2024 was a pretty great year for movies. We got some truly great horror flicks (THE FIRST OMEN, ALIEN: ROMULUS), some seriously funny comedies (BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE, HUNDREDS OF BEAVERS), and some exciting action movies (FURIOSA: A MAD MAX SAGA, MONKEY MAN). This list gathers up the ones I loved the most, in the order of how much love I have for them.
10. Twisters (Universal) I had my reservations about TWISTERS. I thought the trailers looked pretty decent but we all know that a good trailer doesn't mean it represents a good film. So, I didn't go see the film the first weekend it was out. Then people kept talking about how good it was so, I gave it a shot. They were right. It is a damn good flick. The film feels like a 90s disaster film with 2024 effects. The film is exciting and the characters are fun.
9. Y2K (A24) Everyone seems to hate this film and I don't understand why. It's a horror film about technology becoming sentient with plans to take over the world and they kill people in some inventive ways. The film really nails the late 90s esthetics and its funny to boot. It's also short and doesn't overstay its welcome which is always a plus. Like TWISTERS above, Y2K is a lot of fun.
8. Wolfs (Apple Studios) With all of the big summer films that keep trying to top each other in box office and effects, WOLFS came along as counterprograming and was actually really good. Sometimes all you need is time with two actors who love being around each other and have a great chemistry. The film is well made and some seriously funny scenes. It plays like a Coen Brothers film and should have played in theaters. Apple should be ashamed of themselves. They let crap like ARGYLE play in theaters and let WOLFS rot on their pretty shitty streaming service. This would have made money.
7. The Beekeeper (Amazon MGM) Sometimes all you need is an underdog action film. No one thought THE BEEKEEPER was going to be any good. The trailers made it seem like it should have gone direct to streaming but, much like the original JOHN WICK, THE BEEKEEPER was so much better than anyone could have predicted. Jason Statham is at the top of his game here as a man who goes after phone scammers who killed Claire Huxtable and he does it in glorious ways.
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6. Longlegs (Neon) I loved the advertising for LONGLEGS. They built the film up to a degree that most thought was a bit overkill. There was no way the film could live up to the trailers and the heartbeat thing. The film is a slowburn that gets more and more exciting as it goes. Nicolas Cage is pretty damn good in the film except for the scene after he leaves the store. Everything else doesn't fell like Cage at all but then that scene comes along and feels out of place. Still, the film is so well made and acted, we can overlook something small like that. Oz Perkins proves once again why he has become so revered.
5. Mr. Crocket (Hulu Originals) MR. CROCKET is a film that came out of nowhere. I saw the trailer and it looked ok so I blew it off as another streaming film no one will watch and even less will talk about. I don't know what the viewing numbers were on this one but I see no one talking about it. That's a shame as this is one of the most original horror films I have seen in quite some time. I don't want to ruin anything for anyone so I will say that it nails its target and makes it so much weirder.
4. This is the Zodiac Speaking (Netflix) Over the past 20 years, we have seen all we can see about the Zodiac Killer. I mean, we had the David Fincher film and a bunch of other docs and books trying to figure out who the killer is. That is what I thought before I watched THIS IS THE ZODIAC SPEAKING. My wife told me to watch and I did. I will be honest, the first episode (its split up into three episodes) is everything we have already seen. We know all of this stuff. Then the last few minutes throw a curveball that is so strong we have to watch to see where they are going. The rest of the episodes are brilliant and give us a ton of new evidence that one person is the killer. Great stuff.
3. Terrifier 3 (Cineverse) One of the few films that lived up to its trailer in 2024 was TERRIFIER 3. That trailer led the huge hype train to a huge box office take. Everyone seemed to love this film. Were they right? Yes. The film is a lot of fun with some of the goriest set pieces I have ever seen in a movie theater while the film cements Art the Clown as a slasher movie icon.
2. The Fall Guy (Universal) One of the great movie crimes of 2024 is that no one went to see THE FALL GUY. This was the film that started off the 2024 summer movie season and it flopped hard. Its a shame because the film is damn entertaining. Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt are perfect together and the film has enough action and stunt set pieces for three films. The film is really well made with the filmmakers making us really appreciate the stunt work down for the film. I wish more people had seen this so we could have gotten a ton of sequels.
1. Wild Robot (Dreamworks) I knew very little about THE WILD ROBOT before going to see the film opening day. I watched the first trailer and skipped everything else because I wanted to go in as fresh as I could. Boy, was I happy I did. This is a wonderful film filled with heart and soul. We love the robot from the moment she appears on screen and the choice of us not understanding the dialogue from the animals until the robot does reminded me of the way John McTerrinan did the switch from Russian to English dialogue in THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER. Who would have thought animated film would remind me of an early 90s submarine film? THE WILD ROBOT proves once again why Dreamworks Animation is better than Disney Animation and Pixar combined.
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