MY 10 BEST MOVIES OF 2024 1. The Brutalist 2. A Complete Unknown 3. His Three Daughters 4. Anora 5. I'm Still Here 6. Flow 7. The Seed of the Sacred Fig 8. Dune: Part Two 9. Coup de Chance 10. Kneecap
@@misskhaleesi6691 It definitely does have strong emotional impact. I saw it at the Savannah film festival and it left me shaken, it's like a more emotional Zone of Interest.
Sorry, Blitz just didn’t work for me but I saw it on my iPad. It probably played better in a theater. Top 10: 1) Anora 2) Challengers 3) Green Border 4) Here (Belgium) 5) Baby Girl 6) Sing Sing 7) Queer 8) Close Your Eyes 9) Flow 10) Evil Does Not Exist
Controversial view - every year is a great year for those who are prepared to look. I'm older than you both and never find a year where there aren't quite a few movies that really excite me. 2024 was an excellent year - I've seen over 300 films and 31 of them were excellent. The overall quality level was surprising. I loved your lists and how different it is to mine and how many you've seen that I have not caught yet. I've not managed to see The Brutalist, Flow, The Girl With The Needle, Nosferatu, Christmas Eve in Miller's Point or Babygirl. Ok, so my favorite films of 2024 were (in order) Made In England: The Films of Powell & Pressburger, Ghostlight, Emilia Perez, Hundreds of Beavers, My Old Ass, Wild Robot, Civil War, The Substance, Blitz, Love Lies Bleeding. Honorable mentions to Kinds of Kindness, Late Night With The Devil, Dune part 2, Challengers, Memoir of a Snail. Thanks for all you did in 2024 - I loved sharing it with you both and the many guests!
Just some feedback if I may. Please show a poster for each movie you discuss; or at least put up the title in caption. Ideally, keep the poster up the whole time you discuss the movie. People with different levels of enthusiasm in films watch your videos, and in different settings for different reasons. A viewer who might not be giving his or her undivided attention at a given moment, would still like to know what's being talked about. Thanks.
Great lists! I was so tickled to see Hundreds of Beavers at the top of *anyone's* list (it's my #2 and yes, seeing it with an audience was my biggest joy in a theater this year). My top 10: 10. Oddity 9. Perfect Days (counting this as 2024) 8. Anora 7. Challengers 6. Inside Out 2 5. Nosferatu 4. The Brutalist 3. The Fall Guy 2. Hundreds of Beavers 1. The Substance
Thanks for all the brilliant reviews for 2024 Christie and Alonso. I wish the both of you an incredible 2025 and know that I will be around watching all your vids for this upcoming year (this is the best movie review chanell after all).
Thanks for the reviews all year and for your faves. I'm glad you at least mentioned 'Robot Dreams', which I was hoping would get into your lists. And I was pleased to see 'Dune 2', 'Hundreds of Beavers', and 'My Old Ass' pop up in your lists - I think these films have been underrated and undervalued in awards season and deserve more attention and praise.
And I also want to give a shout out to 'The Outrun', another gem that should have been in contention for awards season but has so far been largely ignored.
Those are some wonderful lists! It's been a great year for cinema. My Top 10: 1. Dune: Part Two 2. The Substance 3. Nosferatu 4. Anora 5. Sing Sing 6. Challengers 7. Wicked 8. Queer 9. The Wild Robot 10. My Old Ass
OMG, loooove that Alonso included Blitz, which I think nobody is talking about, but is totally one of the years best, certainly one of my favs, along with Look Back and The Apprentice, great lists from both!
I’m glad I watched Blitz in a theater. I get its criticisms. It’s a bit cold. And the kids acting in the train is a bit overdone. But the I love McQueen’s style and his visuals.
Always love your year end lists. Been watching yall since what the flick days. I need to see all the movies you 2 have listed. Thanks for all the great movie reviews and hopefully 2025 has even more great movies to offer.
Some of my favorites from this year that didn't make their lists: 1. A Different Man 2. Memoir of a Snail 3. Love Lies Bleeding 4. Alien: Romulus Honorable mentions to: Kinds of Kindness, Civil War, Conclave, Juror #2 and The Apprentice
Great picks! This was an excellent year, so much that I can’t narrow my list to 10. My favorites: Anora The Brutalist Challengers Civil War Dune: Part Two A Different Man Flow Furiosa I Saw the TV Glow Nosferatu Sing Sing The Substance Wicked
Great lists! A few of my favorites that weren’t on your lists are A Different Man, Ghostlight, Red Rooms, Civil War, and Nickel Boys. Can’t wait to see The Brutalist this weekend! My #1 would have to be Anora, followed closely by The Substance.
With the strikes and fewer movies in theatres I thought it was a pretty good year for movies. My favourites seen at the cinema in 2024: 1. Anora 2. The Substance 3. Poor Things 4. Small Things Like These 5. If Only I Could Hibernate / Baavgai Bolohson 6. The Teachers' Lounge / Das Lehrerzimmer 7. Memory 8. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga 9, The Promised Land / Bastarden 10. Anatomy Of A Fall / Anatomie D'une Chute
My top 10 of 2024: 1.) Horizon: American Saga 2.) A Complete Unknown 3.) White Bird 4.) Bike Riders 5.) Wicked 6.) Nosferatu 7.) My Old Ass 8.) Wicked Little Letters 9.) Civil War 10.) The Wild Robot Honrable Mentions: Sight, Ordinary Angels, It Ends With Us, Joker 2, The Substance, Longlegs, Love Lies Bleeding, Dead Pool & Wolverine
I haven't seen The Brutalist yet but here are my top 10 so far: 1. Juror 2 2. Anora 3. Strange Darling 4. The Silent Hour 5. Dune: Part 2 6. Rebel Ridge 7. The Instigators 8. The Wild Robot 9. Challengers 10. Don't Move
My top 10: 1. Wicked 2. Anora 3. Blink Twice 4. Babes 5. Inside Out 2 5. Juror #2 6. The Substance 7. Beetlejuice Beetlejuce 8. The Apprentice 9. Oddity 10. Late Night with the Devil HM: Nosferatu, Abigail, Challengers, Speak No Evil, Immaculate, Conclave, The Challengers, Woman of the Hour, Civil War, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. Yet to see: The Brutalist, Babygirl, The Room Next Door, etc.
I still have to catch up on a bunch of movies, but this would be my top 5 that I've seen so far. 1. Snack Shack 2. The Order 3. Saturday Night 4. Riddle of Fire 5. The Outrun
I watched Flow tonight and it's so chill but sweet and moving without dialogue. Yet it has a dark undercurrent--literally we could not save the whales. I can't wait to see Christmas at Millers Point as I like all vibes, no plot.
My top 10 films released in the UK in 2024: 1. Poor Things 2. The Taste of Things 3. Anora 4. The Substance 5. Civil War 6. Dune: Part Two 7. Challengers 8. Hundreds of Beavers 9. Inside Out 2 10. A Different Man _Honourable mentions:_ American Fiction All of Us Strangers Conclave Fantastic Machine Hit Man The Holdovers Immaculate Infested Late Night with the Devil Love Lies Bleeding Maria Perfect Days Rumours Skincare Sleep Strange Darling The Beast
I did make my own list but to shorten it I think the movies I will think about and return to for years or possibly decades to come are The Substance and Kneecap.
Great lists! My list is pretty similar to Christie's.👍🏼 It'd be helpful to put up screenshots of the movies or at least title cards. I had to rewind a couple times when I blinked and missed the movie's name.
Alonso: 10. The Room Next Door (rt 85%) 9. The People's Joker (rt 95%) / I Saw the TV Glow (rt 84%) 8. Blitz (rt 81%) 7. The Brutalist (rt 93%) 6. Anora (rt 94%) 5. Close Your Eyes (rt 93%) 4. Christmas Eve in Miller's Point (rt 78%/30%) 3. Challengers (rt 88%) 2. Baby Girl (rt 78%/49%) 1. Hundreds of Beavers (97%) Christy: Anora (rt 94%) The Brutalist (rt 93%) Challengers (rt 88%) Dune: Part Two (rt 92%) Flow (rt 97%) The Girl with the Needle (rt 92%) Kneecap (rt 95%) My Old Ass (rt 91%) Strange Darling (rt 95%) The Substance (rt 90%)
So very glad I saw many of the films on your "Best of" list and none of the trash from your "Worst" pile (except Trap, which I thought was so-so). I'd like to give a shout out to Nosferatu because I grew up on Universal Monsters and British Gothic Horror like the Hammer films and Vincent Price/Roger Corman Edgar Allan Poe adaptations so I actually had the same emotional response while watching Nosferatu that Alonso had watching Christmas Eve. I literally felt like I had returned "home" so Christy your friend who saw Nosferatu with you was correct. If you're into the "Gothcore", Nosferatu will enchant you.
Here's my 2024 top ten: (Disclaimer: No musicals for me, sorry) 1. Dune: Part Two 2. Crossing 3. Anora 4. Young Woman and the Sea 5. A Different Man 6. Conclave 7. Juror #2 8. Deadpool & Wolverine 9. The Substance 10. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes Runner-ups: The Wild Robot, Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story, The Greatest Night in Pop, Inside Out 2 Pre or post-2024 release (where I'm from): Sing Sing, Nosferatu, The Seed of the Sacred Fig, Vermiglio Still to watch: The Brutalist, Nickel Boys, September 5, A Real Pain, A Complete Unknown, Flow, ... and a long etc.
I still have a lot of movies that I'm excited to see from 2024 like Nosferatu, The Brutalist, Babygirl, Nickel Boys, and The Room Next Door. But I am pretty sure Challengers will keep its number 1 spot for me. I've also really loved A Real Pain, Thelma, My Old Ass, Christmas Eve in Miller's Point, I Saw The TV Glow, Kneecap, and The Beast. Oddity, Longlegs, and Strange Darling are horror or horror adjacent movies from the year that affected me in ways I didn't think were possible anymore which is pretty cool. I liked a lot of other movies so this was a good year at the movies for me!
I haven't seen any of the films on either of your top ten lists, but I guess I'm going to have to check out Babygirl. I'm generally leery of mainstream movies with BDSM themes: they take them so seriously and never have much fun with them. The only exception would be Secretary which did play with the relationship between Gyllenhaal's and Spader's characters in a pleasant way. I don't hold out much hope for Babygirl but it keeps getting good reviews, which is unusual for mainstream BDSM-themed films, though generally for good reason.
Regarding the "Film critics hate everything" discussion: Well, I remember back in the WTF days when Alonso gave 10/10 to Attack the Block and while I completely don't agree, I remember that as like a moment where I felt that maybe I should follow these guys, because they are ready to go to bat with these kinds of takes and they can back it up with real arguments.
My Top Ten List of 2024 1. Anora 2. The Beast 3. The Count of Monte Cristo 4. Aattam 5. Close Your Eyes 6. Civil War 7. The Wild Robot 8. I Saw The TV Glow 9. Furiosa 10. Love Lies Bleeding
Interesting list, here's mine: 10. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (8/10) 9. The Order (8/10) 8. The End (8/10) 7. Dune: Part Two (8/10) 6. History of Souleymane (8/10) 5. Christspiracy (9/10) 4. Oddity (9/10) 3. Monkey Man (10/10) 2. Longlegs (10/10) 1. Kinds of Kindness (10/10) Yet to see: The Brutalist, Nickel Boys, Sing Sing, The Devil’s Bath, The Girl with the Needle Worst films I've seen in 2024: Megalopolis, The Substance, Nosferatu, Joker 2
I have to say for me it was a very lackluster year for movies overall, I think these lists prove that. Alonso's list really had my head spinning, especially his #1, but that is just me.
I made my top 16 of 2024 (selfishly to screenshot a Letterboxd list from my phone). My top 16: The Brutalist Anora Dune: Part Two The Substance Didi Sing Sing Challengers The Wild Robot Red Rooms Strange Darling A Real Pain Conclave Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga Love Lies Bleeding Nosferatu Hundreds of Beavers HM (alphabetical order): Flow Ghostlight His Three Daughters Hit Man Kill Kneecap Memoir of a Snail My Old Ass Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story Wicked
hi guys here's my best 1. late night with the devil 2. Deadpool & wolverine 3. abigail 4. heretic 5. hundreds of beavers 6. furiosa 7. alien ; romulus 8. dune 2 9. smile 2 10. Saturday night
I've had a particularly difficult time keeping up with 2024 films, particularly with so many of the most celebrated releases being quite long and/or subtitled, so I'm still pretty far behind. There were some films I saw, however, that really impressed me and haven't been reviewed on this channel, so perhaps I can just toss out their names as things you might consider catching up with at some point. Memory, from director Michel Franco, hit me like a ton of bricks, although some of that admittedly comes from personal experience both with sexual abuse and a relative with Alzheimer's. Still, I'm sad this was really slept on. It deftly walks quite the tightrope, with Jessica Chastain and Peter Sarsgaard as brilliant as ever. Hoard, from writer/director Luna Carmoon, barely got a release here in the states, but it was undoubtedly one of the most bold, singular pieces of work I saw all year. The young actress Saura Lightfoot-Leon is brilliant in the lead role, and Joseph Quinn continues to prove he's a star. This also holds the distinction of somehow being both the sexiest and most revolting film I saw all year, often at the same time. And yes, I saw both Challengers and The Substance. The First Omen feels like the definition of "if you know, you know." I don't think anyone came into 2024 expecting a prequel to a decades-long horror franchise with one well-received entry from a first-time feature director to be anything better than serviceable, but this film is flat-out brilliant. Arkasha Stevenson's direction is awe-inspiring. Nell Tiger Free, in the lead role, also makes the transition from television to features look easy. It's an absolute must-see. Finally, Rebel Ridge is a wonderful return to form from Jeremy Saulnier that deserved more than a Netflix release. The nature of its star's "non-lethal" combat expertise, embodied by future star Aaron Pierre, makes the action feel incredibly unique and wildly entertaining. It got my blood boiling in all the right ways, and it was great to see AnnaSophia Robb prove herself with a serious, adult role. Quick mentions are probably also owed to The King Tide, Late Bloomers, Oddity, The Last Stop in Yuma County, Parachute, and Stopmotion - smaller releases that really impressed me. Oh, and remember when everyone was talking about the forgone conclusion that was numerous nominations for June Squibb's performance in Thelma? Those were nice times. What on earth happened? Thanks for all your excellent work. Here's to a great 2025.
@@BreakfastAllDay Curious why you didn't review it as it's likely to be nominated for a couple of major Oscars. It's also on several significant 2024 top 10s.
oof anora as the thumbnail. Wish I got the over the top critics love for that movie, found it completely anemic. I rarely root against stuff in awards season but I was happy to see it go home empty handed at the Golden Globes😬 (but I know it won your LAFCA award so it makes sense its the thumbnail!) Some of favorites of the year: Close Your Eyes, Do Not Expect too Much From the End of the World, Nickel Boys, The Count of Monte Cristo, All We Imagine As Light, The Brutalist, Janet Planet.
My Top 10 of 2024:* 1) Hit Man 2) Dune: Part Two 3) A Complete Unknown 4) Thelma 5) Dìdi 6) Deadpool & Wolverine 7) Rebel Ridge 8) Kneecap 9) My Old Ass 10) Juror #2 *I haven’t yet seen: A Different Man Anora The Brutalist Emilia Pérez Nosferatu Saturday Night Sing Sing We Live in Time Wicked The Wild Robot
Goodness. I thought The People's Joker was the worst film I saw last year behind Joker 2. I struggled not to walk out of The People's Joker. I regret I stayed, frankly.
Anora is definitely NOT on my top ten list, Sean Baker is cool but all his movies are the same with it's Sexy, Chaotic and Slogs. Great Ensemble cast for Anora but Sean, honey you really need an editor UGH
Christine such a sales gal and Alonso apologize for Wicked review ! Listen to you Alonso the first film of Almodovar you described yourself on another .. hilarious
This year was not as great a year for movies as 2023 was. In fact, the best movie of this year was supposed to come out last year. (Writers strike delay.) 1. Dune: Part Two 2. Saturday Night 3. Kinds of Kindness 4. Civil War 5. His Three Daughters 6. The Apprentice 7. Problemista 8. Tuesday 9. A Real Pain 10. Juror #2 (Haven't been able to see The Brutalist, Anora, or Hundreds of Beavers yet) Documentary honorable mentions in no particular order: God & Country Let it Be Power Food Inc. 2 Will & Harper Casa Bonita Mi Amor! Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary Music by John Williams
The thing is, these movies, while great no doubt, don't make much money or lose money. A glance at The Brutalist showed that it cost 6M and made 1M - that's no reason to make a movie. And the big movies are almost all garbage nowadays, I won't waste my money on them. I fail to see a positive financial future for the movie industry. The only winners seem to be influencers / critics.
My Top 10 Favorite Movies of 2024... 1. The Substance 2. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga 3. Anora 4. I Saw the TV Glow 5. Civil War 6. Nosferatu 7. Dìdi 8. MaXXXine 9. Longlegs 10. Challengers
1994: Forrest Gump, Pulp Fiction, Ed Wood, Quiz Show, Clerks., Heavenly Creatures, The Lion King, The Shawshank Redemption, Bullets Over Broadway, The Crow, Hoop Dreams, In the Mouth of Madness, Leon: The Professional, Wes Craven's New Nightmare, The Madness of King George, Interview with the Vampire, Legends of the Fall, Cemetery Man, True Lies, The Ref, Reality Bites, 3 Colors: Red, Crumb, Nell, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Mixed Nuts, Natural Born Killers, Speed, The Mask, My Girl, Clear and Present Danger, Disclosure, Shallow Grave, Muriel's Wedding, Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Blue Chips, Guarding Tess, The Hudsucker Proxy, Serial Mom, The Paper, No Escape, Fear of a Black Hat, Renaissance Man, Wolf, Wyatt Earp, The Client, Airheads, Eat Drink Man Woman, Killing Zoe, Immortal Beloved, Dumb and Dumber, Little Women, and others...
I hated Anora; really stupid, one dimensional characters. This was like a Borat movie combined with an XBet commercial populated with eastern european stereotypes.
The Substance was great! Also, didn't the main character take mushrooms in My Old Ass? I don't think it was an acid trip, but it's been a while since I've seen it.
my top 30 Best Films: 1. Sing Sing 2. Look Back 3. Anora 4. Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story 5. The Brutalist 6. Memoir Of A Snail 7. Dìdi 8. The Substance 9. Perfect Days 10. Wicked 11. The Wild Robot 12. Will & Harper/Dahomey (Tie) 13. Nosferatu 14. His Three Daughters 15. Exhibiting Forgiveness 16. Robot Dreams 17. Conclave 18. A Real Pain 19. Flow/Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl (Tie) 20. All We Imagine As Light 21. Saturday Night 22. My Old Ass 23. Joker: Folie À Deux (sorry not sorry) 24. North Of Normal 25. September 5 26. Woman Of The Hour 27. The Apprentice 28. Juror #2 29. Inside Out 2 30. Babygirl 30 More For Good Measure: 31. A Complete Unknown 32. I Saw The TV Glow 33. Emilia Pérez 34. The Room Next Door 35. My First Film 36. Late Night With The Devil 37. Turtles All The Way Down 38. Gasoline Rainbow 39. Kinds Of Kindness 40. Longlegs 41. The Bikeriders 42. The Black Sea 43. Challengers/Queer (Tie) 44. Hundreds Of Beavers 45. The People’s Joker 46. Monkey Man 47. Kill 48. Strange Darling 49. Blink Twice 50. Thelma 51. Dune: Part Two 52. Love Lies Bleeding 53. I Like Movies 54. Sometimes I Think About Dying 55. Deadpool & Wolverine 56. Kneecap 57. Hit Man 58. The Piano Lesson 59. Out Of My Mind 60. Civil War thanks for indulging me i saw almost 400 films this year loved both of your lists
TOP 10 BEST MOVIES OF 2024: 1. Dune: Part 2 2. Deadpool & Wolverine 3. Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story 4. Nosferatu 5. The Wild Robot 6. Inside Out 2 7. Hit Man 8. Anora 9. Society Of The Snow & Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga 10. Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes
Me too, forced myself to finish it, lifeless. I don’t feel anything for any character, the second one is better but there’s really no soul in the characters.
I’m going to rant here because I feel I’m the only one in this particular boat. I don’t like Anora. At all. I’m really not getting this Anora hype. I think it’s Bakers worst movie, over-indulgent, poorly scripted, unfocused and predictable. Credit where credit is due: the acting is amazing in this movie. I was frustrated with how naively Anora was portrayed by this movie. In the first few scenes she is established as knowledgeable of wealthy people and how to manipulate them and then the film leans hard into making us believe she would, after a week, marry a spoilt rich oligarch and believe it to be genuine despite the red flags. I would have preferred if they played up her more manipulative side more. Also the first hour is scene after scene of people splashing out and going wild without any real character or plot development. I felt you could cut 30minutes of that and nothing would be lost. the audience would still be in the exact same position, not having learned anything new about these characters and what they are doing, their intentions, their feelings and their motivations. Baker chooses no to focus on nuanced character development but rather a string of shallow advertisements for luxury hotels and bottled water. The rest is much the same: the home invasion scene went on for a VERY Long time- people hysterically screaming the same lines over and over “don’t touch me!” “She’s crazy!” “This marriage is getting annulled!” And slight variations of, over and over. All very on the nose dialogue- people screaming how they feel and what they want at high decibles- not very creative, subtle or smart. Also the “home invasion gone wrong so it’s funny” is a scene that’s been done better by other directors (Tarantino, sopranos etc). There is a moment here Wehrmacht an intruder appears to be sexually assaulting a woman and the misunderstanding is taken as a joke, which is a somewhat mishandling of a touchy topic in my opinion. The next part is also relentlessly repetitive too… the scoobydoo- style search for the rich kid, wouldn’t his parents have cut his funding at this point? Logic aside, here we follow the team going around asking people ‘have you seen this guy?’ For a VERY LONG TIME. Repetitive filmmaking, not plot advancement and very little character development. The comedy is very forced too (I saw the “let’s walk it’s not far” line as a set up for the towing seeing a mile off). And all of this is actually totally pointless? What have learned during this time? The end was not really a surprise- there was some much foreshadowing here I actually thought it was going to be too obvious if the two people who ended up together would end up together. The messaging here is really not subtle. The unpredictability wouldn’t be an issue for me if the hadn’t treated it’s characters and it’s audience as being so naive that they didn’t know where this was going. Anyway- it’s a fine movie. It’s a very basic story with very little nuance and a poor script by baker’s standards. Less than 90minutes would have gotten the job done. A shame because I really like his other movies and feel he usually treats his characters with a great amount of respect. Here, Anora deserved better. If Baker gets awards, good for him and I’m happy he’s getting recogition, I would just be disappointed that it would all be for this movie.
Thanks for the great opinions throughout the year. Really enjoy listening to you both.
FLOW REVIEW PLS
MY 10 BEST MOVIES OF 2024
1. The Brutalist
2. A Complete Unknown
3. His Three Daughters
4. Anora
5. I'm Still Here
6. Flow
7. The Seed of the Sacred Fig
8. Dune: Part Two
9. Coup de Chance
10. Kneecap
Did the Brutalist have a strong Emotional.Impact, or is this Movie just a good Looking Masterclass?:)
@@misskhaleesi6691 It definitely does have strong emotional impact. I saw it at the Savannah film festival and it left me shaken, it's like a more emotional Zone of Interest.
@davidfilmexpert is this move that good ?🥰😍
@@misskhaleesi6691 Yeah it's that good. It'll make you cry and you'll definitely fall in love with Adrien Brody and Felicity Jones' characters.
No comedies?
Sorry, Blitz just didn’t work for me but I saw it on my iPad. It probably played better in a theater.
Top 10:
1) Anora
2) Challengers
3) Green Border
4) Here (Belgium)
5) Baby Girl
6) Sing Sing
7) Queer
8) Close Your Eyes
9) Flow
10) Evil Does Not Exist
Controversial view - every year is a great year for those who are prepared to look. I'm older than you both and never find a year where there aren't quite a few movies that really excite me. 2024 was an excellent year - I've seen over 300 films and 31 of them were excellent. The overall quality level was surprising. I loved your lists and how different it is to mine and how many you've seen that I have not caught yet. I've not managed to see The Brutalist, Flow, The Girl With The Needle, Nosferatu, Christmas Eve in Miller's Point or Babygirl. Ok, so my favorite films of 2024 were (in order) Made In England: The Films of Powell & Pressburger, Ghostlight, Emilia Perez, Hundreds of Beavers, My Old Ass, Wild Robot, Civil War, The Substance, Blitz, Love Lies Bleeding. Honorable mentions to Kinds of Kindness, Late Night With The Devil, Dune part 2, Challengers, Memoir of a Snail. Thanks for all you did in 2024 - I loved sharing it with you both and the many guests!
I finally saw the brutalist so I feel compelled. My five favorites were: The Brutalist, The Substance , Anora, Longlegs and Strange Darling!
Missed y’all!! 2025 has so many huge releases and I can’t wait to enjoy all these films with your reviews to go with em 🔥❤️
I appreciate the love for Hundreds of Beavers! I enjoyed it so much! Just proves you don't need a crazy huge budget to make an excellent movie.
Excellent lists!!
Just some feedback if I may. Please show a poster for each movie you discuss; or at least put up the title in caption. Ideally, keep the poster up the whole time you discuss the movie. People with different levels of enthusiasm in films watch your videos, and in different settings for different reasons. A viewer who might not be giving his or her undivided attention at a given moment, would still like to know what's being talked about. Thanks.
Thanks for the suggestion. They're also listed in the description with links to our full reviews.
Great lists! I was so tickled to see Hundreds of Beavers at the top of *anyone's* list (it's my #2 and yes, seeing it with an audience was my biggest joy in a theater this year).
My top 10:
10. Oddity
9. Perfect Days (counting this as 2024)
8. Anora
7. Challengers
6. Inside Out 2
5. Nosferatu
4. The Brutalist
3. The Fall Guy
2. Hundreds of Beavers
1. The Substance
Thanks for all the brilliant reviews for 2024 Christie and Alonso. I wish the both of you an incredible 2025 and know that I will be around watching all your vids for this upcoming year (this is the best movie review chanell after all).
Great video! Happy New Year!
My best
1. The Substance
2. Dune 2
3. Nosferatu
4. Love Lies Bleeding
5. Anora
6. Longlegs
7. Babygirl
8. Wicked
9. The Brutalist
10. Smile 2
Sounds like you had a dark year
@@chambersstevens3135 I got wicked in there
I missed out on sooo many movies this year, thanks to this list which I'll keep in mind when picking out movies to catch up on. Thank you!
Thanks for the reviews all year and for your faves. I'm glad you at least mentioned 'Robot Dreams', which I was hoping would get into your lists. And I was pleased to see 'Dune 2', 'Hundreds of Beavers', and 'My Old Ass' pop up in your lists - I think these films have been underrated and undervalued in awards season and deserve more attention and praise.
And I also want to give a shout out to 'The Outrun', another gem that should have been in contention for awards season but has so far been largely ignored.
Those are some wonderful lists! It's been a great year for cinema.
My Top 10:
1. Dune: Part Two
2. The Substance
3. Nosferatu
4. Anora
5. Sing Sing
6. Challengers
7. Wicked
8. Queer
9. The Wild Robot
10. My Old Ass
Thanks friend! Nice to see you last week.
@BreakfastAllDay I was glad to be there!
I'm so annoyed that _The Brutalist_ still isn't available in more theaters.
OMG, loooove that Alonso included Blitz, which I think nobody is talking about, but is totally one of the years best, certainly one of my favs, along with Look Back and The Apprentice, great lists from both!
I’m glad I watched Blitz in a theater. I get its criticisms. It’s a bit cold. And the kids acting in the train is a bit overdone. But the I love McQueen’s style and his visuals.
Always love your year end lists. Been watching yall since what the flick days. I need to see all the movies you 2 have listed. Thanks for all the great movie reviews and hopefully 2025 has even more great movies to offer.
Very Good List 👏👌Great work Guys👍It would be nice if you put movie poster right in between while discussing it.
So happy Strange Darling was mentioned!
Some of my favorites from this year that didn't make their lists:
1. A Different Man
2. Memoir of a Snail
3. Love Lies Bleeding
4. Alien: Romulus
Honorable mentions to: Kinds of Kindness, Civil War, Conclave, Juror #2 and The Apprentice
Great picks! This was an excellent year, so much that I can’t narrow my list to 10.
My favorites:
Anora
The Brutalist
Challengers
Civil War
Dune: Part Two
A Different Man
Flow
Furiosa
I Saw the TV Glow
Nosferatu
Sing Sing
The Substance
Wicked
Great lists! A few of my favorites that weren’t on your lists are A Different Man, Ghostlight, Red Rooms, Civil War, and Nickel Boys. Can’t wait to see The Brutalist this weekend! My #1 would have to be Anora, followed closely by The Substance.
“Am I Racist “ is one of the best movies I seen this year.
there were some really great movies last year, great to see blitz getting a mention. great stuff as always
With the strikes and fewer movies in theatres I thought it was a pretty good year for movies.
My favourites seen at the cinema in 2024:
1. Anora
2. The Substance
3. Poor Things
4. Small Things Like These
5. If Only I Could Hibernate / Baavgai Bolohson
6. The Teachers' Lounge / Das Lehrerzimmer
7. Memory
8. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
9, The Promised Land / Bastarden
10. Anatomy Of A Fall / Anatomie D'une Chute
Love seeing Victor Erice in this list
My top 10 of 2024:
1.) Horizon: American Saga
2.) A Complete Unknown
3.) White Bird
4.) Bike Riders
5.) Wicked
6.) Nosferatu
7.) My Old Ass
8.) Wicked Little Letters
9.) Civil War
10.) The Wild Robot
Honrable Mentions: Sight, Ordinary Angels, It Ends With Us, Joker 2, The Substance, Longlegs, Love Lies Bleeding, Dead Pool & Wolverine
I haven't seen The Brutalist yet but here are my top 10 so far:
1. Juror 2
2. Anora
3. Strange Darling
4. The Silent Hour
5. Dune: Part 2
6. Rebel Ridge
7. The Instigators
8. The Wild Robot
9. Challengers
10. Don't Move
My top 10:
1. Wicked
2. Anora
3. Blink Twice
4. Babes
5. Inside Out 2
5. Juror #2
6. The Substance
7. Beetlejuice Beetlejuce
8. The Apprentice
9. Oddity
10. Late Night with the Devil
HM: Nosferatu, Abigail, Challengers, Speak No Evil, Immaculate, Conclave, The Challengers, Woman of the Hour, Civil War, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. Yet to see: The Brutalist, Babygirl, The Room Next Door, etc.
Now THIS is a list! Lots of variety!
Hundreds of beavers and the substance! Couldn’t agree more, although I also have kinds of kindness (probably in the minority 😂)
I still have to catch up on a bunch of movies, but this would be my top 5 that I've seen so far.
1. Snack Shack
2. The Order
3. Saturday Night
4. Riddle of Fire
5. The Outrun
I watched Flow tonight and it's so chill but sweet and moving without dialogue. Yet it has a dark undercurrent--literally we could not save the whales. I can't wait to see Christmas at Millers Point as I like all vibes, no plot.
Still gotta get to a bunch but dune 2 and rebel ridge still 2 faves. Even carry on highly underrated
I was so glad you loved Blitz! I thought it was so great and didn't understand the blah reaction to it.
I Saw the TV Glow was my favorite! Happy to hear it get a mention
My top 10 films released in the UK in 2024:
1. Poor Things
2. The Taste of Things
3. Anora
4. The Substance
5. Civil War
6. Dune: Part Two
7. Challengers
8. Hundreds of Beavers
9. Inside Out 2
10. A Different Man
_Honourable mentions:_
American Fiction
All of Us Strangers
Conclave
Fantastic Machine
Hit Man
The Holdovers
Immaculate
Infested
Late Night with the Devil
Love Lies Bleeding
Maria
Perfect Days
Rumours
Skincare
Sleep
Strange Darling
The Beast
Greta video with lots of fun, different films!
Dying to hear your thoughts on Flow and Memoir of a Snail!
I did make my own list but to shorten it I think the movies I will think about and return to for years or possibly decades to come are The Substance and Kneecap.
Great lists! My list is pretty similar to Christie's.👍🏼 It'd be helpful to put up screenshots of the movies or at least
title cards. I had to rewind a couple times when I blinked and missed the movie's name.
Thanks for the suggestion! They're also listed in the description with links to our full reviews.
Alonso:
10. The Room Next Door (rt 85%)
9. The People's Joker (rt 95%) / I Saw the TV Glow (rt 84%)
8. Blitz (rt 81%)
7. The Brutalist (rt 93%)
6. Anora (rt 94%)
5. Close Your Eyes (rt 93%)
4. Christmas Eve in Miller's Point (rt 78%/30%)
3. Challengers (rt 88%)
2. Baby Girl (rt 78%/49%)
1. Hundreds of Beavers (97%)
Christy:
Anora (rt 94%)
The Brutalist (rt 93%)
Challengers (rt 88%)
Dune: Part Two (rt 92%)
Flow (rt 97%)
The Girl with the Needle (rt 92%)
Kneecap (rt 95%)
My Old Ass (rt 91%)
Strange Darling (rt 95%)
The Substance (rt 90%)
So very glad I saw many of the films on your "Best of" list and none of the trash from your "Worst" pile (except Trap, which I thought was so-so). I'd like to give a shout out to Nosferatu because I grew up on Universal Monsters and British Gothic Horror like the Hammer films and Vincent Price/Roger Corman Edgar Allan Poe adaptations so I actually had the same emotional response while watching Nosferatu that Alonso had watching Christmas Eve. I literally felt like I had returned "home" so Christy your friend who saw Nosferatu with you was correct. If you're into the "Gothcore", Nosferatu will enchant you.
Here's my 2024 top ten:
(Disclaimer: No musicals for me, sorry)
1. Dune: Part Two
2. Crossing
3. Anora
4. Young Woman and the Sea
5. A Different Man
6. Conclave
7. Juror #2
8. Deadpool & Wolverine
9. The Substance
10. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
Runner-ups: The Wild Robot, Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story, The Greatest Night in Pop, Inside Out 2
Pre or post-2024 release (where I'm from): Sing Sing, Nosferatu, The Seed of the Sacred Fig, Vermiglio
Still to watch: The Brutalist, Nickel Boys, September 5, A Real Pain, A Complete Unknown, Flow, ... and a long etc.
I still have a lot of movies that I'm excited to see from 2024 like Nosferatu, The Brutalist, Babygirl, Nickel Boys, and The Room Next Door. But I am pretty sure Challengers will keep its number 1 spot for me. I've also really loved A Real Pain, Thelma, My Old Ass, Christmas Eve in Miller's Point, I Saw The TV Glow, Kneecap, and The Beast. Oddity, Longlegs, and Strange Darling are horror or horror adjacent movies from the year that affected me in ways I didn't think were possible anymore which is pretty cool. I liked a lot of other movies so this was a good year at the movies for me!
I haven't seen any of the films on either of your top ten lists, but I guess I'm going to have to check out Babygirl. I'm generally leery of mainstream movies with BDSM themes: they take them so seriously and never have much fun with them. The only exception would be Secretary which did play with the relationship between Gyllenhaal's and Spader's characters in a pleasant way. I don't hold out much hope for Babygirl but it keeps getting good reviews, which is unusual for mainstream BDSM-themed films, though generally for good reason.
I love that something so genre, horror, and weird like "The Substance" is getting awards attention.
Regarding the "Film critics hate everything" discussion: Well, I remember back in the WTF days when Alonso gave 10/10 to Attack the Block and while I completely don't agree, I remember that as like a moment where I felt that maybe I should follow these guys, because they are ready to go to bat with these kinds of takes and they can back it up with real arguments.
My Top Ten List of 2024
1. Anora
2. The Beast
3. The Count of Monte Cristo
4. Aattam
5. Close Your Eyes
6. Civil War
7. The Wild Robot
8. I Saw The TV Glow
9. Furiosa
10. Love Lies Bleeding
Interesting list, here's mine:
10. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (8/10)
9. The Order (8/10)
8. The End (8/10)
7. Dune: Part Two (8/10)
6. History of Souleymane (8/10)
5. Christspiracy (9/10)
4. Oddity (9/10)
3. Monkey Man (10/10)
2. Longlegs (10/10)
1. Kinds of Kindness (10/10)
Yet to see: The Brutalist, Nickel Boys, Sing Sing, The Devil’s Bath, The Girl with the Needle
Worst films I've seen in 2024: Megalopolis, The Substance, Nosferatu, Joker 2
I have to say for me it was a very lackluster year for movies overall, I think these lists prove that. Alonso's list really had my head spinning, especially his #1, but that is just me.
I made my top 16 of 2024 (selfishly to screenshot a Letterboxd list from my phone).
My top 16:
The Brutalist
Anora
Dune: Part Two
The Substance
Didi
Sing Sing
Challengers
The Wild Robot
Red Rooms
Strange Darling
A Real Pain
Conclave
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
Love Lies Bleeding
Nosferatu
Hundreds of Beavers
HM (alphabetical order):
Flow
Ghostlight
His Three Daughters
Hit Man
Kill
Kneecap
Memoir of a Snail
My Old Ass
Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story
Wicked
La Chimera was a surprisingly fun film that I don't think got enough attention.
Best film of the year - All we imagine as light. Period!
Have you guys seen femme yet? Came out last year in the uk and it’s unreal
🎶 It's the most wonderful time of the year 🎶
hi guys here's my best
1. late night with the devil
2. Deadpool & wolverine
3. abigail
4. heretic
5. hundreds of beavers
6. furiosa
7. alien ; romulus
8. dune 2
9. smile 2
10. Saturday night
I hope sean baker gets some love from the Academy this year.
Blitz was a snoozefest
I might check out the brutalist but I worry that it may put my mind into recovery mode from all of the high level important ideas it explores
I've had a particularly difficult time keeping up with 2024 films, particularly with so many of the most celebrated releases being quite long and/or subtitled, so I'm still pretty far behind. There were some films I saw, however, that really impressed me and haven't been reviewed on this channel, so perhaps I can just toss out their names as things you might consider catching up with at some point.
Memory, from director Michel Franco, hit me like a ton of bricks, although some of that admittedly comes from personal experience both with sexual abuse and a relative with Alzheimer's. Still, I'm sad this was really slept on. It deftly walks quite the tightrope, with Jessica Chastain and Peter Sarsgaard as brilliant as ever.
Hoard, from writer/director Luna Carmoon, barely got a release here in the states, but it was undoubtedly one of the most bold, singular pieces of work I saw all year. The young actress Saura Lightfoot-Leon is brilliant in the lead role, and Joseph Quinn continues to prove he's a star. This also holds the distinction of somehow being both the sexiest and most revolting film I saw all year, often at the same time. And yes, I saw both Challengers and The Substance.
The First Omen feels like the definition of "if you know, you know." I don't think anyone came into 2024 expecting a prequel to a decades-long horror franchise with one well-received entry from a first-time feature director to be anything better than serviceable, but this film is flat-out brilliant. Arkasha Stevenson's direction is awe-inspiring. Nell Tiger Free, in the lead role, also makes the transition from television to features look easy. It's an absolute must-see.
Finally, Rebel Ridge is a wonderful return to form from Jeremy Saulnier that deserved more than a Netflix release. The nature of its star's "non-lethal" combat expertise, embodied by future star Aaron Pierre, makes the action feel incredibly unique and wildly entertaining. It got my blood boiling in all the right ways, and it was great to see AnnaSophia Robb prove herself with a serious, adult role.
Quick mentions are probably also owed to The King Tide, Late Bloomers, Oddity, The Last Stop in Yuma County, Parachute, and Stopmotion - smaller releases that really impressed me.
Oh, and remember when everyone was talking about the forgone conclusion that was numerous nominations for June Squibb's performance in Thelma? Those were nice times. What on earth happened?
Thanks for all your excellent work. Here's to a great 2025.
Christy is the best!
did either of you get a chance to watch rebel ridge, superman/the christopher reeve story or the indian action movie kill?
Did y'all see "All We Imagine as Light"?
We did.
@@BreakfastAllDay Curious why you didn't review it as it's likely to be nominated for a couple of major Oscars. It's also on several significant 2024 top 10s.
@@BreakfastAllDaywould love to see you guys review it!
@@invisibleadversary Just haven't had a chance, hope to catch up with it soon!
oof anora as the thumbnail. Wish I got the over the top critics love for that movie, found it completely anemic. I rarely root against stuff in awards season but I was happy to see it go home empty handed at the Golden Globes😬 (but I know it won your LAFCA award so it makes sense its the thumbnail!)
Some of favorites of the year: Close Your Eyes, Do Not Expect too Much From the End of the World, Nickel Boys, The Count of Monte Cristo, All We Imagine As Light, The Brutalist, Janet Planet.
If it helps, I really liked but not loved Anora on my first watch. On my second watch, I absolutely loved it.
No Hard Truths? Review coming? It features the performance of the year
+1 Strange Darling.
My Top 10 of 2024:*
1) Hit Man
2) Dune: Part Two
3) A Complete Unknown
4) Thelma
5) Dìdi
6) Deadpool & Wolverine
7) Rebel Ridge
8) Kneecap
9) My Old Ass
10) Juror #2
*I haven’t yet seen:
A Different Man
Anora
The Brutalist
Emilia Pérez
Nosferatu
Saturday Night
Sing Sing
We Live in Time
Wicked
The Wild Robot
Christy. I’m horrified watching the fires on television. Praying for protection and safety for you and your neighbors 💔
Thank you, lots of parts of LA are very scary right now, but we're far away from the Palisades so we're safe (so far). Very windy out there, though.
Mark Kermode had Christmas Eve in Miller's Point on his worst of the year list.
I just really don't understand the love for Anora, and I actually like Sean Baker's as a director.
Goodness. I thought The People's Joker was the worst film I saw last year behind Joker 2.
I struggled not to walk out of The People's Joker. I regret I stayed, frankly.
Awful
Have either of you seen or reviewed BETWEEN THE TEMPLES? I can’t get over how little coverage it received despite two monumental performances.
We've seen it, it's cute!
What about the year's worst ?
Funny you should ask (it's also linked in the end card if you watch until the end): th-cam.com/video/GjLU3mVirnc/w-d-xo.htmlsi=EFg6RqTNS2nV5q24
Anora is definitely NOT on my top ten list, Sean Baker is cool but all his movies are the same with it's Sexy, Chaotic and Slogs. Great Ensemble cast for Anora but Sean, honey you really need an editor UGH
Comon! Dune 2 is the best movie of 2024
There has to be a name for the 2024 trilogy of
Strange Darling
Cuckoo
Speak No Evil
Why isn't Civil War getting any recognition? It's absolutely getting the The Northman treatment.
The lack of Nosferatu is disturbing
Christine such a sales gal and Alonso apologize for Wicked review ! Listen to you Alonso the first film of Almodovar you described yourself on another .. hilarious
I still don't get the love for Challengers. I couldn't even get through it.
I totally agree.
This year was not as great a year for movies as 2023 was. In fact, the best movie of this year was supposed to come out last year. (Writers strike delay.)
1. Dune: Part Two
2. Saturday Night
3. Kinds of Kindness
4. Civil War
5. His Three Daughters
6. The Apprentice
7. Problemista
8. Tuesday
9. A Real Pain
10. Juror #2
(Haven't been able to see The Brutalist, Anora, or Hundreds of Beavers yet)
Documentary honorable mentions in no particular order:
God & Country
Let it Be
Power
Food Inc. 2
Will & Harper
Casa Bonita Mi Amor!
Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary
Music by John Williams
The thing is, these movies, while great no doubt, don't make much money or lose money. A glance at The Brutalist showed that it cost 6M and made 1M - that's no reason to make a movie. And the big movies are almost all garbage nowadays, I won't waste my money on them. I fail to see a positive financial future for the movie industry. The only winners seem to be influencers / critics.
Come on Christy, don't be chicken😂 Please rank.
My Top 10 Favorite Movies of 2024...
1. The Substance
2. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
3. Anora
4. I Saw the TV Glow
5. Civil War
6. Nosferatu
7. Dìdi
8. MaXXXine
9. Longlegs
10. Challengers
1994: Forrest Gump, Pulp Fiction, Ed Wood, Quiz Show, Clerks., Heavenly Creatures, The Lion King, The Shawshank Redemption, Bullets Over Broadway, The Crow, Hoop Dreams, In the Mouth of Madness, Leon: The Professional, Wes Craven's New Nightmare, The Madness of King George, Interview with the Vampire, Legends of the Fall, Cemetery Man, True Lies, The Ref, Reality Bites, 3 Colors: Red, Crumb, Nell, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Mixed Nuts, Natural Born Killers, Speed, The Mask, My Girl, Clear and Present Danger, Disclosure, Shallow Grave, Muriel's Wedding, Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Blue Chips, Guarding Tess, The Hudsucker Proxy, Serial Mom, The Paper, No Escape, Fear of a Black Hat, Renaissance Man, Wolf, Wyatt Earp, The Client, Airheads, Eat Drink Man Woman, Killing Zoe, Immortal Beloved, Dumb and Dumber, Little Women, and others...
I hated Anora; really stupid, one dimensional characters. This was like a Borat movie combined with an XBet commercial populated with eastern european stereotypes.
Cool
👍
The Substance was great! Also, didn't the main character take mushrooms in My Old Ass? I don't think it was an acid trip, but it's been a while since I've seen it.
Let's go on the worst movie list!
Wow, Alonso looks so crisp and clear in this video here
my top 30 Best Films:
1. Sing Sing
2. Look Back
3. Anora
4. Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story
5. The Brutalist
6. Memoir Of A Snail
7. Dìdi
8. The Substance
9. Perfect Days
10. Wicked
11. The Wild Robot
12. Will & Harper/Dahomey (Tie)
13. Nosferatu
14. His Three Daughters
15. Exhibiting Forgiveness
16. Robot Dreams
17. Conclave
18. A Real Pain
19. Flow/Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl (Tie)
20. All We Imagine As Light
21. Saturday Night
22. My Old Ass
23. Joker: Folie À Deux (sorry not sorry)
24. North Of Normal
25. September 5
26. Woman Of The Hour
27. The Apprentice
28. Juror #2
29. Inside Out 2
30. Babygirl
30 More For Good Measure:
31. A Complete Unknown
32. I Saw The TV Glow
33. Emilia Pérez
34. The Room Next Door
35. My First Film
36. Late Night With The Devil
37. Turtles All The Way Down
38. Gasoline Rainbow
39. Kinds Of Kindness
40. Longlegs
41. The Bikeriders
42. The Black Sea
43. Challengers/Queer (Tie)
44. Hundreds Of Beavers
45. The People’s Joker
46. Monkey Man
47. Kill
48. Strange Darling
49. Blink Twice
50. Thelma
51. Dune: Part Two
52. Love Lies Bleeding
53. I Like Movies
54. Sometimes I Think About Dying
55. Deadpool & Wolverine
56. Kneecap
57. Hit Man
58. The Piano Lesson
59. Out Of My Mind
60. Civil War
thanks for indulging me i saw almost 400 films this year loved both of your lists
TOP 10 BEST MOVIES OF 2024:
1. Dune: Part 2
2. Deadpool & Wolverine
3. Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story
4. Nosferatu
5. The Wild Robot
6. Inside Out 2
7. Hit Man
8. Anora
9. Society Of The Snow & Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
10. Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes
I Saw the TV Glow was AWFUL.
I tried watching the first Dune twice, and couldn’t get through it without falling asleep.
try crossroads with britney spears instead, maybe that's something that can keep you awake
Wow cool story
Cool
Me too, forced myself to finish it, lifeless. I don’t feel anything for any character, the second one is better but there’s really no soul in the characters.
Why the passive aggressiveness? Can’t someone have an opinion?
I'm sorry but I found Challengers as so insufferably boring despite its moving parts - acting, score, cinematography....
I’m going to rant here because I feel I’m the only one in this particular boat. I don’t like Anora. At all. I’m really not getting this Anora hype. I think it’s Bakers worst movie, over-indulgent, poorly scripted, unfocused and predictable. Credit where credit is due: the acting is amazing in this movie.
I was frustrated with how naively Anora was portrayed by this movie. In the first few scenes she is established as knowledgeable of wealthy people and how to manipulate them and then the film leans hard into making us believe she would, after a week, marry a spoilt rich oligarch and believe it to be genuine despite the red flags. I would have preferred if they played up her more manipulative side more.
Also the first hour is scene after scene of people splashing out and going wild without any real character or plot development. I felt you could cut 30minutes of that and nothing would be lost. the audience would still be in the exact same position, not having learned anything new about these characters and what they are doing, their intentions, their feelings and their motivations. Baker chooses no to focus on nuanced character development but rather a string of shallow advertisements for luxury hotels and bottled water.
The rest is much the same: the home invasion scene went on for a VERY Long time- people hysterically screaming the same lines over and over “don’t touch me!” “She’s crazy!” “This marriage is getting annulled!” And slight variations of, over and over. All very on the nose dialogue- people screaming how they feel and what they want at high decibles- not very creative, subtle or smart. Also the “home invasion gone wrong so it’s funny” is a scene that’s been done better by other directors (Tarantino, sopranos etc). There is a moment here Wehrmacht an intruder appears to be sexually assaulting a woman and the misunderstanding is taken as a joke, which is a somewhat mishandling of a touchy topic in my opinion.
The next part is also relentlessly repetitive too… the scoobydoo- style search for the rich kid, wouldn’t his parents have cut his funding at this point? Logic aside, here we follow the team going around asking people ‘have you seen this guy?’ For a VERY LONG TIME. Repetitive filmmaking, not plot advancement and very little character development. The comedy is very forced too (I saw the “let’s walk it’s not far” line as a set up for the towing seeing a mile off). And all of this is actually totally pointless? What have learned during this time?
The end was not really a surprise- there was some much foreshadowing here I actually thought it was going to be too obvious if the two people who ended up together would end up together. The messaging here is really not subtle. The unpredictability wouldn’t be an issue for me if the hadn’t treated it’s characters and it’s audience as being so naive that they didn’t know where this was going.
Anyway- it’s a fine movie. It’s a very basic story with very little nuance and a poor script by baker’s standards. Less than 90minutes would have gotten the job done. A shame because I really like his other movies and feel he usually treats his characters with a great amount of respect. Here, Anora deserved better. If Baker gets awards, good for him and I’m happy he’s getting recogition, I would just be disappointed that it would all be for this movie.