A Down Year (?) at the Moving Pictures
Dating back to 2014, I would venture to the theater about 40 times annually to see the newest releases. I still do, but now I can see 75-100 yearly releases due to the non-stop barrage of day-and-date films premiering across (too many) streaming services. There’s nothing that I love more than seeing new movies. So even if I have to sit through movies designed to be consumed while scrolling Tik Tok (e.g., Lift on Netflix or Jackpot! on Prime Video), I do it.
Despite the ever increasing number of junk competing for our eyeballs on the internet, there were some great films this year. Similar to other years this decade, only one movie received my highly coveted 5-star rating. Unlike previous years, there were substantially less 4.5- and 4-star ratings. Does that make this a disappointing year? I don’t think so. There were breakouts, star-making performances, exciting first features, and deep, personal stories that made this year worthy of reflection and celebration. Of course, there were disappointments and frustrations, too.
I saw 90 2024 releases. Presented with their own prestigious individualized award, my Top 30 along with some (dis)honorable mentions:
The Movie-that-had-great-odds-to-be-in-my-top-10-but-completely-disappointed Award:
Blitz
On paper, this had all the trappings of something special - Steve McQueen, Soairse Ronan, World War II, British accents, modern Western sensibilities against the backdrop of a far away place and bygone time. Ronan’s character, Rita, induces drowsiness better than just about any melatonin I’ve had. Besides Rita, all of the fleeting characters we meet on this (wishfully) epic journey are disappointingly thin.
The Movie-that-had-a-lot-of-fun-while-trying-to-establish-stakes-that-don’t-exist Award:
Saturday Night
It is increasingly rare that we get a robust cast of young, exciting, emerging talent unless it’s an IP-driven CGI slopfest. Here, Reitman gets to experiment with actors that have really excited me in other projects - Gabriel LaBelle (The Fablemans), Rachel Sennott (Shiva Baby), Cooper Hoffman (Licorice Pizza), and Nicholas Braun (Succession) to name a few. Just like those CGI slopfests, Saturday Night has no stakes, no plot, and minimal characterization resulting in high octane boredom.
The First-feature-that-makes-me-extremely-excited-for-whatever-comes-next Award:
It’s What’s Inside
This an example (more discussed later) of the best possible use of streaming - giving exciting new filmmakers the keys to build something they’re proud of. Greg Jardin presents a script that is nonsense, confusing, often boring, and ultimately disappointing albeit in an original, unique, and exciting style. I hope that he finds a way to work with a great writer on his next project. Otherwise he reminds me too much of another great filmmaker that has disappointed me on the page, Gareth Edwards (The Creator).
The Worst-film-about-an-AI-megacorp Award:
Babygirl
More than anything, this feels like a movie. That’s where the positives end, for me. I found this to be an anthropomorphic Tumblr post. Kidman’s character is actually extremely interesting in theory and the themes - hating your life and wanting to feel the excitement of maybe self-sabotaging - are exciting to me. Unfortunately, Dickenson’s character, and others, make distractingly strange choices driven by vague motivations that completely took me out of the movie. The sex scenes are hard to watch despite being fully consensual and moderately kinky.
The Legacy-sequel-that-subverted-my-expectations Award:
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
Not being a huge fan of the original, I expected this to be a Studio-note filled sequel that flirts with the absurd and ridiculous. Instead, it fully leans into the schtick and is rewarded for it. Also, Willem Dafoe, in reference to the carcass of Danny DeVito, says “this Schmo’s goo” which makes this capital A Art.
The Movie-that-got-everyone-excited-because-it’s-disgusting Award:
The Substance
I love the themes and it’s one of the best examples of the “had me in the first half” meme. Way too heavy handed (and disgusting) in the second half. Completely lost me when the blood splatters all over the screen, breaking the 4th wall and blaming the audience for all of the societal issues. Not saying it isn’t our collective fault for putting pressures on women for their appearance (it is), but it took me out of the movie and back to reality a bit too much.
The Movie-that-should-make-us-all-take-a-long-look-in-the-mirror Award:
Trap
I get amped up when directors reflect themselves in their film in unique ways. M. Night does that here by reminding us that he’s a nasty little freak and nothing can stop him from telling the stories he wants to tell and using the storytellers he wants to use. The father-daughter relationship is captivating from start to finish both narratively between Cooper and Riley but also in a meta sense between M. Night and his real-life daughter, Saleka.
The It’s-ok-to-be-sad Award:
Inside Out 2
Takes place in the “real-world” a bit more than I’d like from an animated film about anthropomorphised emotions, but that’s ok! What is not ok? Joy misrepresenting “deep-dish” pizza as part of one of Riley’s core memories.
The Movies-that-moved-me-with-sincere-and-earnest-storytelling-and-style Award:
I Saw the TV Glow, Robot Dreams, Witches
—The Top 30—
The Reminds-me-of-my-childhood Award:
30. Ricky Stanicky
The kind of movie that we would have stayed up late to watch during a sleepover after the parents went to sleep. John Cena cemented as, said without exaggeration, the best comic star that we have. Favorite circumcision scene of the year.
The Movie-I-wish-was-less-of-a-rom-com Award:
29. Hit Man
I love romantic comedies and firmly believe that it’s one of the forgotten and lost genres. Because of that, I have some self-hatred for my visceral reaction to this which is that the rom-com of it all was the least successful feature. Powell is a star and I was longing to watch him cook as an imposter hit man rather than fall in love.
The Movie-that-exemplifies-what-streaming-is-good-for Award:
28. Carry-On
We love a comeback. I thought that we had lost director Jaume Collet-Serra to a never ending stream of IP cash grabs (Jungle Cruise, Black Adam). Collet-Serra has a new muse, swapping Liam Neeson for Taron Egerton, but a familiar setting for this thriller - public(ish) transportation. We’ve seen the “Die Hard in a ___” genre take its ups and downs but I’ll never get sick of these on Planes, Traines, or Automobiles. We are to believe that a law enforcement officer allows a plane to take off with a bomb on board just so our protagonist can defuse it and save the day. Hook it up to an IV and stick me with it.
The Movie-that-allowed-me-to-say-sperm-quite-often-this-year Award:
27. Spermworld
Lance Oppenheim continues to blow me away with his ability to present some of the saddest human experiences with such humility, care, and artistry all while being judgement free.
The Movie-that-made-me-less-scared-to-get-old Award:
26. Thelma
This is a sweet & sincere film with the same themes as this year’s The Beekeeper. Notably, only Thelma appears on this list. June Squibb reminds me of my Bubbe in real ways and the idealized ways that we can only create in our heads about our loved ones.
The Combating-your-prescribed-lifestyle Award:
25. Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person
Simultaneously one of the most unique and most traditional coming of age stories in recent years. Fortunately, this oxymoron of a combination results in a film much sweeter than it has any right to be, especially considering the true life or death stakes for the protagonist. Deep themes, like can we truly make our environment a product of ourselves (channeling Jack from The Departed), make this an entertaining thinker.
The Finally-a-good-old-fashioned-erotic-thriller Award:
24. Love Lies Bleeding
Ed Harris has an obscene ponytail, Rose Glass has super-human muscles, and Kristen Stewart looks like she hasn’t slept since ‘nam. Somehow these choices work and create one of the best niche brands of sex and violence put to screen since the Wachowski’s Bound (1996).
The Movie-I-shouldn’t-have-seen-the-night-before-the-2024-election Award:
23. Conclave
Crowd pleasing Catholic Church movie! I loved Berger’s All Quiet more than most, so I was highly anticipating his follow-up Church thriller (?). Berger has proven to be adept at portraying men that think they’re much more important than they are. In Conclave, all of the characters have such egos that results in pure melodrama goodness. I wish that he would have stuck with that mushy drama rather than try to make sense of a sloppy narrative. The characters are rock solid, deep, interesting, and thoughtfully brought to life by excellent performance. Tucci and Fiennes are in their bag.
The Movie-that-builds-character-through-perspective Award:
22. A Different Man
Commendable that the film trusts the audience to understand character perspective and motivations rather than explicitly explaining it to them. Ingrid thinks that this is her movie and her story because she gets to “save” Edward, for example. Outstanding work from Stan, Reinsve, and Pearson. Schimberg is a steady hand and I don’t write this as an insult, but I would love to know what the Coen Bros would have done with this script - filled with identity conflict, uncomfortable comedy, and contingent relationships.
The Pure-cinema-baby Award:
21. The Fall Guy
Gosling + French speaking dog, Jean-Claude, on a well-choreographed romp through the city = pure fun. As one of the finest living actors, seeing Gosling choose to spend his time on this and Barbie has helped elevate and redesign the modern blockbuster.
The Sneaky-audition-for-James-Bond Award:
20. The Killer
After seeing Omar Sy fall in line through awful Jurassic World films, I had absolutely no sense for what he could pull off here. He must be considered for the new Bond. Emmanuel holds her own as a convincing action hero, too. Woo, a filmmaker on my “must explore further” list for 2025, deserves a theatrical release if this is the quality of projects he still puts together.
The I-was-entertained! Award:
19. Gladiator II
The only thing that Ridley’s camera loves more than Mescal is Denzel, which gets at my biggest substantive issue with the film. The plot is spread way too thin and some of the characters, particularly Lucius, suffer from it.
The practical effects and set pieces were sweet and Mescal is a real star. He’s not Crowe, though, which is totally fine and a super high bar to clear. I just wish the screenplay would have done him a few favors to highlight their differences rather than expose the dissimilarities.
The One-movie-my-fiancé-wanted-to-see-this-year Award
18. Wicked
Once per week my fiancé and I have a ritual. I send her a trailer of the movie(s) that I want to see in the next week and she tells me which one(s) she’s interested in. To my dismay, I ended up in the theater alone for Cocaine Bear on opening day. Wicked has been on her radar for all of 2024 and she initiated our plans to go see it. That’s what dreams are made of, folks. Grande and Erivo blew me away. The stage version of this will always be better - it lets the music and performances shine uninterrupted by the need for CGI and “movie making” but this really works.
The Movie-that-should-be-required-viewing-for-young-men Award:
17. How to Have Sex
Of all the films I saw this year, this one stuck with me more than I expected. McKenna-Bruce puts in a pedestrian (compliment) performance as a young woman going through the trials of emerging adulthood. Sexual assault in this film feels written and enacted true to life for many - gray, blurred, confusing, and frightening. The film, though, is morally consistent and clear about how important consent is. Can’t help but feel like this should be essential viewing for 15-25 year old boys.
The Can’t-believe-we’re-doing-this-again Award:
16. The Apprentice
Paced at hyper speed, superbly acted, and it knows exactly how it wants to portray Trump and Cohn. Strong and Stan are excellent. It’s running on all cylinders when the two of them are romping around New York exchanging their narcissistic and dangerous world views. Unfortunately, after the first act, that style comes to a halt.
I’ve read other opinions, from those that are way more down on this film than I am, that watching Trump learn to be terrible is less affecting because we have lived his terribleness for a decade. I think this criticism is fair but the real issue is that watching Trump becoming an ego maniac and real estate scam artist just isn’t that interesting and so the movie suffers because of it. It would have been better, for me, if it spent more time exploring how Frankenstein built his monster and lost control over it rather than watching the monster do monster stuff.
The Prototypical-summer-blockbuster Award:
15. Twisters
Is this movie amazing? No, it really isn’t. Though, I can’t many films that embody what it was like to go see a true summer blockbuster like when I was a kid. It’s competent, cheesy, and features a true movie star in Powell and soon to be star David Cornsweat. There’s a scene in which Glen Powell dons a white t-shirt in the rain and then proves himself to not just be an extremely successful tik-tok-er but also an incognito scientist. Sex appeal through the roof.
The Best-bit-of-the-year Award:
14. Problemista
A cross between a hipster coming of age story and an extended I Think You Should Leave sketch. I happen to love both things. The personification of Craigslist is my favorite bit of the year. Truly laugh-out-loud funny while being smart, quick, and relevant. Swinton would be an easy nominee for Best Supporting Actress, if I had my druthers.
The Overthink-it Award:
13. A Complete Unknown
Fast forward to December, 2025 and check my Instagram story to see that Timothée Chalamet and Monica Barbaro are my top artists on my Spotify Wrapped. This movie has issues, yes. I just can’t stop thinking about how much this plays like Dylan’s music; the songs and performances speak for themselves and allow us to interpret them how we want. Couldn’t stop smiling during a few sequences. If you tell me how to feel and then force me to feel it, I’m all in. This succeeds.
The Only-movie-that-made-me-cry-in-the-theater Award:
12. The Wild Robot
Emotional, genuine, and wonderfully constructed. Nyong’o is excellent in one of the best voice acting performances of the decade. Matching her voice with the stature and style of the animation is flawlessly executed and results in a singular story of loss, identity, transition, and parenthood. I can only hope there’s more movies around like this when I have kids.
The Only-musical-performance-I-ever-want-to-see-at-the-Oscars Award:
11. Kneecap
In a year overflowing with musicals, Kneecap stands out for all the right reasons - it’s original, stylish, and raw. Frequently, musical biopics link the artist with the time that they either became famous, originated, or declined. Here, the world perspective actually shapes the artists in an intriguing way on its own. Add in the artists themselves as the embodiment of chaos and charisma, you have something successful.
The Best-DC-film-since-Nolan Award:
10. The People’s Joker
Unlike its satanic counterpart from this year, Joker: Folie á POO, it’s actually worth watching. More than any other film this year, its director places themselves on display for everyone to see (literally and figuratively). Vera Drew uses a (too) familiar set of characters to walk us through their journey, resulting in something truly singular, hilarious, and affecting.
The Prequel-that-never-stood-a-chance Award:
9. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
Does everything you want it to do - world building on the previous film in a tasteful and effective way. I felt as though this lacked a bit of emotion. Theron and Hardy do the strong silent acting through action thing substantially better than Taylor-Joy. Because of this, Hemsworth’s (very fun) Dementus doesn’t have a dramatic counterpart or foil. Miller does action as good as anyone alive, so it’s hard to be too down on a movie that does practical effects we’ve never seen before. The biggest sin this makes is showing us a substantially better film during the end credits, reminding us to compare what we saw to what was one of the best films of the 2010s.
The Batman-film-we-deserved-but-didn’t-know-we-needed Award:
8. Rebel Ridge
Saulnier takes an exhausted formula and transforms it into something original. This ain’t his first rodeo, either. He’s one of the most patient storytellers when it comes to introducing protagonists (reminds me often of Paul Schrader’s recent films). Because he’s operating in familiar narratives, he can toy with the audience to draw us in before revealing the true nature of what he wants to do. Here, it’s an angry young man that’s been betrayed and stolen from but refuses to disregard his principles. It sounds familiar but I promise you, it feels new.
The Representation-on-screen-matters Award:
7. A Real Pain
Sometimes a movie feels like it was made for you and sometimes it feels like it was made for the whole Reformed Diaspora. As Jews, we’re imprinted with the burden of our ancestors - being slaves in Egypt, the Holocaust, etc. What isn’t taught to us is how those acnestrial experiences transcend the stories and songs to work themselves into out lives manifesting as seemingly little stressors. The strain felt by both Eisenberg and Culkin’s characters feel real (& painful).
The Sir-this-is-a-Wendys Award:
6. The Brutalist
Corbet puts his actors in a difficult situation throughout this epic (?) that spans multiple decades. Because the themes and metaphors are relentlessly pounded into the audience via the characters, Jones, Pearce, Alwyn, and Nivola have to portray complex archetypes while representing a “thing” or “action” that happens “to” Brody’s character. The messages are forced to penetrate you in a way to be as exhausting as they feel for Toth when he’s being kicked out of his cousin’s house or paraded around as a fun new toy by his patron. Mostly, it works for me. Corbet doesn’t need to scream at me how important he thinks his movie is, though. Beautifully shot and my favorite score of the year.
The A24-shit-the-bed Award:
5. Sing Sing
What if I told you there was a movie that came out this year with genuine and earnest performances telling a true to life story about redemption, rehabilitation and failing systems? You may be ready to head out to your local cinema to see such a picture. Too bad. Can’t see it. A24 has had an interesting decade thus far as it's seen its reputation rise as an art house turned power house. The backlash is starting and, for me, this is ground zero.
Colman Domingo leads an ensemble of former convicts playing themselves as they learn to love art and their fellow inmates. Not knowing anything, I looked up Clarence Maclin on the train ride home hoping to be able to start exploring his filmography. The performance of the year, for me, comes from Maclin in his first film and I cannot wait to see what comes his way next.
The Three-genres-in-one Award:
4. Anora
The first Sean Baker film I’ve been able to see in theaters, unless you count the time I had to drape a sweatshirt over my head and ipad on a train while watching Starlet to avoid exposing the people around me to the kinds of graphic material Baker excels at. In his most accessible film, he continues to find ways to demonstrate the unfairness of the world and how only some get to have fun.
Madison is incredible throughout a film that varies from romance to comedy to drama all within the span of 20 minutes. The physical comedy is off the charts thanks to the chemistry between Madison and breakout Yura Borisov. I hope that Borisov joins Karagulian (his best performance since Tangerine) as a regular in Baker’s company.
The Movie-that-is-fulfilling-the-prophecy Award:
3. Dune: Part Two
In a world void of young movie stars, this definitively introduces the next generation: Chalamet, Zendaya, Butler, Taylor-Joy, & Pugh. Each of these elite talents are proving that they have the capacity to choose jobs that have a healthy mix of quality, auteurism, and scale. Spoilers, but Butler steals the show for me by slithering into a true supporting performance with limited long-term upside within the franchise.
There are multiple sequences here that would qualify as the climax of any other high achieving science fiction movie. If only other blockbusters could muster up the same quality in front of and behind the camera, we’d be having much different conversations around the IP-ification of Hollywood.
The Everything-is-sex Award:
2. Challengers
Luca has a strong history of getting the most out of his actors. Here, he inspires a true three-hander with Zendaya, O’Connor, and Faist all at the peak of their powers. The characters are written to be larger than life but the performances keep them glued to the ground, relatable, and human.
A film that feels experimental with its visual style and sound but controlled in its storytelling turns into an undeniable thrill ride from start to finish. A masterful use of non-linear storytelling, Luca hits his marks over and over again. The final sequence had my heart pounding.
The Movie-that-made-me-reconsider-what-movies-can-be Award:
1. Nickel Boys
A masterful combination of vision and control that left me utterly devastated. A film told from the first-person perspective of the characters; it captures what it feels like to see a tree blow in the same wind you can feel against your face or to see a cake be cut that you know how to taste. When you begin to feel comfortable with the perspective RaMell Ross gives you, he switches perspectives between the two deeply rich protagonists to give you a whole new look at the characters and their shared world. Maybe most impressively, Ross is able to mimic the solipsistic nature and pace of real life. It’s a miracle that this works as well as it does, especially when Ross decides to break his own rules. Events unfold quickly but don’t feel rushed. The ending had me stuck in my seat for several minutes after the credits rolled. This is a 1/1.
