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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 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 th

I'm putting on my Film Critic pants again. They're a bit tight, so I've got to cut back on the sweets. It's time for some capsule (short) movie reviews of four New Releases for the week of Friday, October 18, 2024. 1) SMILE 2 This was taken at the Press Screening when I was NOT looking forward to the film. Wow, did I feel differently afterwards. Like "The First Omen"  from earlier this year, this sequel to "Smile,"  the horror hit from 2022, is a massive surprise that is so s

I am currently sporting my Film Critic pants which means it's time for some capsule (short) movie reviews of four New Releases for the week of Friday, September 6th, 2024 1) BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE Taken a few minutes before the press screening of "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice" began. It's kind of hard to believe that it's been 36 years since Tim Burton 's macabre comedy "Beetlejuice" was released, and even harder to believe it took this long for a sequel.   When the first film c

So, in regard to the title of this blog post... My friend, esteemed colleague, and knowledgable film critic/writer Peter Sobczynski brilliantly touched upon this phenomenon recently in one of his recent reviews, and I'm going to touch upon it here. In the past few years there has been an incredible (and annoying) effort by many studios (Hello NEON? Hello A24?) to hype the hell out of soon-to-be-released horror/suspense films by creating incessantly strange ad campaigns, that