Happy New Year! 🎆
Tory's top 9 films from 2024
This newsletter is brought to you by the one and only . While we both had massive life changes occur in August of this year, Tory still managed to keep her finger on the film pulse and publish this excellent shortlist of her 2024 favorites. Per usual, she’s spot on with her recommendations and reviews. I’ve already added a few of these to my watchlist (films I had no idea existed!) and I can’t wait to get to them.
I hope you enjoy Tory’s article, and if you have Letterboxd, give her a follow!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
- Heather Wright
This year, I quit my job and moved across the world from America to Hungary to teach English and see the world. On my third day in Budapest, I went to the movies. After a mere 72 hours of new foods, hearing different languages spoken, pay-for-use toilets, and not a free refill in sight, I needed a sense of normalcy. I went to the nearest theater and saw Deadpool & Wolverine. I hated the movie, but I was grateful that there was a place that I could go that felt familiar.
Six months later, I still live in Budapest. I go to the movies a lot because it makes me feel at home. This year, the cinema has brought us sequels (Inside Out 2, Gladiator II) and prequels (Alien: Romulus, A Quiet Place Day One), weird and delightful surprises (Sasquatch Sunset, Emilia Perez), good movies that were so overhyped they became letdowns (Kinds of Kindness, The Fall Guy), and Lindsay Lohan x Netflix collabs we didn’t know we needed (Irish Wish, Our Little Secret).
It seems like there are a thousand films to sort through, and it can be hard to know what to watch. As this year comes to a close, I’ve compiled a list of my favorite films to share with you. Wherever you are, I hope these movies help you feel more at home.
Happy New Year!
- Tory
Tory’s Top 8 Favorite Movies of the Year (plus a bonus)
Bonus - Lee (Ellen Kuras)
I love a true story, and Lee captures the amazing true story of Lee Miller, a photographer during World War II who takes some of the most compelling photos of the war—including one of her naked in Hitler’s bathtub. She made the atrocities of the Nazis real to the rest of the world. Lee’s spirit embodies both the intense strength and the intense vulnerability of being a woman. While her unique perspective allowed her to see things no one else could see, she also carried a burden that no one else could carry.
My one issue with the movie is that for such an incredible story, the plotline is unoriginal, and the narrative twist they try to give it with her interviewer fell flat with me. Also disclaimer that if you watch this movie you will see Kate Winslet’s boobs … a lot.
Lee is now streaming on Hulu.
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (George Miller)
It’s a badass, wild, rowdy prequel. I loved seeing Anja Taylor-Joy in such a gritty role, and she does great justice to the character of Furiosa. Chris Hemsworth plays the bad guy, who walks a delicate line between unhinged madman and cringey weirdo, but overall it works. If you like this era of the Mad Max saga, there’s no way you won’t like Furiosa.
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is now streaming on Max.
My Old Ass (Megan Park)
This movie was written by a hip elder millennial and stars our patron saint, Aubrey Plaza. I feel seen. This demographic is finally just old enough to feel real pangs of regret and the sense that if we could give our younger selves wisdom, we would. It’s funny, it’s sincere, and it doesn’t take itself too seriously. It’s also beautifully shot with images of Canada’s untamed West Coast. Above all, this movie reflects the sense that many people in their 30s feel, that life is passing by so quickly and you may not have done everything right.
My Old Ass is now streaming on Prime Video.
His Three Daughters (Azazel Jacobs)
This is one of the best adult sibling relationship stories I’ve ever seen. Carrie Coon, Natashla Lyonne, and Elizabeth Olson are flawless as they play adult three sisters caring for their father as he dies. Most of the movie takes place in one apartment, which makes it feel raw, real, and confining—just like how the characters feel. Each sister works through grief for their father, their childhood, and their relationships with each other in a way that feels very high stakes and doesn’t let you take the ending for granted.
His Three Daughters is now streaming on Netflix.
Megalopolis (Francis Ford Coppola)
This movie became a bit of a laughingstock in Hollywood because it was so big, so grand, so over-the-top. It’s like we’re all in middle school again and making fun of Francis Ford Coppola for trying. This movie was a passion project that took him decades to make (plus millions of dollars of his own money). The story is epic, comparing modern America to Rome with a hundred Shakespeare references thrown in. It’s ancient and modern all at once.
The protagonist Caesar Catalina tries to save what is good in the world as he simultaneously works to hurl society into the future. “Which institution would you save for the future Megalopolis?” one character asks. Caesar answers: “Marriage”. I’ll grant you that the movie is a bit messy, but I for one would love it if more filmmakers started trying as hard as Coppola does here.
Megalopolis is available to rent on various platforms.
Twisters (Lee Isaac Chung)
Twisters is the most fun I had at the movies this year and if you missed it on the big screen, I’m sorry. Put it on the biggest screen you can find and enjoy. Yes, it’s a ripoff of the original. Yes, the characters are cliche. But it’s seriously just fun. It didn’t make me want to chase a tornado, but it did make me want to get out and live. Daisy Edgar-Jones and Glen Powell are perfect in this and if I could give the movie just one note … let people kiss again.
Twisters is now streaming on Peacock.
Civil War (Alex Garland)
If our world falls into dystopian chaos and civil war in the near-future, at what point will you lose your humanity? That’s the question posed by this movie that no one wants to answer. The plot follows a group of fiercely brave photojournalists who try to remain objective and detached amid unprecedented conflict, to varying success. The movie features stunning performances by Kirsten Dunst and Cailee Spaeny, not to mention one of the shortest yet most chilling performances you’ll ever see from Jesse Plemons.
Most critics of the film didn’t like that the reason for the war was never explained —they wanted judgment cast down on our current political climate. But that was never the point. The point is: now that the conflict is here, what are you going to do within it?
Civil War is now streaming on Max.
Anora (Sean Baker)
I have so much respect for the marketing of this movie because the trailer pulled off an epic bait-and-switch. The preview tells one story, and the movie tells a different, better story. I won’t spoil it for you, but it’s not just a thrillride of the Russian mafia chasing two lovebirds through the streets of New York City. It has so much to say about the commodification of sex and the toll it takes on women. The ending scene in particular is a gut-punch. I thought I was going to make it out of the theater without crying but they got me at the end.
Anora is available to rent on various platforms.
The Substance (Coralie Fargeat)
No question about it, The Substance is the must-see movie of the year. It managed to bring all the gore and suspense you want in a horror film and perfectly yet subtly aligns a social commentary. Is it about Ozempic specifically or impossible beauty standards generally? I’d argue that every person who watches this movie will have a unique and nuanced answer.
Demi Moore pours herself into the role in a way that’s obvious even to people who don’t know her personal life. I love how in the beginning of the movie we can feel the disgust her character has for her own image. Then later, the same image elicits a sense of longing and desire. But what makes this movie great is how it lands perfectly. The feelings we feel as Elisabeth Sparkle’s Hollywood star is being cleaned off… perfection.
The Substance is now available on Prime Video.
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