twice just to admire how well put together the plot was. I wasn't expecting to like Agatha All Along, but it is an excellent example of writing a show with a villain protagonist and actually pulling it off. The show is also a good example of something I've talked about before on the podcast and the blog: characters can be likable, emotionally sympathetic, or both. It's sometimes tricky to write a character who's both, unlikable but emotionally sympathetic.

By contrast, Agatha...