Happy New Year all (I assume you are all reading this as soon as it has been uploaded by me, I mean what else would you be doing? Nursing hangovers? spending time with your loved ones?). Here once again is my blog post listing my favourite films from the year 2024, I managed to watch 165 films (over many different platforms) from the year 2024, which is a lot, not as many as last year, but still far too many. I have spent far too much time watching a lot of mediocre and bad films this year, instead of you know, hanging out with the few people I like or whose company I can tolerate. Was it worth it, no it definitely was not worth it. A full list of all the films I saw is published at the bottom of this post, with a basic rating for each film. Again, like most years, some of the films listed as watched here might have been released in 2023 elsewhere (quite a few in the Top 21 come under this category), however here in the wonderful city of Prague I was only able to access them this year.
So how
was 2024 for films? I would say it was quite a bad year all in all, there were to
be fair a lot more films that I rated Good or Excellent, than there were ones that I rated Bad or Awful,
however there were also a quite a lot that I would just rate as Meh. Though this year unlike previous ones, I was
not able to get 21 films that I rated as Excellent,
so had to delve into the films rated Good
to round up the list (yes, I know I could have not had a Top 21 this year, I
could have done a Top 10 or Top 15, however that did not occur to me until
after I had done all the work putting the list together). As we have discussed
previously, I may have low standards when it comes to films I like, so the fact
I found it hard to come up with a Top 21 out of 165 films shows just how bad a
year, I thought this was. Anyway, please take all my recommendations with a
pinch of salt, as I am just a normal guy writing a blog, a super handsome
normal guy, just a super handsome, super smart normal guy.
Also,
just a note, my friend Jerry also does a best of the year blog, which he
publishes nearer the Academy Awards, he is much more discerning and really into
horror films. Check it out here!
Also please be aware that this post might contain unintentional
spoilers
The Top Twenty-One
21) Boy Kills
World
A fun action film, set in a
dystopian city run by the evil Van Der Koy family. The film stars Bill
Skarsgård as, the titular deaf and mute Boy, who has been trained most of his
life, by a reclusive shaman to be the ultimate fighting machine, so he can
extract revenge on the Van Der Koy family for killing his family. There are
some great action-set-pieces and martial arts in the film, however what I loved
about the film is that we get to hear Boy’s inner monologue, which is voiced by
H. Jon Benjamin, (the voice of Stirling Archer), and it is hilarious.
20) The Count of Monte Cristo
Along with the two Three
Musketeers films (D'Artagnan last year and its follow-up Milady this year),
there have been some really enjoyable, lavish adaptations of books by Alexandre
Dumas, coming out of France recently, and the latest is this version of Dumas’
classic tale of revenge, The Count of Monte Cristo. Though I have enjoyed
previous iterations of the film, especially the 1975 Richard Chamberlain one,
this may be my favourite so far. Pierre Niney is excellent as Edmond Dantès, a
sailor wrongly imprisoned on the day of his wedding, who returns after 15 years
to exact revenge on the men who wronged him and took everything away from him.
19) The Return
I have always loved the
Odyssey, ever since I was young and saw the book being read on children’s TV (Yes
British children’s TV used to be a lot more interesting). This film is an
adaptation of the last part of the book, after Odysseus (Ralph Fiennes) returns
to Ithaca, to deal with the suitors of his wife Penelope (Juliette Binoche). The
film forgoes all the fantastical and mythical elements of the story and deals
with the returning Odysseus as man broken, who after ten years of fighting in
Troy, is not completely sure he deserves to return home, and the wife and son
he left behind cold to his homecoming.
18) The Boy and
the Heron
Hayao Miyazaki brings us
another instant classic. The Boy and the Heron is set during World War II in Japan,
and follows a young boy called Mahito, who loses his mother during an air raid.
Mahito’s father then marries his late wife’s sister Natsuko and evacuates the
family to the countryside. Mahito is lured into a fantastically otherworld by
the titular Heron, with vague promises of bringing his mother back, though of
course things are not as they seem. This film brings to mind another of Miyazaki’s
classics, Spirited Away, however considering how great that film is, that is not
a criticism.
17) MaXXXine
The third in the X film
series (the first two films being 2022’s X and its prequel Pearl). This film
follows Maxine, (the sole survivor of events of X six years earlier) in 1985, as
she tries to make the move out of acting in pornography, into more mainstream
acting via a horror film. While the real-life events of the Night Stalker murders
are a backdrop for the story, people around Maxine are killed and branded with
satanic symbols, and some mystery person threatens to expose Maxine’s involvement
in the events of X. There is tension present throughout in the background of
this film, which evokes the sleazier side of Hollywood in the 1980’s. Mia Goth
gives another fantastic performance and is surrounded by an excellent
supporting cast.
16) Gladiator II
OK let’s get it out of the
way, this is not as good as the first one, it is however it is still an
enjoyable film with some great action set pieces and some excellent
performances, especially from Denzil Washington as the devious Macrinus. The
film takes place about sixteen years after the events of the first film and
follows Lucius Verus Aurelius (the young boy from the first film, son of
Lucilla (Connie Nielsen) and heir to the former emperor Marcus Aurelius) played
by Paul Mescal, who while in hiding in North Africa, is captured, and sold as a
gladiator by his mother’s new husband General Acacius (Pedro Pascal). Macrinus
uses Lucius’ anger and desire for revenge as fuel for his own ambitions.
15) Dune:
Part Two
OK I’m going to just come
out and say it. I’m not fan of the book, maybe I should give it another go, but
I tend to find some science fiction is not for me. I do however like Denis
Villeneuve two-part adaptations of the book. The film is obviously visually stunning.
The cast is great, with the edition of Christopher Walken, Florence Pugh, and
Austin Butler to the already stacked cast from the first film. All of whom give
compelling performances, especially Timothée Chalamet as Paul Atreides burdened
with his sense of destiny.
14) A Quiet Place:
Day One
My favourite of the Quiet
Place films so far. This one as the title suggests is a prequel dealing with
the first day of the aliens arriving and attacking humanity. The film follows Lupita
Nyong'o’s Sam, a terminally ill cancer patient, who is on a day trip to New
York from her hospice, when the first attacks occur. The rest of film then
follows Sam, her cat Frodo and Eric (Joesph Quinn), a British law student who
is in shock, as they make their way through a desolate New York. Sam just wants
to go to a jazz club that her father used to perform at, and to get a pizza from
her favourite pizzeria, before she dies, as was her plan before the aliens
came, and Eric will not leave her alone to get himself to safety. A surprisingly
beautiful and poignant film.
13) The Holdovers
A wonderful character piece
about three lonely people in 1970 New England. A teacher Paul Hunham (Paul
Giamatti), a student Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa) and cafeteria manager Mary Lamb
(Da'Vine Joy Randolph) who must spend the Christmas holidays at the prestigious
boarding school they work at and attend. Each are unhappy with their current situation,
Hunham is being punished for failing the son of a major school donor, Tully’s
mother has gone off on a honeymoon with her new husband, leaving her son at the
school for the holidays, and Lamb’s is dealing with the death of her son in
Vietnam. The three of them form a sort of family and help each other through
this trying period. All the performances are great, notably Giamatti, playing curmudgeonly
with a heart of gold to perfection.
12) The Zone of
Interest
OK be warned this is not a
fun film, it takes place at Auschwitz concentration camp, and shows the life of
its commandant Rudolf Höss and his family (his wife and five children) in their
home adjacent to the camp. We are never shown the horrors of what happens in
the camp (though we can hear things in the background), but as we know what was
happening just over the other side of the walls of their home, the horrors
always loom over what the Höss family consider their idyllic life.
11) Godzilla
Minus One
I have not been a fan of any
of the recent American Godzilla films, (though did like Kong: Skull Island),
they seem to lack something for me. For a long time, I thought it was the fact
that the focus of the films was on the human characters, now I know that it’s
the fact that the focus was on a bunch of boring and annoying characters.
Godzilla Minus One shows us how good a Godzilla film can be with compelling
characters and good writing. Also, the fact that it was made for about 1/10th
of the budget of the American films should give someone somewhere pause for
thought. The film follows Kōichi Shikishima a kamikaze pilot, who near the end
of World War II encounters Godzilla for the first time, and panics which leads
to in his mind the death of those around him. Years later he again encounters Godzilla,
and this time must act to save his new found family and possible find some form
of redemption.
10) The 4:30
Movie
I have been a fan of Kevin
Smith’s work for a long time, ever since I came across Mallrats on TV one late night
and then went and got Clerks on VHS from Blockbuster (yes, I’m that old). As
much love as I have for Smith’s earlier films, I have to say I’ve not been such
a big fan of his output for the last few years. The 4:30 Movie however reminded
me of how sweet and enjoyable Smith’s work can be. Set in New Jersey in 1986
the film follows Brian (looking a lot like a young Smith) as he attempts to
spend the whole day jumping between films at his local cinema with his two best
friends, avoiding the power mad cinema manager (Ken Jeong) as well as
attempting to get into an R-Rated film with his crush Melody. This is a
fantastic coming of age film and a great throwback for Gen Xers.
9) Robot Dreams
A beautiful, animated film based
on the graphical novel of the same name; the story follows a Dog living in New
York who orders a robot friend. We start of seeing their friendship blossom and
thrive, before tragedy strikes, and they are separated. In most other films
what would follow is the journey of the Dog and Robot finding their way back to
each other, however that is not what this film is about. It’s about fleeting
wonderful relationships and then being able to move onto, if not something
better, then just as good, when they end. That the film is also able to portray
so much feeling without any need for dialogue, shows the true genius of the storytelling.
8) Abigail
This is a surprising fun horror comedy.
A group of criminals break into a house and kidnap the titular Abigail (played by
Alisha Weir) after she returns home from ballet practice. The criminals
(including Dan Stevens, Melissa Barrera, Katherine Newton & Kevin Durand)
have been told to take her and then guard her, they will receive a ransom of
$50 Million to share between them. Abigail is seeming nonplussed about the
whole situation, and states to Joey (Barrera) that her father doesn’t care
about her. Then the kidnappers start dying in gory and horrific fashion. They
find out that Abigail’s father is Kristof Lazaar (Matthew Goode) a legendary
crime lord and they suspect that his notorious enforcer called Valdez has been
sent after them. I don’t want to spoil anything else (if you aren’t already
aware of what happens), as the reveal is truly fun and inventive.
7) Deadpool
& Wolverine
One of only three comic
books films I enjoyed this year (the others being Robot Dreams and Hellboy: The
Crooked Man). I was probably always going to like this film; however, I was
surprised by how much I really loved it. Ryan
Reynolds returns as Wade Wilson, still the Merc with the Mouth, but diminished
somewhat after being rejected by the Avengers and then breaking up with Vanessa
(Morena Baccarin). He is pulled into a
multiversal adventure by the TVA (from the TV show Loki) and must team up with
a version of Wolverine (Huge Jackman playing a completed different take on the
character from what we have seen before) to save his world. Some great action
set pieces, lots of fun comic book in jokes and some unexpected enjoyable
cameos (especially one by someone playing a character, that they tried to bring
to the screen for nearly a decade), this film has heart and laughs and is a
fitting love letter to the often flawed but still important 20th
Century Fox Marvel films.
6) Fallen Leaves
A wonderful Finnish
film (that was recommended to me by my friend Kolombo), sees two lonely and desperate
people in Helsinki, Ansa (Alma Pöysti) a minimum wage worker and Holappa (Jussi
Vatanen) a sandblaster with a drinking problem, who find each other and start
up an unlikely romance. They meet up randomly throughout the film and events
seem to conspire to keep them apart, however they seemingly get through them
and find some solace with each other. Though the premise may seem a bit
depressing the film is full of some rather sweet and tender moments, as the two leads go
through different hardships but carry on regardless.
5) Conclave
A surprisingly tense
thriller from the director of 2022’s All Quiet on the Western Front. Set during
a conclave to elect a new pope after the death of the previous one. Ralph
Fiennes’ Cardinal Lawerence must navigate through the politics and backstabbing
of the different factions within the cardinals, to try and steer a smooth
transition for the new Pope (whoever it maybe) and possibly a change in the
direction for the church, to this already anxious situation a surprise Cardinal
(how many times can you use that in a sentence) is added, possibly causing
further issues for Lawerence himself. Full of some fantastic performances,
especially from Fiennes, Stanley Tucci as his friend and fellow Cardinal, and
Isabella Rossellini in a small yet important role. Definitely worth a watch.
4) Poor Things
A whimsical and interesting take
on the Frankenstein story from Yorgos Lanthimos. Set in the Victorian era the
film tells the story of Bella (Emma Stone) a pregnant woman who committed suicide
and then has her brain replaced with that of her own foetus, by mad scientist
Dr Godwin Baxter (Willem Defoe). Bella quickly shows accelerated learning and soon
discovers sexual pleasure, leading her to run off with Mark Ruffalo’s sleazy lawyer
Duncan Wedderburn. Full of eccentrically good performances, with the standout
of course being Emma Stone, however Ruffalo is also extremely good in this film.
Be warned though, the film is full of sexual content so be careful who you
watch it with.
3) American
Fiction
American Fiction follows
author Dr Thelonious "Monk" Ellison (played by Jeffrey Wright), whose
novels though popular with academics, do not sell well. After his latest
manuscript is rejected by his publisher for not being “Black Enough” and after
seeing the popularity of a book that panders to the lowest common denominators
of Black Stereotypes, Ellison gets drunk and writes a satirical novel full of
the same Black Stereotypes he hates and sends it to his agent who sees it for
what it is and is apprehensive to send it to any publisher. However, to his and
Ellison’s utter surprise, a renowned publisher not understanding that it is a
satirical joke, loves it and send the cash strapped Ellison a big advance. Ellison
must now sell a fake persona and a popular book that he hates writing, all
while dealing with several family issues. Another film with a great cast, full
of superb performance especially from Wright and Sterling K. Brown (playing Ellison’s
brother).
2) All Of Us
Strangers
This was very close to being
my number one film of the year. The film follows Adam (Andrew Scott), a
television screenwriter, who starts a relationship with his neighbour Harry (Paul
Mescal). Around the same time, he starts to visit his now abandoned, old
childhood home, where he encounters what seems to be the ghosts of his parents
(Jamie Bell & Claire Foy), who died decades ago. He keeps returning to them
and has a series of conversations with them, including coming out to them, and
dealing with his father’s treatment of him when he was a child and being
bullied. Through these interactions Adam, is then able to move on somewhat and
find a sense of closure. A brilliant film, with fantastic performances all
round, and an ending that really hits you in the gut.
1) Perfect Days
Some might find this a surprising pick for my film of
the year, however I have always been a fan of Wim Wenders work, with Wings of
Desire being one of my favourite films of all time and his first feature film
in seven years shows that he still has it. This film follows Hirayama (played
by Kōji Hashimoto), as he goes about his days cleaning public bathrooms in the Shibuya
district of Tokyo. He is a quiet unassuming man, who does his job diligently and
spends his free time reading, listening to music on his collection of cassette
tapes, and taking pictures of nature. Even when his routines are interrupted by
his unruly assistant or unexpected visit from his niece, Hirayama takes
everything is his stride. The film doesn’t really have much of a story, Hirayama’s
background is only hinted at with his interactions with his niece and sister
and nothing really extraordinary happens to him, it more about how Hirayama
just lives in the moment, enjoying the simple pleasures and it gives off a feeling
of calm and contentment.
And my worst film
of the year for 2024 is.........
Madame Web
It was a very close-run thing between this and Rebel Moon Part II - The Scargiver,
however this film takes it mainly because the sole reason this film exists, is
greed and ignorance. This character didn’t need a film, the same can be said
for some of the other films in the Sony's Spider-Man Universe (specifically
Morbius and Kraven the Hunter). These films show that Sony do not understand
what comic book fans want, they have the rights to bunch of Spider-Man related
characters, most of whom are villains and they thought great, let’s fundamentally
change the characters and people will still come and pay for it, well they were
wrong. Add to that the fact that this film has three actual superheroes (two
incarnations of Spider-Woman and one of Spider-Girl/Araña) yet we only get
brief glimpses of them superheroing in a flashforward vision, and instead focus
on a characters whose sole purpose so far has been to sit in a floating chair
and dish out advise and warnings to heroes, should give you a hint of how much
Sony don’t get it. This film is boring, the characters are annoying, also
seemingly morons which just adds to the annoyance levels of this entire film.
As awful as Rebel Moon Part II - The Scargiver is, it is at least somewhat of a
passion project for Zack Snyder, not just a soulless cash grab.
Complete list of Films I watched in 2024.
Ratings
Excellent = Must watch
Good = Should watch
Meh = Fine
Bad = Can be avoided
Awful = Avoid
A Quiet
Place Day One - Excellent
Abigail
- Excellent
Adam The
First - Meh
Alien:
Romulus - Good
All Of
Us Strangers - Excellent
American
Fiction - Excellent
American
Star - Meh
Anyone
But You - Meh
Aporia -
Meh
Arcadian
- Bad
Argylle
- Bad
Atlas - Bad
Bad Boys
Ride or Die - Meh
Beetlejuice,
Beetlejuice - Good
Between
The Temples - Bad
Beverly
Hills Cop Axel F - Meh
Bleeding
Love - Good
Blitz - Good
Bob
Marley One Love - Meh
Borderlands
- Bad
Bottoms
- Bad
Boy
Kills World - Good
Brothers
- Bad
Bucky
F*cking Dent - Meh
Carry On
- Good
Challengers
- Good
City
Hunter - Good
Civil
War - Meh
Conclave
- Excellent
Coup - Meh
Damsel -
Bad
Deadpool
& Wolverine - Excellent
Dear
Santa - Meh
Didi - Meh
Drive-Away
Dolls - Bad
Dune:
Part Two - Good
Eileen -
Bad
Enter
the Clones of Bruce - Meh
Exhuma -
Bad
Ezra - Bad
Fallen
Leaves - Excellent
Ferrari
- Bad
Find Me
Falling - Good
Fly Me
to The Moon - Meh
Frida - Good
Furiosa:
A Mad Max Saga - Bad
Ghostbusters:
Frozen Empire - Meh
Ghostlighting
- Meh
Gladiator
2 - Good
Godzilla
Minus One - Excellent
Godzilla
X Kong the New Empire - Bad
Good
Grief - Meh
Goodrich
- Meh
Greedy
People - Meh
Havel
Speaking Can You Hear Me - Good
Hellboy:
The Crooked Man - Good
Here - Meh
Heretic
- Good
Hit Man
- Good
Hoard - Meh
Horizon
An American Saga - Chapter 1 - Bad
I Used
to Be Funny - Good
IF - Bad
Inside
Out 2 - Good
Invitation
to a Murder - Meh
Jackpot
- Meh
Joker:
Folie à Deux - Bad
Juror 2
- Meh
Justice
League Crisis on Infinite Earths Part One - Bad
Justice
League Crisis on Infinite Earths Part Three - Meh
Justice
League Crisis on Infinite Earths Part Two - Meh
Kill - Good
Kinds Of
Kindness - Good
Kingdom
of the Planet of the Apes - Bad
Kneecap
- Good
La
Chimera - Bad
Land Of
Bad - Meh
LaRoy,
Texas - Meh
Late
Bloomers - Bad
Late
Night with The Devil - Bad
Lee - Good
Lights
Out - Bad
Lisa
Frankenstein - Meh
Longing
- Bad
Longlegs
- Good
Love
Lies Bleeding - Good
Madame
Web - Awful
MaXXXine
- Good
Mean
Girls - Bad
Megalopolis
- Meh
Miller's
Girl - Bad
Monkey
Man - Good
My Old
Ass - Good
Napoleon
- Meh
Next
Goal Wins - Meh
Night
Swim - Meh
Nutcrackers
- Meh
One Life
- Meh
Perfect
Days - Excellent
Poor
Things - Excellent
Problemista
- Meh
Rebel
Moon Part II - The Scargiver - Awful
Red One
- Bad
Ricky
Stanicky - Good
Road
House - Meh
Robot
Dreams - Excellent
Saturday
Night - Meh
Scoop - Bad
Self
Reliance - Meh
Shayda -
Good
Sleeping
Dogs - Meh
Smile 2
- Good
Society
Of the Snow - Meh
Sonic
the Hedgehog 3 - Bad
Spaceman
- Good
Super/Man
the Christopher Reeve Story - Good
The 4:30
Movie - Excellent
The
American Society of Magical Negroes - Bad
The
Beach Boys - Good
The
Beast - Good
The
Beautiful Game - Bad
The
Beekeeper - Good
The
Bikeriders - Good
The Book
of Clarence - Bad
The Boy
and the Heron - Good
The Boys
in The Boat - Bad
The
Count of Monte-Cristo - Good
The
Critic - Meh
The Crow
- Meh
The
Exorcism - Meh
The Fall
Guy - Good
The
Holdovers - Excellent
The
Instigators - Meh
The Iron
Claw - Good
The
Killer - Meh
The
Killer's Game - Bad
The
Kitchen - Bad
The Lord
of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim - Good
The
Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare - Good
The
Movie Emperor - Good
The
Piano Lesson - Good
The
Return - Good
The
Substance - Good
The
Taste of Things - Good
The
Three Musketeers - Part II Milady - Good
The
Union - Bad
The
Watchers - Meh
The Zone
of Interest - Excellent
Thelma -
Good
Transformers
One - Meh
Trap - Good
Treasure
- Bad
Tuesday
- Good
Twisters
- Meh
Unicorns
- Good
Venom
The Last Dance - Meh
Wallace
& Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl - Good
Watchmen
Chapter I - Good
Watchmen
Chapter II – Good
Wicked - Good
Wicked
Little Letters - Meh
Will
& Harper - Good
William
Shatner: You Can Call Me Bill - Bad
Wish - Bad
Wolfs - Good
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