Top 10 of 2024

 I saw around 200 movies this year and 45 of them were brand-new, not just new to me.  Obviously, a lot were horror movies given that was one of the parameters for my yearly 31 Days of Horror feature, and that is reflected quite heavily in the list.  Once again, this is not a critical list, this is a personal favorite list, so some movies on here might be crap but I love them.  Others I watched were very good for Discourse but I'd personally never watch them again.  They are ranked by the highly scientific method of Did I Enjoy This More Than That?  

10.  Hell Hole - A huge surprise and I ended up liking it so much more than I thought I would.  Even now, when I think about it, I laugh.  Not for everyone but it beat out so many "better" movies when I sat down and compared them.

9.  The Devil's Bath - This is the one that I talked about, I think, more than any other.  For a lot of people, this would be where The Substance would be but enough has been said about that one.  Devil's Bath is still underrated.

8.  Dune: Part 2 - This almost got lost in the shuffle because it came out way back in May but I still think about some of the cinematography and sheer visual splendor of it.  

7.  Late Night with the Devil - This was just so good.  Unparalleled use of setting and tone and Dastmalchian is completely fearless.  

6.  Wicked: Part One - Love musicals, love Wicked.  Big, over-the-top, the definition of Too Much.

5.  Cuckoo - The better Dan Stevens horror from 2024.  Great, original monster design and surprisingly heartfelt.  

4.  Deadpool and Wolverine - Ended the trilogy on a high point, something I wasn't sure was possible given it had been almost a decade since the second one.

3.  Oddity - I loved this so much.  It was like it was specifically made for me.  Other people can call it slight, but I thought it was great.  

2.  The Fall Guy - Gosling is the superior Canadian Ryan.  This is not up for debate.  

1.  Exhuma - This movie blew me away.  I will never stop recommending it to people.  So richly layered, such incredible mythology, and great performances.

So there you go.  Highly subjective, as always.  Let's take a look at what's supposed to come out in 2025!  Most of these are going to be new to me because I have not been paying attention to movie news and announcements since June.  

The Wolf Man - We're trying this shit again!

Companion - I saw the trailer for this and it looks good, very Ex Machina meets Tinder.

Captain America: Brave New World - More Marvel!

Mickey-17 - New Bong Joon-Ho!  This trailer looks bonkers and I am very conflicted about Pattinson, but bless him for never settling.

Novocaine - This looks like another John Wick clone but it's got Jack Quaid, Amber Midthunder, and Jacob Batalon so it might be worth it.

Sinners - New Ryan Coogler!  Teaming up again with Michael B. Jordan.  No further information.

Thunderbolts - B-Team Marvel!  All the also-rans from various films and TV shows.  

Mission: Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part 2 - I was highly annoyed by Part 1 but I supposed I'll finish it out.

Ballerina - This feels like it was supposed to have been released ages ago and kept getting pushed back but I'm too lazy to look it up and see if that's true.  It's the Ana de Armas John Wick spin-off.

Elio - New Pixar!

28 Years Later - I guess I finally have to watch the second one.

M3GAN 2.0 - Haha!  Yes!

The Bride! - A Bride of Frankenstein remake directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal.  Could be worth it.

Michael - Antoine Fuqua is doing a Michael Jackson biopic.

Bugonia - New Lanthimos!

Predator: Badlands - From the guy who directed Prey, so could be good.  Definitely one to keep an eye on.

Wicked: Part 2 - Yes.

Dirty Dancing 2 - WTF.  I know Havana Nights wasn't great, but we're just erasing it now?  Jennifer Grey is back as Baby and I have a lot of fear.  Like, how do you even have this story without Patrick Swayze?