TOP 10 OF 2024

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After 2023, I wasn't sure what the future of my role in "film criticism" would be or if there would be one at all. After the dissolution of my YouTube channel in May of last year and trying to find my footing so far as how often I would go long in writing about films it has more or less organically become a pattern of logging my viewing habits on Letterboxd and if a film comes to evoke a certain type of response that either has me wanting to process my reaction further or simply discuss it at length, then it typically ends up on this site. This happened less than I would have liked this year, but to be completely frank it may happen even less in the upcoming year and not because I’m pessimistic about the new year’s slate of films (I’m actually quite hopeful for what '25 might bring) but simply because my wife and I are welcoming our fourth child in a matter of weeks and I don’t know that I’ll be able to sustain my weekly theater visits. That said, I’ll be at home and even on paternity leave for some portions of the year, so I don’t plan on seeing fewer movies just seeing fewer movies at the multiplex - potentially. Speaking of this year I watched 172 2024 releases, 93 of which were on the big screen and some of them - including Deadpool & Wolverine, Dune: Part Two, Alien: Romulus, Joker: Folie à Deux, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, and The First Omen - I saw twice in theaters. I watched upwards of 250 films total over the course of the year including re-watches and older films I experienced for the first time. Essentially, I have no idea what 2025 will look like in terms of what or how often I will post here as I also plan on doing a good amount of offline writing, but one thing I can say with certainty is that if I'm still here in a year’s time you can count on me to post my favorite films of 2025. But first! My ten favorite films of 2024…

10. My Old Ass - A movie about savoring people, experiences, and the moments we share with them. From the bike riding to the rocking of a newborn baby and through to the emotional mountain top this movie reaches, everything about Megan Park's ode to time and understanding that it is the one thing we cannot make more of absolutely wrecked me. Some will call it mawkish, and others will say it is manipulative, but everything is done in such a sincere fashion it's hard to believe Park was attempting to do anything other than remind her own self of these realizations and hopefully help a few others do the same in the process. Now streaming on Prime.

9. Monkey Man - Anger may not quiet the soul and an eye for an eye might eventually make the whole world blind, but corruption must be reckoned with in some fashion and Dev Patel makes it satisfying as hell in this, his directorial debut. While a story of revenge is the most common of stories to tell, especially in the action/thriller genre, Patel elevates the material by making that aforementioned anger more deeply felt, the context hyper-personal, while lathering the execution in every influence the writer/director/star has clearly made note of since directing became an ambition. Whether it was my experience as a first time viewer or Patel actually realizing his intention through experimentation, by the end of the film the extreme from-the-hip angles coupled with the extreme close-ups of particularly gritty moments in hand-to-hand combat make for a very ecstatic and unrestrained tone that can't help but to be felt if not necessarily viewed as singular. Full review here. Now streaming on Prime. 

8. Juror #2 - I know the conversation around this film has more or less solely focused on it being a classic, sturdy courtroom drama that were once upon a time a dime a dozen and maybe the distance from such a time does in fact make Clint Eastwood's potential swan song feel all the more exceptional, but context aside...this is really, really good. Like, really good. More so than just its exploration of truth - specifically around how our self-interests and self-peace can be at odds with one another - but for how it so effortlesslly puts you in the position of Nicholas Hoult's character (a terrific man unraveling performance - those eyes!) not only engaging one in the premise by making you question what you might do in such a dilemma, but simply by being consistently captivating in its entertainment value as well as through said moral quandary. Much of the conversation also concentrated on Warner Bros. neglectful rollout for the film which opened in a dismal eleven theaters before somewhat expanding and then landing on streaming a month and a half later, but my hope is this is where the film finds its audience and its rewatchability factor...just as it wold have once upon a time. Now streaming on Max. 

7. Lisa Frankenstein - Zelda Williams' directorial debut is a Burton-inspired love story from the mind of screenwriter Diablo Cody, of Juno fame who - critically - also penned Jennifer’s Body. As a movie sold as a YA love story between a modern girl and a long deceased dude about how they could never truly be together initially settles us into its suburban expressionism by way of the more gothic tendencies of its heroine, but completely turns itself over at the halfway mark and becomes all the more absurd and exciting for it. It's not hard to see this catching on down the road whether it be on streaming or somewhere like FreeForm as a new member of the "Timeless Sleepover Movies" club. From the perfect title screen, a truly magnificent Kathryn Newton, to the very specific and patterned way in which the dialogue and blocking compliment the tone and humor it is all working together to create that perfect balance of fresh yet familiar. Now streaming on Prime. 

6. Rebel Ridge - Pure genre fare, but done to the nines in every conceivable way. As writer/director Jeremy Saulnier's first film in six years, this story of a former Marine grappling with a web of small-town corruption is everything you want in a modern crime thriller that features a star-making lead performance from Aaron Pierre (who so easily should be the next Bond it's not even funny) to the smarmy cast of "that guy" supporting players ranging from Don Johnson doing dirty Sheriff to Emory Cohen as an amoral cop all the way to James Cromwell coming in for a single scene to solidify the movie isn't playing around and that Saulnier knows exactly what he's doing. Rarely does it feel like every piece of dialogue is this critical as the research Saulnier must have done while writing the script will never be properly appreciated. Of course, what is so infuriating is what makes Rebel Ridge so compelling as Pierre's character isn't necessarily rallying against the system as a means for change but simply out of the interest of self-preservation. The way the action is actually conducted as a preventive measure against violence is so slick and displays - from a craft and thematic perspective - just how skilled Saulnier is at executing on both sides of the coin. Now streaming on Netflix.

5. Dune: Part Two - Whether it be Star Wars or the latest incarnation of Power Rangers, the line between nobility and corruption is made clear whether it be through direct action or the color scheme of the costumes. Even in something as sophisticated as Denis Villeneuve's Dune adaptations the heroes are largely surrounded by pure, white sands while the villains literally dip themselves in black goop. What is immediately striking about Dune: Part Two is how it continuously questions its own mythology. While the whole of Dune is essentially a story of heroes and villains in a race for ultimate power and control through the ultimate commodity, what it is actually about (the films, anyway) are the power, control, influence, and questions the presence of a messiah manifest. In Villeneuve's first film Timothée Chalamet's Paul Atreides was a boy born into a destiny beyond his understanding. What makes Part Two the more complex, interesting, and superior film is Paul's understanding of and ultimate embrace of this destiny that has been prescribed to him his entire life. Full review here. Now streaming on Max. 

4. Challengers - It wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility that filmmaker Luca Guadagnino only agreed to direct Challengers after doing some research and hearing the grunts tennis players make everytime they hit the ball combined with seeing the necessary physique required to compete along with the amount of sweat that is poured during a match so that he could then ultimately make a film that abrasively correlates the sport to sex. In fact, I'd put a fair amount of money on the fact Guadagnino knew little to nothing about tennis prior to taking on this project and that he probably hasn't watched a match since. The shot of Zendaya with her hair blowing in the wind, the glow of the tail lights outlining her profile, and the score pulsing behind her made me want to stand up in the theater, put my fist in the air, and yell, "Fuck yeah!" This type of energy is largely due to the Reznor and Ross' score that is balls to the wall bananas, but I unashamedly loved every second of it. Now streaming on Prime & MGM+.

3. Heretic - I suspect as more folks see this the main complaint around it will either be that it is essentially "Mansplaining: The Movie" or that it starts strong but devolves into some of your typical genre trappings by the final act. There is no denying the first hour or so is superior to the second purely from an immersive experience perspective, but despite some of the holes one could poke in the plotting and in light of the defense I state in my full review, writer/directors Scott Beck and Bryan Woods successfully manage to both upend expectations while taking things to another level through to the final confrontation in which the film's central thesis is both nicely stated as well as visually illustrated in one of the coolest shots of the year. Utilizing the maze motif the film employs in order to depict the control one can have over a person when they've overseen the construction of their worldview is just peak filmmaking all-around. Not to mention, this is a Hugh Grant performance for the ages. Full review here. Now available to rent/own on VOD.

2. The Brutalist - I count myself among the few who found writer/director Brady Corbet's previous film, Vox Lux, invigorating in a positive way and so, naturally, I couldn't wait to see what he did next. The Brutalist is not at all what I expected and yet is...more, better than anything I could have ever foreseen. Tackling how generations are more like necessary cycles than lessons to be learned, how attempted upheavels as cultural pawns barely erode the architecture that will continue to stand, and how those who keep their integrity intact as they build and/or create what will stand the test of time are often also those who feel they belong nowhere is...a lot. I reckon Corbet sees a lot of himself in Adrien Brody's László Tóth; an artist caught in an industry who is unwilling to compromise his vision in order to please others or the masses. Does he worship at the alter of only himself? I don't know that I'd go that far for, if nothing else, he surely learned a lot about himself through the writing process yet there is this prevailing sense of art above everything - especially capitalism - and how "this whole country is rotten" that keeps one coming back to the idea that nothing is truly of its own explanation. Intellectually stimulating, to be sure. Now playing in theaters.  

1. Nickel Boys - Indisputably powerful. Washed over me in increasingly strong ways culminating in a tidal wave of emotions that rocks one to their core in its final minutes. While I don't know that this is a film I will return to often, it is an experience I can honestly call singular - something I don't know if I've ever seen anything like before. The closest approximation would be how I felt after seeing Terrence Malick's Tree of Life for the first time, easily one of the best films to be made in the last twenty years. RaMell Ross's adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Colson Whitehead that chronicling the powerful friendship forged between two young African-American men as they navigate the harrowing trials of reform school together is not a comfortable or enjoyable watch, but it is - and as off-putting as this may seem - an important one. The POV approach makes for a sense of personality within the film unlike anything I've felt before as well as generally accounting for some striking imagery. Derailing lives, taking away opportunities, stealing dreams. Unforgivable. Please see it on the big screen if you're able as it is now playing in theaters.