Daniel's Top Nine Movies of 2024

Daniel's top nine movies of 2024

It's been an odd year, to say the least. I continue to hide out in the cold dark comfort of a movie theater, having only the screens for illuminated warmth. Another year I get to bask in wonderful stories, acting, and design.  Though, as I look at the list of 157 2024 movies I've seen, few stand out than in previous years making this year harder than usual to come up with a top ten.  While there are certainly movies I liked (& liked a lot), less movies 'wowed' me into recommending them to friends, family & colleagues.  That's not to say that each movie below didn't deserve their spot.  As usual, for the most part, my list will be mostly different than the other lists you see on-line.

In this year's biopics, Timothée Chalamet learned to sing & play the harmonica like Bob Dylan; Angelina Jolie learned to sing opera like Maria Callas, & Ariana Grande studied how to sing like Kristen Chenowith. [I'm available to host next year's Oscars]

In no particular order:

Thelma - I got to see Thelma at an early screening and absolutely fell in love. It's a realistic portrayal and somewhat of a cautionary tale of how the elderly get defrauded by scammers.  Sure, there are some moments of suspension of disbelief but Thelma's adventure is fun and desperate and you're with her every moment of the way.  It helps that she has such a loving family (a great supporting cast) to see her through.  

Thelma in her natural habitat

Oddity - Absolute scariest movie of the year.  It literally had me gripping my seat in the theater.  Directorially,  some of the most incredibly suspenseful moments I've seen on screen. 

This image haunts me and it's not the scariest I could have chosen

Ghostlight - An underrated gem. I loved the pacing of this film; it unfolds so effortlessly and reveals plot points only when you really need to see them. It's feel-good, but makes you feel much more than that.

"Community Theater"

The Wild Robot - A Dreamworks production that feels like early Pixar works.  It had a thoughtful story, heart-string pulling moments that felt natural, and a sleek design, especially for the robot itself.

How Disney is this?  (It's not though.)

Wicked - This one surprised me.  Over 20 years ago, I read the book.  I didn't love it; forced myself through the first chapter.  Then I saw the show - didn't love that either.  It actually made me appreciate the book more.  I didn't get they hype or why it was so....popular. (Sorry, not sorry.) Maybe I'm just older now and appreciate these things or maybe Jon Chu just took it to another level.  Were a few scenes a bit long? Sure.  But that's really my only complaint.  The production & costume design were gorgeous and I'm told a lot of it was practical. The acting, choreography were practiced without feeling overworked.  The hard work paid off.

This movie sure was....popular

Flow -  Just animals bein' animals. No anthropomorphism; no talking; no tails making it's way through weird holes in trousers.  The story of Flow is beautiful, but the animation itself is breathtaking.  Each cel looks like its own painting, yet it never forsakes the animation's mobility. 

Who doesn't appreciate unlikely animal friendships?

Nightbitch - Have you ever watched the first five minutes of a film and thought: "Yeah, I'm gonna like this".  That's what Nightbitch did for me. I found myself taken in early and quickly due to the unique storytelling and the likeability and relatability of the main character played perfectly by Amy Adams. Why has she not won an Oscar yet?!  Nightbitch brilliantly blends dark comedy & body horror while keeping the audience close, as if you were not only along for the ride, but experiencing it yourself. 

You wish you could

The Brutalist - This 3.5 hour movie could have been longer and I would have continued to sit through it. It's a wonderful portrayal of a talented Jewish immigrant and all the anti-immigrant, anti-Semitic bullshit he has to endure.  Everything is beautiful to look at from the set design to the costumes and hair-stylings.  A beautiful epic.

Just the beginning

Challengers -  I've never unironically described a piece of media as 'sexy' and meant it as a compliment - until now..   The film has in-your face strong and focused characters that you simultaneous want to follow but also witness like a train-wreck.

No Caption Needed

Honorable Mentions:

Inside Out 2 - A fantastic sequel to an already great movie. A real depiction of anxiety.

Sebastian - This could have been a sex-sploitative film, but instead it was warm and earnest.

A Quiet Place: Day One - A sequel we didn't need, but packed with intense suspense.

Memoir of a Snail - A joyous story filled with humor and heartbreak.

Conclave - A surprising multiple-character study with strong actors.

Nosferatu - Beautifully shot true gothic horror.

As a horror fan, only one really made the tops - but along with my honorable mentions above, I'd like to include some really fun horror I saw this year: Abigail, Terrifier 3, The First Omen, Late Night with the Devil, In a Violent Nature, Heretic & Smile 2 (which I almost didn't see, but enjoyed way more than the first one.)

And here's the full list of 2024 movies I've seen this year:

2024 movies

1.       You Can’t Stay Here

2.       I.S.S.

3.       Sometimes I think about Dying

4.       How to have Sex

5.       Lisa Frankenstein

6.       Self Reliance

7.       Drive-Away Dolls

8.       Dune, the second one

9.       Orion & The Dark

10.   Problemista

11.   Spaceman

12.   Imaginary

13.   Love Lies Bleeding

14.   Kung Fu Panda, the 4^th one

15.   Damsel

16.   Ghostbusters, the 4^th one? Canonically, I guess

17.   Immaculate

18.   Late Night with the Devil

19.   Exhuma

20.   Shirley

21.   Kong x Godzilla

22.   Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World

23.   Thelma

24.   The First Omen

25.   Wicked Little Letters

26.   Femme

27.   Civil War

28.   Night Swim

29.   Monkey Man

30.   The Beast

31.   Sasquatch Sunset

32.   Abigail

33.   Challengers

34.   The Fall Guy

35.   Tarot

36.   I Saw the TV Glow

37.   Argyle

38.   Unfrosted

39.   Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

40.   If

41.   Babes

42.   Thelma the Unicorn

43.   The Stranger

44.   Kidnapped

45.   Furiosa

46.   Evil Does Not Exist

47.   We Have Always Lived in The Castle

48.   American Society of Magical

49.   In a Violent Nature

50.   Tuesday

51.   Hitman

52.   The Beekeeper

53.   Madame Web

54.   Inside Out 2

55.   The Bikeriders

56.   Ghostlight

57.   Kinds of Kindness

58.   A Quiet Place: Day One

59.   Fancy Dance

60.   Horizon: Chapter One

61.   Girls State

62.   Despicable Me: The 4^th One

63.   Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F

64.   Maxxxine

65.   Sing Sing

66.   Long Legs

67.   Touch

68.   Twisters

69.   Crossing

70.   Skywalkers A Love Story

71.   Oddity

72.   Deadpool & Wolverine

73.   Didi

74.   Trap

75.   Kneecap

76.   Arcadian

77.   Sebastian

78.   Cuckoo

79.   Alien: The Latest one

80.   Humane

81.   Daughters

82.   His Three Daughters

83.   Strange Darling

84.   Blink Twice

85.   Stopmotion

86.   The Watchers

87.   Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

88.   Speak No Evil

89.   Booger

90.   Green Border

91.   My Old Ass

92.   The Substance

93.   A Different Man

94.   Megalopolis

95.   Lee

96.   The Wild Robot

97.   Saturday Night

98.   Wolfs

99.   Will & Harper

100.  Joker, the second one

101.  The Outun

102.  The Platform – the 2^nd one

103.  It’s What’s Inside

104.  A Nice Indian Boy

105.  We Live in Time

106.  Piece by Piece

107.  The Apprentice

108.  Terrifier, the third one

109.  Anora

110.  MadS

111.  Rumours

112.  Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story

113.  Memoir of a Snail

114.  Conclave

115.  Don’t Move

116.  Mr. Crocket

117.  The Remarkable Life of Ibelin

118.  A Real Pain

119.  Emilia Perez

120.  Juror #2

121.  Black Box Diaries

122.  Heretic

123.  Dahomey

124.  Soundtrack to a Coup D’Etat

125.  Bird

126.  Gladiator, the 2^nd one

127.  Wicked

128.  Flow

129.  I’m Still Here

130.  Spellbound

131.  Queer

132.  Blitz

133.  The Piano Lesson

134.  Woman of the Hour

135.  The Seed of the Sacred Fig

136.  Moana, the 2^nd one

137.  Armand

138.  Nightbitch

139.   The Girl With the Needle

140.  Pedro Perdomo

141.  The End

142.  Maria

143.  Nickel Boys

144.  Sugarcane

145.  Janet Planet

146.  September 5

147.  Carry-On

148.  Wallace & Grommit

149.  The Brutalist

150.  The Six Triple Eight

151.  Mufasa

152.  The Room Next Door

153.  A Complete Unknown

154.  Nosferatu

155.  Smile, the 2^nd one

156.  Vermiglio

157.  The Fire Inside

Daniel's Top Eleven Movies of 2023

Daniel's Top Ten Eleven Movies of 2023!

I saw 162 2023 movies this year. (This does not include the 2022 movies I saw in theaters in 2023; a not very important extinction that I totally think is important and not at all confusing, right?).  Streaming helped a bit, but I'm glad to say that most of these were seen in theaters. There were an array of original and interesting films this year.  And a lot of that originality put these films at the top.  (Full list of movies I saw at the bottom.)

Here they are, in no particular order.

Sanctuary - This was one of the first great films I saw in 2023 and I can't believe it's not getting the accolades it should be.  Firstly, it has two of the best acting performances I've seen on film, by Margaret Qualley and Christopher Abbott, two incredibly underrated actors who are going to go far.  Last year, I gave Chris props for On the Count of Three. He's great in everything he does.  I first saw Qualley giving a pitch-perfect performance portraying Ann Reinking in the mini-series Fosse/Verdon.  They both also appear in this year's Poor Things.. The film is set in one location and could rightfully have been a play, but still felt larger than life on the big screen.  The script is full of twist and turns & will have you guessing until the end, while enjoying the performances until you get there.

Nimnoa - Nimona is a fantastical and original story in a time of dragons and magic.  It tells a story of acceptance, not only of others, but of oneself. It's imaginative and subverts many tropes of animated stories. It's also incredibly queer.  And like some other animated films, it knows how to do queer characters justice.  

Barbie - This could have been a disaster.  In lesser hands, it would have been a dumb advertisement for a brand named toy.  Instead, Greta Gerwig wrote and directed a fun, original, thought-provoking and poignant film with believable characters and an interesting and thorough plot. The film provided lots of laughs, some great music and some truly wonderful performances - some that, no matter how ridiculous they got, stayed completely true to their characters.

Talk to Me - One of my favorite horror movie lesser-known tropes is when the movie itself doesn't question its universe's circumstances. Are ghosts real?  Omg, what's happening? It's such a waste of time!  Talk to Me accepts its fate early on and instead just has fun with the concept, while still taking its characters on a journey of exploration, danger & figuring out how to get out of it.  It's a fun ride through the film & a wholly original concept.

Fair Play - I can't believe I have two movies on my list that exudes heterosexual 'men vs women' drama, but here we are.  Sometimes I surprise myself.  Or maybe it's that these films surprised me.  Fair Play is a roller coaster from start to finish with two great leads who play a variety of emotions, sometimes in the same scene.  It's smarty written, well-paced & has you on the edge until the end.

Rustin - A black gay American icon who I barely knew anything about.  I was glad to see this film at newfest with a queer crowd. It's a remarkable story of a man who fights despite seemingly everyone trying to get in his way. Colman Domingo does Oscar winning work here, as Rustin and I really hope he does well in awards season. It's an inspiring story of a person who deserved more than he got.

American Fiction - Jeffrey Wright is amazing in everything he does, but here, he's just phenomenal in an exceptionally layered performance.  The film has a lot to say, and it says it well - not by preaching, but by exploring the ideas it presents.  Having a (usually) half-naked Sterling K. Brown playing a late-stage coming-out Gay was also an inspired choice.

Dream Scenario - Talk about original. This is Nick Cage, not only at his zaniest, but also at his most sincere. It's a film that throws you into an insane scenario right away and holds fast until the end.  It's a mystery that doesn't need to be solved. The tension and drama (and comedy) builds from the characters being put in an outrageous situation.

Origin - Origin brought up concepts, ideas and comparisons I'd never really considered and like American Fiction, presented them in a way that forced the characters to explore, rather than tell.  Ava DuVernay adapted the book and chose to also include the narrative of the author.  This was an inspired choice, as the author's journey & experience helped shape her ideas. Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor was magnificent in the lead role, and had a great supporting cast including Niecy Nash & Jon Bernthal. 

All of Us Strangers - I went back and forth in including this on my list because, well, I hated the ending.  But I won't get into that, because the rest of the film is absolutely one of the most beautiful narratives I've seen in film in a long time with everything I needed from the dialogue.  It's a fantasy that deals with grief, regrets and the opportunity to  fix the impossible. Andrew Scott's nuanced performance is moving as he deals with his grief and fantasy with child-like curiosity mixed with the slight hardness of experience. 

May December - This one's here for the performances.  You already knew Natalie Portman & Julianne Moore were incredible performers. This is no exception.  Here, they create two hateful & terrible characters who are convinced they're good and righteous people.  That's hard to pull off.  I was pleasantly surprised with Charles Melton as well.  Not only his performance, but how the script gave agency and growth to a character who could have easily been written off as one-note, especially when up against two power-house performers like Portman & Moore.  

Honorable Mentions:

Monster - An incredible story of the rigors of adolescence, especially when you might be "different". The film also expertly demonstrates how perspective can begin to lead to understanding.

M3gan - Fun, smart & scary, three things you want from a horror flick.

Sick of Myself - I haven't seen a complete and total breakdown of a character since  Black Mirror's Nosedive episode.

How to Blow Up a Pipeline -  Smart, nerve-wracking & fast-paced.

Biosphere - This film will have you yelling WTF more than American Dreams while rooting for its flawed characters.

Bottoms - Hilarious - a raunchy gay teen  comedy that pulls no punches.

Scrapper - Good character-driven dramedy with bright & bold personalities. 1 of 3 things I've seen Harris Dickinson in this year and definitely his best.

Here's some awards:

List of actors who made me hate their characters (in a good way?)

Teyana Taylor - A Thousand and One

Kristine Kujath Thorp - Sick of Myself

Franz Rowgoski - Passages

Any of the men but especially Mark Ruffalo - Poor Things

Alden Ehrenreich - Fair Play

Any of the men - The Color Purple

All Movies this year named after a brand:

Air 👟

Tetris 🎮

Barbie 👱‍♀️

Blackberry 📵

Ferrari 🚗

Dungeons & Dragons 🐉

More awards listed next to entries below:

Here's all the 2023 movies I saw this year.

1. M3gan - Best reason for gay Halloween

2. The Pale Blue Eye

3. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a #*%!: Movie written by a guy you'd never want to meet at a bar to discuss anything with

4. Skinamarink: Worst movie making you stare at a ceiling for almost 2 hours

5. Plane - Best movie with a somewhat misleading title.  (Seriously, most of the movie is not on a plane!)

6. Sick: Best movie to come out of covid.

7. Alice, Darling

8. Missing

9. Infinity Pool - Best use of the name Jaaaaaaaames

10. Knock at the Cabin  - Most flawed premise

11. Ant-Man, the 3rd one

12. Of An Age

13. Emily

14. Cocaine Bear

15. Creed III - Biggest waste of homo-eroticism.

16. Scream, the 6th one

17. Five Devils

18. John Wick, the 4th one

19. Inside

20. Tetris

21. Smoking Causes Coughing

22. Enys Men

23. Kill Boksoon

24. Dungeons & Dragons

25. A Thousand and One

26. The Magician’s Elephant

27. The Boston Strangler

28. The Strays

29. Air

30. Renfield

31. The Offering

32. Beau is Afraid - Most panic-attack-inducing movie.

33. Sick of Myself

34. How to Blow Up a Pipeline

35. Evil Dead Rise -  Goriest Horror

36. Chevalier

37. Are You There God? It’s me, your cousin Marvin, God

38. Guardians of the Galaxy, the third one

39. Sisu - Best movie about a guy kicking na$i ass

40. L’immensita

41. Blackberry

42. Clock

43. Still

44. Alone at Night

45. The Starling Girl

46. Sanctuary

47. Moon Garden

48. The Little Mermaid 

49. We Might as Well Be Dead

50. Your Hurt My Feelings - Realest relationship hurdle.

51. The Boogeyman

52. Tin & Tina

53. Past Lives

54. Across The Spider-Verse

55. The Blackening - Funniest horror 

56. Elemental

57. Rye Lane

58. Asteroid City

59. Indiana Jones, the 5th one

60. Nimona

61. Run, Rabbit, Run

62. Eldorado

63. Every Body - Best documentary not currently on the shortlist for Oscar nominees

64. Joy Ride

65. 65 (I did not plan this.)

66. Biosphere

67. Insidious – the 5th one?

68. Wham!

69. Super Mario Brothers

70. Theater Camp - Funniest movie about/by/for theater people.

71. Bird Box, the 2nd one in Barcelona - Most unnecessary sequel (and there were a lot of them.)

72. Mission Impossible, the last one, part one - Best action sequence. (The train, omg.)

73. Final Cut

74. The Covenant

75. Barbie

76. They Cloned Tyrone

77. Oppenheimer

78. Afire

79. Talk to Me - Best Horror of the Year

80. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

81. The Haunted Mansion

82. Passages -  Most satisfying ending

83. Shortcomings 

84. Red, White & Royal Blue - Most Hallmark adaptation 

85. Last Voyage of the Demeter

86. Landscape with an Invisible Hand -Winner of the "Well that 3rd act just fell apart" award

87. Bottoms

88. Scrapper

89. birth/rebirth

90. Perpetrator

91. Nun 2 Soon

92. You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah

93. Killer Book Club

94. Aristotle & Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe - Adaptation that might have been better as a mini-series award.

95. A Haunting in Venice

96. El Conde

97. The Deepest Breath

98. Cassandro 

99. It Lives Inside

100. No One Will Save You - Surprise hit horror of the year

101. Saw X

102. The Creator

103. Totally Killer

104. Exorcist: Belieber

105. Fair Play

106. The Origin of Evil

107. Dicks: The Musical - The "what did I just watch" award

108. Rustin

109. Little Richard

110. Cobweb

111. Slotherhouse - Wasted potential award.

112. The Conference

113. Anatomy of a Fall

114. A Deadly Invitation

115. Killers of the Flower Moon

116. Five Nights at Freddy’s - The 'too many ideas, poor execution' award.

117. Priscilla

118. Hermana Muerte

119. The Holdovers - Critics love this pretentious shit award.

120. Silver Dollar Road

121. Fingernails

122. Radical

123. Nyad

124. The Marvels

125. Perfect Days

126. Dream Scenario - Best use of Nick Cage award

127. The Killer

128. Next Goal Wins 

129. Saltburn

130. Thanksgiving

131. May December

132. Fallen Leaves

133. Hunger Games, the 5th one

134. The Boy & The Heron

135. Stamped from the Beginning

136. Maestro

137. Paradise

138. Monster

139. Wish

140. Gozilla Minus One

141. Four Daughters

142. Eileen

143. Quiz Lady

144. American Symphony - Most pretentious doc

145. Poor Things - Best Actress (Emma Stone) in a problematic movie

146. Origin

147. The Peasants -Weirdest reason for wanting to animate a movie.

148. Leave the World Behind

149. The Taste of Things - It's just cooking for like 2 hours.  This is not an award. I just-

150. Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget

151. American Fiction

152. The Zone of Interest - Ten minutes of this would have been enough Award.

153. 20 Days in Mariupol

154. Wonka

155. Society of the Snow - Necessary remake of an originally white-washed film Award

156. All of us Strangers

157. The Iron Claw - The "Misery pump" award

158. Godland 

159. Desperate Souls, Dark City and the Legend of Midnight Cowboy

160. The Teachers Lounge

161. The Color Purple

162. Ferrari