This is about film.
According to Letterboxd, I watched 150 films this year, and of those 150, 108 were first-time watches. Of those 108, the highest rating was five stars (awarded to two films) and the lowest rating was one star (awarded to three). The longest film was Killers of the Flower Moon (206 minutes – dear god) and the shortest was Tim Burton’s Vincent (six minutes). My most-viewed directors were Alfred Hitchcock (Psycho, Rear Window, Vertigo), Luca Guadagnino (Challengers, Queer) and Richard Linklater (Dazed and Confused, Everybody Wants Some!!).
Without further ado, let’s get into it.
Top 10 films of 2024
If I saw it in 2024, that means it came out in 2024, and although I’m using British spellings here, I’m ignoring UK release dates.
While I saw many good films this year, I did not see many good new films. This is partially my fault because it’s not for lack of options: Anora, Bird, Small Things Like These, Nickel Boys, The Taste of Things, Juror #2, The Wild Robot, and Perfect Days are all still on my watchlist. And yes, I liked Twisters more than Love Lies Bleeding or Longlegs – bite me.
1. Challengers (Luca Guadagnino)
2. Queer (Luca Guadagnino)
3. A Different Man (Aaron Schimberg)
4. A Real Pain (Jesse Eisenberg)
5. Dune: Part Two (Denis Villeneuve)
6. Conclave (Edward Berger)
7. Civil War (Alex Garland)
8. Will & Harper (Josh Greenbaum)
9. We Live in Time (John Crowley)
10. Twisters (Lee Isaac Chung)
Top 10 new watches (excluding 2024 releases)
1. Black Swan (2010)
2. Donnie Darko (2001)
3. Rear Window (1954)
4. Come and See (1985)
5. La Chimera (2023)
6. Dazed and Confused (1993)
7. Paris, Texas (1984)
8. Alien (1979)
9. Stop Making Sense (1984)
10. Society of the Snow (2023)
Honourable mentions: Sideways, Wallace & Gromit: The Wrong Trousers, Almost Famous, The Prestige, The Fly – such choices! Such variety! I love a bit of (almost) everything, including abstract concepts and films that make you think. But as for what I don’t love…
Bottom 10 new watches
Well, well, well, if it isn’t a hodgepodge of my three least favourite genres: horror, comedy and rom-comedy. These were bottom-of-the-barrel and completely unnecessary watches that were generally suggested by someone else. And yes – two of them are A24. They finance bad films too!
10. Spring Breakers (Harmony Korine)
9. The Idea of You (Michael Showalter)
8. It Comes at Night (Trey Edward Shults)
7. Insidious: The Red Door (Patrick Wilson)
6. American Pie (Paul Weitz)
5. Zombieland: Double Tap (Ruben Fleischer)
4. Not Another Teen Movie (Joel Gallen)
3. Anyone But You (Will Gluck)
2. Which Brings Me to You (Peter Hutchings)
1. A Family Affair (Richard LaGravenese)
New watches that are also on the 2022 S&S ‘Greatest Films of All Time’ list
As a budding cinephile, I try to do my share of self-education, which means watching a film that I might not necessarily enjoy but that carries historical, cultural and artistic significance. The S&S list generally represents such films for me – personally I thought The Night of the Hunter, Singin’ in the Rain and Vertigo were only okay, entertainment-wise (and don’t even get me started on Citizen Kane). I went on a very small Hitchcock spree, and Rear Window was my favourite new watch from his filmography. From the entire list, I also adore Spirited Away and The Shining, though I know Kubrick has his regrets.
As someone who gets paid to write about films, I’m increasingly aware of how they’re made, so it’s essential to know who did it first. Who set the stage for modern filmmakers? Who laid the groundwork; who did the innovating and experimenting? It’s those like Kubrick and Hitchcock, and Miyazaki and Scott and Scorsese and Ford and Coppola – and hopefully some women too – who’ve paved the way for Barry Jenkins, Jordan Peele, Celine Sciamma and Bong Joon Ho to make this list alongside them.
(Next year’s goal is to watch at least one Lynch film.)
Casablanca (1942) – ranked 63rd
Rear Window (1954) – ranked 38th
Psycho (1960) – ranked 31st
The Night of the Hunter (1955) – ranked 25th
Singin’ in the Rain (1951) – ranked 10th
In the Mood for Love (2000) – ranked 5th
Vertigo (1958) – ranked 2nd
I’ve now seen 23 of the films on this list, also including:
Get Out (2017) – ranked 95th
Parasite (2019) – ranked 90th
The Shining (1980) – ranked 88th
Spirited Away (2001) – ranked 75th
My Neighbour Totoro (1988) – ranked 72nd
Moonlight (2016) – ranked 60th
Blade Runner (1982) – ranked 54th
North by Northwest (1959) – ranked 45th
Rashomon (1950) – ranked 41st
Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019) – ranked 30th
Taxi Driver (1976) – ranked 29th
Close-Up (1989) – ranked 17th
The Searchers (1956) – ranked 15th
The Godfather (1972) – ranked 12th
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) – ranked 6th
Citizen Kane (1941) – ranked 3rd
So, that’s it. That’s my year in film. ‘Til next time!