The film industry was in a (pardon the sports parlance) rebuilding year in 2024, still nursing some wounds in a post-pandemic, post-dual-strike environment. But filmmakers are a determined bunch. They continued to make, release, and promote their works, providing us with ample viewing options, from streaming gems to indie breakouts to a few blockbusters that stole most of the moviegoing oxygen. Enough options, even, for our staff to create our annual list of FAVORITE FILMS OF THE YEAR. So let’s revisit the past 12 months, shall we? (Plus, some of the best classic movies our employees saw for the first time in 2024. Because it’s never too late to enjoy a movie!)
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Darrien’s Favorites:
Honorable Mentions: Monkey Man, Blitz
Eliza’s Favorites:
- My Favorite Narratives: Stress Positions and Universal Language
- My Favorite Documentary: Gaucho Gaucho
- My Favorite Spin on the Slasher: In a Violent Nature
- My Favorite Short: Wrecked a Bunch of Cars, Had a Good Time
- My Favorite “I’ve Never Seen Anything Quite Like This” (Complimentary): The Motherload
- My Favorite “Will Never Be Available for Streaming” Horror: It Doesn’t Get Any Better Than This
- My Favorite Film Watched on a Plane: Dìdi
- Between the Temples
- Love Lies Bleeding
- The People’s Joker
- Removal of the Eye
- Rowdy Friends
- Janet Planet
- Civil War
My Favorite New-to-Me Films:
- Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice
- Southern Comfort
- Heat
- Manhunter
- To Live and Die in L.A.
- The Duke of Burgundy
- Ask Any Buddy
- Lust, Caution
- 3 Women
- I’m also about halfway through Deadwood for the first time, so…
Colin’s Favorites:
Top 10 Films of 2024:
- Challengers – I guess I love tennis now
- Strange Darling – I love cat-and-mouse games
- Anora – Awww, I love strippers and oligarchs
- The Brutalist – Turns out, I love architecture?
- A Real Pain – I love having cousins
- Sing Sing – I don’t love our criminal justice system
- Kneecap – I do love Irish rap
- Mountains – I love Miami, a place I have never been
- Babes – I already knew I loved Ilana Glazer and Michelle Buteau
- The Substance – We all love impossible beauty standards!
- Honorable mention to two horror sequels that were better than their predecessors: Smile 2 and A Quiet Place: Day One
Top 10 Films of Not 2024 (That I Saw in 2024):
- The Best Man
- All of Us Strangers
- Perfect Blue
- EO
- Southern Comfort
- The Long Good Friday
- The Iron Claw
- Bound
- Bitter Rice
- Secrets & Lies
Shefali’s Favorites:
- The Queen of My Dreams
- Girls Will Be Girls
- Dìdi
- Laapataa Ladies
- Sing Sing
- Your Monster
- I Saw the TV Glow
- Challengers
- Love Lies Bleeding
- Flow
- My Old Ass
Favorite Classic Non-2024 Movies:
Michaels’s Favorites:
It’s another strong year for movies! Here are my favorites so far…
- Anora
- His Three Daughters
- —
- A Real Pain
- Between the Temples
- Challengers
- Dìdi
- How to Have Sex
- Janet Planet
- Love Lies Bleeding
- Megalopolis
- My First Film
- My Old Ass
- Queer
- Robot Dreams
- Small Things Like These
- Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat
- The Seed of the Sacred Fig
The best oldies that I saw for the first time this year…
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If you’re an independent filmmaker or know of an independent film-related topic we should write about, email blogadmin@sagindie.org for consideration.