Josh’s Favorite Movies of 2024 — Part Four!

Welcome back to part four of my list of my favorite movies of 2024!  Click here to read part one, click here to read part two, and click here to read part three.

And now on to my FIVE FAVORITE movies of 2024:

5. A Complete Unknown — James Mangold’s film, based on the book Dylan Goes Electric! by Elijah Wald, is one of the best bio-pics I’ve seen in years.  It wisely focuses on a specific period in the life of its subject, Bob Dylan — specifically, the journey between Dylan’s arrival in New York in 1961 as a nobody, through to his controversial performance at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival, where his choice to go electric alienated many of the folk fans and other musicians.  The film is anchored by a magnetic performance by Timothée Chalamet, who somehow managed to completely transform himself into Dylan, both his look (the posture, the hair, the sunglasses) and his voice.  He really captured Dylan’s mumbly cadence and his very specific singing voice.  There is a LOT of Dylan’s music in the film — songs that are very famous and that I know very well — and somehow Mr. Chalamet was able to sound exactly like Dylan when singing these songs.  I don’t know how he did it.  It’s incredible and joyous.   That great performance is matched by Edward Norton’s equally impressive transformation into Pete Seeger.  I loved the way the film explored the friendship between Mr. Seeger and Dylan, and I was completely captured by Mr. Norton’s gentle, soft-spoken portrayal.  Mr. Mangold and his team struck a magical balance between exploring Dylan and also keeping him as an elusive, enigmatic figure, just as I think the real Bob Dylan always has been.  We see Dylan in this film through the eyes of others, but learn precious little about the man himself, who remains A Complete Unknown to us.  What a bold choice for a bio-pic to take!  I loved it.  Click here to read my full review.  A Complete Unknown isn’t streaming yet; it’s currently in theatres.

4. Conclave — I did not originally think I’d have any interest in a film about a bunch of old men in a room choosing the next Pope.  But Conclave, written by Peter Straughan (based on the novel by Robert Harris), directed by Edward Berger, and starring Ralph Fiennes, John Lithgow, Stanley Tucci, and Isabella Rossellini, a a banger!  It’s a verbal thriller that is fun and fascinating and kept me guessing right up until the end.  Ralph Fiennes is absolutely magnificent as Cardinal-Dean Thomas Lawrence, a man who does not want the responsibility of running the conclave to choose the next Pope, but, because he has been given that role, he will do his job to the very best of his ability.  This is a drama, but it’s never dour.  The film’s plot zips along, and I found the story to be a great deal of fun as I tried to figure out who really meant well and who was villainous.  There’s also some true thematic depth here.  Lawrence gives a speech in the film about faith that I found to be deeply moving.  He talks about how doubts are normal and even virtuous, and that it’s absolute certainty that should be feared.  Oh boy is that message needed now more than ever.  Click here to read my full review.  Click here to watch it now on Amazon Prime Video.

3. Furiosa — On my first screening of Furiosa, I liked it a lot but wasn’t head over heels in love with it the way I was with Mad Max: Fury Road.  The episodic structure of the film wasn’t what I was expecting — this epic saga that covers years in the life of Furiosa was very different in tone and pacing than Fury Road, which was basically one long intense chase scene.  But the more I thought about Furiosa, the more I liked it, and when I saw it a second time, I was bowled over by what George Miller and his team were able to accomplish with this film.  It’s filled to overflowing with incredible, extraordinary action sequences that are unlike anything else found in other movies.  George Miller can still create riveting, blow-the-audience-through-the back-of-the-theater action spectacle like no one else out there.  The action in this film is next-level great.  The production values are incredible.  Mr. Miller and his team have created such a rich, fully-realized fantasy world, with so much detail for the eye to absorb in every frame of this film.  And what Mr. Miller & co. can do with practical effects is extraordinary.  The film is anchored by a rich, powerful performance by Anya Taylor-Joy, inheriting the role of Furiosa from Charlize Theron.  Ms. Taylor-Joy is amazing, bringing this fierce character to life despite being silent for much of the film.  (Alyla Browne plays a younger Furiosa for a huge chunk of time in the first third of the film, and she’s fantastic too.)  Ms. Taylor-Joy has her equal in Chris Hemsworth’s phenomenal performance as the villainous Dementus.  Mr. Hemsworth is scary and deranged and so funny, and also so pathetic.  This is an incredible performance.  I love every moment of this film.  I can’t wait to see it a third time, hopefully very soon!!  Click here to read my full review.  Click here to watch it now on Netflix.  (It’s also available on Amazon Prime Video.)

2. Dune Part Two — Because of how in love I was with Denis Villeneuve’s first Dune film, I was scared by the choice to only adapt half of the book in that first film.  I feared that Dune was too weird, too insider, to be a hit with mass audiences, and I was afraid the film would bomb and we’d never get the second half of the story.  I thought it was a mistake not to have made both films at the same time.  And so as much of a miracle as that first Dune was, in many ways, I consider Part Two to be even more of a miracle.  There was such a strong chance (it seems to me) that this film might never have existed!!  And so, I am so grateful that not only does this film exist, but that it’s every bit as spectacular as I’d hoped.  Dune Part Two is an extraordinary epic.  It’s vast in scale, taking place over an extended period of time, in many different locations, and featuring a huge cast of characters.  It is a true thrill to see this story that I love brought to life on such an epic canvas.  Mr. Villeneuve’s eye for visuals is second to none.  This film looks gorgeous, just jaw-droppingly stunning.  It is packed to overflowing with incredible imagery, from gorgeous images of the barren, quiet deserts of Arrakis, to incredible mayhem featuring enormous sandworms smashing through a city and its defending soldiers.  This film looks staggeringly beautiful.  The production design is incredible.  Every single character in this film has a unique and eye-catching look.  Every member of this expansive cast is amazing: Timothée Chalamet as Paul; Zendaya as Chani; Javier Bardem as Stilgar; Rebecca Ferguson as Jessica; Josh Brolin as Gurney Halleck; Stellan Skarsgård as Baron Vladimir Harkonnen; Austin Butler as Feyd-Rautha; Christopher Walken as the Emperor Shaddam IV; Florence Pugh as Princess Irulan; Dave Bautista as the Beast Rabban; Léa Seydoux as Margot Fenring; Souheila Yacoub as the Fremen Shishakli; and more.  What an all-star group; each is so memorable in their role!  And that ending — wow!!  I hope someday Mr. Villeneuve adapts Dune Messiah.  For now, I’m so thankful this magnificent two-film epic exists.  Click here to read my full review.  Click here to watch it now on Netflix.  (It’s also available on Amazon Prime Video.)

1. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes — For a long time I’d assumed that Dune Part Two would top this year’s list, but after much consideration it was clear to me that as much as I loved Dune, my heart belonged to Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.  That this film exists at all is a miracle; that it is so good is astounding.  Come on — Kingdom is the tenth film in the Apes franchise, and it’s the fourth film in a rebooted saga based on the fourth film in the original 1960’s run of movies.  None of that bodes well.  AND this film had to re-start the story after Matt Reeves wrapped up the first rebooted trilogy with his two spectacular films (the masterpiece that is Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and the very, very good War for the Planet of the Apes — a film that, like this one, I like even more each time I watch it).  Somehow, the new creative team of director Wes Ball and screenwriter Josh Friedman have done the near-impossible: created a fantastic film that fits beautifully into the established continuity while also standing on its own as a relaunch/reboot of the saga.  The film is an exciting adventure while it also takes the time to develop rich, compelling characters — most of whom are apes!  I love that this film is almost exclusively about the apes characters (with very few humans to be found), brought to life by staggeringly amazing CGI, and an incredible group of actors.  I love all these new ape characters, especially the lead, Noa (Owen Teague), who is forced to go on a grueling journey, both physically and emotionally, in this film, as he quests to rescue his friends and family (who have been kidnapped and forced into servitude by the gorilla tyrant Proximus Caesar) and figure out who he is and where he belongs.  This was everything I wanted in a Planet of the Apes film!!  I’ve seen it twice, and I can’t wait to watch it again.  Click here to read my full review.   Click here to watch it now on Hulu.  (It’s also available on Amazon Prime Video.)

Thanks for reading!  C’mon back next week for my list of my favorite TV shows of 2024!

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