Hi everybody, I'm Pouchy! Wait, no! Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at 2024's cinematic experiences that made us fall in love with the art form all over again. Some of these technically premiered in 2023, but didn't receive general releases until this year.
Let's give the people what they came for! Number 10. Wicked What is this feeling so sudden and new? I felt the moment I laid eyes on you. My pulse is rushing. My head is reeling.
Yeah, well, my face is flushing. It's certainly not loathing, as this long-anticipated adaptation of the Broadway phenomenon rose above our expectations, even if it's only part one. Wicked doesn't feel like half a movie, though.
leaving the audience on a high as they exit the theater with the songs playing on an endless loop in your head. Whether or not Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande were your dream casting choices, they instantly become Elphaba and Galinda without a shadow of a doubt. Come with me.
What? To meet the wizard. I couldn't possibly.
This is your moment. I'm coming. The pitch-perfect casting is matched by John M. Chu's direction, transporting us to a version of Oz that's familiar yet over a very different rainbow.
Blending pop entertainment with timely political overtones, Wicked spoke and sang to many in 2024. Oh, if you can't find me, I'm too much inside. Number 5 Number 9. Sing Sing. Sing Sing explores the hardships of prison, but it's also about finding purpose in a bleak environment.
This is a clemency hearing for your conviction, 25 to life. Since you've been in custody, you've been involved in the theater. For the wrongfully convicted Divine G and several fellow inmates, the stage provides an outlet for friendship, escapism, and hope. Although the cast features Oscar nominees Coleman Domingo and Paul Racey, many alumni of Sing Sing's rehabilitation through the arts arts program play themselves, a standout being Clarence Macklin.
In addition to former prisoners, Greg Cuidar's deeply personal film will resonate with anyone who's turned to theater in search of a safe haven. While the characters put on a high highly amusing show, the relationships formed behind the scenes is where the film shines the most. It is funny, devastating, and life-affirming, stressing the importance of giving people a second act. 8. Nosferatu With a film as iconic and influential as the original Nosferatu, Robert Eggers is perhaps the only director who could craft a a worthy successor. Come to me.
Eggers' Nosferatu more than lives up to its potential. The film is a marvel of sight and sound, although what Eggers nails above all else is the atmosphere. It is like a dream. It was our wedding when we turned around. Everyone was dead.
The audience not only feels as if they've been transported to this gothic hellscape, but we're practically possessed along with Lily Rose Depp in an arresting performance. Bill Skarsgård is equally sensational as Count Orlok, who casts a lingering shadow over the movie that extends into the theater, wrapping the viewer in a blanket of dread. Like its predecessor, Nosferatu is best described as a symphony of horror.
I'm ready. Number 7. Conclave. Whether you're electing the next president or pope, politics are bound to impede the road to progress.
This is a conclave, Aldo. It's not a war. It is a war.
And you have to commit to a side. In conclave. enclave, Rafe finds Cardinal Lawrence traverses a path lined with backstabbing, scandals, and secrets, attempting to steer the Catholic Church in the right direction. This adaptation of Robert Harris' novel is full of twists and turns that could have come off as melodramatic in lesser hands.
I'm sorry, but I cannot vote for a man unless I deem him the most worthy to be pope. And for me, that is not Tremblay. It's you. I don't want your vote! Nevertheless.
You have it. With an A-list cast, Peter Straughn's tightly-paced script, and Edward Berger's all-encompassing direction, though, Conclave is an intense thriller that mirrors 2024 in unexpected ways. Is this what we're reduced to, considering the least worst option?
But the field has narrowed. If we don't change our vote, we will be here for weeks. And that's exactly what Tedesco wants. The audience hangs on to every line, making each conversation feel like a bomb is about to go off. Just when it appears the biggest bombshell has been dropped, Conclave tops itself with an ending we'll never forget.
Let us pray that God will grant us a pope who doubts, and let him grant us a pope who sins and asks for forgiveness and who carries on. Number 6. The Brutalist. On a budget that reportedly didn't exceed $10 million, Brady Corbett delivers a modern epic for the ages with The Brutalist. These are yours.
Yes. Yes. All of them?
Adrian Brody gives what might be a career-best performance as Laszlo Toth, a Hungarian-Jewish immigrant pursuing the American dream. Of course, the American dream isn't always what it's cracked up to be. They do not want us here. Who do you mean?
The people here. They do not want us here. Working as an architect, Laszlo receives the opportunity to construct his masterpiece and a better life for his family. In doing so, Laszlo becomes lost in the labyrinth of his creation, as if he's traded one prison for another. Guy Pearce, and Felicity Jones are also exquisite in a film that towers over us with its length, scope, and ambition.
Yet the destination is worth the journey. Number 5. Challengers. Some might describe the central relationship of Challengers as a love triangle.
A love square might be more accurate as one thing drives every character. Tennis. Come on! For Zendaya's Tashi, it doesn't matter if she ends up with Josh O'Connor's Patrick or Mike Feist's art. Come here.
Which corner? As long as she gets to experience a good game, she'll be satisfied. Whether using tennis as an allegory for sex or being more literal, Luca Guadagnino has made the steamiest movie of the year. Challengers is just as much a character study about people striving to be the best, not just on the court, although it is the domain that matters most.
Does Art know about Atlanta? You keep saying you came here because Art needed matches. I think you came for something else.
As gripping as the tennis matches are, the internal conflict between these three is what makes Challengers a winner. You don't know what tennis is. What is it? It's a relationship.
Number 4. The Wild Robot. In another stellar year for animation, no film overflowed with more humanity than The Wild Robot. Congratulations on your purchase of a Universal Dynamics robot.
I am Rosam- That might sound strange in a cast comprised of animals and artificial intelligence, yet the audience can sense the personal touch brought to every frame and the passion the voice actor has for the character. sink into their performances. The events that led to this situation were unintended. Tell that to my sisters, my brothers, my real mom.
They were my chance to be normal. They were my chance to swim, to fly. What even am I?
You swam satisfactorily today, and if you keep practicing... I still won't belong. Chris Sanders' wonderful film is a love letter to dedicated parents and a relevant commentary on using AI responsibly. Above all else, The Wild Robot is about... survival.
That doesn't always mean looking out for yourself. Rather, the unbreakable bonds we form help us to endure as individuals and as a community. Not that it matters, but who says you need to leave? I am not sure. Them, I guess.
Your programming? With the support of others, a runty bird may touch a sky, and a robot designed to serve may discover their soul. You really think we can do this? A rosin always completes its task. Number 3. The Substance The Substance is a satire so spot on that it makes our skin crawl.
I'd like to order. Address? 10-57 Beverly Canyon? Write this down.
Some might describe the film as over-the-top. It is, but so are the lengths people go to preserve youth and beauty, especially in showbiz. At 50, well... It stops. What stops?
Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley masterfully play two sides of the same coin in the fruitless pursuit of perfection. I'm Sue. Director Coralie Fargeat turns in a tour de force of visual storytelling with haunting production design that can turn a location as common as a bathroom into a cell.
The makeup design is also... So God-tier, emphasizing the true price of fame. The balance just needs to be respected. So respected.
Sometimes, the more you try to fix, the more you take away until the person staring back in the mirror is unrecognizable. Not always in flattering ways. I just, I try to be myself.
Number 2. Anora. Imagine Pretty Woman if it got hit with a reality bomb. I'm Ivan, and you can just call me Vanya.
Vanya, okay. Yeah. That is one way of describing Sean Baker's Anora, a film where the titching- The titular character experiences the most excessive of highs, followed by a sharp turn into rock bottom. Like Julia Roberts, Mikey Madison deserves to become an overnight household name with her brave, hilarious, and empathetic performance. I need you to tell them.
Vanya, this is not funny. Vanya, look at me, baby. It's a scenario, okay? For a film that goes to some chaotic places, Onora sneaks up on you with its screw- screwball charm and romance.
Yes, there is a sincere love story blooming beneath the surface, although the main character struggles to recognize love when it looks her in the face. Madison and Baker have given us one of the 21st century's most compelling protagonists in any medium. Before we unveil our top pick, here are some honorable mentions.
Memoir of a Snail, heartbreaking and hilarious, often at the same time. time. What's your name?
Grace Puddle. I'm Pinky. Just Pinky. Like Cher. Or Liberace.
A real pain. You won't find a better duo this year than Jesse Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin. We just met her. Yeah, but she's got this like deep sadness behind her eyes, you know?
She does? Yeah, you didn't notice that? During the introductions? No.
I think we should check on her. Benji, maybe she wants to be alone. Sorry, Benji. I'm sorry. No one wants to be alone, Dave.
Okay, I'm gonna check it out. All we imagine as light. Pyle Kapati's powerful story of sisterhood. Juror number two.
Whether or not his character is guilty, Nicholas Holt can do no wrong. What are you telling me? Maybe I didn't hit it here. Nickel Boys, an unnerving evaluation of injustice told from multiple perspectives. What are you gonna do?
He's now another. Transformers 1, a franchise in its prime. It didn't have to end this way.
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For years, people said it was impossible to faithfully adapt Frank Herbert's groundbreaking sci-fi novel into a feature. They were right, which is why Denis Villeneuve split his version into two. While the first half was one of the most enthralling cinematic experiences of recent years, Dune Part 2 is where the real meat of the story lies. It's also where Villeneuve improves upon the source material in some respects. I may have gotten lost.
Although he never strays from Herbert's original vision, Villeneuve makes it clearer than ever that Paul Atreides isn't a conventional hero. That won't stop others from championing him as their leader, leaving us to question if the film's final note is one of triumph or impending disaster. You are now at my feet. Your feet!
You'll be lucky to keep your head. Either way, Dune Messiah cannot come soon enough. Maybe you could be Fremen.
Maybe I'll show you the way. What's your favorite movie of 2024? Let us know in the comments.
I want them back. Of course you do. I want them back!
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