Continuing my countdown of last year’s best films…
Best Films of 2024
#6. My Old Ass
Every year lately seems to offer up one great coming-of-age movie about a young woman — a genre I refer to as my cinematic kryptonite. Two years ago it was Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret., preceded by Aftersun (2022) and CODA (2021).
Last year’s winner in the category was My Old Ass, writer/director Megan Park’s magical realist dramedy about a girl who meets her older self while tripping on mushrooms.
Continuing my countdown of last year’s best films…
Best Films of 2024
#7. Hit Man
Richard Linklater is among my favorite filmmakers for a lot of reasons, and one of them is that — when he isn’t riffing on his central thesis about the beauty in seemingly mundane human experiences — he can deliver an effortlessly charming high-concept crowd-pleaser like this.
Loosely based on a Texas Monthly article about a college professor who impersonated a contract killer to assist the Houston police, Hit Man is part crime thriller, part romcom, and part exploration of the meaning of identity. You know Linklater isn’t going to resist the urge to insert some armchair philosophizing.
Continuing my countdown of last year’s best films…
Best Films of 2024
#8. The Beast
I had read that Bertrand Bonello’s romantic sci-fi epic was a tough watch — the sort of impenetrable art film that leaves you more confused than moved. So I was delighted when it turned out to be an ambitious but easily decipherable tale of a couple whose love affair spans centuries.
Based (very) loosely on the Henry James novella The Beast in the Jungle, The Beast follows Gabrielle and Louis, played by Léa Seydoux and George MacKay, through three timelines: France in 1910, Los Angeles in 2014, and 2044 in an unnamed city ruled by artificial intelligence.
Continuing my countdown of last year’s best films…
Best Films of 2024
#9. Civil War
I can’t recall the last time a trailer generated as much controversy as the one for Alex Garland’s Civil War.
Some people thought it was irresponsible for a film to depict a modern-day civil war, particularly at a time when our politics have the country hopelessly divided and norms have eroded to the point that citizens believe storming the Capitol to overturn an election is an example of peaceful protest.
Others laughed at the film’s teased Texas/California alliance, assuming Garland (a Brit) was so ignorant of American politics that he didn’t know how to properly draw the battle lines.
Over the next two weeks, I’ll offer up my top ten movies of 2024.
If you’ve been reading my posts from the last few weeks you probably have an idea of which films will show up here. But in these entries, I’ll spend a little more space explaining why.
Best Films of 2024
#10. Red Rooms
The third film by Canadian writer/director Pascal Plante, Red Rooms is a taut psychological thriller that examines society’s fascination with true crime. It follows a woman, Kelly-Anne (Juliette Gariépy), who spends her days attending the trial of a man accused of torturing and killing three teenage girls.
Meet Me In Montauk 