#to be edited in case i forgot anything. just purely going off of the cinema tickets I kept in my room. probably forgot like 3 movies

[mono-blogs-art]

Mono's Movies of 2024

Quick reviews of all movies I watched in theatres in 2024 - not including movies I saw at festivals, otherwise this'd be insanely long. One of my new years resolutions of last year was to watch 1 movie in the cinema each month, and I'm happy to say I achieved that!

Listed in order of when I watched them.

Anatomie d'une chute (Justine Triet, 2023): 9/10 loved this movie. Crazy to say that the first movie I watched this year was also one of the highlights, really INSANE. I still think they were ROBBED at the Oscars. Justice for Sandra

Poor Things (Yorgos Lanthimos, 2023): I know this movie was a huge success and won Everything but Boy. I did Not Like this movie. It's funny, sometimes, but the satire just did not hit for me and I actually debated walking out of the cinema in the first 40 minutes. Thankfully the second half was much better. But my God. I saw so many people saying they found this empowering, I found it horrifying. Great cinematography though. 4/10.

Smoke Sauna Sisterhood (Anna Hints, 2023): another 9/10 and probably my favourite documentary of this year, I WEPT like crazy. Just openly sobbing. Really beautiful and bone-chillingly intimate. I briefly met the film cast & crew at Sundance and they were lovely, so that was my main motivation to go watch it. I'm glad I did.

The Big Lebowski (Joel Coen, 1998): First rewatch of the list, I went to a legacy special screening and had a White Russian cocktail with it. Just such a good weird movie. A classic 8/10.

Perfect Days (Wim Wenders, 2023): Another movie that I think was robbed at the Oscars - another 9/10 for me and highlight of the year. Such a calm, tender movie about seeing the beauty in the mundane. Fun fact I actually met Mr Wenders at the European Film Awards this year and he seems kinda like a cool bougie old guy.

All of us Strangers (Andrew Haigh, 2023): another movie that made me OPENLY SOB. Somber, heart-breaking but simple tale that's told really interestingly. Heavy stuff but extremely well worth the watch, 8/10.

The Zone of Interest (Jonathan Glazer, 2023): this movie is another 9/10. Insane sound design. The movie will make you nauseous. It's uncomfortable in the way no other Holocaust movie so far has made me. Watch it. especially in the theaters if you ever get the chance. The sound design really deserves good speakers.

May December (Todd Haynes, 2023): I liked it! 7/10 don't have much to say. I think knowing the real story behind it makes it worse though. Every actor in this movie slayed though. Okay Natalie Portman

C'è Ancora Domani (Paola Cortellesi, 2023): another absolute banger 8/10. Musical elements, great dark comedy, INSANE levels of misogyny. A very serious movie, but doesn't take itself too seriously. A fine line that's tough to do. I really loved it.

Love Lies Bleeding (Rose Glass, 2024): Listen. I thought I was gonna watch a hot sexy lesbian action movie with my gf (<3) but THIS MOVIE IS CRAZY. In a very fun way but also in a very gross, violent way. I still liked it but it did kinda traumatize my gf. Not a very sexy cinema experience 6/10.

Lupin the Third - The Castle of Cagliostro (Hayao Miyazaki, 1979): Never seen any of the Lupin movies but this one made me wanna watch them - completely unexpected Banger. Just a really fun spy/detective dramedy. 7/10

Radical (Christopher Zalla, 2023): This movie is SO. GOOD. I didn't expect it to get me this much but I went to see it on recommendation of my gf and we both cried (second time for her). Brother this movie is simple but incredibly charmingly executed. Go watch. 8/10.

Kinds of Kindness (Yorgos Lanthimos, 2024): The second Lanthimos movie on this list and thank fucking God. It was GREAT. I really like the structure, the movie is very long but doesn't feel like it because of the great plot(s). Every short story is stranger than the last and just really well made. 8/10

Paprika (Satoshi Kon, 2006): What can I say this movie is amazing in every way. Another rewatch for me at a special screening after learning a lot about it in animation class. This is a classic and must-watch for anime fans. 9/10

[go-go-devil]

@recursiverabbit Oh man, I forgot about A Bucket of Blood! That's a film my cousin recommended to me a while back that I'd been wanting to see. Maybe I'll do a double feature of that one and Eyes Without A Face (1960).

As for classical cinema recommendations, I assume you're referring to specifically anything before the 1980's (a.k.a. the real old stuff), and in that case I've got plenty of recs!

King Kong (1933) & Godzilla (1954)

As a massive monster movie fan, I can't recommend the original King Kong and Godzilla enough! While these two beasts have obviously stood the test of time, I feel that not enough people have really gone back and watched these two groundbreaking films.

When it comes to pre-60's films King Kong may honestly be the one I've rewatched the most next to The Wizard of Oz. While it's not the first stop-motion heavy, dinosaur filled adventure film of its day, the way its paced, acted, and filmed is so outstanding that it still remains a highly entertaining film even to this day! The only aspects that truly date the film are the helpless damsel role given to the leading lady, Ann Darrow, and of course the horribly racist depiction of the natives on Skull Island, but those are two sore spots on what's otherwise a really good monster movie.

Of the two, I do consider Godzilla to be the better film purely on the basis of its far-more compelling and emotionally impactful story. For a long time it's always been kinda bizarre as a Godzilla fan to go back to the original and remember that it was originally an intense, grim disaster movie about the atomic bomb (which Godzilla was originally supposed to represent) when the franchise would quickly turn into cool giant monsters fighting each other. Though now with Shin Godzilla (2016) and Godzilla Minus One (2023) I feel like this film's original legacy is more well-known and respected than ever. That being said, for a 1950's rubber suit monster Godzilla really is quite scary in this film, and the entire thing so well shot that there's a reason this film is still taken so seriously despite the stigma so many film snobs have against giant monster movies.

Daisies (1966)

And now for something completely different!

Daisies is such a great film! It's about these two young women (both named Marie) who decide one day that since everything in the world is going bad now that they will "go bad" as well, and the entire story becomes them playing pranks and just generally fucking with people for the sake of their own amusement. Besides being one of the most famous Czechoslovakian new wave films of its day and a great early feminist flick, it's also one of the funniest "art house" films I've ever seen with some goddamn AMAZING editing. The "cutting the film with scissors" scene especially being one of my favorite moments in any movie ever.

Anytime someone tries to point their nose up at European art house cinema as being nothing but boring stuffy movies for old white men I just shove this film in their face and make them eat their words. I really can't recommend this film enough!

The Cameraman's Revenge (1912)

For my final rec, I'll go to what's easily the OLDEST of my favorite films. A truly ancient stop-motion film which uses actual dried insect bodies for its characters, this short story is about a married beetle who one night cheats on his wife with a dragonfly dancer after aggressively fighting off her grasshopper admirer for her attention. However, the grasshopper happens to be a movie cameraman, and secretly films the two having sex in a hotel room, which leads to further shenanigans.

The story itself is entertaining enough, but its the effects that really make it stand out for me as an animation enthusiast. Stop motion is already a very difficult art, and choosing to animate with dead insects is an insanely challenging feat to accomplish TODAY, let alone the goddamn 1910's! Ladislas Starevich truly was one of the great animation pioneers of early film, and while this isn't this most technically impressive work it still remains a marvel to watch.

Feeling very classic cinema pilled rn so if anyone wants to start a conversation with me on this topic I'm ready and willing 🎥