Movies I Watched in 2024

thiskurt 2025-01-01 Media

All of these reviews are crossposted on my letterboxd.

1. The Night House (2020, US)

The perfect movie for anyone who's ever wanted to be terrified by Rubin's Vase.

Fantastically executed visuals, tense throughout and the lead actress is so, so good.

I would've changed nothing. (That's a joke)

4/5 - Letterboxd

2. Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes (2020, JP)

I'm giving this an extra star for the technical achievement element of it all.

Apparently this was a one shot, didn't even notice, and from the behind-the-scenes montage at the end I noticed this movie was shot on a phone too. All that and keeping track of timey wimey logistics. Plus it managed to do show and tell at the same time with its establishing exposition.

The movie itself is great. Cute, sweet and short, a real joy to watch; go do so right now if you haven't yet.

Imagine inviting your friends over and they're there in two minutes. Forget the five minute city, this is a two minute city, they're living in the future over there in Japan, but only two minutes.

That is one long extension chord, though.

5/5 - Letterboxd

3. Boiling Point (2021, UK)

The second one-shot film in a row, but purely by accident.

Unwind after a long day with this tense and stressful masterpiece.

Enthralling from start to finish, a great atmosphere, characters you recognise, but who are still interesting enough. I was on the edge of my seat when he was taking those bins out.

That darn walnut oil, they were the only table I liked too.

Not sure about the ending, though.

4/5 - Letterboxd

4. The Wolf House (2018, CL)

Finishing off the impromptu one-shot trilogy with this movie was A Choice.

What a movie. Beautiful, and by beautiful I mean completely unsettling.

It does a good job as a cult's fictional lost propaganda/brainwashing fairy tale. There's something really wrong under the surface. Heck, there's something really wrong on the surface, it's even worse underneath.

If you know a bit about the backstory all the elements are obviously here the cultural images, the control, the fear, the isolation from the world, the constant air of abuse. It's still hard to really Understand, but it always would be, I suppose. You definitely feel it though.

4/5 - Letterboxd

5. Talk to Me (2022, AU)

Ghost chatroulette is a lot like regular chatroulette, the dicks have to ruin it for everyone.

It was totally the kangaroo, right?

4/5 - Letterboxd

6. Viva Riva (2010, CD)

All in all a fairly standard gangster film, but a well executed one. It does everything it needs to do. Don't expect anything you haven't seen elsewhere, but seeing it here, in this setting, alone makes it worth a watch in my opinion.

3.5/5 - Letterboxd

7. Encounters at the End of the World (2007, US)

A lone figure sits in a dark room only illuminated by the flickering images of snow and ice. What is there to found in a film about penguins? Why does he stare so intently at the white void on the screen like a lion staring at its prey. What nourishment can the screen bring for him?

Perhaps he is looking for an escape out of his existential abyss as he waddles through life without purpose or sense like a deranged penguin. Maybe their madness and despair is like a mirror to his own madness. Or perhaps the resilience of these poor penguins in the face of the harsh, unforgiving nature of the icy monolith in the sound reminds him of the resilience of his own human soul.

Sitting there transfixed by the haunting beauty of nature, at the same time majestic and fragile, and the strangeness of all human endeavour; what is this man to do? What is he to do in the face of the monstrous indifference of the universe? He can only continue to waddle towards the mountains in the distance, towards certain death.

4/5 - Letterboxd

8. Ressurection (2022, US)

I'm biased because I could just stare at Rebecca Hall's face for two hours and think it's a pretty good movie.

I'm happy they went all the way with this.

4/5 - Letterboxd

9. Trollhunter (2008, NO)

Faux found footage film featuring fearless filmmakers filming faraway fantasy fables. Fantastic fun.

3.5/5 - Letterboxd

10. The Holdovers (2023, US)

A real classic film, in every sense of the word.

A bit slow, yet I could've watched it for another two hours no problem. Three interesting characters realized by three great performances. That chase scene is better than any chase scene in any action movie ver. Also let's bring back snap zoom outs in a big way.

4/5 - Letterboxd

11. La Fille sur le Pont (1999, FR)

This review may contain spoilers.

It's a tale as old as time. Girl jumps off bridge, boy jumps after girl, boy throws knives at girl, boy and girl fall for each other, girl parts ways, girl stops boy from jumping off bridge.

3.5/5 - Letterboxd

12. Timecode (2000, US)

This is a bit of a tech demo of a movie and as a tech demo it works very well, but as a movie it's mostly just fine.

The movie consists of four continues shot films playing at same time in a split screen. Everything lines up perfectly and it uses audio very well to direct your attention. At no point does it ever feel disjointed or confusing.

The story on the other hand is just too basic and combined with the largely improvised dialogue it's just not that good.

A great technical achievement, but unfortunately none of the four screens ever had anything interesting to watch.

3/5 - Letterboxd

13. Dream Scenario (2023, US)

This review may contain spoilers.

To say this is about cancel culture is really underplaying the breadth of this movie. It's about the full journey of fame, really.

Starting from a boring, and a little sad, figure wanting some level of recognition only to have it arrive through something arbitrary and not really about him, leaning into, the shallow corporate exploitation, all the weird ways people act around it, the sudden turn, and, yes, cancel culture and finding himself in a ridiculous culture war, to the decline and the slow resignation to declined fame.

Nicolas Cage does a great job embodying this kind of guy. But this is why you never fart in front of anyone. Except in France.

4/5 - Letterboxd

14. Poor Things (2023, US)

Absolutely wild movie, unfortunately the title Wild Things was already taken.

Loved it. I don't even know where to start. I was worried it was going to be the kind of artsy thing that doesn't really pull me in at first, but this is amazing.

Loved the cinematography and set design and how they work together to create Lisbon and Paris. Love the hamming of Buffalo, and it occasionally slipping in a sweary moment, love the imaginative elements both boldly at the front and unremarked on in the background.

Let's dig up Marry Shelley, put her brain in a goat and have her watch this just to see what she'd think.

4.5/5 - Letterboxd

15. Weathering With You (2019, JP)

I've been not watching Your Name for a long time now and ended up watching this movie instead not knowing it was from the same director.

Beautiful movie in art, animation, story and characters. Any scene with these characters just hanging out together was a joy.

It was Bae or Bay all over again.

3.5/5 - Letterboxd

16. Sideways (2004, US)

So far all of Alexander Payne's movie seem to have a quality I can only describe as 'sweetly depressing,' that ultimately culminates in a 'wistfully uplifting' ending.

If you love your wacky road trip movies to be sad and off beat, check it out. Paul Giamatti plays bitter, lonely and stuck as good as ever.

Also young Sandra Oh sure was something else.

4/5 - Letterboxd

17. Attack the Block (2011, UK)

I think the aliens were just trying to get into Ron's weed room, actually.

3.5/5 - Letterboxd

18. Top Gun: Maverick (2022, US)

Many times during this film I felt I knew exactly what was going to happen next, every danger being resolved the way it appeared in my head as soon as it started, every scene unfolding as these scenes tend to do.

That's not necessarily bad, I wouldn't have written this movie any different, I think. No one would. It's as if there is some predestined Top Gun: Maverick script in heaven we have all always had in our hearts. This truly is the platonic ideal of a Top Gun sequel.

I don't think we ever learn who the enemy is, or why they are the enemy, and it's not clear to me if Jennifer Connelly's character is supposed to be the same character as in the first one? But such worldly matters aren't important to Top Gun Colon Maverick. This movie exists in a world where the original Top Gun is the only thing that has ever happened.

There are no politics, there is no history, there are no relationships that do not mirror the ones in the first one. The reality in this movie exists only to repeat or continue the one of the first one. Some movies are inspired by life, some by other fiction, Top Gun Colon Maverick is only inspired by Top Gun.

I don't think I've ever watched a movie where I've felt like the entire world outside of what we see is just an empty white void as much as this one.

2.5/5 - Letterboxd

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