#Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter One

[thegeneralreturns]

So how did 2024 go movie-wise?

Of the eighty-or-so movies that came to streaming, home video, or Iowa theaters that I could see before the first Saturday of 2025...

THE TEN BEST FILMS OF THE YEAR: 1. Strange Darling (Directed by JT Mollner) 2. I Saw the TV Glow (Directed by Jane Schoenbrun) 3. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (Directed by George Miller) 4. Nosferatu (Directed by Robert Eggers)/Oddity (Directed by Damian McCarthy) (tie) 5. Conclave (Directed by Edward Berger) 6. A Real Pain (Directed by Jesse Eisenberg) 7. The Outrun (Directed by Nora Fingscheidt) 8. Challengers (Directed by Luca Guadagnino) 9. The Substance (Directed by Coralie Fargeat) 10. The Beekeeper (Directed by David Ayer)

THE FIVE WORST FILMS OF THE YEAR: 1. AfrAId (Directed by Chris Weitz) 2. We Live in Time (Directed by John Crowley) 3. Borderlands (Directed by Eli Roth) 4. Red One (Directed by Jake Kasdan) 5. Tarot (Directed by Spenser Cohen and Anna Halberg)

BEST DIRECTION: Jane Schoenbrun - I Saw the TV Glow Runner-up: George Miller - Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

BEST SCREENPLAY: Megan Park - My Old Ass Runner-up: JT Mollner - Strange Darling

BEST LEAD PERFORMANCE: Nicholas Hoult - Juror #2 Runner-up: Willa Fitzgerald - Strange Darling

BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE: Ariana Grande - Wicked Runner-up: John Earl Jelks - Exhibiting Forgiveness

BEST STUNT ENSEMBLE AND COORDINATION: The Shadow Strays Runner-up: Monkey Man

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: Jarin Blaschke - Nosferatu Runner-up: Galo Olivares - Alien: Romulus

BEST EDITING: Jesse Goldsmith - Here Runner-up: Stephan Bechinger - The Outrun

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN: Colin Gibson - Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga Runner-up: Nathan Crowley - Wicked

BEST COSTUME DESIGN: Linda Muir, David Schwed - Nosferatu Runner-up: David Crossman, Janty Yates - Gladiator II

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS: Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes Runner-up: Twisters

BEST MAKEUP: The Substance Runner-up: Terrifier 3

MOST UNDERRATED FILM (in which I cannot imagine anyone not liking them): Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter One (Directed by Kevin Costner) Runner-up: Trap (Directed by M. Night Shyamalan)

MOST OVERRATED FILM (in which I have a hard time fathoming why anyone recommends them as highly as they do): The Wild Robot (Directed by Chris Sanders) Runner up: Emilia Perez (Directed by Jacques Audiard)

MOST OVERHATED FILM (in which I get why people don't like them, but come on, now, you're just being childish): Madame Web (Directed by SJ Clarkson) Runner-up: The Crow (Directed by Rupert Sanders)

[sunshinestatecineplex]

Review: HORIZON: AN AMERICAN SAGA - CHAPTER ONE - Costner Builds a New Western Epic

With it's release on Max, Kevin Costner's HORIZON: AN AMERICAN SAGA - CHAPTER ONE - hopes to find the audience for it's future releases. The three hour epic has incredible sequences, but goes very loose ties with its story.

Few directors create instant gravitas like Kevin Costner. The actor-turned-director has lifted projects from obscurity and become a laughing stock for his failures. Yet Costner has held a prominent place in Americana and pop culture since the 1980s. It’s part of what makes Horizon: An American Saga such an ambitious project. Like Clint Eastwood before him, he plays with his iconography on…

[houseofgeekery]

My 2024 Movie Year In Review!

Ahhh it’s that time once again! That time when I reflect on the year that was in film. I’m happy to report that the reports of cinema’s demise have been greatly exaggerated. While I wouldn’t call 2024 revelatory, it certainly offered a crop of excellent films, one of which I consider to be in the top ten of films released this century. As with other years I tried to take in as many films as I…

[rye-views]

Horizon: An American Saga (2024) dir. Kevin Costner. 7.5/10

I wouldn't recommend this movie to my friends. I wouldn't rewatch this movie.

These arrows are so thick and strong.

This is some Red Dead I'm watching. I just love how clear this movie is.

Poor Walter.

Mary, shut up. I don't like this mix of antagonistic people and respectful people. What's the truth? Why are we so extreme here? I feel like Juliette is washing herself very inefficiently.

[thejewofkansas]

The Weekly Gravy #197

The Aristocrats (2005) – ***½ “The joke sucks,” Pat Cooper snarls near the beginning. “You suck for having the audacity to put this in a documentary.” “Maybe it’s best if we don’t break it down,” Jon Stewart deadpans at the very end. In between, however, both of them take part in telling the joke and breaking it down, along with several dozen other comedians who collectively reveal how this joke…

[jmunneytumbler]

Entertainment To-Do List: Week of 6/28/24

All’s A-fair in a Family (CREDIT: Aaron Epstein/Netflix © 2024) Every week, I list all the upcoming (or recently released) movies, TV shows, albums, podcasts, etc. that I believe are worth checking out. Movies –A Family Affair (June 28 on Netflix) – Starring Joey King (and also Nicole Kidman and Zac Efron) –Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 (Theaters) – Part 2 arrives in August. –A Quiet…

[bob-the-movie-man-film-reviews]

Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1 (15): Sprawling Western Spectacle.

#onemannsmovies #filmreview of "Horizon: An American Saga - Part 1". #Horizonsaga. Kevin Costner's epic western is ambitious and, despite flaws, entertaining. 3.5/5.

A One Mann’s Movies review of “Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1” (2024). There I was, just two weeks ago reviewing “The Dead Don’t Hurt“, and I was bemoaning that “There are too few good Westerns around these days”. Then along comes the first episode of Kevin Costner’s ambitious “Horizon” quadrilogy. It is ambitious. It is very long. But its an impressive piece of work. Bob the Movie Man…

[mylifeincinema]

My Week in Reviews: June 30, 2024

The Bikeriders (Jeff Nichols, 2024)

It's not often that we—in 2024—get films that simply let you live in its world for a while. A film that doesn't worry about where its plot is headed, but rather allows its characters to lead the way. A film that understands a lifestyle and its specific role within an often misunderstood counter-culture, and revels in the comradery and romance of said lifestyle while neither condemning nor sugar-coating the unfavorable aspects associated with it. Jeff Nichols' The Bikeriders is one of these films, and its insightful approach, phenomenal cast, and Nichols' interesting interpretation of Danny Lyons' photo-book capture a cinematic feeling we too rarely get to experience nowadays. - 9/10

Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1 (Kevin Costner, 2024)

Should’ve been a Limited Series. Don’t get me wrong, it’s really quite good; a very enjoyable, well-crafted, old-fashioned western with epic aspirations and a sprawling cast boasting very few weak spots. But the number of threads at play, the imminent overall length, and the storytelling mechanics and pacing would’ve all worked significantly better within the structure of a 12-Episode Limited Series. - 7/10

Enjoy!

-Timothy Patrick Boyer.

[p1325]

-Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, Civil War, Dune: Part 2, Alienoid: Return to the Future, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, Mickey's Mouse Trap, In a Violent Nature, Robot Dreams,Am I Ok?, Drive-Away Dolls, OVERLORD: The Sacred Kingdom, Utopia, The Last Showgirl, The Girl with the Needle, Armand, The Gutter,Clickbait: Unfollowed, Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Subservience, The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim -The Order, Conclave, Midas Man, All We Imagine as Light, Christmas Eve in Miller's Point, Aftermath, Anora, In Flight -Kung Fu Panda 4, IF, Night Swim, The Beekeeper, Mean Girls:The Musical, Miller's Girl, The Fall Guy, The Bikeriders, Argylle, The Garfield Movie, Madame Web, Bagman, Moana 2, Challengers, Bad Boys: Ride or Die, Hit Man, I Used To Be Funny, The Watchers, THE 4:30, Dead Sea, Boot Camp, Queer, The Wild Robot, Transformers One -Ghostlight, Treasure, Tuesday, Green Border, Janet Planet, Kinds of Kindness, Thelma, Kneecap,We Live in Time, Monster Summer -Inside Out 2, Jules (I swapped it to Lisa Frankestein instead), Arthur the King, The Bricklayer,Bob Marley: One Love, Imaginary, Love Lies Bleeding, Back To Black, Trigger Warning, Daddio, Horizon Chapter 1, A Quiet Place: Day One, Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, MaxXxine, Fly Me to the Moon, Longlegs, Sing Sing, Touch, Twisters, Gladiator 2, Greedy People, The Clean Up Crew, Slingshot, The Silent Hour, Rob Peace, It's What's Inside, Carry-On, The Return -The American Society of Magical Negroes, The Painter, Kraven the Hunter, The Underdoggs, Terrifier 3, Race for Glory, The Book of Clarence, Which Brings Me to You, Mickey 17, Didi, Cuckoo, Borderlands, Good One, Space Cadet, The Killer, Clear Cut -Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part One, Deadpool & Wolverine, Joker: Folie a Deux, Return to Silent Hill, Trap, Oddity, Alien: Romulus, Close to You, Blink Twice, The Crow, The Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat, They Listen, My Spy: The Eternal City, It Ends with Us, Despicable Me: 4, Descendants: The Rise of Red, I Saw the TV Glow, Mother of the Bride, Unfrosted, Find Me Falling, The Tiger's Apprentice, Kill, The Fabulous Four, Tarot, Baby, Babygirl, Better Man, Jack in Time for Christmas, The Effects of Lying, Nutcrackers, Mary, The Penguin Lessons

[nathancone]

2024, A Year in Movies

Since 1999, I’ve logged every movie I’ve seen, in the theater, online, or at home on video. In 2024 I saw 68 movies, down 11 from 2023. I'm totally slacking off! Or, maybe I went to the gym more often than stayed home and watched the tube. (I *think* that's the case... or I'll at least tell myself that.) Thirteen of the movies were new releases viewed at the theater, another dozen or so were big screen classics at TPR’s Cinema Tuesdays. My favorite new movie in the theater was “A Complete Unknown,” though I think I had the most fun at "The Fall Guy." My favorite new-to-me movie from a previous year that I discovered was John Sayles' Texas classic, “Lone Star,” which I watched twice. The biggest surprise of all the classic films I saw for the first time was "Psycho II," which is actually quite good, if a completely different experience than the Hitchcock original.

Hot-linked films will take you to articles I've written about the movie.

Twilight     Escape from L.A. The Notebook                   Lone Star  A Haunting in Venice       It Happened One Night Broadway Danny Rose     The Twilight Saga: New Moon Society of the Snow          10 Things I Hate About You        Dune: Part One Dune: Part Two     The Freshman (1925)        The Emperor’s New Groove        The Terminal         The Twilight Saga: Eclipse My Cousin Vinny Civil War The Talented Mr. Ripley Americans With No Address       Airplane! Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes Let It Be The Marvels Lone Star The Fall Guy Sight Horse Feathers Inside Out 2          Bonnie and Clyde Zoot Suit Victims of Sin       Superman The Greatest Night in Pop Pandora’s Box      Horizon: Chapter One      Xanadu When Harry Met Sally… Victims of Sin       What’s Up, Doc? Mandabi In the Court of the Crimson King: King Crimson at 50 Tomorrowland      The Tales of Hoffmann The Beach Boys The Tree of Life Leave the World Behind Get On The Bus Westworld Megalopolis The Wolf Man (1941)       Psycho II Lassie Come Home Here Conclave Paper Moon Wicked Music by John Williams Mary Poppins        The Game Paris, Texas Hollywood Party Interstellar No Country For Old Men Empire of the Sun A Complete Unknown The Godfather      The Holly and the Ivy      

[meme-streets]

I SAW THE KEVIN COSTNER WESTERN. here are my thoughts on horizon: an american saga, chapter 1 with mini and massive spoilers under the cut.

four movies, by the way? kevin costner, you son of a bitch, you're doing terrible things to my wallet!

first of all: gorgeous landscape shots. what can i say? i love aspen trees, i love rock formations, i love mountains. very nice costumes too, though i can't speak to historical accuracy. costner's fit goes hard as hell. the freaky brothers' fits goes hard as hell.

i also appreciate the casting–mostly of minor characters–of some people with old school western character actors faces. you know what i mean? there's some old dude at the beginning who looks a bit like jack elam though without a lazy eye. the freaky brothers' mother. this sounds like i'm calling these people ugly but i don't mean it that way.

a potential issue with actors directing their own films is that their ego gets the best of them and they make themselves too important to the detriment of the story looking at you clint eastwood. costner does not fall into this trap; hell, he's not even there for the first...forty five minutes to an hour, i can't tell.

this is the first of a series and you can tell, because almost nothing that is set up pays off at all. it is not a standalone film by any means. i generally don't like this in a movie but i get it, costner & co have several hours of story to tell and they want it on the big screens, and it does look good in a theater. it doesn't waste any of its three hour runtime and i was never bored, so i don't think there's much to be done about it. it does do a pretty decent job tying some of the plotlines together and it sets up how more will intersect in the future. i will say it ends with an admittedly very hype montage that's just a trailer for the next film(s) and i think that's corny as fuck. i have seen people complain this is three or four movies smashed together but i was able to keep up with it pretty well so i don't think it's too much of an issue.

in the line of unforgiven and the assassination of jesse james by the coward robert ford, it's one of those modern westerns where killing is brutal, unglamorous, and messy. costner unloads four or five pistol shots into a guy at close range before he finally bites it.

i've heard conflicting accounts on how the film handles manifest destiny. having now seen it, it's definitely not pro-expansionist, but some of the characters do treat it as completely inevitable, and the end of the frontier seems already strangely close at hand for a film set in the 1860s. the friend i saw it with described it as having an apocalyptic feeling and he's onto something there.

re: the above, there's a scene where a higher ranking is talking to the lower ranking army guy who keeps suggesting "stop fucking settling on apache land" and they have this conversation about the last great open space and the inevitability of farmers settling no matter how bad of an idea it is. it felt too on the nose.

blood meridian subplot? there's even a kid with them. i don't think it's definitely an intentional reference but i'm leaning towards probably.

i love marigold. shoutout to female characters who make bad and selfish decisions and are still sympathetic. she's funny as hell. she's breasting boobily. she's trying SO hard to fuck that old man.

obsessed with whatever's going on with that little blond freak wearing the pelt. why is he pissing in the creek in front of everybody. why is he trying to have hate sex with kevin costner. why is he trying to goad his older brother into kicking his ass. i guess we'll never know

oh my god, those adorable little union soldiers that lizzy whatsherface gave the cloth flowers to are definitely going to fucking die!

the british couple is so. stop acting like that.

overall: i don't know how good it was but i did have a fun time watching it.

[thegeneralreturns]

So how was the summer movie season of 2024?

(one person's opinion based on the movies they saw between May 1 and August 31)

BEST FILM: Strange Darling Runner-up: I Saw the TV Glow

BEST DIRECTION: Jane Schoenbraun- I Saw the TV Glow Runner-up: George Miller - Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

BEST SCREENPLAY: JT Mollner - Strange Darling Runner-up: Damian McCarthy - Oddity

BEST LEAD PERFORMANCE: Willa Fitzgerald - Strange Darling Runner-up: Carolyn Bracken - Oddity

BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE: Channing Tatum - Blink Twice Runner-up: Richard Roundtree - Thelma

BEST STUNT COORDINATION & ENSEMBLE: Kill Runner-up: The Fall Guy

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: Galo Olivares - Alien: Romulus Runner-up: Eric Yue - I Saw the TV Glow

BEST FILM EDITING: Christopher Robin Bell - Strange Darling Runner-up: Shivkumar V. Panicker - Kill

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS: Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes Runner-up: Twisters

MOST UNDERRATED FILM: In a Violent Nature Runner-up: Horizon-An American Saga: Chapter One

MOST OVERRATED FILM: Longlegs Runner-up: Kinds of Kindness

WORST FILM: AfrAId Runner-up: Borderlands

[myhahnestopinion]

THE AARONS 2024 - Best Score

Fun fact: The Aarons all started from a desire to shout out Michael Giacchino’s transcendent score from Jupiter Ascending. The quality of nominated films could only go up from there. Here is The Aaron for Best Score:

WINNER: Challengers by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

Truthfully, it wasn’t even a competition: Since its release in April, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’s score for Challengers stood not only as the clear frontrunner for best score of the year, but likely as one of the best of the decade. The synth-heavy score electrifies every swing of a racquet, scuff of a shoe, and grunt of exertion into a pulse-pounding soundscape, supercharging the high-paced rhythm of the tennis games. Backed with a chorus of ‘yeahs’, the Nine Inch Nails musicians rally listeners to be fully invested in every action taken during the film. That kind of blowout success scores love in return.

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

The First Omen by Mark Korven

Korven’s discordant choral arrangements were a harrowing harbinger to the film’s most frightening revelations. 

Dune: Part Two by Hans Zimmer

Progressing the themes present in Part One, Zimmer’s resourceful use of bagpipes, synths, and yearning vocals coalesce into the earworms of Dune. 

IF by Michael Giacchino

As the score swells from a wistful piano to perky whistling, Giacchino affirms himself as one of Hollywood’s most imaginative composers.

Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter One by John Debney

Debney’s majestic orchestral score effectively established Horizon’s throwback tone.

NEXT UP: THE 2024 AARON FOR BEST SONG!

[dweemeister]

2024 Movie Odyssey for-fun awards

I haven't done this in six years. Though the 2024 Movie Odyssey is complete and the 2025 Movie Odyssey is underway, I am currently working through all of the categories for the 2024 Movie Odyssey Awards (which I am aiming to post on Sunday, January 12).

Given the fact I haven't done the for-fun awards in six years, I might be a bit rusty. But here goes - honors and dishonors that don't quite fit the Movie Odyssey Awards. A reminder that each of these films were movies that I saw for the first time in their entirety last calendar year!

Best conversation: Caleb Sykes (Jamie Campbell Bower) and Hayes Ellison (Kevin Costner)’s conversation filled with veiled threats while walking up a hill, Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 (2024)

No, Horizon wasn’t that great. Yes, it’s a vanity project. Yes, the 181-minute runtime while awaiting a potential three other sequels is killer. But the extended time allows you to fill in your movie with a scene where two men are ostensibly having a friendly conversation, but beneath those niceties are threats that simmer just underneath their words. Yes, Horizon is an indulgence. But there are more than a few instances of brilliant filmmaking within.

Best moment: “I Could Use a Boost”, The Wild Robot (2024)

For those of you who have seen the film, you know exactly what scene I’m talking about here. A major assist here from Kris Bowers’ spectacular score – one that I’d argue is the best for any movie released in 2024. This scene felt like an early ending for the film, didn’t it?

Best movie father: George Rose (Cary Grant), Room for One More (1952)

Grant – alongside his actual wife at the time, Betsy Drake – stars in one of the better family movies from ‘50s Hollywood. That sound you heard were a few of my tumblr followers, whose celebrity crush is Cary Grant, screaming with delight.

Best movie mother: Roz (voiced by Lupita Nyong’o), The Wild Robot (2024)

Okay, it’s won two of the first four awards. But that’s it. Keep going!

Best on-screen friendship: Grace (voiced by Sarah Snook) and Pinky (voiced by Jacki Weaver), Memoir of a Snail (2024)

The least transactional friendship I saw on screen this year. Genuine love for the other, brought to you by Adam Elliot – whose characters find a way to persevere despite their tragic backgrounds. Bugger!

Best quote: “I'm gonna give you a break. I'm gonna fix it, so you don't hear the bullets.” – Mr. Brown (Richard Conte) speaking to Joe McClure (Brian Donlevy) in The Big Combo (1955)

This quote makes far more sense and becomes far more menacing in context. Trust me. Without spoiling too much, Conte here is granting Donlevy (who devout worshippers at the church of film noir will know is a quintessential noir character actor, but is in an unusually meeker role here) what he believes to be a mercy. This scene was also shot spectacularly.

Best theatrical experience (as an audience member): The Frida Cinema’s repertory screening of The Lord of the Rings (1972)

It had been too long since I saw Ralph Bakshi’s take on LOTR (a movie I rate higher than most, but would only conditionally recommend). And in that time, I forgot how unintentionally funny the whole damn thing was. Having a sellout crowd on hand only made things that much more enjoyable.

Best theatrical experience (in my capacity as Viet Film Fest Artistic Director): High school students’ day screenings

For those not in the know, Viet Film Fest always begins its in-person screenings every year with a handful of screenings intended for high school students in the Little Saigon area in Orange County who are taking Vietnamese language courses. It’s a field trip for them, and you feel the energy pulsing through the theater on that opening morning.

Also, I almost never sit down and watch a full film/short film set through as Artistic Director. Too many things to do.

Best title (feature): Children of a Lesser God (1986)

Thanks should go to Tennyson.

Best title (short): Mom, Dad… I Want to Be a Porn Star (2024)

I mean, come on! With compliments to director Corey Cao Nguyen and his team!

Best worldbuilding: Mars Express (2023, France)

The filmmakers knew exactly what sort of world they wanted their characters to inhabit right from the get-go. And for a ninety-minute cyberpunk movie not based on any previously published material at all, their background storytelling achievement is stunning stuff.

Biggest disappointment: Perfect Days (2023, Japan)

Wim Wenders serving up a sampling of Diet Ozu! Still rated this a 7.5/10, but the Criterion-heads, Letterboxd users, and other cinephiles who are online far too much had me believe this might have been better than sliced bread (or, at the very least, could hold its own against the post-War live-action cinema that is one of my specialties). I don’t think so.

Biggest (pleasant) surprise: The ending to The Wedding Banquet (1993)

In an era where happy endings for LGBTQ+ folks were elusive, perhaps the rather balanced, believable ending to The Wedding Banquet is what we should have expected. One of the finest Asian American movies ever made, overshadowed by The Joy Luck Club (released the same year).

Biggest (unpleasant) surprise: The out-of-nowhere stabbing attack in The After (2023 short)

Well, that was some way to start the Oscar-nominated Live Action shorts last year. The murder was horrifically staged, to make things worse. David Oyelowo, despite being the lead actor, is not the reason why this movie was as terrible as it was.

Do not watch on an empty stomach: The Taste of Things (2023, France)

As was the joke shared among VFF staff through much of this year! Seriously, though, make sure to have a snack on hand or eat beforehand.

Greatest discovery (actor… and director too!): Raj Kapoor

Some of you folks will be glad to know that I sought this classic Bollywood actor out by myself this time, without anybody directly recommending him (or 1951’s Awaara).

Greatest discovery (actress): Mikey Madison

I had seen Madison on-screen before, but she was in a bit role then. She is excellent in Anora (2024), however you feel about the title character.

In most need of an IRB review (TIE): Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932) and X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes (1963)

For those who don't know, an IRB review – broadly speaking – is an ethics review that is required when you are conducting a study involving humans.

Murders: Based on the Edgar Allan Poe short story of the same name, Bela Lugosi sports one of the most unconvincing unibrow I’ve seen in movies but gives a standout performance as a mad scientist trying to mix the blood of… actually, go watch this movie and read the short story. Ideal Halloween viewing. Lugosi making a frigging meal of his performance and his lines.

X: Dr. James Xavier’s (Ray Milland) research in this movie has bigger implications for humanity in this movie. Sure, he does all of the things you would imagine you would do if you suddenly had X-ray vision – I don’t have to spell this out to you – but good lord man where is your sense of ethics? Obligatory thank you to the now-late producer/director Roger Corman – who gave so many directors and actors their start in the ‘60s and ‘70s through his films at American International Pictures (AIP).

Honorable mention: The too-reckless dentistry on King Kong in Godzilla x Kong and whatever the hell else was going on in that movie

Kick-ass moment: Bruce Lee destroys the “No dogs or Chinese allowed” sign in Fist of Fury (1972, Hong Kong)

Apologies for the hilariously bad brownface and the bad English dub (I can’t find the original online)!

Least deserving of its praise: The Zone of Interest (2023, United Kingdom)

Jonathan Glazer’s film (which I wrote about here) utterly failed on one of the two things he set out to accomplish. First was to immerse us in the psychologies of the Auschwitz commandant, his wife, and other Nazis. Check, I think. Second was to take out as much cinematic artifice as possible in his film. That cinematography? That “score”? On this latter point, I thought Glazer utterly failed. Most folks didn’t see it that way.

Least likely to deserve my negative rating 10 years from now: Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)

I didn’t write on this film, but I gave it a 6/10 – which, on the blog, is right on the boundary between “fresh” and “rotten” (to use Rotten Tomatoes parlance). It was a more negative 6/10 from me. I’ve mentally checked out of the MCU years ago, and I personally don’t have much use for constant mean-spirited humor. But I don’t think the MCU has scraped the bottom of the barrel yet.

Least likely to deserve my positive rating 10 years from now: The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (2023)

Though it debuted in America as TV movie, it was originally released at a film festival. So it counts. William Friedkin’s final movie is filled with fantastic performances. But the staging itself… just a tad too simple, isn’t it?

Moment in which I most wanted to look away from the screen: The crash scene, Society of the Snow (2023, Spain)

La sociedad de la nieve is about the disaster and recovery of the survivors who were on Uruguay Air Force Flight 571 (1972) – the flight was chartered by a Uruguayan rugby team. This scene, which has been cited by experts as among the most realistic airplane crash scenes ever put to film, is harrowing to watch. A technically outstanding movie, but more importantly honors the humanity of those who went through the ordeal.

Most beautiful use of nature: Sequoia National Park at the end of The Big Trail (1930)

For my non-Californian friends, just know that California is far more than deserts and beaches. The state has so much more, naturally, to offer. The ending of The Big Trail – not recommended for Western novices – takes place as the settlers end up in a valley, but the scene is set among enormous Sequoia trees I’ve had the privilege of seeing a few times in my life. The Big Trail was a rare ‘30s movie shot in widescreen (in 70mm, no less!), and the black-and-white photography of the groves of Sequoias is magnificent to behold. The light peeking through the canopies? Breathtaking.

Most inspirational water sports movie: Young Woman and the Sea (2024)

Technically, there were two films eligible here: The Boys in the Boat (2023; about the University of Washington rowing team that represented Team USA for Berlin 1936) and Young Woman and the Sea (about Gertrude “Trudy” Ederle – 1x gold, 2x bronze at Paris 1924, but the film concentrates on her becoming the first woman to swim the English Channel).

Having neglected to watch one of the official Olympic documentaries before last year’s 2024 Summer Olympics (oops), these two movies did okay to fill that void.

Most memorable delivery of a line: “That’s politicssssssss.” – Denzel Washington, Gladiator II (2024)

There was absolutely no need to hold onto that “s” for so long. But Denzel Washington, in a movie in which all of the principal actors seem to be acting in different movies each, decides to go for the overdramatic Shakespeare route. And as villain, it’s a fantastic choice.

Most memorable quote: “And you think that one year of medical school entitles you to plow through the riches of my Emersonian mind?” – Adam Driver, Megalopolis (2024)

First things first… I didn’t say “best quote”, you know! Second, I’m of the opinion that Megalopolis defies any judgment of “good” or “bad”. I appreciated this movie for its bold artistic swings that violate so many rules and the film was one of the best experiences I had in a theater all year.

Oh yeah, this comes from the same nutty scene where we get “go back to the cluuuub”. Folks, if someone says a line like this to you unironically, run away. Run far away.

Most overrated: Poor Things (2023)

This is a movie I never connected at all to. I thought Lanthimos’ film was very male gaze-y and its depiction of sex work extremely sanitized. Oh? One of the lessons is that Victorian times were extremely sexually repressed? What a revelation! Welcome to the twenty-first century! I gave Poor Things a 6/10.

Pixar’s Elemental (2023), which I gave a 5.5/10, was the other movie I considered for this because of how audiences (as opposed to critics) have reacted to this.

Most shocking moment: The coffee scene, The Big Heat (1953)

If you have never seen this movie, please DO NOT look this up. I audibly gasped in the theater when this happened (this was a repertory screening at the Frida Cinema in Santa Ana, CA), and I wasn’t the only one.

Most underrated: On Borrowed Time (1939)

I’ve got some bad news for the high fantasy lovers out there. Classic Hollywood largely didn’t bother with high fantasy. On Borrowed Time is a low fantasy based on a play of the same name. This is a fable regarding the inevitability of death. I found this film better-acted and better-written than your average classic film fan. Lionel Barrymore’s performance goes a long, long way here for me.

Most underseen: Ferdinand the Bull (1938 short)

I could list a litany of Viet Film Fest movies here. But to make things simpler, I won’t. Ferdinand the Bull is one of the most charming Disney animated shorts of its era and, at a time where the studio hadn’t animated too many humans yet, this is one of those shorts that sets an in-house style that lasts for a long, long time.

Never learns: Andy Hardy (Mickey Rooney) in Andy Hardy’s Private Secretary (1941), Life Begins for Andy Hardy (1941), and The Courtship of Andy Hardy (1942)

I���ve only seen 5/16 Andy Hardy movies (1937-1958). I’m not the biggest fan, but the movies are a fascinating time capsule into what an idealized America was imagined to be and what teenaged behavior was sort of like during the ‘30s and ‘40s. But…

Andy Andy Andy. Always spurting out some variant of “I’m a big man now, pop. I’ve seen a lot of things, and I have the wisdom to do better,” and then turning around and doing stupid shit. His over-extroversion, chasing girls, getting into trouble, getting into trouble that involves chasing girls? Oh my goodness. If the Andy Hardy series is any indication of what America is really like, it’s that America is run like a high school ASB. Appropriate, as Andy is his senior class president!

Go to college! Or actually stay together with Betsy Booth (Judy Garland) for crying out loud! With apologies to those who are #teampollybenedict (Ann Rutherford).

No femme, all fatale: Vera (Ann Savage) in Detour (1945)

I’m not saying anything about the plot to this film noir that is NOT recommended for anyone who is a noir novice. But Ann Savage – with that incredibly appropriate surname – might have played the meanest leading lady in a film noir. And she plays the part shockingly well.

Resulted in me losing my mind in a theater (in a good way): The long uncut shot in Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell (2023, Vietnam)

In a film filled with extremely long, uncut shots, that 20+-minute uncut shot of our main character having a few conversations, hopping on a motorbike to get to the other side of town, and the camera coming in through the window during the final conversation left me astounded. I could scarcely believe what I was seeing.

This actor should have done more movies like this: Tom Hanks, News of the World (2020)

For an actor who has long been compared to Jimmy Stewart for much of his career, it was half-surprising to me that Tom Hanks had never starred in an American Western like his predecessor before. News of the World neither fully embraces the classical Western nor the revisionist Western, and an older Hanks is very well-suited to the role here. Okay, perhaps a youthful Hanks (‘80s-‘90s) would have been unsuitable for Westerns. But he’s damn well suitable now.

Way too much body hair: Chuck Norris, The Way of the Dragon (1972, Hong Kong)

What just happened?: Megalopolis

The whole thing. The audience member speaking live to Adam Driver’s character two-thirds of the way through wasn’t even in my top five weirdest things about this movie. The IMAX theater didn’t have much folks there, but the experience was amazing!

Worst moment: THAT needle drop in War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John and Yoko (2023 short)

Yet another Beatles or Beatles-adjacent song ruined for me! I was simultaneously embarrassed for the filmmakers (who won a fucking Oscar for this anyways, largely due to heavy lobbying from Peter Jackson, Sean Ono Lennon, and many other big names) and furious. If you had a camera capturing my reaction in-theater, you would have seen my brain melt in real time.

Worst use of music: Oh, come on. You know what it is! See above!

Worst title: Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024)

It’s not a good movie, but I admit to liking it. I know Warners would like to tell you that you pronounce this “Godzilla Kong”, but that sounds like two first names lumped together (thanks, Rachel). Should it be “Godzilla times Kong”? “Godzilla ex Kong” as if us kaiju fans are shipping them? To this day, that frigging “x” bothers me, alongside that generic-as-hell subtitle!

[namesisfortombstones]

Here's the new movies of 2024 I saw, ranked from best to least-best. That last one is the only one I didn't like.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice 2024 A.D. Deadpool & Wolverine Knox Goes Away Godzilla and Kong: The New Empire Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire The Beekeeper Anora Late Night with the Devil The 4:30 Movie Reagan Twisters Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 Megalopolis

[winterfieldfrontiers]

Horizon : An American Saga Poster Characters

“HORIZON: AN AMERICAN SAGA” Chapter One and Two will have a dual theatrical release, kicking off June 28—in time for Independence Day—with the second film debuting August 16