January 10, 2025
Well, we made it. Another year in the books. For me, I’m celebrating five years of writing about movies and other life experiences since I decided to jump out of the corporate fire and enjoy a quieter life. Fortunately, things have been very good for us. I’m enjoying more time with my family and friends, still playing golf (although not getting better, but that’s not the point), traveling more, feeling healthier and less stressed, and having a great time mentoring small business owners as part of my volunteer work.
Oh yeah, I still love seeing (and writing about) movies. My watch list has somehow gotten longer over the last few years as I continue to explore the work of great filmmakers as well as staying on top of new releases. Fortunately, the creative juices are still strong and I’m feeling good heading into 2025. But first, we’re going to look back at 2024 as part of exploring my favorite movies of the year. Let’s start with a pulse check of the film industry.
State of the Industry
All things considered, 2024 was a pretty good year for the film industry. Still reeling from the massive impacts of COVID and the dual industry strikes in 2023, no one expected 2024 to be “business as usual.” The box-office was pretty good – down from a terrific 2023 given the impact of the strikes, but better than 2021 and 2022. Not back to the levels of 2019 yet, but on the right track. With that in mind, the 2025 slate looks very strong, so fingers crossed we’ve turned the corner.
Of note, it looks like the streamers have figured out that they need the theatrical model, instead of just putting movies on their platform. Now that we have a few years of data, industry analysis shows that a quick pivot to home rental doesn’t negatively impact the box-office results, but a film sent straight to streaming leaves no cultural impact. It may show up on the home screen for a few days, but it’s quickly forgotten about afterwards. It seems like going forward there will be a dual status for movies. You’ll see a theatrical release with a migration to digital (on demand rental or streaming), with the timing depending on the studio / streamer and the film’s box-office results. And then you’ll see lesser movies go straight to streaming.
The one exception to this strategy will be Netflix. The world’s largest streamer has no interest in putting their films in theaters, except for a short window in a few markets to qualify for awards. There are, however, some cracks in the foundation – pushback from filmmakers. Greta Gerwig’s next project after Barbie is an adaptation of The Chronicles of Narnia for Netflix. She’s pushing hard for a theatrical release and reports indicate she was able to negotiate an IMAX release for a short window when the film comes out in 2026. Other power players are also making noise. Daniel Craig was reportedly pissed that Glass Onion and Dead Man Walking (the two sequels to Knives Out) wouldn’t get a proper theatrical release. Here is where you insert the Don Draper “That’s what the money’s for!” GIF.
But even money may not be the clear differentiator anymore. Margot Robbie will star in a remake of Wuthering Heights, to be directed by Oscar-winner Emerald Fennell. They passed up more money from Netflix to make the film with Warner Bros. Studios, who promised a theatrical release. If talent starts passing on Netflix’s paychecks because of their business choices, might they start making different decisions? Time will tell.
From a quality standpoint, I think 2024 was a very good movie year. Probably on par with 2023 in terms of the number of great films that I would revisit again in the next few years. Certainly better than 2020 – 2022, so it feels safe to say that we are back to some sense of normalcy heading into 2025. I’ll be covering my favorite movies of 2024 over the next few weeks, but this week I’m going to discuss some honorable mention selections that either just missed out on my top 20 or I just didn’t get a chance to cover yet. Let’s start with a rare Netflix movie that I actually enjoyed.
Preposterous But Fun – Carry-On
Every year I make an exhaustive list of movies to see, usually based on some combination of the plot, director or actors involved in the film when I first hear about it. Inevitably when I read early reviews or see a brief trailer, there are some movies that I realize are just not for me and they come off the list. Yes, it’s good to take chances, but life is too short to waste time on stuff that I am 99% sure I am going to hate. My radar for these types of movies is usually higher for Netflix originals as they tend to have a high rate of disappointment. I was therefore pleasantly surprised to hear great reviews for Carry-On, the new thriller with Taron Egerton and Jason Bateman that arrived on the service just in time for Christmas.
Egerton plays Ethan, a TSA agent at LAX, going through the motions of his job and his relationship with pregnant girlfriend Nora. Ethan goes to work on Christmas Eve to face another mindless day shepherding the onslaught of travelers through the busy airport. Things take a dramatic turn when he is connected to a mysterious traveler played by Jason Bateman. He communicates with Ethan through an AirPod and instructs him to let a bag through the X-ray scanner or Nora will be killed. And just like that, we are off to the races.
Carry-On is a fun action movie that is best enjoyed while shutting the logical part of your brain off. Every time I started thinking, “Wait, what about….?” I had to remind myself what I was watching. Egerton is very good in the role, but the real winner is Bateman, channeling the most evil aspects of his character from Ozark to this role as the individual torturing our hapless TSA agent. While watching Carry-On, I was reminded of another fun (silly, preposterous) LA action movie, Ambulance, with Jake Gyllenhaal and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II on the run following a bank robbery gone bad. Deranged and action packed, just like Carry-On.
So, maybe there’s hope for Netflix films? Well….. there was a story recently that Netflix studio executives have been giving feedback to screenwriters that they should include more scenes where characters are describing what they are doing for those viewers who aren’t entirely focused on watching the movie or show. I never thought I would hear about something worse than AI infecting the creative arts, but here we are. Look, we’re all guilty of looking at our phones while watching stuff on our couches. It’s become an epidemic in theaters, but that’s a rant for another day. Instead of challenging writers to create more compelling stories to keep audiences engaged, Netflix is actually encouraging passive viewing. They even have a category on their service for “casual viewing.” Maybe we just need a practice that keeps this to reality television, and not prestige films, shall we? Guess that’s my cinephile snob brain coming through. Ironically, I was actually very engaged with Carry-On and didn’t feel the need to scroll on my phone. Small victories, I guess. Carry-On is now streaming on Netflix.
Motherhood is a…Nightbitch
There are certain actors that I will (with rare exception) check out any new movie in which they appear. Amy Adams is one of those performers, and I covered some of her better roles in this piece a few years ago. Sure, she’s had a tough run of movies lately (including The Woman in the Window and the dreadful Hillbilly Elegy), but this is the woman who was brilliant in Arrival, so we know she has those great performances in her. She’s also not afraid to take chances with roles she chooses and that is a perfect transition to her recent performance in Nightbitch.
Adams stars as the mother of a young boy and feeling the monotony of her new life. Her husband (played by Scoot McNairy) travels a lot, so Adams is home alone with her son, constantly taking care of him and the house. The only interactions she has with other people are with fellow moms at the playground or reading groups at the library. She feels like she is changing into something she doesn’t want to be….literally. It seems that she is changing into a dog.
Director Marielle Heller’s film is based on the novel of the same and features fantastical sequences where Adams transforms into her canine alter ego, which are sometimes gross, but mostly played for laughs. Is she really transforming into a dog? Well, that’s not really important. The film is more about the struggles of motherhood, specifically the loss of one’s identity, and that is where Adams shines as an actor. Her performance is fearless as she depicts someone who realizes that she is no longer the artist she once was, but simply “someone’s mom and wife.” In fact, her character doesn’t even have a name. As much as I like her performance, I wished the film went a little bit harder on either the horror or comedy angle. It was very good, and as a parent (especially a mother) it may hit close to home. Nightbitch is now available to stream on Hulu.
Speaking of Fearless Performances – Babygirl
Nicole Kidman may be the hardest working actress in Hollywood. A quick scan of her acting credits shows that since 2018 she has appeared in twelve films and over thirty episodes of a half dozen television series. She loves to work and has publicly said that she is making an effort to work with more female directors in the near future, including her latest release Babygirl, which was written and directed by Halina Reijn.
Kidman stars as Romy, the CEO of a robotics company who is recognized as an industry leader and admired for showing professional women that it is possible to have it all. She is married to Jacob, a theater director played by Antonio Banderas. The normal chaos of Romy’s life is further disrupted when she meets Samuel, a new intern played by Harris Dickinson. He picks her as his mentor and the two begin a relationship that quickly escalates from professional meetings to steamy encounters in hotel rooms. Samuel brings out something in Romy that she hasn’t felt in years (if ever), particularly a feeling of passion that she has lost with Jacob.
Babygirl is not your typical film about an affair or a boss who has a relationship with a member of her staff. Reijn has brought forth a story that explores a woman who has lost the spark in her life and is willing to risk it all – her marriage, career, and even her pride as she succumbs to Samuel’s domineering tactics. In playing this role, Kidman demonstrates an incredible vulnerability as she explores her character’s feelings and conflicting emotions. It’s not just the sex scenes (which are rather steamy – buyer beware), but it’s also the scenes where she portrays her character’s desire to end the relationship, but knows that deep down she’s not ready to do that. Kidman has been on the shortlist for a Best Actress nomination for this role, along with another older actress who delivered a fearless performance this year – Demi Moore for The Substance. You can read more about that picture when I unveil my top 20 films of 2024 starting next week. Babygirl is now playing in theaters.
An Old Fashioned Thriller – The Order
While we are raising our glasses to a resurgence of older stars, let’s hear it for Jude Law. OK, he’s not that old (he’s my age and I’m not old yet, dammit), but it’s been a long time since he has been at the forefront of a successful major film. Law stars in The Order, an action-thriller based on the true story of a 1980s FBI investigation into white supremacists in the Pacific Northwest. Law plays a grizzled agent who arrives in a small town in Idaho and teams up with local law enforcement officers to investigate a series of recent crimes. Their findings lead them to The Order, a white supremacist group led by Bob Matthews, portrayed by Nicholas Hoult. Let’s pause a minute to give a round of applause for Hoult, who starred in three excellent movies this year – The Order, Juror #2, and Nosferatu. You’ll read my thoughts about those other two films in the coming weeks.
The Order was one of those December releases that people didn’t get a chance to see since it was fighting with the more popular Thanksgiving and Oscar-season releases. It’s kind of a shame because it’s very well done and feels like the kind of 1990s action thrillers we used to see all the time in the theaters. Law and Hoult are terrific as they play a cat and mouse game throughout the film, and there are a number of quality shootouts and a good twist in the middle of the movie. While the story is quite heavy, there aren’t too many upsetting moments, once you understand the motives of Matthews and his cronies.
After reading more about the film, I learned about a recent documentary on HBO that explored the history of these types of movements in the United States, leading up to the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. It was quite interesting, exploring a number of connected events and individuals that described how that bombing was far from an isolated event. Unfortunately the film’s disturbing images and events were a sobering reminder of today’s political environment. American Bombing: The Road to April 19th is now streaming on HBO Max and The Order is now available to rent on demand.
An Inspiring True Story – The Fire Inside
Sports biopics, like musician biopics, can be hit or miss for me. Sometimes they are just way too schmaltzy and you feel like you are watching a Hallmark Channel movie. Other times you can be truly inspired without feeling like the filmmakers are manipulating you with the story and the performances. Miracle, the story of the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team, is one that comes to mind as a good example. Another one is Young Woman and the Sea, a very good story with Daisy Ridley portraying the first woman to swim the English Channel. I covered that one earlier this year here and you can now stream it on Disney+.
I thought about that film while I was watching The Fire Inside, the true story of Olympic boxer Claressa Shields, who won a gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics as a teenager. Rachel Morrison made her directorial debut with this picture, after several years as a cinematographer. Morrison and Barry Jenkins (the Oscar winner for Moonlight who wrote the script) made a few great decisions in bringing this true story to the screen.
The first was in casting as they paired Ryan Destiny as Shields with Brian Tyree Henry as her coach. The two of them are excellent, portraying two people thrown together by chance, but thrive off of each other’s energy and drive for success. Their journey is not without conflict as Shields does get frustrated with her coach when they return from London. This brings me to the other great decision with this story. Normally, you would expect the film to climax with her winning the gold at the end of the movie. That actually happens in the middle of the story and we then focus on her struggle to obtain the same sponsorships that other athletes at the same Olympics receive. Companies were not thrilled with sponsoring a Black woman from Flint, Michigan in a violent sport like boxing. Watching Shields struggle to pay for food for her family while seeing Michael Phelps on dozens of Wheaties boxes really drives the point home for the viewer. The Fire Inside (like The Order) is a film that got lost in the December avalanche of new releases, but is definitely worth seeking out, especially if you want an inspirational story with excellent performances from everyone involved. The Fire Inside is now playing in theaters and will be available to rent on demand on January 28th.
An Acting Showcase – A Real Pain
If you are a fan of the brilliant HBO television series Succession, then you are no doubt familiar with Kieran Culkin and his manic performance as Roman Roy. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, then you should immediately start watching Succession on HBO Max (after you finish reading my rambling thoughts about movies, of course.) Culkin won a well-deserved Emmy for his performance in the last season of the acclaimed series. I share this background as it’s very relevant to our next movie.
Culkin stars alongside Jesse Eisenberg in A Real Pain, the story of two cousins who explore their Jewish faith and pay tribute to their recently deceased grandmother on a trip to Poland. David (Eisenberg) and Benji (Culkin) were close in high-school, but have since grown apart, as David is now married with a child, while Benji has struggled to find his place in the world. As the trip unfolds, we see the conflict between the straight-laced David and manic Benji, particularly as they interact with other members of their tour group. I mentioned Succession because most of the time, it feels like Culkin is playing Roman Roy in this movie, and based on his recent press tour and awards speeches, he might be just playing himself?
Now, putting that aside, A Real Pain is a very good movie. I watched this almost a year ago when it premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. At the time, I certainly didn’t think it would be an awards contender, but it has an outside shot at a Best Picture nomination, Eisenberg (who also wrote and directed the film) may land a Best Original Screenplay nod, and Culkin is the clear frontrunner for Best Supporting Actor. He has cleaned up at virtually every award ceremony recently and seems to be following the path of last year’s winner, Robert Downey, Jr. The one person who could beat him is coming up in my next film.
I recently rewatched A Real Pain to see if I agreed with all of the praise being heaped on it, and can see why the film is resonating so strongly with people. Culkin’s performance is excellent, portraying someone who is clearly struggling with his life, and is deeply moved by his experiences in Poland, visiting places that were at the center of the Holocaust, and missing his grandmother with whom he was very close. A Real Pain is definitely the showcase of a smart script by Eisenberg, and the chemistry of the two actors, who are very good together. While I couldn’t shake the feeling I was watching Roman Roy (even though he has a beard in the film and not the show), I was still impressed with both actors’ performances, which is why I recommend checking this one out. A Real Pain is now available to rent on demand and will be available on Hulu on January 16th.
An Underseen Gem – Sing Sing
One of the most frequent rants in my posts is the theatrical release strategies for certain movies. It seems every year there are films that the average moviegoer has a really hard time seeing. Studios will try to orchestrate their release schedules to maximize a film’s Oscar chances, which often leads to a small and slow rollout from mid-December to mid-February. The winner for Best Picture (Drama) at the Golden Globes was The Brutalist, which I was fortunate to see at the Philadelphia Film Festival. It was released in a few theaters in New York and Los Angeles in late December, the bare minimum to qualify for the Oscars. But it won’t be widely available until later this month. The studio behind that movie (A24) is notorious for this type of strategy. Last year, their film The Zone of Interest wasn’t widely available until mid-February. Granted, it won Best International Film at the Oscars, so one could argue that doing a slow rollout could help build momentum for a movie to gain fans and win voters’ favor. But, with the short attention span of most people these days, I argue that films should be made available to a wide audience as soon as possible. Once the buzz has passed, people forget about it. I give credit to another small studio like Mubi, which released The Substance in over 1,000 theaters in its opening weekend. A24 just doesn’t seem to care if people see their movies. Which brings me to my next selection.
I’ve been hearing about Sing Sing for over a year following its premiere at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival, where it was crowned as a sure-fire Oscar contender. A24 released the picture in July 2024 in a small number of theaters and then….just never expanded it to more than 200 theaters. I live in Connecticut and I don’t think the movie played in one theater in the entire state. It was never released for home rental or put on a streaming service. Basically, there was no way to see the movie if you didn’t live in a major market. Now, the studio is relaunching the film as part of its awards campaign and it will be back in theaters next weekend. Who knows how many it will actually appear in? A strange practice indeed – to create a work of art and then make it almost impossible for people to enjoy it.
I was fortunate to see Sing Sing in late December as part of the Independent Spirit Awards, which allows anyone to sign up as a member, screen the nominated films, and vote on the winners. I have to say that I went into this screening wanting to hate it out of spite for A24’s tactics, but I found it to be an excellent film. Colman Domingo stars as a prisoner at Sing Sing prison who also participates in the Rehabilitation Through the Arts program, which encourages inmates to participate in theatrical productions. The RTA program has been in place for almost thirty years throughout New York and has demonstrated success, as participants have a much lower rate of recidivism than nonparticipants.
Besides Domingo and Paul Raci (who plays the theatrical director), most of the other participants of the film are former prisoners and RTA members, and thus not formally trained actors. One of the standouts is Clarence Maclin, a newer member of the troupe, who is encouraged by Domingo’s character to join RTA. Both men are trying to receive parole, and their shared journey is a key component to the film’s storyline. Sing Sing is an inspirational story about the perseverance of people in a hopeless situation, with some heartwarming moments, particularly from Domingo and Maclin. They are both likely to get Oscar nominations for their performances and may even win. The film itself is probably going to get a Best Picture nomination, but if it comes up short, I (and many others) will wonder if A24’s botched release strategy cost it some awards recognition. Sing Sing will be in theaters in late January and likely available to rent on demand in February.
That’s all for this week. I’ll be back next week with more of my favorite movies of 2024, including some wonderful documentaries and the first half of my top 20 films of the year. Thanks for reading and if you would like to be notified about future posts, you can subscribe below.