I watched a ridiculous amount of movies in 2024. (189!) Here’s my ten favorites, rewatches being disqualified.

Margin Call, 2011.   Unexpectedly compelling for a movie that takes place over the course of two days, all of which involve men in suits staring at computer screens and talking about the bubble popping that will lead to the Great Recession.   Great acting by Jeremy Irons, Kevin Spacey, and Zachary  Quinto.

Cobb, 1994.    Tommy Lee Jones is wonderfully manic as Ty Cobb,  as defamatory as the movie is.  The facts of the movie are absolute trash, but  Jones is just hilarious driving through a blizzard chugging whisky and ramming the car in front of him, or going crazy at a casino because he spots the cigarette girl he was sweet on (well, randy for)  standing next to another man.  The drama of the movie is interesting –  TLJ-Cobb struggling with his inner doubts while preaching his greatness,   the libelous Al Stump  torn between hatred and grudging admiration. 

A Man Called Ove, 2016. A widower is intent on killing himself and rejoining his wife, but keeps being interrupted by the bloody neighbors who can’t back up a car properly, don’t know how to bleed a radiator, and  keep putting metal in the glass recycling bin. Idiots!  Heartwarming story that I’ve read the novel of (and watched the American adaptation of), about a man who manages to find meaning his life beyond mourning and self-absorption.   Although the American movie is easier to get into given the language barrier, I think Ove works much better as a drama – in part because it doesn’t assume the viewer is an idiot who needs every plot thing explained to them.

Walk the Line, 2005. Joaqin Phoenix is Johnny Carter in a movie that’s about Cash’s rise from a poor farmboy in Arkansas to becoming one of the biggest names in country music, struggling with his love for one woman — June Carter — and substance abuse. Solid acting all the way around, and the music is good. I haven’t heard June Carter by herself enough to judge Reese Witherspoon’s performance. I was quite impressed by her singing, though.

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, 2023.  A man receives a letter from a former coworker and embarks on a walking trek across the whole of England, which is simultaneously a journey through his past as he comes to terms with regrets and meaning.  Definitely tear-jerky and heart-warmy.

Back in Black, 2024. Full disclosure: I’ve been an Amy Winehouse fan since Frank hit the US. so when this film was announced I was prepared to hate it. I was….very pleasantly surprised. Abela got the accent pretty well, at least to my American ears,  and the costuming and on-stage presences were great. I’ve watched a LOT of Winehouse video over the years and recognized the recordings some shots were based on. Although Winehouse fans tend to take the universal line that Blake was The Worst Thing Ever, the film does a good job of making him attractive (especially in the intro pool hall scene, where his love of the Shangri-Las results in an endearing performance), and defending him to some extent from the idea that he and he alone pushed her into harder drugs and self-destruction. The ending was….beautifully tragic. From the moment the pararazzi asked her what she thought of her ex-hubs and his child by his new girlfriend, I knew exactly what was about to happen, and that last shot…the directors take a lovely direction with it. We are not forced to see what happens, but there’s another shot that links to previous shots and it’s apparent to the viewer what happens next.

What’s Up Doc, 1972. My introduction to the very striking Barbara Streisand. She plays a prototypical manic pixie dream girl who begins stalking a musicologist whose travel bag is the same as three other people’s — bags including lots of jewels, secret documents, and misc crap. Leads to a gloriously madcap comedy with an absolutely chaotic ending . Great writing, and SF was a wonderful city to stage auto chases in.

Father Stu, 2022. Mark Wahlberg plays Fr. Stuart Long, a boxer who begins hanging around the Catholic church for love of a woman, but embraces it fully after a near-death experience in which he has a vision of the Virgin Mary which urges him to find purpose in his life. Despite his love for Carmen, he pursues a calling to the priesthood that becomes more difficult after he is diagnosed with a progressive muscle disease which renders the former boxer into a man in a wheelchair. Despite his suffering and limitations, he finds meaning and imparts that to others. Best movie I’ve seen this year.

Cloverfield. Watched without knowing anything about it, which is probably the best way. A “found footage” film that begins as the innocent documenting of a good-bye party and ends with witnessing a monstrous attack on Manhattan. Gotta wonder how Manhattan audiences reacted to it, only a few years after 9/11. Effective horror-action film save for some implausibilities like the camera’s battery and film lasting for 10+ hours.

The Bikeriders, 2024. Based on a journalist’s true account, the story of an MC from the sixties to the seventies as the original members find their club exploding in popularity and becoming something they don’t recognize. Great character drama, great acting especially from Tom Hardy.

HONORABLE MENTION: Bad News Bears (2005)

I enjoy this clip far, far, too much. It’s unhealthy.