James Earle Jones
Bill Walton
Chuck Woolery
Dabney Coleman
Kris Kristofferson
OJ Simpson
David Harris
Doc Harris
Dikembe Mutombo
Louis Gossett Jr.
Amir Abdur Rahim
Alan Rachins
Gena Rowlands
Joe Flaherty
Mandisa
Kenneth Mitchell
Richard Lewis
Roger Corman
Phil Lesh
Chi Chi Rodriguez
Cissy Houston
Donald Sutherland
Sergio Mendesi
Greg Kihn
Ole Anderson
Tony Todd
Ron Hale
Joe Bonsall
Every year, the technology becomes more amazing and it opens up stories possibilities. The days of putting bad wigs on actors to try and make them look younger are over.
De-Aging and virtual actors is a technique that is increasing. And this award goes to the year’s best
Previous Winners: Robert DeNiro (The Irishman), Mark Hamill (The Mandalorian), Alfred Molina (Spider-Man: No Way Home), Millie Bobby Brown (Stranger Things season 4), Samuel L. Jackson (Secret Invasion)
Some of the best de-aging of the year included Michael Keaton from Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. Ian Holm was brought back to life in Alien: Romulus. Pat Morita made an appearance in the middle section of Cobra Kai. It was a shocking moment. Connie Nielsen was de-aged in Gladiator 2.
But this year’s winner is in a film that was, at best, okay, but was well known for its gimmick.
Winners: Tom Hanks and Robin Wright (Here)
There was a lot of de-aging in this film, and at several different levels. We stick with these characters through years in this house from this one camera angle and Tom Hanks and Robin Wright are at the center of much of it. And they look great as their younger selves. The problems Here had was not their de-aging.
Up next in the Year in Review is the EYG Star of the Year. This can be any number of possible Geek culture individuals or groups that have been the standout of the year. Last year was Taylor Swift. We have had Marvel Studios win before. Lin-Manuel Miranda was another winner. Here are the previous winners.
Previous Winners: Gal Gadot, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Jennifer Lawrence, Marvel Studios, J.J. Abrams, Josh Brolin, Damon Lindelof & Regina King, Netflix, Andrew Garfield, Tom Cruise, Taylor Swift
Some years have been a tough choice for EYG Star of the Year, but I thought it was very obvious which person deserved to win this award for 2024. I had this one figured out in July, and only waited to see if anyone else would exceed this choice. No one else did.
EYG Star of the Year for 2024 is…..
Ryan Reynolds
Not only did Ryan Reynolds have one of the biggest films of the year with Deadpool & Wolverine, but he also had the movie IF, which was a decent flick in the early part of the year. He has been everywhere and has become beloved.
The biggest outrages of this year on the internet had on major theme. I usually try an avoid this area on EYG, but this is the Don’t Feed the Trolls: Insane Internet Rage Scandal of the Year.
Previous Winner: Baby Yoda eats frog’s eggs (2020), Masters of the Universe: Revelations part one (2021), She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (2022), Twitter becomes X (2023)
This year’s winner? One word.
TRUMP
And it could be any direction. It could be his supporters going after anyone opposing Trump. It could be the Never Trumpers who went after him. It could be Trump himself on Truth Social and his own hater-ade.
So much of the 2024 election was targeted, attacked, whined about on X or Truth Social or YouTube that it was nearly impossible to avoid.
I know I got tired of the constant bickering or hating or negativity, on both sides. Hopefully we can move forward and see…
What?
He said what?
Oh my.
I was struggling with this award this year. This is one of the most recent awards we give out during the Year in Review. It came around because I wanted to give Violent Night a specific award.
Here are the list of winners
Previous Winners: Violent Night, The Holdovers
You can see there has only been two winners so far. I could have gone back and retroactively given this award out to films such as Netflix’s Klaus, Home Alone, Christmas Vacation, The Muppets Christmas Carol, Scrooged or (sorry Bruce) Die Hard. Heck, I could have named this award the Die Hard Memorial X-Mas Award (I really wish I had done that).
Looking at the Christmas movies that I had watched this year, all I had was Red One. Red One was disliked by a lot of people. I did not hate it, but it was not very good for sure. There was an animated movie on Netflix called That Christmas which was in consideration, but sadly I only thought it was passable too. The second half of that movie was really great to be fair, but I was bored through the beginning.
I chose to go to a film today because I did not have a distinct choice for this award. It was a film that I had no interest in seeing, but had a great Rotten Tomatoes score. I had a lazy Sunday planned and there was a 9:15 AM showtime at Cinemark and I thought that would be a good opportunity.
The movie I saw this morning is officially the winner of this award…
Winner: The Best Christmas Pageant Ever
Based on a novel, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever was funny, well written, and full of interesting characters who have to decide what Christmas means to them. This was a really solid movie and it works extremely well as the winner of the….
Hey, a good idea is a good idea!!!!
From now on, this award will be known as this.
Ho-Ho-Ho
This is the first of our In Memoriam honors. We hope all of these stars rest in peace.
Featured:
Fernando Valenzuela
Carl Weathers
Bob Newhart
Chance Perdomo
Charles Cyphers
Charles Osgood
David Gale
Drake Hogestyn
Wayne Northrup
Gary Graham
Jerry West
Johnny Woctor
Dr. Ruth Westheimer
Pete Rose
Quincy Jones
Richard Simmons
Sika Anoa’i
Afa Anoa’i
Terrance Beaser
Toby Keith
Virgil
Robyn Bernard
Liam Payne
Benji Gregory
I spend a lot of time watching YouTube. It is probably the app I watch the most on my Roku TV. There are so many channels and programs on this site that I watch regularly. So every year I have to find the list of my favorite YouTube shows and personalities.
I am counting down the Top 15 YouTube series/channels of 2024. Many of these are repeats from last year and several have moved up or down.
#15. Songs from a Suitcase. Vocal coach watching cool stuff. She watched Agatha All Along.
#14. Alex Hefner’s TV and Movies. A reaction channel that has slipped a bit this year for me. As in most reaction channels, it depends on what the reactor is watching. I do enjoy Alex even if I do not watch him as often as I used to.
#13. Dodgers Nation. A big year for my Los Angeles Dodgers meant I spent more time watching this Dodger discussion show.
#12. Jeremy Jahns. Jeremy Jahns has been one of my favorite online reviewers for years. I always thought our opinions matched up. It seems as if some of my thought differed more this year than in the past, but I still think Jeremy is a good time, no alcohol required.
#11. Dan Murrell. Another of my favorite online critics, Dan is also very well spoken and intelligent. His Charts with Dan show featuring box office reports is always informative and compelling.
10. Fatman Beyond. Kevin Smith and Marc Bernardin together are always a good time. I will admit that I do not watch this as regularly as I have in the past, but anytime I have the time to watch FB, I have a laugh and enjoy myself.
#9. Ashleigh Burton. Another reactor, but I seem to enjoy seeing her react more than some others. I just watched her react to Spider-Man: No Way Home and it was wonderful. She does the MCU and is currently doing Buffy season two. All of that interests me.
#8. New Rockstars. When a great new Marvel trailer comes out, there is no better place to go than to New Rockstars for the break down with Eric Voss. There are a lot of other shows on the New Rockstar lineup, but the breakdowns are still the bread and butter here.
#7. The Geek Buddies. John Rocha, Michael Vogel and Shannon McClung have excellent chemistry, being close friends. Their opinions on geek culture is not always the same, which makes it all the better. I love their long reviews of certain projects, including the great review of Agatha All Along this year.
#6. Ups and Downs. Simon Miller from WhatCulture Wrestling uses that finger of power to give the good bits and up and the bad bits a down. I watch him do these reviews for WWE wrestling and Simon is such a Positive Pete that he brings such an energy that makes the show even better than it was.
#5. Settle the Score. I enjoy this game show very much as Matt Knost hosts and Andy Merryweather plays the music. A combination of movie trivia and name that tune, Settle the Score is a hoot each week. I will say that when I know the contestants, I enjoy the show more, but there are still some winner from people I do not recognize.
#4. FYC. An Oscar discussion show featuring Scott Mantz, Perri Nemiroff and Jeff Sneider. The hosts are the strength of this show. They can disagree with one another and yet hold a civil and intelligent conversation. They clearly respect one another and it shines through the show.
#3. The Reel Rejects. Another reactor channel, but this year the team has exploded. They are doing a ton of movies, TV shows and trailer reactions and they are thoroughly entertaining, whether it be Greg and John, the original rejects, Roxy, Coy, Andrew, Tara, Aaron or any other, The Reel Rejects have had some awesome live streams that are extremely fun, such as the one this year where they were following news from ComicCon and found out Robert Downey Jr was going to play Dr. Doom in the MCU. It is great.
#2. pReview’d. It’s Jay and Adam… it’s pReview’d! Hey Peaches! The highest of the movie/TV reactors again this year is the pReview’d boys. Jay and Adam just feel so authentic and they are downright funny. So whether it is them watching Agatha All Along, Deadpool and Wolverine, Shogun, Cobra Kai, The Princess Bride, Daredevil, The Penguin, or doing a trailerpalooza in order to GAME THE SYSTEM, BA-BEEE!, Jay and Adam are awesome.
#1. Bonus Action Vol. 2. Jay Schmidt and Adam Lash from pReview’d are back with their D&D roleplaying group, creating one of the most thrilling and engaging story around. DM David Armstrong creates the story for Adam, Jay, Amanda Nichols, Ja-Ron Young, Josh Hurley and Jason Spina. These players are as creative and outstanding as improvisers which brings the gaming session to such an entertaining result. This was the #1 YouTube show on the list last year and the second season/volume has returned to the top spot. I’m not a fan of their time slot (Mondays, meaning I have to watch it the next night), but that is my only complaint. These players are so in touch with their characters that it is a joy to watch them play them and to interact with each other. So much chemistry among the group! And David is one of the best DMs I have ever seen.
It is once again time for the annual look at the best and the worst of films/TV etc. from the world of the cast of the Expendables. Yes, this might be a bit of a joke award, and a little too easy, but … whatever.
Best Movie with an Expendable: Hit Man. This was an excellent film starring Expendable 3 star Glen Powell. Powell has become a real star and he could dominate these Expendable Acting Awards moving forward if he continues to take these interesting roles.
Best Expendable Actor: Harrison Ford (Shrinking). It is the second year in a row for Harrison Ford winning this award for his work on the Apple TV + series, Shrinking. He is just perfect in that role, steals every scene he is in and absolutely rules. His comedic timing is so great and he has chemistry with every actor on the show. He has made the grumpy old man trope his own and his is brilliant on this show.
Worst Movie with an Expendable: Monster Summer. Starring Mel Gibson, this film was a weak 1980s type film that wanted to be like Monster Squad, Goonies, Hocus Pocus or Sandlot, but just lacked any of those films’ strengths or any of those films’ charms. Gibson was miscast in the role too.
Bruce Willis Quantity over Quality Award for Most Movies Made by an Expendable: Antonio Banderas. He had four films (five if you include the London release of Paddington in Peru). The four films were Cult Killer, The Clean-Up Crew, Babygirl and the short Mercedes-Benz: In Her Shoe. I expect to see Babygirl, but the others I missed.
Best Expendable Cameo: Wesley Snipes (Blade, Deadpool & Wolverine). One of the best cameos of the year came from Snipes, reprising his classic role of Blade for the new MCU film. Despite the rumors of a feud with Ryan Reynolds stemming from Blade 3, Snipes appeared in the love letter film to the MCU and was an absolute highlight.
Every year, the internet takes a rumor and makes it a fact, despite anything that resembles the truth. We tend to talk ourself into things because we desperately want it to be so. Many times we then are upset or mad because it doesn’t happen. We then blame the product, which is wholly unfair because it was our own expectations that affected our viewing experience.
Thus, this is the award for that thing that was confirmed… but was never actually confirmed.
Confirmed… or is it? Award
Previous Winner: Mephisto is in WandaVision (2021), Fantastic Four has been cast (2022), Everyone is cast as Reed Richards (2023)
This year’s winner: Spider-Man 4 was being secretly filmed.
Tom Holland’s next movie has been confirmed to start filming in 2025, but there were some people on the internet who were speculating that the new MCU Spider-Man movie was being recorded in secrecy of 2024. The fact that it would be nearly impossible to do did not seem to be a determent to the fans.
We just want Spidey back and how cool would a secret movie be?
Every year, EYG watch movies that are released in 2023, but we do not watch it until 2024. These film do not go on the final Best or Worst film list, so I have been giving them their own list. I did not see very many early in January (perhaps only one), but that was because I wanted to save the other films for the June Swoon.
There are six films on this list. As with the year end best and worst lists, star ratings are not the final score. They may help me generalize where they may go on the list, but it does not require me to put them in that numerical order.
Starting off…
#6. Flamin’ Hot. The story of the creation of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos and the man behind them. It was a comedic biopic with some creative adjustment… but hey, it was “based” on a true story. It was a very entertaining film.
#5. Thanksgiving. One of the big surprises in the list was this slasher movie from Eli Roth being a movie that I really enjoyed. Eli Roth has never been my favorite director, but this ne was clever and creative and well worth the watch. We just passed the holiday so it may be a perfect time for you to revisit this movie.
#4. 20 Days in Mariupol. A truly tough documentary following some media individuals through the war tarn land in Ukraine. It was real, too real at times and it was a very difficult watch. It was a very important watch too.
#3. The Zone of Interest. One of the big Oscar nominated International films from last year, The Zone of Interest focused on Auschwitz commandant Rudolf Höss and his wife Hedwig and the life they lived during the Holocaust.
#2. Anatomy of a Fall. Another Oscar nominated international film, Anatomy of a Fall told the story of a woman who was suspected of the murder of her husband, her trial, and what exactly her blind son knows. This is an extremely compelling mystery that keeps you guessing to the end.
#1. American Fiction. This was the film I watched in January because I did not want to wait until June to see it. I had heard a lot of great things about it and I was not disappointed. Jeffrey Wright is an author who, frustrated with his inability to sell a book, writes a “black” book under a pseudonym and suddenly finds a ton of success. That success made Wright all the more frustrated. This is a great movie with stunning performances and Oscar nominations, from not only Wright, but also Sterling K. Brown.
2024 was a down year with comic book movies. Marvel only put out one movie. Sony had one of the worst films of the year. Nothing from DC. It has been slow. 2025 will have a whole bunch of choices, but 2024, there is one clear standout.
I feel confident that I can make this pick before seeing Kraven the Hunter in a few weeks. Even if it surprises us and becomes one of the few Sony Spider-films that was any good, it will in no universe match the winner of this award this year. I feel sure in that statement. I mean, I did see Madame Web.
The previous winners:
The Christopher Reeve Memorial Comic Book Movie of the Year
Previous Winners: Batman (1989), Dick Tracy (1990), The Rocketeer (1991), Batman Returns (1992), Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993), The Crow (1994), Batman Forever (1995), The Phantom (1996), Men in Black (1997), Blade (1998), Mystery Men (1999), X-Men (2000), From Hell (2001), Spider-Man (2002), X2: X-Men United (1993), Spider-Man 2 (1994), V for Vendetta (2005), 300 (2006), Superman: Doomsday (2007), The Dark Knight (2008), Watchmen (2009), Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010), Captain America: First Avenger (2011), The Avengers (2012), Iron Man 3 (2013), Captain America: Winter Soldier & Guardians of the Galaxy [tie] (2014), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Captain America: Civil War (2016), Logan (2017), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Avengers: Endgame (2019), Birds of Prey (2020), Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023)
2024 Christopher Reeve Memorial Comic Book Movie of the Year:
Deadpool and Wolverine
(Marvel Studios)
This film accomplished so much… such as:
And so much more. Deadpool & Wolverine is the best super hero movie of the year by far and is well deserving of this award.
It is that time of the year. It is time for the 2024 EYG Year in Review!
Over the next month (or so) I will be posting the winners of the awards that we give out this time of the year every year. This is our 14th year of giving out these awards and it is one of my favorite times of the year.
There are also several lists where I list my favorite and least favorites in a plethora of categories. Everything from the world of geek culture including movies, TV shows, comic books, WWE, YouTube and so on. The biggest hole in the year in review is video games as I do not play them (for fear of never stopping).
We have the records of all of our winners from the past found on the site. I will post the records during each award post. Here is an example:
Previous winners: Stan Lee (Big Hero 6*, Deadpool, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse* ), John Cena (Daddy’s Home), Chris Evans (Thor: The Dark World, Free Guy), Sigourney Weaver (Cabin in the Woods), Hugh Jackman (X-Men: First Class), Yoda (Star Wars: The Last Jedi), J.K. Simmons (Spider-Man: Far From Home), Harrison Ford (Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker), Rudy Giuliani (Borat Subsequent Moviefilm), Val Kilmer (Top Gun: Maverick), Rhea Perlman (Barbie)
There are a ton of potential winners in this category for 2024 so it will be interesting who receives the Stan Lee Movie Cameo Award this year.
We will end the year in review with our typical Best Movie and Worst Movie lists. It is unclear as of yet how many each list will be. Last year I had 40 films on the Best list and only 20 films on the Worst, but I think that may not be as split this year. I know there are about 5-6 films competing for the worst film of the year spot and I am unsure which one will land in that spot.
I should say that, even if there are films on the worst list, or something receives a ‘Batman and Robin Award for Rottenness,’ I have the utmost respect for those who create movies and TV shows. I know it is an amazingly difficult job. However, I do believe it is okay to criticize or critique these projects. I will never get personal though.
And I will say this many times… this is my opinion. You may have a different opinion on some of these and that is great. I had someone on Twitter/X this year get mad at me for my review of Kinds of Kindness and was very insulting to me about it, calling me names and being disrespectful. All art is subjective and what I hate completely (like Kinds of Kindness) may be your favorite film of the year. And that is OK. To attack someone for their opinions is not OK and goes against everything that we believe at EYG.
So here we go. 2024 is almost in the books. It flew by and we look back before we look ahead.
EYG- Embrace Your Geekness 