The Art Idiot: END OF THE YEAR ISSUE (2024)

I'm not one for Irish goodbyes.

Welcome back to The Art Idiot!

I am not yet the writer I want to be, and I know this because I can’t conceive of a noncliché opening line to this end-of-year letter. Twenty-six and I am none the wiser; all I know is that I cannot close out the party without saying farewell for now. To be frank, I have no fresh takes on the increasing speed of time, the importance of writing down your aspirations and resolutions with pen and paper, or “ins and outs” lists. To be frank, I left the 2024 recap for last; The Art Idiot innovates, finally, going into 2025, let’s indulge in that first.

The Art Idiot presents the Monthly Movie Calendar, a curated digital and printed resource for film programming across Chicagoland’s cinemas.

In addition to standard movie theater programming, The Monthly Movie Calendar will also feature independent programming, film festivals, and other unique screening experiences that support local and emerging filmmakers. Current theaters include: Gene Siskel Film Center, Davis Theater, Music Box Theater, AMC & Regal Cinemas, FACETS, Alamo Drafthouse, and community centers. As calendars continue to be set, programming will ramp up throughout the year to also include Doc Films, Logan Theater, the many many Chicago film festivals, Harper Theater, Rooftop Cinema Club, the ChiTown Drive-In, and soooOOoOOoOo much more.

January Edition Postcards

To gain access to the free, public Google Calendar, and to request a physical postcard, please submit a form:

MONTHLY MOVIE CALENDAR SIGN-UP FORM

Check out the calendar’s functionality with the demonstration video below. Plan ahead, align your schedule with screenings, check for same-day programming, and all listed screenings include the date, time, location, and a link to purchase tickets/see more details/check for additional showtimes. Increasing accessibility is what The Art Idiot was founded upon; the Monthly Movie Calendar furthers this mission.

---

2024 RECAP

A quick, to-the-point rundown of my personal bests of the year. Please forgive me for all of the live music, culinary dishes, and community moments omitted; we’d be here all year.

2024 Film Total: 421 (maybe 422, there’s still time)

Favorite First-Time Watches, listed in no particular order:

• Jaws (Spielberg)

• The Sound of Music (Wise)

• The Spook Who Sat by the Door (Dixon)

• Compensation (Davis)

• After Life (Kore-eda)

• The Red Shoes (Powell & Pressburger)

• Naked Acts (B.M. Davis)

• Jurassic Park (Spielberg)

• Mad Max: Furiosa (Miller)

• Robot Dreams (Berger)

• Dahomey (Diop)

• The Substance (Fargeat)

• Nickel Boys (Ross)

• Gilda (Vidor)

• We Grown Now (Baig)

• Dune: Part Two (Villeneuve)

• Belle Du Jour (Buñuel)

Exceptional movie-going experiences:

• Flying to Arizona to see Interstellar in 70mm IMAX, my first time seeing it on the big screen

• Being press at Telluride Film Festival

• Tenet in 70mm, my first time seeing it on the big screen

2024 Book Total: 26

I doubled my goal of 13 and, for the first time ever, I fulfilled my reading goal.

Favorites, listed in chronological order of reading:

• Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain

• Circe by Madeline Miller

• Sula by Toni Morrison

• The Three-Body

  Problem by Liu Cixin

• My Husband by Maud Ventura

• The Employees by Olga Ravn

• Making Movies by Sidney Lumet (via audiobook)

• The Message by Ta-Nehisi Coates (via audiobook)

• Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke

What I’m reading going into 2025: Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler

Recent writings by me/featuring me, from Autumn/Winter 2024:

• Dahomey Review, my Chicago Reader debut

• Roger Ebert’s The Great Craft of 2024 where I highlight the special and practical effects of Terrifier 3

• Roger Ebert’s The Great Performances of 2024 where I highlight Jeremy Strong as Roy Cohn in The Apprentice

• Documentaries Dispatch, highlighting The Brink of Dreams, Between Goodbyes, and The Return of the Projectionist from Chicago International Film Festival 2024

• Narrative Features Dispatch, highlighting Save the Children, Compensation, and The Spook Who Sat by the Door from Chicago International Film Festival 2024

Consumption Round Up

Outside of the statistical data that supports my obsessions, my writing, criticism, and contributions to the film community reached a new level in 2024. I served on a festival awards jury, was published by other outlets, and stewarded the Black Harvest Film Festival Community Council. None of this was done alone nor in silos; I am nothing without my family, friends, editors, fellow critics, cinema lovers, and my audience.

Passion is a feeling that permeates beyond the individual; (almost) everything is better when it’s experienced and shared with another.

---

Some Sound To Go…

Who ordered a baker's dozen?

Season II of Kaveh & CK’s Screening Room’s very special 13th episode:

Tune in to hear Kaveh and I’s top films, which differ slightly from my top 10 list for RogerEbert.com, and stay tuned for season III coming in early 2025!

---

Let me be the first to wish you a happy new year, buon anno, bonne année. Try something new; keep your loved ones close; call someone you haven’t spoken to in a while; move a little slower; go to the movies (sign up for the movie calendar); use your brain; question critically; read more, read more, read more. There is so much to learn!

Sending you more soon. So long, with love,

The Art Idiot