Previously: 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020
See: My Personal Interpretation of Star Ratings ⭐
You can always follow me on Letterboxd, the only good social network, for reviews as I see them.
My favourite movies released in 2024
Love Lies Bleeding. It’s a great movie in 2024 but I also have a hunch it’ll age very well. Adding it to my list of movies to watch every decade.
I Saw the TV Glow. is a messy, punky film about what can happen if we refuse the call to adventure to unearth and accept who we really are. Its raw nostalgia for 90s fantasy TV is bittersweet and discordant. Watching it made me disappointed in *myself*.
Lisa Frankenstein. I just want to pause and appreciate the scene where Dale doesn’t even know what colour his wife’s eyes are, but Taffy knows exactly what contacts, clothes, and perfume her mom had on.
Dune: Part Two 2024. The moment when Rabban kissed Feyd’s boot, a guy on the other side of the theatre let out a sexually satisfied “yeah”. Don’t tell me movie theatres aren’t magical places.
Ten older movies I watched and loved in 2024
- The Thin Man 1934. The only problem with The Thin Man is nobody has made a movie this effortlessly charming in 90 years.
- The Shop Around the Corner, 1940. I think people who smoke candy and listen to cigarettes will love this movie.
- The Man Who Came to Dinner, 1941. Bette Davis got Hallmark’d, just helplessly swept up by local hunk until she forgot about her big city job. So many good quotes, though I’m partial to “Suppose your parents are unhappy with you. It’s good for them. It develops character.”
- The Model and the Marriage Broker 1951. A lot of tv shows these days would have been movies in the past, but sometimes the opposite is true. This movie, starring the tremendous Thelma Ritter as a beleaguered matchmaker, should have been a long-running sitcom.
- Seven Samurai 1954. If you’re on earth and only have 3 and a half hours, the main thing I recommend you do is watch Seven Samurai on as big a screen as you can get away with.
- Crimes of Passion 1984. Come on, get happy.
- Noises Off… 1992. “Am I doing something wrong? You know how stupid I am about doors.”
- Clockwatchers 1997. “No machine can replace me till it learns how to drink.”
- Emily the Criminal 2022. Oh shit we’re still making good noirs?
- The Iron Claw 2023. Every move looked like it hurt.
Notes 📝
Much like my TV habits, I tried using Plex’s watchlist feature in 2024. It wasn’t as bad for movies as it was for TV, but I found myself forgetting about the movie list far too often. Letterboxd’s watchlist remains pretty undefeated.
I watched 73 films this year. Four of them were from 2024, and all four had horror elements to them. I have not seen nearly enough movies from this year. I checked my watchlist, and I have nine 2024 movies in there. Those are: Nosferatu, Babygirl, The Shadow Strays, Queer, Monkey Man, Challengers, Drive away Dolls, The Brutalist, and Anora. I’m mostly writing this because I want to see all of these, and any of them could be my favourite 2024 movie. They’ll be there when I’m ready for them. It’s not a backlog. It’s a wine cellar.
Leave a comment