2024 Movies Ranked: Part 3
20. Twisters: One of the most surprising summer blockbusters. I enjoyed this movie a whole lot more than I thought I would. This movie feels like a classic blockbuster and I think that’s a positive. It has everything you want from a blockbuster. You get exciting sequences, humor, and heart all wrapped up into one. It’s a disaster movie so there’s plenty of fun and thrilling disaster sequences that happen. The CGI and sound design for this movie is great and adds to the effect of the sequences. I don’t know if this movie will get any Oscar love, but I think it should be in that conversation. You care about the characters and the journey that they’re on. It’s a fun ensemble of characters that are played by charismatic movie stars.
19. Longlegs: The surprise box office hit of the year. This movie was not on my radar until just about a week before it came out. I’ve mentioned a couple of times here, this feels like a movie of the past. It takes heavy inspiration from The Silence of the Lambs and Se7en. It feels like a type of movie that we don’t get a lot of these days. You get two great performances from Maika Monroe and Nicholas Cage. Who just does such a good job of embodying these characters. On paper, they’re your typical characters in this type of film. But there’s so many layers and depth to them that they stand out. I do think some of the twists and turns in the third act were a bit predictable and it didn’t end on as much of a high as I’d hoped. But still a rock solid horror serial killer movie.
18. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes: After seven years we got another adventure with the apes. I thought this was a very solid continuation of the Caesar trilogy of movies. This movie is all about legacy and how Caesar's impact affected the world after. They explore the idea of how different apes would respond to what Caesar said and what they took from it. On a production level, this movie is fantastic all around the way around. From the CGI to the production design it feels like you’re properly transported into this world. I thought the character was pretty solid and fleshed out the world nicely. They set up enough stuff that I’m very curious where they’re going to go with possible sequels and see where all of this goes.
17. A Complete Unknown:James Mangold’s second musical biopic, telling the story of Bob Dylan. I thought this was a really good movie that felt different from a typical biopic. It’s not showing the rise and fall of Dylan from childhood to dying days. It's about a period of time where he transitioned from folk to rock. And how that choice affected the musical industry. Timothée Chalamet is really good as Bob Dylan. I don’t know if I would give him the Oscar the way some people are saying. But that doesn’t mean he didn’t turn in a bad performance. Edward Norton, Monica Barbaro, and Ella are also quite good. It does a great job of transporting you to a time and a place. Through the character, costumes, music, and atmosphere it feels like you’re in the 1960s with these characters.
16. Gladiator II: After 24 years, Ridley Scott returned to the colosseum. Here he delivered this big epic gladiator movie that had a lot to offer. Right out of the gate, the movie shows why he’s one of our great directors of the last 40 years. The opening action sequence with Pedro Pascal’s character invading Rome is fantastic. It’s a true visual spectacle that feels big and epic in scale. It finds ways to have action all throughout the movie and all of them fun and exciting to watch. There’s multiple directions this movie takes in the back half of the movie that I wasn’t expecting but I think works and kept me engaged from beginning to end. Denzel Washington is fantastic as he always is.
15. Civil War: I thought it was a very interesting movie that had a lot of fun to offer. From beginning to end the movie is gorgeous to look at. Shots can be horrifying to look at but they’re beautiful to look at. I was able to see this movie on the big screen and it was very cool. I don’t know if the movie would have the same effect at home. Alex Garland is able to craft a lot of great and very tense sequences. They keep you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end and you know that our characters are constantly in danger. I know some people weren’t crazy about the ending, that’s fair. I don’t know if it’s the ending I would have picked, but it didn’t detract much from my enjoyment of the movie.
14. Strange Darling: One of the biggest surprises of the year. I went into this movie not knowing anything about it and left loving it. I think going into this movie not knowing anything about it is the best way to watch this movie. It’s a simple cat and mouse story but it’s told out of order. So you’ll get these shots and sequences with certain character, expect one thing from it. But then we go back and see what happened and you reintroduce what you saw differently. Giovanni Ribsi is the cinematographer for the movie. I didn’t know he did this but I hope he gets more work doing this. He does a great job of shooting this movie to look beautiful and thrilling. This movie is on VOD, I encourage you to go watch it.
13. Inside Out 2: The highest grossing movie of 2024; that’s also the highest grossing animated movie of all time. Most of Pixar’s movies are films I don’t want sequels to, they have a concept that could only work once. I thought that Inside Out did lend itself to sequels. I was excited when I checked this movie. I thought this movie was great and it delivered what I wanted from a sequel. It’s great to see Riley at a different phase of life and dealing with different emotions. It’s a movie that delivers all of the entertainment you want while also delivering some emotional moments that are useful for both pre-teens and parents. This isn’t top tier Pixar for me, but it’s still great.
12. Transformers One: It’s unfortunate that Chris Hemsworth had two great movies released but both of them unfortunately bombed at the box office. I think this is easily the best of the Transformers movies. It mixes a lot of different ingredients that all work. This movie focuses on the downfall of Optimus Prime and Megatron. It sort of plays out like Revenge of the Sith in the Transformers universe. That’s fun and interesting and I think provides for a great story. It’s packed with emotion as you don’t want to see them fall apart but you know it’s going to. You 100% understand why Megatron is doing what he’s doing. Because the movie is animated it’s able to do more wild and crazy Transformers action that you couldn’t do in live action. It’s also very funny that from beginning to end it was making me laugh.
11. The Fall Guy: This might not be one of the more emotional or thought provoking films on this list. But this is one of the most fun movies on the list. Both times that I’ve watched this movie I loved it so it makes it on this list. Similar to Twisters this feels like a classic blockbuster. Where it mixes action, comedy, and romance. It’s not a big CGI spectacle film but rather a film that’s just trying to entertain the audience. At the center of his movie is Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt. Who have great chemistry and they’re both charismatic movie stars. I appreciate it’s a movie about Hollywood that’s celebrating Hollywood and more importantly celebrating the stunt community. Overall, one of the most entertaining movies of the year.
10. Heretic: My pick for the best horror movie of 2024. I thought this movie took an intriguing premise and delivered on that premise. It’s a psychological horror movie deconstructing religion and questioning your faith and belief. I’m not a person of faith but it had me questioning some of that stuff. The man that’s deconstructing religion is trying to answer what the one true religion is. Hugh Grant plays the antagonist of the movie and he’s absolutely fantastic. It’s a mix of the Hugh Grant charm that you’d expect while delivering a terrifying performance that is very creepy and unsettling. Throughout the entire movie, it keeps on putting the characters in these tension situations. So from beginning to end, you’re on the edge of your seat while making you question.
9. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga: Of the Mad Max movies that I’ve seen, this is easily my favorite. What elevates this movie for me is it gives the lead character a more distinct character arc. From the beginning of the movie, you know exactly what she’s trying to do. For the rest of the movie you’re just following her as she’s trying to get revenge on Chris Hemsworth’s villain. Speaking of Hemsworth, he's one of the best villains of the year. He’s so evil and you want to see Furiosa take him out, but he’s also so much fun. The movie also delivers all of the crazy insane Mad Max action with 21st century spectacle. George Miller knows how to shoot big epic action set pieces that provide for a great cinematic experience on the big screen. It’s a shame this is one of the year’s biggest box office bombs.
8. Dune: Part II: I know for a lot of people, this is a top 3 maybe even #1 movie of the year. It’s #8 on my list, I think it’s great but it’s not top tier for me. I do think this is an improvement over the original. That movie had a lot of setup with no payoff. That means this movie is all payoff and it does so in such a satisfying manner. Paul’s character arc to being this legendary figure is completed. When those moments happen you feel the emotional weight of it all. On a production level, this movie is absolutely fantastic. The world feels so lived in with so much detail going into everything. It shows that Denis Villeunuve is one of the best directors working today. Overall, this movie is absolutely fantastic and I’m very excited for Dune: Messiah.
7. Sing Sing: I saw this movie a couple weeks before it came out. I heard all of the good buzz for the movie. But I didn’t really know what it was about. I thought this movie was fantastic and captured so many emotions. Where this movie can make you laugh in one scene. Then in the next scene make you emotional. Then later can make you feel victory. It’s one of the movies of 2024 that made me feel the most and you don’t get a lot of those movies. I watched interviews after I watched the movie. The director talked about how they shot this movie in an actual prison. It’s just little stuff like that made the movie feel so real and human. Colman Domingo was absolutely fantastic. He’s deserving of an Oscar nomination (maybe even a win). This is a great movie that is a classic Oscar bait movie. But it’s an Oscar bait movie done right.
6. Conclave: I believe this might be my grandparents’ favorite movie of the year. I saw the trailer for this movie a couple of times. I didn’t really know what to expect or how much I’d actually enjoy it. This movie was very compelling and interesting. It did a great job of making you engaged with what’s going on. It would present you with a new piece of information that will make you rethink what came before. Going into the third act, I had no idea where this movie was going. I thought the final moments of the answer where they gave answers to what happened I thought was very interesting. It also does a great job of transporting you to a time and a place. Where you feel like you’re in this world of priests. The performances across the board are fantastic. Ralph Fiennes better win that Oscar.
5. Wicked: I was not excited for this movie at all. I don’t think the trailers did a good job of marketing the movie. I thought this movie was pretty fantastic and once again on a production level was great. It does a fantastic job of transporting you into this world. When you’re in this world there’s so much detail going on. The world feels so lived in. I think in a lot of ways, this movie does it better than Dune (while both doing it fantastic). The movie has more depth and emotional moments to it and I think that’s what was missing from the marketing. That was one of the big elements that surprised me a whole bunch. The musical numbers are of course fantastic, they’re in shot and they’re these big shots. It’s just so vibrant and there’s moments from all of them that you remember. I was not looking forward to this movie, but it absolutely won me over.
4. Challengers: If Domingo is worthy of an Oscar nomination. I would also say that Zendaya is worthy of an Oscar nomination. I was excited for this movie, the trailers looked very interesting. This movie gave me everything that I wanted and delivered this very interesting experience. It’s about these three characters who are so unlikable, you hate all of them. But that’s what makes the movie so interesting and compelling. Is that you’re constantly watching these three terrible character butt heads without each other. All leading up to the third act where it raises more questions than it answers. But I appreciate that it didn’t feel the need to lay everything out for you. It’s also just very stylized, maybe too stylized for this type of movie. But the mix of everything from the performances, to the story, the direction, the score, and the drama is all fantastic.
3. Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story: I’m not somebody that watches a lot of documentaries. I was interested in this one. I watched the documentary just a few weeks back and loved it. This documentary just did such a fantastic job of making you feel so many emotions. Where it could make you cry, it could make you laugh. In typical Superman fashion, there’s this sense of heroism present in it. It shows all of Christopher Reeves’ positives and what he meant to the world. But it also shows his issues and how struggled as a father and a husband. It’s just so powerful that I was getting misty eyed watching the movie. The fact this wasn’t on the Oscar shortlist is shocking to me. This should at least be nominated, maybe even win best documentary. But apparently the Oscars didn’t feel that way.
2. Deadpool & Wolverine: This was my most anticipated movie of 2024. There was a lot of potential for this movie to disappoint. I’m so happy to say that it didn’t disappoint me. It delivered everything that I wanted. The big selling point was Hugh Jackman’s return. Him and Ryan Reynolds have fantastic chemistry with one another. That was one of the elements that we were all so excited about. It’s just as fun and funny as we all wanted it to be. They deliver on the multiverse cameo hijinks in a fun and creative way. Since Deadpool is all about breaking the fourth wall. The movie is allowed to go all out with the cameos. Some of the cameos are deep cut jokes that really only fans would understand. They also manage to find an emotional journey for Deadpool and Wolverine here. All around, this movie delivers everything that I wanted it to and I’m so glad it didn’t disappoint.
1. The Wild Robot: This movie absolutely blew my mind. I left the movie thinking this is one of the best animated movies of the last 15 years. This is the 2024 movie that made me feel the most. I was feeling this sense of victory, I was feeling sad, I was feeling happy. All of the emotions that you could think of, this movie made me feel. Most importantly, this movie made me cry. I’m not somebody that normally cries in a movie. But this movie had the water works going. All of the humor worked for me, there’s a shocking amount of dark humor in the movie. That actually really worked for me and it didn’t feel out of place with the rest of the movie. It’s a movie that’s exploring all of these different themes about parenting and legacy that all worked for me. The characters are a lot of fun and very charming. I didn’t think this would be my favorite movie of the year, but boy it absolutely was.
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