benji
https://benji.dogTop 9 Movies of 2024
I was planning to do a Year in Review for 2024 but I haven't really been motivated to write it. One thing I usually do there is write about my favorite media (games, books, and movies) that I saw that year. Then I saw Jo and Sara wrote about their favorite movies of 2024 and I thought that was a great format and a good way to maybe start thinking of how to recap 2024.
I wrote about these in the order that I watched them, so the order here doesn't really matter. I also won't be posting any summaries or spoilers here as I watched most of these without knowing that either.
I watched this in January and pretty much didn't stop thinking about it for the rest of the year. There's so many moments where this film could have just been another movie telling this story but Celine Song takes her time and gives us that extra second to sit in silence. The last long take at the end of the film felt like an eternity and I mean that in a good way.
This is easily one of my favorite films of all time.
I also have a collection of prints from Scott C.'s Great Showdowns series for movies that I love hanging in my office and I was so excited when he released one for this film, I just had to get it.
Jacqueline Novak: Get on Your Knees (2024)
This isn't a "feature film" but I'm going to count it. It's also much more than a comedy special in the typical sense. This is a 90 minute monologue about sex. It's a study of the English language which I'm endlessly fascinated by. It's a tale of perseverance.
I admit this might not be for everyone because of the content but if you're okay with listening to sometimes lengthy but poetic descriptions of sex acts, check it out.
I honestly thought this movie was going to be something different. It's such a pretty film and at times can also be disturbing, not so much because of the specific scenes that are made to shock, but because how we see the world works for this family and how they treat others. It is an interesting and subtle choice made by Emerald Fennell similar to what she did with the casting choices in Promising Young Woman. It also has possibly one of the best needle drops of the year.
This was one of the three movies that I watched in a movie theater this year. I've been a big fan of Yorgos Lanthimos since Dogtooth (2009) and his films never stop surprising me. This one if anything was one of his more straightforward films, even considering all the fantastical elements in it. Emma Stone is amazing in it and Mark Ruffalo made me laugh harder than I have in a while.
I needed a minute after watching this one. I don't want to get too much into it because if you read the synopsis, you will understand what the movie is but you will get so much more by watching it. I will say that this is probably the only time I've ever cried by hearing the title of the movie spoken by a character.
What a film! I love a Godzilla movie but even as amazing as that was, I was just waiting for the scenes with people in it. Seriously, take out Godzilla and this is still an amazing story of war, trauma, and family. Only thing I regret is not being able to see this in theaters in the black and white version.
This movie came up in the IndieWeb Chat just as I was looking for something to watch that day. I had not heard of this before and have honestly not seen a lot of films with Barbra Streisand so I checked it out. It reminded me so much of His Girl Friday which is one of my favorite films. I also added this to my list of movies to rewatch to cheer me up.
It's very different from the rest of the films here but it's worth it to see stellar acting from everyone involved. There's a few specific interesting things about the production of this film which are very important, one which is a spoiler so I won't mention here. The other one is that it's important to know that the cast and crew were all paid the same daily pay and got some percentage of equity in the film. It's a shame that this film is not getting more recognition for major awards as that could increase it's visibility and make more films like this likely to be made in the future.
Please watch it.
Wow! A romantic comedy which you have seen thousand times done in such a special way. I usually dislike the use of a wide lens but somehow I did not mind. Also just noticed this was the directorial debut of Raine Allen-Miller so I'll be checking out everything she does from now on.
If you have your own list of favorite movies you watched last year and write your own post, send me an email or a webmention. Even if you don't write your own post and want to chat movies, I'd love to hear your thoughts about these or any other movies.