It’s true we’re in a transition period for movies, and I have no idea what that transition will lead to. I’ve seen gloom and doom headlines about the creeping death of theaters, and I’ve also seen hopeful pieces about people re-prioritizing theaters. I’ve heard anecdotes about studios using A.I. to replace creatives, and anecdotes about streamers utilizing “casual viewing,” films designed to have plot information repeated for those who have movies on in the background and aren’t paying attention.*

The one thing I do know is that every year that movies exist is a good year for movies. That goes for this year, and when your Boomer father-in-law or ninety-two year old grandmother confidently says that movies were better in the old days, you can tell them from me that they’re wrong.**

Want some proof? Below are the top ten films of 2024 that resonated with me. I missed a number of this year’s critically acclaimed projects. Mea culpa, I’ll get to them eventually. I wish I had a sense of what 2025 will bring us from a cinematic perspective, but I know that 2024 was good to us. I’ve also had many, many film conversations with my son, Liam, and his top ten and honorable mentions are included.

• Red Rooms – This chilly horror/drama explores what happens when we get too close to true crime, and when obsession overtakes compassion. It’s a hard film to watch, yet I find that hard films are frequently the most worthwhile ones to watch.

• I Saw the TV Glow – Some movies blow right past genre and become entirely themselves. This trans coming of age horror-flavored drama is one of them. It digs into a teen’s fixation with a genre TV series, the one person who understands how they feel, and how it all colors time and relationships.

• Furiosa: A Mad Max Story – The Grand Warlord of Chaos, George Miller, gifted us what might be the final film in the Mad Max series. That gift features jaw-dropping setpieces, immaculate filmmaking, a villainous turn by Chris Hemsworth, and a steely lead performance by Anya Taylor-Joy.

• Civil War – This was one of the most misunderstood films of the year, and it spawned endless bad takes. What’s it really about? It’s about how journalism is one of the most important and least appreciated professions, and about how eager we are to hate each other. What kind of Americans are we? I’m scared for what I think the answer is.

• Mickey Hardaway – Trauma is a generational affair. It can mold some and break others. This perceptive indie drama focuses on a young Black man making his way through a world that’s hostile, indifferent, and occasionally decent to him. He does so while shouldering trauma that began generations before his birth. 

• Dune: Part II – This year wasn’t great in terms of big screen spectacle, but this was the film that showed it can still be done. Denis Villeneuve’s epic is gigantic without feeling lumbering, thoughtful without being pretentious, and features a hyper stacked cast. It also features some sick sandworm riding action, which I’ve just realized is a horrifying-sounding sentence.

• Nosferatu – There are no sparkly undead teens or tuxedo-clad nobles here. Robert Eggers’ remade masterpiece is painstakingly designed, edited, and shot. More importantly, it transports us back to a time when an ancient vampiric evil could plausibly dwell on the outer edges of the map.

• A Different Man – Mark my words, one day Sebastian Stan will win an Oscar. I wouldn’t be sad if he were nominated for this film. He plays an actor burdened with neurofibromatosis, one who also stumbles into something that looks like a cure. It changes his life in unexpected ways, and Stan shows us those changes with intelligence and skill.

• Hundreds of Beavers – Maybe you’re after a purely good time. I don’t blame you, and you’ll find it with the misadventures of applejack salesman Jean Kayak. Made for around one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, this slapstick comedy is insanely creative and hilariously funny.
• The Substance – This pitch black horror comedy features Margaret Qualley, Dennis Quaid, and a career-best Demi Moore. She plays a fading star given an opportunity to become a “younger, more beautiful, more perfect” version of herself. She takes it, but there are rules, ones she doesn’t follow.*** The last half hour is rocket-fueled insanity, and right this moment, I’m thinking this is the best film of 2024. 

Honorable Mentions – Love Lies Bleeding, Alien: Romulus, Deadpool & Wolverine, Restore Point, The Legionnaire, Late Night With the Devil, The Fall Guy, Rally Caps, Longlegs, Queer, Rebel Ridge, Carry-On

Didn’t See – Anora, A Real Pain, Babygirl, Better Man, My Old Ass, The People’s Joker, Thelma, Challengers, Sing Sing, Conclave, No Other Land, Nickel Boys, The Brutalist, Wicked, Nightbitch

Liam’s Top 10 – I Saw The TV Glow, Hit Man, Hundreds of Beavers, Hijack 1971, Dune: Part II, Trap, Challengers, Queer, Longlegs, Anora

Liam’s Honorable Mentions – Transformers One, The Substance, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, Rebel Ridge, Twisters

*If that’s you I want to mention that a) I understand modern life is stressful and b) regardless, from a very real place in my heart, I kind of hate you.

**That’s the problem I’ve always had with cinematic nostalgia, because every year there are great movies, fun movies, and movies consigned to history’s dollar movie bin. Conveniently, people only remember the great and fun movies.

***Has she never seen Gremlins, Pet Sematary, The Craft, The Cabin in the Woods, or Beetlejuice? 

Tim Brennan Movie Critic

Tim has been alarmingly enthusiastic about movies ever since childhood. He grew up in Boulder and, foolishly, left Colorado to study Communications in Washington State. Making matters worse, he moved to Connecticut after meeting his too-good-for-him wife. Drawn by the Rockies and a mild climate, he triumphantly returned and settled down back in Boulder County. He's written numerous screenplays, loves hiking, and embarrassed himself in front of Samuel L. Jackson. True story.