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2024 Review

30 Dec

By L. Tanner Smith

Okay, let’s address the elephant in the room. I only wrote 4 reviews this year–and two of them were for films that aren’t released to the public yet. I don’t know what it is, but ever since I quit being a film critic and became more of a “film appreciator,” I’ve been writing less about how I appreciate movies. Odd.

But I still love year-end lists. So, here’s mine for 2024!

As usual, here are the films I missed that I’ve seen on many 2024 lists: Anora, Babygirl, The Brutalist, Emilia Perez, The Fire Inside, Nosferatu, Sing Sing, Wicked. And here are the great films from last year that I caught up with this year: American Fiction, Influencer, Killers of the Flower Moon, and Poor Things.

Oh, and there’s one that had a very limited theatrical release at the very end of 2023 before releasing on Hulu the first week of January 2024: Andrew (Lean on Pete) Haigh’s All of Us Strangers. I wondered, do I classify it as a 2023 film or is it technically a 2024 film? Well…whatever the case, I’ll give it a Special Mention here–it’s a beautiful film, very original, with great performances by Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal, and not what I expected at all. That’s all I need to say about it because the less you know going into it, the better.

One last thing before getting to the Honorable Mentions of my 2024 list: Johanna Putnam’s Shudderbugs, the best film I’ve seen in the past five years, still hasn’t been released yet. But it’s likely to be on my list of any year’s best–and I saw 3 films in 2024 (my top 3 on the list, obviously) that hit me directly in the feels, which still makes a satisfactory list for me. Other terrific films awaiting release: Patrick (They Wait in the Dark) Rea’s The Night is Young, Bruce (Surfacing) Hutchinson’s Mountain Flowers, Emily Railsback’s American Parent, and (a homer pick) Valeri Bates’ Finding Joy.

Now, the Honorable Mentions: Thelma, Brats, Turtles All the Way Down, The Fall Guy, Late Night With the Devil, Steve! (Martin) A Documentary in 2 Pieces, The Bikeriders, Carry-On, All Happy Families, The Idea of You, Blink Twice, Didi, Smile 2, Self Reliance, Dune Part Two, The Piano Lesson, Earlybird, Young Woman and the Sea, Kneecap, Love Lies Bleeding, Suncoast, Blitz, I Used to Be Funny, Babes, Parachute, Late Bloomers, Bonhoeffer, Maria, and Nutcrackers. (Whew! I did see a lot of good films this year.)

And now, let’s get into it: my list of Top 20 Favorite Films of 2024!

20) The Best Christmas Pageant Ever–Mike Flanagan said this year that “life is tough. The older I get, the more I value finding the rare movie that just lifts me up, and gives me a few hours of pure, unadulterated happiness.” And that’s exactly how I feel about Dallas (The Chosen) Jenkins’ superb adaptation of a beautiful Christmas story I’ve treasured since childhood. (That, and it’s also very funny.)

19) Am I OK?–This beautiful friendship story, by directors Tig Notaro and Stephanie Allynne, features two incredible grounded performances from Dakota Johnson and Sonoya Mizuno as two besties who are each going through a transition period and unsure how to relate to one another about it. But they’re true friends; they’ll be alright no matter what. Available on Max.

18) Rebel Ridge–Jeremy (Green Room) Saulnier delivers another first-rate thriller that begins with discomfort and proceeds with a ride that plays like First Blood meets Coming Home. (If I were still a critic, I’d regret that cheesy comparison blurb.) What I like most about Saulnier’s work: nothing is quite as it seems. Available on Netflix.

17) Lover, Stalker, Killer–We get a lot of true-crime documentaries on Netflix these days; this one stood out to me earlier this year. Director Sam Hobkinson chronicles a bizarre, twisted love triangle gone seriously wrong–and if the title, “Lover, Stalker, Killer,” gives everything away…trust me, it doesn’t. Available on Netflix.

16) Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga–George Miller’s still got it! His fifth “Mad Max” film is every bit as entertaining as the best of the others in the franchise. And you know what–I think the thing I’m going to look forward to the most in the next film is the amount of crazy names in this world: this one includes Dementus, Scrotus, Erectus…

15) A Quiet Place: Day One–While A Quiet Place Part II ended on a hopeful triumphant note, I was still curious to see a spin-off film in the “Quiet Place” franchise, to see how other people deal with the invasion of sound-hunting alien monsters, in other areas. And setting it in the city of Manhattan was a great start. Add the interesting and loving dynamic of Lupita N’yongo & Joseph Quinn as two strangers who survive together (along with a cute cat), and director Michael (Pig) Sarnoski has taken the series in a fresh direction. (Also, I didn’t realize from the previous two movies how many of these creatures could be in one location…now I know, and it’s terrifying.)

14) A Complete Unknown–Timothée Chalamet becomes Bob Dylan, Monica Barbaro becomes Joan Baez, and this biopic from James (Walk the Line) Mangold is another for the cinema history books. This is actually one of the better biopics in recent memory, in my opinion.

13) Woman of the Hour–Anna Kendrick’s directorial debut takes her to a 1978 recording of TV’s “The Dating Game” where she is choosing between three eligible bachelors…one of whom is a killer. Based on the true story of when serial killer Rodney Alcala (played here in a chillingly charismatic performance by Daniel Zovatto) hid in plain sight and appeared as a “Dating Game” contestant, this is a four-star thriller with subtle chills, still-relevant social commentary, and plenty of skillful directing that has me curious for Kendrick’s next filmmaking effort. Available on Netflix.

12) Speak No Evil–The Dutch-Danish film this Blumhouse remake is based on is very much about the perils of being too polite in an uncomfortable situation and how that discomfort escalates when you want to just shout “LET’S JUST GET OUT OF HERE ALREADY!!!” …I actually kind of prefer this American-English reimagining for one particular reason: these characters try harder to fight their way out, and that’s all I’ll say about that. (Hey, it’s a lot better than the changes made in the American remake of The Vanishing.) But it also gave me one of my favorite moviegoing experiences of the year (I love seeing horror films with an excited audience), kept me on-edge throughout, and had me wondering, “Would I fall for James McAvoy’s charms too?”

11) His Three Daughters–The ensemble cast in this beautiful character-based drama (from writer-director Azazel Jacobs) has already won the Robert Altman Award at the 2025 Film Independent Spirit Awards. And for good reason: they are this film. Leads Carrie Coon, Elizabeth Olsen, & Natasha Lyonne are as great together as they are individually, and Jovan Adepo, Jay O. Sanders, and the rest of the cast are just as terrific. This is only #11?? Available on Netflix.

10) Ghostlight–I made a mistake not including the indie gem Saint Frances on my 2020 list; I won’t leave the filmmakers’ sophomore film off the 2024 list. This treasure, helmed by Alex Thompson & Kelly O’Sullivan, is a loving tribute to community theater and the unique way it can help through certain aspects of life. All of the actors are great, the script is beautiful, the message about the power of theater is lovely, and the entire result of Ghostlight reassures me that these people have a lot of talent to share to the world. I can’t wait to see what they do next.

9) Hit Man–One of the most entertaining films of the year came to Netflix from one of my all-time favorite filmmakers (Richard Linklater) and one of today’s most promising actors (Glen Powell). Because of the story, involving a fake hit man who aids the police in sting operations and then gets wrapped up in a particular case, I was afraid of it being a little predictable–but I loved that I didn’t know where it was going. And Powell turns in an exceptional comic performance as a guy who constantly flirts with danger. Available on Netflix.

8) White Bird–You don’t have to have seen the 2017 treasure Wonder to get the impact of this spin-off film, in which one of its characters (Julian, reprised by Bryce Gheisar) is told by his grandmother (Helen Mirren) how she, as a teenage girl in the 1940s, found love and kindness in unexpected ways while hiding from the Nazis in occupied France. Though, it does help a bit with the extra layer of context. But even without it, this film, by Marc (Stranger Than Fiction) Forster, works as a wonderful and inspiring coming-of-age story (with outstanding work from two young newcomers: Ariella Glaser & Orlando Schwerdt) that reminds us of why we still need films like it in our lives.

7) The Wild Robot–2024 delivered many films that got me in the feels; and this one came from DreamWorks Animation, to whom I’m grateful for animated gems such as the first two Shrek movies, the Kung Fu Panda and How to Train Your Dragon movies, and The Prince of Egypt…and I think this one might set a new standard for them. I loved it–it’s funny, it’s exciting, it’s endearing, and yes, it’s incredibly heartfelt.

6) Small Things Like These–I’ve already listed films (Hit Man, His Three Daughters) that included some of my favorite leading characters of 2024…Cillian Murphy’s Irish coal merchant Bill Furlong is probably my favorite character of the 2020s so far. Here’s a genuinely good guy who could have had a horrible upbringing if not for the kindness of a caring soul, and we thank God he’s the reliable family man and businessman that he is…and also pray that he does the right thing when he notices someone else could use the same amount of help that he received. He’s an unlikely hero in a small yet grand film that I won’t forget anytime soon.

5) Saturday Night–One of the most entertaining films of the year, from director Jason Reitman, is a dramatization about the taping of the very first “Saturday Night Live.” I just had a blast watching this film. All of the actors do excellent work playing the cast and crew behind the scenes; every single one of them could star in a biopic about their respective counterparts (my favorites include Nicholas Braun as Jim Henson and Dylan O’Brien as Dan Aykroyd). The filmmaking plays with maneuvering-around-the-set choreography almost like a musical, never making for a dull moment. And the overall effect is seeing a passion project come to life–and it’s all the more impactful when we know how long it will last.

4) The 4:30 Movie–30 years after Kevin Smith made a name for himself with Clerks…and this is how we treat his most heartfelt film to date: with a Sundance rejection and one week in limited theaters? No. This fun, nostalgic, even sentimental comedy from one of my favorite people in pop culture deserved much better treatment. I’ll have to write a full review for this one to full illustrate the effect it had on me. But for now, I’ll say that it contains my personal favorite scene of 2024, in which our teenage hero Brian (Austin Zajur) discovers the local cinema’s Hot Usher (Genesis Rodriguez) shares his passion for film and even bestows some much-needed advice: “We’re filmmakers. We just haven’t made our films…yet.” Golf-clap, Mr. Smith.

Okay…now for the 3 films that gave me the most hard-hitting emotional experiences of 2024:

3) A Real Pain–This is a road movie about connection, resentment, and finding the humor in both; and it’s a beautiful film, with two great performances at the center from Jesse Eisenberg & current awards-contender Kieran Culkin. Eisenberg also wrote and directed the film, and he acquits himself beautifully as a filmmaker with a genuine heart as well as a mix of melancholy and humor. The film is warm, insightful, and funny. I can’t wait to see it again, if for no other reason than to be in the company of these two leads again.

2) Inside Out 2–Disney & Pixar has a wonderful new franchise on their hands. With personalized emotions seeing our everyperson protagonist through difficult phases of life, just think of the possibilities in future sequels. The first Inside Out, which topped my 2015 list, was about the importance of sadness; this extraordinary sequel is about working with anxiety (which is something a lot of adults could use too). If the Toy Story franchise is Disney/Pixar’s most entertaining, then the Inside Out franchise is their most important.

And my favorite film of 2024 is…

  1. My Old Ass–Right after I saw this wonderfully moving and funny fantasy-comedy-drama in a theater, I knew that I wouldn’t like any film better than it. I can admit that I’ve seen some objectively better films (like Small Things Like These and A Real Pain). But Megan (The Fallout) Park’s My Old Ass is my absolute favorite film of 2024. This is a beautiful story about a narrow-minded, self-centered Gen-Zer (Maisy Stella, a revelation) who, upon a magical encounter with her future self (Aubrey Plaza), learns life lessons upon trying different challenges, thinking of other people in her life, and simply living. It’s a summertime coming-of-age story with a magical twist. And it includes a scene in the final act that hits hard and makes everything that came before it even more impactful upon hindsight and a repeated viewing. It’s a small miracle–one that I’ll keep coming back to again and again. Available on Prime.

And here’s a funny little coincidence: this marks the second year in a row in which a Canadian film topped my year-end list (the other being BlackBerry in 2023).

Well, that’s another year I’ve had to leave Shudderbugs off the list. But both BlackBerry and My Old Ass were good substitutes for the top spots. And that’s the film to beat, for me, in 2025. So let’s see what happens!

Saturday Night (2024)

11 Nov

Smith’s Verdict: ****
Reviewed by Tanner Smith

A lot of people (myself included) have trash-talked “Saturday Night Live” many times–but, considering how many people find themselves nostalgic for each previous SNL decade run (plus its recent season-50 premiere is really popular), maybe we should just shut up and appreciate that it’s still going.

Jason Reitman’s “Saturday Night” is a dramatization about the taping of the first “SNL” (back when it was just called “Saturday Night,” hence the title of the movie) and all the anxiety and chaos that went into it when it seemed doomed to fail.

Taking place in real time, we follow the young pioneering producer/creator Lorne Michaels (Gabriel LaBelle, from “The Fabelmans”) in the hour-and-a-half leading up to the live recording of what would be the start of a game-changing sketch-comedy show that would feel like the best kind of Saturday night party on TV. The camera whips us all around to the sets, dressing rooms, and backstage hallways of Studio 8H, as Lorne tries his best to work a three-hour rehearsal in a 90-minute show, control his colorful cast of up-and-coming comedians, bump heads with producers, writers, and other creatives (like Jim Henson, who worries about the presentation of his Muppets), and just try to put on a good show.

It’s easy to compare this anxiety-induced backstage story to Birdman (hard to believe that film came out nearly a decade ago). But there’s one very important factor to consider in the comparison–“Saturday Night” actually captures the joy that goes into a passion project such as this. Yes, we see Lorne be stressed out, angry, and bitter at times, much like Riggan Thomson in “Birdman”–but those moments wouldn’t work as well if we didn’t feel Lorne’s passion for this project or see the immense pride and delight in his face when things go well. They help us see what’s on his mind, why he’s so eager to entertain and pull it off, and especially why we want to see “Saturday Night” succeed (which we know it will).

“Saturday Night” was directed by Jason Reitman, who makes very interesting choices with each film. (Thank You For Smoking and Juno are my favorites of his, and I also admire “Young Adult,” “Tully,” and “Ghostbusters: Afterlife.” Maybe I should revisit Men, Women & Children–I hated it when I first saw it; but, since I’m not a critic anymore, maybe I can see something more to it now.) Reitman co-wrote the script with Gil Kenan, and I can’t say how much I appreciate Reitman & Kenan’s partnership. Kenan was the director of the awesome and successful “Monster House” in 2006 and it’s like Hollywood just spat him back out after the failure of City of Ember (which I happen to really like, btw; my family and I were among the rare few who saw that in a theater). I’m glad that with the new “Ghostbusters” movies and now “Saturday Night,” Reitman is giving Kenan another career uprise.

Now…where do I even begin in talking about the large ensemble cast at work here? It’s largely LaBelle’s star vehicle, as the film is seen through Lorne’s experience of events, and he’s great here. But there are so many other actors who deserve credit for their excellent work in respective roles, so…I’m just list off the ones that impressed me the most:

Dylan O’Brien as Dan Aykroyd. Cory Michael Smith (Gotham) as Chevy Chase. J.K. Simmons as Milton Berle. Matt Wood as John Belushi. Lamorne Morris as Garret Morris. Rachel Sennott (impressing me more with each film) as writer Rosie Shuster. Nicholas Podany as Billy Crystal (I swear, it’s like they went back in time and brought back the actual young Billy Crystal for this part). Cooper Hoffman as network suit Dick Ebersol. Matthew Rhys as George Carlin. Andrew Barth Feldman (“No Hard Feelings”) as Lorne’s cousin and assistant. Tommy Dewey as Michael O’Donaghue. And on and on and on, and I haven’t even mentioned the great Willem Dafoe as network suit David Tebet yet!!

My personal favorite was Nicholas Braun, who has a dual role as the eccentric Jim Henson and (of course) even more eccentric Andy Kaufman. I have seen this actor in many films in nearly two decades, from “Sky High” to “Red State” to The Perks of Being a Wallflower to The Stanford Prison Experiment to last year’s “Cat Person” (just to name a few–and of course, he’s great in “Succession”), and I applaud wholeheartedly his great efforts in both roles here.

I believe “Saturday Night” will stand the test of time not as a cynical by-the-numbers biopic but as a wickedly entertaining, very funny, and even sentimental (without being cloying) portrait of the craziness that goes into game-changing entertainment.

And I’m eager to see it again very soon.

My Old Ass (2024)

11 Nov

Smith’s Verdict: ****
Reviewed by Tanner Smith

Well, this was a beautiful film!

For the remainder of 2024, I might see objectively better films. But I don’t know if I’ll like them as much as this one.

“My Old Ass” is about 18-year-old Elliott (Maisy Stella), who enjoys her last summer days in small-town Canada and her family’s cranberry farm before she leaves it all to go to college in Toronto…by basically just doing what most kids at that age do: hang out with friends, do drugs, have passionate affairs, and just not take anything seriously. It’s at her campout birthday celebration with her friends (while she doesn’t know her family is waiting to surprise her with a cake back home–knowing what the rest of the film has in store, this bit hits harder in hindsight) when…her 39-year-old self (played by Aubrey Plaza) appears out of nowhere and connects with her.

Side-note: I love that it’s never explained how the time-travel element works–it’s more Groundhog Day magic than Back to the Future science (fiction). Whatever the case, that encounter was real (and not a shroom trip). Elliott is able to communicate with her older self via smartphone, and Older-Elliott advises her to spend more time with her family and DEFINITELY stay away from anyone named “Chad.”

Cue the arrival of the cute new summer worker on the family farm…Chad. When Chad (Percy Hynes White), a charismatic, quirky, charming lad, has a meet-cute with Elliott, she keeps him at a distance, knowing SOMETHING must be wrong with this guy if Older-Elliott is insistent that she stay away from him. But it’s just not easy because Chad is just so…NICE. She can’t help but be attracted to him. She might even be in love with him…

“My Old Ass” plays like a heartwarming, grounded summer-that-changed-everything story with a sci-fi/fantasy edge. Elliott is in the last stages of youth and about to embark on the road to adulthood, and because of this experience with her adult self giving her advice (appreciate her mother, spend more time with her brothers, etc.), her eyes open up, she realizes what truly matters in life, and she slowly develops from a narrow-minded, immature child to an adult (er, a real good start to being an adult).

In addition, Elliott’s attraction to Chad causes Elliott, who identifies as gay, to question her sexuality–and one of my favorite scenes in the film is a wonderfully written and tender moment between her and a friend (Kerrice Brooks), in which they discuss Elliott’s feelings, contemplate the point of labels (“Am I bi…am I pan…”), and have a genuine heart-to-heart together. There are other scenes like that, including a lovely moment between Elliott and her mother (Maria Dizzia) and one of the early instances of first-love between Elliott and Chad (who bestows deep insight about moments in time we don’t realize are going to be treasured memories), that you realize what the story is doing (and doing well).

And I won’t give it away, but there is another face-to-face encounter with Older-Elliott late in the film–and it hits HARD. That was the moment that made me truly LOVE this film.

“My Old Ass” is the second film written and directed by Megan Park, whose first film was the terrific The Fallout. What I love about Park’s work, evidenced by these two films, is that she can balance broad comedy and tender drama while having them both belong in the same movie. (It’s not as easy as you think–often when filmmakers try this, either the comedy doesn’t hit or the drama isn’t moving enough; but I still applaud the efforts. Park knocks it out of the…ball field.)

This is one of my favorite films of 2024. I can’t recommend it enough.

“My Old Ass” is available on Prime.

The Night is Young (2024)

14 Aug

Smith’s Verdict: ***1/2
Reviewed by Tanner Smith

Whoa, this is my first post on this blog in over seven months? Huh…well, I’ll get back to posting regularly sooner or later.

Today, I checked out Patrick (They Wait in the Dark) Rea’s found-footage LGBTQ vampire flick “The Night is Young.”

Actually, I watched it twice. The first time, I thought it was uneven but with enough good parts to warrant a second viewing, after which I enjoyed the film a lot more.

Lesson learned: don’t always go with your first emotion because then you won’t see the forest for the trees.

I was hooked from the film’s central idea of an influencer chronicling her bad dates and finding herself on a date with a vampire. But as the film began, I was surprised to find how invested I was in seeing the main character, Nora (Sarah McGuire, who also co-wrote the film), go through these bad dates–this whole first act works wonderfully; it’s funny, it’s well-acted, and the Nora character is very engaging.

And then, I remember, “Oh, right–vampire movie. OK, where are we going from here?”

Actually, where we go from here is pretty wild, as Nora meets Emelia (Valeri Bates), who is a vampire being hunted by 3 vampire hunters (Dan Daly, Kurt Hanover, & Kristin Rea) who don’t mess around–and thus begins one crazy date night, to say the least! Lives are in jeopardy, bodies pile up, blood is spilled (and spread), and even during all this madness, there’s room for romantic tenderness as well!

I love when found-footage goes crazy like this. But during my first viewing, I was so into the comedy of Nora’s misadventures in dating, the fun dynamic between her and her constantly-filming videographer brother Jake (Jake Jackson), and even the subtle aspects of characterization that Sarah McGuire exhibits terrifically…that I was a bit thrown off when it became a vampire story.

But the film’s lead characters (Nora, Emelia, & Jake) are so engaging, I’d follow them through any story–and this one’s a good deal of fun. Upon first viewing, I thought the vampire hunters distracted from the more interesting parts of the story, as they all share the personality of…”kill.” But during the second viewing, I was invested in the 3 leads even more and getting more into the spirit of what the film is, which is a fun, twisted vampire flick; and thus, I ended up enjoying rooting against these people.

Back to the leads. I already mentioned how interesting and likable Nora is (and Sarah McGuire is naturally charismatic in the role). Valeri Bates, as Emelia, is terrific, and she brings an intriguing mix of playfulness, menace, and pathos to the role of a vampire who could be your trustworthy friend one minute and then a vicious bloodsucking beast the next–and she and McGuire share good chemistry together. But I was surprisingly impressed by the work of Jake Jackson as the constantly-recording Jake. He’s not onscreen very much and is often a voice behind the camera, and yet he still manages to show a charming presence.

(Or maybe I just like Jackson’s work here because he reacts to the mayhem the same nervous, wisecracking way I probably would–for example, I love the bit in which Emelia first bares her fangs, literally, and approaches the camera as Jake repeatedly asks, “We’re cool, right?”)

So yes, I had a good time with “The Night is Young”–both times. And I think you will too.