Now, as tradition, we end the Best of 2024 with my Movies list. This year I set a personal record for most new (that is films released in 2024, not just new to me) films seen and, yet, I know I still missed several you’ll find on other lists. If you feel especially wounded your favorite isn’t here, just assume I didn’t see it. And, even if I did see it, I assure you my selections are not a personal slight against you and yours.

20. My Old Ass- A perfect mix of humor, nostalgia, and pathos. Not a lot of time travel stories feel “real” to what people might actually do when meeting their past selves, but this seems to get it right.

19. Conclave- A pulp novel dressed up as a prestige picture. I was pretty down on the director’s previous film, but this was a wonderfully satisfying effort.

18. The Order- Very good. And far too relevant.

17. The Substance- So gooey!

16. Heretic- Big Hugh Grant fan and evil Grant is a flavor I absolutely enjoy. Don’t get hung up on who’s “right” in the supposed debate here. This is a movie about control and the unwillingness to consider someone else’s flawed worldview deserves as much respect as your different but still flawed POV.

15. Rebel Ridge- Who knew civil forfeiture could be this intense?

14. The Sixth- Given the pardons, this one is an even harder, and more important, sit.

13. Thelma- So much fun.

12. Kinds of Kindness- At some point, I made the transition from Lanthimos disliker to skeptic and now I think I love him?

11. Nosferatu

10. A Different Man- Most people I’ve talked to seem to think The Substance’s take on this situation is more interesting and satisfying. I liked The Substance (see above) but this Man is just closer to my sensibilities, I supposed.

9. His Three Daughters

8. The Wild Robot- Beautiful. Also it is forever intertwined with seeing it with my son who loved it too.

7. Sing Sing

6. Hundreds of Beavers- I fought this movie every moment until I actually watched it. It’s just a wonderful thing.

5. The Brutalist- I confess I haven’t really dug into the just broken controversy so perhaps this ranking will proven ill-advised and inaccurate with time. But not currently.

4. A Real Pain- Pretty close to perfect.

3. Challengers- Just a hoot. Seen it multiple times and haven’t gotten tired of it yet. Also that score!

2. Nickel Boys- The most interesting stylistic choices of a movie this year.

1. Anora- Sean Baker vibrates at my frequency.

Worst (in no particular order)

Harold and the Purple Crayon- A minor release no one saw, this is probably giving it more attention that it deserves. Still the way in which is acts in opposition to everything that makes the book good and special felt too galling to ignore. No adaptation this year seemed more hellbent on either ignoring or misunderstanding the themes of the source material.

Borderlands- No matter how excellent Cate Blanchett’s look is, this was utter garbage. At every opportunity to make an interesting choice it does exact opposite, leaping for cliché and incomprehensibility.

If I’m honest, I was going to just declare my worst Megalopolis and call it a day. However, I couldn’t sort if I just disliked it (and believe me, I did) but was rounding up because of others’ positive reactions to it or I truly thought it as the worst. So rather than get into a whole thing about my pet peeves when it comes to ambitious failures, I chose two I knew very clearly where my feelings were coming from.

Most Anticipated of 2025

Wolf Man- Leigh Whannell’s previous two films—Invisible Man and Upgrade were immediate faves of mine. Buzz on this one is…less than stellar, but I won’t act like I wasn’t looking forward to it.

Sinners- Ryan Coogler’s worst feature is still very good. Michael B. Jordan has consistently turned in his best performances for Coogler. I’m not a massive horror fan but I’ve become increasingly a “two to three horror films a year absolutely knock me out” guy and this has the makings of one of those movies.

Superman- I’m not the biggest Superman guy in practice (that is, the movies, comics, and so on starring him) but in theory, I love the idea of him. The times the character does work in practice for me (All-Star Superman, for instance) tend to hit wonderfully. I’m not sold on this yet. I’m a pretty big proponent of Superman as the last Kryptonian so the Superdog thing has never appealed. Just give Clark a damn normal dog! I remain strongly a Guy Gardner hater. BUT I’m always hopeful someone will understand the idea of Superman enough to create a film worthy of that. On that front, Gunn at least says all the right things.

The Bride- Maggie Gyllenhaal’s first directed feature, The Lost Daughter, was a strong debut that showed her to be a filmmaker confident enough to make the story the star of her work. This one, a riff on Bride of Frankenstein, suggests it will be a bit more risky from a stylistic standpoint which is a welcome next step. There’s a lot of room for a musical monster movie to go off the tracks, but that’s part of what makes it exciting to see what happens, right? The cast, including Jessie Buckley, Christian Bale, and Annette Bening, gives further reason to keep an eye on this one.