The Best & Worst Of 2024

NOTE: This Essay started getting put together early 2025 until the original writings were lost. Hence, why you're seeing this now. Whoops! Thankfully, everything has been recovered, at least for the most part!

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 Time waits for no one. Chronic fatigue may have delayed this, but I'm still standing.

2024 was a bit turbulent in terms of film. The year seemed weaker in terms of cinematic output. It wasn't until the tail end when things started to resemble some sort of normalcy. 

Intro is going to be short and sweet. The format remains the exact same as years before. First, we take a look at the best performances of the year. Then, we take a look at the best songs made for a film this year. We take a gander at the most unique theater experiences of the year; the most overrated and underrated films of the year, and then we cap it off with the best and worst films of the year.

Onward and upward.

The Best Performances Of 2024

Best Actor

Dave Bautista - "The Killer's Game"
Adrien Brody - "The Brutalist"
Timothee Chalamet - "A Complete Unknown"
Kevin Costner - "Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter I"
David Dastmalchian - "Late Night With The Devil"
Colman Domingo - "Sing Sing"
Taron Egerton - "Carry-On"
Jessie Eisenberg - "A Real Pain"
Ralph Fiennes - "Conclave"
Kyle Gallner - "Strange Darling"
Andrew Garfield - "We Live In Time"
Ryan Gosling - "The Fall Guy"
Hugh Grant - "Heretic"
Josh Hartnett - "Trap"
Nicholas Hoult - "Juror #2"
Michael Keaton - "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice"
Johnny Knoxville - "Sweet Dreams"
Gabriel Labelle - "Saturday Night"
Jude Law - "The Order"
Jame McAvoy - "Speak No Evil"
Cillian Murphy - "Small Things Like These"
Dev Patel - "Monkey Man"
Joaquin Phoenix - "Joker: Foile A Deux"
Jesse Plemmons - "Kinds Of Kindness"
Glen Powell - "Hit Man"
Bill Skarsgard - "The Crow"
Justice Smith - "I Saw The TV Glow"
Sebastian Stan - "A Different Man"
Jason Statham - "The Beekeeper"
Channing Tatum - "Blink Twice"
Julio Torres - "Problemista"
Lejon Woods - "The Hangman"

Best Actress

Marisa Abela - "Back To Black"
Pamela Anderson - "The Last Showgirl"
Elizabeth Banks - "Skincare"
Robbie Barnes - "Eleanor"
Melissa Barrera - "Abigail"
Nadine Crocker - "Continue"
Lily Rose Depp - "Nosferatu"
Kirsten Dunst - "Civil War"
Courtney Eaton - "Parachute"
Cynthia Ervio - "Wicked: Part I"
Alice Eve - "Cult Killer"
Willa Fitzgerald - "Strange Darling"
Lady Gaga - "Joker: Folie A Deux"
Mia Goth - "MaXXXine"
Judy Greer - "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever"
Anne Hathaway - "The Idea Of You"
Bryce Dallas Howard - "Argylle"
Anna Kendrick - "Woman Of The Hour"
Halo Kitsch - "Stalker Jane"
Lauren LaVera - "Terrifier 3"
Mikey Madison - "Anora"
Leah McKendrick - "Scrambled"
Maika Monroe - "Longlegs"
Demi Moore - "The Substance"
Kathryn Newton - "Lisa Frankenstein"
Florence Pugh - "We Live In Time"
Hunter Schafer - "Cuckoo"
Naomi Scott - "Smile 2"
Lea Seydoux - "The Beast"
Cailee Spaeny - "Alien: Romulus"
June Squibb - "Thelma"
Maisy Stella - "My Old Ass"
Kristen Stewart - "Love Lies Bleeding"
Emma Stone - "Kinds Of Kindness"
Sydney Sweeneu - "Immaculate"
Anya Taylor-Joy - "Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga"
Zendaya - "Challengers"

Best Supporting Actor

Kevin Bacon - "MaXXXine"
Jonathan Bailey - "Wicked: Part I"
Jason Bateman - "Carry-On"
Austin Butler - "Dune: Part Two"
Nicolas Cage - "Longlegs"
Jim Carrey - "Sonic The Hedgehog 3"
Angus Cloud (R.I.P.) - "Abigail"
Kieran Culkin - "A Real Pain"
Willem Dafoe - "Kinds Of Kindness"
Willem Dafoe - "Nosferatu"
Kevin Durant - "Abigail"
Fred Durst - "I Saw The TV Glow"
Ed Harris - "Love Lies Bleeding"
Jack Haven - "I Saw The TV Glow"
Chris Hemsworth - "Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga"
Boyd Holbrook - "A Complete Unknown"
Nicholas Hoult - "Nosferatu"
Nicholas Hoult - "The Order"
Josh Hutcherson - "The Beekeeper"
Danny Huston - "The Crow"
Hugh Jackman - "Deadpool & Wolverine"
David Jonsson - "Alien Romulus"
Sean Manos - "Eleanor"
Edward Norton - "A Complete Unknown"
Dylan O'Brien - "Saturday Night"
Guy Pearce - "The Brutalist"
Jesse Plemmons - "Civil War"
Glen Powell -"Twisters"
Sam Rockwell - "Argylle"
Peter Saarsgard - "September 5"
Bill Skarsgard - "Nosferatu"
Brandon Sklenar - "It Ends With Us"
Dan Stevens - "Abigail"
Dan Stevens - "Cuckoo"
Aaron Taylor-Johnson - "Nosferatu"
Stanley Tucci - "Conclave"
Blair Underwood - "Longlegs"
Denzel Washington - "Gladiator II"
Steve Zahn - "LaRoy, Texas"

Best Supporting Actress

Emily Blunt - "The Fall Guy"
Raffey Cassidy - "Civil War"
Emma Corrin - "Deadpool & Wolverine"
Jamie Lee Curtis - "The Last Showgirl"
Danielle Deadwyler - "I Saw The TV Glow"
Chloe East - "Heretic"
Elle Fanning - "A Complete Unknown"
Rebecca Fergusson - "Dune: Part Two"
Ariana Grande - "Wicked: Part I"
Jennifer Grey - "A Real Pain"
Felicity Jones - "The Brutalist"
FKA Twigs - "The Crow"
Michelle Monaghan - "MaXXXine"
Kathryn Newton - "Abigail"
Katy M. O'Brien - "Love Lies Bleeding"
Aubrey Plaza - "My Old Ass"
Margaret Qualley - "The Substance"
Jessica Rothe - "Boy Kills World"
Saleka - "Trap"
Rachel Sennott - "Saturday Night"
Tilda Swinton - "Problemista"
Sophie Thatcher - "Heretic"
Alisha Weir - "Abigail"
Zendaya - "Dune: Part Two"

Best Vocal Performance

Jennifer Aniston - "Out Of My Mind"
Steve Carell - "IF"
Auli'i Cravalho - "Moana 2"
Jonno Davies - "Better Man"
Idris Elba - "Sonic The Hedgehog 3"
Maya Hawke - "Inside Out 2"
Brian Tyree Henry - "Transformers One"
Lupita Nyong'o - "The Wild Robot"
Colleen O'Shaughnnessey - "Sonic The Hedgehog 3"
Pedro Pascal - "The Wild Robot"
Keanu Reeves - "Sonic The Hedgehog 3"
Ben Schwartz - "Sonic The Hedgehog 3"
Ben Whitehead - "Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl"
Pharrell Williams - "Piece By Piece"
Robbie Williams - "Better Man"

Best Songs Made For Films In 2024*
*Songs from "Wicked: Part I" are included because they belted their hearts out for that movie.

"Ain't No Love In Olklahoma"
Luke Combs
"Twisters"

"Blood On White Satin"
Naomi Scott as Skye Riley
"Smile 2"

"Burn My Tongue"
Jean Dawson
"Abigail"

"Compress/Repress"
Trent Reznor
"Challengers"

"Death Of Me"
Naomi Scott as Skye Riley
"Smile 2"

"Defying Gravity"
Cynthia Erivo & Ariana Grande
"Wicked: Part I"

"Forbidden Road"
Robbie Williams
"Better Man"

"HERE WE GO!"
Lil Nas X
"Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F"

"I Was Made For Lovin' You"
YUNGBLUD
"The Fall Guy"

"New Brain"
Naomi Scott as Skye Riley
"Smile 2"

"Popular"
Ariana Grande
"Wicked: Part I"

"Save Me"
Saleka
"Trap"

"TONIGHT (Bad Boys: Ride Or Die)"
Black Eyed Peas & El Alfa featuring Becky G
"Bad Boys: Ride Or Die"

"What Is This Feeling?"
Ariana Grande & Cynthia Erivo
"Wicked: Part I"

Memorable Theater Experiences Of 2024

- Honestly, other than the excitement of "Deadpool & Wolverine", the theater experiences for 2024 were a bit lacking. Maybe, that'll change in 2025 (It kind of has)

The Most Underrated Film Of 2024

"The Crow"

This has to be the first year where I can think of no candidates for Overrated film of the year. "The Crow", however, sticks out as the most underrated experience of the year. Mostly slammed as a hollow cash seeker, the film has layers, depth and strong performances from its two main leads. Nicely shot action scenes and a real care for it's source material prevalent throughout; it was never going to be the 1994 original, but it's still mighty enjoyable in its own right.

The Worst Films Of 2024

Dishonorable Mentions: 72 Hours; Agent Recon; Atlas; Bagman; Blackwater Lane; Bloodline Killer; Bonhoeffer; Buy Now!: The Shopping Conspiracy; Byte; Camp Blood Clown Shark; Chosen Family; Cinderella's Revenge; Crescent City; Dead Wrong; DietTroit; Dirty Dilemma; Duffle Bag Boy; Fanatic; French Girl; God's Not Dead: In God We Trust; Harold And The Purple Crayon; He Loves Me Not; History Of Evil; In The Hands Of Fate; Me And The Dragon's Daughter; Miller's Girl; Mother Of The Bride; No New Friends; No Way Up; Our Little Secret; Players; Predatory Behavior; Prom Dates; Red One; Ricky Stanicky; Rumours; Running On Empty; Sasquatch Sunset; Single Black Female; Some Other Woman; Space Cadet; St. Patrick's Day: The Sluagh Awakens; Subservience; Tarot; The Deliverance; The Greatest Surf Movie In The Universe; The Lawnmower Man; The Long Game; The Mistress; The Mouse Trap; The Night They Came Home; The Photo Book; The Tearsmith; The Tiger's Apprentice; Trigger; Unfrosted; Uglies; Wineville

10. "The Fabulous Four"

Four friends (Bette Midler, Susan Sarandon, Megan Mullally and Sheryl Lee Ralph) get together in Key West, Florida for a wedding. That is the extremely basic plot of “The Fabulous Four”, a shockingly piss poor excuse for a comedy. What is a comedy’s singular goal? To be funny. This movie isn’t funny. It’s actually sloppily put together and embarrassing to watch. Normally, these kind of comedies can coast lightly based on their pedigrees and the good nature of their cast, like “80 For Brady” and the “Book Club” films. Sure, those movies aren’t high art, but damn it, those women had FUN. The main four in this movie look completely exhausted and not at all engaged with this material, and who could blame them? This is bottom of the barrel, canceled after one season sitcom level crap. Bette Midler does awkward TikTok dances. Susan Sarandon literally slingshots a sex toy to the back of a bike thief’s head. Megan Mullally’s character loves weed. Sheryl Lee Ralph is here. Their performances are so awkward, it’s stiff and uncomfortable. Midler, while a nice presence onscreen, is lost at sea with this tepid script. Sarandon looks like the meek, quiet girl in a horror movie before she turns into a psycho killer. Mullally looks the MOST bored (and after she was allowed to run free in last year’s “Dicks: The Musical”, you can’t blame her) and, at times, fed up that she’s even here. Sheryl Lee Ralph is basically asked to be her Barbara role from “Abbott Elementary” (a hysterical show, in its own right), but just not funny. Bruce Greenwood is here, as well, but spends most of his time looking as if he’s practicing for when he hits the cover of AARP. Showing up for a cameo is Michael Bolton, but he looks like an animatronic as he lip sync’s a performance and reads his lines as if he’s keeping up with the cue cards off screen. Also, Key West is never this vacant; not only are regular extras and people seemingly absent, but they keep running into the same three people over and over again. It’s writing is awful, it’s comedy nonexistent, “The Fabulous Four” shamefully wastes its ensemble and is so vacuous of humor that you could hear a silent fart from three theaters away. But… to quote Richard Roeper from “Ebert & Roeper”: “It was in color… and it was mostly in focus.”

9. "Homestead"

You like “Yellowstone”? How about “Civil War”? Take them, make them incompetent, stupid and boring beyond all cognitive recognition, add a dash of religious overtones and one of the worst scripts of the year, and BOOM! You have “Homestead”, a movie that makes no effort to provide audiences with anything worthwhile with a budget that couldn’t have been more than $14 and some change and couldn’t be bothered to give a damn. Even more insulting is the fact that they advertise the fact that this movie is a long pilot for a TV series that’s… already out? Eat butt.

8. "Not Another Church Movie"

What in the unholy hell- OK, let’s TRY and start with the plot. Taylor Pharry (Kevin Daniels and pronounced “Harry”; the p is silent for some reason) is contacted by God (Jamie Foxx) to empower black women after a TV show host (named… Hoprah Windfall) wants to find a successor. Wanting to supersede this plan is the Devil himself (Mickey Rourke). Add his crazy aunt… Madude (Daniels again, but not changing his voice), and you have whatever this is. “Not Another Church Movie” is a parody film of Tyler Perry films, but for what reason, it’s unclear; a lot of the movies it parodies are from 2005-2010 as its plot heavily borrows from 2005’s “Diary Of A Mad Black Woman”, it names drops “Meet The Browns” (2008), “Madea Goes To Jail” (2009) and “Daddy’s Little Girls” (2007), but any doubts that this was a script that sat dormant for years is wiped away with jokes referencing COVID (“COVID-Infinity” apparently) and references to Trump and the Will Smith Oscar slap from two years ago. So why THESE movies? And why so late? Tyler Perry is still working, but mainly for Netflix, and those movies (“Mea Culpa”, “A Jazzman’s Blues”, “A Madea Homecoming” and “A Fall From Grace”) are vastly different from whatever is being parodied here. Sure “Boo! A Madea Halloween” is parodied here, but that was also several years ago. This is a shoddy, poorly made and horribly structured film, as most modern parodies sadly are, but this movie is so lazy and so stagnant, that it couldn’t even be bothered to properly make sure characters have their wigs on straight. Jokes in the film consistently fall flat, although one or two lines manage to catch one by surprise. The fact, however, that the films biggest laugh came from a super realistic sounding wet fart that came out of nowhere is rather sad. Wigs are horrific, airsoft weapons used later in the film by cops are obviously fake as they didn’t even bother to FINISH dying or coloring the orange tips black. Performances are extremely wooden; lead Kevin Daniels seems lost when he’s himself and over the top as Madude. Jamie Foxx spends his screen time struggling to see past his wig hair and stand in front of a blue screen. His appearances throughout the movie are obviously recycled from his one scene he agreed to shoot, and it shows. Mickey Rourke is also asked to stand in front of a blue screen, but for some reason, he’s in the movie for only a minute, spends his time grunting and laughing mildly and read off his lines. He comes into play VERY sporadically in the final act, and he does appear to, at times, not give a shit. Do you blame him? Vivica A. Fox, Lamorne Morris and Tisha Campbell are here for simple name recognition, nothing more. Kyla Pratt is the only performer close to succeeding, but the weak script does her in. Still, she’s a very nice presence in whatever she’s in. Haphazardly written and poorly directed by Johnny Mack, “Not Another Church Movie” is a horribly depressing and extremely unfunny experience; a film so desperate and weak, that I was half expecting the blue screen (that can’t stay in focus for one second) to collapse. At my screening, it was myself and one other person, an older woman. She walked out of the film 10 minutes in. She’s the smart one. 

7. "Borderlands"

When a bounty hunter named Lilith (Cate Blanchett) is assigned by Atlas (Edgar Ramierez) to locate and bring back his daughter Tina (Ariana Greenblatt), she’s met with Tina and hunter Roland (Kevin Hart), looking for a secret vault hidden somewhere on the planet of Pandora. “Borderlands” is based on the very popular video game series, and I have played a decent amount of “Borderlands” and “Borderlands 2”, but not really enough to be Uber familiar with the source material. This being said, Eli Roth’s film adaptation is entirely abysmal and shockingly terrible. Instead of focusing on carving its own niche and being an ode to the games, it decides that it wants to be every other movie in existence. “Guardians Of The Galaxy”, “Dune”, “Star Wars”, “Mad Max”, and actually throw in “X-Men: The Last Stand”, too, this movie has no identity of its own without stealing from the ones who’ve already done it. The screenplay is atrocious (reportedly Craig Mazin asked for his name to be removed from the final film as rewrites were done and went against his original script) with dialogue frequently poor and narration from Blanchett very lifeless. This is also one of those movies that feels the need to explain its jokes, as if the people in the audience can’t understand English. The humor is pathetic and nonexistent, erasing the games sense of humor with the snap of a finger. Now, I’m a big action guy; I’ve notoriously given passes to low budget action fare simply because I’m enthralled or entertained by what I see. The action scenes here are frequently chaotically incoherent and non enjoyable, coming without warning very often and ending when they feel like it. The violence of the games have been rendered nonexistent because it totally makes sense to translate M-rated games to PG-13 fare. The cinematography is laughable and ugly, and several scenes of people against green screen remind of “Spy Kids” from over two decades ago, without the amateur charm. Not even any of the hundreds of unique and cool guns from the game are even given too long of a glance to be appreciated, let alone explained. But… it gets worse. The cast here, and what an ensemble we have, is terrible for a variety of reasons. Cate Blanchett looks as if she cannot be bothered and is disgusted with this material with each passing scene. Who can blame her? As Roland, Kevin Hart gives one of his worst turns. Trying way too hard to be a tough guy by awkwardly and obviously lowering his voice, he struggles badly with this material and it shows every step of the way. As Kreig, Florian Munteanu is bland and tries too hard to be Drax from “Guardians”. As Claptrap, the little robot wisecracker, Jack Black is shockingly unctuous. Yes, he seems like the perfect choice for this role, but his dialogue continuously falls flat and he is unusually louder here than normal, this is a turn that, unfortunately, he’d be wise to leave off his resumé. As Atlas, Edgar Ramirez is lifeless and dull, and he’s barely here to begin with as when he does pop up, it’s mostly through holograms. The always lovely Gina Gershon is wasted in a role of a southern belle bartender and Bobby Lee is annoying but out quick as a pal of Roland’s. The only cast members that actually try are Ariana Greenblatt, still riding high off of last years “Barbie”, as Tina, and Jamie Lee Curtis, one of the greatest actresses to ever grace the screen, as Dr. Tannis. They are given a shit script to work with, but damn it, they both do their best and mostly succeed. Alas, it’s all for naught. It contains the most jarring shoehorned use of Motörhead’s “Ace Of Spades”, and that’s a kick ass song. Eli Roth is usually a reliable director, but “Borderlands” is embarrassing and a complete and total abject failure anyway you look at it. This is one of the worst films of the year.

6. "Beautiful Wedding"

“Beautiful Wedding” is a sequel to one of last years worst films, “Beautiful Disaster”, a film that was anything but beautiful and a total disaster. How does one make a follow up? By being louder, dumber and 10 times more obnoxious. This movie is the epitome of awfulness from every single facet. Every bad rom-com cliche is here on full display and amped up to 124 because the filmmakers don’t know how to use their indoor voices. Unlike the atrocious “After” series, Dylan Sprouse’s Travis and Virginia Gardner’s Abby are empty, hollow creatures, about as emotionally put together as a Russian Nesting Doll. Their performances are equally wretched. The plot, in which our two mismatched dim bulbs get drunkenly hitched six days after the first film, finds them navigating their life through blunder after blunder. It’s poorly thought out and collapses upon impact. This movie has the sense of humor of a middle schooler, as a Cartoon rendering of Sprouse’s penis is shown growing from 1 inch to 8. How about Abby getting into a Luchador wrestling match because she doesn’t want the original fighter, a tiny little girl, to get hurt. She proceeds to wear this ridiculous get up well past the fight and into the evening. Steven Bauer, the man who so graciously portrayed Manny in “Scarface”, is reduced to a cartoonish weirdo as he sings almost every line. This film was written and directed by Roger Kumble, who gave us a cultural landmark with 1999’s “Cruel Intentions”. After making “Just Friends” in 2005, he made a conscious decision to never ever make a good film again. This is just ridiculously unfunny and about as sweet as, well, as my mother would put it: “Ass with key lime on it.” This made me cringe more than upset, but at least these movies are done after 2. If there were five of these like the “After” movies, I’d be screaming, crying, and throwing up. I’d be more pleased ordering a sandwich with Mayo on it, only to find out that the mayo has been replaced with bird shit. At least it’s more appealing. 

5. "Dear Santa"

‘Twas the night (ok day) before Christmas 

And things were pretty groovy

I had finished wrapping presents

“It’s time for a movie!”

I hopped to my streaming apps

And scrolled to Paramount Plus

“I’ve got to lay down and relax,

Self care is a must!”

I settled on “Dear Santa” 

It has Jack Black

If he’s in a movie

It’s usually not wack.

But people had warned me

Dustin said “Stay clear!

You need good movies, Kyle! 

That won’t be found here!”

But curiosity got me

And there’s nothing wrong with that

But what they say is right

Curiosity killed the cat. 

The film begins after ads

And something’s not right

The first scene has our main character

Listening to his parents fight

Marital problems aside

The kid seems a little off

Not that this a problem

But his actions made me sometimes scoff.

Liam (Robert Timothy Smith) has Dyslexia

But that doesn’t stop him

He writes a letter to Santa 

Whom he still finds belief in.

But he mixes up the letters

It’s not Santa, but Satan

And he’s played by Jack Black 

With no emotional weight in. 

Satan appears 

Liam can’t believe his eyes

But he’s afraid something could happen

That leads to his demise.

He’s up to no good

And promises Liam three wishes

Anything he wants

In exchange for his soul as riches

Skeptical at first

He goes along with plan

But there’s always a catch 

And not the kind with your hand. 

“Dear Santa” is a Christmas Flick

As it claims to be 

But it’s one of the all time worst

I ever did see

The film is beyond atrocious

It’s script a complete floozy

Did they write this while drinking

Tipsy or boozy?

The jokes land flat 

They are consistent thuds

A comedy without laughs

Isn’t that a dud? 

The films humor is rather tasteless

Not merely juvenile

But I almost turned it off 

After hearing a joke so vile.

Liam tells Satan

After being frozen in mid air

“Touch me and I’ll scream”

He boasts without a care

What does Satan say 

That’s so horrible and irrelevant?

“I’m not gonna touch you; I’m Satan

Not a trusted relative.”

This joke made my jaw drop

And gave me a fright

I paused the movie and played

With my doggos til I was right. 

I returned and resumed

“Gotta finish it, even though I’m alone.”

And who happens to show up

But fucking Post Malone?

Wanna see Liam and Posty

Dance on stage for a bit? 

Too bad, so sad

It’s what we get.

Performances are awful

All across the board

And even Jack Black 

Looks as bored as a Gourd! 

The parents are snipping

Snapping, Scratching and Itching

I was hoping they would do more

Than just bitching.

This script is a mess

A truly disgusting beast

I wouldn’t eat it if it was seared

And fillet with Roast Beast at a feast.

The movie is a slog 

A total failure on every outlet

But then comes the ending

Straight from the depths of an unwashed basement toilet

It’s a twist ending you see

And to get into it for you

I simply won’t as there’s too much info 

And that’s the last thing I want to do

It’s an ending so rotten

Wretched, tarnished and foul 

That made my stomach roll

I felt it in my bowels

With no consideration 

Or audience respect

What we see here

Is unfortunately what we get.

Who in their right mind

Thought this would pass? 

The same people who probably

Don’t wipe their own ass. 

And when the film was over

I silently retreated

I didn’t feel jolly

Just empty and defeated.

“Dear Santa” is godawful

Serving as nobodies hero.

How many stars do I give it? 

A BIG… FAT… ZERO!

4. "Sound Of Hope: The Story Of Possum Trot"

I want you to pretend with me, just for a minute. You’ve been taken to the hospital and you wake up confused, not knowing where exactly you are or who anyone is, even what happened. Imagine every time you turn around, you’re frightened at what you see and you freak out so badly that a nurse has to come in and calm you and feed you to relax and tell you everything’s ok. You still with me? That was my experience with “Sound Of Hope: The Story Of Possum Trot”: I felt as if I was going absolutely insane with almost every scene that came onscreen and even more shocked that the movie has the nerve to turn around and tell its audience that “everything will be ok if you BELIEVE!” Huh? Last year, Angel Studios came roaring out of the gate with “Sound Of Freedom”, an imperfect film, sure, but one that I found worked due to its passional tone that treated the subject matter of child trafficking seriously. “Sound Of Hope” (originally just called “Possum Trot” before Angel Studios decided to get greedy and slap on the new title) is an abject failure and a tonal nightmare every step of the way. This isn’t going to be a traditionally funny negative review: I’m seething with anger at how abysmal what I just witnessed was. Our story focuses on a couple Donna (Nika King) and her husband Martin (Demetrius Grove). They have two children, but Donna starts to lose faith after her mother passes away. Distraught to an almost insufferable degree, after traveling to a little cabin in the woods one day, she suddenly takes a breath, regains her footing and goes home. She’s better. Why? The lord spoke to her and told her to adopt children! She felt him speak to her and decided that she needed to adopt. Upon adopting a troubled teen, Terri (Diaana Babnicova), they soon realize they have their hands full… and also conveniently forget their other children along the way. The “Possum Trot” in question is a system that the couple sets up to help kids get out of foster care. But the way everyone acts and behaves in this film is completely out of line. Terri has a tendency to devolve into acting like a cat, which is something that happens with children growing up in an unsteady home life; they can regress. What do they do upon learning of this? Put cat food in a bowl and put her outside until she acts normal. This scene is treated as humorous because the concept of a child having regressing behaviors is just oh so funny. Yes, people in my theater laughed, and yes, I immediately don’t like them. It gets worse, if you can believe it: a scene roughly midway through shows Terri hiding a knife under her pillow in case she feels someone is coming to harm her. Donna proceeds to try to comfort her, and after Terri express for her to back away as she needs space, Donna gets very upset, spanks her for absolutely no reason and throws her up against the wall, yelling in her face. These scenes are absolutely disgusting to watch, and not in the way the filmmakers intended. There’s a scene early on in the film showing a child hiding in a bathroom on the phone with the police as a man shoots and kills her mother in the next room. This child is promptly never seen again, leading one to wonder what the purpose of showing such horrific abuse onscreen is. Seeing these scenes made my stomach turn and physically ill, simply because the film has this weird tendency to wallow in it. As far as a technical level goes, the film has acting and cinematography no better than a tv movie, and one has to wonder why a documentary on this subject wasn’t made instead, as the real people shown at the very end seem to have an actual, compelling story to be told. There’s far too many children in foster care, and I agree wholeheartedly that these kids need help. However, “Sound Of Hope: The Story Of Possum Trot” treats this subject matter in a disgusting, greedy and inappropriate fashion. 

3. "The Firing Squad"

Anyone who is in our scene and is an independent filmmaker should find a way to contact Epoch Studios, the distributors of “The Firing Squad”, because every thing that’s done is this movie is so atrociously done and put together, it’s absolutely insulting to anyone of you who’ve put blood sweat and tears into your work. This is one of the worst, most inept movies over ever seen in my entire life. I’m not lying when I say EVERY SINGLE THING is done so poorly here. Let’s start with the acting, so terrible and so flat, that it’s very much nonexistent. These actors are not even bothering to do so much as attempt to emote or act. It’s not as if they skipped acting classes, it’s like they’ve never even recited a dialogue exchange they’ve heard in a movie in front of a mirror before. There is more effort in porn to act. I will fully believe someone’s step-sister is “Stuck” in a dryer fast than any of these pathetic performers here. The cinematography? Beyond abysmal. Some shots are very obviously from someone’s PHONE, but they do have camera’s; you can tell in a scene where our main character drives a Ferrari at five miles an hour so our cameraman (seen ever so clearly in the vehicle’s reflection) can keep up on his skateboard. A scene where characters are green-screened standing on a sidewalk at night (yes… really) made me howl. The sound design is a joke; most scenes are not shot with so much as a boom mic, instead relying on the built in mic’s on the camera’s. Thus, it makes it incredibly difficult to hear a lot of this dialogue (a good deal of it sounds very tinny), not that it’s great dialogue either. The writing is pandering and ridiculous. A lot of scenes seem to have been the only take they shot. “I commit a murder” Sorbo tells Barrington at one point. Didn’t wanna try another take to say “I COMMITTED a murder?” The story of a drug dealer (James Barrington) getting arrested and sentenced to death by firing squad is lackluster and boring beyond repair, its sole existence is to exist as a world viewed by extreme religious fundamentalists. James Barrington is horrible and bland, Kevin Sorbo is a prison pastor, and Sorbo’s only here because he fiends for these roles and hey, they paid him. Cuba Gooding Jr. sounds as if he’s dying, and makes no effort. A musical rendition he and others do of “Amazing Grace” is painful to listen to. He does it TWICE. He’s also had several allegations of sexual assault against him, so he can suck it. Eric Roberts is barely in this as a lawyer, clearly here because they needed a name, and he happened to be around. By the way, nice to see you again; “The Private Eye” and now this piece of shit? You’re on a roll. Never mind the fact the this movie is very obviously religiously grooming its audience into a weird and uncomfortable submission (including a very uncomfortable post credits message from Sorbo), The props in this film call so much attention to themselves. First off, these prison guards are dressed like the sloppiest bunch of assholes I’ve ever seen. Their costumes look so wrinkled, not tucked in and unkempt, it’s a wonder why anyone even bothered to do this. The chains that the prisoners are shackled with, I shit you not, are the exact same plastic chains you can buy at Spirit Halloween. They look ridiculous. I have never seen a film so incompetently thrown together and shat out onto so many screens nationwide. If you wheeled out a stroke victim from the hospital and threw them behind the camera, I guarantee you, they’d make something more coherent than this. Supposedly, after reading the script, Cuba Gooding Jr. wept. After seeing “The Firing Squad”, I cried too: Tears of pure embarrassment that what I just saw took precious time away from my life. At one point, a character says to Barrington “I can’t cry. I think there’s something wrong with me.” Honey, anybody and everybody that stepped foot on this set has something wrong with them. Everyone involved in “The Firing Squad” should be out of jobs for how poor a job they’ve done here. It’s so insulting, it’s a step away from physical assault. I’ve seen more depth and character development in “2 Girls 1 Cup.” More flavor, too.

2. "Megalopolis"

Telling the story of an ambitious leader named Caesar (Adam Driver), dissatisfied with the city he lives in and sets out to embark on building a new one, literally called “New Rome”, he sets out to not only build the world he wants, but lead the life he wants as well. This, of course, comes with all sorts of hang ups and complications. “Megalopolis” is the latest film from long time director Francis Ford Coppola, and supposedly a passion project from him for over 40 years. This is a film so empty, devoid of purpose, devoid of life and any sort of meaning whatsoever, that it singlehandly results in one of the most maddeningly frustrating experiences I’ve ever had. From its frequently confusing plot (I’m sorry, but for me, it took well over an hour to even understand what was even supposed to be going on, and I’m not slow when it comes to this kind of stuff), to it’s absolutely ridiculous writing, this is a film that makes sense to only Coppola. Once one eventually grasps the notion that the film is a political tale of greed, power and having too much of either, the film simply doesn’t work. It’s too much in love with itself in an unsettling and off putting way that it puts the viewer at a supremely far distance. The production design is ugly to glimpse at simply because the color scheme chosen for the movie is very desaturated. And this cast; how does one get performers like Adam Driver, Aubrey Plaza, Giancarlo Esposito, Shia LaBeouf, Nathalie Emmanuel, Laurence Fishburne and Dustin Hoffman and have them turn in some of the most awkward, lifeless, unmotivated and uncomfortable pwrformances I’ve ever seen? How do you manage this? It seems impossible, but here we are. Thematically pointless, too busy fumbling all over itself and extremely nihilistic to an exhausting degree; I go to movies to have pleasant experiences, and “Megalopolis” gave me absolutely nothing. It is the most emptily depressing experience I’ve ever had at a movie in my life. I left extremely defeated; This is possibly the worst movie of the year. 

1. "The Private Eye"

Mort Madison (Matt Rife) is a private eye. Simple enough. After falling on hard times, he finally receives a case from Michelle (Clare Grant) that sees him earning a lot of money. So, what is the case? Considering the movie takes over an hour to get to the point, it’s intentionally a mystery, or unintentionally. Have him tail some dude. Why? There is literally no reason given. “The Private Eye” is a movie made by people for an audience of no one. Matt Rife is a comedian only recently gaining traction, so having a movie with him in it and releasing it theatrically makes very little sense. Now, yes, I personally find his stand up to be very unfunny, more stale than anything controversial. But a narrative film is a different game, so I’m willing to be open. Well, “narrative” is putting it lightly. This movie meanders so much (get used to Morts apartment, cause most of the movie takes place there) and each scene takes so long, that the main plot isn’t a focus. Why have this person as this character if you’re not going to have a story? Why are you not focusing on it? Scene after scene, meaningless dialogue exchange after meaningless dialogue exchange, nothing of consequence or substance happens. The runtime for the movie is 115 minutes. The plot doesn’t even come into play until over an hour, and until that point, we get Mort rejecting Michelle’s advances, Mort trying to pick a woman up in a bar, an unnessecary long shot of the woman performing fellatio on Mort, needless scenes of Mort shirtless, him burning a photo of his ex (so you know he’s in “emotional” pain), and a ridiculous backstory of Mort falling on hard times after busting a robber called the “DVD Desperado”, a criminal robbing video stores… in 2024. Look, I love physical media, I have very fond memories of going to Hollywood video with my mom; that’s not an interesting plot hook or backstory for a straightforward mystery or detective. As an actor, Matt Rife is atrocious, not reading his lines with any inflection or emotion, having a blank expression the entire film and having an off-putting, sometimes creepy, personality that instantly distances the viewer, by at least several miles. The rest of the actors, while not as bad, still aren’t good by any means; they seem extremely disinterested with the entire proceedings and act very much accordingly. Mort’s thoughts are narrated by Eric Roberts, but for what reason, it’s not clear. The final “Twist” is a complete slap in the frigging face to anyone even remotely invested in this worthless piece of shit. “The Private Eye” is very inept, narratively incompetent (it took four people to write this and yet not one could make it make sense), wildly jumbled, technically a mess (sound issues abound and shot set-ups in black and white are never explained), overlong, completely nonsensical and just a total waste of anyone’s precious time. “The Private Eye” is genuinely one of the worst films I have ever, EVER seen. And that poster? The very worst I’ve ever seen. Whoever designed it must have been zonked out on sleeping pills while putting it together.

The Best Films Of 2025

Honorable Mentions: 1992; Abigail; Alien: Romulus; Argylle; Back To Black; Bad Boys: Ride Or Die; Beetlejuice Beetlejuice; Better Man; Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F; Bloody Axe Wound; Bob Marley: One Love; Boy Kills World; Carry-On; Casa Bonita Mi Amor!; Challengers; Civil War; Conclave; Continue; Cult Killer; Deadpool & Wolverine; Destroy All Neighbors; Didi; Dune: Part Two; Eleanor; Flow; Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga; Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire; Hate To Love: Nickelback; Heretic; His Three Daughters; Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter I; IF; I'm Still Here; Inside Out 2; In The Land Of Saints And Sinners; It Ends With Us; It's What's Inside; Janet Planet; Joker: Foile A Deux; Kill; Kinds Of Kindness; Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes; Kneecap; Knox Goes Away; Kung Fu Panda 4; Land Of Bad; LaRoy, Texas; Lover, Stalker, Killer; Made In England: The Films Of Powell And Pressburger; Mars Express; Moana 2; Monkey Man; My Old Ass; Nosferatu; Out Of My Mind; Parachute; Piece By Piece; Problemista; Rebel Ridge; Red Rooms; Saturday Night; Scrambled; September 5; Sing Sing; Skincare; Smile 2; Social Media Monster; Sonic The Hedgehog 3; Sorry/Not Sorry; Speak No Evil; Stalker Jane; Stopmotion; Strange Darling; Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story; Sweet Dreams; Take Cover; Terrifier 3; The Apprentice; The Beach Boys; The Beast; The Beekeeper; The Contestant; The Crow; The Fire Inside; The First Omen; The Greatest Night In Pop; The Idea Of You; The Killer's Game; The Last Stop In Yuma County; Thelma; The Menendez Brothers; The Ministry Of Ungentlemanly Warfare; The Order; The Substance; The Wild Robot;  TikTok Murders; Transformers One; Trap; Twisters; V/H/S/Beyond; Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl; We Grown Now; We Live In Time; Will & Harper; Wolfs; Woman Of The Hour

10. "Late Night With The Devil"

It’s 1977. Carter sits in the White House. “Star Wars” is in its infancy. And in New York, “Night Owls With Jack Delroy” is combatting in ratings with a certain Johnny Carson. On Halloween Night of this fateful year, Jack (David Dastmalchian) has decided to spice things up for Sweeps Week: A live Halloween special! Mediums, Skeptics… and something wicked this way comes for Jack and his audience, and it slowly turns into a night no one will ever forget. Right at the start of the film, we are told that what we’re about to be presented with is the master tape of that fateful broadcast along with behind the scenes B-roll that was captured in between commercial breaks. Everything that “Late Night With The Devil” does, it does it so phenomenally that it ceased being a movie and becomes something altogether more transcendent and alive than ever. The filtering and visual tweaks that the filmmakers have done to make sure you’re watching something from almost 50 years ago is damn near immaculate, particularly in the on-air station bumpers when they cut to commercials. Everything is done pitch perfectly, from the hairstyles and outfit recreations, to the “Night Owls” set to the funk music the band plays, it’s all golden. David Dastmalchian is an actor you have seen in films over the years (“The Boogeyman” and “The Suicide Squad”), but he is front and center as Jack Delroy and he gives, quite possibly, the performance of the year. I know it’s still early on, but Dastmalchian completely transforms into a different person. Jack is the cheesy TV host, with corny jokes and one liners, but his growth and change throughout the film is not only remarkable, but incredibly natural. The rest of the cast, my God, they are fantastic! So natural, so rich, so human, the audience easily falls into the gimmick of watching a lost broadcast. Is it scary? At times, very much so, because the atmosphere is built up so finely that unease and dread easily fell over me; the makeup and practical effects that come into play make one very squeamish, at least for myself. This film is so well-written, so well-done and so expertly crafted, that I loved every single second of it. These are my words, so please, take note but also heed, and if you’ll pardon my language, but I believe it’s warranted: “Late Night With The Devil” is exceptional, phenomenal, well-crafted and a fantastic fucking film. It is most definitely one of the absolute best horror movies I have EVER seen. 

9. "Longlegs"

A serial killer, known only as Longlegs (Nicolas Cage) has been tormenting families for decades. Special FBI agent Lee Harper (Maika Monroe) is assigned to the case and slowly starts working her way to finding out what makes him tick. The closer she gets, however, the more dangerous it becomes. The anxiety gets cranked up to 100 in “Longlegs”, the latest from super solid writer and director Osgood Perkins. Taking place in the mid-90’s, the film’s bleak atmosphere is enhanced supremely simply by using natural sound. By not using a heavy orchestral score, scenes are made more nerve-wracking and intense. The footsteps, the creaking floorboards, the only lights their flashlights; it’s extremely effective. Makia Monroe turns in her best performance yet as Lee. Skittish for most of the narrative, Lee keeps to herself a lot and yet remains so determined, that even when she’s shaken to her core, she manages to move on, headstrong. As her superior, Blair Underwood is terrific as Agent Carter. Not only is Carter a strong leader and adviser, he also sympathizes with Lee and acknowledges her hard work often. Finally, as the title character, Nicolas Cage is kept mostly hidden for most of the narrative… but when he shows up… man is he freaky as hell. Looking unrecognizable thanks to ace makeup work, Cage turns in a career best turn while creeping everyone out. He is scarily believable as a serial killer, and I mean that as a huge compliment. Finally, Alicia Witt gets a meaty role that’s mostly relegated to the second half of the film, but she’s excellent as well. It’s violence grotesque and its ending a well-earned shocker, “Longlegs” is one of the best films of the year. It’s also freaky as shit. Bring clean underwear.

8. "MaXXXine"

“MaXXXine”. One word. One ferocious woman. One bitchin’ great time at the flicks! The year is 1985. People live in decadence, people are flocking to see the hot new movie “St. Elmo’s Fire”, and Maxine Minx (Mia Goth) is the sole survivor of the Texas murders that claimed the lives of her friends and crew mates filming the infamous porno flick “The Farmer’s Daughters”. She’s had enough of that line of work. After landing an audition for a horror film, “The Puritan II”, she finally gets her chance. There’s one problem: her memories are coming back to haunt her. If that weren’t enough, this guy, dubbed “The Night Stalker” is prowling the streets at night, striking without warning. Maxine, however, won’t take any guff. “MaXXXine” is the radical conclusion to Ti West’s trilogy that started with 2022’s double hitter “X” and “Pearl”. This is a fantastic picture through and through. It’s not only got the style and flair to match a film released in 1985, but it has depth, layers and emotional baggage that’s handled with a vengeance. Shades of 1999’s “8MM” with Nicolas Cage are evident here: one scene showcasing a disturbing snuff film and another where Maxine holds the same model pistol Cage carried in that film to a persons mouth. That scene here leads to her literally busting someone’s bare nuts. I winced so hard. Mia Goth once again turns in a fully layered, haunting and transcendent performance that will not only go down as one of the best of the year and of any horror series, but will be ignored by awards ceremonies because they see flashy horror as nothing. Boo! Supporting work from Bobby Cannavale and Michelle Monaghan as a pair of homicide detectives, Elizabeth Debicki as the film director, seeing “The Puritan II” as her serious big break, Kevin Bacon, one of the best actors ever, as a slimy private eye, Giancarlo Esposito as Maxine’s agent all work to bring the film into a well-rounded and deliciously acted ensemble. It’s Halsey who makes a big impression. She isn’t in the film long, but her turn as an ill-fated friend of Maxine’s is haunting and strong. Her acting is as strong as her music. “MaXXXine” is terrifically brutal, holds back no punches, has a lot of fun, and goes on to prove that Mia Goth is an amazingly talented actress. Throw in some amazing 80’s cuts on the soundtrack, and you have one of the greatest conclusions to any horror series in recent memory. Ti West has given us a perfect horror trilogy. Absolutely perfect. Say, where’s the alligator? Oh, he’s on the TV this time. He’ll see ya later!

7. "The Brutalist"

László Tóth (Adrien Brody) is a man with a dream. Having survived the holocaust, he has immigrated to America, Pennsylvania specifically. He’s an artist, specifically working the brutalist style of architecture and buildings. While he waits for his wife Erzébet (Felicity Jones) and niece Zsófia (Raffey Cassidy) to correspond with him to immigrate over as well, his work draws the eyes of Harrison Van Buren (Guy Pearce), who gives him his biggest commission yet. But, at what cost? The film is divided into two parts, both roughly 100 minutes apiece with a fifteen minute intermission halfway through. Given the film's length at 215 Minutes and that this is my first time seeing a film with an intermission, My biggest worry was that the film wouldn’t maintain its rhythm or momentum after a break, but that wasn’t the case here. During the film, I frequently flashed back to Writer, Producer and Director Brady Corbet’s acceptance speech for Best Director at the Golden Globes, one moment in particular: him thanking his wife and young daughter, and as the little girl looks at her father through momentous and joyous tears, I’m reminded that filmmaking, when done well and with remarkable talent, can be worth the world, but not as much as the love and adoration of one’s own child. Not only is the film extremely well written and captivatingly paced (and for a film clocking in at 215 minutes, it better not be a slog), the film rests on the shoulders of its exquisite cast. Adrien Brody has given quite possibly the best performance of his career as László, a man driven by ambition, success, and fulfillment. He is so brilliant and magnetic here, one could listen to him and follow this character for hours on end. Felicity Jones is heartbreakingly pure and gentle as Erzébet as her character finds her hopes and dreams not turning out like she had planned. Guy Pearce is phenomenal as Van Buren, a Jay Gatsby-esque persona who has loads of money and the attitude to go with it. Top things off with a beautiful score and tremendously rich cinematography, and you have one of the best films of 2024. It’s a film you need to devote your time to, and you’ll find it worth it every step of the way.

6. "Love Lies Bleeding"

Once Lou (Kristen Stewart) and Jackie (Katy O’Brian) meet, more than sparks fly. Lou, a gym worker, and Jackie, a body builder with a hulking frame, meet by fate, and fate leads them down some dark and twisted paths. Rose Glass impressed with her 2021 debut “Saint Maud”, and now with “Love Lies Bleeding”, she more than proves that she’s a freaking force to be reckoned with. This is an all-out fantastic thrill-ride, masterfully crafted and beautifully executed with class, bravado and ease, the film is a stunning masterclass in tension and writing. The script is tightly and sharply conceived, so much so that even if one kind of knows where things are going, it hardly matters due to how well-strung everything is. The music score is pulsing and intense, but at its center are three fantastic performances. Kristen Stewart is frantic, yet confident as Lou, arguably the heart of the film and the most down to earth. She hardly wants to be caught up in these predicaments, but a girls gotta do what a girls’s gotta do. Katy O’Brian is amazing as Jackie, a hard working woman who gets swept up in drug abuse and starts becoming a shell of her former self. As she becomes distanced from who she is, the more fascinating her arc becomes. Finally, Ed Harris is crazy great as Lou’s dad. He is quietly psycho and a wonderful offset to the pair’s doings. Not a false note is struck and not a bad time is to be had, at least for me. I loved the hell out of “Love Lies Bleeding” and urge everyone reading this to see it. A24, my darling, you’ve done it again.

5. "The Fall Guy"

“Stunt people are the unsung heroes” Colt Seavers (Ryan Gosling) narrates at the start, over clips of Charlize Theron swinging down one story to kick ass in “Atomic Blonde” and Paul Walker jumping from a train to a car in “Fast Five”. Colt is a stuntman himself, the best in the Biz. After an accident leaves his career stagnant, he’s called back into action for a film called “Metal Storm”, a Cyberpunk “Dune” ripoff (with music cues that strangely sound like an askew version of Hans Zimmer’s “Dune” score). Two problems: the director his his Ex Jody (Emily Blunt), a tough girl who may or may not still have feelings for him, and Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) the star of the film is missing. Whatever is a stuntman to do except barrel forward. “The Fall Guy” is loosely based on the Lee Majors and Heather Thomas TV show, but as a film, I adored everything about it. If I was 7 or 8, this might’ve been my favorite movie ever made and that’s not intended to be an insult. It’s just that much fun. The comedy meshes really well into the film, never feeling out of place or forced, and the script is very sharp, very well done. It’s no secret at all that stunt people are frequently left out of any award ceremonies and why that is, I’m not sure; they work a very dangerous job, they deserve SOMETHING. That the film works as a love letter to those very people is terrific. The action sequences are frequently awesome, some of the best so far this year; you have a car doing 8 and a half cannon rolls (a world record from what I’ve read up), a very thrilling chase through the streets of Sydney on a garbage truck, a climactic stunt that goes nuts and frenetic, it’s all executed with style, grace and wonderful choreography. The performances are first rate; Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt are not only both charming and funny in their own right, but there’s definitely palpable chemistry between their two characters. Winston Duke is fantastic as Dan, the head of the stunt team who helps Colt and quoted “Rocky Balboa”, “The Fast And The Furious” and “The Last Of The Mohicans”. Aaron Taylor-Johnson is super great as the smug as all hell Tom Ryder. Tom is a person who believes his shit doesn’t stink, and I’ve met a few Tom’s in my life, so I felt his performance was accurate. Whoever was in charge of picking this soundtrack for the movie, I hope your significant other kisses you hard on the mouth because this is one of the best soundtracks for a movie I’ve ever heard. “I Was Made For Loving You” by KISS? CLASSIC. The later cover by YUNGBLD? AWESOME. “I Believe In A Thing Called Love” by The Darkness (played over the cheesy footage of “Metal Storm”)? BRILLIANT. “Against All Odds” by Phil Collins? CLASSIC. “All To Well (Taylor’s Version)”? GREAT CHOICE! I could go on, but “The Fall Guy” is a frickin’ blast. I had so much fun and so much love for it. It’s a movie with a beating heart for stunt people and movies themselves. Audiences would be wise to stick around all through the credits; there’s a nice surprise. 

4. "A Real Pain"

Cousins David (Jesse Eisenberg) and Benji (Kieran Culkin) are heading to Poland. Their grandmother recently passed away and she left behind some money for them to travel to the country to see where she came from. David and Benji are very loving to one another, but both are very opposite; David being more quiet and Benji being more outspoken. This is where “A Real Pain” really works, and boy does it ever work, in seeing the dichotomy of these two characters flowing together or working against each other. This is a buddy movie, and it’s one that has real patience and a tremendous heart in dealing with its characters. Truth be told, I saw a lot of myself in both of these guys, specifically David, as he’s more anxious and nervous to try anything. He tends to keep his emotions bottled up until they inevitably come spilling out when he has reached his limit, something I’ve done frequently. Benji is very outgoing, but has problems of his own, mainly not seeing himself as ever someone that’s good enough while trying very desperately not to let that show to anyone else. A late scene where he breaks down sobbing on a train ride after one of their tour stops is one that resonated. Jesse Eisenberg is extremely great as David, though to be fair, it’s a type of role we’ve seen him in frequently before. He fits in very well. It’s Kieran Culkin who deserves end of the year accolades as Benji. He is so fantastic and so real, that it’s difficult to tell where the performance ends and the character ceases existing. Watching this, I was frequently reminded of my friendship with Matthew Barnhart; Culkin’s performance mirrors a lot of his mannerisms and his easygoing, carefree nature, and anyone who’s friends with Matt (and it’s difficult not to find him loving and infectious) will understand exactly what I mean. “A Real Pain” is one of the absolute best films of the year; a film that speaks to multiple people on multiple levels, puts its finger right on the pulse of actual human beings and treats them with dignity, grace and class, and raises a lot of “maybe’s” for me: Maybe I should be more outgoing. Maybe I should breakdown and cry more. Maybe I should check in on people more often. Maybe I should scream in a big empty field when I need to express myself more. Maybe, just maybe, I should try smoking weed. I’ve been told many times to do so.

3. "Wicked: Part I"

“Wicked” is probably the most popular Broadway show of all time. There were friends in school obsessed with this, with them reading the original novel by Gregory Maguire and frequently recreating the iconic Broadway poster art in art classes or just for fun. As I see from the week leading into opening weekend, from preview screenings and on, they have ventured to see the film and absolutely adore it. As Molly and I were seated and reclined back, we couldn’t help but agree: this is not only a marvelous and fantastic film, but it’s also one of the very best films of the year, if not the best. “Wicked: Part I” (“Part II” is due out this time next year) is a grand affair, tackling a lot and yet moving by so fast, a feat given its 160 minute runtime. First of all, the production design here is absolutely first rate and top of the line. I’ve complained endlessly about movies having 200-250 million dollar budgets and their movies looking like complete garbage (I’m looking directly at you “Red One”). This movie has a $150 million budget and every single cent has been graciously and laboriously poured into this production, from the dazzling visuals, to the sumptuous costumes, to the top of the line visual effects; they used their budget perfectly here. The musical numbers are staggering and breathtaking. Performance wise, the film does no wrong. Cynthia Erivo proved in her fantastic debut “Bad Times At The El Royale” that she has a voice and knows good and well how to use it. She brings layers and pathos to Elphaba that rarely any other actress could give. She makes the performance sterling and the role her own. She was portrayed by the Wicked-ly talented Adele Dazeem in the original show (Idina Menzel), but Erivo is brilliant. As Glinda, Ariana Grande is first rate fantastic. Not only does she have one of the best albums of 2024 with her “Eternal Sunshine”, but she gives a commanding and confident performance. While watching the film, I was constantly reminded of the late, forever great Brittany Murphy in her performance, an actress that had a lot of fun roles as the sort of ditzy, but put together woman and I saw a lot of that in Grande’s turn. Kristen Chenoweth originated this role on Broadway, and these aren’t imitation performances. Erivo is not trying to emulate Margaret Hamilton and Grande isn’t copying Billie Burke; they are their own, and they are phenomenal. Supporting work from Michelle Yeoh, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Bowen Yang and vocal work from Peter Dinklage are all first rate, though there is one minor quibble: Dinklage voices Doctor Dillamond, a professor at the school who happens to be a talking goat. This is treated normally, while Elphaba takes everyone aback with her skin color. You’re telling me a talking goat is ok, but someone with green skin is something we need to adjust to? Odd, but easily dismissible. By the time the film concluded, and it was time for us to go, Molly turned to me and said “I need and want Part II right now.” ME TOO. “Wicked: Part I” is an amazing film; one bursting with imagination, heart, whimsy and pure unadulterated fun. I can’t imagine too many people being unhappy with this, and if you are, that’s a shame; how does it feel to not have fun?

2. "I Saw The TV Glow"

When they were younger, Owen (Justice Smith)and Maddy (Brigette Lundy-Paine) were enamored by a cheesy TV show called “The Pink Opaque”. This show connects them in ways one can’t even begin to explain. That’s where any plot discussion will end here, because the fun of “I Saw The TV Glow” is in discovering its peculiar oddities scene by scene. This is superbly written and fully executed film, one of the years most enjoyable so far. By fully embracing its weirder elements, the film succeeds in several ways, most notably wrapping the audience up and enamoring them much like Owen and Maddy are enamored with this show. The show itself is quite something: it follows two teenage girls who meet at summer camp and then psychically connect with each other to defeat monsters, but one of them might not be real (it gets a little weird and confusing). The scenes showing the show are interesting and yet we understand fully someone being infatuated with it. Justice Smith, a performer I’m becoming more in tune with, gives his best turn yet as the awkward, shy and quiet Owen. He is incredibly strong here and his work helps the viewer fully go along with him right away. As Maddy, Brigette Lundy-Paine is also quiet and awkward, but not shy. She seems to have a better handle on things… for a bit. Danielle Deadwyler is warm as Owen’s mom, and showing up as herself in a performance sequence is artist Phoebe Bridgers, and it’s always nice to see an icon such as herself on screen. Another icon? Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst turns in a very small role as Owen’s dad, and while his screen time isn’t more than two minutes, he’s quite good! I’d love to see him branch out to do more stuff like this. Culminating in some terrific color grading and wonderful special effects, “I Saw The TV Glow” is an honest to goodness treasure. Don’t miss it.

1. "Anora"

Her name is Ani, short for Anora (Mikey Madison). She may be a dancer, a stripper, an escort, but she has more confidence and self worth than that. When she meets Ivan (Mark Eydelshteyn), a Russian party animal, she is hooked instantly. They decide to get married on a whim, which should be easy! It’s anything but. Writer and director Sean Baker has a keen eye for creating passionate stories about the underdogs in society, like single mothers trying to make the best of a bad situation in “The Florida Project” and an out of work actor in “Red Rocket”. This is no different with his latest “Anora”, an immensely wild, chaotic and above all passionate film that takes straps you into a rollercoaster and goes through the ups, downs and loop-de-loops for 139 minutes. This is an extremely phenomenal piece of work that not only treats its audience with respect, but its characters with the humanity and respect they so deserve. Ani is anything but a slut, but deep down she feels as if she can’t operate normally without a feeling of guilt. She’s also headstrong and take charge when need be, and believe me, she doesn’t take any shit. Mikey Madison, having impressed mightily in “Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood” and 2022’s “Scream”, gives the best performance of the year here as Anora. She is fantastic and emotionally a firecracker. She is the sole reason why this film works as wonderfully as it does. Anora, above all else, wants to prove that she doesn’t need anyone else’s help, and every single emotion is felt and seen vibrantly by Madison. As Ivan, Mark Eydelshteyn is also terrific. He doesn’t have life figured out to fight out of a wet paper bag, but he’s earnest, fun and ignorant. “Anora” is a film that’s bold, that takes chances, that is masterful in its execution, and a film I wholeheartedly loved. This is the best film of the year.