The Bestest 2024: Filmmage
It feels like most people I know have migrated their passion for movies over to TV. Of course great prestige television is really often like watching an eight hour movie cut up into bits, and young filmmakers seem like they’d rather make the next “Baby Reindeer” or “Slow Horses” than “Little Miss Sunshine.” I frankly love both TV and movies, and despite the decline in arthouse theaters and trips to the movies, the number and quality of films is very much as solid as it has ever been. Enjoy all of these movies, they cover so much wonderful ground. Oh and thank you to A24 for making a disproportionate amount of these!
1. The Brutalist — Dir. Brady Corbet (Adrian Brody, Felicity Jones)
One of the most important and foundational books in my life was Ayn Rand’s “The Fountainhead.” Like its idiosyncratic, purist, architect protagonist Howard Roark, Brady Corbet’s Randian epic features Adrian Brody as a brilliant Bauhausian architect whose career was derailed by WWII. He arrives in the states on a crowded boat filled with other Jewish immigrants and makes his way to his now Americanized cousin in Pennsylvania where he works in his furniture shop.
The film which weighs in at 200 minutes (and an intermission) is a true masterpiece filled with men with huge dreams, ambitions and opinions which seem a coincidental contrast to the money and power obsessed broligarchs of today. Guy Pearce is a brilliant chameleon once again, this time playing a rich industrialist who commissions Brody to the grandest public buildings ever built. “The Brutalist” is one of the most ambitious and philosophical films in quite a while and should be required viewing for film lovers.
2. Kneecap — Dir. Rich Peppliatt (Naoise O Caireallain, JJ O Dochartaigh)
Not since Danny Boyle launched “Trainspotting” into the stratosphere has there been a film as irreverent, gangster, and heart-pounding as “Kneecap.” This is a story about two somewhat lovable drug crazed Irish hoods who are accidentally discovered by a bored music teacher who become controversial Irish language rappers.
Channeling the same fast cuts, woozy drug buzzes and thumping music of “Trainspotting,” this film is also as much about politics and preserving traditions, in this case the Irish language, as it is about the chaotic hedonism that propels it with relentless force. The film is pure joy, albeit a 150BPM jolt to your brain and one that should be required viewing for anyone who loves movies, especially those about music.
3. ZEF: The Story of Die Antwoord — Dir. Jon Day (Yo Landi, Ninja)
There was no documentary this year that said more about “art” and what it takes to create it and succeed in the modern age than “ZEF.” I have known about Die Antwoord for a decade and even seen portions of their live act a few times just to witness the spectacle. To see them live or on their beautifully haunting music videos without context would lead you to believe that they are merely cracked out junkies with no talent.
But this stunning creative film captures the band (Ninja, Yo Landi, and DJ HighTech) in all their seemingly endless creativity. Say what you will about their music, their journey and the visual artistry they have embraced long before their fame is remarkable. This is a film about creativity, perseverance and creativity. Bravo.
4. The Nickel Boys — Dir. RaMell Ross (Ethan Herisse, Brandon Wilson)
Unlike any movie I have seen in a very long time, the film adaptation of the great Colson Whitehead novel, is an exercise in perspective. It’s a naturalistic film, dropping into rural Florida during a still divided and racially shameful part of American history. It focuses on a smart boy who got into the wrong car at the wrong time and paid the price. Instead of being fast tracked to college he gets shipped off to Nickel reform school.
But back to the incredible cinematic perspective that saturates almost every frame of this film. Most of the film is shot from behind our hero Elwood Curtis so we see what he sees, meaning you get to see what he sees but not his face. This theme will ultimately cascade on many levels until you reach the ambiguous ending. This is a master work, built on a master work of fiction.
5. A Real Pain — Dir. Jesse Eisenberg (Kieran Culkin, Jesse Eisenberg)
Although Jesse Eisenberg the “actor” channels pre-creepy Woody Allen better than almost anyone, the director version is a bit more vulnerable and direct. In “A Real Pain”, two cousins travel to Poland to better understand the plight of Jews in WWII, but visit the apartment their just deceased grandmother lived in before the war.
Mostly the film is carried on the shoulders of a powder keg performance by Kieran Culken who plays a lost man child, unmarried, unemployed and untethered to any kind of stable reality. This film is a mostly unsentimental look at loneliness and sadness, but juxtaposed with the message of survivalism amidst ghosts of the Holocaust to shine a
6. Anora — Dir. Sean Baker (Mikey Madison, Mark Eidelshtein)
It was only a matter of time before the child actors from the series “Better Things” started to make their presence known. Mikey Madison, who plays Anora, puts up one of the most compellingly frenetic performances of the year as a stripper who falls in love, and marries the son of a Russian Oligarch.
Anora, who doesn’t yet seem bitter and tainted by her day job, has a relentless jolt of energy and spontaneity showcasing Madison’s ebullient gift. When eventually the rug gets pulled by his parents after a week of extravagant freedom, reality sets in but rather than dropping her abruptly on the dank curb of reality, director Sean Baker leaves us transfixed and curious about the next chapter.
7. A Complete Unknown — Dir. James Mangold (Timothee Chalomet, Ed Norton)
I have never been the biggest fan of Bob Dylan the singer, but have always respected his immeasurable gift for songwriting and influence on bridging folk and rock music. Portraying this reclusive enigma seemed about as ominous as any bio-pic I can imagine, but in the increasingly capable hands of Chalamet (who is quickly becoming Gen Z’s DiCaprio, Bale or Pitt) it was a master class in tone and restraint.
The story which captures Dylan’s early years in NY up through the infamous electric set at the Newport Folk Festival, is really the best chapter of Dylan’s long career. It features key characters in Dylan’s life like Woody Guthrie, Joan Baez, and a wonderful performance by Ed Norton as Pete Seeger. Because the film is literally half singing, for those that don’t appreciate his music this might feel like a slog, but to sit in a comfortable theater seat bathing in these truly American songs is to witness a history you missed if you weren’t there.
8. Civil War — Dir. Alex Garland (Jesse Plemmons, Kirstin Dunst)
Certain films just seem to anticipate the future while others merely reflect the present back at us. Writer/Director Alex Garland has always lived in the future with films like Ex-Machina, but this time the future is more immediate. In this dystopian world, the government has failed and paranoia and survivalism have taken root. Imagine that.
Kirstin Dunst plays a photographer who is traveling to the East Coast down to Washington to interview the president before he likely loses the civil war. The parallels to today’s political turbulence may hit a bit too close to home, but this is a film that people will likely watch for many years to come.
9. A Different Man — Manning Fireworks (Sebastian Stan, Renate Reinsve)
I’m not sure what movie lovers would do without A24 these days. Having reinvented the indie film genre from the dusty remains of Miramax, October and all the seminal film brands, the studio has expanded from just indie-horror to weird and wonderful films like “A Different Man.” The film starts innocently enough and feels initially like it will be a feel good story about a disfigured man who manages to find his way despite it all.
It quickly evolves into something totally unpredictable, a modern meditation on the difference between being the person that you are and the one the world sees you as. Edward, who is played brilliantly by the great Sebastian Stan, becomes lost in a dream come true only to find that dreams are never what you hope they will be.
10. Substance — Dir. Coralie Fargeat (Margaret Qualley, Demi Moore)
Not unlike “A Different Man,” the even more twisted “Substance” is a scathing contemplation of what it means to be beautiful and the fleeting nature of our society’s fickle and relentlessly superficial opinion on the subject. Our wilting protagonist is played wonderfully by a refreshing Demi Moore who cuts a deal with a modern technological devil to maintain her beauty. Ultimately it becomes a tug of war with the younger “better” model (Margaret Qualley) who takes the story to harrowing new heights.
Although the futuristic visual design is a fantastic accomplishment unto itself, the film is really a story about ideas. Perhaps the last quarter of the film is excessive and over the top, but this is a bold and powerful film.
11. Snack Shack — Dir. Adam Rehmeier (Connor Sherry, Gabriel LaBelle)
Of all the films I watched in 2024, it’s possible that this one was the most fun. It is hugely reminiscent of so many of my favorite films from my adolescence (Fast Times, Caddyshack, anything by John Hughes) or even more recent additions like “Superbad.” Set in a Nebraska suburb in the Summer of 1991, two crazy kids win the bid to run the snack shack at the local pool.
Of course there is a love story, lots of underaged drinking, and general pre-internet debauchery. It’s always curious to see films that pre-date cell phones and social media, especially because that was my childhood, but in Ohio not Omaha. I consistently laughed out loud, got refreshingly nostalgic, and optimistic that this genre will have a renaissance.
12. Emilia Perez — Dir. Jacques Audiard (Zoe Saldana, Karla Sofia Gascon)
I went into this film totally cold. I knew it cleaned up at the Golden Globes, but beyond that I didn’t know the plot, that it was oddly a quasi-musical or that it was about a Trans-drug czar. If I had known those things, who knows if I would have even watched it. As it turns out it is a wonderfully creative film reminiscent of the best parts of Baz Luhrman meets Martin Scorsese.
Zoe Soldano is incredible as the lawyer who becomes the fixer for a Mexican drug kingpin, breaking into song and handling Spanish and English as fluidly as anyone. But the film belongs to Karla Sofia Gascon whose brave transformation from killer to atoner is nothing short of beautiful. Despite the scale and intention, don’t expect the predictable, it’s better than that.
13. Challengers — Dir. Luca Guadagnino (Mike Faist, Josh O’Connor, Zendaya)
Upon reflection I’m incredibly happy to have seen this film in a big theater with great sound and comfortable seats. Essentially a tangled love story set to a competitive tennis backdrop, Guadagnino has made his slickest, easiest to watch film of his career.
With ‘game changing’ performances by each of the triangle, and some of the best cinematography of the year, this is a film whose plot is almost incidental to the visual experience. On top of that, the epic techno score by Trent Rezner and Atticus Ross, sets a new standard on how EDM music can be used in a film. Loved every frame of this film.
14. Maxxxine — Dir. Ti West (Mia Goth, Kevin Bacon)
Ti West has now made one of my favorite trilogies of all time. His retro low budget horror masterpiece, X, Pearl, and now Maxxxine, essentially follows the character Maxine Miller from her ambiguous childhood to her rise from low budget porn to movie stardom. Although the films are asynchronously connected from the 70’s “X”, back to the 50’s with “Pearl”, and the 80’s this time, Maxine, played by the mesmerizing Mia Goth, is the connective tissue.
West is a master film scholar capturing each decade in vivid detail. “Maxxxine” is really just a classic Hollywood tale about ambition, mixed with a noir story set in the context of the real-life Night Stalker cases which haunted LA in the 80’s. If you like this kind of scruffy genre stuff, watch all three and thank me later.
15. The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare — Dir. Guy Ritchie (Henry Cavill, Eiza Gonzalez)
This might be the best Guy Ritchie film nobody saw. Based on the real WWII black ops mission called Operation Postmaster, recently unearthed from the journals left by Winston Churchill, The story describes the crazy plot to intercept the Nazi U-boat resupply operation.
With a handsome and quirky cast of misfit badasses, the film is both over the top action, mixed with laugh out loud comedy. Like all Ricthie movies his thugs are alway lovable, and this group is near the top in that respect. The only reason I can think of of why this was such a commercial failure is the impossible to remember name, because this is about as much fun as I can imagine having in the cinema.
16. The Bikeriders — Dir. Jeff Nichols (Tom Hardy, Jody Comrie, Austin Riley)
I had no idea that non-West Coast biker culture started in Chicago. This whole film is really a history of the origin of biker culture with its “greaser” 50’s and 60’s gangs up through the 70’s where drugs and politics tore up the culture. It’s story, which is derived from the photos and journals by Danny Lyon who chronicled Chicago’s Vandals Motorcycle Club, gives the story something genuine to hang on too.
The gang which is lead by a great Tom Hardy who is trying to convince a reluctant Keroucian new leader played by Austin Riley, illuminates the free spirit of the early bikers from the more capitalistic drug ethos of the next generation. The film is sparsely beautiful to watch, and even more interesting to consider.
17. Heretic — Dir. Scott Beck/Bryan Woods (Hugh Grant, Sophie Thatcher)
There is nothing better than watching a great actor go really far off brand. Hugh Grant who has been slowly shedding his “Love, Actually” vibe for more sinister roles like “The Gentleman” has finally made it all the way across to full psycho in the mind bending “Heretic.”
Of course, Grant can’t help himself from being almost always highly intelligent, only this time as he engages two attractive Morman missionaries in a deep theological discourse on the existence of God, he lures them way deeper in than his baby blue eyes. This is a scary film the way ‘The Shining” is scary: more psychological than gory. I saw this in the theater where it deserves to be seen.
Don’t forget to see these as well …
18. Monkey Man — Dir. Dev Patel (Dev Patel, Sharito Copley) This mind-blowingly explosive revenge tale is as entertaining, stylized and as well acted as anything that has come for years. Dev Patel has come a long way from “Slumdog Millionaire” crushing it as a ripped action hero and directing like a Guy Richie prodigy.
19. The Outrun — Dir. Scott Beck/Bryan Woods (Soirse Ronin) This bleak but beautiful story about a woman trying to get sober back home in the Orkney Islands is as strong a singular performance as any this year. The gray and windblown landscape echoes the turbulence and ultimate hopefulness that a journey back to the real-world entails.
20. Good One — Dir. (James LeGros, ) This sparse but subtly magical film explores a relationship between a father and daughter as they go hiking with a family friend through the woods of Upstate New York. The simple shots or rivers and trees create a naturalistic backdrop for the little incident that ultimately highlights the gaps that sometimes emerge between parents and children.
21. Dune: Part Two — Dir. Denis Villeneuve (Timothee Chalamet, Zendaya) I didn’t particularly enjoy nor follow the first Dune. Although it looked great, and had the right cast to validate it across generations, I felt empty and it felt like more of a preview for the next film. This time the plot is more linear, the visual effects are even better, and the acting feels less blockbuster and more organic. Excited for the next one.
22. I Saw The Glow — Dir. Jane Shoenbrun (Justice Smith, Jack Haven) To call this small “Stranger Things” like film a horror film would be underestimating the retro weirdness and patience of the filmmaking. This is a film about loneliness and the importance another person can make on the road to adulthood. It is hard to know where things are going, but that doesn’t make the journey any less compelling.
23. Thelma — Dir. Josh Margolin (June Squibb, Richard Roundtree) There were very few films as purely entertaining as “Thelma” this year. Watching 93 year-old June Squibb transform into a geriatric vigilante fighting back on the scammers who prey on the naïve is such a faith giving gift to growing old gracefully while keeping a fire in your belly.
24. Conclave — Dir. Edward Berger (Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci) This is a slow building chess game of papal thrones with an all-star cast filled with reluctant and ambitious characters vying for (or not) the chance to become Pope. This is a subtle film where the action is barely perceptible but the intensity boils.
25. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga — Dir. George Miller (Anna Joy-Taylor, Chris Hemsworth)
It’s odd when a franchise actually gets better 50 years after the original. This time out the storyline, which is totally sufficient to create plot, is really just a mechanism to propel Furiosa (Anna Joy-Taylor) and her band of ragged desert dwellers on a beautifully shot chase throughout the desolate Australian wild. Furiosa, who was stolen as a child from her idyllic matriarchal oasis, spends this film trying to get back home. That is more than enough to kick back and go for a ride.
