Another year gone so let's recap it! Here are all the greatest superlatives for 2024:
Actors of the Year:
This was one of the clearer years in recent memories. He's been rising for a while, but this was the time that Glen Powell made his name known in Hollywood. Building off Anyone But You (2023), Chad Radwell dropped star-making charisma bombs in Hit Man (2024) and Twisters (2024) and became someone who my wife sort of knows.
Zendaya wins Actress. She played a huge, bigger role in Dune II (2024) where she held her own and then to counter the big blockbuster, completely ran away with Challengers (2024), where she played, in her words, a character older than her who has had experiences she hasn't had yet. She's proving her staying power and really crushed it.
Villain of the Year:
I just watched Carry-On (2024) and I hated Jason Bateman so much. He's loveably hateable. I don't always do this category, but I really felt like I had to do it for this guy. Bateman plays him so snarlingly, blindsidingly, and meanly. The Traveler is a real jerk.
Hero of the Year:
Cleary Madame Webb, I don't see any other person who is avenging her mother who died while researching spiders in the Amazon. That line isn't even in the movie. I don't think it's that bad, really. This movie was full of such absolutely bizarre and deliberate choices. I think the Sony Spider-Man but Not Spider-Man Universe really deserves a deep dive at some point. But okay, not really. Kong?! We had a great King Kong movie this year! Sort of!
Scenes:
Kong vs. Frozen thing
I think that scene was cool. I couldn't actually find it or remember what was good about this movie, here's this scene instead:
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Blink Twice when the movie changes
I couldn't pinpoint exactly when this happens but SPOILER at some point after she drinks the snake venom and realizes what is happening, the whole style of the film changes. Like, the shots are wider, less lascivious, the make-up is different, it's less focused on montage. I've seen a lot of films that have big changes and big swings but not so many where the visual language takes such a big (and actually subtle) shift.
The Substance - I dunno, pick one
Let's go with this age-restricted final scene! This whole movie is an insane fever dream and this is its culmination.
Deadpool vs. Wolverine - finding meaning
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I wanted to throw in the biggest movie of the year. We need to talk about it more since we saw it in theaters five months ago, but for me, as this video gets into, there is a bit more to this thing than obvious cameos and perhaps misplaced nostalgia for the Fox Marvel Universe. It's matter and anti-matter clashing together and a desperate search for meaning and substance on the part of a character who by definition opposes such things. There are bigger implications on current cultural post-modern cynicism vs. sincerity that I'm not sure this movie totally commits to, but this scene pushes that thesis forward, finds meaning for Deadpool, and pays off seeing Hugh Jackman's abs.
Longlegs - Cage's face
I haven't seen this movie and I don't want this spoiled for me, so google his face if you need to.
Ricky Stanicky
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This movie exists on the edge of a knife. I don't remember any funny scenes but it was a great, funny movie. John Cena continues to kill it leaning into comedic roles, and while Efron has been better, Santino is pretty solid and this could have been a star-making turn if this film got more exposure. It's the funniest movie of the year.
Biggest Disappointment: The Fall Guy
I was pretty pumped for this and then bummed when it didn't do that great. Then I saw it and was like, "Oh! This movie is pretty bad." Gosling is great, but I get the vibe more and more than Emily Blunt and John Krasinski just think that they are America's couple and everyone loves them. They ain't that great. The plot kind of fell apart immediately and while it did make me think more about stunt performers and it had a solid ending, it continuously felt like it was coasting off Gosling's newfound Barbie (2023) turn without ever capturing that energy in an organic way. It should be called Forced: The Movie.
Best Surprise: Twisters
Movies are BACK, baby!! Man, Twisters just felt like an actual movie. It was awesome. I don't know if it actually had any connection to Twister (1996), but I really dig movies where elements of nature are irrationally angry with human kind. Great, charismatic leads, a fun rollicking plot, and CGI that never really felt domineering. Throw in the Rodeo as a great scene for the year. Twisters is the shit. Movies are back, baby!
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