The Best Movies I Watched for the First Time in 2024

Brazil (1985)

I'm not sure what took me so long to watch this movie but you can tell this was an absolute labor of love from Terry Gilliam. The movie is both funny and awe-inspiring from the level of detail and scale of the set design. If you like The Hudsucker Proxy, you'll probably like Brazil since it gave me a lot of the same vibes.

12 Angry Men (1957)

This is another one of those movies that took me forever to get around to watching, but it was so worth the wait. The setting takes place in a single room while jurors deliberate the future of a defendant. The dialogue is really the star of the show here. It's incredible to see the biases and experiences of these 12 jurors twist and shape a case that unveils itself through their deliberation. 12 Angry Men still feels very modern and actually reminded me a bit of Conclave from this year (another great movie worth your time).

The Misfits (1961)

This movie really spoke to me as a longtime Nevada resident. I recently saw a map  based on census data that showed about 27% of Nevada residents were born in the Silver State. The next closest is Washington, D.C. at 34%. Nevada is a state that has always drawn in people who see opportunity or escape in one way or another. In The Misfits, Marilyn Monroe's character ended up in Reno in order to escape her troubled marriage. Clark Gable's character was never interested in "wages" and found ranching opportunities. It's really a touching movie that brings together people who don't fit in within society and is easily the most "Nevadan" movie I've ever seen.

The Substance (2024)

I'm already calling it: Coralie Fargeat is the next David Cronenberg. The Substance is absolutely disgusting and is all the more fun for it. I don't think The Substance really breaks any ground when it comes to messaging, and is in fact probably a little heavy handed, but more than makes up for that with its style and body horror effects.

The Color of Money (1986)

I've been thinking about this movie a lot since I saw it. The Color of Money has plenty of brilliant Scorsese style, but Paul Newman and Tom Cruise really carried this one. Paul Newman, aka Fast Eddie, has made a living off of hustling pool players which requires a lot of restraint. You can't let people know you're too good at pool, you have to know when to dump a game, and being a loser can end up being more profitable in the end. Tom Cruise plays a cocky but talented young pool player that Newman thinks he can take under his wing. Ultimately, the movie questions whether it's better to be the best at something or using your skills as a means to an end.

Thelma (2024)

I still remember exactly where I was in college when I got a panicked phone call from my mom and dad. My grandmother had received a call from a scared young man who called her "grandma" and said he'd been arrested for bringing pot across the Canadian border. He told my grandma not to tell anyone and to please send bail money. Thankfully, my grandma ignored his plea and instead hung up and called my parents. Of course, it was all a lie and I was completely fine, but my grandma's aging brain never understood that it was a con. She went to her grave thinking I had been arrested for smuggling drugs. I wanted nothing more in life than to get revenge on the piece of shit who messed with my grandma's mind and tried to con her. When I saw Thelma, it brought all of these memories flooding back and was easily the most touching and cathartic movie all year. Thelma is about an old woman who gets the same call as my grandma, but instead loses her money and vows to get revenge. Not only is it an incredibly moving film, but it managed to make me laugh out loud so many times. Thelma was easily my favorite movie of 2024.

Honorable Mentions:

Poor Things (2023), The Bad News Bears (1976), Hundreds of Beavers (2022), The Conversation (1974), Le Samouraï (1967), The People's Joker (2022), Freaks (1932), Robot Dreams (2023)