My Top 10 Movies of 2024, So Far -- And #1 is a Shocking Surprise!

[@thedudewhoeatspianos]

If you don't live in a major metropolitan area and/or you can't afford access to most streaming services, you just can't keep up with movies anymore. It's a real shame.

[@LearningaboutMovies]

Even in big cities, you may be looking at an hour round-trip to limited releases. The opportunity cost of that versus instant download is the competition studios face.

[@nms7872]

But if you watch your movies like Jack Sparrow, there's no issue (not that anyone would do it)

[@barscale597]

Best way is just to pirate if you want to watch everything.

[@kyleliegel]

Is it really any different than it’s always been? Whether it’s a streaming service or purchasing physical media there has always been a cost barrier to entry for home media, and limited roll out releases have been a thing forever.

[@Bicklehoff794]

I just set my time-frame back a bit. I can’t possible see everything anyway, so I watch stuff when it’s available to me. Makes it nice sometimes when Dune 2 drops on a random Friday.

[@luxembourg.blues47]

How could I forget Hundreds of Beavers? Best time I had all year!

[@Cinemaheals]

Top 10 Films Released in 2024 1. All We Imagine as Light 2. Vermiglio 3. I’m Still Here 4. Kneecap 5. The Brutalist 6. Bird 7. How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies 8. The Seed of the Sacred Fig 9. Hard Truths 10. By the Stream

[@LearningaboutMovies]

Thank you!

[@cicolas_nage]

big respect for putting Kneecap in there. i very rarely rewatch films but i had to rewatch that one because it's just so captivating

[@yotam6x7]

Bird is incredible!

[@Cinemaheals]

@ truly stunning

[@zachsteensma]

Finally some decent recs. It's definitely been a dry year for film, I assume in part due to the strikes? And as you pointed out, it's just impossible for people to catch any of the smaller weirder stuff anymore. I already have to drive half an hour to the nearest normie multiplex, and even further to the nearest small time film center.

[@movie-mandan]

Can you please keep doing “re-awarding the Oscars” series? I just love what you’ve been doing and now you can’t stop because of fans like me.

[@LearningaboutMovies]

Yes! There's one coming out every month. I am currently working through 1996. It's fun! Thank you for the comment.

[@austinuhr8459]

I was lucky enough to see Flow in theaters, and that's got to be one of my favorites of the year. It felt like a similar premise to The Wild Robot, but it executed it in all the way I had hoped Wild Robot would.

[@LearningaboutMovies]

I'm very interested in it!

[@drdavid1963]

Like you, Josh, I have a watchlist which includes The Brutalist, Nickel Boys, All We Imagine As Light, Grand Tour, I'm Still Here and A Complete Unknown (and 2023's Evil Does Not Exist) My 10 so far 10. A Real Pain (4 stars) 9. Hit Man (4 stars) 8. Dune Part Two (4 stars) 7. Small Things Like These (4 stars) 6. The Substance (4 stars) 5. Ghostlight (4 stars) 4. The Beast (4½ stars) 3. The Seed of The Sacred Fig (4½ stars) 2. Emilia Perez (4½ stars) 1.ANORA (4½ stars)

[@evilroy6568]

Appreciate you. Happy new year!

[@LearningaboutMovies]

Thank you, and you too

[@kdhoude]

Wow as someone that goes to the Movies 4 or 5 movies a month. I only saw DUNE2 on your list.

[@Kordellcabe12]

Thank you! Hundreds of Beavers is also my favorite movie of the year. It’s truly the most innovative film I’ve seen in years.

[@drdavid1963]

Happy New Year, Josh. I agree that 2024 will go down as a weak year but just look at some of the films coming out in 2025! Paul Thomas Andersen - *The Battle of Baktan Cross* Darren Aronovsky - *Caught Stealing* Kathryn Bigelow - *unnamed white house thriller* Claire Denis - *The Fence* Luca Guadagnino - *After The Hunt* Agnieska Holland - *Franz* (on life of Kafka) Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu - *Judy* Yorgos Lanthimos - *Bugonia* Richard Linklater - *Nouvelle Vague* Terence Malick - *The Way of The Wind* Lucrecia Martel (The Headless Woman, Zama) - *Chocobar* Tim Mielants (Small Things Like These) - *Steve* Bennett Miller (Capote, Foxcatcher) - *unnamed film about AI* Laszlo Nemes (Son of Saul) - *Orphan* Lynne Ramsey - *Die My Love* Kelly Riechardt - *The Mastermind* Jay Roach - *The War of The Roses (remake)* Benny Safdie - *The Smashing Machine* Chloe Zhao - *Hamnet* French director Rebecca Zlotowski - *Vie Privee* Andrey Zyvagintsev (Leviathan, Loveless) - *Jupiter*

[@LearningaboutMovies]

Is the Malick really coming out?

[@drdavid1963]

@@LearningaboutMovies - it's due at Cannes

[@rcogburn12]

Plus a Wes Anderson, an Ethan Coen, maybe 2 Linklaters, a Peter Greenaway ( with Dustin Hoffman), and yes a Malick. After 5 yrs he's got it down to 3 hrs and should premier at Cannes in May (assuming they accept it 😅😅)

[@yotam6x7]

Great list! I’d put Hundreds of Beavers high up on mine, but I consider it sort of a 2023 release due to it being in so many festivals… Anyways, your list was great, and here is mine: 10. Sing Sing 9. Babygirl 8. Monkey Man 7. Nosferatu 6. Dune: Part 2 5. Emilia Pérez 4. I Saw the TV Glow 3. Anora 2. The Substance 1. Lisa Frankenstein What can I say, I’m a sucker for campy movies.

[@nms7872]

Dune 2, The Brutalist and Anora were easily my favourites. I hope 2025 is a better year for movies especially since theres new movies by Paul thomas anderson, terrence malick and bong joon ho and the Safdie Brothers

[@laurencelikestopgun]

Dune 2 should win most of the tech Oscar award while I have Conclave winning best picture

[@RamZar50]

- Anora - Wicked - The Wild Robot - Hundreds of Beavers - Furiosa - The Brutalist - Conclave - Challengers - Nosferatu - The Substance - Dune Part 2 - My Old Ass - The Seed of the Sacred Fig - A Real Pain - The Count of Monte Cristo - All We Imagine as Light

[@stephenkeen5737]

Glad you're giving some love to My old ass. I loved it too. Quite sentimental but why not

[@neilsmoviechannel3199]

Nice choices. If interested, I did a ranking video of 48 films I saw that have a 2024 release date. I have seen your #1 and Hamaguchi’s film this year but for the strict purposes of my video excluded them. I’m in Canada so options will be a bit different to yours but for me, I’m budget conscious so don’t have all the streaming services but I do have Prime which regularly adds new box office hits as well as independents, and I have used Mubi, which is regularly offered at free trial via Letterboxd and others. Not sure if available in US but Kanopy, linked with your library, is also a fantastic way to get to see films. No subscription fee but a monthly limit of how many you can watch. Anyway, all the best for your new year.

[@patricklewis9787]

Frankly as a 20 year old I am fine with "older" mediums like books, movies, classical, etc. being "elitist". While It is a shame that my generations' attention span has been obliterated, I'd rather be in tight-knit group of people who actually care than lost in a crowd who's just riding the wave. The thing is this isn't even a matter of elitism or gatekeeping it's just a matter of "Do you want to engage with this thing that is longer than 30 seconds that is not instantaneously gratifying?"

[@LearningaboutMovies]

Makes sense. It's just that movies have been populist since the beginning. I am resisting the transition to exclusivity, which novels made

[@footballfanatic-m7f]

Loved this! Can we have a video on the worst movies of 2024 too?

[@stephenkeen5737]

No. What a waste of time. If they're terrible in our opinion, why care?

[@stephenkeen5737]

Aren't there like 3 sony films on that list? Lol

[@jmaggio909]

Hundreds of Beavers is amazing. Nice choice.

[@inyobill]

I'm paying much less to watch movies than 20 years ago. Most releases I wouldn't watch for free, let alone pay 20 bucks to find out it's a dog.

[@LearningaboutMovies]

80 percent are dogs, or are acting as they were intended, as products.

[@stephenkeen5737]

We should support the independent gems that need support to make more gems. But I definitely get you

[@athul2090]

Must watch 👇🔥 manjummel boys The goat life

[@davidcote5637]

Always love your reviews. Did you do a video on your top 10 of 2023? I can't seem to find it.

[@LearningaboutMovies]

thanks, here it is -- kzbin.infoMpm4g7FRMFg

[@Cinemaheals]

2024 was much better than 2023 and people will realize when the films they havent seen come out

[@LearningaboutMovies]

Okay, I look forward to what I haven't seen

[@Cinemaheals]

@ respect for not pirating. You are a better man than me

[@MartijnterHaar]

I feel like a movie year where I can put The Substance at 20th place, Conclave at 33rd and Fallen Leaves at 53rd is a pretty decent year...

[@Cinemaheals]

@@MartijnterHaar whats your top 10?

[@MartijnterHaar]

@@Cinemaheals Posted in a separate post too, but: 1. All of Us Strangers 2. The Devil's Bath 3. Only the River Flows 4. Terrestrial Verses 5. Dream Scenario 6. Monster (the Hirokazu Kore-eda one) 7. Love Lies Bleeding 8. Daaaaaalí! 9. Chicken for Linda! 10. Soundtrack to a Coup d'État

[@DogecoinBros]

You’re making a great point about the current distribution model!

[@scoutwithoutclout]

My favorites so far: 1. The Promised Land (Drama) 2. The Order (Action) 3. Oddity (Thriller) 4. Seed of Sacred Fig (Drama) 5. Civil War (Action) 6. Mads (Horror) 7. Kneecap (Comedy) Wasn't high on: Monkey Man, I Saw TV Glow, Love Lies Bleeding, Hundreds of Beavers. Ok-to-good: First Omen, Cuckoo, Thelma, Immaculate, Didi, Red Rooms, Heretic, Rebel Ridge, Juror 2, Strange Darling, The Substance, Anora, Hitman, Conclave. Still need-to-see: Nosferatu, Brutalist, Count Monte Cristo, All We Imagine As Light, Evil Does Not Exist, Challengers, Immaculate, A Real Pain, Chimera, Sing Sing, A Different Man, The Beast, Taste of Things, Perfect Days, Nickel Boys, Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World.

[@danioliva1220]

Happy to see Evil Does Not Exist on your list! :) My Top 10 Films with a 2024 premiere: 1. All We imagine As Light 2. Anora 3. Seed Of The Sacred Fig 4. Black Box Diaries 5. The Substance 6. Dune Part II 7. The Room Next Door 8. Challengers 9. Black Dog 10. Longlegs If eligible these three instead of the last three: La Chimera (4), There’s Still Tomorrow (7), Evil Does Not Exist (8) And I haven’t watched The Brutalist and Nosferatu, among others

[@nms7872]

2:17 The life of chuck is a 2025 spring release. It only shows as 2024 because it premeired at the Toronto International film festival

[@LearningaboutMovies]

Thanks. This is another movie dating that will perpetually fool me

[@tfred6403]

Your comments about the movie industry I totally agree with you, and your number 1 movie pick..... I buy DVDs and got hundreds of beavers from VS... Amazon is taking pre orders now...

[@llamasarus1]

I was on a big movie kick from mid 2022 to late 2023 and regularily went to the theater or rented new relases in that span. So having neglected 2024, Im watching this to see what I missed out on. Weirdly enough youre #1 is the only one from the list ive seen haha. Strange Darling from September was the only interesting movie I saw that comes to mind. Will see Complete Unknow, Nosferatu, Mickey 17, Death of a Unicorn and Eddington when they come out.

[@lutello3012]

I will never "purchase" something that is streaming only. Do you want me to own a copy or not? At least our local theater is showing Nosteratu. Flow was great too. Should have seen it in the city but my peg leg tripped over it first. That will be a good Bluray purchase.

[@LearningaboutMovies]

Streaming purchases are dangerous. I will do it only if the rental price is just a little lower than purchasing.

[@aarond9563]

The limited releases are annoying. I live in Denver so it’s not all that bad but this whole only releasing in a few cities is frustrating.

[@taylora5224]

Did Anora and Nosferatu not get wide release? They were showing everywhere by me. Also The Beast is my top for this year.

[@LearningaboutMovies]

It could be that these were out everywhere, just not in my local small town theaters. I think if you had an AMC near you, those movies would be there.

[@stephenkeen5737]

Nosferatu came out Dec 26 in the states. Only Jan 1 in Australia. But it was the best movie I've seen this year (2025) 😂

[@FTA4evr]

Your recommendation has nudged me toward watching several movies that I wasn't quite sure about: Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes; Hit Man; Hundreds of Beavers. Thanks.

[@LearningaboutMovies]

You're welcome

[@InspectorDirtyHarry]

The brutalist & nosferatu were top ones too this year!

[@LearningaboutMovies]

I wish The Brutalist came within 200 miles of me. Im all in on movies about architecture

[@hunter12555]

My top 3 goes Strange Darling, Alien Romulus, and The Substance.

[@dfcintron]

1 Challengers 2 Gladiator 2 3 Alien Romulus 4 Dune 2 5 Exhibiting Forgiveness 6 Anora 7 Cukoo 8 The Apprentice 9 Cabrini 10 Smile 2 11 Young Woman and the Sea 12 Nosferatu 13 Monkey Man 14 Magpie 15 Suncoast 16 Furiosa 17 Red Rooms 18 Hitman 19 Civil War 20 Saturday Night

[@jonchowe]

You have my permission to pirate Megalopolis. But i advise you not to.

[@LearningaboutMovies]

I wasn't going to pay $20 for it, and now $10. It will be legally free, eventually!

[@jonchowe]

@LearningaboutMovies Francis should be legally required to pay YOU for the time spent watching it. I'm considering a class action.

[@LearningaboutMovies]

Perhaps he should give out a free bottle of wine, to be drunk during the film

[@stephenkeen5737]

​@@jonchoweif your cinema didn't have someone interviewing Adam Driver at some point, I recommend standing up and asking him ridiculous questions for your own entertainment 😂. Yeh it wasn't great. Cinematography isn't bad but oh, the story sucks.

[@harisnasir656]

Chris stuckmann has it in number 1

[@LearningaboutMovies]

What is it?

[@joshuasmith1680]

Hundreds of Beavers

[@LearningaboutMovies]

Thanks!

[@benjamindover4337]

I found it to be embarrassingly bad. Just a total goof.

[@satyarthsingh2276]

Didn't watch much contemporary stuff this year but here are some recommendations.. Mini-Series: 1) Ripley dir. Steven Zaillian 2) Disclaimer dir. Alfonso Cuarón Films: 1) Dune 2 2) Hit Man 3) Anora 4) Civil War 5) The Bikeriders

[@LearningaboutMovies]

Thank you

[@MovieRelated]

My Normie List Dune 2 Furiosa Planet of the Apes Deadpool Wolverine Nosferatu

[@dezkarcy]

Nickel Boys was AMAZING. Heartbreaking and beautifully executed. Cant recommend enough

[@LearningaboutMovies]

Thanks, I will look into the latter for sure

[@dftew53]

I feel like the movie accessibility thing can be hit or miss. I was really lucky to have a theater near me that had the new Count of Monte Christo movie (which was amazing), but I just couldn't find viewings of Heretic near where I live.

[@LearningaboutMovies]

That's interesting. Heretic came here to the middle of nowhere, only the 2nd or 3rd A24 movie to make it here ever.

[@CannonballZ-rb7jo]

Luckily, I live in LA, so Nosferatu is easy to find. I saw it last week at a nearby theater and enjoyed it tremendously. It is technically brilliant, and beautiful to look at. But I am guessing Learning About Movies (sorry can’t recall his name) lives in a more rural area that does not do many movie screenings. But he will have to wait for some $5.99 rental I guess.

[@LearningaboutMovies]

Yes

[@krosewall]

Sorry your premise that todays distribution model is tougher on "normies" than it was in the time of dvds is a bit inaccurate. I think you have forgotten that the turnaround for a film to be released on dvd or vhs was a lot longer than the turnaround today for a title to be released for say 5.99 streaming. For example The Substance was released theatrically on Sept 20, which was only 3 months ago and is already available for rent for 5.99. Anora came out Oct 18 and is now on PVOD for 19.99. It'll probably be 5.99 in another month. There is no way say circa 2010 any Oscar contender that was released in Sept or October would already be available to rent on dvd in December. Back then films got much longer theatrical runs than they do today, esp if it was an awards contender(does anyone remember a film called Shawshank Redemption? It came out in Oct 1994, famously bombed, then received a ton of Oscar noms and was put back in theaters. It didn't get a VHS release until April 1995! Kind of makes a 3 or 4 month wait to rent for 5.99 seem like a fairly quick turnaround, no? You may think 19.99 is too much, but I think it's pretty great that film fans all around the country(not just those in major cities where often these films only play) get a chance to see so many of these small films so soon after release. I lived in a small town in the 90s, and the idea of being able to see something like The Piano or Short Cuts only a few months after release for 19.99 or any price was frankly beyond my dreams, I can't believe how readily available pretty much everything is today and I guess some are already taking that for granted. 19.99 is way cheaper than the cost of say 3 movie tickets in the majority of the country. And really it would be unfair to the creators of the film to have a film be put on streaming for any price much lower than that so soon after its theatrical release. Movies aren't made for free, the creators deserve something esp since theatrical is now basically dead for the arthouse crowd.The people who make The Brutalist, Anora, The Substance, etc aren't exactly making millions. If they do away with the 19.99 price point, basically there is no point in making any films anymore except tentpoles like Wicked or Deadpool & Wolverine. I saw an interview with Robert Eggers where he said The Northman bombed theatrically but did pretty well on PVOD(for 19.99), which is why he was allowed to make Nosferatu. And I'm sure Anora's PVOD success at 19.99 might give Neon incentive to make Sean Baker's new film(and maybe allow them to approve a larger budget as well). And going back to Nosferatu - it's currently playing on 3000 screens. That is considered a very wide release, its certainly not just playing in major cities. I'm sorry it's not playing closer to you, but I don't think that is a sign that there is a flaw in the studios release pattern.

[@LearningaboutMovies]

the point is not that they are late to release. The point is that they have the world's greatest instant-distribution system, and for the last 25+ years. As I said, I can make a video, instantly upload it, and anybody can watch it anywhere, any time. Movie studios compete with that. They haven't figured out how to deal with it, when videogames certainly have. That again was the point, that last sentence there.

[@stephenkeen5737]

I agree with thread OP overall. Biggest problem for VOD as we see during the pandemic, they won't make as much money unless it's later than cinema release. There's also the issue of piracy, meaning that if it's immediately available on VOD, it's also immediately pirated. I think the current model is working pretty well. Obviously the issue with the Oscar bait best films being given wide release in Dec or Jan means that it's pretty hard to see all the award nominated films before Dec 31. I doubt that's going to change and probably shouldn't. By the way, back in the day (1970s) it took a year sometimes for Hollywood films to reach New Zealand where I am. I'm pretty sure Star Wars wasn't released in NZ in 1977. Sure is pretty fast turnaround these days. . ​@@LearningaboutMovies

[@JPitt1070]

I only saw Megalopolis because I have AMC A list. I saw it for basically free and I still feel ripped off

[@bertonspat129]

You didn’t like The Substance?

[@LearningaboutMovies]

Didn't love enough to put on the list. As always, quick impression writeups are on letterboxd

[@bertonspat129]

lame, best thing in years

[@stephenkeen5737]

Chris Stuckmann also put 100s of Beavers first and Cinefix lut Conclave as best Drama (1st kinda in a Cinefix way). I also love hundreds of Beavers. Watched it a second time just before new year with my brother. You're in good company for your top picks. My favourite is probably Nosferatu though I saw it Jan 1. Or possibly Dune 2 or Anora. Depends on the day. Lol😂

[@spridgejuice]

I agree it was a pretty weak year

[@Thelorecookie]

The people calling conclave woke don’t like movies they like exploiting people’s outrage

[@MartijnterHaar]

I am one of the persons who hated the ending of Evil Does Not Exist. I was just getting into the small realist drama of it all and then suddenly it went all mystical and was over. I'm also a bit surprised you praise the cinematography; to me it looks like it was filmed with a phone. I live in Amsterdam and have like 10 cinemas within a 15-minute bike ride plus a pass for unlimited movie going for €24/month, so I can see almost everything once it comes out. Still, I agree, because I can only see classics too when they are programmed at a cinema, because they are not streaming. My top 10 (Dutch release dates, might differ from US ones): 1. All of Us Strangers 2. The Devil's Bath 3. Only the River Flows 4. Terrestrial Verses 5. Dream Scenario 6. Monster (the Hirokazu Kore-eda one) 7. Love Lies Bleeding 8. Daaaaaalí! 9. Chicken for Linda! 10. Soundtrack to a Coup d'État

[@MartijnterHaar]

I also both liked Megalopolis and Joker: Folie à Deux. Not favorites, but I enjoyed them a lot. I feel like a lot of people miss that a lot of Megalopolis is campy by design, just like they did with Batman & Robin (although I noticed that one is getting reappraised.)

[@LearningaboutMovies]

Thank you, great comment

[@stephenkeen5737]

Yeh Evil does not exist doesn't do it for me. I watched a couple of review/explained videos and I just don't buy it. Drive my car was awesome.

[@OnceUponADoctor]

Go to a library and rent it

[@johnmoore2056]

There's such a thing as a "good Claude Van Damme movie "?

[@LearningaboutMovies]

there's such a thing as any kind of movie being good.

[@muhc8550]

Why in the world wouldn't you watch the original Nosferatu?

[@LearningaboutMovies]

The Eggers one. I have videos on both Nosferaus, the Marnau and the Herzog The Eggers is 2.5 hour round trip from me

[@KendrickOcean]

Man how do yall manage to see this many movies 😂😂

[@LearningaboutMovies]

It is work. Especially with a job and four kids.

[@clumsydad7158]

looks like a good list as far as i can tell, given i've seen none of them, and seen almost no new movies this year. i would like to see The Brutalist as Brody intrigues me a bit. I will try to see Hundreds of Beavers as well. I'll eventually see Nosferatu as an Eggers fan. I saw I Saw the TV Glow, which was Ok. The Substance also looks intriguing, but a bit too much on the gross out side for me to venture. HNY2025

[@CalumVisser]

Nosfuratu is garbage I saw that it’s so bad

[@stephenkeen5737]

It's definitely decisive between viewers. I absolutely loved it.

[@arekkrolak6320]

Hitman is a movie for kids. From the first scene you hear the voice from off screen explaining whst you see. Entertaining buy not really good.

[@LearningaboutMovies]

I don't think so. It's asking us to think through Nietzches history of morality and social construction ism. If the movie is for kids, the ending is pro-murder.

[@andy0liver]

Is there a community cinema program in the US? Here, in the UK, there are many organisations which help communities to set up cinema screenings in libraries, church halls, schools and universities right across the country. The help offered includes the loan of projectors, sound systems and screens and advice on how to get started, how to set up the equipment, how the licensing of films works, etc., etc. Might be worth a cheeky little Google search to see if anyone near you runs one or even inspire you to start your own

[@LearningaboutMovies]

I have thought about this for around here. Thanks for this comment