It’s starting to feel quite common to say that it was a strange year for movies.
But 2024 was, from beginning to end, unrealistic and strange. again.
Thanks to a pair of Hollywood blockbusters — which seem like a lifetime ago, but are due out in late 2023 — productions and releases have been canceled or delayed, leaving a depleted lineup.
Many blockbusters that managed to hit the big screen flopped miserably: “Joker: Folie A Deux,madam web,ArgyllThey got what they deserved.
Oscar winners Francis Ford Coppola and Kevin Costner made costly mistakes with “”.Metropolitan” And “Horizon: An American Saga,
After so many failures, Marvel finally scored a hit with “Deadpool and Wolverine”, but you still can’t help but think that the general public is bidding farewell to superheromania.
But, amid the mess, there were some bright points.
A trio of spectacular performances women around 60 years of age Was more talkative than any of her fresh-faced young colleagues: Pamela Anderson “The Last Showgirl,”Demi Moore” inSubstanceIn “And Nicole Kidman”Baby girl,
Cleverly marketed arthouse fare such as “civil war” And “long legsGiven the lack of options, they were able to emerge victorious and sell a lot of tickets.
And the year-end domestic box office has finally made some gains thanks to “Wicked” and “Moana 2.”
But friends, we are not out of the woods yet. Twelve months from now, I suspect exhibitors will be singing a different seasonal carol: “All I want for Christmas is an ‘Avatar’!”
Here are the 10 best movies of 2024.
‘Anora’
was the best of the year Shawn Baker’s Stripper Cinderella StoryStarring the hot Mickey Madison. “Anora” is the most pleasurable kind of movie experience — just when you think you know exactly what you’re watching, the story of a Brooklyn exotic dancer who has a whirlwind affair with the high-roller son of a Russian oligarch. Weeks pass, becoming completely unfamiliar and even more wonderful. Comparisons to “Pretty Woman” are inevitable, but Baker’s film is brimming with modernity and extracts new emotional depth from an old thread. And, with the help of sublime actors Mark Edelshtein, Yura Borisov and Karen Karagulyan, “Anora” is hilarious. And, finally, disintegrate.
‘A real pain’
Another scary movie Jesse Eisenberg’s “A Real Pain,” In which two cousins, played by Eisenberg and Kiernan Culkin, travel to Poland to visit their beloved late grandmother’s childhood home, from which she fled during World War II. Most of his travels involve Holocaust travel, parts of which are amusing while others are unexpectedly beautiful and funny. I haven’t been able to shake “A Real Pain” since I first saw it at Sundance almost a year ago. Culkin’s performance as a stoned party man who is struggling to find himself is unforgettable.
‘Dun: Part Two’
After David Lynch’s failed 1984 effort, which he later disowned, I thought it was impossible to adapt Frank Herbert’s gorgeous and morally complex “Dune” novels to the screen. Wrong! Director Denis Villeneuve has done it twice now, and very brilliantly. sequelIn which we begin to see the true colors of Paul Atreides, tops the first film in scope and magnitude. And Timothée Chalamet goes into full leading-man mode with impassioned speeches and glowing darkness. Plus, who could resist going on a date with Zendaya on Sandworm?
‘A complete unknown’
‘This was Chalamet’s year. After five years of preparation – learning to sing and play the guitar – the actor is A bombshell as musician Bob Dylan During his early years of stardom in Greenwich Village. He finds his way around the singer’s nasal sound without coming off like a Vegas impersonator. Beyond that essential leading performance, director James Mangold surprisingly takes us into the world of 1960s folk music on the eve of rock ‘n’ roll’s takeover.
‘Baby girl’
In recent years, films have become weak on sex. (Thanks, Gen Z). But “Babygirl” isn’t shyNicole Kidman and Harris Dickinson are provocative and dangerous in director Halina Reason’s age-gap drama about a CEO who works with interns. Shocker? It’s the employee who is in control – not the boss. Kidman and Harrison have great chemistry as they spiral out of control into a situation that could destroy the Chief’s life. Well, it’s not dirty. Ren asks smart questions about what it really means to be powerful.
‘The Wild Robot’
Here’s some artificial intelligence you might want to give a big hug to. best family film of the year “The Wild Robot” was about a droid stranded on an island who becomes the adoptive parent of a gosling. From DreamWorks, it captures your heart the same way “How to Train Your Dragon” and the earlier “Kung Fu Panda” did.
‘conclave’
Like putting a Steinbeck book jacket over a dirty romance novel, director Edward Berger has made a clever sell: Come for sophisticated vatican dramaStay tuned for sordid scandals and outrageous turns. Following the death of the Pope, Cardinal Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes) is tasked with organizing a centuries-old election to choose a new pontiff. Then power-hungry people plot and plot their way to the top, as damaging secrets about their past are revealed. Visually, it is an impeccably detailed stunner. And prestige and vulgarity constitute a holy communion.
‘Challenger’
Do you think tennis is a pinky-out country club sport? Mistake! Director Luca Guadagnino, with him The most accessible film everAddictive “Challengers” depict the game as sexual, cruel, and emotionally and physically punishing. The film begins to throb to the beat of a nightclub as the love triangle between Tashi (Zendaya), Patrick (Josh O’Connor) and Art (Mike Frist) goes awry. Just as tennis is all about figuring out what’s going on in your opponent’s mind, the audience enjoys solving the puzzle of this complex trio.
‘Nosferatu’
There’s nothing scarier than the word “remake.” But new horror maestro Robert Eggers, whose “The Witch” was memorably scary, has successfully devised an updated version The Gothic flair and relentless, eerie chill of the 1929 vampire classic “Nosferatu.” The brilliant Bill Skarsgård plays the creepy Count Orlok and the actor is nowhere near as committed and recognizable as he was as Pennywise the Clown in “It.” That guy’s resume is a nightmare.
‘Substance’
On the subject of terror, Demi Moore is horrified by what she sees in the mirror: herself. Rejected by the entertainment industry, her narcissistic character Elizabeth Sparkle takes a secret drug called The Substance which terrifyingly creates a younger, more attractive clone (Margaret Qualley) who walks the Earth in her place. But the lookalike’s priorities get messed up, leading him to the wildest, campiest and, sometimes, most… the most disgusting movie In a minute. As Margot Channing says in “All About Eve,” another movie about aging women and fame, “Fasten your seat belts. It’s going to be a bumpy night.”
