A list of 2024 releases seen this year at theaters in SF and Sydney, and on VOD.

Initial threads-reactions to the higher rated films included. You can find reviews of everything on letterboxd. In alphabetical order, by star rating…

5⭐

All We Imagine as Light
Given how this year has gone, and these stories generally go for women, the gentleness and hope this defiantly imbues is most welcome.

Prodigious filmmaking and empathy from Payal Kapadia.

Fair Play
The power and relationship dynamics are ruthless, as each mounting barb ratchets up the tension. It’s like a psychotic version of Industry.

Can’t wait to see what writer/director Chloe Domont has in store for us next.

Perfect Days
Cinema. This is it, folks. All hail, Wim Wenders.

Pure. Analog. Satisfaction.

Koji Yakusho gives a gentle, scrupulously tuned performance that’s honestly life-affirming. And that final scene? Phew. How is he not up on every awards stage giving a speech?

It was 10/10 when he pulled out a folded piece of newspaper and turned it into a plant vessel.

Sing Sing
The deliberate gentleness and love on display in a setting like a maximum security prison is striking.

Not a bad performance, big or small. Colman Domingo obviously deserves his flowers. Googling Maclin after leaving the theater and understanding his story adds another layer of awe to what he portrays.

One of the greatest callbacks ever, beloved.

Wicked
I’ve seen four different productions. Listened to the original cast recording countless times. Happy to report Jon M. Chu has conjured up splendiferous magnificence! Across. The. Board!

The kaleidoscope of colour. The splitscreen on What Is This Feeling. How the projector comes to life. Ariana, Cynthia, and Jonathan.

Could have done without that additional Grimmerie number.

The Zone of Interest
I kept hoping for the sake of their souls that some of the family were naive to what was going on right next door. Nope. Plain ol’ evil.

Chilling and otherworldly from Jonathan Glazer, before the ending anchors everything. The sound design and score surround you in the sickness.

And the stylistic choice on those fairy tale scenes!

4½⭐

A Quiet Place: Day One
Give that friggin’ cat Best Supporting Actor already! The range! The stunts!

What were the marketing team thinking, not having him be 90% of every trailer?

Michael Sarnoski of Pig taking this on felt like an odd choice when first announced. Nope. He brought all the humanity and threw in a ton of whimsy. Three or four Movie Moments up there with the best of them this year.

Lupita and Quinn make a stellar team.

Of course it ends like Perfect Days.

A Real Pain
There’s a moment early where Culkin turns on a dime and it’s kinda extraordinary.

A spirited examination of grief and guilt.

I’d like Will Sharpe as my tour guide.

All of Us Strangers
My kind of Sixth Sense!

Haigh confidently, intimately guides us through this ethereal love story. Top tier honeymoon phase of romance. Andrew Scott should be winning all sorts of accolades!

Jamie Bell and Mescal are exceptional in their supporting roles.

Anora
Sean Baker is in full control, somehow, of this runaway train of chaotic energy. A formidable ensemble understands and handles the mission!

Mikey Madison shines, then stuns.

Challengers
Luca Guadagnino dials everything the hell up and it serves. The melodrama, the sounds of tennis, the romance, the camera position, the sweat. My god, the sweat.

The trio are very watchable in every combination. I’ve been listening to the rearranged soundtrack for weeks, fun to see it in context!

The grandest gesture was the lil’ proactive foot to bring the stool closer before he sat.

Conclave
There’s a reveal in this that left the crowd quietly murmuring and chuckling. 10 seconds later, someone, whom I assume had it explained to them, exclaimed “OH MY GOD!”

Divine.

A locked in Ralph Fiennes deftly leads this thrilling election procedural!

Dune: Part Two
A reward for the senses! Incomparable as MOODY spectacle.

Villeneuve’s sense of scale and vision is on full display in IMAX 70mm.

Ferguson and Butler are great. Timmy transforms surprisingly well.

Still feels incomplete given what’s ahead and how it ends.

The Holdovers
Sadness, family, and warmth in the bitter, lonely cold of the holidays. Does it matter that some of the warmth comes from one bottle or another?

Fine, fine performances from Giamatti and Joy Randolph.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
For the love of all things machinery and large-scale, inventive, practical action in this wasteland of monotony, go see it and give it money.

George Miller is a treasure and this kicks ass. That Junkie XL score slays again.

Hemsworth proves again that he needs to be cast as a villain more often.

Longlegs
Yeahhh this got me good. Uncomfortable and squirmy non-stop for at least the first 40min, looking for things that weren’t there.

Appreciated the artistry and look and noise of it behind my half-covered eyes.

Cage goes from terrifying to comedic too quick for my liking, but it’s not my movie.

That opening scene though *shudders*

Monkey Man
The ferocity and anger that comes with the violence. The cultural and religious backdrop. The communities that are focused on. Director Dev Patel makes excellent choices!

Wears its references and genre story beats proudly while building on them. Punches and kicks to the rhythm of a tabla player during the training montage being a prime example.

Can’t fail to mention how perfect Sharlto Copley is as the slimy underground fight promoter. Eats up the limited screentime he gets.

A tad too much shaky cam.

The Substance
Darts between sickening and cackling, ultimately smooshing together into hysteria!

Coralie Fargeat does not stop pushing. A grand farce on beauty and ageing.

If there’s ever a movie to watch with a bunch of strangers, it’s this one.

4⭐

A Different Man

Alien: Romulus

American Fiction

Chronicles of a Wandering Saint

Evil Does Not Exist

Good One

Heretic

The Iron Claw

Late Night with the Devil

Navalny

Nocturnes

The Settlers

The Taste of Things

Theater Camp

3½⭐

The Bikeriders

BlackBerry

Carry-On

Deadpool & Wolverine

Dìdi (弟弟)

Great Absence

Hit Man

I Saw the TV Glow

Joker: Folie à Deux

MoviePass, MovieCrash

Origin

Problemista

Trap

Twisters

Woman of the Hour

3⭐

Bottoms

Ferrari

Gladiator II

The Idea of You

Joy Ride

Meanwhile on Earth

Strange Darling

Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story

2½⭐

Civil War

2⭐

The Marvels

½⭐

Madame Web
Can safely guarantee this will be the worst thing I watch this year. Don’t need superpowers for that either. My eyes nearly rolled right out of my head.

The writing is torture. A multitude of insane decisions. It’s actually impressive how they took a cool cosmic being and made… this, right down to those goofy glasses at the end.