THIRTY MORE – Because I can (Part Two)
26. Infested (Sébastien Vaniček)
Spiders. So many spiders. I’m shuddering just thinking about them again.
27. Handling the Undead (Thea Hvistendahl)
When the recent dead return, the living can’t let go. Earthshattering.
28. The Piano Lesson (Malcolm Washington)
When an estranged brother and sister reunite to bicker over a priceless family heirloom, the past comes knocking at the door in a loathsome desire to destroy all they both hold dear.
29. Hit Man (Richard Linklater)
Richard Linklater. Glen Powell. Adria Arjona. Together, this trio crafts a crowd-pleasing sensation that melts the screen with its charm, sexuality, and all-around inventiveness. Too bad it got lost in Netflix’s algorithm black hole.
30. Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl (Merlin Crossingham, Nick Park)
Wallace and Gromit still got it, and Feathers McGraw remains their most cunningly sly adversary. It’s cracking good.
31. Tuesday (Daina Oniunas-Pusić)
I am of the opinion that Julia Louis-Dreyfus can do no wrong, and this mesmerizing, thoughtful, and imaginative cancer melodrama just offers up additional (and unmissable) proof that my assessment is the correct one.
32. Longlegs (Osgood Perkins)
Nicolas Cage may have gotten all the pre-release press, but it’s Maika Monroe and Alicia Witt who give Longlegs its terrifying tenacity.
33. The Vourdalak (Adrien Beau)
A lo-fi spellbinder unlike anything else I watched in all of 2024. Still not sure exactly what this is but, after three viewings, I do know that I love it. Here’s hoping you do, too.
34. Lovely, Dark, and Deep (Teresa Sutherland)
Some mysteries should remain unsolved. Also, next time I go hiking? Come hell or high water, I’m staying on the beaten path.
35. A Quiet Place: Day One (Michael Sarnoski)
A single act of kindness. A momentary instance of compassion. That’s all it takes to help someone in their darkest hour. Heck, it may even be enough to save the world.
36. Juror #2 (Clint Eastwood)
Clint Eastwood channels his inner Alfred Hitchcock (crossed with a dash of Agatha Christie) and delivers his best motion picture in over a decade.
37. Young Woman and the Sea (Joachim Rønning)
Inspirational sports stories don’t get much better than this, Daisy Ridley swimming away with my heart as she battles the freezing cold, harsh winds, and men being – well – men to become the first woman to swim the English Channel.
38. The Bikeriders (Jeff Nichols)
While Austin Butler and Tom Hardy provide the requisite masculine gravitas, this is Jodie Comer‘s movie, start to finish, and she is absolutely freaking unforgettable. I was blown away.
39. The Last Showgirl (Gia Coppola)
Pamela Anderson is stunning in a role she was born to play. But, more than that, Gia Coppola’s insightful drama digs deeper than it initially appears it is going to, delivering a flabbergasting emotional wallop in the process.
40. Hundreds of Beavers (Mike Cheslik)
Seriously. I don’t know what to say here. Just watch this film. At once. Right away. Immediately, even. You’ll thank me later.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Abigail (Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett), Anora (Sean Baker), Azrael (E.L. Katz), Babes (Pamela Adlon), Babygirl (Halina Reijn), The Beast (Bertrand Bonello), Blink Twice (Zoë Kravitz), A Complete Unknown (James Mangold), Daddio (Christy Hall), Dìdi (弟弟) (Sean Wang), Drive-Away Dolls (Ethan Coen) [Interview with Tricia Cooke], The First Omen (Arkasha Stevenson), Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter One (Kevin Costner), Inside Out 2 (Kelsey Mann), It’s What’s Inside (Greg Jardin), The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare (Guy Ritchie), Monolith (Matt Vesely), Queer (Luca Guadagnino), Saturday Night (Jason Reitman), Thelma (Josh Margolin), Wicked Little Letters (Thea Sharrock)