40 | Horizon: An American Saga Chapter 1
The first installment in a staggering 4 chapters; Horizon: An American Saga Chapter 1 is the large scale movie making magic we have all been missing dialed up to unprecedented levels of badass. Kevin Costner does not appear in this film for the first hour and by that point we have already been introduced to 40+ characters by name. The word epic is too small of a word to describe what Costner is attempting: this is a project that Hollywood used to have to hire multiple directors to shoot and George Marshall sure as hell wasn’t starring in every chapter of How the West Was Won! An absolute knockout Mr. Costner, we’re all rooting for you. – CW
39 | The Seed of the Sacred Fig
Perhaps the boldest political text of the year, Mohammad Rasoulof’s secretly-filmed diatribe against Iran’s authoritarian leadership is one hell of a tense thriller, a family drama that turns from downbeat to gut-wrenching over the course of its breakneck three hour runtime. Rasoulof perceptively documents the quiet radicalization of two daughters as they slowly turn against their traditionalist parents, all amidst the very harrowingly depicted backdrop of the 2022 Mahsa Amini protests. – RJ
38 | A Complete Unknown
With the seemingly never-ending trend of music biopics, it was only a matter of time before Bob Dylan found himself on the big screen once again. Detailing Dylan’s rise through the 60’s folk revival and subsequent turning away, Timothée Chalamet embodies the mysterious music icon with all his double talk and provocations. Dylan aside, A Complete Unknown painstakingly recreates New York’s folk scene, from the clubs to the players, giving spotlights to a haunting Monica Barbaro as Joan Baez and a charming Edward Norton as Pete Seeger. While it never reaches these highs once Dylan achieves acclaim in the second half, there’s still plenty of amusing one-offs and performances to keep even the most discerning Dylanologist entertained. If nothing else, it’s a treat to hear the Dylan songbook played loud, with Chalamet and company hitting a good spot of imitation and originality, faring better than Dylan at Newport. -NA
37 | The Room Next Door
Whilst the first fifteen or so minutes of The Room Next Door scrunched its way across my optic nerve, I felt the quiet desperation of an Almodovarian heroine within my breast. “The master hath lost his power!” But, after this decidedly uncouth setting of the game board, there is, if return to form is too overstated, a sensitive recalibration that similarly to the sublime Strange Way of Life proves to be oh, so intoxicating. It’s a cliche that the greatest practitioners of the cinematic art stumble when not ensconced within the cocoon of their native language. But for every My Blueberry Nights, there is an Apocalypto. It certainly is a boon to any filmmaker to have Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore, who have long left arthouse stardom behind to become living monuments, as your interpreters. In this late, wise period of Pedro’s vaunted career, he increasingly turns to a commingling of incredibly present concerns (John Turturro going Ernst Toller-mode) and rich recollections of the past, which to label as simple nostalgia would cheapen. Together with our leading ladies, we laugh with Buster Keaton and we cry at The Dead (the most advanced use of this text since Rosselini’s Voyage to Italy). And we learn that yearning is not confined to the domain of the living, but also of the dead. May we all be so lucky as to have someone in the room next door. – JS
36 | Evil Does Not Exist
Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s latest is a well crafted little picture with some gorgeous scenery and one of the year’s most memorable endings. Not a huge fan of the title here as I believe evil does exist. I know Hamaguchi is being ironic but it is irony that led the QAnon Shaman to lead the charge of protestors into the capitol on January 6th, 2021. I caution all people of the world to monitor their use of irony and encourage all people of the world to watch Evil Does Not Exist. – CW
35 | The First Omen
I am as shocked as anyone to report that the new Omen prequel is one of the best films we saw in 2024. Arkasha Stevenson crafts a terrifying atmosphere and brings out the best performance I saw this year in a horror picture from the great Neil Tiger Fee. Drawing from horror classics Possession and Suspiria; Stevenson plays her audience like a piano with genuine scares and a riveting narrative that’ll have you on the edge of your seat. Rare for me to recommend a horror picture and even rarer for me to love; The First Omen is a success on every front and has entered the pantheon of great horror cinema. – CW
34 | The People’s Joker
Vera Drew’s brilliant parody of the DC Universe is as funny as it is heartfelt. The barrage of images and a variety of cinematic formats all at the service to Drew’s personal story makes for a compelling and singular cinematic experience. A lovely film that pushes the medium forward and uncompromising in every sense of the word. You’ll laugh, cry, laugh again and then leave the theater proud to be a human being. – CW
33 | Conclave
Much like Challengers did with tennis, Conclave manged to get the general moviegoing populace to turn out for a thriller about the inner workings of the Catholic church. The politics involved with selecting the next Pope provide the driving force behind Conclave, an ancient tradition renewed with modern ideologies. Ralph Fiennes’s Thomas Lawrence, already with doubts about the church, is the perfect lens through which to view the proceedings, navigating each new revelation and deception with more passion for finding the correct choice than the stoicism demanded by his peers, played by the likes of Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, and Isabella Rossellini. This powerhouse of talent adds depth and mystery to even the subtlest of gestures and glances, hinting at the plans within plans motivating each candidate. Each successive round of voting only heightens the tension as all the votes are counted up for a bombshell of an ending. – NA
32 | Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
It is one of the great perversities of the cinema that we have spent such vast sums of money bending technology to essentially de-evolve. As a card-carrying Ape-maniac, I am especially sensitive to this paradox. As the times we live in increasingly reward the denigration of our fellow man, it is no wonder that we long to retreat to the purer world of the apes. Here virtue and traditional notions of family remain thrillingly intact and reify our idea of an ideal society. This is not to say that Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is a political tract; it is a great entertainment, first and foremost. And as written by the tried-and-true scribes of Avatar the Way of Water, we become immersed in science-fiction filmmaking at its finest. What a GLORIOUS film! – JS
31 | A Real Pain
As delightfully quirky as it may seem, I’m sure everyone who connected with A Real Pain knows their own Benji. Brought to life by Kieran Culkin, Benji’s overwhelmingly raw emotional swings are at odds with Jesse Eisenberg’s David,(who also writes and directs) who’s aiming to reconnect with his cousin and late grandmother through the trip. Thus the stage is set for a comedic, albeit somber, travelogue through Poland and their Jewish heritage. Culkin crafts Benji as a wholly original person, charmingly uncompromising in his thoughts and feelings, having no fear in plowing past faux pas to find anything genuine, much to the dismay of straight-laced David left in his wake. The film is at its best exploring these moments of true feeling from the two cousins, attempting to reconcile the echoes of pain and suffering around them with their own internalized conflicts isolating them. -NA
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