First off let me just say that the space separating the top three movies this year is a flimsy and fragile thing – ask me tomorrow and this might well be #1. It took me a long time just to try to order these last movies.
Incredible star-making turns from both Glen Powell and Adria Arjona – although his career seems to have taken off much more than hers, they are both flaming-star great in this. I finished this desperate to watch more things that they were in and I very much look forward to continuing in that quest.
Linklater’s writing and direction are both top-notch here, balancing the humor of the fake hit setups with the danger of his, um, side hustle and the sexiness of their developing relationship. And boy howdy is this a sexy movie, not in a gross 15 year old way or even in a Fatal Attraction / Basic Instinct fashion.
Almost certainly the most pure fun I’ve had watching a movie in 2024. Really really great.
Just a perfect little movie. Nothing monumental, nothing that makes it stand out and make lists of the Top 100 movies of the 2000s (for example), but everything is just RIGHT.
Start with the best David Mamet script possible – sharp and witty but with heart and without some of the most egregious Mametisms that draw too much attention to themselves and take you out of the film. Then the entire cast is impeccable – William H, Macy, Sarah Jessica Parker, Charles Dunning and Patti LuPone, even Alec Baldwin is perfect as the pretty-yikes cad character.
But obviously the real key is my guy Philip Seymour Hoffman. Amazingly (or not I suppose) he plays great in a role that I’m not used to seeing him in – the shy ingenue writer who needs to figure out whether he can deal with these Hollywood crazies and what to do about this nice woman who seems interested.
It’s hardly a breakthrough or anything, but it’s just a prime example of its form. Funny and sweet and just nice.
I’m around 80% sure that understand the plot in full with all of the twists, turns, flashbacks, and reveals, but while normally that would be annoying in this particular instance it didn’t bother me at all. It actually kind of multiplied the effect of the non-stop chaos.
As for that chaos, Korea sure does know how to make a crazy-ass action movie doesn’t it? This kicks off with an extended “kill everyone in this building” sequence and never really slows down from there. I mean, it’s not The Raid: Redemption, let’s be reasonable, but it’s a whole lotta fun.
#5: Anatome d’une Chute (Anatomy of a Fall) (2023)
Tense not-technically-a-thriller is fascinating in a bunch of different ways – I’m still not sure of what happened with respect to the murder / accident, the French legal system was bizarre to watch (although arguably more sensible than ours), I’m not sure if the son truly believes his ultimate testimony or if he just decided on the outcome he wanted, and overall I just enjoyed the unusual feeling of not knowing how this was going to go at any given time.
But the reason why this movie is this far up is Sandra Hüller’s incredible command performance in the lead. You can just feel the depth behind her character’s icy facade and sense how she is processing everything – is she a cold, calculated killer? Driven by buried passions to a sudden act of violence? Not a killer at all, actually? If you know for sure, kindly inform me.
Pretty sure this is the highest-ranking movie in the history of doing these lists that I am NOT going to recommend that anyone see.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s great – so well done, masterful horror – but OH MY FUCKING GOD do you not want to have seen this. Trust me.
Look….a couple of times in the movie characters use the somewhat trite line of “God is dead.” But in this movie I’m pretty sure that they mean it literally. Like, there was a loving God, but that God is dead and gone now. Probably murdered. Because, man, the stuff that happens in this movie goes beyond casting doubt on such things. It’s just definite. God is dead, dude.
There were multiple times when I was just starting to wonder if they were going to go there when WHOMP they were right there in the middle of it. So yeah, if you’re a true sicko or if you need to be a completist about seeing all the best horror movies (because this is going to be on some lists) then sure, but don’t say you weren’t warned.
#7: Late Night With the Devil (2024)
Hooray for original horror that doesn’t make you want to gouge your own soul out!
Delightfully tense thriller that has you on the edge of your seat – you know that something is going to go horribly wrong, you just don’t know what. And there are plenty of candidates and ways that it could happen, too. Everything set up, even things that you don’t realize are part of the set up, pays off nicely in the end.
Never trifle with forces that you don’t understand, kids!
Huzzah! Yes, I haven’t completely forgotten. Good for me, etc etc.
Onward!
#10: Election (1999)
One of the best recent(ish) political films while also being an incredibly funny observational comedy. It also spoke to me via the Broderick character who cannot disconnect his life from the high school where he teaches – he wants to teach but he also cannot stop viewing himself as a participant in the life of the school that is actually run by the students. He really, truly should not care who wins the school election. It has no bearing on his life or his job. But in part because of that (although really because of the other plotline in the movie, which also, um, involves a high schooler) his entire life is destroyed. Be a grown up dude.
But anyway, just an extremely funny movie, mostly by having funny characters and an excellent starring performance from Witherspoon.
#9: Saltburn (2023)
I liked this more than pretty much anyone else, and the final scene is one of my favorites of the year. If you’re going to sell your soul, you may as well enjoy it you know?
This is more or less a vampire movie without any literal vampires, but it has the gothic feel and the sensual omnivorousness of a vampire movie, as well as the overall ever-present doom brought on them all from inviting this outsider inside.
I did feel a little betrayed by the penultimate scene where they spelled everything out in case you weren’t paying attention at all and that knocked the movie out of consideration for the top spot, but this was so well produced and acted and mostly original, just a world of fun. You know, as long as you don’t need to have a decent person to root for.
I figured that this would be a decent time-killer and boy was I surprised – this thing is nonstop tension and you never really know exactly where it’s going (I mean, it’s an Omen movie, you have some idea, but you don’t know exactly what and how and when and who, etc). I worry that this ranking is overrated because it beat my expectations by so much, but it was a really good time.
#15: MadS (2024)
Frickin’ WILD, man. Totally original beyond the basics of the premise, which is essentially a one-shot (not really but in that style) of an outbreak….of…..zombies? Maybe? Something like that? I love it when a movie doesn’t explain things beyond what the characters would actually know and these people largely don’t even know what the hell is happening right next to them let alone how and why it’s happening. But this is nonstop crazy did-that-just-happen?
#14: The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar / Poison / The Rat Catcher / The Swan (2024)
At this point you either like Wes Anderson or you don’t and I’m heavily on the side of like. So I found these Dahl featurettes in his customary style to be a pure delight. The only question was how to consider them within the rankings, but because they all came out at the same time on Netflix I think I can consider it an anthology. I think Poison is my favorite.
#13: Joint Security Area (2000)
Park Chan-wook’s breakout film, this is one of the vanishingly few examples of it working when we start with the big event (or fallout therefrom) and then go back in time to see how it happened. Just an incredible cast too, as the three leads would all somehow go on to even better movies – Memories of Murder (Song Kang-ho), Lady Vengeance (Lee Yeong-ae), and I Saw the Devil (Lee Byung-hun – also the Front Man in Squid Game). I’m deliberately not saying anything about the plot because I bet y’all haven’t seen this one and I don’t want to give the plot away.
#12: A Most Wanted Man (2014)
Classic Le Carre adaptation – morally ambiguous people doing morally ambiguous things for potentially good reasons in the midst of a complicated plot with shifting alliances. I really miss Philip Seymour Hoffman. I actually only allow myself to watch his remaining movies infrequently.
#11: Booksmart (2019)
Look, we all have types of movies that we find particularly appealing ok, we don’t have to make a big thing about it all the time.
Also I’ve been a Kaitlyn Dever fan from the Justified days, even though she does have some Last of Us related ‘splainin to do. And Beanie Feldstein is also great. So there. Shut up. You don’t know me.
What is there to say? I was dubious that this would work, but it really really does. A live-action freaking looney tunes cartoon. Huge props to the madmen and madwomen who pulled this off somehow.
#21: Godzilla Minus One (2023)
Pretty rad giant nuclear lizard movie that is actually a meditation about grief and regret. Yeah really, and it works on both levels too – not sure how they pulled that off.
#20 Machete (2010)
Total compromise rating. Watching this movie was absolutely one of the top 10 experiences of my entire damn year, but, you know, it’s not like it’s actually a good movie or anything. Even with the knowledge that it was always intended as a B-movie (or like a D-movie) and with all the winking knowledge of that fact, it’s not well acted or choreographed or anything. Robert Rodriguez knows how to direct an action scene of course but the true appeal is just how much damn fun this thing is – ludicrously evil bad guys, everyone knows how to kick some ass, ridiculous action…I mean look at that picture! Recommended for anyone with a good sense of humor who is looking to have a good time.
#19: Resolution (2012)
The scariest mind-f**k of a movie that primarily takes place as two dudes talking in a cabin. This is Benson’s and Moorehead’s first feature film and they were apparently warped from the beginning. Arguably set in the same universe as their fantastic The Endless, this starts out a little tense and then goes waaaaayyyy more tense, and then goes completely nutso, but in a very satisfying way.
#18: The Quick and the Dead (1995)
Fantastic modern western with lights-out performances from our hero (Stone), her faithful helper (Crowe), the nefarious villain (Hackman – not quite Little Bill levels of evil but still a real sonofabitch), and the kid sidekick (DiCaprio). And the whole thing has real stakes and backstory and everything! Rootin’ *and* tootin!
#17: Longlegs (2024)
Why is it that so much of the completely original stuff in movies these days is in horror? Osgood Perkins, who I previously knew from writing and directing the criminally underrated (by me) Blackcoat’s Daughter and the spooky I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House, dishes up something truly spooky and crazy and not really like anything else. More, please.
Up Next: I’m a Leader, I’m a Winner, and I’m Cleaner, Because I’m Awesome (Part III)
I have no idea why it took me so long to finally see this extremely fun movie! I deliberately was not seeing Titanic for a long time, I’m more or less still deliberately holding out on Home Alone and Lion King more or less as a bit, and I had to wait to be in the right mood before seeing a lot of other movies. But I have loved Helen Hunt since Mad About You the effects were rightly renowned, and the cast is fantastic (Paxton! Elwes! Hoffman! Ruck!). I’m sure thatI’m the last guy on this, but if you haven’t seen it in a while give it a revisit!
#27: The Commuter (2018)
Liam Neesons rides a very particular set of trains….ok, no, come on, that joke is way too old. This isn’t exactly original but it’s just extremely well done. Neeson knows exactly what to do in these movies and he delivers, Vera Farmiga makes everything that she’s in better, and this is even an early Florence Pugh role! What’s not to like?
#26: Scream (2022)
The meta reboot! Shockingly good with plenty of silly twists and turns and stabbings and more stabbings and talking about stabbings and talking about the Stab movies, etc etc. Ortega suffers from Main Character Syndrome but everybody else is interesting and fun, especially my boy Jack Quaid (although I can only think of him as Boimler now).
#25: American Fiction (2023)
I really really want to see the filmed adaptation of the book (and the scene when he comes up with the title is fantastic). Biting but also extremely funny. Takes the time to make a number of extremely valid points while also allowing everyone to laugh without actually losing the depth of the very real issues. Obviously Jeremy Wright is terrific. Unfortunately loses the thread just a little at the end which keeps it out of the top ten.
#24: Poor Things (2023)
Emma Stone: A+
Art Design: A+
Costuming: A+
Script: ???
Well worth it just for looking at and boy did Stone deserve that Oscar, but aside from that I’m not entirely sure what the point of the movie was? That doesn’t have to be disqualifying or anything…but was this about free will? Maybe? It mostly kind of felt like stuff was just happening because it was happening. But boy was it fun to look at and watch her do her thing.
#23: Self Reliance (2023)
This silly little movie has the audacity to take the stupid premise absolutely seriously (I mean seriously while being a comedy, don’t get crazy on me). But, like, thinking it completely through, trying to figure out the loopholes and the exploits, test running various strategies…just really good stuff. And of course extra points for Anna Kendrick, I mean, duh, that’s just math.
Up Next: I’m a Leader, I’m a Winner, and I’m Cleaner, Because I’m Awesome (Part II)
Well I went to your schools, I went to your churches, I went to your institutional learning facilities, so how can YOU say that I’M crazy?
#33: Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024)
Pretty high up there on the list of things that sounded like I definitely didn’t need them but turned out to be a lot of fun. Great Taylor-Joy performance, and the continuation of the world-building is extremely high quality, but this suffers somewhat by being appreciably less batshit crazy than Fury Road. Sad lack of bald dudes playing guitar on the top of monster trucks blasting metal from 100-foot speakers.
#32: Panic Room (2002)
Just an incredibly tightly plotted movie. Tim Grierson always says that the scripwriter’s rule is to always give your characters 5 extra IQ points, and that approach really pays off here – everyone is very smart (aside from Leto whose chaos is needed to get things to spiral and, you know, it’s Jared Leto). It’s impossible to tell which kid actors will go on to have careers into adulthood, but let’s just say that Kristin Stewart becoming a star is one of the least surprising outcomes after watching this.
#31: Oddity (2024)
Excellent old school creep fest horror. Lots of “wait what is happening right now” combined with “oh crap in what way is this going to go horribly horribly wrong?” Lots of delightful spookums!
#30: The Killer (2023)
Pretty great – an assassin who appears to be meticulously prepared but is actually something of a screwup (who never realizes that fact and indeed keeps up an internal monologue about how professional he is). Really entertaining watch, possibly even better the second time through when you know that a lot of The Killer’s act is bullshit. Oh! And the entire soundtrack is The Smiths, which is pretty great.
#29: Killers of the Flower Moon (2023)
Jamie Lee Curtis is great, but in no sense was she better in Everything Everywhere than Lily Gladstone was in this. A true epic in scope and it knows it, indeed it luxuriates in it. Some movies I feel like I need to advocate for (or against), some I feel like I have an insight into, and then there are some like this – you know if you’re going to like this movie already and most likely you’ve seen it already if you are inclined to do so.
Up Next: I’m a Winner, I’m a Leader, and I’m Cleaner, ‘Cuz I’m Awesome (Part I)
Don’t ask about the gloves. DON’T ASK ABOUT THE GLOVES!!!
#39: Safe House (2012)
Classic much better than it had to be movie. Obviously Denzel elevates everything he’s in, but Reynolds is very good too. This is from before he got all super successful from Deadpooling it up so he’s actual acting here (for appropriate levels of action-movie acting).
This puts a spin on the standard “how will these disparate people work together” by having them actively work against each other for most of the movie, which is fun.
#38: May December (2023)
Just the right level of seriousness plus ludicrousness. I know this got a lot of crap for not fully embracing either direction, but this was entirely on my wavelength. Obviously they should make movies just for me. Anyway, Portman gets major points for sending up her image and Moore and Melton give excellent performances. I thought this was super fun, although of course I still want to watch the TV movie.
#37: Cuckoo (2024)
The first hour is a nearly-perfect folk-horror mystery setup that is only like anything else in extremely broad strokes. And you all know that I can’t resist Dan Stevens as a weirdo bad guy, especially with hit little wooden flute. It goes a bit off the rails in the final third but I would watch the first hour again right now.
#36: The Family Plan (2023)
Mark Walhberg thought he had left his past as a master assassin behind him to start a family, but uh-oh, looks like that past is now catching up to him! What an original concept!!
Amazingly, there is still some life left in the idea it seems because this is really quite funny as well as having solid action and even dramatic payoffs. Pole vaulting!
#35: Hot Tub Time Machine (2010)
So it’s exactly as stupid as you might think, but also really well put together? Like, totally juvenile at its core but also nicely 80s romantic and silly and somehow, against all odds, the time travel stuff holds together? I mean, it’s stupid, but it’s fun and kind of sweet in its way, and it all works.
I had to gear myself up to watch this because I was afraid it would be kind of horrible, but shockingly it all worked! Now I just need another 10 years or so to get ready to try to sequel….
#34: Promising Young Woman (2020)
Quite a banger of a film, in the tradition of both a revenge fantasy and also one where you wonder if you should really be rooting for her to keep avenging, no matter how much her victims deserve it. Perfect ending too. The feel good film of 2020!
Up Next: Well Good For You, I Guess You’re Gettin’ Everything You Want (Part IV)
