[Music] why do you like movies so much you get to watch Hey Man Nice shoe you get to look for [Music] some and then try to understand it [Music] and you like that very [Music] much if you only watch the top grossing hits of 2024 you probably saw a lot of stuff that looked the same but if you dig even one layer below that you'll find the trend towards Cinema that is increasingly stylistically diverse you'll find a lot of directors that are still pushing artistic boundaries of film taking risks or trying something new and even
if not as many of them landed for me this year as in some other recent years I appreciate all the filmmakers who took a bold swing this year who chose to explore new territory thematically or stylistically instead of treading over safe familiar ground as usual I'll give the caveat that while best is in the title because favorite films doesn't get any clicks on YouTube this really is just a Loosely ranked list of what I found most interesting this year out of what I had time to see while some of these might fall into different years
for other countries I count a movie for 2024 based on its public theatrical release date in the United States I'll start with a few honorable mentions and then we'll get into my top 10 of the Year first up I want to mention a different man this is a fairly quiet but engrossing drama about self-perception identity and appearance it makes for a good companion piece to the substance though it's stylistically very different they both explore some similar territory and the performances from both Sebastian Stan and Adam Pearson are very good I also want to mention Jesse
eisenberg's AAL pain which is a thoughtful and poignant exploration of the different ways we deal with pain and the tension between expressing it and repressing it in our lives Eisenberg and Kieran caulin play off each other nicely here queer was one of two very stylish films this year from Luca guadino it Dives straight into the tormented tragedy of William S Burrows with a very compelling performance from Daniel Craig I just love the way guadino moves the camera and edits in this it's so fresh and has such a beautiful energy Challengers also gets a nod for
similar reasons I don't think anyone has quite the level of style and flare with a camera that Luca gu Nino has right now I was really frustrated by Civil War but I still feel compelled to mention it because I think it's an incredibly interesting and compelling film it's some of Alex Garland's best work as a director and it's an undeniably provocative exploration of division and political tension in the United States as well as how we perceive conflict differently when it takes place on our local soil I was riveted throughout But ultimately kind of disliked what
I felt like was the film's final philosophical perspective this movie really got under my skin in a way nothing else last year did and it's the only movie I felt compelled to write 5,000 words about immediately after watching despite my issues with it I think it's wellmade and very thought-provoking this is a great one to watch with a group and then discuss afterwards cuz I can guarantee you everyone's going to have a different take I saw the TV glow was one of the most atmospheric and evocative things I saw last year and it really seems
to stand in a category of its own with David Lynch's recent passing there's been a lot of discussion about what lynchian is and what it means and Jane Shen Bron's story about the trans experience and Suburban childhood is perhaps the most genuinely lynchian thing I've seen in a while and I mean that as a compliment I can't say the substance was an enjoyable film to watch but that's hardly the point it was undeniably intense and memorable director corly Fara described described the movie as a kick and a scream and that's exactly what it is an
angry Punk violent expression lashing out against oppressive cultural beauty standards and some of the pressures imposed on women especially in media it's anchored by a great performance from Demi Moore has stylish set design and unique cinematography but if you're not into body horror I'd steer clear of this one I think how to make millions before grandl dies also deserves a mention for being one of the most genuine and sincere dramas I watched all year the Thai film poignantly explores family tradition and death two other films I want to mention very quickly are furiosa while it
didn't quite hit the raw Transcendent intensity that Fury Road did for me I still loved this return to the world of Mad Max and it was some of my favorite action of the year and I also want to mention evil does not exist a meditative exploration of the mundane complexity of evil from Ruki hamaguchi it didn't quite grab me as fully as his Masterpiece drive my car from a few years ago but I'm always entranced by his work now let's jump into my 10 favorites for the year Lazo how long have you been here now
four 5 years you have no excuse anymore I'm sorry I got a little carried away there will you please pass that back the long slow sprawling American epic that explores a single character is not dead a few years ago we got tar and now we're seeing the brutalist from director Brady Corbet it's a movie which takes its time with its subject at well over 3 hours and it is long but I found it to be very well edited and pasted and the intermission definitely helps in the theatrical setting it has probably the most beautiful title
design I've seen in several years and really stunning cinematography it's down at number 10 because while there's a lot to love about it from a film making perspective thematic I think it kind of loses itself in its own grandiose sprawl by the end of the film I'm not quite sure what I feel about it yet but it's it's one I want to revisit to try to understand a little better that said I love what this represents as a continuation of a certain genre and tradition of independent film making and I think there's enough here to
make it one of the more worthwhile watches of the Year while I'm not saying it's on the same level if the Godfather is a frequent rewatch for you this is one you should definitely take the time to check out this year where is my director here hello Mr Hans Frank so much of the experience of Modern Life is made up of certain sounds and images that are almost entirely absent from Cinema because they don't feel cinematic whether it's long drives and traffic watching a video on your phone the sound of an alarm going off Zoom
calls or Tik Tock filters do not expect too much from the end of the world engages with all of this so freely it almost feels documentarian the sharply dead pan Romanian satire of contemporary life captures so much of what makes the world feel lost to a certain kind of insanity that in a way I found it immensely comforting to watch in a cinematic landscape where many films are trying to engage politically with the ills of late stage capitalism but tend to do so very bluntly this is a film that truly feels like it captured a
certain texture of that reality that I've never seen depicted on screen if you like Darkly dry satire or movies that explore intertextuality this is a must-watch from 2024 and is probably the most Avant guard pick on this year's [Applause] list what are you doing here have you been following me I've been thinking a lot about the impact of David Lynch recently and I don't want to directly compare Greek director yorgos Lanos to Lynch except to say that a lot of the features of what I love about some of Lynch's films are occasionally present in losses
mainly they often dip into an unsettling dream logic and they demand that I feel my way through their meaning rather than just come to a logical interpretation loss's nightmares in kinds of kindness are distorted reflections of the vague Horrors that can be found in relationships power and abuse it's like you woke up in an uncanny valley version of reality an alien world that looks just like our own but where you can no longer understand the rules and expectations for social interaction while I enjoyed the favorite and last year's poor things kinds of kindness feels more
like a return to the Dead Pan chilling absurdity of the lobster and killing of a sacred deer this is one that certainly isn't going to be for everyone if you didn't like the lobster or killing of a sacred deer I doubt you'll like this but if you watched poor things and thought I liked that but what if it was even more dead pan and made even less sense then boy do I have the movie for [Music] you there's one beautiful singular shot that keeps lingering in my mind from 2024 and it's this one from Alice
Roar Walker LA chimera a lacad isical film about grave robbers in 1980s Italy you'll have to see the shot in the context of the film to have a chance at feeling it the way I did but it's beautifully constructed throughout it Meander in the best sort of way and I loved all the performances especially from Josh o' Conor in the lead some of my favorite movies from each year are often ones that deliver a very specific kind of mood where I don't really care where the plot is going because I'm just enjoying the Vibes of
the film and that is is definitely the case here if that sounds like what you want you enjoy films that Meander through European Countryside or you watch The Challengers and just want more Josh o'conor I would make sure to give this one a try I have wrestled with the devil as Jacob wrestled the angel in penel and I tell you if we are to tame Darkness we must first face that it exists I've mentioned before that the best thing about Robert Edgar's film making is how thoroughly he commits to the bit and that's just as
true with his latest period dive into Mythic horror with his version of Nas veratu an adaptation of a German expressionist silent film from the 1920s I don't just love Edgar's filmmaking for his intense commitment to the design details of a world though when he's at his best as a director I think he also has a command of camera work and editing that makes his movies really fun to watch the camera isn't just showing you the film it's a confident hand leading and guiding you through it step by step here that hand is a haunted shadowy
hand his Nas Fatu is equal parts beautiful and dark bringing the spiritual subtext of the story to the Forefront it's not just about Nas veratu as a character but about the nature of darkness and myths in our lives if you like fairy tales myths or gothic horror you won't want to skip Nas veratu do you have a house do you have a car old gun your life and lives of your family and friends everything will be destroyed the film I saw this year with the most interesting story structure was Anora it's a movie that starts
out as kind of a high energy hedonistic Montage that evokes the likes of something like Spring Breakers and then it slips into being something else entirely with a persistent anxious energy more reminiscent of maybe uncut Gems by the end it's shifted again into something I never expected it to be and the sum total of all of these three distinct Parts is a mad cap Looney tun's descent into tragedy captured with a starkly naturalistic sensibility I think what could be a caricature is made real and vibrant through Mikey Madison's performance this is possibly director Shawn Baker's
best work behind the lens not everyone is going to be comfortable with this kind of Frank depiction of the subject matter but what makes Baker's work really compelling to me I think is the sensibility he brings to characters that we usually don't see portrayed on screen because their lives and work are treated as a taboo by Society he doesn't just depict class disparity or the alienation created by what wealth inequality but has a real sense of the entangled economic and social forces that are at play for his characters and the direct effect those forces have
on relationships love and identity he showcases as well as anyone how people from opposite ends of the class Spectrum can occupy the same physical space while living in totally different realities this movie has the kind of ending that forces you to really engage with it as a piece of art rather than just a neat and tidy story you can absorb and then toss [Music] aside my city of Ashville North Carolina flooded last year living through the aftermath seeing the destruction grappling with the loss trying to help and watching my community come together in ways I
didn't think was possible has been a life-changing experience the film for me that spoke to this experience the most was an 80-minute animated film about a cat that has no dialogue the movie starts with a flood that pushes the cat and some other animals out of their homes I found this movie surprisingly moving aside from the literal connection to the flooding I felt like the water in this film was a beautiful metaphor for the way time overtakes the past how in our life we're forced to leave the comfort of our homes and leave things behind
grapple with loss and approach uncertain situations with a sense of curiosity and collaboration we might look back into the past but we can't go back there if we do it will be forever changed it's not just the subject matter that's beautiful though but the way this movie came to be I remember years ago seeing animation software begin to become more accessible and I remember being excited about what this meant for a future where small independent teams could make personal and experimental contemporary animation without the larger teams and massive budgets that would have been needed in
the past and those days are here now and Flo is probably one of the best examples I've seen of what is now possible for smallscale Indie digital animation made by lvan filmmaker gin zilba Lotus and a small team of collaborators it's a truly beautiful delightful film that I'd recommend to anyone children included nobody is making massive Blockbusters these days quite like Deni Ville new what sets the Dune films apart for me is not just the size and scale of the story but the dedication to using the fundamentals of The Craft of film making even at
this larger scale his worlds are so immersive the sound design is so rich and incredible the cinematography is gorgeous and doesn't play it overly safe he doesn't cut any artistic Corners bringing us a story of this size but I think one of the standout features of Dune that goes under acknowledged is just how integral production designer Patrice vermet work is to the success of these films I think the sets they designed and built for Dune 1 and two are incredible and the work to shape light and use CGI and practical design together is for me
unparalleled in modern Blockbuster film making at the risk of sounding hyperbolic for me Dune sets an aesthetic standard for what big budget Sci-Fi Action films can be and it leaves that bar pretty high getting to watch this in theaters on a huge screen was one of my favorite cinematic experiences of the year and I I think dune's story and its commentary on the hero's journey and the corruption of Power are more relevant now than ever you have to well I just want one a cable okay um Doug is he here yeah hey yeah let's go
get coffee come on what about rich I don't care how do you construct a story about a feeling about a way of seeing the world how do you depict a character in film that keeps to themselves that feels confined to the fringes how do you tell a story where anxiety and depression have made it so that even the smallest gesture and act from a character can feel Monumental you do it with the kind of poise and quiet gracefulness of sometimes I think about dying a film that dropped without too much fanfare but which instantly became
one of my my favorites when I saw it last year the story centers around Fran and her life and work at a mundane office job the Fantastic ensemble cast depicts office work in a way that is hilarious but also has a kind of dead pan realism that really captures the cringe that can happen in those environments sometimes we see these moments though not straight on but from the fringes as they're perceived by Fran whose social anxiety makes just existing in the presence of others difficult for her judging by the other reviews I've seen this seems
like the kind of movie where I think you either get it or you'll feel like there's nothing going on if you're the kind of person for whom going around a table to say your favorite food feels like a kind of Hell designed to specifically torment you this movie is for you it's melancholic but rich with Humanity I've never seen the pain of too much self-awareness depicted so beautifully and compassionately and in a world that feels overwhelmingly loud I love the cinema that makes space for these quieter characters the kinds of lives that the majority of
us live but which aren't usually what we give the honor of the big screen many movies this year and that have come out recently that are aspiring to be thoughtful a little more than entertainment examine the ills of our world whether it's the corrupted American dream that we see in the brutalist or the alienation of class in Anora the danger of power that Dune warns about anxiety and darkness are difficult themes that Cinema often tries to wrestle with but rarely in the midst of all this in the midst of the critiques warnings satirical examinations and
cautionary tales do we find something that tries to portray what the alternative to all this might actually look like rarely do we find a story that examines a character that lives in quiet Rebellion against the Allure of ambition power endless consumption and the other forces that fuel so much of the ills of our time movie that asks us how we might live if we don't want to give ourselves over to those things this is the territory explored by Vim vendor's perfect days a quietly Beautiful film about a toilet cleaner in Tokyo what is life even
look like when you exchange unchecked ambition for acceptance and the Simplicity of living the life in front of you with gratitude and Grace it's a nuanced film that doesn't Overlook the inevit able hardship and sorrow that comes with life but which explores what it means to find contentment amid loss imperfection and the inability to control what's going on around you it's not about apathy but about letting go of the impulses within us that fuel the machines in this world that cause so much of the suffering it doesn't have all the answers but serves as a
voice for a way of existing that really challenges so many of the cultural assumptions that we have especially in the United States about how life has to be lived for me perfect days came at a time when I really needed it and it's a beautiful film that I think helps us engage with a deeper and Fuller appreciation of life that's my list so far for last year I hope you found some on there that sound interesting to you there's a bunch of stuff I still haven't been able to see notably I still haven't seen nickelbys
or sing sing and I suspect either of those might have made the list a list like this isn't an attempt to define the definitive best movies of the year but a jumping off point for a group discussion about what we enjoyed so let me know in the comments below what your favorites were from 2024 I mentioned how a lot of movies recently explore suffering this is a subject that interests me a lot and it's one I've tried to explore on my channel a little bit but it's difficult to do you can imagine how a big
in-depth dive into the ethics of depicting suffering in cinema isn't the best fodder for the YouTube algorithm thankfully that's where nebula comes in nebula is an online streaming platform created by creators for creators and it allows us to create content that we wouldn't be able to otherwise if you want to see my essay refusing to look a 45-minute dive into the ethics of depicting suffering in cinema you can find that exclusively on nebula when you sign up by going to nebula.com flight I'll put a link in the description to where you can find the essay
when you watch on nebula you also get all my usual videos early and without any ads as well as a bunch of bonus content and nebula originals from myself and other creators on nebula including other great video essays like Patrick H Williams bro de Chanel and like stories of old when you sign up using my link by going to Thomas flight you'll get 40% off the annual plan so it's only $36 a year or $3 a month signing up and watching on nebula is a great way to directly support my work and support a community
of creators that are doing great work when you sign up at nebula.com flight you'll get access to extra content but you're also helping me produce these videos and focus on the topics that I think deserve the most attention thank you so much to those who have signed up already and again if you want to join you can click the link on the screen in the description or go to
