Tag: reviews

I watched a LOT of movies in 2024. Here, in no particular order, are my top 10 percent (23 movies) and my bottom few.

First, the best! I got a lot out of all of the 23 movies below.

I’ll say something about just a few of these.

• Flow is a Latvian, no-dialogue, animated film about animals surviving in a post-apocalyptic landscape. I took my two teens and we were all mesmerized for the full running time. Great film.
• Thelma is an adventure film about an elderly woman who takes on an online scammer. It’s hilarious and sweet. I also took my two teens to this one and they loved it!
• Challengers: So. Much. Tension! Amazing soundtrack and exciting tennis matches.
• Ghostlight: A man uses theater to cope with a personal loss. This was a weeper.
• My Old Ass: The title seems like it’s going to be a crass comedy, and the trailer makes you think it’s going to a science fiction film, but it’s a beautiful coming of age story.
• They Cloned Tyrone: Both Teyonah Parris and Jamie Foxx are HILARIOUS in this.

I tend to like at least some aspect of most movies I watch. For example, yesterday I saw Mufasa, and while most of it was perfectly fine but forgettable, the opening has a pivotal scene from The Lion King reimagined in comedic fashion and that was worth the whole movie to me.

But I did see a few stinkers this year. To adapt Kenan Thompson’s line from the David S. Pumpkins comedy sketch: “With 225 movies, they aren’t all going to be winners!” I feel the need to share a few of those, inspired by the line in Min Jin Lee’s wonderful novel Pachinko: “If you like everything you read [or in this case, see], I can’t take you that seriously.” So here are five that I didn’t like. Three of them are terrible Nicholas Cage movies. (And one of my best movies of the year was a Nicholas Cage movie — Pig. That guy contains multitudes. Or at least multiples.)

Happy viewing!