Joey Magidson
Ladies and gentlemen, it’s of course that time again! There are few things a writer in this industry looks forward to more than doing their year end Top Ten list. Even with the sort of unusual years that were the last few, I still saw well over 300 films each year, and that includes here in 2024, when things were essentially back to normal, more or less. As such, it all makes for a list that culls from nearly every corner of the cinematic world. So, I’m, as always, incredibly fond of the movies that make up my Top Ten list. I’m actually very excited to share it with you all today, continuing (after Part One yesterday here) the Fifth Annual Awards Radar Awards! In prior years, my favorite film of a given cycle ranged from Blinded by the Light to Hell or High Water. The Disaster Artist to A Star is Born. Blue Valentine to her. Four years ago, we added Promising Young Woman to the mix, with Red Rocket joining three years ago, alongside The Fabelmans two years ago, and finally Barbie last year. What will join them this time around? Well, it’s time to find out!
For part two of this awards series (part one is right here from yesterday), we’re going to run down my ten favorite films of 2024. Basically, anything I saw this year, or that has an eligible release date, was in the running, aside from what I considered for my prior 2023 list. That created quite the list to pull from, though it pretty quickly narrowed down to 25 or 30 movies that were a cut above.
The moment is now at hand. Out of 312 or so eligible titles seen for me (which, insanely, is again one of my lower totals, if you can believe that), here are the ten best films of 2024:
The mystery of Bob Dylan has lingered in pop culture for over a half century now. The enigma that is one of the most seminal artists of the 20th century endures, which is a testament to not just his staying power, but also the mystique surrounding him. Going into A Complete Unknown, I was worried that there would be an attempt to “figure him out” or make a grand statement about the why of it all. I’m only a casual fan of Dylan, but if that was the tact taken with the upcoming Bruce Springsteen biopic, I’d be annoyed. So, it’s very much to this film’s credit that the title is indicative of the depiction. Bob Dylan remains A Complete Unknown at the end of the movie, but you do sort of understand him a bit better, as well as why folks would be so drawn to him. It’s captivating and hypnotic, making for one of the year’s best works.
A Complete Unknown doesn’t feel the need to make Dylan someone who can be completely understood. It’s more important to understand those around him, as well as to get the vibe of why he was such a figure. Instead of just hitting the beats of his life, this is more about the allure and the frustrations that came along with knowing someone who can never be fully known. I got on its wavelength quickly and vibed with it from start to finish.
9. Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story
Christopher Reeve didn’t just play a hero in the Superman films. He also turned out to be a real-life hero, inspiring hope in countless others after the actor became paralyzed in a horse-riding accident. We’ve all known this for years, but it took the new documentary Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story to remind me just how powerful his story is. The movie managed to bring me to tears on several occasions and is among the best works of the year, fiction or non-fiction.
Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story is emotional and inspirational in equal measure, but it never resorts to manipulation. Reeve’s own words, as well as the testaments of those who knew him, they provide all of the power you need. That the filmmakers are able to weave such a memorable doc out of a well-known tale is proof of the deft hand they possess.
8. September 5
We live in a time where it feels like telling the news fast can often supersede telling it accurately. This goes beyond even the plague that is fake news, too. So, something like September 5, which is a tribute to reporting the correct story, especially when the stakes are high, comes off like a welcome tonic. The fact that the film does it in a thrilling manner as well, within a constricted time period, only makes the accomplishment more noteworthy. Tis one of the best movies of the year, bar none.
September 5 is as intense a film as there is in 2024. That achievement really stands out when you consider that this is a depiction of history in action, with the end result preordained and well known already. The flick efficiently sets up the story, then is almost unrelenting in making it a white-knuckle thrill ride, all while what we’re watching are newspeople in action, watching history unfold before their eyes.
Will Ferrell loves Harper Steele. Watch even just a few minutes of the documentary Will & Harper and that becomes clear. This film is a testament to friendship and acceptance that we need in this world right now. Ferrell’s friendship with Steele spans decades, prior to the latter’s transition, as well as now in the aftermath of coming out. That they decided to chronicle this new chapter in a cross country road trip makes for an often hilarious, gently powerful, and always moving movie. I loved it wholeheartedly and find it not just to be the best doc of the year so far, but among the very best flicks of 2024 overall.
Will & Harper is the type of documentary that has the potential to literally save lives. Ferrell has a global audience with all sorts of political views. Watching his lack of judgment and full on embrace of his friend, acknowledging both how she’s different and the same, is hugely important. Its mere existence is going to do good in the world. However, don’t get me wrong, while this depiction of inclusion is essential viewing, it’s also one of the funniest works of the year.
6. Challengers
I’ll confess to going into Challengers not knowing what my reaction would be. The cast and trailer certainly intrigued me, without question. On the flip side, filmmaker Luca Guadagnino has yet to fully land for me. I find myself often at arm’s length from his work, for one reason or another. So, it was quite the shock to discover that not only is Challengers Guadagnino’s best film to date, but a 2024 highlight. Dramatic, hilarious, intense, and uber sexy, this is one of the most enjoyable times you can have in a theater. This flick has the goods, from top to bottom.
Challengers might be one of the sexiest movies ever made. That’s saying something too, considering this isn’t a work filled with sex scenes. There’s just sex dripping from every frame of celluloid, and it’s often on the minds of one or all of the characters on screen. A love triangle unlike one we’ve seen to date, this is creative, entertaining, and just might get you pregnant. When it ends, your heart will be racing, your eyes will be wide, and you’ll kind of be in awe of what you just saw.
5. Hit Man
I can’t get enough of a film just washing over you with fun and joy. Especially at the Toronto International Film Festival, it’s hard to be fully surprised by something like this. And yet, here we are with Hit Man, a phenomenally entertaining movie that has you smiling for its entire running length. Nothing else at TIFF has tickled me as much as this flick, which is an absolute delight from start to finish.
Hit Man is smarter than it seems on paper, while still being very much a crowd-pleasing endeavor. Not only is it playing around with genre, philosophy gets its time as well. Everything works, which you don’t say very often. For nearly two hours, you just have a warm fuzzy feeling of watching a great new film.
For the amount of work that goes into making a film or a television show, it’s a literal miracle that anything gets completed. That there’s also live television in this world speaks to talented men and women doing the impossible. Jason Reitman‘s Saturday Night is a loving tribute to that, looking at the creation of the first ever Saturday Night Live episode in near real-time. High energy, hilarious, and full of the spirit of creativity, this is one of the Telluride Film Festival’s best and most fun movies not just this year, but in several years.
Saturday Night perfectly captures the insanity of putting on SNL. The lunacy of the production, as well as the cast and the crew, is depicted with love, but also without pulling punches. The comedy obviously comes together by the end, but there’s no shortage of drugs, egos, fights, and setbacks that should have kept the show from ever airing in the first place. The affection Reitman has for Saturday Night Live is clear, but he’s not afraid of the warts that came with night one being produced.
3. Longlegs
I’m rarely scared by horror. Now, I love the genre, but the more you know how the sausage is made, an appreciation for scary movies does tend to lead to fewer and fewer actually frightening you. So, when I’m unnerved or even outright terrified by something, it bears notice. With Longlegs, the very essence of the film chilled me to my core. There are some scares to be found, sure, but the movie injects fear into your very marrow. Anything and everything can happen, which puts you on edge. This is a masterpiece of the genre and just out and out art. Nothing I’ve seen so far this year has come close to Longlegs. Yes, it’s that good.
Longlegs is the best serial killer horror film since The Silence of the Lambs. They don’t quite traffic in the same territory, but they’re cousins in some ways, notably in petrifying vibes, impeccable craftsmanship, and just overall quality. Watching this mix of police procedural, occult slayings, and atmospheric stress, you’re able to give yourself over to the filmmaker. For about 100 minutes, you’re allowing the possibilities of a great horror movie to just wash over you.
2. Conclave
In a perfect world, elections would be purely about ideas, with the best candidate coming out on top. We all know that this is hardly the case, with all manner of backroom deals and compromises necessary to even get to that point. Conclave is about the election of a new Pope, sure, but it could just as easily be about a brokered convention during a Presidential primary. Regardless, this movie is an absolute banger. Playing at the Telluride Film Festival, it’s a thriller with a sly sense of humor, one capably of wildly entertaining an audience.
Conclave is a spectacularly enjoyable flick. Mainstream in its political thriller machinations, but also full of unexpected humor, as well as a hell of a final twist, it has a toe in the weird. That not only sets it apart but gives the film some added personality. Tremendous acting, impeccable filmmaking, and a sense of momentum that never lets up, it’s a full-on thrill ride.
1. Anora
Sean Baker has made a career out of de-stigmatizing sex work. He’s clearly fascinated by characters who exist, to one degree or another, on the margins of society, seen as “other” in some way. Not only does it set him apart as a storyteller, it leads to some incredibly unique works. Starlet, Tangerine, The Florida Project, and Red Rocket have all established him as a poet laureate for these people. Now, with Anora, Baker has upped his game even more. In crafting his first romance, as well as leaning a bit more into plot, he’s made his fullest cinematic meal yet. This is not just the best thing I’ve seen so far at the Telluride Film Festival, it’s the best movie of the year so far.
Anora is a wild ride. It begins as Baker’s take on Pretty Woman, before evolving into something more akin to a night out thriller. After Hours has been evoked by some, as well as Cinderella by Baker himself, but none of this prepares you for the third act. If act one is comedy and romance, act two retains some of the laughs while also bringing in danger, act three takes it all home with a real sense of tragedy as well. This is an auteur fully in control of his craft.
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Stay tuned for Part Three tomorrow, where you’ll see my full awards for 2024!
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