Best Films of 2024, Part 2

 

Best films of the year, babyyyy. You all know the drill so let's hop to it. 

5. Hit Man

A very funny, very hot dark comedy, Hit Man feels like a throwback to the smash hits of the 90s and 2000s, high-premise vehicles coasting off the power of their charismatic stars for a delightful time. Richard Linklater lends his eye for natural realism to make the larger-than-life true story of Gary Johnson (Glen Powell), professor turned fake hitman for hire, into something just as fascinating as it's subject matter, cleverly playing with the dubious morality of the operation at the center of the story to leave us second guessing the characters every step of the way. It helps that Powell, Tom Cruise's heir apparent, gives one of the best performances of the year as Gary, a man of many faces who slowly begins to merge them together as he gets more and more entangled with the person he's meant to be leading into a trap, fiery, gorgeous Madison (Adria Arjona). Powell effortlessly switches from persona to persona as needed, the small facets of each personality mixing and clashing in the little details, leaving you just as charmed as the targets. 

4. Look Back

Look Back, much like Tatsuki Fujmoto's smash hit Chainsaw Man, is about a lot of things. The creative process, the idea of creating art for mass consumptions vs creating for one's self, and the role art often plays in the bonds we form are all quietly discussed in the story of a budding friendship between two young artists brought together, then driven apart, by their differing methods. All of Fujimoto's tricks are on display here, from his penchant for easygoing dialogue, fondness for complicated characters, and views on grief and loss all mingling together. Animated beautifully, the film quietly envelops you in it's story before pulling the rug in a devastating fashion, leaving you quietly breathless as it's short runtime comes to a close. A perfectly paced, thought-provoking punch to the gut. 

3. Hundreds of Beavers

Every once in a while a film comes along that leaves you so astounded with it's creativity that you can't help but scratch your head and just wonder how exactly they made it. Hundreds of Beavers, a match between Looney Tunes and 30s slapstick films, is one such film. From the minute it starts, the film brims with creativity, using it's limited budget so effectively that it still feels enormous in scale. There are, in fact, hundreds of beavers in this movie, alongside a variety of other wildlife made real through a mixture of puppetry, animation, and good ol' suits, and by the end you find yourself fully believing in the insane cartoon world they inhabit. It is also the funniest film of the year, brimming with gags that are so rapid fire it begs for repeat viewing, so fully committed to the bit that it becomes thrilling to watch just to see what they do next with it. One of the year's biggest surprises, it's got a little something for everyone. 

2. Challengers

Part electrifying sports drama, part passionate portrayal of a slightly toxic throuple in the making, Challengers is the best film of Luca Guadagnino's career, taking his penchant for shifting time to portray the various stages of relationships, both (seemingly) platonic and romantic, and interweaving it with a ferocious depiction of competition and the mindset of the athlete. It's anchored by three great performances, each breathing life into the fascinating characters and the deeply messy relationships at the heart of the story, but it's also just a damn fine sports film, firing on all technical cylinders to make it's tennis matches feel like thrilling duels. It's a film where all elements work together to complete a masterful whole, simmering and thrilling at the same time. 

1. I Saw the TV Glow

Less scary and more absolutely heartbreaking, I Saw the TV Glow feels like an existential crisis made flesh, a reckoning with a life spent lying to one's self about your true feelings. It's a film of a generation raised by television that now finds itself forced into an adulthood, looking around the world and going, "Is this it?" With a striking visual palette that resembles the melancholy tone at it's center, the film moves like a bad dream, drifting scene by scene in a devastating slow walk. Justice Smith, a perpetual favorite whenever he shows up, is heartbreaking here, vulnerability radiating off of every little movement, every averted gaze and mumbled apology, and his final panicked cry for help as the nature of the world becomes clear is one of the year's most agonizing scenes. In a world increasingly dominated by nostalgia, a yearning for yesteryear by generations that refuse to step aside, I Saw the TV Glow is one of the first earnest attempts to reckon with that, a cry to throw the old restraints aside and live in a new truth. Maybe, just maybe, there is still time. 

Best Films of 2024, Part 1

This has been an exceptional years, in spite of the generally horrific vibes of the rest of the year. At the risk of sounding too cliche, there was a fair bit of something for everyone. Breathtaking sci-fi, existential horror, white-hot romance, it was a real "the movies are back" type of year, and while I haven't seen everything, I'm confident enough in my tastes to run through my top ten. So, let's begin!

10. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

Rather than attempt to recapture the lightning in a bottle adrenaline rush that is Mad Max: Fury Road, George Miller made Furiosa something a lot more intimate and character-focused, willing to sit with it's strange collection of oddballs and outcasts and let us truly witness their rise and fall. That's not to say this isn't an exciting movie, as Miller directs the hell out of exhilarating set-pieces that vary from a chaotic ambush to a desperate shootout/escape that made me audibly exhale when it ended, but it's more focused on the psychology of the wasteland. Anchored by great performances from Anya Taylor-Joy (stepping into the shoes of Charlize Theron with a remarkable confidence and often stunning grace) and Chris Hemsworth (delightfully unhinged in one of the best villainous performances of the year), Furiosa is a tragic, suitably epic origin story for it's iconic heroine. If it really is the final film in the series, it's a fitting end. 

9. Dune: Part Two

Denis Villeneuve's stunning second part of his adaptation of the borderline unfilmable magnum opus of Frank Herbert is stunning in it's ambition and willingness to truly lean into the strangeness of the original material. It truly throws everything at the wall and leaves you astounded as, somehow, it all manages to stick. One moment it stuns you with a monochrome duel in a gladiatorial arena, the next it has the confidence to let you sit with a quiet, beautifully understated love story between Paul (Timothee Chalamet, a genuine force of nature) and Channi (Zendaya, in what is a banner year for her). It's a film overflowing with treats for the eye and mind, sweeping you in it's narrative with gorgeous designs and powerhouse performances that by the time the true tragedy of the imperial power struggle rears it's head, it leaves you with an ugly sinking feeling and the realization that there's no heroes here. 

8. Cuckoo

Part disturbing mystery story, part harrowing fight for survival, and part coming of age tale, Cuckoo is a delightfully bonkers creature feature, playing with the idea of both physical and mental isolation in the face of overwhelming, mysterious terror and carefully dropping bits and pieces of information without giving the game away too quickly. Hunter Schafer is a scrappy, emotionally compelling scream queen, making you root for her against the seemingly endless challenges thrown at her, while Dan Stevens, perpetual favorite of mine, steals the show as slimy, manipulative mad scientist Herr Konig. Atmospheric, intriguing, but with an undeniable heart at it's core, Cuckoo is one of the strongest horror films in a year overflowing with them. 

7. Civil War

Upon the release of Alex Garland's Civil War, I felt the film was unfairly maligned, criticized for it's lack of a firm political stance in favor of something closer to the likes of speculative fiction. Those willing to look past the (largely untrue) accusations of apoliticism will find one of the year's most thrilling films, a gorgeously shot road movie that owes more to the likes of Garland's 28 Years Later or The Last of Us than any traditional political thriller. By largely stripping away any traditional commentary, Garland is able to hyperfocus on the film's human element, reveling in analyzing the way humans hurt (and help) one another when they think there's no rules and the addictive nature of willingly putting yourself so close to violence. This leaves a near suffocating sense of tension behind every interaction, the perpetual threat of violent escalation hanging heavy on the minds of both the viewer and the characters. It makes for unbelievably nerve-wracking viewing, the kind that doesn't leave you feeling safe until the credits roll. 

6. Nosferatu

Robert Eggers lends his intricate, detail-driven to one of the classic horror stories, successfully modernizing it to weave a tail of abuse and love, both toxic and redeeming, and the desperate struggle of women to claim their own agency in the face of a world that increasingly cares little for them beyond possession. One of our great modern auteurs, Eggers brings together an astounding cast and, like with 2022's similarly excellent The Northman, manages to bring his style to the mainstream without sacrificing any of it's appeal. Nosferatu is bleak, suitably nasty in it's presentation and execution, and yet deeply earnest, an ode to the bonds of love in the face of cruelty and just what we're willing to do for those we care about. Lily Rose-Depp is a revelation as Ellen, tortured by both the monstrous Orlok and her own desires, while Willem Dafoe is an unsurprising scene stealer, projecting a strange warmth and safety underneath the eccentricity. It's a film firing on all creative cylinders and a worthy remake of the iconic original.