My Favorite Movies of 2024

A quick top 15 list...

I was really down on the movie year generally speaking. Most of the year, I didn’t feel I had a lot films I was looking forward to, either. So I ended up missing a number of the films that did pop up and were well-received. Apologies for being unable to muster the motivation for the usual in-depth review of the year you’ve come to expect from the newsletter, but, in addition to my Best Movies series I’ve got a super-secret (but very awesome) writing project taking up all of my time these days (more on that in a few months!).

I’ll play some catch up next year. Maybe after I see some of the films I’ve missed, I’ll re-evaluate 2024’s relative merits, but for now, instead of a full essay, I’m gonna dive into the list and add a few observations after.

The list, with the best being on top:

1. The Brutalist

2. Wicked

3. Furiosa

4. Dune 2

5. Kings of Tupelo

6. Anora

7. A Complete Unknown

8. Saturday Night

9. Kneecap

10. Snack Shack

11. Rebel Ridge

12. Civil War

13. A Different Man

14. Twisters

15. I Saw the TV Glow

It was a fantastic year for cinematography, though. The Brutalist, Dune 2, Anora, and I Saw the TV Glow were incredibly shot.

I Saw the TV Glow was particularly eventful for me - it was the first time I felt truly ancient - seeing the next generation’s filmmakers bring an entirely different perspective to cinema. I am of the old order now. It was perplexing and exhilarating to see something that feels like a film from the future - as an audience member, I felt like a relic, like a species witnessing what comes after its extinction.

Some of the most fun I had were with the year’s unexpected gems:

Kings of Tupelo shouldn’t qualify. It’s not a movie, technically. It didn’t screen in movie theaters, and was released on Netflix as a 3-episode docu-series. But it was one of the most entertaining, jaw-dropping holy-shit experiences with moving pictures for the year.

Kneecap is a true-life recreation of the story of a rap band from Wales who raps in Welsh, where speaking the language in and of itself is a defiant act.

Rebel Ridge was one of the best indie action flicks I’ve seen in ages and Snack Shack was a wonderful coming-of-age comedy that felt like a throwback to the summer-fun flicks of the ‘80s.

I loved both Furiosa and Dune 2, but I am also looking forward to seeing those directors return to finding something new, instead of continuing franchises. Villenueve still has one more Dune flick to make, and I am indeed looking forward to it, but I’ll be looking forward to his next one after that even more.

Wicked is listed as only my second-favorite but I suspect it’ll be the one I rewatch the most. I was unprepared for the depth of the world-building and the adult revisionism of the concept of the Wizard of Oz - a character who, in this telling, is a little bit Wonka, a little bit Palpatine.

And The Brutalist was by far and away the best film of the year. Gut-wrenching performances and beautiful photography.