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popculturebuffet · 11 days ago

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Top 12 Films of 2024

Hello all you happy people! This is something i've wanted to do for YEARS, and finally had the space for, a look at my faviorite films each year. I love making lists and since joining Letterboxd a few years ago it's thorughly endulged that love. But it also got me to fall in love with film and made my journey through horror that started with IT and is still ongoing a blast.

2024 was a neat year in film, and one where a lot of the big tentpole franchises were absent and while we got a bunch of sequels, it's a weird mix of ones that were ineveitble like Deadpool and Wolverine, Maxxine, a new alien, sonic 3, and weird suprises: I mean this year gave us an omen prequel, a soft reboot of planet of the apes, the return of twister and beetlejuice, and the grand return of Wallace and Gromit. For every sequel that was fortold in the scrolls, there was one that while announced long ago still felt like a suprise.

And that's the best way to describe this year: a nice suprise. While ther'es films I expected tobe great and were like Monkey Man or Dune part 2, there's a lot of nice little suprises: I didn't expect Transformers One to be a gorgeous epic, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice ot be so damn fun, or Wicked to be every bit as good as a John M Chu film deserves to be. And I don't think anyone who wasn't already aware of it expected hundreds of beavers, but damn if I didn't enjoy it.

Speaking of enjoying, I got to enjoy more films than ever. In years past I had to rely on having someone to go with me, usually my mom, the rest of my family on a whole family outing or my best friend cory. But having moved to a place close to a movie theater last year, there were plenty I could just go walk up to and enjoy. There are a few also rans like Imaginary, the worst film of the year I saw (I havne't put myself through the sony spider-man films from this year yet), or the disapointing ministry of ungentlemanly warefare, but I also got to see the gloriously gay Love Lies Bleeding when it was there for the week, the moody and atmosphereic the watchers, the also pretty dang gay the bikedriders, the wonderfully greasy Maxxine, the tense as hell Alien Romulus, the even more disturbing now we know it was a documentary about P.Diddy Blink Twice, the glorious and once again gloriously gay Transformers One, the thriller that was better than it had any right to be speak no evil, the Hugh Grantastic Heretic, and of course Sonic 3: 2 Many Jim Carries.

It was a hell of a year and while you can see what I choose you can find out who made it where on the list , honorable mentions, and other reasons to hurl things at me if you ever meet me under the cut!

12. Will and Harper (Directed by Josh Greenbaum)

Will and Harper is a film that thrives off vibes, friendships, and genuine warmth. It follows Will Ferrel who you may know from such films as Anchorman, Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues and Anchorman 3: We Both Know He's Going to Do This At Some Point and his best friend Harper Steele. Harper was a writer for him on SNL a hard drinking party person.. and a closted Trans woman, something they finally came to terms with and came out as recently and something the documentary dives into.

Will's first response is what anyone's first response should be: That's great! Good for you. But while Will is entirely supportive he's also lost in both how to be a good ally and and how to tackle their friendship so he has a wonderful suggestion: a road trip. Harper loved doing those but now has to navigate the relaity of going to roadside dives and other places where she may not feel safe and jumps at the idea, packing tons of cheep beer and pringles.

The trip is a fun one as it dosen't overplay it.. it just.. humanizes and goes into the reality of Harper's life: how free she feels, how her kids feels, and just treats her like a person. It dosen't ignore the reality of being a trans person in a company on the cusp for voting a transphobic facist back into office, Harper goes into a bar herself knowing she might be in danger but wanting to see if she can (And having her emotinal support will ferrel on standbye) and even HAVING will there or a camera crew dosen't protect her: a visit to a texas steak house goes horribly wrong with Will assering her gender.. leading ot everyone turning on him, tons of horrible online comments and the implicit guarnatee the cameras , while protecting them, were barely doing that for a change and WIll feeling guilty.

Harper Steele isn't a purse dog. She's not Will Ferrel's trans friend to say she has one. She's a human being and despite being not as famous as her best friend, the film treats them on equal footing and shows why they are: they rib each other, make jokes, have weird runners (including Will really wanting to go to Dunkin in a way that feels less like product placement and more like Will Ferrel just loves duncan donuts). Harper is a no nonsense woman happy to live her life and to see she can still do the things she loves, while Will is the good natured goofus you'd expect from a man whose spent a scene every movie or two running around in his undies. Harper is both not who will knew and exactly every bit the person he knew, simply a happier fuller version of herself. It's simply two friends hanging out and in doing so shows to people who may of rejected Harper out of hands what most of you reading this already knows: Trans people are just.. people. Nothing less and treating them like anyone else isn't that hard. Nor is it hard to support someone as they transition. You just have to be willing to learn and willing to see them as who they really are. I did it for my sister, and Will Ferrel did it for his best friend.

11. Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl (Directed by Merlin Crossingham and Nick Park, W by Mark Burton)

I reviewed this one just a few days ago so I won't take long here: Vengance Most Fowl is a fun long awaited return of everyone's faviorite duo packed with a masterfull thought out plot, tons of call backs that feel nicely seeded in for more than just nostalgia, and some really damn fine jokes. Check it out if you haven't. In a year this bad it was the cup of tea we all needed.

10. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (Directed by Wes Ball, Written by Josh Friedman) This is one of those trailers i got in front of damn near everything, similar to Speak No Evil for the rest of the year. And like Speak No Evil despite trailer fatigue this film fucking slapped. Kingdom is a breathtaking adventure mostly content to just show off it's world: generations after the previous trilogy, itself a high bar that this flim clears, Apes rule over the earth, Ceaser is but a legend and one young ape finds his entire villiage kidnapped and takes off on horseback to go find him. Along the way he finds a human friend, tales of the past, and the hard truth that the past rarely stays buried and conflict is sadly cyclical. I won't spoil much more for this one if you haven't seen it. It's a gorgeous little odessy that just warms my heart every time I think of it with vial lessons on history and how it can be twisted by both those with good intentions and those with the worst and how some will always think something belongs only to them. It's a fantastic film and a fantastic new direction for a franchise I wasn't sure should keep going but damn if Wes Ball proved me wrong.

9. Wicked (DR: John M Chu, W: Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox) Wicked was the loudest suprise of the year. I knew it was coming and as it approached barely any films didn't have the trailer, the marketing was everywhere but I wasn't expecting much. I HOPED it'd be good as director John M Chu had previously directed one of my faviorite films, In the Heights.. which I just realized I haven't revisited since it came out AND need to review sometime.

But thanks to WBD's bungling was criminally underappreciated at release. Thankfully Chu's success here means not only will more people likely check it out but the man can do whatever he wants. Whatever he wants apparently includes Joseph and his Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat for some reason but I mean... if anyone can get me to watch that it's him.

I liked him. I like Ariana Grande (Least as a performer), Michelle Yeoh and i'll watch anything with Jeff Goldblum. But the idea of sitting through a nearly three hour musical based on a musical I had no attachment to beyond defying gravity and a love of it's initial leads (Who get a truly god tier cameo I won't spoil), and a property I really never vibed with in general aside from thinking The Great and Powerful Oz was kinda okay. It seemed like it'd be FINE, but it didn't seem like the successor I really wanted after enjoying his direction for Crazy Rich Asians and ADORING In the Heights.

Yeah Wicked is fucking phenominal. A lot of it is in it's not so secret weapon, Cynthia Ervio. While I hadn't heard of her she was already well seasoned having done tons of stage work, and been nominated for an oscar for playing Harriet Tubman. It shows as she sinks into Elphelba beautifully, portraying someone both not giving a fuck what everyone thinks.. but also underneath deeply bothered by how her green skin ostracises her from the world. Ervio is a fucking revelation and i'm shocked it took this long for her to break out but better late than never as she owns this film.

Ariana Grande dosen't do too shabby either, making it clear no one else in this day and age could play Glinda with the right mix of alpha bitch, bubble headeness and big heart hidden underneath both. Everyone in this film brings it but these two are it's anchor: it's their story after all and everything rotates around them. Still special kudos to Peter Dinklage who like Jeff Goldblum could get me to watch anything and Dinklage has been in a LOT of garbage.. that i'd still watch. He may only voice professor dillamond but he brings dignity and majesty to the goat and makes the plight of the animals all too painful and real.. and given the times we're in a group being slowly shoved out to slowly elimated them because of one man's prejudice is all too painfully relevant.

I hadn't heard of Jonathan Bailey but damn if he dosen't ooze charm, sex and hidden depths. You can tell from early on his playboy facade is a bit of a put on, something to protect him from the world.. and something slowly slipping as he finds someone who rather than let him dance through life, has him think.

There's a LOT to say about this film I might one day. For now it's just fucking brilliant. It's a film that justfies the split into two films, something that would hurt a lot of musicals and why most have to be compressed into one film, but here works. Not just because of a time skip I hear comes in act 2, but to build out this gorgeous world. The musical numbers aren't super spread out so you don't forget i'ts a musical but the extra time is used to give everything some depth and color. And also even more gay than the apparent truckload already there. This film is gay as fuck and comes off as a love triangle between three people all in love with each other and also Bok's there but doesn't really count. It's a film that's queer, timely and lovely and if you somehow haven't tried it, it's well worth the time investment. If a film that's very sapphic and has peter dinklage as a wise sad goat isn't for you I dont' know how you ended up here.

8. Saturday Night (DR: Jason Reitman W: Reitman and Gil Kenan)

It's the 50th anniversary of SNL this year and the celebration started early with a powerhouse season that includes the greatest song about karening ever

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It also contained this film. And while some haven't enjoyed it (Including one of my idols and snl expert Nathan Rabin), I couldn't help but love this film. Is Saturday Night historically innacurate as fuck? Probably. It squeezes in every antecdote about the show's history it can into the 90 minutes before it went live, adds shit for drama and definitely mythologizes the show. The only thing I can say for certain is Chevy Chase was defintely an asshole and that's not exactly something hard to get conformation on.

As a film though.. it's straight fire. It's a pressurey 90 minutes as John Baptistes perfect soundtrack really sells the pressure: our hero Lorne Micheals, a truly once in a lifetime sentence, has to cobble the show together clashing with his own overwrought vision, tension with his creative partner and wife in name only Rosie (played by an awesome Rachel Senoit whose films I'm long overdue to watch) and the various shenanigans of his casts and writers from Micheal Odonghue being that asshole, to Chevy Chase's massive ego, to John Belshi beliving he's too good for this, there's lot of egos, cocaine and chaos to go around. It's a tight 90 minute film: not a minute is wasted. Even squeezing Milton Burle in to play off his infamous hosting gig feels right.. mainly because it's JK Simmons. JK Simmons can do no wrong.

The film does do some. While the historicla innacuracy dosen't bother me how it brushes off their treatment of Jim Henson at times is. I've covered the Land of Gorch Sketches and sadly reports Jim would be a punchine were accurate as the cast mistreating him, refusing to write for him and being dicks to him is just kinda played off when them having to write for him was not Jim's fault. It's not fun watching a bunch of dickheads bully or brush off your own personal jesus who just wants to make people happy. Thankfully he does get a really nice monologue in an elevator with a blood soaked lorne micheals so it evens out a little.

The film is just fun with Lemone Morris getting a nice bit as Garret Morris , and tons of nice little moments among the chaos. It also has Willam Defoe whose a tad wasted as "grumpy exec man they convince their right to", but I feel less bad about it by this point as thankfully someone else knew how to use their Willam Defoe better. It'd be really neat if that was the next entry but instead have...

7. Hundreds of Beavers (DR: Mike Chesik W: Chesik and Ryland Brickson Cole Tews)

Hundreds of Beavers was a nice suprise.. and a film i'm shocked no one told about me sooner. It's essentially a looney tunes sketch mixed with a lets play and a silent movie, a genre the film made me genuinely curious about. My love of looney tunes and impatient wait for a new film (which we'll be getting next year), made this an easy sell: I love good old slapstick and an ambitious indie film that was screened in 2022 but properly came out this year so i'm countin it for this one suck it letterboxd, it was catnip for me.

And it's damn good. Also free on Tubi. It's a simple story: a hapless applejack bootleger in pioneer times looses his booze to some beavers and has to survive in the wilderness and learn to hunt. That's the film. Just one dumbass trying to survive against a whole wilderness of creatures smarter than him and slowly ranking up as he gets more tools either from a local furrier who hates him (his daughter's sweet on our hero at least), a native who gladly trades with him or a wise mentor whose dogs play poker. The film is packed with great sight gags, runners and just plane invention. Ther'es truly nothing like it and had the castle bit not dragged a little, it'd be way higher. And that's the faintest critcism I can give. Hundreds of Beavers is fucking awesome and makes a dumbass fighting a bunch of animals represneted by furries into the greatest thing ever. It's the best comedy in years and proof the medium just needs more of a push.

6. Nosferatu (D and W: Robbert Eggers)

I hadn't seen any of Robbert Eggers films before this, but I love me a good vampire story. I also liked this year's Abbigail and need to watch more vampy goodness in general, but damn if Nosferatu didn't end this year on a high and finally push me to stop procastinating on the Lighthouse. I mean I still haven't got to it but i'm a slow ass motherfucker sometimes.

I waited to see if this flim made the list, as while I missed many a great film in 2024 I need to catch up on (Longlegs, I Saw the TV Glow, The Substance), this thankfully wasn't one of them. Nosferatu is a gothic horror film in every since, a slow build that's worth it. Having watched the kill count on the original (and now badly wanting to watch the original) it follows it closely plot wise, adding a few pivots like adding in it's own van helsing equivlent.

Nosferatu is a moody, horny film, where a dark monster stalks a woman he claimed years ago when she was a teen and dosen't get how fucking vile that is. There's some fucking, a lot of gyration and a lot of morphine for said gyration because this is the turn of the century and women having orgasms was dark and scary to the menfolk. Except Willam Defoe who eats the entire set as the aformentiond Van Helsing Equilvent who is unabashed about beliving a demon did this and gets to dance in flame towards the climax. I won't ruin the context, but I belivie anyone who wouldn't be at least midlly curious about William Defoe cackling madly while surrounded by flames just plain dosen't exist.

Defoe though is a good side dish: the main stars are Lily Rose Depp, who spends the first half comotose, being stalked by Nosferatu (aka count orlock but nosferatu is funner to type), giving out sleep orgasms or being possesed by the count, but gets to stand up for herself in the second half brilliantly and thorughly owns the screen.

The other is horror legend Bill Skaarsgard of IT fame who manages to rack up another iconic horror role. Nosferatu here isn't a man despite an impressive mustache, but pure evil itself, a type of character that's hard to pull off. I prefer a complex villian.. but if you can make one that's just pure pants wetting terror and pull if off you have my repspect and Nosferatu is the most terrifying villian i've encountered in horror. A deep rich voice that commands you to look even when you'd rather look away, a hypnotic horrifying voice. He's often in shadow but when seen he's often a corpse, a THING with the ears and silloutte, something that APPEARS human but instead jsut preys on us. He only cares about getting what he claims is his and will murder , spread plauge and kill anyone who says otherwise.

Thankfullyt he film avoids being anti immigrant propogranda; the supserstious townsfolk seen as goofy little guys in most films are absolutely right and while terrifed of Orlok the only ones who can combat him, while Willem Defoe's character is also an immigrant and the only one of the men who dosne't infantalize lead lady elizabeth. Nosferatu isn't pure evil because he's a corpse man but because he himself as man, as a vampire is a bastard, a true monster and pure terror. Every time he was on screen I was uncomfortable and needed to leave the theater after at least twice. Skaarsgard is just that fucking chilling.

Nosferatu is a film that's both deeply gorgeous, with tons of snow dappled vistas and god tier shots, and not afraid to be hammy with our reinfeld equilvent being a world class ham and Defoe .. well I mentioned the shouting while surrounded by flames didn't I? This film is still in theaters at the time of this review and well worth the 15 bucks.

5. Dune Part Two (DR: Dennis Villenueve W: Villenueve and John Spaihts)

I was amped for Dune Part Two and it did not disapoint. I had some reservations as while I liked the scope and grandeure of part one with fantastic visuals and a deft peformance by Timothee Chalamet. But while I liked it both watching it at home day and date and the reptitive desert visuals in the second half detracted from it's strong world that even if it didn't explain it, felt lived in and intresting enough for me to come back.

And i'm glad I did as Part 2 is fucking triumpuhant, easily earning Villeneuve his third movie and hopefully his second oscar nomination. Part 2 takes the excellent setup from the first time around and gets off running turning what could easily be both a chosen one narrative and a whtie savior narrative into a deconstruction of both: this skinny white teenager coming in and being their messiah isn't a good thing for him or them. It's a roll he dosen't want as Paul has seen it ends in an interstellar genocide, a Jihad with no end that brings peace through tyranny.

And that dread is what drives the film: Paul badly wants to avoid being a mass murderer. As you do. But outside of his girlfriend Chani, played excellently by Zendaya who gets to do way more this go round and plays the sole voice of reason, everyone from his mother to his new best friend to even his mentor are begging him to escalate the war: to end the Harkkonens and the Empire. It's a pile of motherly protectivness, cultish religious fevor and pure uncut vengance that pushes Paul closer and closer to his dark fate. It's what happens when the chosen ones path isn't saving the world or being a bright hero.. but being death destroyer of worlds.

The rest isn't too shabby. Florence Pugh gets a lot of neat stuff to do as Irulan while Austin Butler won my enternal respect as the bestial, horrifying and nightmarish Fade Rathua, with the arena scene being peak film for me. Part 2 is a masterful work that manages to make what would be hopeful in any othe rfilm, our hero ascending and getting ready to fight his enemies, into a true nightmare as he fully succumbs to a bloody genocide and Chalamee makes it a truly chilling finale that will no doubt lead to a perfect conclusion to this trilogy.

4. The Fall Guy (D: David Leitch, W: Drew Pierce)

The Fall Guy's failure at the box office is the biggest box office tragedy for me since In the Heights... it wouldn't be the last one for me this year either. For whatever reason, Audiences just didn't go see this one despite a dynamite cast and David Leitch's excellent track record. It's failure still baffles me as the Fall Guy is a perfectly made action comedy.

The Fall Guy is at once a romantic comedy about a loveable himbo who after a massive tragedy ghosts the love of his life and now has to win her back after his agent tricks him into working on her directoral debut. Add in Hannah Waddingham as said manipulative agent Bryan Tyree henry as his best friend, stunt cordinator and for part of the film sidekick, a good boy he finds along the way and adopts, and Aaron Taylor Johnson as the arrogant star of the film he has to find to save it and you have a true comedy classic that also kicks loads of ass. The stunts are all excellent, owning to Leitch's own stunt background while also being reverent to the sheer work it takes to make a blockbluster. It's a blockbuster about the craft and a love letter to all the people we rarely think about who make our faviorite films. It's funny, action packed and has Ryan Gosling in another amazing performance after Ken. It dosen't top Ken, there's no grand musical number for unless you count sobbing out taylor swift in his car, but it's a tremendous film that i'll defintely watch again. It may of not won the box office's hearts but it certainly won mine.

3. The Wild Robot (D and W: Chris Sanders)

Now for a film that got the box office it deserved and more. The Wild Robot was a film I was worried about once I realized "Wait the animals talk".. and then realized I was stupid for that as not only are talking animals rad, but the film ended up being a gorgeous fable about an autistic coded Robot's journey to find herself while raising a duckling she orphaned with her common law husband whose also a fox but is also Pedro Pascal so he defintely fucks.

The Wild Robot is a simple story told gorgeously, with painted cgi that really adds to that storyboook vibe, giving the film a look that just takes hold of you. Full disclosure: I missed a chunk of the early part of the film because I stupidly didn't get my concesions durin gthe previews, and I still loved this film and will happily rewatch it when it streams this week. It's a gentle, amazing tale about accepting our diffrences, finding yourself and letting go of your child so they can find themselves. There are so many layers to this thing and it more than deserves a full review at some point. Lupita Nyongo gives a career best performance, and the ending sets us up for a sequel that we're thankfully getting. It was a gamble.. but it paid off and in any other year it might've been the best animated film of the year, certainly the best film starring robots... however

2. Transformers ONE (DR: by Josh Cooley, W by Eric Pearson, Andrew Berrar and Gabriel Ferrari)

This one's going to hopefully be brief as I wrote a LENGTHY review of this masterpiece when it came out. I went into ONE with mildly positive expectations and came out of it utterly floored. One is an epic tale of love, loss, fighting against a society that uses you, finding yourself (I Know, again), and two friends and probably lovers divdied by their nature and the truth of their world. It's a fucking masterpiece and i've said that before on this list i'm sure but this is true. It's a shame even more than Fall Guy this one flopped as it wasn't it's fault: unlike Rise of the Beasts and the long string of live action failures (bumblbeee excluded) , this film is everything transformers can and should be and while it didn't succeed the way it shoudl've, it'll forever hold as a classic, a shining sci fi epic in the old style but with modern writing. It's a gorgeous masterwork that begs to be watched again and again and uses familiar frameworks to tell a film that made me feel like a kid again. It's what the star wars prequels felt like as a kid instead of what they are. It's so dang good.

So before we get to the one film that could topple something this perfect the honorable mentions

Honorable Mentions:

Maxxine: Plotwise i'ts a bit of a mess but this film thrives on vibes and still closes out the trilogy on a high note. Goth once again delivers an astounding perfomrance. Plus it has Kevin Bacon as a sleazy detective really loving his villian era.

Heretic: Speaking of Villian eras Hugh Grant plays the emobidment of intellectual superiorist assholes to a hilt, being both creepy and intemidating but also letting cracks show in his intellegence and era of menace and superiority like imitating jar jar binks, being that guy whose mad someone dosen't get his refrence and freestyling to Radiohead's creep.

Speak No Evil: Look i'ts James Macavoy, my macaboy, as an uhinged serial killer trapping people with politness who also loudly belts Gloria. I'm not made of stone

Big City Greens; Spacecation: Another one I reviewe d in full and one that was very close to actually making the list a few times. A cult classic in the making. Check it out even if you haven't seen the show.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga; Beautifully shot with an all time performance from both Taylor-Joy and Hemsworth. A true odessy.

Inside Out 2: how it was made was throughly shitty and Disney needs to stop treating Pixar like shit, and trans people. And queer people in general. And just people. A good film despite Disney sucking hard

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice: Is this film a bunch of plots loosely connected by a paperclip and a piece of string? Yes. Does it have Willam Defoe as a cheesy 80's actor whose now a cop for real but still acts like a cheesy character actor? Fuck yes. It's got a stacked cast, great jokes and a great way out of using a pedophile's likeness. It's a messy good time.

Abigail: A bit slow to start but damn does it land. radio silence really cannot make a bad film.

The First Omen: Good intense gripping stuff. Far surpasses the original.

LOTR: War of the Rohirrim: Look there should be more films where , Brian Cox punches a lot of people to death with his bare hands.

Wicked Little Letters: Lower on my list but damn did this one become a sneaky good time.

Alien Romulus: Got me into the alien franchise again. nuff said

So onto our grand winner...

1... Monkey Man ( DR: Dev Patel, W: Patel, Paul Angunawela and John Colee)

This film has held a grip on me since I watched it and is one I badly need to rewatch again. Monkey Man is a film that holds you the whole time even when you take a break, an intense film that never lets you leave our hero or his situation: The Kid is a downtrodden young waiter and fighter who can take a thousand hits and get back up and wants vengance on the elite motherfuckers who burned down his villiage, killed his mom. It's a simple motivation but you can feel that flame the whole time as he works his way up, how he carefully plots his revenge.. only for it to go sideways. Yet it's what drives him at first. It's only by finding fellow outcasts in a group of Hiraja, indian trans and intergender (and according to wikipedia eunchs), who gladly let him train... mostly because he looks damn good with a shirt off but also because their kind and he returns that kindness to save their temple before resuming the rampage.

The plot is simple.. thredbear.. but it works on pure emotion. You follow the kid thorugh every step, every beat as he punches, gets punched and stabbed, trains and then goes back for the grand finale with an army of new friends showing up to back his ass up. It's a film with a lot to say, teaching me a lot about indias inequality and issues and showing sometimes when gradual change won't work, one person can make that change by any means necessary. It's a film with a lot to say, while also being a visual treat. This is Patel's first time directing but youc annot tell with frantic perfect cuts, dripping neon atmosphere and tons of fantastic set pieces. Monkey Man dosen't stop burning till the last frame and won't stop burning in my heart. It's a film taking queues from many , some I'v eseen some I haven't, but all it's own. It's a tale of social justice wrapped in two savage fists and I'm all here for it. More please mr patel.

Thanks for reading, and remember, i'm pullin for ya we're all in this together.

#the fall guy #wicked #dune part 2 #2024 #film #monkey man #the wild robot #hundreds of beavers #wallace and gromit #vengance most fowl #Youtube #kingdom of the planet of the apes #saturday night #transformers one #will and harper

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guardianreadersofthegalaxy · 24 days ago

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My 2024 film ranking:

Thelma [AKA ‘Not That Martin Luther King Film’] [Comedy] A 93-year-old sets out to recover the $10,000 she lost in a scam. This is so up my street. I love gently comedic dramas with thoughtful direction and beautiful music. ‘Thelma’ could so easily have fallen into realm of lazy straight-to-streaming improv, so I’m glad writer/director Josh Margolin didn’t let that happen. I’d describe the combination of action-comedy with A24-style indie pathos as a sort of Edgar Wright/Greta Gerwig mashup… if you can imagine such a thing.

Dune: Part Two [AKA ‘He’s Not The Messiah…’] [Sci-fi/fantasy] The young Paul Atreides learns the ways of the desert-dwelling Fremen. I hope the Dune series proves to be this generation’s ‘Lord Of The Rings’. Director Denis Villeneuve complements the superb visuals with a screenplay that explores the corrupting effect of power and exploitation of faith. While it’s far from standalone, DV wisely centres this instalment around a self-contained love story, which makes for a compelling and coherent throughline.

Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl [AKA ‘An Aardman Is Good To Find’] [Family animation] When naive inventor Wallace creates a ‘smart gnome’, a jewel-thieving penguin sees his chance for revenge. I’m so glad a children’s sequel finally stuck the landing this year. This has all the thrills, heart, and hilarious sight gags of ‘The Wrong Trousers’, plus some decent verbal jokes from the now expanded voice cast. It’s also surprising scary for a family film! Sure, Aardman gave me nightmares as a kid, but I didn’t expect the Norbots to give the entity from ‘Smile 2’ a run for its money. If it turns a generation against AI, then that can only be a good thing.

Anatomie D’Une Chute (Anatomy Of A Fall) [AKA ‘Fall Out (The Window) Boy’] – [Drama] A novelist is investigated for murder following the suspicious death of her husband. A masterclass in when and how to reveal information to the viewer. The scenes run long, like in a play, but each one builds on the last and informs the momentum of the next. I usually dislike ‘talking-in-rooms’ films, but with actors as great as Sandra Hüller and the young Milo Machado Graner, talking in rooms is fine by me.

Conclave [AKA ‘Ralph Fiennes A Pope’] – [Drama] A Vatican cardinal oversees the election of a new pope. Another primo example of the ‘talking in rooms’ genre. Ralph Fiennes leads an excellent cast of old geezers in robes, and while the endless dialogue could have left this feeling like a TV series, director Edward Berger keeps things cinematic with some flashy directorial choices. After an admittedly slow start, the plot’s riveting, though I was unsure what to make of the slightly random final reveal. Lose the last five minutes and you’d have had a perfect ending.

Between The Temples [AKA ‘Mitzvah Wonderful Life] – [Comedy] An awkward synagogue cantor finds new purpose when he reconnects with his elementary school music teacher. Not a huge amount to say about this one, just a sweet oddball comedy about finding unlikely love amid midlife depression. The constant shaky-cam gave me motion sickness, but the jokes made up for that.

Blitz [AKA ‘Goodnight Mr. Bomb’] – [War] A mix-raced Blitz-evacuee jumps off the train and returns to London to find his mother. I’ll start by praising James Harrison’s merciless sound design that greatly contributes to the film’s sense of danger. The plot’s pretty bare, more a series of episodic vignettes our hero encounters as he ‘Finding Nemo’s his way back to mum. But McQueen’s direction puts you right in George’s little shoes. It’s a brutal experience, but with just enough hope and kindness to keep you from despair.

Poor Things [AKA ‘FrankenStone’] – [Black comedy] A woman with a child’s brain ventures out into the world for the first time. The best I can say is that it made me think and it made me laugh. Amid the weird and nasty elements, there’s an interesting coming-of-age story about a child discovering philosophy, society, and sex. Cut 15 minutes off either end and it would have been tighter, plus you’d lose the headache-inducing black and white.

Rebel Ridge [AKA ‘Boys In Blue Ruined’] – [Thriller] A former marine vows revenge on a small town police department after they confiscate his cousin’s bail money. Director Jeremy Saulnier’s (arguable) crossover to the mainstream lacks some of the indie trappings of the grittier ‘Blue Ruin’ and ‘Green Room’, but that’s fine by me. ‘Rebel Ridge’ swaps moral ambiguity for perfectly gauged good vs evil. Challenging the world’s worst police department is Aaron Pierre’s Terry, a badass with the fighting skills of John Wick and the morals/politeness of Paddington. The final showdown’s a bit limp and bloodless, but satisfying all the same.

The Imaginary [AKA ‘From Rudger With Love’] [Family animation] A child’s imaginary friend confronts the fact he will one day be forgotten. I had my reservations during the mid-point lore-dump, but The Imaginary manages to sidestep potential pitfalls, provided you watch it with your heart more than your brain ie. ‘Tenet mode’. Unlike say most Pixar films there’s no obvious thesis, just lots of themes and images, so it’s pretty subjective. But while it took a while to win me over, by the end I was in tears and not quite sure why… the gorgeous music and animation can’t have hurt.

Challengers [AKA ‘Throuple’s Tennis’] – [Drama] A retired tennis player coaches her husband in a match against her ex. I’m impressed how, for a film with only 3 characters to bounce off one another, its non-stop sexual mind games were able to hold my attention for (nearly!) the full 130 minutes. It’s intense, full of slow motion, aggressive sound design, and abrupt blasts of Trent Reznor’s Work Out/ Make Out Mix.

How To Make Millions Before Grandma Dies [AKA ‘If King Lear Were An Old Thai Lady’] – [Drama] A young man cynically plans to get in his grandmother’s good books in the hope of inheriting her house. Arguably a bit predictable, but well executed all the same. I liked the humour, Jaithep Raroengjai’s gentle score and Usha Seamkhum’s performance.

The End We Start From [AKA ‘A Wet Place’] – [Drama] A new mother cares for her baby in the aftermath of a catastrophic flood. You can tell this was based on a book from the many long, pensive pauses that imply unheard internal monologues. Both plot and dialogue are bare bones and leave much to the imagination, so there’s plenty of room for stunning, drizzly nature shots and Anna Meredith’s beautiful score. My only gripe was the irritatingly quirky presence of Katherine Waterston.

Inside Out 2 [AKA ‘Peep Show… For Kids!’] – [Family animation] A thirteen-year-old has to cope with an influx of anxiety and other new emotions. 2015’s ‘Inside Out’ was probably the best possible version of its own concept. Now Pixar have opted (admirably) for a flawed variation rather than try to recreate perfection. It still looks as great as ever, though I mourn the absence of composer Michael Giacchino. Suffice it to say I laughed a lot, but didn’t end up needing any tissues.

The Holdovers [AKA ‘Teacher Movie’] – [Drama] A teacher, a student, and a cook at a 1970s boarding school are forced to spend the holidays together. This is what I call a ‘plane film’ in that it’s reasonably good but also totally forgettable. My gripes were that the characters got too familiar with one another too soon, leaving no room for growth, and that Da’Vine Joy Randolph’s Mary lacked any flaws or development.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga [AKA ‘Cars’] – [Action] In a post-apocalyptic wasteland, the young Furiosa seeks revenge on the warlord Dementus. A less focused, less satisfying follow up to ‘Fury Road’, but still miles ahead of most modern action. ‘FR’s frenetic editing has been subbed out for carefully choreographed long takes, but the practical effects and thesaurus-reliant dialogue remain. Anya Taylor Joy’s not given much to work with, but Chris Hemsworth shines as the cruel but pitiful Dementus. I can’t wait for him to be upstaged by a co-star in his own prequel.

Woman Of The Hour [AKA ‘You Plonker, Rodney!’] – [Thriller] The true story of serial killer Rodney Alcala’s 1978 appearance on a dating game show. If actor-director Anna Kendrick’s main goal was to portray the sickening anxiety of living as woman, then mission accomplished. I hated it, but do now feel very lucky. Given the horrific nature of the real events depicted, it feels petty to complain that it doesn’t totally fit into a satisfying narrative. Even with some flashing back and forth to create a stronger beat to finish on, the ending still took me a bit by surprise. I feel restricting the thriller to Sheryl’s encounter with Alcala would have kept it more focussed, and would have eschewed the arguably exploitative scenes of violence.

The Wild Robot [AKA ‘Crying Gosling’] – [Family animation] A robot washes up on a remote island and raises a baby goose. Best watched on Mother’s Day. A bit of a let-down for most of the runtime, but it won me over in the last half hour and I really got invested. A lot of the emotional beats felt forced, with heavy-handed music – it’s telling that the one moment that did nearly make me cry was silent. The constant rush of colours and movement often made me nauseous, but I can’t deny the beauty of the faux hand-drawn animation.

Paddington In Peru [AKA ‘Mrs Brown’s Bears’] – [Adventure] Paddington follows his aunt Lucy on a quest through the Amazon. New director Dougal Wilson makes a fair attempt to recreate the charm of the first two Paul King films, sometimes successfully. Sadly, the script’s just not as tight, nor are the visuals as imaginative. And the ending briefly flirts with going in a terrible direction for the sake of a manufactured tear-jerk and fakeout. Still, it’s unmistakeably Paddington, and I did have fun, especially when Olivia Colman was on screen.

Smile 2 [AKA ‘Smiley Virus’] – [Horror] A troubled pop star becomes the latest tormentee of a malevolent smiling entity. Giving this three stars, one for each of its brilliant set pieces: the cold open long take, the horrific conclusion, and the bit with the dancers. That said, the problem with unrelenting nightmares is that they can be a bit unrelenting. Writer/director Parker Finn doubles down on the hopeless tone of the first ‘Smile’ to create a flat rollercoaster of misery. Probably the scariest horror film I’ve ever seen, but far from the best.

Sous La Seine (Under Paris) [AKA ‘Swim Away!’] – [Thriller] A team of attractive boat cops search for a monstrous shark in the river Seine. Sous La Seine toes the line between so-bad-it’s-good and actually good. It’s full of cheesy music moments of cringe and soap opera-level characterisation, but blends those with genuine tension and looks good doing it. And I loved the delightfully evil mayor, who gives the ‘Jaws’ mayor a run for his money. Or should I say, ‘a swim for his money’! Haha.

Wicked [AKA ‘Glin Da Heights’] – [Musical] A green woman who’s known only racism has the profound realisation that the government… is racist. A mixed (and very long) bag. Most of my criticisms stem from the source material – I found the songs generic, and can’t tell why Elphaba’s so shocked by the Wizard’s heel turn, making the extremely milked ending fall flat for me. The real wizard is John M. Chu, who can direct a hell of musical set piece. I also never knew Ariana Grande was so funny, and her enemies-to-friends ‘womance’ with Cynthia Erivo’s Elphaba was the peak of the film. Shame there was a whole hour left after that.

La Passion De Dodin Bouffant (The Taste Of Things) [AKA ‘Yum And Yummer’] – [Drama] Love, life, and cooking in 19th Century France. Before this I didn’t realise it was possible for a cinema full of people to audibly salivate. On top of all the fetishy food-shots, I like the ‘Van Gogh’ aesthetic – cicadas, absinthe, art nouveau… but found the film lacking in emotion. The absence of music may have enhanced the immersive sound design but it didn’t do the bare-bones narrative any favours.

El Cuco (The Cuckoo’s Curse) [AKA ‘Womb/Off’] – [Horror] A pregnant woman and her husband swap homes with an elderly German couple. Very much a tale of two halves. It starts off as an unfocused mess of disconnected themes and imagery, but greatly improves when it gives up on being an A24 knockoff and turns into Face/Off. More modern horror would benefit from abandoning ‘prestige’ and leaning more into camp.

Longlegs [AKA ‘Cage Fright’] – [Horror] A psychic FBI detective investigates a series of murder-suicides with links to her own past. For me, this worked better as a horror than as a police procedural. The many research montages had me yawning, but the creepier sequences fared better, mostly thanks to Osgood Perkins’ competent direction. Acting-wise, Maika Monroe and Nicholas Cage do okay yin/yang performances as The Subdued Detective and The Crrrazy Serial Killer.

Godzilla Minus One [AKA ‘I’m Burning Japanese, I Really Think So’] [Disaster] A failed kamikaze pilot confronts his survivor’s guilt in the form of the monstrous ‘Godzilla’. I can’t believe it’s not Marvel. Everything from the decent dialogue, to the competent characterisation, sufficient special effects, mediocre music, and acceptable action left me thoroughly ‘whelmed’. Its only points of divergence from bog-standard Hollywood fare were some nice colour grading, a more serious tone, and a genuinely cool heat-ray effect.

Civil War [AKA ‘Snapped In America’] – [War] A team of reporters brave the front lines on their way to interview a besieged US President. Decent execution but zero points for originality. The spectacle’s well done, but the often-corny screenplay is full of tropes and scenes cribbed from older (if not necessarily better) films. It’s a shame, the images of war-torn Americana could have made for a fascinating photography exhibition.

Hit Man [AKA ‘Ten Stings I Hate About You’] – [Crime/romance] A undercover fake hit man falls for the woman he’s trying to entrap. Maybe the reason this seems so generic is, ironically, that it’s a formula you don’t see much any more ie. two attractive leads + some jokes + mild peril = total plane film. It’s passably entertaining, but I disliked the lazy use of voiceover, boring direction, missed opportunities for tension, and Glen Powell being simply too handsome for me to root for.

Deadpool & Wolverine [AKA ‘Terrence & Phillip’] – [Comedy] It’s Deadpool 3… and Hugh Jackman’s in it… and they’re in the MCU now, okay? Is this what 12-year-old boys see when they watch ‘Rick & Morty’? All the sex jokes and none of the Douglas Adams? For better or worse, Reynolds has taken his schtick to the MCU, with all that entails: bloated runtimes, cameos, scripts that feel like a first draft but also like they’ve been picked to shreds. It’s mainly rubbish, but it did make me laugh. And I like that it normalises same-sex flirtation for what could otherwise be quite a macho character, albeit in the crudest way possible.

Jackdaw [AKA ‘Yorvik Biking Centre’] – [Crime] A dirt biking army vet must rescue his brother from a gang boss. A product of the ‘take x subculture and set a thriller in it’ formula, the subculture this time being Newcastle ravers. There was a strong aesthetic, with more drizzly streets and blaring tail lights than you can shake a The Batman at, but it suffered whenever things went indoors. I found it hard to care about its stock characters, its Darth Vader-reveal, or its Kill Bill Vol. 2-anticlimax.

The Critic [AKA ‘The Wicked Wizard Of The West (End)] – [Drama] In 1930s London, a gay theatre critic hatches a fiendish plan to get his job back. Halfway through this, one character says “why be so predictable?” and another replies “why be so cheap?” They’d have written my review for me if they’d also said “why use so many ultra-closeups?”, “why cast Gemma Arterton?”, or “why do that cliché thing where a character yells in frustration while shaking a steering wheel?”. One star each for the subtle/sassy (respectively) acting of Mark Strong and Ian McKellen.

Kill [AKA ‘The Shit Train Robbery] – [Action] An Indian commando fights to save his in-laws from a family of train robbers. People comparing this to ‘The Raid’ need to get that masterpiece’s name out of their fucking mouths. They’re both bloody, but the similarities end there. I think the train setting was a mistake, as it didn’t provide enough variety of locations. Claustrophobic action is hard to shoot with a clear sense of geography, and in ‘Kill’ it is not shot with a clear sense of geography. Also, the ultraviolent revenge kills might have been satisfying had the baddies (aside from the brilliantly odious Fani) not been such a bunch of wusses.

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