Josh’s Favorite Movies of 2024 — Part Three!

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

We’ve entered my TOP TEN…!

10. Alien: Romulus — Wow, someone actually went and made a good Alien sequel!  How about that?!  Writer/director Fede Álvarez (the film was co-written by Rodo Sayagues) has fashioned a taut thriller that’s fun and scary and tense, just the way an Alien movie should be.  The film looks fantastic.  They’ve beautifully recreated the look and aesthetic of Ridley Scott’s original Alien, while also bringing to life new locations and characters.  The film stands on its own while also being deeply enmeshed in the lore of this franchise — not just the original Alien, but many of the sequel films as well (even Prometheus!!).  Cailee Spaeny (who’s already appeared on this list for her great work in Alex Garland’s Civil War) is fantastic in the lead role as Rain, the young orphan trying to find a way to get herself and her brother off of the horrible planet on which they’re trapped.  David Jonsson is fantastic as Andy, Rain’s “brother”, creating one of the most interesting characters this franchise has ever seen.  If the ending was better (and less of a call-back to the terrible Alien: Resurrection), this would be even higher on my list.  Click here to read my full review.  Click here to watch it now on Hulu.  (It’s also available to watch on Amazon Prime Video.)

9. Rebel Ridge — Writer/directorJeremy Saulnier (whose 2016 film Green Room, starring Patrick Stewart and Anton Yelchin, was a master class in tension) has crafted another fiercely entertaining film.  This drama/action film is incredibly taut; I was gripped right from minute one and that gripping opening sequence in which Terry (Aaron Pierre) first runs afoul of the local cops.  Terry is biking into a Louisiana town with money to bail his brother out of jail, but he’s intercepted by cops who run him off the road and steal his money.  With the clock ticking before his brother is transferred to the county prison where his life will be in danger (because he informed on a dangerous criminal), Terry is forced to take increasingly desperate measures to try to get justice.  Aaron Pierre is magnificent as Terry; he has a commanding on-screen presence, and he’s a compelling center for this story.  Don Johnson is wonderfully smarmy as the corrupt sheriff with whom Terry soon finds himself battling wills.  If you missed this film this year, it’s well worth tracking down.  Brace yourself!  My full review is coming soon.  Click here to watch it now on Netflix.

8. Goodrich — Michael Keaton is magnificent in the lead role as Andy Goodrich, who — when his younger wife, Naomi, books herself into rehab to deal with the prescription drug problem that Andy was too self-absorbed to notice she had — has to figure out how to be a parent to his twin nine year old kids, and to repair his relationship with his grown-up daughter (Mila Kunis) from his first marriage, who is pregnant with her first child.  I loved this film, which I found sweet and funny and moving.  The film features a lot of very funny actors who here mostly play things straight, but who skillfully give the film a lightness and a sparkle that keeps it very entertaining: there’s Mr. Keaton himself, of course, and Mila Kunis, who is wonderful, and also Michael Urie (so fantastic as Brian on Shrinking) and Kevin Pollak (The Usual Suspects, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Better Things); and Carmen Ejogi (so magnificent in The Penguin) in a small but important role.  Goodrich was skillfully written and directed by Hallie Meyers-Shyer; I’m now a big fan!  Click here to read my full review.  Click here to watch it now Amazon Prime Video.

7. Drive Away Dolls — In 1999, two lesbian best friends decide to take a road trip from Philadelphia to Tallahassee; what they don’t know is that, due to a mixup, the car they rented from a local low-rent drive-away service has a case in the trunk that a bunch of criminal low-lifes are after.  Drive Away Dolls was directed by Ethan Coen, who wrote the script along with his wife Tricia Cooke.  Ethan is, of course, one of the Coen Brothers, though after decades of collaboration he and his brother Joel now seem to be working separately.  The film is based on many of Tricia Cooke’s real-life experiences from her youth, which brings a specificity in the film’s deep dive into lesbian culture circa 1999 that I found very interesting to watch.  This violent and funny film is an absolute delight!  It felt to me like a wonderful flashback to early Coen Brothers films like Blood Simple, and it’s also got a chatty pair of criminals/hit-men that reminded me pleasantly of Fargo.  Both Margaret Qualley (The Leftovers, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, The Nice Guys) and Geraldine Viswanathan are terrific in the lead roles!  I was immediately rooting for both characters, and I enjoyed watching them make their way through this madcap adventure.  The rest of the film’s cast is A-plus: Beanie Feldstein (Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising, Lady Bird, Booksmart); Colman Domingo (Lincoln, Selma, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom); Bill Camp (Lincoln, Molly’s Game, News of the World, The Leftovers, The Queen’s Gambit); Pedro Pascal (The Mandalorian); Joey Slotnick and C.J. Wilson, and Matt Damon, who crushes it in a critical late-in-the-movie role.  Click here to read my full review.  Click here to watch it now on Amazon Prime Video.

5. Deadpool & Wolverine — After a few somewhat wobbly recent installments, the Marvel Cinematic Universe returned with a bang this year with the wonderfully silly, violent Deadpool & Wolverine.  Seeing Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool get folded into the MCU was a pleasure; even better was seeing Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine along for the ride!  Watching Deadpool annoy Wolverine was never not funny to me.  Mr. Reynolds and Mr. Jackman have great chemistry on-screen together.  The film really sings when they’re together.  The film allows Deadpool to interact with the MCU without abandoning the Fox universe where he originated.  Quite the contrary: I was shocked by the degree to which this film was a love letter to all of the Fox superhero movies!!  I was overjoyed to see Chris Evans back as Johnny Storm, Jennifer Garner back as Elektra, Wesley Snipes back as Blade, Dafne Kean back as Laura/X-21, Aaron Stanford back as Pyro… and Channing Tatum finally getting a chance to play Gambit!!!  Pure joy!  Even though this is a Disney/MCU film, it was thankfully still R-rated and full of ultra-violence and over-the-top profanity, just like a Deadpool movie should be.  Every minute of this movie is fun.  Click here to read my full review.  Click here to watch it now on Disney+.  (It’s also available to watch on Amazon Prime Video.)

Thanks for reading!  I hope you’ll rejoin me tomorrow as we complete this list with my five favorite movies of 2024!  See you then!

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