2024 Letterboxd in Review

For movie buffs, the start of a new year provides an opportunity to look ahead at what we want to see next. But it’s also fun to look back at what we saw over the past year. I saw a lot of new movies in 2024, and I also began logging them more consistently on Letterboxd.

In preparation for this post, I went through the “archives” (messages to friends and Instagram posts/stories) to find and log other movies I remembered watching, but couldn’t recall when. It was fun to reflect on the films that shaped the past year. Some of them have already become so much a part of me that it’s hard to believe they’ve only been in my life for 365 days (or less). Other viewings seem like they happened ages ago.

So here’s my “year in review.” Be warned that this is a really long post! Also, this isn’t an exhaustive list: I know these aren’t the only movies I’ve watched this year, but they’re the ones most worthy of mention. For those of you thinking "why did she bother listing all of these? There's no way I'm reading that!", you can skip to the end and see the "Letterboxd in Review" summary.

January

We started January off right with some Errol Flynn. Strangely, even though The Sea Hawk was my favorite, it doesn’t look like I logged it anywhere.

Meanwhile, James Cagney snuck his way in, and a millionth rewatch of An American in Paris led me to finally see another Georges Guetary movie, Plume au Vent, which has become a comfort movie. I received a region-free DVD player for my birthday in February, which has come in handy for other foreign film viewings, too! 

2—It’s a Great Feeling (1949)

7(ish)—The Sea Hawk (1940)

9—Dodge City (1939)

10—The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938); Plume au Vent (1952)

22—The Public Enemy (1931)

26—The Perfect Specimen (1937)

February

I finally began watching more Esther Williams movies! June is when I really got rolling with her films, but I started with these two.

12—Bathing Beauty (1944)

26—Duchess of Idaho (1950)

March

15—When Harry Met Sally (1989)

I won’t even try to count how many times I’ve seen this since I first saw it. It was the only movie I logged in March, but it went a long way.

April

I grew up with my nose buried in the book 501 Must See Movies, and these were both ones I’d been wanting to see for a very long time.

10—À bout de souffle (1960)

Exceeded expectations.

11—Born Yesterday (1950)

I didn’t like this one as much as I thought I would, but I think if I saw it again, knowing now what to expect, I’d probably appreciate it more.

May

In May, I saw my first Japanese film, and I loved it. There will be many more: Next on my watchlist is One Wonderful Sunday. 

12—The Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice (1952)

June

June was mostly the month of Esther Williams movies. I won’t comment on each of the film’s individually, but you can read my posts from the blogathon starting here. June was also the month I saw my first Sidney Poitier movie, which was excellent. I’ve seen two more since then, and plan to see plenty more in 2025.

1—Dangerous When Wet (1953)

6—Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967)

8—Easy to Wed (1946); Thrill of a Romance (1945); Texas Carnival (1951)

11—Easy to Love (1953)

14—Neptune’s Daughter (1949)

25—This Time for Keeps (1947)

July

James Garner joined the ranks of my favorite actors of all time (now alongside Gene Kelly and Michael J. Fox.) James Garner Month extended into August with Marlowe. You can read my mini-reviews here.

7—What's Eating Gilbert Grape? (1993)

The only non-JG movie I logged during the month of July. Heart-wrenching and extremely well-done.

8—The Thrill of it All! (1963)

15—Support Your Local Sheriff! (1969)

19—The Great Escape (1963)

Okay, I wasn't going to comment on the JGs individually, but I just have to mention how GOOD this movie is. Oh my gosh. I can't tell you how deeply this movie has entered into my psyche. Just incredible.

22—Murphy’s Romance (1985)

29—Boys’ Night Out (1962)

August

5—Marlowe (1969)

Not my favorite, but Garner and Rita Moreno were still great. I wish an official soundtrack had been released.

September

2—The More the Merrier (1943)

One of those quietly perfect films where everything seems to fit neatly together, like a puzzle. Another comfort film that I’m grateful a friend introduced me to. (BTW, I’m in love with Joel McCrea now)

5—Stalag 17 (1953)

Every time I see a Bill Holden movie, it makes me realize how few of his movies I’ve actually seen. Thank goodness we’re slowly changing that. This was such a solid film that made me want to run out and tell everyone about it immediately after finishing.

8—The Reluctant Astronaut (1967)

An amusing Don Knotts movie that mostly just fueled the desire to see more Leslie Nielsen movies.

19—Goldfinger (1964)

Possibly the best James Bond movie. But I’ll get back to you on that. Please stand by…

October

28—Children of Paradise (1945)

Stunning, with an extraordinary backstory on how it was made. A movie to change your life.

30—Gaslight (1944)

Wow. Wow wow wow. Very intense; certainly not for the lighthearted. But so well done. Ingrid Bergman definitely earned that Oscar.

November

It’s interesting how some things take time to gel. For instance, I enjoyed Goldfinger when I watched it in September, but for whatever reason, I didn’t get fully into them again until two months later. Of the Bonds I saw in November, Thunderball is the only one I’m sure I haven’t seen before. About five years ago, there was a marathon on TV of all the Bond movies, and I watched quite a few of them. I’m still including Golden Gun and Russia even though I remember seeing them on TV, because it’s been so long.

I was racing to see as many movies as I could before they left Amazon Prime, but I barely made a dent. I’m hoping to check out the DVDs at the library and continue the Bond “marathon” in 2025!

19—The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)

21—From Russia with Love (1964); Thunderball (1965)

December

Another example of the very slow snowball effect: Although I planned to watch more of Sidney Poitier’s after seeing Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? in June, it wasn’t until six months later that I watched Lilies of the Field. (In fact, it was exactly six months to the day in between those two films!) This was followed by To Sir, with Love; another gem. I think this will be the third time during this post that I’ve mentioned watch plans for next year, and the second time those plans involve Mr. Poitier, but I stand by it: More Sidney in 2025!

If you include Christmas in Connecticut, this was also the month of Barbara Stanwyck. I really love her as an actress, and it’s always neat to see her in such versatile roles (and I don’t just mean Jean Harrington and Eve Sidwich). I was gifted a DVD of Double Indemnity that I look forward to seeing in the new year. (Okay, so next year we’ve got Sidney Poitier, James Bond, Barbara Stanwyck, and Japanese movies planned. Looks like my 2025’s cut out for me…)

2—Tammy and the Bachelor (1957)

A darling movie with a very handsome Leslie Nielsen.

6—Lilies of the Field (1963)

8—Holiday Affair (1949)

The only new Christmas movie our family saw this year. We loved it, and I’m excited to have a new movie to add to our holiday traditions.

11—Meet John Doe (1941)

17—To Sir, with Love (1967)

26— The Lady Eve (1941); Arise, My Love (1940)

I got these for Christmas and made it a double feature. I thoroughly enjoyed both of them!

Letterboxd in Review

Unfortunately, Letterboxd doesn’t do the summaries like the music platforms do, so I’ll have to create my own assessment. So without further ado:

Total films watched: 43

Total minutes watched: 4,587

Total hours watched: 76.45

Your most-watched movies:

When Harry Met Sally

The Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice

Boys’ Night Out

The Great Escape

Stalag 17

Your most-watched actors:

Esther Williams

James Garner

The months you watched the most movies during were:

June (8 movies)

December (7 movies)

July (5 movies)

Favorite genre:

You watched a lot of foreign films, musicals, and WWII films this year.

Your top decades:

40s (14 films)

60s (13 films)

50s (9 films)

Most recently added to your Letterboxd watchlist (at the time of writing this):

Nothing Sacred (1937)

Dream Boat (1952)

In the Heat of the Night (1967)

Decameron Nights (1953)

Movie Movie (1978)

Maybe it’s simply because I’ve gotten better at logging them this year, but it really does feel like I’ve watched more movies in 2024 than I have in years. While I’m grateful I’ll always have the “old reliables” from childhood, it did feel a bit like I was stuck in a rut the last couple years. There was rarely anything new running through the mill. This year, I got to usher in a new “generation” of movies, if you will. The old favorites will never be replaced—some new ones are just being welcomed to the family.

This was also the year I also stepped away from certain elements of “fandom culture” and started enjoying movies on my own terms again. I discovered that no one will judge me if I haven’t seen every Barbara Stanwyck movie yet; that I can still say James Garner is my favorite actor despite being “behind” on his filmography. It wasn’t too long ago that I might have thought I had to watch every single Sidney Poitier movie in close succession, even if I wasn’t in the mood, lest I be accused of “dumping” him. 

I’m now part of a much healthier community that encourages expanding one’s horizons, rather than a community that judges me for not being married to a single actor/genre/etc. Although I often refer to “crossing movies off my list” on this blog, it’s more of a fun thing and less of an obligation. In fact, having that space to breathe is probably the reason I’ve been able to see more movies: I can become more of a fan of those things than I would if I was feeling pressured to do so. When I watch more than one movie from a certain category, it’s now because I want to, and not because I think I have to.

On that note, I want to thank the Old Hollywood/classic film community on Instagram for being so wonderful and supportive. I’m very blessed to have created some beautiful friendships, and I’ve gotten so many great movie recommendations! I especially want to thank the following people for everything they do for us:

Hayley of history, undressed

Katie of KatieAnnePeters

Jenny of oldhollywooddreaming

Shawnee of thenorapodcast

Becca of old.hollywood.swoon

Ryland of clooneytunes

Elissa of timeless.sinatra

Sophia of vitaphonezone

Samantha of words.of.the.past

Dominique of breakfastatdominiques

And finally, thank you to everyone who follows Living Mostly Vintage on Instagram and/or reads the blog. This blog is just a baby (entering its second year) but I’ve loved writing these silly little posts, and I can’t wait to write more. I’m so grateful to everyone who reads these, whether you’re a subscriber or you’ve just read one post. It means the world.

There really are so many movies (and TV shows) out there. Every time I discover something I really like, I worry that I’ll never find something that I enjoy as much as that. And yet, I always do. There’s always more joy to be found. There’s always more to learn.

So here’s to another year of watching and learning and growing and loving together—through movies, and through life.

See you next year! Keep living vintage,

Becca