10. Flow (Gints Zilbalodis)
One of my favorite animated films of the century so far. A fun, heartwarming experiment.
9. The Substance (Coralie Fargeat)
This movie goes so hard. I’ve only seen it twice, and that may be enough. Most batshit third act of the year.
8. Nosferatu (Robert Eggers)
Favorite Robert Eggers movie so far. Formal in its presentation, but surprisingly violent in its execution.
7. Kinds of Kindness (Yorgos Lanthimos)
If Yorgos Lanthimos makes a movie, it will end up on my top 10 list of that year. Why did no one ever talk about this more?
6. Last Summer (Catherine Breillat)
WOW. A script like this would never even be allowed in a Hollywood executive’s office. I love it. I watched every Catherine Breillat film this year, and that was no simple feat. I adore this woman’s perspective.
5. The Seed of the Sacred Fig (Mohammad Rasoulof)
I had no clue stories like this existed in real life. Eye-opening in the most shocking way. A long sit, but builds to a tremendous final act.
4. In a Violent Nature (Chris Nash)
Hardcore gore on a budget. The director and his crew shot this movie twice because the first shoot went so poorly. They stuck to their vision and delivered an indie horror film of immense power. Ever wanted to see a slasher told entirely from the POV of the killer? Here is…
3. Red Rooms (Pascal Plante)
Find this movie and watch it. This is Fincher on a budget, and it still rivals early Fincher. I loved this movie and have a 100% success rate in recommending it to people. It is not the movie you think it’s going to be. There is so much nuance to this. Juliette Gariépy is astounding. I’ll watch anything writer/director Pascal Plante does next.
2. Babygirl (Halina Reijn)
This is as close to Last Summer as an American film can get (and it still ain’t even that close). But I loved the artistic Fuck-It-All nature of Babygirl. Nicole Kidman not being nominated for this was damn silly; I think it’s one of the best performances she’s ever given.
1. Anora (Sean Baker)
This is one of my favorite films of the century so far. This is a perfect indie masterpiece. Made for $6 million completely outside of the traditional Hollywood system, this is a movie for movie lovers, made by movie fanatics. Mikey Madison gives the performance of 2024 in this film. It will remain one of my favorite performances in all of film. Anora grabbed me from its opening scene and never let go. Nine viewings and counting. Today this could be the best day of our lives.
You and I have the same film at #1 for 2024 and we share 3 other films in our respective lists. There's still a lot of films to catch up on but for now, I'm taking a mental break from watching newer and recent films.
ReplyDeleteNice list, you have a few on here I still haven't seen. And wasn't your number 8 nominated for best short this year? Makes me even more excited to watch it. I love that poster.
DeleteGlad someone else mentioned Red Rooms. Insane movie. Here's my list
ReplyDelete1. Nickel Boys (Tremendous stuff. such a bold use of first person perspective)
2. I Saw the TV Glow (one of the truly unique films of the year)
3. The Brutalist (have you come around on this one? I remember you hating this lol) 4. Hard Truths (MJB performance is god tier)
5. Evil Does Not Exist (slow but compelling. Gorgeous music)
6. Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World (another really unique movie that has to be seen to believed)
7. All We Imagine As Light (Loved the central performance. One of the best recent 'lonely in the big city' films)
8. Close Your Eyes (probably the best ending of the year)
9. Hit Man (a hitman movie only Linklater could make)
10. La chimera (basically an art house Indiana Jones lol)
This is a fantastic list. Eclectic, world cinema stories, and the ones I've seen, I've really enjoyed. (I HAVE to see your number 8, based on your description.)
DeleteOkay, your number 3. You left this comment anonymously, so I don't know who you are, but you seem like a very nice person, and far be it from me to shit on a movie anyone likes. But, basically, I think that movie is completely full of shit. Film school student nonsense that, to me, treats its audience like absolute fucking idiots. Pearce fucks Brody over, again and again and again, but in case we didn’t get the point he literally… fucks him. And instead of Brody fighting for himself, his wife (who can now magically walk??) calls Pearce out, in his home, in front of everyone. I didn’t buy it for a second, and I thought it was bafflingly done. And then the end, that’s one of the most unintentionally hilarious movie scenes I’ve witnessed so far this century. What even is that? Pretentious hogwash that had no business being as long as it was. I heard the entirety of the 15-minute intermission was still in the streaming release?? Like… what?! That’s so funny to me.
Not for me. At all. But I want to be clear that I absolutely appreciate your comment, and your tastes. I don’t go in for sexual assault as a punchline though. Very very very lazy to me.
I was a little bummed out when there wasn't a list at the beginning of last year, so seeing this made my day.
ReplyDeleteI hoped Red Rooms would hit theaters in my country eventually, but to my disappointment, I spotted it on the DVD shelves mid-2025. Which is a shame cause it's a great flick with a great performance. I preferred the uncomfortable vibe of A Different Man to the gore-flinging of The Substance, despite loving Moore and Quaid in it. Last Summer, I thought, was actually better than the original Queen of Hearts, whose ending felt like a cop-out to me.
Nosferatu was such a personal disappointment. Eggers' previous movies had silly humor, but with this, I couldn't tell if he took anything seriously, which made it harder to buy the misery the film was so slowly wallowing in. By the time Depp went through her third teary-eyed monologue in a row, I checked out. She's good, but I never managed to see a real character, just an actress being pushed through too many emotional moments without much impact. Like, a seizure is scary in real life, but if you have an actress recite a big monologue while she's clenching her jaw and shaking like someone set her to vibrate, it just seems ridiculous. Skarsgård's trying way too hard with that ridiculous voice and the many weird close-ups don't do Hoult's scared face any favors. Granted, I tend to judge Dracula adaptations pretty harshly, since I love the story and most movies seem to actively refuse to do justice to it. The "romance" in the Coppola one still makes me wince. Simon McBurney was great, though, easily one of my favorite Renfields.
I'm a bit ashamed to admit that the ending to The Seed of the Sacred Fig had me laugh out loud in the theater. There's a lot of power to the story, but with the slow pace, laborious runtime and restrained tone, the repetition of the chase scene seemed so basic to me. I got through it okay and then the father just fell through this perfectly placed hole and I lost it.
Anora isn't the top spot on my list, but it was definitely the best of the Best Picture nominees, so it was kind of a happy Oscar night. Especially its editing win, since that often goes to the bigger productions. Not as great as the previous year when Oppenheimer and Poor Things reigned.
My list (I go a little overboard with the honorable mentions, but the more, the merrier): https://letterboxd.com/i_rob_hospitals/list/favorite-movies-of-2024/detail/
Thank you so much for the interest! It weighed on me that I never posted this list, so better late than never! I really dig your final list. So happy Anora made the cut! And Memory (I LOVE Franco), Sing Sing, Robot Dreams, The Girl with the Needle (oof), Kinds of Kindness–great stuff.
DeleteI hear you on Nosferatu. My pod partner Nick had the exact same thoughts as you. I'm kind of surprised it did work on me. But, I've only seen it twice, in the theater, and have no desire to revisit it, even though there's a longer edition of it now. So, I suppose that says a lot, as someone who's watched Anora 12 times, and One Battle 13 times.
Well, this is embarrassing, I do not recall that moment from Sacred Fig that you described, which seems important to remember haha. I need to rewatch it now! I bet I'll laugh, thinking of this comment.
Hell YES to Red Rooms, and Last Summer. Last Summer is soooo vicious. I love that damn movie. And I agree, it's a superior remake.