Welcome to Screen Gab. A newsletter for everyone who couldn’t get enough of our 2024 movie and TV coverage.
In our annual year-end edition, we expand on our usual “ICYMI” feature to feature the most-read articles of 2024 by The Times’ film and TV writers. From celebrity profiles and insightful reviews to behind-the-scenes stories of today’s hottest pop culture stories, these are the stories that defined the year. Enjoy reading!
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Actor and producer Sidney Sweeney was photographed in Los Angeles earlier this year.
(Dania Maxwell/Los Angeles Times)
24. What went wrong with ‘Joker: Folie à Deux’: Explained that it was a huge creative and commercial failure: Todd Phillips’ sequel, starring Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga, changed the musical genre. It didn’t respect it and paid the price from critics and viewers as well.
23. “The Contestant” tells the strange story of a Japanese man who lived a real-life “Truman Show”: The Hulu documentary tells the strange story of a Japanese man who lived the real-life “Truman Show.” It focuses on the story of a famous Japanese comedian.
22. Sidney Sweeney is starring in a new horror movie. She wants to remind us how stupid she is. After collaborating on the erotic drama “The Voyeurs,” Sidney Sweeney and director Michael Maughan have created a religious thriller that will premiere at SXSW.
21. Tiffany Haddish is unstoppable. Even though she knew she had to have a baby: The comedian and ‘Girls Trip’ star opens up about why she doesn’t want to have kids, talks about drunk driving, relationships and her new book.
20. HBO’s challenging new documentary depicts the power struggle at the Texas Renaissance Festival. Lance Oppenheim’s “Ren Fair” is about the fickle king of the Texas Renaissance Festival and the battle for his successor.
19. Anna Sawai’s role as “Shogun” felt personal: Mariko is “every woman in Japan who has suffered”: Anna Sawai plays Mariko Toda, the character she played on FX’s “Shogun” She says she deeply sympathized with her husband and was encouraged by the creators, and wanted to avoid stereotypes about Japanese women.
Simone Biles from Netflix’s “Simone Biles Rising.”
(Netflix)
18. Simone Biles is an extraordinary talent. This Netflix doc focuses on why she’s so mediocre. “Simone Biles Rising” follows the gymnast as she recovers from the 2020 Olympics and prepares for the 2024 Olympics.
17. Meet the makeup wizard who transformed Sebastian Stan into “A Different Man.” Oscar-nominated makeup artist Mike Marino collaborated with actor Sebastian Stan on A24’s “A Different Man” to use a revolutionary prosthetic device.
16. “This is who you are now. It’s okay.”: “The Swan” contestants look back on the makeover contest 20 years later: “The Swan” was a spectacle called cruel and sadistic, but former contestants People don’t really see it that way. The reality alteration contest foreshadowed the times we live in.
15. Hollywood’s high-pressure expectation game created a box office doom loop: How Hollywood’s unusually high expectations for big-budget franchises, familiar IPs, and opening weekends led to the current box office crisis. Did you invite him?
14. If you’re a parent, Lauren Greenfield’s new doc about teens and social media is ‘a horror movie’: Greenfield’s latest project, ‘Social Studies’ A five-part documentary series examining media use and its impact. .
13. Inside the ‘Wicked’ musical number that could win an Oscar for Ariana Grande: Ariana Grande’s funniest number in ‘Wicked’, ‘Popular’, calls herself ‘a modern-day Lucille Ball’. ” has been proven. The film’s creative team explains how it all came together.
Ariana Grande in “Wicked”.
(Giles Keate/Universal Pictures)
12. “The Bear” is not a story about the pressures of fine dining. It’s about the damage that alcoholism does. Children of alcoholics tend to act like alcoholics, whether they drink or not, as shown by main character Carmy Belzat on Season 3 of FX’s The Bear .
11. Inside ‘Civil War’s Most Unsettling Scene: ‘It was an amazing bit of luck’: One scene in ‘Civil War’ with a deeply disturbing twist by Jesse Plemons It sums up a combustible political balancing act. That almost never happened.
10. Ian Armitage was 9 years old when “Young Sheldon” began. Now, he’s saying goodbye to his biggest role to date. Armitage, now 16, talks about the end of Young Sheldon and what’s next for him.
9. The Olympic Opening Ceremony showcased the best of Paris and France, but it was a failure for television: The grandeur, audacity and madness of the Opening Ceremony often shined brightly on screen, but This time, critics wrote, the experience was fragmented with commentary, clippings, and commercials.
8. The long-awaited Johnny Carson biography proves he’s the Everest of celebrity – glamorous but dangerous: ‘The Tonight Show’ Uber host has more experience on the air than on the air. I have been away for a long time. Is the legend of Johnny Carson still alive?
7. The Golden Globes party goes seriously awry when a shaken Jo Koy takes control. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association was not even disbanded. It could ruin the Golden Globes. So on CBS, the show continued without any of the excitement that the producers had promised.
Walton Goggins was photographed at El Compador restaurant in Los Angeles earlier this year.
(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)
6. Being evil is good for Walton Goggins, who continues to rise to stardom with his role in Fallout. The veteran character actor from “The Shield” and “Justified” had a standout year playing a ghoul in Prime Video’s “Fallout.” Currently filming a role in season 3 of “White Lotus.”
5. ‘Quiet on the Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV’: 6 takeaways from the documentary: ID documentary series delves into Dan Schneider’s hit Nickelodeon show and the abuse perpetrated by former employees .
4. How Erin Foster’s real-life romance inspired ‘Nobody Wants This’: The creator of the Netflix rom-com told her husband she sold him a show based on their love story At that time, my husband was reluctant, but in the end he said, “This is what Erin should do.”
3. Inside Tonka’s life after ‘chimpanzee crazy’: Vegan eating, painting and lots of sex: “It’s amazing how energetic Tonka is,” says the chimpanzee in Florida, where she now lives. says the director of the animal sanctuary.
2. In new documentary, Scott Peterson offers alternative theory of wife’s murder: In his first on-camera interview in nearly 20 years, Scott Peterson reveals the 2002 murder of his wife, Lacey, and their unborn child. He pleaded not guilty.
1. Hollywood exodus: Why film and TV workers are leaving Los Angeles: As Hollywood production activity and employment declines and the cost of living rises, some film and TV workers are leaving Los Angeles and California. There are some too.
