Movies in 2024
04 Jan 2025Following up on the pattern set by my 2023 end of year wrap up, here are the movies that I watched in 2024 that warranted commentary.
Inside Out 2
Watching this in the theater, it was very clear that the little kids around me were having a very different experience than I was. To them, brightly colored characters did silly things. To me, it was incredibly triggering. Usually we talk about movies together right after; but this one I couldn’t for a while. Don’t get me wrong, it’s good. It’s just that the subject matter was a bit too real. It tackled losing friendship and had a particularly accurate portrayal of a panic attack… lots of material not exactly directed at super young kids. I was more expecting the gut punch of Bing Bong from the first Inside Out, but Pixar outmaneuvered and managed to knock me flat in a new way.
Watched in the theater, now streaming on Disney+
Poor Things
This is a very weird movie. It’s also incredibly creative, visually so and in many other ways. It’s also more than a little uncomfortable to watch. Be prepared for a story that explores sexuality and consent. It’s the journey of a woman who starts as a creation, treated as a possession, and ends up as her own free spirit. But halfway through the movie it’s not so clear if it’s going to work out or not. The whole experience is surreal and challenging and incredible.
Watched in the theater, now streaming on Hulu
Saltburn
An intense and beautiful story of duplicitous social climbing that ends with you questioning everything you just saw.
Now streaming on Amazon
The Wild Robot
I listened to the audiobook of The Wild Robot on a family road trip. It’s a pleasant story of a robot adapting to live with animals and becoming more “human” (not the right term here, but I think you get me). The book started out feeling maybe a bit too young in tone but hit its stride by the end. The movie adaptation is great and visually stunning.
Watched in the theater, now available to rent
Deadpool & Wolverine
It’s absolutely a Deadpool movie, which means it isn’t for everyone. It certainly isn’t for my tween daughter who knows exactly who the Immportal Mr. Murderhands is standing as a the cardboard cutout in the theater lobby. But if you’re adult, and you’re in for some crass, and you’re in for some cameos (like… a lot of cameos), then this movie is a good time. Deadpool as a character is really improved by having Wolverine as a straight man to contrast his antics. And opening the movie with a macabre dance number set to the Backstreet Boys was a great choice.
Watched in the theater, now streaming on Disney+
Dune: Part Two
I’m very much enjoying these latest movie adaptions of Dune, and the second film continues to be a visual and auditory delight. In particular this one doesn’t pull its punches on whether Paul is a problematic messiah figure. It gets messy and weird, as it should.
Watched in the theater, now streaming on Netflix
Bodies Bodies Bodies
Do you want to watch a bunch of 20-somethings in a vacation rental make terrible decisions, unravel, and mostly end up dead? The experience was very much enhanced by the way the characters employ therapy-speak as seemingly-self-aware but also incredibly flawed.
Not streaming anywhere, but available to rent
Unbearble Weight of Massive Talent
You’ll know if this bromance action movie featuring Nick Cage (as himself) and Pedro Pascal (not as himself) appeals to you or not based on the trailer. It’s funny, it’s charming.
Not streaming anywhere, but available to rent
And the Rest
Here are some other movies I had thoughts on.
- Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga: Fury Road is a perfect movie, and this is perhaps less perfect. But it’s still a high energy trip of crazy action with great set pieces in the wasteland. I had a good time.
- Fall Guy: I love this movie’s dedication to working spectacular stunts into the plot, winking at the audienc the whole time. Which can happen because the plot is about a stunt man and his romantic relationship with the director.
- Godzilla Minus One: I watched a bunch of movies when I got COVID, most of which I experienced in a half-dazed state (and thus won’t be judging here). But this one was the best of them. For a giant monster movie, this feels very grounded and very human.
- American Fiction: The story of a writer with a too-real premise, where primarily it’s a dry comedy about life, family, and relationships.
- Warcraft: Okay, maybe I’ll indulge in some bedridden commentary. I also took on Warcraft. It’s not a great movie. But is it wrong that I wanted them to continue to cover many of the other Wacraft III/World of Warcraft storylines that I’m fond of? What I’m saying is they made a Murloc reference and I just want more of that.
- Moana 2: This sequel didn’t hit the highs of Moana, but I didn’t really expect that. Mostly it suffered for reminding me of a better movie. It was an engaging spectacle, but it never fully came together. There were songs, they didn’t hit as hard as the previous ones. There are new characters, and some were nice but mostly the repetition made me feel like the world was smaller, not bigger.
- Lisa Frankenstein: This movie was an almost. It tells the story of a woman befriending and unintentionally befriending a corpse. She from there turns a bit vengeful and… murdery. There’s a big dose of quirk and 80’s camp here… but it doesn’t quite have the nuance to take you on its journey. Sometimes it lands and sometimes it’s funny, I wouldn’t wave anyone away from it, but neither would I recommend it.
- Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire: I thought the new cast in Afterlife actually did a decent job of giving us a new Ghostbusters story. Steeped in nostalgia, sure. But it also brought things forward. Frozen Empire feels like it indulges in that nostalgia well a bit too heartily, crowding things and not focusing on letting the new cast stand on its own. The end result was middling.
- Migration: For all the time I spent in theaters in 2023, I saw the trailer for this far too many times. We went to see it with kids and… well that’s who it’s for. It’s brightly colored and there are gags and it’s… fine. Safe. Perfectly acceptible family entertainment.
- Orion and the Dark: I know we watched this. I looked up the trailers and some reviews to jog my memory. Still fuzzy. Either I feel asleep or it’s just thoroughly forgettable. Not sure which is worse.