In no particular order here are my favorite movies I watched in 2024 regardless of how new or old they are. Rewatches were not included here:
This 2023 Best Picture nominee absolutely earned its placed with the academy during last award season. Sandra Huller gives a stand-out performance in this family drama wrapped up in a murder mystery. The movie drifts back and forth between English- and French-spoken dialogue and there are other ways in which the movie demands your full attention. If you watch movies with intention and focus and just appreciate well-made dramas, this is a must-see.
This well-deserved Best Picture winner excels in just about everything it sets out to do. It’s a raw survival story set in a particularly wintery slice of the 1820s. DiCaprio is on-point as you’d expect and Tom Hardy effortlessly slips into character like usual. I’ve heard some detractors state that DiCaprio just does a lot of grunting and crawling, the bear looks fake or that the movie doesn’t have much of a message. I can see those perspectives but other than some minor blemishes this movie is a real tour-de-force that holds you in the palm of its hand for the entire 2 1/2 hours despite how often we only see one or two characters on screen. A great accomplishment.
It’s a real shame how much this movie was denied accolades during award season. It’s a spectacular biopic about a wrestling family with high standards and demanding regimens, and how some didn’t come out alive. Zac Efron and Jeremy Allen White bulk up noticeably to play two of the von Erich brothers and do an admirable job. This is not one of those movies where they try to get actors that look exactly like their real-life counterparts, so wrestling fans will want to have the right mindset going in so as to avoid a bit of disappointment (especially with Ric Flair’s likeness. Yikes). I wasn’t as big a fan of Holt McCallany and Maura Tierney in this movie for various reasons, but they’re not bad. Overall I was extremely pleased with how this movie turned out. It seemed like the filmmakers had real reverence for the subject matter (never a guarantee) and the movie intersects a lot of demographics that I think would really appreciate it.
This tale of a black author who writes an intentionally-contrived novel about the African-American experience is extremely smart and often very funny. Based on Percival Everett’s novel, Erasure, we get to see the hilarious results when a minority artist caters solely and directly to a white audience desperate to exorcise their own white guilt. If you’re one of those people, you should still laugh at this. There are real lessons to be learned from this movie as well. I think I’ll watch just about anything Jeffrey Wright is in and the story has heart while also being riotous in some ways. The way this movie threads the needle on its subject matter so that anyone can and should enjoy it is its greatest accomplishment.
This Ethan Hawke time travel extravaganza is a mind-bender to the Nth degree. Sarah Snooke of Succession fame plays Hawke’s counterpart who may not be who she seems. Once you see the movie you’ll realize how true that generic statement really is! I have heard complaints that this movie doesn’t actually make sense, and if I laboriously mapped it out maybe I’d agree, but I had way too much fun to care. My disbelief was thoroughly suspended for this one. It’s a wild ride that will have you piecing things together on the fly. This is a great time travel story that will stick with all but the most pedantic movie fans.
Jim Henson, Frank Oz & Co. do a masterful job at bringing this mythical world to life and setting the stage for a solid hero’s journey where everything is a puppet or animatronic. All I could think of was “I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to see this.” The movie is a solid adventure full of wonder and imagination. The puppets and sets are amazing and now also exist as landmarks of the past: these monumental efforts in practical effects are simply not done anymore unfortunately. Regardless this movie will fill you with awe throughout its very reasonable run-time (93 min). I felt that the main character was uninteresting and not well-thought out, but otherwise this is a movie that is well-deserving of its cult status and frankly I think it deserves a bit more than that even.
Do you like racing? Watch this. Do you like animation? Watch this. Do you appreciate attention to detail and vibrant worlds? I could go on and on. I started watching this movie years ago with subtitles and stopped. There was way too much going on visually to fully appreciate it while reading the bottom of the screen constantly. Finally in 2024 I decided to sit down and watch it in earnest. I’m honestly shocked that I never hear about this movie. I just checked again and it is rare to see it on a “top anime movies” list of any kind. To me it is an anime hit and a huge landmark for animation in general. The races are amazing, the character designs are top-notch, the world is rich with personality and the artwork is simply incredible. It’s more of a fun ride than anything and there lacks an emotional component, but that is about as negative as I can get. The movie rocks. It’s fast, funny, colorful and just a joy to watch. Highly-recommended, and I would defy anyone to watch the first 15 minutes and not be enticed to see more.
Is there much else to say about this one in the year 2024? It was and still is a groundbreaking film. The story of two men in love spanning across decades still hits hard, letting us know we still have a lot of work to do here in the real world. Gyllenhaal has been the most underrated working actor for a long time and Heath Ledger is at the height of his powers here. Anyone that isn’t dead inside will yearn for Jack and Ennis to find happiness. Towards the end I started playing in my mind what it would be like if these two characters could fulfill their dreams and live a carefree life. A powerful movie that, oddly, will be forgotten once the issues it raises are resolved for real. We may be waiting awhile though.
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This list became hard to narrow down once I realized how many movies I saw were just barely under the threshold of what I consider “great” or “best”. That’s okay though since I have other categories on the way where I think other movies that just missed may still be recognized. Also, don’t worry: I haven’t forgotten about the bad ones either. Those will be recognized too whether they like it or not! Should be fun. Keep reading.
