Does anybody remember what it was like to go into the future with confidence? To have faith that bad possibilities were out there but for every misstep there was another opportunity for something great just around the corner?
Iโm talking about going to the movies, of course, what else could I possibly be alluding to. It was a strange, wonderful, frustrating, rewarding year for the movies, with schedules feeling residual effects of the strikes last year and indies elbowing for room alongside increasingly moribund franchise entries. The box office numbers may have never corresponded less with the most influential cinematic moments in the years to come.
A reminder! This is not a ranking of the best movies of the year (because the best one is in a measly number 4 spot) but the best movie moments, the point where our breath caught or an image or a line stuck in the brain even through anything else that might have been going on in the world to dislodge it. In fact, the rankings are pretty arbitrary. But please argue about them as if they werenโt! The list skews toward the options available to an English-speaking Midwesterner, so thanks to John Bruni, Not David Lynch, and Cori Domschot for their contributions to help fill in blind spots. Feel free to fill in this articleโs other missed movie moments of 2024 in the comments below.
Emergency Additions!
Unconscionably, two of the most memorable films of the year were left off this list (the excuse – they’re both listed on Letterboxd as coming out all the way back in 2022 due extensive festival runs and/or pending litigation with a major studio). These movies were the year’s best examples of working outside the system, so maybe it’s appropriate that they be featured outside the list.
Hundreds of Beavers – The Trial
The way this glorious DIY slapstick comedy moves you may not be surprised that the pesky beavers our hunter pursues have built a large fortress in record time. But you may not suspect they have also set up a fully functioning judiciary system inside, complete with a beaver judge in a powdered wig and hapless beaver public defender. This is a mild spoiler, there’s even more inside than you’d expect.
The People’s Joker – Origin Story
Vera Drew authored the only superhero film to make this year’s list at all, remixing DC property with constantly shifting mediums tied together with a heart-on-sleeve emotional skeleton. Deadpool may have been kinda snarky about all his superhero pals, but did he cut between live action, cell animation and puppetry with abandon while sharing emotional pain and catharsis? Game goes to Joker the Harlequin.
23) Civil War โ Confrontation with Jesse Plemons
A24โs foray into blockbuster season was a mixed bag of provocative ideas and deflating executions. Though speaking of executions, the standout scene clearly belonged to a Plemonsโ rural militia leader when the film takes advantage of the actorโs ability to keep you guessing about his intentions while hinting that all guesses should be bad.
22) Hit Man โ Confession
It was the year of Glen Powell, we were told, thanks to his owning of January with the holdover 2023 hit Anyone But You and the summer blockbuster Twister. But giving him some credibility juice was a fun early summer release which he co-wrote and starred in. Too bad it was for Netflix which more or less dumped it into the stream with everything else.
21) Megalopolis โ โStop time for meโ
Maybe it would be more appropriate to feature one of the lines clowned on by online folk, a number higher than the number that actually saw Francis Ford Coppolaโs ungainly โfable.โ Classics like โGo back to the cluuuubโ or โWhat do you think about this boner Iโve got?โ But weโll give some grace to this incoherent warning about a modern empire falling into disarray (thanks, Francis, hadnโt noticed) and spotlight one of its few gems, a swooning romantic moment where the world freezes just for two lovers.
20) Sing Sing โ The play
Perhaps the best cast assembled for a film this year played the cast of a (quite silly-looking) play put on by inmates in a maximum-security prison. Led by national treasure Colman Domingo, the cast includes a number of people playing versions of themselves from the real-life drama program that inspired the film. Clarance Maclin is the standout among this group, get that man the standard rich and famous contract.
19) Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga โ A different kind of chase
After nearly a decade since wandering The Wasteland, George Miller returned with this prequel. The movie had hard road to navigate to live up to its manic precursor, but Miller set the tone for a different โ if also exciting โ kind of action movie with a prolonged chase scene that demonstrated Fury Roadโs mania could scale and still have what it takes to make it epic.
18) Daughters โ The dance
Most of this documentary is about long-term prisoners preparing for the annual father-daughter dance. For many, the upcoming evening represents the only time theyโll be able to spend time with their daughters in many years. If this sounds like a wind-up for a big payoff, it is.
17) The Remarkable Life of Ibelin โ Rewind
Little did the parents of Mats Steen realize what went on when he spent hours and hours on his computer in the years before finally succumbing to muscular dystrophy. When a password opens up his World of Warcraft account to them, the documentary rewinds to restart Steenโs story, this time including his rich online life.
16) The Beast – Lรฉa Seydoux Screams
Lรฉa Seydoux lets out a blood-curdling scream three times in The Beast. The first time, director Bertrand Bonello is letting you know that this is a movie that will force you to consider how real everything is. The second time, he wants to poke holes in the most intense moment of the film. And the final one of the one that sticks with you. That one is the emotional heart of the film. How would you react to watching someone losing their humanity? You scream with all you’ve got. The intensity of that moment elevates the film to another level. In another world, Seydoux is a scream queen with the best set of lungs you’ve heard in a horror film. Fortunately, we got The Beast instead. –NDL
15) Spermworld – A screening of Mulholland Drive
Don’t let the title fool you, this is a real movie, and one of the yearโs best. The heir to Errol Morrisโ The Gates of Heaven, this documentary about the above-board yet underground world of online sperm donation is one of the funniest and most touching movies and itโs buried on Hulu. Go find it.
14) Love Lies Bleeding โ Bodybuilding competition
Before director Rose Glass takes her biggest swing with an ending to remember, Love Lies Bleeding rides that bleeding edge between the fantastic and visceral in a body-building competition that treats steroids as a cross between brown acid and Popeyeโs spinach.
13) Inside Out 2 โ Embrace
The yearโs biggest hit arrived with a bitter taste as it marked a perhaps permanent turn for Pixar into a mere content creator, mining their own property for box office returns rather than making room for the kind of innovative storytelling that put them on the map. And yet, in this year with no shortage of cynical sequels (including from elsewhere in the House of Mouse), Inside Out 2 actually spoke to young audiences in way most โfamilyโ movies wouldnโt even try. The cold math may have been what got us to a revelation about acceptance, but a wordless embrace contains genuine feeling.
12) There Was, There Was Not โ War comes to Artsakh
Mkrtichianโs documentary follows the day-to-day efforts of four women as they inch closer to their aspirations in uncertain times. Suddenly, war breaks out, and all ambitions – of the film and the women – crumble. The before-and-after conveys the terrible price exacted on those who only months ago could more confidently pursue their better selves and simple freedom in their homeland, and what it takes to find a way forward when the future offers no certainty.
11) The Wild Robot – Emerging from the wreckage
From the moment Roz (Lupita Nyong’o) crash lands on a small island you feel for her. This movie makes you feel everything. Loneliness, fear, and hope. The themes of friendship and family are strong in this movie. I am so grateful for this movie because it lets people know you can find your tribe, and they can be your family. –CD
10) Evil Does Not Exist โ Town hall meeting goes awry
Ryลซsuke Hamaguchi is not afraid to let a moment play out. And here, in his gentle ode to nature and small-town life turnedโฆ something else, the most electrifying sustained moment is a public meeting between representatives of a luxury camping site and the townspeople their project would disrupt. Itโs not a violent confrontation but Hamaguchi doesnโt shy away from the tension in the room, letting it play out on its own terms, even as the conflict feels much larger than the crowded multi-purpose room.
9) Juror #2 โ Justin realizes the truth
Old master Clint Eastwood makes a potboiler weighing the vagaries of the justice system while getting sidelined by another system. Warner Brothers torpedoed this filmโs chance at being a box office hit but at least some of the audience hungry for well-crafted drama found it nevertheless. Viewers were (and will continue to be on the streaming service Max) rewarded with solid cinematic storytelling, kicked off by cutting between a courtroomโs account of a murder, a flashback to the night in question, and a member of the jury played by Nicholas Hoult who realizes only he knows the full truth โ and that truth will not set him free.
8) Challengers โ The final point
Speaking of adult dramas, the spring season brought promise of a sexy tรชte-ร -tรชte โ or more accurately a tรชte-ร -tรชte-ร -tรชte โ with tennis pros competing on the court and in the bedroom. There was much back-and-forth about whether the result was really sexy enough, but director Luca Guadagnino supplemented the bedroom sweat with the sporty kind and, thanks to some tricky visual effects and a tennis balls-out approach to the action, pulled off the ultimate accomplishment for a sports movie โ genuine tension as to what would happen in the end.
7) Janet Planet – Consciousness-raising session
At the emotional midway point of Janet Planet, Janet and her friend are tripping hard, pondering the big questions. Janet asks if her bad decisions were really โbad.โ Her friend accuses her of copping out. Then we realize that Janetโs 11-year old daughter, Lacy, has been listening in to this consciousness-raising session between the two women whom she trusts the most. Janet Planet shows us the tense negotiations that ensue when pre-teens live in, but are not completely part of, the adult world… –JB
6) Good One – Late-night innuendo
…Yet, as Good One demonstrates, being on closer terms with the adult world doesnโt make it any easier to live in it. Sam, a college-bound teenager, is camping with her dad and her dadโs friend. In a creepy moment of late-night forced intimacy, her dadโs friend makes a highly suggestive remark to her, then walks it back. No harm, no foul, right? By the end of the film, Sam has decided for herself just what that moment meant. A parable, you might even say, for the minefield young women will have to cross in the next four years. –JB
5) Wicked โ Hitting the high notes
Jon M. Chuโs adaptation from the stage to the screen will make you believe everyone deserves the chance to fly! There is no denying that Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande had fun playing their roles. It is in every move they make. Ariana Grandeโs micro facial expressions during โNo One Mourns the Wickedโ had my eyes glued to her! โPopularโ had my husbandโs full attention. This movie is worth all the hype. –CD
4) Nickel Boys โ The shed
It was another banner year for horror films at the theaters. The indies led by a prosthetic-laden Nick Cage brought huge returns on modest budgets, a number of modern and classic franchises got new entries, and Sydney Sweeney even fought some evil nuns. Why bring these up here? Nickel Boys isnโt a horror film, even if weโre getting really abstract about the horrors of institutional racism in the 1960s southern United States. Itโs the yearโs best film, where director RaMell Ross uses a unique conceit โ almost the entire film takes place within point of view shots from the perspective of one of its two main characters โ and crafts a drama with an engaging story that gives equal energy to thoughts on perspective, identity, memory. All those things equally art-minded movies struggle to grasp and that Ross examines with his camera, easy as holding an orange against the clear blue sky.
It also contains the most terrifying sequence in movies this year, Longlegs be further damned. The reform school where our two heroes survive day to day has a structure built specifically for corporal punishment. When Elwood (Ethan Herisse) gets sent there, the camera and soundtrack (this is the kind of movie that should get sound award nominations) put us in the waiting room. Not a lick of violence is shown on camera, but lingering effects of violence โ physical, mental, institutional – leap from the screen.
3) The Substance – Thus Spoke Zarathustra
For a film that throws bombs gleefully at Hollywood, Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance is packed to the gills (and other body parts) with references to other classic films. The peak is the film’s use of โThus Spoke Zarathustra,โ made famous by 2001: A Space Odyssey. The Substance‘s use of the song accompanies the reveal of the next evolution of Sue, which may be the most appropriate use of the song I’ve seen in decades. And the moment is delightfully unhinged, an evolution of the film into a body horror farce that had me calling in the theater. If you’ve seen it, you won’t forget it soon, and if you haven’t, you owe it to yourself to bear witness. โNDL
2) I Saw the TV Glow โ Apologies about nothing to no one
Funny without explicitly cracking a joke and scary without jumping at the camera, Glow is a purposeful guide to the uncanny territories of nostalgia and loneliness, an instant cult classic that evokes a more daring age of indies. Explicitly queer in its conception and allegory, perhaps writer/director Jane Shoenbrunโs most memorable decision is to end the film as a terrifying cautionary tale. Will the entertainment you consume be the conduit to your better self, or a distraction that keeps you from seeking it? Justice Smithโs final portrayal of a life lost even while itโs lived sharpens the movieโs ultimately hopeful message: THERE IS STILL TIME.
1) Anora โ Vegas wedding
Anora winning Best Picture at the Oscars is a โIโll believe it when I see itโ proposition. But much like a recently-wed Ani, thereโs no reason we shouldnโt celebrate the moment while true indie auteur Sean Baker and his lead Mikey Madison get to bask in accolades and adoration. And with good reason โ Anora is both a summary of Bakerโs career to date and the filmmaker finding a new gear. The film balances romance, suspense, humor and even some Coen Brother-esque farce with an infectious energy that makes it free-wheeling even as itโs thoughtful about the problems about to burst through the surface. No wonder the ubiquity of the image of the happily-married-for-now couple under the glaring Las Vegas lights that suggest you can stave off the dark night forever. There may be disaster ahead, but for one moment we can believe it will never come.
Nickel Boys was a venture with major studio money. I Saw the TV Glow showed A24 still rewards new vision. The Substance and Anora made the leap from Cannes to multiplexes. Miracles still happen, at least at the movies.
What did we watch?
M*A*S*H, Season One, Episode Five, “The Moose”
This show has been criticised for a racist presentation of Koreans (including by Robert Altman), and this is a specific and clear example of that. The joke of the episode is a fairly condescending of a girl happy and enthusiastic about essentially being a slave; thereโs a paternalistic edge to Hawkeyeโs morality where he loves playing the teacher, which I think is complicated by the later episodes where heโs frequently the one to learn a lesson.
On the other hand, thereโs a lot to like here. I enjoy Hawkeye justifying his actions by asking why theyโre even here; a System based around freeing people and theyโre being enslaved by their very saviors. Hawkeyeโs morality is extremely practical – kids going home and playing baseball with their families – which ironically makes it harder to achieve. This does lead to Hawk embracing the military discipline as a way of getting what he wants, dropping one moral point for a more important one, and itโs delightful that it doesnโt work because the bad guy is evil, not stupid.
This has the black character with the old-timey racist name (honestly it’s too bad it’s racist because it sounds cool). He’s really even more redundant than Trapper. The characters being offended by the Swamp being clean is so funny (“I’m as offended as you by this repulsive neatness!”).
Is that the same old-timey racist name as the movie? I remember the movie; I never saw enough of the TV show to say much about it.
Yeah, it’s exactly the same. They took him out a few episodes in because it turns out there were no black surgeons in Korea at the time, and from then on their commitment to verisimilitude was unshakeable.
A measly upvote isn’t enough to contain my amusement at this comment.
Kojak, “The Chinatown Murders,” first half – The show’s second season began with a two hour movie-length special and its new time slot has it beginning at 8:30, both no doubt part of an effort by CBS to compete with NBC and ABC’s Sunday night movies. (It’s fascinating to hear Griffin and David talk about TV movies like they are an artifact of the middles ages when I grew up with them.) And so far this one is a banger. A trio of up and coming independent gangsters from Chinatown decide to steal some thunder (and some cash) fr0m the two main Mob groups in Manhattan, creating all sorts of chaos. Including, in a really interesting twist, the wife of a mobster who doesn’t want him back when he’s kidnapped for ransom! The pacing is solid, the story is engaging (if clearly borrowing from The Godfather), and the cast is a who’s who of familiar faces of the sort you see in TV shows about mobsters. Standouts include Robert Ito (Quicny, Buckaroo Banzai) as the leader of the Chinatown gang (even though he is not Chinese), Michael Constantine as an ailing mob boss, and Sherri North as the wife who doesn’t want her man back.
All We Imagine As Light – A beautiful ballad of a movie that films Mumbai as a noisy, grimy place that can nonetheless hold the appeal and solitude of a small village. The workplace is a village and each of the women featured in the story is to a degree a village unto themselves, receiving each other warmly but as visitors to themselves. They’re defined by their age and by the strict social orders of modern India, but their personalities ultimately define their relationships to one another. The person as defined by internal desires and external forces, a struggle that sometimes takes the form of a fight, sometimes can be ridden as naturally as the incoming tide.
The Simpsons, “You Only Move Twice”: Since I’m currently applying for jobs, I want to make it very clear that I would work for Hank Scorpio in a heartbeat. Anyway, this is a stone-cold classic episode with a fantastic premise, terrific Albert Brooks, and a lot of great lines (and “Oh, the hammock district” is underrated, as is Homer’s chuckled “Yes, once”).
Seinfeld, “The Nose Job” and “The Stranded”: “The Nose Job” is very weak, salvaged only by the punchline of Kramer swooping in for the romantic win at the end. Other than that, it’s oddly structured and constantly getting in its own way, with the brain/penis chess game falling especially flat. But “The Stranded” is great, and not only because of surprise Michael Chiklis (!!). It gets into two genuine social snafus, the kind of thing the show is always good at: what it’s like to be stuck somewhere way too long while waiting for a ride and what it’s like when two people have mixed views on the seriousness of “stop by anytime!” And on top of that, it throws in great side-jokes like Kramer not being able to get the convertible top up, Jerry getting caught paying someone else’s sex worker, and both Jerry and the cop groaning in anticipation as another fur conversation starts up. (But also, Chiklis is unsurprisingly terrific here, and it’s great to see him all exuberant and twinkly-eyed. My wife joked at the start that this was going to be Vic’s stealth origin story, where Jerry and his friends would ruin his life and send him on a moral journey from cheesy sweaters to outright murder, but his character actually comes out of this hilariously intact, getting away with his sleazy but high-spirited night on the town without consequences and staying perfectly cheerful throughout.)
It’s really funny to me how much the Dallas Cowboys’ and Denver Broncos’ fortunes have diverged since “You Only Move Twice.”
Marge must feel very vindicated.
Every time the Broncos won the Super Bowl, I wanted to congratulate Homer.
Before that episode, the Broncos were 0-4 in Super Bowls and the Cowboys were 5-3. Since the episode, Denver is 3-1 and Dallas hasn’t even made the NFC Championship Game.
Looks, The Simpsons can’t predict everything
Brooks never winks in Move, his supervillainy comes from the exact same place as his attitude regarding shoes and the bidding farewell to of same. That’s why we’d all work with him, there is zero bullshit and a workplace like that is worth blowing up any number of bridges/Frances.
I was embarrassed how long it took me to put together that he was a supervillain who acted like a chill boss the same way Mr. Burns was the kind of ordinary boss a blue collar guy like Homer would have to deal with but acted like a supervillain
The past couple of years, there’s been a funny runner of people old enough to remember the time before smartphones who are horrified to realise they can’t remember what we did with our time before then, and my take on Seinfeld is that it’s almost entirely those moments, with “The Stranded” being a very good example.
Havenโt been able to pop in the last couple of days, so hereโs a summary of the whole periodโฆ
Go Down, Diller
So, a friend of mine from the Houston days I hadnโt seen in at least a decade adapted one of his short stories to a screenplay for a little independent short film, and he hit me up a couple of months ago to let me know about the cast-and-crew friends-and-family screening. So weโve had this on our schedule for a while and popped over to the Bug Theatre last night for it.
The basic premise is– Diller is a single dad with a teenage daughter who runs head of security at a hotel, notably with one bug-eyed crazy employee, Leon. One day, he goes to get burgers from his favorite drive-thruโฆ and a bear is working there. Itโs not a hallucination; the strange part is, no one else seems to find it unusual. (โHow longโs he been working here?โ โSince June. Kiss-ass already got Employee of the Month three times.โ)
Diller digs in, both to figure out why he seemingly knows so little about bears (who apparently can talk, if not very intelligibly, and hold jobs) compared to everyone around himโฆ possibly enlisting Leonโs help to work through all thisโฆ or is it all just a manifestation of his anxieties over being a single dad and a widower? Well, thatโs why you gotta watch it. Pretty funny, too, on top of being kinda weird and interesting. I donโt know anything about any future screenings of this, but Iโll keep you posted if I find out.
High Potential, โObsessedโ
A young Black womanโs body is found on the beach with blunt force trauma to the headโฆ and it turns out sheโs still alive. Morgan and Karadec get to unraveling the case, which involves both a nearby country club and reopening another cold case. Will Morgan and Karadec unravel the mystery and solve the murder (and attempted murder)? Will they do it in time for Morgan to make her date with Tom Saturday night? What has Soto found out about the disappearance of Morganโs ex Roman? All this and more, on the spring return of High Potential!
And in our rewatches:
The Shield, โGreenlitโ through โScar Tissueโ
And thus we get through the Armadillo story. We also meet Lou, possibly the most contemptible character in the entire series. And, boy, thereโs some foreshadowing and irony with Ronnie in โHomewreckerโ and โBarnstormers.โ And Danny does have good instincts as a detective; itโs too bad all this other crap is coming crashing down on her.
Suburgatory, โCharity Caseโ and โSweet Sixteenโ
Skipped the Halloween episode since we so often watch the seasonal ones at the holidays, and onward with season 1, which both kind of fit into the โTessa learning how to fit into the Chatswin ecosystemโ overall story. First with Tessa trying to start a charity drive but the rest of the residents not really getting the concept, and then with Dallas turning Tessa’s sweet sixteen party into a big blowout with Dalia party planning, in order to get her favorite band to play the partyโฆ but what does that matter if she canโt get time with her actual friends? Still early, but still solid.
The Kids in the Hall, season 2, episode 9
Man, thereโs a lot of stuff about dads through this one. I guess the Kids have a lot of anxiety over that sort of thing. (Most notably, and famously, Kevin McDonald– and, yes, apparently his dadโs name is Hammy.)
The Shield, โCo-Pilotโ
What a wonderfully dramatic and necessary episode. No, Iโm kidding, I didnโt even watch it. Do I look like Iโm made of time?
The Shield, โCoyotesโ
Okay, onto a real one. Pathetic Gilroy is always great. As is Ass-covering-eveda. And Claudette slipping a bit of doubt into Dannyโs mind. And Shane’s “Oh, I can’t wait to make the call” look.
I was watching High Potential in the background while I did other things, and I expect Iโll get back to it, but itโs way too few episodes for a procedural. Itโs just not the kind of show that s ever going to demand immediate viewing, so it needs to be routine enough that we remember to look for it.
Danny’s the non-Strike Team character who had the most fluid possibilities about where she could have ended up. Julian was always going to move up in his career, Dutch is fairly unsurprising about staying where he is, Claudette being Captain feels natural – characters are saying she should be Captain since season two – while taking the strangest journey there, but Danny could have gone anywhere.
Lol that’s exactly how I talked about it on The Barn. Goggins’ “Fuck YEAH, I’m making that call” face is amazing.
Such a great moment, especially just Gilroy’s realization how that really does flip the game and there’s no way he’s talking his way out of it. Vic would have a hard time doing it because of their past loyalty and friendship. Shane not only has no such things with Gilroy, but seems completely unbothered by the possibility. There’s no “I don’t want to do this, but I will”; it’s just “Oh, just give me a goddamn excuse to. Please.”
TUESDAY
True Detective: Night Country
Season 4, Episodes 5 and 6. “Part 5”; “Part 6”. First time.
The dominoes fall in a convincing manner here, with Part 5 in particular being capped with a horrific, dramatic tragedy that pushes the final unravelling of the mystery into overdrive. Part 6 answers the mystery and, in classic mystery fiction, reveals that there was a parallel story going on that the main plot misderected us from. It also spends considerable time wrapping up the inner turmoil regarding the main characters’ pasts, which some people may find irritating but I think it’s well executed through Jodie Foster and Kali Reis’ performances. There is one flourish too many in the epilogue though, regarding the ultimate fate of Reis’ character, which is left ambiguous for little reason and benefit. All in all, a good show to fill my wife’s insatiable need for “And What Happens Next” fiction, though she felt a little strung along by parts of the final episode.
WEDNESDAY
Cien Aรฑos de Soledad (One Hundred Years of Solitude)
Season 1, Episode 5. “Remedios Moscote”. First time.
I’m consistently impressed by the show finding consistent stretches of narrative to hang episodes around, which was not my feeling of the novel. That to me felt sprawling and endless, less episodic and more ancedotical, so kudos for the writing to make it work here. Highlights here include the long-delayed marriage of Aureliano and the young Remedios, which is a source of much happiness and inevitable tragedy, which is given great gravitas through the filmmaking. There is also the church coming to Macondo, an uneasy development with unexpected ripples, like the priest Nicanor managing to get to the tree-bound Josรฉ Arcadio for a time, and the lack of a temple throwing a wrench in the sibling rivalry between Amaranta and Rebeca, delaying the latter’s wedding and pushing her literally earth-shaking masturbation. It also brings to the foreground Arcadio’s decision to leave the family, become a teacher and pursue Pilar Ternera, like his father before him. It’s a notable part of the story that I didn’t remember at all, another thing this show can take pride in. And speaking of Arcadio’s long-lost father: Can you guess what is the cliffhanger end to this episode?
I’m here! Been incredibly sick (much better now) and busy at my new job.
Angel Face – Little surprised that both Godard and Robin Wood had this ranked so high in their favorites – Otto Preminger ripped up and rewrote the reportedly bad script during shooting, and it shows, with some lame “safe girlfriend” plot where Frank (Mitchum) treats her like dirt and expects her to forgive him, and eye-rolling jokes about servant Ito’s wife (just wife) yelling at him. (Though hey, they’re treated as human beings which was refreshing for a 1953 film.) Regardless it’s a really cynical, gorgeous noir with not one but TWO horrific car crashes, great performances from Mitchum and Jean Simmons, and one shot of a scream that clearly fueled young David Lynch’s dreams.
Hundreds of Beavers – Many, MANY thoughts, but this is a beautifully made, brilliantly executed, and most importantly hysterically funny comedy. Cried laughing at this poor bastard fighting and sometimes killing people in giant animal costumes. Makes every American studio film of the past 10 years aside from Fury Road look so lazy and slack. The dog poker bit! The thunder and lightning! The corset…
itโs always sunny in abbott elementary.
This worked really well, better than it should have for such tonally different shows. They
paired each member of the gang off with one of the staff, except dennis who was probably off doing something too depraved for network tv. Mac is perhaps uncharacteristically put together while scheming to get out of community service; melissa immediately meets them at their level (of the abbott characters, sheโs the one Iโm most looking forward to seeing on IASIP; I am expecting some classic south philly irish-italian rivalry action, punctuated by shouting go birds at each other.) Charlie gets some rare pathos; of the iasip cast heโs the one whose faults may be neurological rather than purely moral in nature so itโs nice for him to get a W. Dee shows a brief moment of competence and then spirals, hard.
I admire abbott for fighting to keep the network sitcom as a form. There are an only a handful still getting full seasons; of these, most look dreadful. The globes and emmies are all going to a show that is definitely not a comedy. After a sitcom golden age from seinfeld to the end of parks and rec (you had cheers in the 80s but not enough shows to make a golden age) weโre in a bronze age collapse era. (the streamers are the sea peoples). Quality joke-making in 22 minutes is a dying art.
This may also, ironically, be the IASIPโs cast best shot at an award for the crossover. Maybe they already conclusively burned that bridge with โitโs better than busting a nut!โ
Also charlie is looking old, and I look like charlie. RIP me.
Year of the Month update:
Weโre starting 2024 by returning to 1947! That means you can be as cool as all these people:
TBD: John Anderson: T-Men
Tentative: John Anderson: Nightmare Alley
TBD: Chris Blunk: Black Narcissus
Jan. 9th: John Bruni: Out of the Past
Jan. 9th: Cori Domschot: The Ghost and Mrs. Muir
Jan. 10th: Gillian Nelson: Straight Shooters
Jan 16th: Cori Domschot: The Farmerโs Daughter
Jan. 17th: Gillian Nelson: Sleepytime Donald
Jan. 23rd: Cori Domschot: Down to Earth
Jan. 27th: Cliffy73: Miracle on 34th Street
Jan. 31st: Plutoโs Blue Note
And coming in February, you can sign up to write about anything from 2016!
TBD: Bridgett Nelson: Rogue One
Feb 7th: Gillian Nelson: Queen of Katwe
Feb. 14th: Gillian Nelson: Milo Murphyโs Law
Feb. 21st: Gillian Nelson: Peteโs Dragon
Iโve only seen 2 of the movies on this list. For someone who professes to love movies I actually see very few. Iโve gotta get my ass in gear and see more movies.
I have seen zero so far. I lag behind when it comes to new movies, especially in this age of short runs and unpleasant movie going experiences. But I also find that seeing something a few years later turns it from an urgent rush to something a bit more relaxed.
Yeah I’ve only seen three. Hoping to get out to see new stuff more this year.
Three for me too. Lots of others on the watchlist, but it’s slow going.
This looks like a fantastic set of moments, and it’s a great reminder that I still have a lot from last year to see. (Anora being at the very top of the list.) But I can at least enthusiastically second the picks for Love Lies Bleeding, Juror #2, and I Saw the TV Glow.
I’ll also throw in a Juror #2 nomination for best lack of a moment, where a film gains power by skipping over a scene it could have easily included, because the transition from the bridge to the verdict is brutal in its “this is the way it had to go” efficiency.
Gah! How could I forget Hundreds of Beavers?? (I mean, I know how, it’s listed as a 2022 movie because of its prolonged festival run, and I doubled-checked 2023 on Letterboxd but not that year). That will be corrected soon!
Movie Gifts TOMMORROW!
Watch your movie gifts! Come and celebrate Movie Gifting! Movies are the reason for the season!
How can you call this a list without the defining moment of 2024, an at-best quarter-chub Kevin Costner groaning that “he’s all used up” as a sex worker grinds his prone form in Horizon Part 1? Cinema!
But in seriousness, wonderful list. The Nickel Boys and Evil Does Not Exist picks in particular, the latter had me (a known public meeting sicko) hooting and hollering while the former is everything you say, the complete opposite. Great reminders/encouragement here. A few more:
I Saw The TV Glow – musical interlude, in particular the second band
Furiosa – Octoboss airship
Megalopolis – I love your pic but the sexy sax music cue in the first Driver/Emanuel scene destroyed my theater, and rightfully so
The Beekeeper – pickup off the bridge
In A Violent Nature – yoga!
I wish I’d seen Megalopolis with a crowd. Particularly if it included a couple robot friends.