2024 At the Movies

Every year, I vow to write at least one blog post. This is my annual review of the movies I saw over the past year. If this makes it out of my drafts folder, mission accomplished!

The oldest movie I saw in 2024 was made over 107 years ago. And a huge proportion of the older movies I watched this year were excellent or very good. So, even though I think the new releases this year were a bit on the weak side, the tremendous back catalog of movies made it very easy to watch lots of great things.

The usual disclaimer: My lists are not necessarily in order of best to worst. Movies that have the same number of stars can probably be reordered depending on how I feel and what kind of day it is. But a four star movie is unambiguously better than a two star movie. If you disagree with me, let me know. There is no shame in being wrong!

2024 movies

 

Over the past year, I watched 14 movies in the theater. 12 of these were new releases, and two were re-releases (I watched Rear Window (1954) at the 70th anniversary Fathom Event, and I saw Noelle (2019) in a movie theater on a cruise ship). In 2023, I saw 20 movies in theaters, so this year was a significant reduction. I think most of that had to do with the reduction in output caused by the two major strikes, because there were a few times I wanted to go to the movies and nothing appealing was playing.

 

Everyone knows that The Holdovers, Dune: Part Two, and Wicked: Part I were good. But I want to suggest that The Fall Guy was much better than its reputation.

 

 

Also apparently I was one of six people who paid money to see Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 in theaters. This movie was deeply flawed, but not nearly as terrible as its reputation suggests. It was an hour too long, and it felt like it was all setup. But with the exception of some painfully bad Native American phonetic pronunciation line readings, everything in the movie was good, or at least interesting. I actually was excited to see the now cancelled sequels. 

 

★★★★ Dune: Part Two

★★★½ The Wild Robot 

★★★½ The Holdovers (2023) [on TV]

★★★½ Wicked: Part I

★★★½ The Fall Guy 

★★★☆ Deadpool & Wolverine

★★★☆ Beetlejuice Beetlejuice [on TV]

★★★☆ Conclave

★★★☆ Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

★★★☆ Dear Santa [on TV]

★★★☆ Anyone but You (2023)

★★★☆ Trap [on TV]

★★★☆ Lisa Frankenstein [on TV]

★★★☆ Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

★★½☆ Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 

★★☆☆ Moana 2

★★☆☆ Fly Me to the Moon 

★½☆☆ Argylle [on TV]

Older movies

I intended to watch some more Billy Wilder films this year, but for whatever reason, I didn't see any. But I did see a bunch of other great movies. One of the movies I saw this year for the first time is a relatively lesser-known Danny DeVito comedy called Other People's Money, a rare film about business that is both funny and gets the economics right. The basic plot is that Larry The Liquidator (DeVito) is a corporate raider who is attempting the hostile takeover of a publicly traded "mom and pop" manufacturing company so it can be stripped of its assets, which are worth more than the company. This film, directed by the great Norman Jewison (Fiddler on the Roof (1971), Moonstruck (1987)), allows the people who run the company to make heartfelt speeches to the shareholders (and the audience) about why this shouldn't happen. But the magic tricks this movie pulls off is that it then allows Larry the Liquidator to makes his case that he is a good guy, and what he is doing is right. A lesser movie would pretend that the little guy is always right, and this movie knows the audience is predisposed to feel that way. But by letting both parties make their case, one can't help but see the topic differently. It is really good!

 

★★★★ Back to the Future (1985)

★★★★ Rear Window (1954) [in Theater]

★★★★ Jaws (1975)

★★★★ Other People's Money (1991)

★★★★ Bottoms (2023)

★★★★ Wayne's World (1992)

★★★★ Die Hard (1988)

★★★★ Aliens (1986)

★★★★ Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003)

★★★★ White Men Can't Jump (1992)

★★★★ Raising Arizona (1987)

★★★★ Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023)

★★★★ To Have and Have Not (1944)

★★★★ Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)

★★★★ Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015)

★★★★ The Blues Brothers (1980)

★★★★ Stop Making Sense (1984)

★★★★ Hot Fuzz (2007)

★★★★ The Descent (2005)

★★★½ The Muppet Movie (1979)

★★★½ Drowning Mona (2000)

★★★½ They All Laughed (1981)

★★★½ The Enemy Below (1957)

★★★½ Tetris (2023)

★★★½ Neighbors (2014)

★★★½ Confess, Fletch (2022)

★★★½ When Harry Met Sally... (1989)

★★★½ Wonka (2023)

★★★½ The Lady Vanishes (1938)

★★★½ The Good Earth (1937)

★★★½ Gremlins (1984)

★★★½  Greyhound (2020)

★★★½ Everything Everywhere All at Once (2021)

★★★½ Barbarella (1968)

★★★½ Why Worry? (1923)

★★★½ Beetlejuice (1988)

★★★½ Bros (2022)

★★★½ Twilight (2008)

★★★½ The Italian Job (1969)

★★★½ Speedy (1928)

★★★½ 49th Parallel (1941)

★★★☆ Mean Girls (2004)

★★★☆ No Hard Feelings (2023)

★★★☆ Happier Than Ever: A Love Letter to Los Angeles (2021) 

★★★☆ Innerspace (1987)

★★★☆ Pitch Perfect (2012)

★★★☆ The Player (1992)

★★★☆ The Long Voyage Home (1940)

★★★☆ Ghosted (2023)

★★★☆ Hot Shots! (1991)

★★★☆ Dr. Jack (1922)

★★★☆ You've Got Mail (1998)

★★★☆ Magic Mike's Last Dance (2023)

★★★☆ The Natural (1984)

★★★☆ Hooper (1978)

★★★☆ Noelle (2019) [in Theater]

★★★☆ The Holiday (2006)

★★★☆ The Craft (1996)

★★★☆ Amistad (1997)

★★★☆ Small Time Crooks (2000)

★★★☆ Pokémon Detective Pikachu (2019)

★★★☆ The Asphalt Jungle (1950)

★★★☆ Serendipity (2001)

★★★☆ Paint (2023)

★★★☆ Blithe Spirit (1945)

★★★☆ Home Alone (1990)

★★★☆ The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010)

★★★☆ Finding Nemo (2003)

★★★☆ A.C.O.D. (2013)

★★★☆ The Toll (2021) (AKA: Tollbooth)

★★★☆ Empire Records (1995)

★★★☆ The Kid Brother (1927)

★★★☆ Why Can't My Life Be A Rom-Com? (2023)

★★½☆ Lust for Life (1956)

★★½☆ Wish (2023) 

★★☆☆ Luck (2022)

★★☆☆ The Italian Job (2003)

★★☆☆ The Beanie Bubble (2023)

★½☆☆The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009)

★½☆☆ The Covenant (2006)

★½☆☆ I Married a Witch (1942)

★½☆☆ Flubber (1997)

★½☆☆ The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947) 

½☆☆☆ The Super (1991)

Didn't Finish

 

I decided I should continue to include movies that I turned off part way through because they are bad. I was hoping Cool World would be strange, and I guess it is. But it was strange in such an unpleasant, cynical way I couldn't make it through because my time is worth more than that. And Crazy on the Outside? Woof.

 

☆☆☆☆ Cool World (1992)

☆☆☆☆ Crazy on the Outside (2010)

Short Films

 

Finally, I added a list of the theatrical shorts that I watched this year, because they are interesting and I liked a lot of them. The streaming service Max has a lot of the old Harold Lloyd silent comedies available. So I watched all of them. When they are good, they are great! The pacing is fast for a silent film, and I found them to be consistently funny and well worth a watch if you think you might like this sort of thing.

 

 

 

★★★☆ Captain Kidd's Kids (1919)

★★★☆ Bumping into Broadway (1919)

★★★☆ An Eastern Westerner (1920)

★★★☆ Never Weaken (1921)

★★★☆ His Royal Slyness (1920)

★★★☆ High and Dizzy (1920)

★★★☆ The Marathon (1919)

★★★☆ A Sammy in Siberia (1919)

★★★☆ Young Mr. Jazz (1919)

★★★☆ Spring Fever (1919)

★★☆☆ Just Neighbors (1919)

★★☆☆ Next Aisle Over (1919)

★★☆☆ Take a Chance (1918)

★½☆☆ Lonesome Luke Messenger (1917) 

 

Overall, I had a pretty great year, with 102 completed feature-length films, an increase over last year's 78 movies. I almost bested my personal record of 2021, when I saw 113 movies. I am sure I will get my priorities straight this year and do what matters most: watching movies!