Here it is, my annual ranking of all the films I saw from the previous year. As always this is based on UK release dates, and I gave myself until the end of January to circle back on some of the films I wasn’t able to see first time around. There’s a list at the bottom for films I’ve still not seen but would like to, and feel free to leave more suggestions in the comments.

Special Shout-out: Star Wars Prequel live script readings

These aren’t technically movies, but I enjoyed them so much I had to dedicate space on the list for them. Brought to you by the guys behind Star Wars Minute and The George Lucas Talk Show, these three shows – all available on Youtube – feature incredible comedic casts reading – and occasionally, physically re-enacting – the Star Wars prequels. Ranking-wise these would be very, very near the top, with I think The Naboo Movie the highest and Mustafar Takes Los Angeles at the bottom due to a little too much self indulgence and too much audience interaction. There’s so much fun in these shows and so many highlights, here are a few of my favourite parts and casting decisions:

• Vic Michaelis as Obi-Wan Kenobi in all three parts might be the MVP, but to be fair I do already love Vic Michaelis.
• Obviously Haley Joel Osment as Anakin. Casting a former child actor and peer of Jake Lloyd’s was delightful in the first reading, and I’m happy they kept it going through all three.
• Corin Wells, particularly as Captain Panaka in The Naboo Movie.
• Eric Bauza utilising his man Looney Tunes voices for various silly characters (Daffy Duck as Jar Jar a clear standout).
• The SuperEgo guys having a blast with loads of minor roles, particularly their decision to make the Neimoidians be from the southern USA.
• All three of the Padme Amidalas were great, but Jess McKenna (who I already adore from Off Book) in The Great Kamino Kaper was best for me. Tawny Newsome and Mary Elizabeth Ellis were both great too.
• Matt Jones as General Grievous was a genius idea, well done.
• Rehka Shankar as Yoda.
• Paul F. Tompkins just devouring all the scenery as Darth Sidious, knocking it out of the goddamn park in Mustafar Takes Los Angeles.

More stage performances are planned, including the Star Wars Holiday Special pretty soon, so I’m very much looking forward to any and all future shows! Here are links to the three out so far:
The Naboo Movie
The Great Kamino Kaper
Mustafar Takes Los Angeles

And now, back to our regularly scheduled ranking:

77. The Union

Just a waste of time. Feels like it should be the third part in the terrible Chris Evans / Ana de Armas straight-to-streaming secret agent adjacent trilogy. Outside of Mark Wahlberg everyone else involved should know better than this.

76. Killer Heat

A twisty-turny sub-drenched murder mystery that’s entirely stitched together from the most forehead-smackingly obvious cliches I’d assumed many were red herrings because surely it cant be that obvious. Why is Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s down-on-his-luck private detective so obsessed with rich people wearing white trousers?

75. Migration

There’s nothing here worth discussing, especially after seeing the infinitely superior The Wild Robot.

74. No Way Up

A wasted premise. A plane crashes and sinks into the sea, the few survivors attempt to find a way out before their limited air supply dwindles and the nearby sharks finish them off. Colm Meaney (a last minute replacement for a dropped-out Kelsey Grammer) getting to do his Liam Neeson thing and be an action hero at the age of 71 is the only highlight amidst the wreckage. Some unbearable supporting “characters”. One of the worst shark movies we’ve covered on the podcast. Listen to the episode here.

73. Brothers

One of those films where we may never truly understand why so many notable film-makers were involved when none of them had anything to work with. So many awards amongst the cast. At times it’s an early Farrelly brothers comedy, complete with Josh Brolin masturbating an orangutan, but never is it actually funny.

72. Damsel

I’m beginning to believe that if Millie Bobby Brown stars in a film, six months after watching it I will not remember a damn thing about it. Two Enola Holmes films and one Damsel do not bide good tidings for the upcoming The Electric State.

71. Unfrosted

Like Madame Web, going off the initial reactions I expected this to be so bad that it would set fire to my television like a pop tart had become jammed in the mechanism. Instead it’s pretty much just fine. Some of the cameos were spoilt for me just through social media. Hugh Grant is essentially just playing Phoenix Buchanan (and frankly, why not?). I laughed a few times, but it’s not worth bothering.

70. The Idea of You

Please stop calling Anne Hathaway old. That is all.

69. Madame Web

Not the eight-car pile-up I’d been led to believe, but also a bit of a mess. Not enjoyable enough for a laugh-out-loud hate-watch, so best avoided, really.

68. Something in the Water

Another shark movie, this one sees five good friends reuniting for the destination wedding of one of their member, after two others had a rough split a year ago. There’s not a lot new here other than the initial reaction to being attacked by a shark being played off more like the victim is in denial about seeing a ghost. Listen to our podcast episode to hear me teach Mark about the glory of S Club 7.

67. Lift

I like heist movies, and I like Vincent D’Onofrio having fun on screen, so I should’ve enjoyed this more, but I’ve seen far too many of these kinds of films to be surprised by anything that happened here other than how little D’Onofrio actually got to do. Jean Reno is amongst the most forgettable villains I can’t remember. Who told Burn Gorman that he could do a Northern Irish accent?

66. Freelance

A fairly standard action comedy buddy movie with John Cena and Alison Brie having to survive in the South American jungle, this is pretty forgettable stuff except for the supporting performance by Juan Pablo Raba as Juan Venegas, President of Paldonia. I didn’t expect him to stick around as long as he did, and I thoroughly enjoyed everything he brought to the role. It’s worth watching just for him.

65. Argylle

Slotting into the Madame Web and Unfrosted category of “better than expected”, but slightly higher than those because I actually enjoyed a few of the sequences too. Plot-wise this is amongst the most convoluted stories to possibly ever exist, often comically so, but some of the action is great and everyone seems to be having a good time. Too much cat stuff, not enough explanation for Henry Cavill’s haircut.

64. Red One

So bland I kept forgetting to include it on this list. Dwayne Johnson was reportedly paid fifty million dollars for this, which is utterly ludicrous and whoever sanctioned that needs to rethink their career choices. There are some fun moments, but it’s too long and generally not worth watching.

63. Good Grief

A Dan Levy film that I really should not have expected to be more light-hearted than it is. This is a real downer, but given the premise (Levy plays Marc, whose perfect life falls apart when his partner dies) I should have seen that coming. Plays like a sadder Nancy Meyers film, all beautiful homes, knitwear and moping.

62. Kinds of Kindness

I normally love the films of Yorgos Lanthimos (more on him later), but this just didn’t do it for me. An awful lot of time was spent watching a film that didn’t really add up to much of anything. I’m sure the acting here is intentionally stilted, but the vibe I got from everyone, and in particular from Jesse Plemons, was one of those YouTube videos (could originally be from TikTok, I wouldn’t know) of the guy pretending to be a man-child, or a so-called traditional man, or an older guy in a gated community, harassing people going about their day in some painfully, awkwardly unfunny sketch. Doesn’t seem to matter how many times I tell YouTube I’m not interested in his channel, he keeps popping up. Anyway, that’s what Kinds of Kindness was like for me.

61. The Strangers: Chapter 1

I’d previously dubbed 2024 as the Year of Renny Harlin, given his intention to release up to five films (it’s debatable whether The Refuge has been released anywhere yet, or in fact exists). Sadly we only got two, The Bricklayer and this, the first part of his Strangers trilogy. I watched the other two Strangers films for the first time last year as well, which is why this film ranks so low on my list. It’s competently made, everything works, but it’s also an almost exact copy of the first film, which is only 16 years old. It’s clear Renny wants to expand on the story with the next instalments, so had to remake the first one to establish where the characters are now, it’s just a shame he couldn’t have had that idea 15 years ago. Still, in typical Renny fashion it’s impressive what he accomplished with such a ridiculously short production schedule. Listen to our podcast episode here.

60. Bad Boys: Ride or Die

This has never been my favourite franchise, but I think I might be done with it. Given what started as an entertaining enough buddy cop movie has now included witches, ghosts and visions of the afterlife, this should be labelled at least in the fantasy genre at this point. There’s some fun with an alligator (not enough) and I enjoy the support from Vanessa Hudgens and Alexander Ludwig, but having the leads essentially switch roles (Mike settles down and becomes more cautious, Marcus believes he cannot die so becomes more erratic and careless) feels like a partial re-tread of the first film, where they literally had to pretend to be each other. Outside of the plot, this might have been edited with a blender, and feels like a music video for the entire two hours.

59. That Christmas

Love, Actually but for kids and pretty much not at all for adults. I actually love Love Actually, I did not actually love a lot of this.

58. Survive

One of those films where if you aren’t on board with the premise you’ve got no chance of liking it, and the premise is bonkers so good luck to you. A family on a boating vacation suddenly find that the ocean has disappeared. Yep, it’s gone. They somehow determine it’s coming back, so attempt to make their way to possible safety, facing off against other survivors and creatures along the way. There is so little explanation for what has happened, but their main hypothesis (the water has gone where it wasn’t before… the land) just makes me want to see how the heck all the water is staying put on land that, for the most part, generally slopes down towards where the water used to be. What’s happening there? How? Why? More disappointingly, Survive is described as a creature feature, yet the actual creature element is a fairly small part of the story and is not satisfying at all. Listen to our podcast episode here.

57. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire

I wanted to like this more, and I was so thrilled when I discovered James Acaster had a role, but this is a bit of a mess. There’s way too many characters, and the story tries to give them all something to do, which is just ludicrous. I think there’s around thirteen people on the ghost-bustin’ side of the climax, and that proved too many to keep track of. Not a lot else stayed with me. It’ll be sad if this marks the end of the Ghostbusters franchise, but I also don’t really need any more from them at this point.

56. Self Reliance

A fun premise – Jake Johnson’s Tommy agrees to an online game show wherein he receives a million dollars if their hunters are unable to kill him in a month, and he is only safe when he’s with another person – that almost kept me fully engaged for the whole runtime but does peter out a little towards the end. Johnson is always fun (he also wrote, produced and directed the film) and there are some good supporting roles and cameos from some of Johnson’s famous friends. A decent enough low budget comedy drama.

55. Night Swim

There’s only so much you can do with the premise of a haunted swimming pool without becoming silly, and Night Swim remains impressively sincere given the bizarre premise. The best stuff involves the ghost cat and the creepy old lady crying black goo, but everything in the pool is well done too, and we finally see one of modern life’s true horrors – trying to use a touchscreen with wet hands. Listen to the podcast episode here.

54. Longlegs

I had high hopes, but I didn’t gel with Longlegs. It’s definitely more of a tonal horror film that focusses more on atmosphere, which is rarely my thing. Also Nick Cage’s performance is being highly praised, but it just seemed like a fairly standard Cage-having-fun-being-a-weirdo role.

53. Gladiator II

I wanted to like this more. I really did. The twin emperors were delightfully shitty. There’s a naval battle in a flooded coliseum, with sharks in it! Denzel is having fun with Tim McInnerny! Alas, I didn’t care for the film overall, and drifted off towards the end so had to check Wikipedia for the conclusion. Might have been because it was my third film of the day (after the far superior Moana 2 and Conclave), might have been because I was full of fried chicken and tater tots. Might be because it’s just not that great.

52. Woman of the Hour

I wanted to like this more more than I did. Everything revolving around The Dating Game, especially Kendrick’s Sheryl standing up for herself against the host and bachelor contestants, was excellent, but there was a clear disconnect between that and the second half, following the the exploits of Rodney. I’m guessing the Laura segments were suppose to feel frustrating, in fact the whole film does, so I get the impression Kendrick made the exact film she wanted to, it’s just not the film I was hoping for. That’s probably more on me then.

51. Civil War

Unsatisfying. Not sure if I wanted more context or none at all, but something overall didn’t sit right. Predictable, which is unusual for Alex Garland. Probably his weakest film to date, and that’s coming from someone who doesn’t like Ex Machina all that much.

50. Moana 2

I’ve seen it, I’m pretty sure I enjoyed it, but honestly not a lot stuck. We’ll do a DBS episode on it eventually and I’m looking forward to a re-watch, but yeah this was literally forgettable. I’m very happy Rose Matafeo is getting more acclaim though.

49. Sasquatch Sunset

Undoubtedly the exact film that everyone involved intended to make, but this wasn’t for me. I became genuinely attached to the characters, but I can’t say I enjoyed the experience, and I had the best / most shocking scene ruined for me (when the family encounter an unfamiliar surface). Might not have been the best choice for a film to throw on when, for example, you’re compiling, editing and inserting the images into a sizeable review-of-the-year blog post.

48. The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare

I wanted to love this. It’s right up my street, but for whatever reason it just didn’t work fully for me. There’s some fun banter between the cast, a few good set pieces and it’s an interesting story I’ve been hoping would be adapted for a while, but sadly this just didn’t come together.

47. Lisa, Frankenstein

Better than I’d expected, because I’d heard some awful things. It’s more of a comedy than a horror comedy, as there’s nothing particularly scary throughout, but it’s still a lot of fun. I’m enjoying Kathryn Newton slowly collecting all the different types of horror movies (more on this later).

46. Wicked

Whether on stage or screen, I don’t think Wicked is for me. When I saw it on stage I was left disappointed due to the monstrous expectations, but also the incohesive nature of the songbook and I always struggle to get past the fact that this is a pre/side/se-quel to a dream sequence, which defies any need for explanation. To this day I’m not sure why the production is just so gosh darn popular. I only saw the film because it’s had rave reviews and I’d heard that even if you’re not a fan of the stage production there’s still a good chance you’ll like the film. I appreciated it, especially the production design, but whilst it didn’t feel 160 minutes, it still felt too long for how much of the plot is undertaken. I’d say it’s better than the stage production (so far) in that Defying Gravity almost feels like a whole song, and whilst I resisted enjoying it throughout, numbers like What Is This Feeling? (Loathing), Dancing Through Life, and One Short Day did get me bopping along. I don’t understand the hype over Ariana Grande’s performance, she feels like she’s just playing Kristen Chenowith with more eyelashes every second she’s on screen.

45. Wolfs

For some reason I thought this might be a bit awful, but it was actually quite fun. Clooney and Pitt of course have great chemistry as two underground fixers who must reluctantly work together when they’re hired for the same job. The plot and characters all feel very familiar and don’t really go anywhere you wouldn’t expect, but I had a good time with it.

44. Dune: Part Two

I want to start by saying I don’t really have any problem with the Dune films (other than I think Timothee Chalamet is really not good in them). They’re extremely well made, look incredible, tackle interesting themes, etc. I just don’t care for them in any way, shape or form. I’ve seen this twice, and nothing stuck with me. I find them cold, impersonal and distant, and I’d love for Denis Villeneuve to go back to his smaller budgeted work that I adored, like Enemy, Arrival and Prisoners. The sand worms are pretty cool I guess.

43 Drive-Away Dolls

Better than I’d been led to believe, but not as good as I’d hoped. In the pantheon of Coen movies (this is the first feature-length solo directorial effort from Ethan) this shares some of the cartoony, madcap antics of Raising Arizona, but tonally is more aligned with Sam Raimi’s Crimewave, which the Coens co-wrote. Margaret Qualley continued her 2024 quest to showcase her versatility by playing someone whose incessant chattering became tiresome almost immediately. Could have used far more of Bill Camp as the beleaguered car rental employee Curlie.

42. Young Woman and the Sea

I watched Nyad last year and thought it was just kind of fine, but that as a character Nyad herself came off as quite annoying (presumably intentionally so), so I wasn’t thrilled when another endurance swimming movie showed up, depicting a much shorter challenge, which therefore must be a far less impressive and thrilling film. However Young Woman and the Sea was far more enjoyable than Nyad, with more villains you can boo (Christopher Eccleston plays a right piece of work) and Stephen Graham’s bare backside for good measure. Daisy Ridley is captivating, Kim Bodnia gets to do his wonderful laugh, there’s a particularly gruelling bit with some jellyfish, it’s great!

41. The Iron Claw

Great performances – Holt McCallany should’ve been at least nominated for an Oscar – and a very interesting story, but it failed to answer my one burning question – why do people actually watch or participate in wrestling?

40. Land of Bad

After being pretty unceremoniously dumped straight onto Amazon Prime I didn’t expect this to be as enjoyable as it was. Equally as enthralling watching Liam Hemsworth trying to survive in the jungle or watching Russell Crowe shopping for cheese. If you like war movies you should definitely give this a go.

39. The Last Breath

I’m going to consider 2024 as being a great year for shark movies, in that this isn’t the highest placed one on the list. The Last Breath was surprisingly good, given some of the other modern shark movies we cover on the podcast. It has some of the usual tropes – most notably some irritatingly stupid and stupidly irritating characters – but it also features an underwater surgery scene using 80-year-old equipment, which is something I haven’t seen in a shark movie before. Listen to the podcast episode here.

38. In a Violent Nature

A meditative massacre. Gnarly as all get out, but in a relaxing, therapeutic kind of way. For the most part it’s like watching someone else play Grand Theft Auto, specifically in the more rural parts of San Andreas, interspersed with some of the goriest kills I’ve seen – the yoga death? Bloody hell! It’s a unique take on the slasher genre, which I appreciated, but the slow pace can allow the mind to wander past meditation and into a short nap.

37. Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire

A giant bunch of bananas fun. Try not to get too bogged down in the character goals and motivations, focus more on revelling in the mayhem. Giant skeleton bridge! Another scene-stealing Dan Stevens performance! Diddy Kong being used as a club!

36. Blink Twice

I thought I could see where this was going, but evidently not to the full extent of things. More violent than I expected, but satisfyingly so in the end. Fun supporting cast, all game for the ride. Give it a go if you’re intrigued.

35. Challengers

I can’t say I’ve loved the Luca Guadagnino films I’ve seen, but I appreciated this more than Call Me By Your Name. I don’t care for films about sport or love triangles (see our podcast episode on Renny Harlin’s Driven for more evidence on this), so this was always going to be a hard sell, but it’s so stylistically presented its hard not to get swept up in it all.

34. A Quiet Place: Day One

These films have always been more about character development through survival than scaring the audience, but Day One is even more so, so much so that what really stuck with me is the drama and interactions between Lupita Nyong’o’s cancer survivor Samira on her quest for the last slice of NYC pizza and the hapless attempt at survival of Jospeh Quinn’s Eric, far more than the actual alien encounters. The silent, crowded street was one of the eeriest scenes ever, and there’s some great boat stuff at the end too.

33. The Bricklayer

The best Renny Harlin film of 2024. Aaron Eckhart plays a CIA-type known as The Bricklayer, because when not working as a contract assassin he moonlights as a bricklayer. And when he is working as a contract assassin, everything he does involves bricklaying equipment. He’ll dump cement on you. He’ll throw a brick at your head. He’ll strangle you with a tape measure. And you best not hide something incriminating behind a brick cemented into a wall, because you know who’s going to find it? That’s right, The Bricklayer. Eckhart might be Harlin’s new muse given they’re also working together on Harlin’s upcoming shark movie, and based on the work here I’m OK with that. Listen to the podcast episode here.

32. Love Lies Bleeding

Some people hated this, right? I kind of dug it the whole way through, and the more fantastical developments were right up my street. Ed Harris can be a right arse when he wants to be. Feels like they didn’t expect to find as accomplished an actor as Katy O’Brien for the Jackie role, so sidelined her script-wise, whereas if the part had been written for her specifically she might’ve gotten more to do.

31. Carry-On

The fourth best Die Hard movie. I’m always in the bag for Taron Egerton, here seen making poor decisions on his first day as an airport security officer with an earpiece connected to Jason Bateman’s aspiring terrorist. Had me genuinely caring for the plight of the supporting cast. I’d heard there was some awful CGI at various points, but I didn’t notice it and had a fun time the whole ride.

30. Inside Out 2

I famously didn’t enjoy the first Inside Out because I don’t know what emotions are and it was all too silly for me to get past. Gimme a sequel though and everything is fine, because it must be or else they couldn’t make a second one. I loved this first time around (would’ve been in the top 10 for sure) but it waned a little on an at-home re-watch. Still very good, I still like all the new emotions (Adèle Exarchopoulos as Ennui, chef’s kiss), but I can’t ever see myself watching this a third time.

29. The Beekeeper

Jason Statham is part of a secret government agency team known as The Beekeepers. He retired, settled down and became, of course, a beekeeper. His friendly landlady commits suicide after being conned out of her charity’s money, so Beekeeper-turned-beekeeper Buzz “Honey-Boy” Hivington sets out on a revenge mission with a real sting in the tail. Bee puns everywhere! Bad guys being exploded for being arseholes! Jason Statham taking on the president?!? Hell yes. More please. Not enough hexagons.

28. Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person

Was not on my radar at all until Mark and Nick discussed it amongst their favourite musical moments of 2024 on a MFF episode, despite the musical scene not really working for me at all (I was very tired and that was the scene that nearly lulled me to sleep). It’s a delightful story that I did not see lasting the fully 90 minutes, but it did and kept me mostly engaged throughout.

27. Monkey Man

It’s paced a little unevenly and the middle sections drags a touch, but some of the action here is incredible. A bathroom fight involving a fish tank! A kitchen fight where a face and an oven door break each other! An elevator fight where – oh my word, did that just happen in the elevator fight? Bloody hell, that’s brutal! An impressive directorial debut from Dev Patel, even more so given he’s on screen for some much of the story too.

26. All Of Us Strangers

I don’t normally bother with straightforward romantic dramas, but the added hanging-out-with-dead-parents wrinkle made me very intrigued and adds up to this being quite excellent. I’m still not fully sold on Paul Mescal being his generation’s greatest actor (though I’ve still yet to see Aftersun), but he at least seems to be just a lovely chap. Every character in this feels so real, and I arranged to spend time with my parents immediately after watching this.

25. Jackpot!

Features my favourite moment of the year, when Deep Blue Sea is referenced out of nowhere, followed by my least favourite moment of the year, when another character points out the obvious and iconic Deep Blue Sea reference despite literally every person watching being intimately familiar with the reference. Awkwafina and John Cena make a good pair in this action comedy that’s pretty heavy on both fronts. Also included a fun supporting cast. Seann William Scott!

24. Sometimes I Think About Dying

One of the most low key films I’ve ever loved, despite the sheer nightmare familiarity that is every second spent inside the offices. Daisy Ridley is the severely introverted Fran who comes out of her shell – slightly – when new employee Robert (Dave Merheje) joins the team. Ridley is excellent, the whole film is sweet, but not a lot really happens. It’s just nice characters living their lives, and I dug that for a change. Paul’s divorce was definitely caused by him having a movie podcast.

23. Late Night With The Devil

A flailing 1970s late night talk show host (David Dastmalchian) hosts a Halloween special which may well involve talking to a possessed little girl. The setting, the depiction, the behind the scenes chat, audience interaction, progression and heightening of tension and fantastical events throughout the show, it’s all handled incredibly well. It’s a shame this is on the little-subscribed-to Shudder, as more people should be talking about this, and not just for the unforgiveable use of AI art in relatively minor moments.

22. Twisters

I love Twister so damn much (I’m listening to the soundtrack now, Mark and I very nearly hosted a scene-by-scene podcast on it) so I was thrilled when this film was announced. 2024 was the year that I finally came around on Glen Powell (more on him later), as prior to last year I couldn’t see him as anything other than the smarmiest of arseholes in everything he does. My wife still sees him this way, so liked Twisters less than I did. Twisters leans into Powell’s smarminess, casting him as the cockiest YouTube storm chaser in the world, so you initially hate him, but just like Daisy Edgar-Jones’ reluctant meteorologist Kate, we come around to him as the plot develops. There’s a lot to love about Twisters – the one-take pool sequence being a highlight, and the finale is very impressive, but it cannot hold a flickering candle to the nostalgia of the original. Listen to me talking about the film on Out Now with Aaron and Abe, in which I describe Powell as having “cum-gutter dimples”. I’m not ashamed.

21. Alien: Romulus

In one of the most sporadic franchises in terms of quality, Romulus is, for me, the first true check in the positive column since Aliens (despite my overall enjoyment with Resurrection and the first AVP, overall those films could be a lot better). Romulus has too much reliance on ultimately aggravating fan service, but there are enough great sequences to overcome these. The cryogenic chamber with the swimming facehuggers is a highlight amongst the franchise, as is the zero-g acid blood, and who doesn’t love the traditional bug-nuts Alien-franchise fourth act?

20. The Last Stop in Yuma County

Excellent. This year’s Battle at the El Royale, but with a tighter runtime and more linear plot. The plot feels familiar – a cross section of strangers are stranded at a diner waiting for the petrol truck to arrive, with a couple of dangerous bank robbers in their midst – but the actual characters, their relationships and how everything pans out feels very fresh. Minimal locations makes it feel like a stage production that’s been expanded for a film, but not in a constricting way. I’d barely seen this advertised and only came across it through word of mouth, so consider this a strong recommendation for you to check it out, I had a great time with it. Has Richard Brake ever played a nice guy? I hope he’s a sweetheart in real life who’s just leaned into playing these kinds of roles because he looks like the Crypt Keeper. Sam Raimi has hit up writer/editor/director Francis Galluppi for a future Evil Dead film, and I cannot wait.

19. Abigail

I had the twist spoiled, but I still enjoyed this immensely. My favourite kind of film – a bunch of fun character actors having a good time and eventually being dispatched one by one in fun, often gory, means. My list of actors I’ll watch in pretty much anything already included Dan Stevens and Kevin Durand, but Kathryn Newton is rapidly approaching that list too.

18. Deadpool & Wolverine

I loved this at the cinema. Adored all the fan-service, even for film characters I don’t particularly care about (I’ve expressed mild disinterest for Blade before and have neither seen Elektra nor planned to ever see Elektra). The opening fight to the Backstreet Boys whilst also desecrating the adamantium-plated skeleton of Wolverine? Joyous. So many cameos, so much comedy, so much fun. But also, it’s been on Disney+ for ages, there’s been many an evening when I could’ve watched the whole thing or even skipped to some scenes I liked, but I just haven’t felt compelled to do that. Then again, I am re-watching stuff less these days, so maybe given it a couple of years and I’ll be in the mood for it again. Right now it feels like the single-use plastics of the movie world.

17. Better Man

This might be ranked too highly, but you have to factor in I’ve been a Robbie Williams fan since Sing When You’re Winning. I loved this. Yes, if you take away the CGI ape it’s a fairly standard musical biopic with a few more dalliances with dream sequences, but it’s still remarkably well done. The Take That montage number through London to Rock DJ is one of the best scenes of the year, no contest. And the ape side of things adds an interesting twist that starts out feeling like a gimmick, but ends up being used well. It swiftly eschews any difficulties with casting a series of differently aged actor who needs to look like each other and have a passing resemblance to Williams (a definite stumbling block for some of the other Take That members) and when it comes to Robbie being plagued with visions of his younger self, it makes said apparitions far easier to pick out in a crowd. How well this will do in countries where Williams is less well known is yet to be seen, but I had a great time with it.

16. It’s What’s Inside

If you’ve made it this far and have no idea what It’s What’s Inside is about, stop here and go see it, it’s great but should ideally be enjoyed as blind as possible. Still here? Well I’m not going to spoil it anyway, just in case. I loved this film (despite knowing a little more than I wanted going in), and think you will too. It’s twisty-turny, but in an easy to follow way, has mostly clearly defined characters, all played by actors at career stages where most are at risk of being taken out of the film at any point, but all play their parts extremely well. Kept me going until the end. Watch it!

15. American Fiction

Is it possible to have Jeffrey Wright narrate my life? Can’t imagine I’d ever get tired of listening to that mellifluous voice of his. American Fiction is tonally jarring, but I assume intentionally so. The point is being made that just because this is a so-called “black” story, doesn’t mean it has to be entirely about stereotypically “black” themes, sometimes it’s just everyday family drama. Some hilarious moments, some cringe-worthy characters (again, intentionally so), nothing but great acting throughout.

14. The Holdovers

Seen twice, adored first time around, still liked a great deal on the second, but probably not going to add it to the regular Christmas re-watch pile. Alexander Payne knows how to write realistically unlikeable characters with enough depth to turn you around and hope they get everything they want in life. Giammatti deserved the Oscar over Cillian Murphy, and The Holdovers is better than Oppenheimer (although, to be fair, most of the 2024 Best Picture nominees were better than Oppenheimer, a film I cannot bring myself to watch again for fear of never waking up from the sleep I’ll inevitably descend into).

13. Hit Man

It’s that Glen Powell bloke again. Hit Man truly was the film that sold me on him being something other than a monumental dick all the time, as here he plays so many different kinds of characters, and he does them all with such charm it becomes impossible to dislike him. Super sexy chemistry between him and Adria Arjona sure doesn’t hurt either.

12. Rebel Ridge

A real surprise. Believe the hype if you’re still unfamiliar with this one. My favourite of Jeremy Saulnier’s films to date (Blue Ruin didn’t sit well with me after being over-hyped, and I need to re-watch Green Room as my DBS co-host loves it but I thought it was just fine). Aaron Pierre is my choice for the next James Bond; I think he’d be Dalton-esque (I love some Dalton Bond). The golden rule from this film is, if you must cycle with headphones in (which, you know, you don’t), never cycle with them both in and your music up loud. Not saying Terry would’ve gotten through the town unscathed, but there’s a chance it could’ve saved a big heap of trouble.

11. Wicked Little Letters

The most perfectly cast film of the year. I cannot imagine anyone who could’ve played these roles better, especially Olivia Colman and Jessie Buckley, who seem to have been bred in labs to play these real life people in this real life story.

10. Under Paris

The highest ranking shark movie of the year, Under Paris was excellent. Featured a couple of “Oh, shit!” moments, and an ending that I could not have predicted. A sequel is in the works and I cannot wait! Listen to our podcast episode here.

9. Paddington in Peru

No, it’s not as good as Paddington 2. What is? Paul King wisely opted not to bear the marma-load of trying to improve perfection and headed to more chocolatey waters, leaving newcomer Dougal Wilson to essentially attempt to recreate King’s esoteric style and world. Taking Paddington out of London was always going to be a gamble, and it doesn’t fully pay off, but I still loved the result. Could’ve done with more music, especially when it feels like we’re going to have a recurring band throughout, like in Paddington 2, before they never appear again after one song. Not enough smaller comedic moments from one-or-two-scene comedians (I love Hayley Atwell, but she feels oddly out of place), but Olivia Colman is, as always, a delight. It seems Antonio Banderas will play a supporting role in your family-friendly franchise sequel these days if you let him captain a boat. Emily Mortimer is fine replacing Sally Hawkins, but having Hawkins return would’ve been better. Hugh Bonneville taking on even more of the comedic brunt, I wonder if this is the direction he thought his career would take? The children are adults now and I feel like I’ve begun to decay, this cannot continue.

8. Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl

Aardmann have, in my opinion, been on a bit of a downward turn for a while, since the thoroughly disappointing Early Man. Dawn of the Nugget was fine at best (though perhaps I should watch it a second time), but Vengeance Most Fowl has brought them up to the top again. It helps that Feathers McGraw is one of cinema’s most dastardly villains, it helps that Wallace and Gromit are always a delight to have on screen, and it helps that we now have Reece Shearsmith as a high-pitched robot gnome called Norbot building a sewer submarine from garden equipment. I love that Aardmann presumably realised they couldn’t beat the cinematic perfection of the train chase from The Wrong Trousers, so instead headed the opposite direction and incorporated a chase sequence on the incredibly British yet painfully slow mode of transport that is canal boats.

7. Poor Things

The far better 2024 Yorgos Lanthimos film. Poor Things was in my top spot on this list for a long time, though like Deadpool & Wolverine I haven’t felt compelled to go back to it yet. Could be due to the vast amounts of nudity and intercourse, which often turn me off a film, especially when they’re focussed on so intently. After Emma Stone, my MVP is Dafoe and his creepy-cool face prosthetics.

6. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

Another triumph from George Miller. A visual delight. Covers far more ground than I was expecting. Anya Taylor Joy is good, but Chris Hemsworth is stupendous, having an absolute ball. Motorcycle chariot!

5. Conclave

Far better than I thought it would be, and the film I’ve been recommending the most to people. Electing a new pope should not be this entertaining, especially if you despise religion as much as I do. There’s a twist or revelation every 5-10 minutes, so much so it almost feels like there should be commercial breaks. Heck of a cast, nothing but compelling visuals, seriously if you’re not intrigued by this because it’s a bunch of guys in robes electing a pope you need to get past that and settle in, it’s marvellous. I’d be very happy if it won Best Picture at the Oscars, mainly because I’d never feel like I have to watch The Brutalist.

4. The Substance

It’s not going to, but I’d also be thrilled if The Substance won. In all honestly, when I saw this (at the behest of numerous friends saying how great it was), about halfway through I was a little bored. I got what the film was doing. Yes, she’s paying the price for overindulging and focussing on being young and sexy again. I found the lack of rule following to be frustrating, and all I could think was how easy it would be to follow the instructions and get the best out of the situation. But boy howdy did I not see that third act coming, and it really brings everything together gloriously. Incredible visuals, fantastic performances, the most perfectly Dennis Quaid has ever been cast in literally anything, ever. Made me queasy on a regular basis. Cannot stop thinking about so much of the film, despite having only seen it the once. Great stuff.

3. The Wild Robot

Was my number one for so long, which shouldn’t surprise many of you. I love an animation about a robot befriending nature, and that’s this film in a nutshell. Been selling it to my wife for so long, I hope she isn’t disappointed when it eventually hits streaming here. Who knew all I needed in life was Matt Berry voicing an irascible beaver?

2. Hundreds of Beavers

I was sceptical as to whether this could possibly live up to the hype, but I’m happy to say it does. It’s a mostly live action feature length Looney Tunes movie, with all the mad-cap logic, running jokes and nonsense sequences you should expect from that description. I doubted whether the pace and tone could be maintained for the full 108 minutes, but there’s enough plot developments that this was never an issue. Don’t be put off by the grainy black and white, relatively dialogue-free script and the cheap as chips mascot costumes, this is wildly inventive, frequently laugh-out-loud funny (even when watched alone on a laptop) and just a whole lot of fun. Dam!

1. Robot Dreams

I mean, who is surprised? It’s about a lonely dog who buy and assembles a mail-order robot to be his best friend, and the adventures they have. The opening scene of our solitary hero seeing his reflection in a blank screen hit home far more than it should’ve for me, and I was in pieces for much of this delightfully heart-warming yet often unbearably emotional journey. I’ve added Earth, Wind & Fire’s September and Buck Owens’ Monster Holiday to my on-rotation playlists. I cannot recommend this dialogue-free animated film that made me cry multiple times whilst watching it alone at home enough, it’s perfect.

There’s a bunch more movies I still want to see from 2024, but I also wanted to finish this post and move on with my year. Here’s a selection of films I’m still planning to check out, in descending order of how much I want to see them:
Kneecap
Sing Sing
Juror #2
Thelma
Trap
Deep Sea
My Old Ass
Stopmotion
Heretic
Kung Fu Panda 4
Anora
A Different Man
The Bikeriders
Transformers One
Smile 2
Boy Kills World
Nightbitch

Am I missing anything good? Let me know what 2024 films you’d recommend!