My Top 10 Cinema for 2024

10) Little Shop of Horrors - Dir. Frank Oz.

4.5 🌟 out of 5

This comedy-horror-musical from 1986 was a blast to see on the big screen with a packed audience, which really made it an experience with both fans’ and newbies’ audible reactions. While this film is from the 80s and I’ve seen it many times before, it was still a highlight of the year! They even screened the director’s cut versus the original ‘happy ending’. I’ve placed it in tenth place as it’s a retrospective.

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9) Challengers - Dir. Luca Guadagnino.

3.5 🌟 out of 5

A fresh and funny take on the sports movie with oodles of dialogue. It is very well-written and performed and even a bit of a brain tease to see what the take home message is. The final match is visceral. I think the audience was the racket (from memory) at times.. It’s filmed pretty neatly.

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8) The Taste of Things - Dir. Ahn Hung Tran.

3.5 🌟 out of 5

It’s a French film starring Juliette Binoche and set in 1889. A father named Dodin (a gourmet chef) lives at his country estate and hires a new live in cook to mentor and perhaps fall in love. This one is beautiful to look at with the homely colour palette of often darker and warm hues. The first twenty minutes or so are simply food preparation, in fact on the whole there’s probably about a 40 percent of the overall film that has no dialogue. It works splendidly. Give in to your senses!

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7) It Ends With Us - Dir. Justin Baldoni

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ out of 5

While this film isn’t exactly original, it’s not quite as cheesy as I initially predicted. Much of the courtship between the two leads is fun and funny, and there is a handful of likeable side characters too. There’s a sudden shift just before the final third which alters the relationship. Overall, I found this one intriguing and entertaining. It reminded me, at times, of the classic Hollywood melodramas from the 1940s.

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6) Heretic - Dir. Scott Beck & Bryan Woods.

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ out of 5

Hugh Grant as the villain excels in this unsettling, theology-focused psychological-horror. Two young Mormon girls visit a house on assignment, yet might get more than they bargain for. Both actresses were allegedly Mormons in the past which I found fascinating. Sophie Thatcher (Sister Barnes) & Chloe East (Sister Paxton) play their roles to a tee - inciting humour, empathy and resilience. The pot-boiling first half is the most impressive at building tension, yet on reflection the second half has its own strengths too - such as the evolution of one of the characters. There’s also a lot of subtext I didn’t get as strongly in the first viewing. I’m glad horror is pushing the boundaries of late and we have been lucky to be gifted with some fine directors and films (often from A24) who cannot seem to put a foot wrong.

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5) Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story - Dir. Ian Bonhote & Peter Ettedgui.

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ out of 5

Reeve was always my favourite superman. Even if parts three and four are not as good as the first two he just embodies that iconic role with humour, sometimes moral complexity and nuance.

We all remember what happened, but seeing behind the scenes archival footage, interviews etc gives one a fuller picture of the man outside the construction of his popular film role. Always charismatic, always warm and good humoured - this one is worth a watch. The exploration of his ego in some scenes particularly after the worldwide appeal of “Superman” also gave an alternate perspective of Reeves as the man, imperfect and fallible. Scenes with Robin Williams as his close friend are particularly moving. Highly recommended.

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4) Poor Things - Dir. Yorgos Lanthimos.

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ out of 5

“Poor Things” is another off-the-wall trip of a film from Yorgos Lanthimos (even more so than the previous few of his I’ve seen.) This is utterly bonkers and uber-sexual. It’s impressionistic, artistic, unsettling, hilarious, strangely romantic with a romanticism of life itself. While not for everyone - it’s incredibly rewarding. The performances are outstanding and its overall theme and message empowering. Very well-deserved of all its accolades.

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3) Treasure - Dir. Julie von Heinz.

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ out of 5

Set in the 80’s, a father named Edek (Stephen Fry) takes his daughter Ruth (Lena Dunham) to his hometown in Poland to spend some quality time together after her supposed separation from her partner. They also tour the camps (Auschwitz) where the father was once held prisoner. They also decide to visit his old house with unexpected consequences. This is a beautiful film of reconciling the hurts of the past, moving on & embracing your relationships with each other. This one was unexpected for me. I loved the sometimes brittle edginess of both Fry and Dunham’s performances. There is quite a bit of offbeat humour courtesy of a terrific script. The supporting characters are also memorable. I have a polish heritage on my dad’s side, but i’m rarely exposed to the culture. Only travelling there once many years ago, so this was a welcome and heart-warming trip. It’s a shame it hasn’t gotten much awards buzz (to my knowledge) as I think it deserves it.

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2) The Zone of Interest - Dir. Jonathan Glazer.

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ out of 5

Noted as “a study in callousness”- this haunting and fascinating film by auteur Glazer is phenomenal. The holocaust paired down and observed from the perspective of the commandant and his family who live on the perimeter of Auschwitz as he overseers over it. We see nothing of Auschwitz just the gruelling sounds behind the fence; the sound design here is impactful and disturbing. Performances across the board are outstanding. This is very much a fly on the wall type of film and we very much feel as if we are transported there too. Glazer also injects (as he often does) a small fairy tale-esque element into this film which is fascinating and moving. Again, not a film for everyone, but this will go down in history and be one of those films talked about for many years to come.

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1) The Substance - Dir. Coralie Fargeat.

4.5 🌟 out of 5

Demi Moore gets a chance to sink her teeth into a tense, superbly directed body-horror comedy. While the film doesn’t always rely on dialogue, Moore still has presence. Her facial expressions, her yearning and frustrations are evident to the viewer. She also excels in a range of rather abstract body transformations which her reactions to (while humorous) are somewhat believable. Director Fargeat spends time building character and atmosphere which heightens the tension. This is my film of the year for more than a few reasons. Firstly, it is ‘audacious’ as the posters state. I can’t believe cinema went ‘there’, but they did and I love that. Exploring themes of ageing, sexism in Hollywood, body dissatisfaction, and subtext of OCD and the psychological effects of plastic surgery. This allegory hits all the right notes, even when it’s final third becomes even more absurd - I didn’t mind. The point could not have been made any other way, with such humour, such verve and so many buckets of the blood on the “audience”. That this film also ends up being a love letter to cinema is also another reason why it has seeped under my skin, with visual and musical allusions to films such as ‘Vertigo’, ‘Death Becomes Her’, and Stanley Kubrick amongst others. I urge you to ‘try’ The Substance.

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Thanks for reading.

Which ones did you see and enjoy - or perhaps not enjoy?

Quick note: a couple of films may have been released in Australia towards the very end of December 2023 (such as “Poor Things”) yet I didn’t see these until January 2024.