Top 10 Movies of 2024

Greetings, reader!

Well, here we are, once again. From a year full of great cinema, these are my very favorite movies. I hope you enjoy!

Also, if you're wondering why there's no Wicked (2024), I have to admit that I did not get around to seeing it before posting this. I'll try my very best to catch it before my 'Best of 2024 nominations+winners' posts in January!

Here are my honorable mentions: Carry-On, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter One, Salem's Lot, Scoop.

10. Turtles All the Way Down

This under-the-radar coming-of-age flick is a bit of a mixed bag for me, but I tend to give a film's positives more weight than its negatives because I watch cinema in order to enjoy it, so despite its share of flaws, Hannah Marks' Turtles All the Way Down makes it into my top ten.

The negatives are mainly the over-corny style, where much of the dialogue and humor is a bit too clear in its 'adults trying to write quirky teenager dialogue' execution, thus not feeling all that authentic. Once you get past that, there's tons to enjoy: the characters are entertaining and heartfelt, and the main character's struggles with OCD are fascinating on many levels. It's much-needed representation and awareness for a disorder that is far too often mischaracterized in media (as far as I could tell and based on what I read from reviews by viewers with OCD, this film nails the realism of its portrayal far better than most), and the ways in which the OCD reflects onto her family, friendships and romantic relationships make for emotional content more broadly relatable to viewers who may be neurodivergent in any number of ways. A very worthwhile viewing experience despite some clunky elements!

9. The Beautiful Game

One of the quintessential feel-good movies of the year, The Beautiful Game is a goofy and endearing mixture of football (soccer for my American readers), social issues and heart. While not based on a true story, the film inspired by a very real annual event - the Homeless World Cup, a football event that raises money and awareness for homeless people all over the world, while giving hundreds of economically disenfranchised people the unique experience of participating in an international sports tournament. By some estimates, the event has transformed the lives of million of homeless people, and such a wonderful concept definitely deserves an homage-paying movie.

In The Beautiful Game, the legendary Bill Nighy plays the manager of England's team for the Homeless World Cup, as we follow the assembly of the team, their journey to the big competition and their misadventures on and off the pitch. The characters on the team are fascinating, and learning their stories would serve as a strong lesson for any 'being poor is a choice' capitalists who don't understand their privilege - you have an addict who never got the treatment he needed, an immigrant failed by a broken integration system, someone who was just born into a poor family with no way out, and other stories that surely have millions of real-life counterparts all around. The movie deals with the heaviness of its theme in a respectful manner, while also managing to be uplifting with its inspiring story and fun soccer (football for my European readers) sequences.

8. Stevie Van Zandt: Disciple

A good rockumentary is only as good as the rock musician it's about - and Stevie Van Zandt is no joke. This film really opened my eyes to the fact that this man is everything I've ever wanted to be in life: a rock star, an actor with both dramatic and comedic chops (who also wrote and directed episodes of the TV shows he was on), a political activist (not just the performative kind, but the kind who actually got shit done), an author, and on top of it all, one half of a by-all-accounts happy and healthy marriage that has been going strong for decades. That combination is fucking crazy, man.

Like all three of the documentaries that made it onto this year's top ten (that's got to be a record - good for the genre!), the editing and overall style aren't as revolutionary as in the best of them, but it goes with a classic tried-and-true rockumentary format that music&film nerds like myself will never grow tired of. You got some legendary producer chuckling while telling an anecdote of a creative moment half a lifetime ago to the visual backdrop of a mixing console close-up with someone sliding a knob with their finger in a dramatic fashion? Hell yeah, give me more.

All in all, Disciple is an eye-opening account of just what a historically cool dude Stevie Van Zandt was - by the time we got to the sentence "He's like a music encyclopedia - I know a lot, but he knows more", spoken by PAUL F**KING MCCARTNEY, it was pretty clear that if anyone deserves such a praiseworthy film about their career, it's Miami Steve. 

7. Joker: Folie à Deux

Now we arrive at one of the most opinion-splitting films of 2024, one that garnered tons of hate online and a whopping 5.2 on IMDB. I know I'm not the first to make this hot take, as my experience is that surprisingly many actual humans who don't live on the internet (especially its incel section) did enjoy the Joker sequel quite a bit. I will lay out a few points on where I think the overdone hatred comes from, and why the movie is actually really good (pretty much on par with the first Joker, with slightly different strengths and weaknesses but also much of the same).

1) The musical curveball. For a movie buff like me, it seemed wildly clear that Joker: Folie à Deux was going to be a musical; this was announced a few years ago, and the film's marketing made it clear. My observations of the reactions online tell me that for thousands and thousands of people, this was not clear, and they went into the cinema not expecting a musical. I can see how it would be a lot to handle with no prior notice, as the genre does make it very different stylistically from the first film. Walking into the film with the knowledge of the genre, I found it enjoyable and not at all distracting. I get why many less film-obsessed people with actual lives might have missed this information beforehand, but it's upsetting that so many choose to blame the film and its marketing (as if they had intentionally hid this fact to confuse viewers), when the information very clearly was out there for anyone interested.

2) Misogyny. Now, obviously I'm not saying that everyone who didn't like Folie à Deux is a misogynist - there are plenty of valid reasons not to like this film, and if you didn't like it for any number of those reasons, then this post isn't analyzing your valid subjective opinions but rather analyzing what the massive online hate campaign came from. In our patriarchal and sexist society, it's no shocker that when a film with an individual male protagonist gets a sequel where there are two main characters, the new one being a woman, thousands and thousands of self-proclaimed 'film enthusiasts' were never going to give the movie a chance and instead walked into the theater with the steadfast attitude of looking for flaws so they can complain about how the woke left is destroying Hollywood.

(Related sidenote: one of my favorite aspects of the film was how it subtly made fun of the incel fans who missed the point of the first film! 2019's Joker is a great film about serious subject matters, and it has been upsetting to see how many toxic men have interpreted it as some heroic tale to be romanticized: the subplot in Folie à Deux about the people who show up to the trial to cheer for the Joker and laugh at everything he says made it pretty clear what the filmmakers think of those 'fans').

3) Too specific expectations / missed points. I didn't know exactly what to expect from Joker in 2019, and I loved every expectation-subverting curveball it threw at me, and I didn't know exactly what to expect from Folie à Deux (sure, Lady Gaga and musical numbers, but nothing specific), and I loved it for largely the same reasons, because (and this might be an unpopular opinion), the two movies are ultimately very similar. Sure, the musical genre makes the narrative and aesthetic quite different, but when you look at the themes and substance, I'd argue that Folie à Deux is a perfectly natural continuation. The musical element isn't random, but rather Todd Phillips' artistic way of exploring the same exact themes that the first film was all about. It works, at least for me; the otherworldly musical numbers work just like the Hangover-style humor worked in the first film: it might be fun in a different context, but in a film about a dangerous and mentally unstable person, they read as electrifying horror, like you're actively watching the inner workings of a mind that isn't okay. Many viewers wanted something specific, and weren't open-minded enough to look beyond the surface and realize that this film is just as Joker as the first one.

Also, my last line of defense for this over-hated film: everyone who has ever complained about Hollywood's generic sequels is full of shit. So often you hear stuff like "Why should I care about the new Marvel film / Star Wars film etc., it's just more of the same" or "This new sequel feels like it was written by a committee or an AI, it's so generic and predictable" or "God, filmmakers never take risks anymore, everything is so mediocre because they're playing everything too safe". That's fucking bullshit. The reaction to Joker: Folie á Deux shows why: if you do what people who watch movies supposedly want, and take risks with an artistic direction, this will be the reaction. The instant that a sequel is something bold and artistic and not the safe bet people were expecting, they will review-bomb online about how the film is terrible and ruined their year. No wonder so many filmmakers play their sequels safe: the ever-hypocritical masses may complain about that and claim to want something original, but in reality, it seems to be those same masses who instantly crucify anything different and creative. Showbusiness is pretty brutal to people who want to make actual art.

6. Outstanding: A Comedy Revolution

This Netflix original was a delightful surprise to brighten up the year in entertainment! As a bisexual who does stand-up comedy recreationally, this documentary about the history of LGBTQ+ stand-up comedians was quite naturally a hard-hitting story. Directed by Page Hurwitz, Outstanding isn't quite as cinematically groundbreaking or stylistically unique as some of the best documentaries out there, nor does it need to be - the fairly standard directing and editing choices leave room for the substance at hand to be the main hook.

Legends like Lily Tomlin, Margaret Cho, Wanda Sykes and countless others share their stories, and the combination of footage and interviews make for a beautiful tapestry about a revolutionary movement. The end result will not only make you hope that we could make the world a better place via laughter, but maybe even believe in it.

5. Will & Harper

Staying on the topic of heartfelt LGBTQ+ documentaries (what a niche coincidence!), Will & Harper details an atmospheric road trip filled with laughter and tears. For those who don't know, Harper Steele is a former Saturday Night Live (1975-Present) writer who came out as a trans woman in recent years - and when she told former colleague and close friend Will Ferrell about this, the latter decided to be a true friend and ally in the coolest way possible.

The dynamic duo hit the road, hitting various American locations while exploring what Harper's transition meant for her life's path, their friendship, and her relationship to America. Will & Harper is gripping at times, hilarious at others, and as informative as it is heartwarming for all of its duration. Very recommended, and I recommend recommending this film to any older relatives etc. who might still be confused about the whole transgender thing, to clear up that the nice people just trying to live their lives are, in fact, not the bathroom-stalking demons that the right-wing media wants them to be.

4. Challengers

Very few films in 2024 captivated the minds of cinema enthusiasts, and stirred conversation among them globally, as much as Luca Guadagnino's Challengers. With a perfect mixture of sports and human drama, this riveting tennis flick has a lot to love: expert cinematography with Sayombhu Mukdeeprom's stylized shots throughout the tennis sequences, a killer score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, and some of the year's very best acting performances by the trio of Zendaya, Josh O'Connor and Mike Faist. The combination of intense sports and sexual tensions make this into the undoubtedly sweatiest film of 2024, but also one of its best.

3. Longlegs

And here we have what is undoubtedly the biggest deal of the year in horror cinema, and one that I believe will stand the test of time and perhaps become a future classic! Directed by horror royalty Osgood Perkins, Longlegs was such a perfect film to see in the cinema as a fan of the genre - while it's not quite the scariest horror flick I've seen, it probably makes the top 10 for my subjective taste in getting scared, and it's probably the most frightened I've ever been in the movie theater.

There's a lot to love cinematically as well - Maika Monroe and Nicolas Cage provide brilliant performances, and the stylistic choices by the directing, cinematography and editing departments are quite genius (and play a big part in the horror element being so authentically scary). It's an approach to horror quite similar to Robert Eggers' The Vvitch (2015) - a lot of long, lingering and weirdly unsettling shots and scenes, where quite often nothing bad ends up happening, but the striking feeling that something might go down at any second leaves the viewer wonderfully anxious. All in all, Longlegs is a strong contender for best horror flick of the decade so far if you ask me.

2. Myrskyluodon Maija

In the late 60's and early 70's, Anni Blomqvist published the Myrskyluoto book series, the deeply melancholic themes and frankly depressing milieu of which really resonated with the Finnish mindset, thus becoming a beloved classic. It was adapted into a TV series in 1976, becoming so culturally relevant that its theme song is etched in Finland's collective memory as one of our most beloved musical compositions. Further love to the story was given with two critically acclaimed stage musical adaptations, one in the early 80's and the other in 2017. This year, we finally got a movie adaptation, which once again proved that one quite simply cannot do a version Myrskyluodon Maija without captivating the hearts of the Finnish people.

Running at nearly three hours long, the film by Tiina Lymi is everything a true cinema enthusiast is bound to enjoy (beautiful camera shot after beautiful camera shot, magnificent acting performances, slow-paced and thought-provoking dialogue, heartstring-tugging music, and a script that is a loyal adaptation of its source material yet changes some focal points in order to be more culturally relevant such as giving the female protagonist more agency). It also manages to be everything a typical Finn is bound to enjoy - sad, somber, even tragically heartbreaking enough to fit our mindset (someone should really check in on us), yet simultaneously filled with grit and endurance, not to mention spectacularly beautiful nature scenery.

1. Dune: Part Two

They said that Frank Herbert's crown jewel of sci-fi literature could never be adapted into a movie. David Lynch said 'hold my beer', did his very best in the 1980's, and very much seemed to prove that they were right (I love Lynch but his Dune adaptation is a glorious train wreck). They continued to say that a proper Dune movie could not be achieved - until along came Denis Villeneuve, a lifelong Dune fan who made a career of decade-defining sci-fi flicks like Arrival and Blade Runner 2049, only to reveal that they were mere trial runs for the project he had really waited his whole life to do, the project he was destined to do (not to sound like Stilgar, but yes, I believe Denis Villeneuve is the Chosen One that the science fiction genre was promised, and he will lead us unto a glorious Golden Path).

Yeah, this is the best movie of the year and there's no way around it. Villeneuve's first Dune from 2021 already knocked it out of the park, with the end product being perhaps the greatest book-to-movie adaptation I had ever seen in terms of loyalty to the source material. But, somehow, the second instalment is even better.

Earlier this year, I ranked my all-time favorite second instalments from movie franchises (because I'm a huge nerd). Dune: Part Two was boldly in third place, ahead of classics like Aliens, Terminator II: Judgement Day and even The Godfather: Part II, with only The Empire Strikes Back and The Two Towers being ahead of it. It might have looked like recency bias then and might still look like that now, but I'm standing by it - this is a film for the history books, one that will be discussed and re-watched decades and decades from now.

Villeneuve's directing and the entire production is so groundbreaking in terms of just how well-done a cinematic work can be: it's not just the huge budget and massive visuals, but the passion that goes into the craft. The cast isn't just a bunch of talented actors - it's people like Javier Bardem, who grew up reading Dune and said that it feels crazy to be paid to play a role so fascinating that he would pay money just to get to play Stilgar. The same goes for all departments - the people hired for production design, CGI, sound editing and everything else are largely people who authentically care about science fiction and respect the importance of Dune, and this can be seen from the end product. There are many Marvel movies from the last few years that have budgets even bigger than that of Dune, and when you contrast those with each other, you see how important it is to have art made for the sake of art and not with only money on one's mind. Dune: Part Two doesn't just look expensive, but rather achieves a much higher standard often forgotten by Hollywood - it looks right. Definitely the cinematic highlight of 2024.

Thank you for reading! Tune in next week for my list of the greatest television shows of 2024.