The 10 Best Movies of 2024

 

The big cinematic stories this year included the financially dismal launch of the summer season, the dramatic comeback of Pixar and the MCU's return to the billion-dollar box-office club (right alongside Pixar). Dystopian action prequels flopped just as hard as Nepo baby horror debuts and adaptations of 80s TV shows The best experiences that I had at the theater in 2024 were at rereleases (G*zilla Minus One and the 10th anniversary release of Interstellar). But a collection of indie gems, space operas and sports comedies made up for all of the panic at the cineplex.   

10. The Book of Clarence

Writer/director Jeymes Samuel reteams with LaKeith Stanfield and RJ Cyler following their collaboration on the western The Harder They Fall. This time they give the predominantly-Black treatment to the biblical genre. Removing the white-washing usually given to bible-based films greatly enhances the verisimilitude; if only the bestiality joke (involving a donkey) had been left on the cutting room floor. 

9. Bad Boys: Ride or Die

So far, the doubts about Will Smith's drawing power following his Oscars scandal seem to have been unfounded, as his first theatrical release post-slap did serious business at the box office, becoming the second-highest grossing installment in the long-running Bad Boys series.

Picking up where 2020's Bad Boys for Life (the biggest American money-maker of the year) left off, Marcus Burnett is forced to cut his retirement short in order to reteam with longtime partner Detective Mike Lowery to both clear their deceased captain's name and to help Mike protect his son survive being placed on a hit list.

The whole gang's back -- except for the glaring omission of Theresa Randle, who's been inexplicably recast -- for near non-stop thrill ride with more action than its predecessor. And, perhaps, enough to rival 2003's Bad Boys II.

8. Horizon: An American Saga Chapter

Kevin Costner clearly has a soft spot for the western genre. And after working in that space for nearly 40 years, beginning with 1985's Silverado, the director/actor/producer/writer has achieved his magnum opus with this epic about settlers and indigenous people.

7. Land of Bad

Russel Crowe headlines one of its best movies in this story about a military extraction gone wrong and the drone pilot who assists the men on the ground.

6. Suncoast

In this true story, based on writer/director Laura Chinn's real experiences, teenaged Doris begins to emerge from her shell and begin her life just as her brain cancer-stricken older brother's is slowly ending -- in the same hospice facility that houses Terry Schiavo. While coping with Max's impending death, Doris struggles to endure her relationship with her widowed, neglectful "Karen" of a mother; befriends a group of wealthy classmates (one of whom is a self-described feminist who overlooks her boyfriend's cheating); and even makes the acquaintance of a quasi-father figure -- whose advice she doesn't appreciate nearly enough. 

The stroll down memory lane, courtesy of early 2000s songs and reality shows, is the cherry on top of an already-engaging story 

5. Code 8: Part II

Deadpool and Logan may have ruled the box office but the best mutant movie belonged to streaming this year. This modestly-budgeted sequel surpasses its predecessor in every way in its grounded world-building and depiction of how society treats people born with special abilities. 

4. Romance with a Twist

After letting go of her dream to be a professional dancer, Luna joined the family construction business and settled into small-town life. But when the local art festival has an opening for an aerialist, she jumps at the chance to learn a new skill that would allow her to express herself through movement. And her partner just happens to be single. 

3. The Underdoggs

Combining Friday with The Bad News Bears, The Underdoggs is the funniest movie of the year and deserved to be seen in theaters as opposed to being a streaming exclusive. This story of an abrasive, retired NFL star who agrees to coach a Pee-Wee football team in his hometown as a publicity stunt (that will hopefully land him a broadcasting job), takes a standard band-of-losers led by a cynic with a heart-of-gold story and fills it to the brim with uncensored comedy.  

2. Rebel Ridge

Police corruption, racism and greed collide with a former U.S. Marine when he arrives in a small town seeking to bail his cousin out of jail before he's transferred to prison. Wearing obvious similarities to First Blood on its sleeve, Rebel Ridge surpasses every movie in the franchise that arose from John Rambo's screen debur.

1. Rebel Moon Part Two: The Curse of                      Forgiveness

Writer/director Zack Snyder's follow-up to last year's A Child of Fire is a vast improvement as the recruited warriors join the Veldt villagers in engaging the full military might of Admiral Noble's forces. While this sequel's predecessor showed promise, Curse of Forgiveness genuinely makes good on Snyder's Star Wars ambitions, providing backstories as well as juxtaposing ground skirmishes with a fight aboard a crashing starship. Like The Empire Strikes Back, the story picks up with the revolutionaries being hunted by the reigning regime and ends with them set to embark on a quest to locate a loved one (in this case a princess instead of a smuggler), teasing much more to come.

Derivative or not, the Imperium's walking tanks are vast improvements on the ones seen in the Prequel Trilogy, outclassing them in every way. And underscoring the abundance of gray morality on display, two of our heroes kill enemy combatants attempting to provide medical assistance after posing as their injured comrades-in-arms. 

There are surprises too. it's refreshing and, frankly, astonishing in this day and age that, given his introduction as "the village's greatest hunter" and Gunnar's rival for Kora's affections, that Den is never depicted as an avatar of "toxic masculinity" and instead was always counted among the heroes. This second half of Rebel Moon's Snyder Cut is the best sci-fi movie of the year and the best "Star Wars" film anything since Rogue One.