THE BEST MOVIES OF 2024

Below is my list of the 20 Best Movies of 2024 in my order of preference, with the first being the Best Film of the Year (for the exclusive video version of this list, become an All-Access or VIP Patron on Patreon!)

2024 was a solid year for movies—not great, but solid. You will notice that there are many films on my list that aren't on many other critics' lists, as there are many films that are NOT on my list that are included on my colleagues' lists.

That's not on purpose; it's just how it worked out. A huge number of extraordinarily overrated movies were released this year that got eaten up like candy. Sorry, I didn't go along with the crowd...I'm a weirdo, and I don't care.

By the way, the movie in the number one spot on this list is there by a mile. Many extraordinary and amazing films came out in 2024, but nothing came remotely close to the quality and cinematic majesty of my pick for the best film of 2024.

Seriously...

Not. Even. Close.

In an upcoming episode of The Nick D Podcast, I will discuss in further detail why I loved each movie. For now, here they are!

1) DUNE: PART TWO

2) NOSFERATU

3) FURIOSA: A MAD MAX SAGA

4) A COMPLETE UNKNOWN

5) HERE

6) TUESDAY

7) THE FIRST OMEN

8) DADDIO

9) KNEECAP

10) MEGALOPOLIS

11) BLINK TWICE

12) HARD TRUTHS

13) QUEER

14) SMILE 2

15) A REAL PAIN

16) FLOW

17) POOLMAN

18) HERETIC

19) KINDS OF KINDNESS

20) THELMA

BONUS: 10 More Best Movies of 2024

1. CHALLENGERS

2. THE IDEA OF YOU

3. THE BEAST

4. ALIEN: ROMULUS

5. KILL

6. WOMAN OF THE HOUR

7. ODDITY

8. MEMOIR OF A SNAIL

9. A DIFFERENT MAN

10. HOUSEKEEPING FOR BEGINNERS

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CAPSULE MOVIE REVIEWS: 10-25-24

[The 60th annual Chicago International Film Festival is underway through October 27. Watch for my exclusive reviews of CIFF films on this website.]

I'm putting on my Film Critic pants AND suspenders today, which means it's time for some capsule (short) reviews of four New Releases for the week of Friday, October 25, 2024.

1) MEMOIR OF A SNAIL

This is Grace (voiced by Sarah Snook) the lead character in the lovely new film "Memoir of a Snail."

The very talented Australian stop-motion animator Adam Elliot ("Harvie Krumpet" "Mary and Max") is back with his finest work yet. 

This beautifully animated tale is about a sad woman named Grace who collects snails, guinea pigs, and books. She loves her twin brother and has a beautiful friendship with an old lady named Pinky.

Grace's charming and weird story is told in flashbacks, with tragedy, heartbreak, and overwhelming joy as the connecting elements. 

Elliot's twisted and funny sensibilities make this a truly unique experience filled with gross-out moments, sex, profanity, death, and lovely sentiment. The combination somehow works, producing a film of astonishing technique and a gigantic heart.

In addition to the superb animation, the voice work is absolutely top-notch, with beautiful performances by Sarah Snook, Jacki Weaver, Eric Bana, and Kodi Smit-McPhee.

It all comes together for a roller coaster ride of emotions that had me laughing one minute and crying my eyes out the next. It's gloomy and desolate, bright and hopeful, hilarious and silly, sometimes all at once.

It's definitely NOT for kids or people without an open mind. Still, it's one of the year's most satisfying and exquisite movies for those who take the adventure. - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

2) ANORA

Mikey Madison stars in Sean Baker's "Anora." This is definitely her breakout role.

The latest film from writer/director Sean Baker is a wild ride about a stripper from Brooklyn (Mikey Madison) whose whirlwind romance with the wealthy son of a Russian oligarch (Mark Eydelshteyn) culminates in a quickie wedding in Las Vegas. The Russian family then desperately attempts to end the situation as quickly as possible.

Baker is known for his raw and freeform style of filmmaking, which includes swinging camera movements, quick editing, and crude digital visuals. He combines that unique approach with improvisational acting and scripts that are rough around the edges and loaded with outcasts and antiheroes.

This unusual and risky approach has paid off beautifully with sharp films like "The Florida Project," "Tangerine," and "Red Rocket." For the most part, it works here too. The problem I had with this film is that during the first third, I didn't care about the two relatively unlikable and selfish main characters, and the repetitive scenes of vamping, partying, stripping, and screwing grew pretty tiresome.

Thankfully, the central conflict finally occurs, and the movie shifts gears from an aimless sex and party montage to a hilarious pursuit comedy in which a bunch of interesting new characters arrive to save the day.

The supporting actors who play the Russian heavies seeking the runaway groom are just spectacular, and when the action shifts to an all-night search across the boroughs of New York, Madison's title character suddenly comes to life, and she really shines.

Baker's penchant for spotlighting weirdos and rejects continues to be his strong suit. In the second half of this movie, it becomes the much-needed focal point, allowing his performers to really cut loose.

The result is incredibly entertaining and a fine showcase for Madison, whose work in films like "Once Upon a Time...In Hollywood," "Scream," and Pamela Adlon's brilliant TV series "Better Things" is exemplary.

My favorite performance in the film is that of the terrific and charismatic Russian character actor Yura Borisov. He plays a stern and quiet bodyguard who slowly takes over the movie's focus until the final minutes when he turns out to be the most important person in the film.

Even though I think "Anora" is too long and probably the weakest of all of Baker's movies, it is still worth seeing if only to mark the moment when Mikey Madison became a star. - ⭐️⭐️⭐️

3) CONCLAVE

Ralph Fiennes plays a Cardinal unlocking some mysteries at The Vatican in "Conclave."

If you've been longing for a juicy political thriller set in the Vatican telling the tale of a scandal that may shake the foundation of the Catholic Church, featuring over-the-top theatrics and a few great performances, well, your wish has come true.

"Conclave," directed by Edward Berger, is an intensely acted and snappy mystery-thriller based on Robert Harris's international bestseller. It features a stellar cast that includes Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, Sergio Castellitto, and Isabella Rossellini.

Fiennes is terrific as the Cardinal who is tasked with organizing the election of the successor to the recently deceased pope. Along the way, he discovers secrets from the pope that may prevent him from doing his job. More secrets are uncovered as Cardinals vie for position, and scandals break out everywhere.

This is pulpy and goofy stuff acted with more quality than the script deserves. Watching Fiennes, Tucci, Lithgow, and especially Rossellini tear it up on screen is a real treat and almost single-handedly makes the film worth seeing.

Then, there is the ending...wow. I'm not sure what to say about this ridiculous, bold, and brash climax, except that I found it very entertaining and refreshingly carefree in its portrayal of organized religion and some of the cliches tied to it. I'm sure some people will be put off or even angered by it, but I enjoyed the hell out of it. - ⭐️⭐️⭐️

4) VENOM: THE LAST DANCE

This picture was taken at the press screening for "Venom: The Last Dance," right before I flushed two hours of my life down the toilet.

The third and final entry of the "Venom" movie series is an absolute disaster from beginning to end. As such, it is a fitting conclusion to a terrible trilogy of films.

I won't attempt to summarize the plot because, quite frankly, I had no idea what the hell was going on within the first ten minutes. I am not a fan of these comic book movies at all. I couldn't possibly care less about these Goddamn Marvel movies (or DC, or any of them). I almost always wholly forget EVERYTHING that happens in the previous chapter of a series as I sit down to watch the latest one.

I don't know if it's faithful to the original characters or situations from the source material or even to the earlier entries because I don't give a shit. All I know is that this movie is terrible. Really terrible. Unbelievably terrible. Which is par for the course when it comes to stuff like this.

Tom Hardy seems visibly bored here, going through the motions, doing the weird voice thing, and forcing whatever energy he can muster while trying to sell the complete nonsense in this awful script.

I am told that these "Venom" films are his "babies" and that he loves doing them (he does have writing and story credits on them as well), but you certainly couldn't tell from watching his lazy, uninspired work here. It's embarrassing.

Juno Temple shows up to look good and to add another wacky accent to her CV. Chiwetel Ejiofor is on hand to yell a lot. Stephen Graham transforms into a different Venom-thing (I don't know what the hell they're called). Rhys Ifans plays the patriarch of a hippie family living in a van. Oh, there's also a Venom-Horse. So, yeah, real quality stuff here.

The special effects are pretty great, but given that the budget was over $140 million, they better be. The cinematography and sound design are quite good. The action sequences, however, are as ineptly staged and cut as you can possibly get, and the story is told with no sense of pace or logic.

The horrendous filmmaking on display here is staggering. Kelly Marcel (who wrote the other films) makes a directorial debut that may guarantee she will never make another movie again.

Oh, I haven't even mentioned the last 5 minutes, which includes a musical tribute to....oh, never mind. This is junk. - ⭐️

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Reviews Part 1: Chicago International Film Festival 2024

The 60th annual Chicago International Film Festival is now underway, with screenings, special events, tributes, and other festivities happening all over the city until Closing Night on October 27th.

Here are my first five exclusive reviews of CIFF movies; these films will be commercially released in the coming weeks and available for streaming.

1) THE PIANO LESSON

Director Malcolm Washington, actor John David Washington and other luminaries arrive at The Music Box Theatre for the Opening Night screening of "The Piano Lesson."

This was the festival's big Opening Night film. The screening and celebration took place at The Music Box Theatre, complete with a Red Carpet, lots of press, celebrity arrivals, big presentations, and more. I just wish that the movie was better.

Adapted by Virgil Wilson and director Malcolm Washington from the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by August Wilson, the film version of this stunning work is deeply flawed and often clumsy in its execution.

The story takes place in 1936 Pittsburgh at the home of Doaker Charles (Samuel L. Jackson). It tells the story of the Charles family, their history, and how they deal with the piano heirloom that symbolizes the family's tortured past.

The source material is stunning and beautifully written, but director Washington's handling of the play is shaky at best, and the adaption is bulky and filled with distracting and unnecessary additions.

This is Washington's feature directorial debut, but unlike his father Denzel (who serves as a producer here), who did a magnificent job directing a film adaptation of Wilson's "Fences" in 2016, Malcolm has made a disappointingly inconsistent movie that often just doesn't work.

The camera work is sloppy, the editing lacks rhythm, and Washington's direction of the actors is annoyingly inconsistent. Some performers make very theatrically loud stylistic choices ("playing to the back of the house," as they say), while others do much more subtle work, which is more appropriate for the film.

The combination of styles is jarring, to say the least. Still, a couple of performances stand out: Danielle Deadwyler and John David Washington have some beautiful moments, but it's Samuel L. Jackson who gives the most solid turn.

The film opens with a completely unnecessary and badly staged flashback that only exists to boost the budget and make the movie feel more epic. What happens in the flashback is detailed and discussed in dialogue several times throughout the play/film already, so there is no reason for it to be in the movie.

There are even more flashbacks and embellishments to follow, further distracting from the wonderful text and making the already choppy screenplay more literal and less mysterious.

The final 10 minutes of the film are, in fact, disastrous, with Washington taking the subtle metaphor and allegory of the play and replacing it with heavy-handed on-screen antics that strip away any mystery, replacing it with loud paranormal cliches that are painful to watch. - ⭐️⭐️

"The Piano Lesson" opens in theaters for a limited run on November 8th and will stream on Netflix starting on November 22nd. I really wish it were a better film, but it isn't.

2) MEMOIR OF A SNAIL

The very talented Australian stop-motion animator Adam Elliot ("Harvie Krumpet" "Mary and Max") is back with his finest work yet. 

This beautifully animated tale is about a sad woman named Grace who collects snails, guinea pigs, and books. She loves her twin brother and has a beautiful friendship with an old lady named Pinky.

Grace's charming and weird story is told in flashbacks, with tragedy, heartbreak, and, ultimately, overwhelming joy as the connecting elements. 

Elliot's twisted and funny sensibilities make this a truly unique experience filled with gross-out moments, sex, profanity, death, and lovely sentiment. The combination somehow works, resulting in a film of astonishing technique and a gigantic heart.

In addition to the superb animation, the voice work is absolutely top-notch, with wonderful performances by Sarah Snook, Jacki Weaver, Eric Bana, and Kodi Smit-McPhee.

It all comes together for a roller coaster ride of emotions that had me laughing one minute and crying my eyes out the next. It's gloomy and desolate, bright and hopeful, hilarious and silly, sometimes all at once.

It's definitely NOT for kids or people without an open mind, but for those who take the adventure, it's one of the year's most satisfying and exquisite movies. - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Opens in limited release on October 25th and has a wide release in November.

3) NICKEL BOYS

Based on Colson Whitehead's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, this film chronicles the strong friendship between two young African American men who navigate the harrowing trials of reform school together in Florida.

The events in the movie are based on things that happened at a historic reform school in Florida called the Dozier School for Boys, which was notorious for the abusive treatment of students.

Despite strong performances by Ethan Herrise and Brandon Wilson in the lead roles and a passionate message, I was surprisingly underwhelmed by the film. 

I found the subjective point-of-view camera and storytelling style distracting, inconsistent, and, quite frankly, a bit pompous.

This gimmicky trope completely took away from my being emotionally invested in the characters and events of the film, which are clearly important and powerful. I was detached and didn't care, and it had everything to do with the confused way the film was made. - ⭐️⭐️

Opens in limited release in January.

4) UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE 

This Canadian absurdist comedy-drama film, co-written and directed by Matthew Rankin, was selected as the Canadian entry for Best International Feature Film at the 97th Academy Awards.

Described as a "surreal comedy of disorientation" set "somewhere between Tehran and Winnipeg", the film blends the seemingly unrelated stories of Negin and Nazgol, who find money frozen in ice and try to claim it; Massoud, a tour guide in Winnipeg who is leading a confused and disoriented tour group; and Matthew (Rankin), who quits his unfulfilling job with the provincial government of Quebec and travels home to Winnipeg to visit his mother.

Describing this film accurately is utterly useless; it must be seen and believed. It hops between the surreal, realistic, tragic, comedic, and deadpan to the outrageous, sometimes during the same scene.

It's both head-scratching and perfectly feasible. It plays like a documentary and a fantasy. It's a truly schizophrenic film on every level. It's also pretty fucking great.

I haven't laughed harder at anything this year than during the first 10 minutes of this movie; it is just unbelievably HILARIOUS. Seriously, I was doubled over with laughter. It is the funniest opening sequence of a movie I have seen in years, and everything that follows is also solid. - ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

Opens in December.

5) THE END

Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker Joshua Oppenheimer's first feature narrative is a strikingly original post-apocalyptic musical that really isn't post-apocalyptic and is definitely anti-musical. It kind of exists in its own insane universe that certainly doesn't conform to any easy genre.

So, 25 years after environmental collapse left the Earth uninhabitable, a wealthy family (who definitely contributed to the collapse) is confined to their palatial bunker, where they struggle to maintain hope and a sense of normalcy by clinging to the rituals of daily life.

The arrival of a stranger upends their happy routine. The son, a naïve twenty-something who has never seen the outside world, is fascinated by the newcomer, and suddenly, the delicate bonds of blind optimism that have held this wealthy clan together begin to fall apart.

A solid cast that includes Tilda Swinton, Michael Shannon, George MacKay, Moses Ingram, Bronagh Gallagher, Lennie James, and Tim McInnerny do a brave and excellent job juggling the weird tone shifts and navigating through the odd structure to create some genuine emotion in the madness.

The political allegory is not very subtle, and the acting style is overtly exaggerated in a fully realized underground world that is stunning in its design and look. The film has an otherworldly feel, not just in the production design and cinematography (it's one of the most beautifully shot films of the year) but also in the storytelling and performance style.

Then there are the singularly curious musical numbers featuring unwieldy songs by Joshua Schmidt (music) and Oppenheimer (lyrics) that seem explicitly written to confound any human, expecting little things like verses, choruses, or even melody.

It's all the more challenging because most of the cast can't really sing, which is compounded by the fact that they have been directed to emote in the oddest and least mellifluous way possible.

The results are bizarre, to say the least. Still, the musical numbers are undeniably compelling and fascinating, just like the rest of this crazy, original, and brazen work that I really dug. I expect that most of the movie-going public will hate this thing, and I totally understand why.

It's also two and a half hours long, so strap in, folks. - ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

This craziness opens in theaters on December 6th.

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