2024 seemed for the most part to be a repeat of 2023, a second season of it if you will. Several things from the previous year continued to plague the world: the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the demoralizing actions happening in the Gaza Strip, anti-Semitism and other horrific racism spewed via online social media and/or fueling horrendous acts of violence, and the debate over and pathetic usage of AI. And just when you thought things would get better in this show we call life, a special guest star, someone who draws cheers from audiences across America yet an equal or more so ire as well, got to be a main player (again) thanks to what happened in November. While I was not happy with the "decision", the backlash against them went way too far when two separate people tried to cancel them out of existence.
Weird analogy aside, 2024 also did give us some exciting major events to shake things up but there was always some controversy to ruin the fun. The Super Bowl became the most watched televised program ever in American history but gave us a lame game (Chiefs Win LOL), plenty of camera cuts to Taylor Swift, a flat halftime show from Usher, and then later a victory parade shooting. The Eurovision Song Contest had one of its potential winners unfairly disqualified, allowed Israel to participate amid much outcry, struggled with multiple accounts of misconduct by certain delegations, and went full WWE by using anti-booing technology to silence the live audience's jeers aimed at Israel's artist and EBU director Martin Österdahl. The Summer Olympics in Paris were great but seemingly everybody refused to get over a "daring" drag tableau of "The Last Supper" in the opening ceremony, an Algerian female boxer, an Australian "breakdancer", a gymnastics final, and a certain someone not being included on the American women's basketball team (the anger at Joel Embiid was totally justified however). And speaking of American women's basketball, the WNBA had its most popular season ever since its inception thanks to a new crop of talented rookies, extensive media attention, and an exciting Finals yet it was often hampered by despicable "fan" behavior in the stands and online and the clueless response to it by the league's commissioner Cathy Engelbert.
There was more drama/controversy to go around in every corner of culture, whether it was television (Quiet On Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, the third season of The Bear), music (the Drake/Kendrick Lamar feud), video games (Concord, more studio closures and job losses), comedy (The Roast of Tom Brady, that twerp from the MSG Trump rally), and royalty watch (everything involving Princess Kate). I would include anime in the discussion but I have a whole separate article for that, But what happened in 2024 in my most beloved part of life on Earth, that of course being the wonderful world of film?
Warner Bros. CEO David Zaslav continued his asshole ways by threatening to make the completed film Coyote vs. Acme into a tax write-off and refusing to give it to anyone else unless they pay an insane asking price ($70-80 million). A lot of sure-fire hits ended up being big bombs and total misses in theaters, most notably Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, and the complete fiascos that were Joker: Folie à Deux and Red One. These many failures help led to a depressing summer season which was so bad that director Denis Villeneuve (Dune: Part Two) lamented that he's "disappointed to still be number one" at the total box office for the year. Redbox closed up shop, further signaling the slow death of physical media. Robert Downey Jr. went from Oscar winner to persona non grata after it was announced he would get $100 million to play Doctor Doom in the MCU, a ridiculously huge paycheck especially coming one year after the Hollywood strikes. The investigation and trials involving the shooting on the set of Rust concluded with the armorer getting 18 months in jail while Alec Baldwin saw his charges dismissed with prejudice due to concealed evidence. Another wave of celebrity deaths unfortunately came including the passings of Carl Weathers, James Earl Jones, Maggie Smith, and Tony Todd. And right before we dropped the curtain for the year, there was a depressingly quiet fall season, with many Oscar hopefuls not generating any major buzz or attention among the general populace, and a bizarre yet still distressing dilemma, which is still ongoing, surrounding It Ends With Us, its star Blake Lively, and its co-star/director Justin Baldoni.
But everything wasn't all bad for film. Even with all of the flops and misfires, I would say we had one of the weirdest, most eclectic years in film possibly ever. Disney got to have their own Barbenheimer when the company conquered both the summer and the whole year with the #1 and #2 highest grossing movies for 2024, one of which is a shockingly gory rated R superhero movie. Animation flourished with acclaimed works from across the globe and anime became more of a welcome presence in theaters and an easy bet to generated money at the box office. Concert films and more adult driven affair were more plentiful to experience. Netflix saw much more success with their Netflix Film lineup, particularly when it came to their action fare, one of which recently was their top film every day for three straight weeks. While horror generally was a mixed bag, Terrifer 3 proved to be a huge draw, becoming the highest grossing unrated film of all time while at the same time highly grossing out audiences with another wave of disturbingly gory practical effects. Letterboxd gained more popularity and acceptance among the social media sphere. And finally, to throw everybody through a loop and make many Oscar watchers even more nervous, there really wasn't a lot of consensus when it came to the best films or even the best film of 2024. Everybody seemingly had a different pick for numero uno.
Now comes the annual time for me to proclaim my top pick, along with all of the other films I got to experience. Oh wait, just one moment. I usually talk about my personal life in 2024. I'll try to be quick about it: my New Year's resolution to eliminate appetizers when I go out to eat helped me feel better and certainly helped my wallet ($15 for 6 mozzarella sticks?!); I went to my hometown arena to see four days/six exciting games of the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball tournament, including the amazing Iowa/LSU regional final; my beloved local independent movie theater closed down nearly for good only to be saved and reopened two months later; saw Stop Making Sense in IMAX again and it's still phenomenal; finally was able to beat not one but two JRPGS (Trails of Cold Steel I and II), each of them taking 90 hours to complete and I loved every second of it; rejoiced and grappled with several life-changing moments among my precious family and friends; and I had to pay for a new garage door even though I wasn't at fault for breaking it. There, done. Now let's have some fun.
My final total of 2024 films that I watched is 32. It is now time to arrange them in the order of my opinion, from the best to the worst.
First up is my top ten of the year. I had some struggle when it came to the last pick of the set.
Alex Garland's mission so far as a writer-director is to terrify the viewer right down to their core with provocative topics and unsettling imagery that is near impossible to scrub from your mind. His last two films were truly "mileage may vary" but in 2024, he became absolute lord and ruler of the land last year with this tantalizing tale about the power and the art of journalism, all transpiring amid the horrifying landscapes of a truly divided and weaponized United States of America. Evocative in every shot, this road trip through the hell of humanity was an exquisitely visceral experience, supplemented further by a Kirsten Dunst's stellar lead performance, a stomach-turning scene with one-scene wonder Jesse Plemons, and an exhilarating yet still disheartening finale that brings the sights, sounds and dream scenarios we see often in video games and other sci-fi stories and makes them all the more too real.
Finally escaping the treacherous wilderness that is superhero movies, Jesse Eisenberg went full Jesse Eisenberg with this indie to superb results. Eisenberg wrote, directed, produced, and starred in this simple but very rich story about kinship, emotional maturity, and the family legacies we carry. Instead of fully following the standard Sundance dramedy formula, the refreshing script is full of dialogue and interactions that are more realistic and/or thorny, where no one is truly right and the willingness to forgive and/or forget in order to move forward, especially when on vacation, is brutally enforced. And I can't fully declare my love for this movie without mentioning the amazing Kieran Culkin as Eisenberg's turbulent cousin.
Latvia isn't a widely known country, thus any art spawned from the small Eastern European nation tend to be lost in translation (see their success rate recently at the Eurovision Song Contest as proof). But the little Baltic was able to fully break through on the world stage thanks to this exceptionally animated tale. How did they and animator Gints Zilbalodis pull if off? By crafting a mysterious tale that is equals parts haunting and majestic with an animal cast, no dialogue, fantastic camera work, and a spiritually moving score. A word of warning: be a little wary of letting your kids see it. The lack of celebrity voices, funny jokes, and many displays of animal peril caused one little girl at my screening to cry her eyes out all the way through to the end credits.
This film had my curiosity with its perilous premise and Don Johnson as the heavy. Then it had my full attention when I saw that it was from the mind of Jeremy Saulnier. An expertly executed action-thriller with star-making lead performance by Aaron Pierre and a palpable first third that juices you up and keeps the danger levels constant all the way until the stunning final shot.
One of the few joys I rarely indulge in life is going through all of the movie showtimes on a given day, finding a movie I never heard about and go and view it on a whim. I did that very thing with this stop-motion animated indie and it caused me to tear right up. My first engagement with the work of Adam Elliot, this film spins a masterful, all too real feeling narrative about struggling to survive mentally when the world isn't very kind. I know that sounds pretty dire but please note that there's a lot of humor and heart to liven up things, including a religious apple cult, special magic tricks, and an elderly woman who's seen and done everything.
I want to signal boast this horror remake as much as I can. I was completely taken aback at how much I enjoyed this disturbing little ditty and how brutal it gets, more so with its social satire than in its actual violence. I don't know what was better, James McAvoy with his pounds of muscle and the psychotic cartwheels he performs or the big climax that puts a nice twist on a home invasion. Yes, I'm perfectly aware that writer-director James Watkins changed the ending from the original Danish film but I rather steal away with this one any day.
A bit of a drop from the first film but I'm glad that Denis Villeneuve got to see his vision through. Still breathtaking in all of its glory, from sandworm riding to the black and white world ruled by the Harkonnen. The climatic final battle could have been better if Warner Bros were willing to open their pursestrings some more but in return we get a great exploration on the savior narrative and fantastic performances from Timothée Chalamet, Austin Butler, and of course Javier Bardem.
I have not been a big fan of the sequels Pixar has been making as of late, with even Toy Story 4 losing some of its luster as time moves forward. But even with some trepidation, not to mention a lack of joy going into it due to the Bill Hader/Mindy Kaling pay controversy, I was really touched with this latest chapter of human girl Riley and her anthropomorphized emotions. The film expands what would otherwise be a simple sitcom plot in order to draw up more goofy gags (love that sar-chasm!), finally experiment with the other animation styles, and carefully explain why the development of more complicated emotions requires the same amount of acceptance and appreciation we give to the standard ones. This also had to make my top ten list simply for the gut punches he delivered to me, whether it was "that scene" or a certain four word feeling we all as humans struggle with at some point.
While there were three better animated films that wowed me significantly, this one however had the purest heart and drive to truly win me over, even after its heavily enforced marketing campaign. More than just a wannabe WALL-E, it weaves a wondrous ode to the joys and pains of parenting and paints it upon an immaculate canvas with stunning watercolor-inspired animation. Like its lead character, however, not everything is perfect; I was quite boggled by the sudden inclusion of a last act villain when one wasn't really needed. Still, I greatly admire this wild and creative streak Dreamworks Animation has been mostly pulling off.
An odd choice to include in my top ten but quite frankly this prestigious drama was too delicious in its pulpiness to pass by, like a ruby red apple that is forbidden to taste.
Next up are six films that I thought were very good and were true highlights of the year. They just had a thing or two that kept it from making my top ten.
I had a lot of fun with this Sam Spade in space tale, which mixes Chinatown and Blade Runner together and coats it with a beautiful French animated touch. But that overextended ultra bummer ending just kills the momentum of the story and the replayability of the film. I really wanted this to be in my top ten but whenever I randomly accessed my memories of the film, the finale was the only thing that truly stuck with me.
A great directorial debut by Zoe Kravitz. It may lean a little too close to Get Out and often forgets that a satire needs to have some more comedy to balance things out but the film delivers some beautifully devilish visuals, fascinating editing, a committed cast led by a subversive performance by Channing Tatum, and an ending that is truly debatable.
Kiyotaka Oshiyama and Studio Durian did a really fine job bringing Tatsuki Fujimoto's exceptional one-shot manga to the masses. I adore the animation experimentation on full display, particularly the "walking/skipping in the rain" sequence, and it gives you a nice tight glimpse at the human passions and struggles to draw. Unfortunately, the film just didn't have the same punch as the original one-shot, which turned me into a complete mess one fateful Sunday. I point to the bizarrely slow slideshow of memories at the film's conclusion as the main culprit.
14. Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Freedom
It took nearly two decades but Sunrise and director Mitsuo Fukuda were finally able to make Mobile Suit Gundam SEED a popular thing again thanks to this impressive space opera. Come for the delightfully well animated mecha battles, stay for its examination on the relationship between main hero Kira and space princess Lacus, the character redevelopment of Shinn Asuka, and plenty of "where are they now?" updates. Still ended on a weird note with the whole naked on a beach thing though.
It got all the money people were willing to spend on a summer flick and it got the American public to briefly care about superhero movies again. Yes, the film is near impenetrable if you don't care for Deadpool, appreciate or barely tolerate meta fiction/meta humor, or have some knowledge of the superhero movies produced, or in one special case never produced, by 20th Century Fox. But it was still a lot of fun, gory fun to be more honest, and had a nice message about respecting all of the previous work that was done in order for us to get to this point in pop culture where superhero movies are to be treated and seen as actual films.
I commend director Morgan Neville and the animation crew for the wild and crazy Lego art they crafted in order to vividly express music wunderkind Pharrell Williams' musings on his own life, his philosophy on music, and the history behind the songs that changed hip-hop and pop history. However, I can't fully commend Pharrell himself because he could have sabotaged the whole project with his often blatant refusal to delve deeper on many topics, especially with what happened to The Neptunes. Also, shout outs to the family of four who walked out right near the end when the movie dared to visualize social injustices right before Kendrick Lamar's "Alright" was discussed.
Next are the "creamy middles", the films that were effective in their execution, engagement, and entertainment and are worth a viewing. I just wasn't fully enamored with them as I was with the films above.
17. Saturday Night
I greatly applaud the efforts of director Jason Reitman, the cast and crew in recreating a pivot moment in American comedy. It just spends too much time on fan service and callbacks (or would that be callforwards?) rather than actually explaining why we should care for these young guns and why this new show is so important and needed to be made.
Though the near three hours flew by thanks to great and charming performances by the leads, amazing production craftsmanship, and bringing the best songs from the 2003 musical to the big screen, it chose not to expand on the several flat supporting characters, doesn't ever realize that the whole racism angle of the story doesn't work on film if you have a multi-racial cast, and has a head-shaking "finale" with two shoed-in action sequences and a bizarre, thoroughly cut-up version of "Defying Gravity".
19. Transformers One
The most fun I had with the Transformers in a very long while and an excellent voice performance by Bryan Tyler Henry. I just wish Chris Hemsworth worked better on his Peter Cullen voice attempt and some of the laser and steel machine action needed to be more easily decipherable to the human eye.
A simple fun shonen anime flick that proves to be an easy gateway into the series. Just don't expect anything major to happen, as this is just a small diversion.
Great to see Tim Burton have fun again while making a film. Needed more Catherine O'Hara and less of Jeffrey Jones, even if he's replaced by a ghoul with a half eaten torso. Also, it completely didn't need Justin Theroux, Monica Bellucci, or "MacArthur Park".
Terrible name for a film but quite accurate, as it consists entirely of one high stakes volleyball match. Has some exhilarating shonen sport theatrics but good luck trying to figure out who anybody is or care about any of them if you're a non-fan, besides of course the short fry with the orange hair.
Keeps the streak alive of entertaining My Hero Academia movies but it is certainly the weakest of the bunch, despite the high stakes it imposes and the dream battle it wishes to bring to life.
I remembered liking this little indie, which is set entirely in and around a New York cab and is actually better executed than you think it would be, but I don't exactly remember actually why I did beyond the performances of Sean Penn and Dakota Johnson.
Next are the unfortunate disappointments, the ones that had a few shining moments but were overwhelmed with poor creative decisions and flat showmanship.
The king of disappointments of the year. I say king because this sci-fi epic spent more time and energy focusing on Chris Hemsworth and his wasteland story than the life of the near silent main heroine.
A dream subject I always wanted to be covered, only to sit through a bog standard, paint by numbers documentary that, despite featuring plenty of kung fu fighting, often had me nodding off in the theater.
Some really good performances, particular Hugh Grant, but the script sure did loved to smell its own farts, thinking it is hot shit with all of its dissections of religion and who's really in control, combined with smarmy dialogue and an unexplained endgame for its villain.
Could have been a really creepy horror thriller but then it had to over explain everything and ruin the specialness of its characters before delivering a lame "that's it" conclusion.
Did very well examining the plight of its protagonists but the majority of the twists were easy to spot and it just wasn't scary at all.
Finally, we end with three of the worst films of 2024. Honestly, none were complete trash but they also weren't worth a ticket to the cinema, nor truly worthy of your time. I spent more energy huffing and puffing or rolling my eyes than actually engaging with these films.
Solo Leveling may have been one of the big anime hits of last year but outside of some stellar action animation, you would have a hard time understanding exactly why while watching this compilation film. How can a viewer really enjoy the power fantasy aspects of this story when this thing starts by literally obscuring the backstory of its protagonist and barely tries on world-building, solely in order to give more time to crafting a YouTube-like compilation of battles where "the bullies get what they deserve" or "the villain should have fled instead of taunting the mc". When we get to the second half, aka the first two episodes of the upcoming season two, things settle down and you can relax and enjoy it for what it is.
We go from a new anime hit to a hit anime series that took a mighty tumble in popularity last year. Make no mistake, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba is still pretty popular but the show was heavily criticized for delivering a very poor season 4. But before that season aired its pitiful eight episodes, the series did another compilation film/special preview that just wasn't as good as the last one. While I did really enjoy seeing a pivotal story moment for the first time and treated with reverence on the big screen, this "film" utilized the exact same strategy as To The Swordsman Village, consisting of just two overextended episodes. However, this one is a far worst sell because the second half of it largely is a total bore, mostly featuring people sitting around saying "we should do something" before finally, finally deciding that oh yeah maybe it's a good idea to properly train our soldiers for the big bad and his crew instead of treating them like meatbags.
We all saw it coming and sure enough it did. Kevin Costner wanted to do another big budget project centered around an odd idea but this time he foolishly put his own money into it. It failed, oh boy, did it fail, and it technically isn't buried in the ground yet. Make no mistake, this film genuinely starts off fantastic with a nice eerie prologue, culminating with a devastating and deadly attack on a town by a renegade group of Native Americans. But after that showstopper, the movie then bombards you with multiple storylines, whose scenes often coming crashing in at of nowhere and can be hard to follow due to jumps in time, introduction of more and new characters, and random switches in the characterization of previously established characters. And then it just ends with little to no real advancement in any of the plots, before giving us a truly bewildering "to be continued" montage, with the only thing standing out from it is Giovanni Ribisi and his really evil moustache. Did Costner not watch how every single American televised miniseries concludes on Night One, or how big film epics end before intermission in order to entice and enrapture their audiences?! I can't call this a total failure because that is reserved for the finished Chapter 2, since it didn't get picked up by anyone after being screened at the Venice Film Festival. But hoo doggies, what a fiasco.
