Over the last few weeks as year-end best lists and nominations for various awards shows have trickled out, I've seen a lot of takes lamenting how 2024 was a poor or mediocre year for movies. To quote the great Howard Ratner, "I disagree". Was it one of the greatest years in recent memory? No. The production disruptions from 2023's strikes made that a near impossibility before the year even started. There's just no fucking way that I can sit here with a straight face and say that a year that produced stuff like Anora, Challengers and The Substance was underwhelming. On top of those films that all appeared in my top 5, the B+ or 8/10 tier of movies for me was in line with the previous couple years and that volume of doubles and triples made up for the smaller number of home runs. Maybe I'm too high on the artform as a whole to be overly critical of it or have just reached a point where I'm not going to dump all over an entire slate of films on the grounds of it not having enough A-level movies for my liking, but that's just how I feel damn it!
Below, you'll find a list of every movie I saw in 2024 ranked from worst to best (with grades) along with a lengthy list of awards and superlatives that cover everything from the best performances to the biggest surprises/letdowns to the 10 movies I'm most excited to (hopefully) see in 2025. Hope you enjoy.
Still Need to See:
The 4:30 Movie
Absolution
AGGRO DR1FT
All We Imagine as Light
Arcadian
Azrael
Better Man
Between the Temples
The Bricklayer
The Brutalist
Canary Black
Dandelion
Daughters
Don't Move
Elevation
Exhibiting Forgiveness
Ezra
A Family Affair
Flow
Get Away
Ghostlight
Girl You Know It's True
Goodrich
The Greatest Hits
The Gutter
Hard Truths
Hate to Love: Nickelback
Hellboy: The Crooked Man
Here
I'm Still Here
Incoming
In the Summers
Janet Planet
The Last Stop in Yuma County
Late Bloomers
Lee
Life After Fighting
The Line
The Listener
Los Frikis
MadS
Magpie
Maria
Mayhem!
Memoir of a Snail
Mothers' Instinct
MoviePass, MovieCrash
My Spy: The Eternal City
National Anthem
Nightbitch
Nickel Boys
Oddity
Omni Loop
One Life
The Order
Parachute
The People's Joker
Piece by Piece
Poolman
Red Right Hand
Red Rooms
The Remarkable Life of Ibelin
The Room Next Door
Salem's Lot
Sasquatch Sunset
Scrambled
The Seed of the Sacred Fig
The Silent Hour
Sing Sing
Sleep
Small Things Like These
Spaceman
Stress Positions
Subservience
Sugarcane
Suncoast
Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story
Sweethearts
Trigger Warning
Tuesday
Turtles All the Way Down
Unstoppable
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
Weekend in Taipei
Winner
Young Woman and the Sea
135.Bob Marley: One Love (D)
134.Miller's Girl (D)
133.Atlas (D)
132.Night Swim (D+)
131.Rebel Moon: Part Two-The Scargiver (D+)
130.Borderlands (D+)
129.Brothers (D+)
128.Caddo Lake (D+)
127.Players (C-)
126.Sleeping Dogs (C-)
125.Emilia Perez (C-)
124.Madame Web (C-)
123.Back to Black (C)
122.Lift (C)
121.The Book of Clarence (C)
120.Slingshot (C)
119.Megalopolis (C)
118.Nutcrackers (C)
117.The Watchers (C)
116.Red One (C)
115.Unfrosted (C)
114.Tarot (C)
113.Killer Heat (C)
112.Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (C)
111.Queer (C)
110.It's What's Inside (C)
109.Trap (C)
108.Werewolves (C+)
107.Transformers One (C+)
106.Cuckoo (C+)
105.Lisa Frankenstein (C+)
104.Arthur the King (B-)
103.Boy Kills World (B-)
102.The Strangers: Chapter 1 (B-)
101.Mean Girls (B-)
100.I.S.S. (B-)
99.Kung Fu Panda 4 (B-)
98.The Union (B-)
97.Fly Me to the Moon (B-)
96.Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (B-)
95.Am I OK? (B-)
94.Kraven the Hunter (B-)
93.The Underdoggs (B-)
92.It Ends with Us (B-)
91.Jackpot! (B-)
90.The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare (B-)
89.Rez Ball (B-)
88.The Crow (B-)
87.Alien: Romulus (B-)
86.The American Society of Magical Negroes (B-)
85.Knox Goes Away (B-)
84.Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F (B-)
83.The Outrun (B-)
82.Late Night with the Devil (B-)
81.The Bikeriders (B-)
80.Your Monster (B-)
79.The Front Room (B-)
78.Hundreds of Beavers (B-)
77.Deadpool & Wolverine (B-)
76.Immaculate (B-)
75.Land of Bad (B)
74.Self Reliance (B)
73.The Killer's Game (B)
72.Housekeeping for Beginners (B)
71.The Idea of You (B)
70.Road House (B)
69.Kill (B)
68.The Fire Inside (B)
67.Ricky Stanicky (B)
66.Touch (B)
65.My Old Ass (B)
64.Wicked Little Letters (B)
63.Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (B)
62.Femme (B)
61.Gladiator II (B)
60.Argylle (B)
59.Y2K (B)
58.Wicked (B)
57.Problemista (B)
56.Conclave (B)
55.We Live in Time (B)
54.Never Let Go (B)
53.Venom: The Last Dance (B)
52.The Piano Lesson (B)
51.Will & Harper (B)
50.Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (B)
49.Babygirl (B)
48.The Beekeeper (B)
47.Thelma (B)
46.Longlegs (B)
45.Inside Out 2 (B)
44.Speak No Evil (B)
43.The First Omen (B)
42.The Killer (B)
41.MaXXXine (B)
40.Heretic (B)
39.Love Lies Bleeding (B)
38.The Shadow Strays (B)
37.Kneecap (B)
36.Twisters (B)
35.Drive-Away Dolls (B)
34.Juror #2 (B)
33.Dune: Part Two (B)
32.IF (B+)
31.Hit Man (B+)
30.Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (B+)
29.A Quiet Place: Day One (B+)
28.A Complete Unknown (B+)
27.Carry-On (B+)
26.Strange Darling (B+)
25.I Used to Be Funny (B+)
24.Nosferatu (B+)
23.Daddio (B+)
22.Blink Twice (B+)
21.A Different Man (B+)
20.Kinds of Kindness (B+)
19.Snack Shack (B+)
18.Bad Boys: Ride or Die (B+)
17.Babes (B+)
16.Woman of the Hour (B+)
15.Saturday Night (B+)
14.A Real Pain (B+)
13.Smile 2 (B+)
12.His Three Daughters (B+)
11.The Wild Robot (B+)
10.I Saw the TV Glow (B+)
9.Monkey Man (B+)
8.Civil War (B+)
7.Abigail (B+)
6.Rebel Ridge (B+)
5.The Substance (A-)
4.Didi (A-)
3.The Fall Guy (A)
2.Challengers (A)
1.Anora (A)
Awards/Superlatives:
Best Picture: Anora
Best Director: Sean Baker, Anora
Best Actor: Sebastian Stan, A Different Man
Best Actress: Mikey Madison, Anora
Best Supporting Actor: Kieran Culkin, A Real Pain
Best Supporting Actress: Ariana Grande, Wicked
Best Original Screenplay: Sean Baker, Anora
Best Adapted Screenplay: Chris Sanders, The Wild Robot
Best Cinematography: Jarin Blaschke, Nosferatu
Best Editing: Marco Costa, Challengers
Best Score: Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, Challengers
Best Original Song: "Ain't No Love in Oklahoma" by Luke Combs, Twisters
Best Visual Effects: Dune: Part Two
Best Sound: Dune: Part Two
Best Directorial Debut: Sean Wang, Didi
Best Animated Feature: The Wild Robot
Best Documentary Feature: Will & Harper
Best International Feature: Kneecap
Best Villain: Rodney Alcala (Daniel Zovatto), Woman of the Hour
Worst Villain: Ezkiel Sims (Tahar Rahim), Madame Web
Best Performance in a Bad Movie: Aubrey Plaza, Megalopolis
Worst Performance in a Good Movie: Paul Mescal, Gladiator II
Best Piece of Overacting: Dennis Quaid, The Substance
Worst Piece of Overacting: Brett Gelman, Boy Kills World
The 7th Annual "Carry a Movie on Your Back" Award Presented by Greg Jennings: John Cena, Ricky Stanicky
Best Action Sequence: "Alligator Park Showdown", Bad Boys: Ride or Die
Worst Action Sequence: "Bus Fight", Deadpool & Wolverine
Best Blockbuster: The Fall Guy
Worst Blockbuster: Atlas
Finest Hidden Indie Gem: Didi
Most Insufferable Indie Trash: Miller's Girl
Best Theater Experience (Presentation): Dune: Part Two
Worst Theater Experience (Presentation): Immaculate
Best Theater Experience (Crowd): Venom: The Last Dance
Worst Theater Experience (Crowd): Inside Out 2
Sickest Double Feature That I Did: The Fall Guy/Abigail
Saddest Double Feature That I Did: Madame Web/Bob Marley: One Love
Greatest Reminder of the Power of Movie Stars and Practical Stunts: The Fall Guy
Top Movies Where Fred Durst Kind of Just Shows Up for a Bit: I Saw the TV Glow and Y2K
Best Use of Dan Stevens as King Kong's Dentist: Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire
Possibly The Hardest I've Ever Laughed at Anything That No One Else in the Theater Found to be Even Remotely Funny: About 15-20 different moments in Kinds of Kindness
Screening Where I Witnessed the Highest Volume of Old People Getting Their Ass Kicked by the Reserved Seating System at an AMC: A Complete Unknown
Most Underrated Movies:
1.Abigail
2.Woman of the Hour
3.Babes
4.Snack Shack
5.Daddio
Most Overrated Movies:
1.Emilia Perez
2.Transformers One
3.Deadpool & Wolverine
4.Alien: Romulus
5.Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
Biggest Surprises:
1.IF
2.The Killer
3.The First Omen
4.Longlegs
5.Never Let Go
Biggest Letdowns:
1.Kill
2.The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare
3.The Bikeriders
4.Gladiator II
5.Hundreds of Beavers
Top Performances:
1.Mikey Madison, Anora
2.Kieran Culkin, A Real Pain
3.Lily Rose-Depp, Nosferatu
4.Zendaya, Challengers
5.Demi Moore, The Substance
6.Sebastian Stan, A Different Man
7.Naomi Scott, Smile 2
8.Yura Borisov, Anora
9.Timothee Chalamet, A Complete Unknown
10.Nicole Kidman, Babygirl
Top Breakthrough Performances:
1.Daniel Zovatto, Woman of the Hour
2.Aaron Pierre, Rebel Ridge
3.Katy O'Brian, Love Lies Bleeding
4.Izaac Wang, Didi
5.Nell Tiger Free, The First Omen
6.Mark Eydelshteyn, Anora
7.Maisy Stella, My Old Ass
8.Ryan Destiny, The Fire Inside
9.Avantika, Mean Girls
10.Percy Daggs IV, Never Let Go
Great Under-the-Radar Performance That I Didn't List Above:
1.Adam Pearson, A Different Man
2.Corey Michael Smith, Saturday Night
3.Cailee Spaeny, Civil War
4.Dan Stevens, Abigail
5.Justice Smith, I Saw the TV Glow
6.Nicholas Hoult, Juror #2
7.Anne Hathaway, The Idea of You
8,Sydney Sweeney, Immaculate
9.Halle Berry, Never Let Go
10.Melissa Barrera, Your Monster
Top Acting Ensembles:
1.Challengers
2.Anora
3.A Complete Unknown
4.The Substance
5.His Three Daughters
6.Nosferatu
7.Saturday Night
8.Abigail
9.Civil War
10.Kinds of Kindness
Top Directorial Debuts:
1.Sean Wang, Didi
2.Dev Patel, Monkey Man
3.Anna Kendrick, Woman of the Hour
4.Pamela Adlon, Babes
5.Zoe Kravitz, Blink Twice
6.Christy Hall, Daddio
7.Arkasha Stevenson, The First Omen
8.Malcolm Washington, The Piano Lesson
9.Kelly Marcel, Venom: The Last Dance
10.Julio Torres, Problemista
Top Cinematography:
1.Jarin Blaschke, Nosferatu
2.Eric K. Yue, I Saw the TV Glow
3.Stephane Fontaine, Conclave
4.Greig Fraser, Dune: Part Two
5.Giovani Ribisi, Strange Darling
6.Saymbhu Mukdeeprom, Challengers
7.Aaron Morton, The First Omen
8.Drew Daniels, Anora
9.Kevin Fletcher, It's What's Inside
10.Zach Kuperstein, Woman of the Hour
Top Scores:
1.Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, Challengers
2.Michael Giacchino, IF
3.Jon Batiste, Saturday Night
4.Robin Carolan, Nosferatu
5.Cristobal Tapia de Veer, Babygirl
6.Raffertie, The Substance
7.Hans Zimmer, Dune: Part Two
8.Kris Bowers, The Wild Robot
9.Chanda Dancy, Blink Twice
10.Simon Waskow, Cuckoo
Top Movies I Hope to See in 2025:
1.Friendship
2.28 Years Later
3.Sinners
4.Superman
5.Marty Supreme
6.The Running Man
7.Ballerina
8.The Naked Gun
9.Bugonia
10.Nobody 2
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