Since I started the end of the year music review, I thought I should also do a film one since in 2024 I watched more new films than listened to new albums. Let's start off with the stats for the year and go from there. I have each decade listed and recorded what format I watched the films on. Here is what I got:

I ended up seeing 84 new films which is actually double from the previous year. In 2023 I did not see anything before the 1960s so I am glad that I went older this year. Somehow the 1970s won again, I thought either the 1950s or the 1940s were going to win. I was surprised by how many films from the current decade I watched.

I would like to start off with what films I saw at the cinema and then afterwards I will get into the films that stuck with me. What I ended up seeing were Monkey Man, Longlegs, Alien: Romulus, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, The Substance, Anora, Conclave, and Nosferatu. I did go to see The Muppet Movie and Labyrinth, but I have already seen both before. I also did see Godzilla Minus One Minus Color, but I did not count it because I saw the original color version the year before. I have a cinema near me that is within walking distance so if a film comes out in the summer then I most likely will not see it, I am not going to walk in that heat and arrive super sweaty at the cinema and I refuse to drive there.

Monkey Man was so beautiful and was such a great action film especially for a western film. I really did not know what it was about before I went to see it, I just knew it was Dev Patel's directorial debut and I think that guy is cool so I had to go. That shit really blew me away and I was surprised by the fact that this was his first film. It looked too good to be his first! He seemed to have such a good crew behind him which really helped with making it not a jumbled mess. I was reading some reviews whilst typing this out and some said the story and editing felt a bit clunky, but it didn't to me. I did enjoy the political aspect of it even as someone unaware of the political situation in India, but I was hoping for more of it, it seemed rather simplistic. I'm interested in seeing what Patel will do in the future and how he can top this film.

Longlegs, Alien: Romulus, and Beetlejuice Beetlejuice were all a bit meh to me. Longlegs was the best out of the three and had my interest for most of the film until we got to the haunted doll nonsense that made me roll my eyes. I know Longlegs worships the devil and everything so him using the dolls to kill people through the power of the devil or some shit works within the context of the film, but it just felt like a cop out to me and lazy writing. I wish him killing people because of his satanic obsession was worked a different way. The acting in the film was really good, I felt the main actress Maika Monroe was perfectly awkward, and I felt that Longlegs was a good character in general.

Alien: Romulus also had good acting especially from David Jonsson who played Andy. I felt that android lovers would really enjoy this character and I hope we see Jonsson in more science fiction films. It just felt like a whatever horror film and I liked it until we got to the tall slender white baby that just made me think of slenderman. It was an uninteresting design to me, they could have added more onto the actor.

Then Beetlejuice Beetlejuice was just whatever. I think it looked nice and some of the underworld looked cool, but there were parts of the story that I did not like. There were a lot of ideas going on at once and what disappointed me was how they dealt with Dolores. I thought she was an interesting character and wish there was more of an interaction of her with Beetlejuice at the end, but she just arrives at the chapel and then gets eaten by a sandworm. Catherine O'Hara was really funny in the film and I enjoyed what they did with Charles Deetz which is what influenced me to actually go see the film. I wanted to view the stop motion segment in person! I would argue this is one of the better nostalgia bait sequels I've seen.

My favorite out of the eight would obviously be The Substance. That shit was crazy and the ending made me laugh my ass off. There are a lot of things within the context of the film that don't make any sense like Sue being able to have a job despite no last name, social security number, birth certificate, or anything else like that that proves her existence, but none of it really matters because there's a goo that births a younger version of yourself. I only saw one trailer of this beforehand whilst seeing a different film so I really didn't know what it was about. I just saw people on Twitter raving about it so I felt compelled to go see it. I forced my brother to come with me that day since he was so cranky and it really cheered him up. It was sooooo good. Truly THE best film of the year.

Last three films I want to talk about are Anora, Conclave, and Nosferatu. I felt that Anora was alright. It looked very nice, the acting was good, and I did enjoy the characters and the entire situation they were in. One small detail in the film that I will applaud them for is the part where Vanya and Ani have started to have sex on the couch and the men come knock on the door to see if Vanya actually got married and Vanya answers the door with an erection. I feel often times men stay flaccid in sex scenes or post sex scenes when that's just not realistic. I am not one to complain about realism in film, but can't a man have an erection on screen?

Conclave was alright. It felt quite Oscar-baity to me. The acting was good, I liked the story and all the drama between the Cardinals, but I felt there could have been more to it. Things were a bit drawn out and I could not stand the scoring in this film. It made everything much more intense than it actually was. Nosferatu was pretty good. I haven't seen the original in many years so I can not say how similar they are to each other, but I did like the use of color, all of the shadows, and I actually like Count Orlok's moustache unlike many other people. He hasn't much hair on the rest of his body, let him hang on to the one area that can still grow some!

One film that did come out in 2024 that I was unable to see at the cinema but did watch at home was I Saw the TV Glow. It was playing at a theater further from me and I don't want to drive so I didn't see it then. I am glad I didn't because I was weeping like I have never wept before especially from a film. I wouldn't want to be a crying mess in public. I really loved that film, I don't think I could watch it again.

I want to mention the few nostalgia bait sequels I saw since I've already mentioned Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. First I saw Clerks III (2022) which was so awful. I have severely outgrown the humour of Kevin Smith, but this film just seemed really bad especially for him. I have seen quite a lot of his films, I know he can do better than this so what happened here? The directing was bad, the writing was bad, the intro went on for way too long. Then I watched Bill and Ted Face the Music (2020) which was a lot better, but not the best. I thought that the actors who played their daughters were really good and Deacon marrying Missy was a great joke to start off with. I really did not like much of the directing and the whole look of the film. It felt rather bland, they could have done more with it. The last one I saw was Good Burger 2 (2023). Also a pretty meh film. I liked the sets especially Ed's house. His kids were funny and Alex R. Hibbert who played Ed 2 was very good at mimicking Ed's mannerisms. Whilst writing out this page I am learning that he is the same actor who played younger Chiron in Moonlight which makes total sense as to why he was very good in this film.

Let's get into the older films that I watched for the first time that I really loved. I did purchase the Jacques Tati box set from Criterion since I have already seen Mon Oncle (1958) and Playtime (1967) before and I wanted to see the rest of his films. His work is absolutely amazing. He's such a great director, an amazing writer, incredibly hilarious, he's just so good at what he does! I have not watched much of the extras yet so I can't speak on them, but I did watch most alternate versions of each film. I will need to visit these discs again and finish them off completely. I love Monsieur Hulot, I wish he was real and was my best friend. He has been added onto my mental list of men.

Here are a few old classics that I finally watched: The Philadelphia Story (1940), The Maltese Falcon (1941), and Harvey (1950). The Philadelphia Story made me realize that I really do not care for Katherine Hepburn. I don't know what it is about her, but I just feel there are better female actors of the time and that she is majorly overrated. I did think the film was funny and really enjoyed the performance of the girl who played Dinah, Virginia Weidler. I don't remember the Maltese Falcon that much, but I did enjoy it. I should totally watch it again. I absolutely loved Harvey. It has been added to my list of Seymourcore films (I will explain later what exactly this means). Josephine Hull was so perfect in this film. I loved seeing her character getting even more crazy as the plot went on. My favorite scene is the one where the two characters who work at the mental hospital are talking to Elwood outside of the bar and Elwood explains to them how he met Harvey. One thing I didn't like about the film was at the end where they had Harvey moving things. I felt it defeated the purpose of Harvey being imaginary stemming from some sort of trauma that Elwood experienced and Veta realizing that she should respect Elwood for the way that he is.

There is this one specific set that I must talk about that is titled Drive-In Cult Classics which is a collection of eight films. It contains the films Pick Up (1980), The Sister in Law (1974), The Stepmother (1972), The Teacher (1974), Trip with the Teacher (1975), Best Friends (1975), Cindy and Donna (1970), and Malibu High (1979). When I purchased this I did not realize that they were all sexploitation films. The sex in these films is just them rubbing each other. With a genre title like that I would be expecting more from it. These films really aren't that great, but some of them did have some actors who really stood out. The Teacher was one of the better films within the list, it had a better consistent story that didn't lull often like the other films. Anthony James was insanely good playing as a stalking creep, I might see what else he's in. One other stand out actor was Zalman King in Trip with the Teacher. Another creepy dude, but creepy in a different way. Trip with the Teacher was the most intense film out of the eight. Some of the better ones were the Stepmother, the Sister in Law, and Malibu High. Worst one was Best Friends, it was rather boring.

There are some other little films I want to briefly mention. I watched the Rush Hour films which were the only films from the 2000s that I saw. They're alright comedies. I was surprised by how they didn't feel repetitive and they didn't do the typical break up scene until the third film which didn't last very long. Freaked (1993) was the most 90s film I've ever seen before and I absolutely loved it. Yes, there are a few questionable and out-dated things in it, but it is such a silly film with great special effects and costuming. I loved how colorful it was, I loved all the camera angles, the intro was fantastic.

I saw The Wiz (1978) which was fantastic. I loved the sets, the costumes, the music, and everything else about it. I especially enjoyed the way they dealt with the Wizard being a fraud. Here, he is seen as a fake and continues to be seen that way. In the most popular adaptation of the Wizard of Oz from 1939 (I have not read any of the books so I don't know how close the film is to them), the Wizard seems to gain their respect and have some sort of legitimacy after being proven a fake when he gives them those little trinkets and papers. I like the aspect of the characters already having the things that they are wanting from the Wizard and it is shown throughout the film that they're not lacking in those things. The original film does do that, however, I feel that the Wiz explained it better.

I fear that I may talk about every single film I saw which is not what this page is for. There are some I am thinking about... I did see some Boris Karloff films which I have not seen anything that he is in before. I purchased a DVD compilation of his which contained The Black Room (1935), The Man They Could Not Hang (1939), Before I Hang (1940), and The Boogie Man Will Get You (1942). I was surprised by the last one being a comedy since all the others were horror. Peter Lorre has a very interesting character in it, I would suggest watching it for him. The two that have "hang" in the title of them were a bit similar, but I would say that the first one had a better concept. I'm glad I bought them because now I know what a fantastic actor he is.

I ended the year with starting to watch any John Waters film I hadn't seen yet. In 2025 I will be finishing that up. I saw Hairspray (1988), Female Trouble (1974), Pink Flamingos (1972), and Multiple Maniacs (1970). I have already seen Cry-Baby (1990) and A Dirty Shame (2004) before. Waters is so hilarious, I love how he writes dialogue. It's so over the top and theatrical. I absolutely love Mink Stole, I think she is a fantastic actress and probably my favorite out of his regulars. For my 2025 end of year review I will talk more about his films.

Let's get into my film goals for the new year. First one, finish off John Waters. I would also like to finish off Mel Brooks since I've already seen four of his films. I would like to get into the Marx brothers. I did see A Night at the Opera (1935) and fell in love with Harpo so I must see more of him. I would also like to get into Buster Keaton since I did watch Sherlock Jr. (1927) and I would like to watch more silent films in general. I really need to finish off all the discs that I've bought but haven't touched yet. I also have this little note card that I write films to watch on. Sometimes I will see a post about a film on social media and will save it to my drafts to visit later. I am supposed to go back into my drafts to write them down onto the note card and delete the post, but I don't do that often. I should do that right now.

If you have any recommendations then please send them my way. If you see a film that just absolutely blew your mind I would like to know about it. No need to tell me what platform you watched it on, I know how piracy works. I do prefer foreign films and anything made before the 80s, but I'll sit through anything... except for a few things which I shall not name here.

I would like to see if I am able to beat my record of 84 films for the next year. I did purchase the Fellini collection from Criterion and I have only seen one of the films in the set so that'll already give me thirteen once I've finished with it. If I stay consist with watching at least ten films each month I could do it. I don't think it'll happen, but I should at least prioritize watching a film on my days off and any day where I don't feel that tired after work.