Aaron Neuwirth’s Top Ten of 2024

10. Rebel Ridge
Director/writer/editor Jeremy Saulnier’s Rebel Ridge is a gripping thriller and the feature of his hitting the hardest on additional subtext regarding one’s perception in America. It features a calculated and quietly intense breakout performance from lead Aaron Pierre, with a sinister Don Johnson working as his villainous opposite and once again relying on devilish charm anchored to systemic issues. It makes for a tense feature that seemingly points its narrative in one direction, only to flip around expectations to some broader themes yet keep the stakes personal. Most importantly, it’s a film that knows how to put the viewer through the wringer as it comes up with challenges for our protagonists, making the outcomes and the resulting action all the more crowd-pleasing.

9. Red Rooms
Writer/director Pascal Plante has delivered a psychological thriller fit for the digital age, letting the main character function as a modern woman with an obsession that is grappled with through various online means in addition to her physical actions. In handling this, Juliette Gariépy delivers one of the year’s best performances by letting the audience be compelled by her choices, which include an entirely inscrutable series of facial expressions. Combined with the effort taken in making the courtroom scenes compelling in their own right, the themes being tackled and the revelations made really push this movie on another level, let alone under the skin.

8. Anora
Here’s another whirlwind of a motion picture from indie filmmaker Sean Baker, who continues to find ways to build engaging features that examine underrepresented and marginalized subcultures in America. Anora works wonderfully as a screwball romantic comedy and a very human drama detailing the separation of classes and how their odd mixing can play out under extreme circumstances.

7. Ghostlight
The movie pitch of “blue-collar worker joins a local theatrical production of Romeo and Juliet” is neat, but the steps taken to fully involve us with each character are impressive. Bound to be one of the more under-sung performances of the year, Keith Kupferer does the semi-amazing feat of being a low-level character actor, completely pulling off a lead performance of a flawed man dealing with grief, his novice status as an actor, and the challenges of continuing to be a good husband and father. This is a real winner of a film when it comes to likable dramas that get at the heart of how acting and believability can go a long way.

6. Dune: Part Two
The most radical thing about director Denis Villeneuve’s handling of Dune is how accessible he’s managed to make it. Earlier this year, the visible anticipation for this sequel made it clear that Frank Herbert’s famously dense novel has been adapted in a manner fitting for those seeking a respectable and approachable sci-fi epic. This is what Dune: Part Two delivers – blockbuster filmmaking at its finest, which I would put at the same level as what some of the Star Wars films were capable of. With a more action-packed story, big movie star performances from the returning and newly added performers, and astonishing visuals, there’s so much accomplished here that stems from the confidence of the filmmakers involved and their trust in the audience’s willingness to dive even deeper into the world of Arrakis.

5. Sing Sing
Given the setting, what’s taking place, and other aspects surrounding the premise of Sing Sing, what I very much appreciate is the emphasis on people. That may seem straightforward, but when it comes to the regard much of the free population has for people who have been incarcerated, simply recognizing them as human is not always an instinctual reaction. Sing Sing is a drama entirely about humanity. It delves into the resilience of the human spirit and the power of art and imagination stemming from minds willing to embrace it. With no time spent on standard prison movie cliches, this film focuses on the characters and their process, achieving greatness through committed performances and unassuming yet effective filmmaking.

4. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
Could a prequel successfully rise out of such a tall shadow? The answer is yes. Having already developed this story in preparation for his fourth Mad Max film, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is of a piece with its chronological successor, yet a different sort of beast. It may trade in the straightforward, economical storytelling that made for an incredible chase film. However, Furiosa maintains Miller’s innovative approach to action, a fully realized take on a post-apocalyptic wasteland, and his punk rock attitude toward filmmaking. This movie delivers another opportunity to witness a creative madman at the height of his powers.

3. The Brutalist
What does it mean to build something? I suppose there’s an obvious metaphor at play with The Brutalist, an epic historical drama focused on an architect given the opportunity to make a new life in post-WWII America and continue his work as a builder. However, the film goes deeper than that. Fitted with a three-and-a-half-hour runtime, director Brady Corbet has put in enough effort to deliver one of the most engrossing films of the year. It does so by way of old-fashioned techniques, such as shooting on VistaVision, as well as subverting cinematic form on occasion to better emphasize what’s going on with these performances, let alone so many other elements found in this film. The results are magnificent.

2. Hundreds of Beavers
A cinematic gift that keeps on giving! Hundreds of Beavers is flat-out brilliant. This incredibly and consistently hilarious slapstick comedy takes influences from everything ranging from Silent Era comedies to Looney Tunes, kung fu flicks, and video games. Writer/director Mike Cheslik has so many gags designed in this story of a hapless fur trapper that I can’t even begin to think how one designs a screenplay like this so successfully, let alone manages to pull it off on an incredibly low budget. Pure joy comes from how this film allows the audience to quickly pick up on the tone and intent of this feature. The range of elaborate gags always finds ways to subvert expectations or make the viewer so satisfied with having the jokes on display come together so well.

1. Nickel Boys
What does an innocent do when their potential is stifled by obstacles rooted in ignorance and hate? How can one observing this help when a system is designed to hold certain people back? Nickel Boys is about a couple of brilliant young minds being kept from a regular life due to the unfair circumstances established around them. It’s a historical drama and Black coming-of-age story, adapted from Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning 2020 novel “The Nickel Boys.” Approaching the film by shooting everything from a first-person point-of-view from the eyes of the two protagonists, director RaMell Ross set plenty of challenges on himself for creating and maintaining this unique way to carry a lengthy feature. The results are incredible. Thanks to all involved, Nickel Boys succeeds in everything it addresses, what it wants to look and sound like, and how it intends to make the audience feel. It’s far more than an excuse to build up empathy through trauma. This work of cinematic dexterity creates a living, breathing world and characters for an audience to truly feel connected with.
I just watched The Brutalist yesterday, and I don’t think the muddled screenplay deserves its top-notch directing. But at least you correctly ranked Hundreds of Beavers above it!
I just submitted my list, and also described Hundreds of Beavers as “pure joy!” Sorry to accidentally plagiarize you, but couldn’t agree more!