Farewell, 2024
Getting ready for the year ahead…
Apologies, dear readers, for the month-long hiatus: sadly, one of our dogs – and my best friend for the past 14 years – passed away at the end of November, and that dampened my creative energies considerably. The regular schedule will resume in the new year, with the usual content as well as the proper kick-off for the Critical Thinking feature I’ve mentioned in the past. And to make up for the unplanned break, all posts in January will be freely accessible to everyone. Paywalled writing will be reinstated in February.
I hope you all enjoyed reading my stuff this year, and will stick around for 2025. And as we say goodbye to 2024, a little parting gift: my 10 favorite films of the year. Enjoy.
1. The Seed of the Sacred Fig
Mohammad Rasoulof’s tenth feature film was a highlight of this year’s Cannes, a powerful indictment of Iranian bureaucracy. Riveting from start to finish.
2. The Brutalist
Brady Corbet’s third feature is hypnotically epic and epically hypnotic, a dissection of art and life that earns every minute of its seemingly daunting runtime (intermission included). Can’t wait to watch it again.
3. The Substance
Brilliantly disgusting, Coralie Fargeat’s satirical body horror has proven divisive. Personally, I was immediately taken with its tongue-in-cheek approach to Hollywood’s unhealthy obsessions with perfect bodies. Career-best performance by Demi Moore.
4. Dostoevskij
Technically a TV miniseries, but it was released as a two-part movie in Italian cinemas, so I’m counting it. A bleak and perverse take on the police story, it’s the D’Innocenzo brothers’ magnum opus, the climax of their explorations of the darker sides of the human soul.
5. Trap
Art and family come together in this glorious M. Night Shyamalan suspense machine, with a magnificent Josh Hartnett as the serial killer who, much like a filmmaker, has to adapt to circumstances so his passion project can be completed with as little interference as possible. Pure, gleeful entertainment.
6. The Wild Robot
In the year of its 30th anniversary, DreamWorks delivered its best movie to date, a touching portrait of motherhood against a sci-fi/eco-friendly backdrop. Fun and heartbreaking in equal measure.
7. Memoir of a Snail
Another animated triumph, this time by Australian filmmaker Adam Elliot, whose off-kilter and gloomy worldview remains queasily charming. Lovingly hand-crafted, it’s a perfect example of what stop motion can accomplish in an excessively digital world.
8. Dune: Part Two
Denis Villeneuve’s take on Frank Herbert’s book was already firing on all cylinders the first time around, but the second half is even more spectacular, thought-provoking and majestic. Intelligent sci-fi on a massive, rivetingly accessible scale.
9. Flow
Latvia’s submission for the Oscars, a deceptively simple and dialogue-free tale of resilience and cooperation as an unlikely alliance between some animals occurs during a flood. An ode to friendship and the universality of its unspoken language.
10. Afternoons of Solitude
Albert Serra’s latest provocation is spellbinding and revolting in equal measure, as he follows a bullfighter and depicts his day in unflinching ways. An indictment of the practice, or a celebration of it? Both interpretations are valid, and Serra is undoubtedly enjoying the debate.