Review:
2024 Top 10 Favorite Films
1. Sing Sing A jubilant celebration of art as an essential vehicle for self-reflection, rehabilitation, and redemption. Austin-based director Greg Kwedar and co-writer Clint Bentley’s empathetic fact-based drama takes pride and joy in the personal and artistic triumphs experienced by incarcerated men enrolled in Sing Sing’s Rehabilitation Through the Arts theater program. That most of the cast members—with the notable exception of Colman Domingo, giving a career-best performance—are Rehabilitation Through the Arts alumni is not just a testament to the program but to the way the arts can impact and change our lives for the better. 2. Conclave Not even residents of Vatican City could have predicted that a drama about the election of the next Pope would produce such intrigue, such suspense, such cattiness. Director Edward Burger’s slow-burn adaptation of the Robert Harris novel delivers on all levels, from masterful acting led by the seemingly unflappable Ralph Fiennes to a papal election process brimming with mystery and manipulation to an improbable reveal that feels like direct repudiation of American outrage politics. And not once does Berger insult or belittle the Catholic Church. The Pope is dead. Long Live The Pope. 3. Late Night With the Devil The found-footage genre receives a much-needed refresh courtesy of Australian filmmakers and brothers Colin Cairnes and Cameron Cairnes.. This 1970s-set tale of demon possession produces numerous scary moments thanks to its claustrophobic late-night talk show setting, David (Das-mulch-an) Dastmalchian’s fully realized portrait of a grief-stricken TV personality, and a tight and tenacious script that slowly but surely turns the screws. The Devil makes for a great late-night TV. 4. Dune: Part Two The second and final part of Denis Villeneuve’s (Ver-nerv) assured adaptation of Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel balances a perceptive study of the corrupting nature of power against the political machinations and military maneuvers to win control of a remote but resource-rich planet. An epic sci-fi tale deftly told on a human level. 5. The Substance Writer/director Coralie Fargeat combines the body horror of David Cronenberg, the nightmarish absurdism of Terry Gilliam, and identity and alienation concerns of Charlie Kaufman for a deliciously gaudy takedown of Hollywood’s beauty politics and an incisive exploration of internalized misogyny. Desperate but ultimately sympathetic, Demi Moore delivers the comeback performance of 2024 thanks to her Jekyll to Margaret Qualley’s Hyde. 6. Anora An urban fairy tale that is less interested in a happy ending than one that bests serves its harried heroine. Writer/director Sean Baker subverts the premise Pretty Woman by asking, What happens if a smitten sex worker marries her Prince Charming—but he is not the man(child) she believes him to be? A funny, and furious ticking clock drama, Anora boasts revelatory performances by Scream’s Mikey Madison, who brings agency to an escort trapped in an untenable situation, and Yura Borisov as a henchman with a heart of gold. 7. Heretic A razor-sharp, nerve-racking horror satire unafraid to probe the destructive nature of religious fanaticism in a supposedly secular society. Writers/directors Scott Beck and Bryan Wood push their young, naive Mormon protagonists to question their beliefs and practices without passing judging on them through a series of increasingly perilous tests of faith. Anchored by a deliciously devious turn by Hugh Grant as the self-taught theologian dedicated to lecturing those possessing blind faith. 8. Flow Homebound Bound if set during a flood that threatens to wipe out most of humanity. Animated with beauty and grace, Latvian director Gints Zilbalodis’s unexpected disaster adventure fuses intimate moments of drama with exhilarating action sequences as a group of combative animals fight to find dry ground. Flow’s unnamed black cat remains a survivor for the ages. 9. Rebel Ridge Writer/director Jeremy Saulnier’s long-awaited follow-up to 2018’s Hold the Dark offers a smart, tense, and cogent examination of racial profiling and police misconduct in small-town USA. A quiet and restrained Aaron Pierre delivers a breakthrough performance as the Black Marine veteran forced at loggerheads with Don Johnson’s corrupt police chief. 10. Hit Man The relentlessly charismatic Glen Powell dons many disguises in this sexy comedy thriller that he co-wrote with director Richard Linklater, infusing the otherwise predictable proceedings with a breezy playfulness. Co-star Adria Arjona excels as Powell’s onscreen partner in love and death. Honorable Mentions The Apprentice Azrael The Beekeeper The Bikeriders Blitz The Brutalist Challengers A Complete Unknown Cobweb A Different Man DogMan Drive-Away Dolls Evil Does Not Exist Exhuma The Fall Guy The First Omen Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga Get Away Ghostlight Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire Hundreds of Beavers Inside Out 2 I Saw the TV Glow Juror # 2 Kill Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes Kneecap Land of Bad The Last Stop in Yuma County Lisa Frankenstein Longlegs Lost Soulz Love Lies Bleeding Megalopolis Memoir of a Snail The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare Nosferatu My Old Ass Oddity The Order A Quiet Place: Day One The People's Joker The Piano Lesson A Real Pain Red Rooms Sasquatch Sunset Saturday Night Self Reliance Smile 2 Strange Darling Thelma Trap Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl Wicked Little Letters The Wild Robot Will & Harper Young Woman and the Sea Robert Sims Aired: Jan. 8, 2025. |
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