Confession: upon looking at the list of titles released in 2024, I'm realizing I didn't see as many new movies as I have in years past. A number of factors contributed to this: fewer films thanks to strikes and COVID, a much busier schedule, a change in the kinds of movies that did get made, more old stuff I've had to prioritize for the site and podcast, and so on and so on. Having said that, making this list of favorite movie moments was more challenging than usual this year because I saw fewer movies to add to it and because even some of the movies I did like (Blink Twice, for example) don't readily exist in my memory from which to draw favorite moments. The prospect of rewatching all that stuff just to make this list was far too daunting.
Instead, here's the best I could do with what I could remember. I didn't love a ton of movies this year, but I loved the ones I did love more than some years in the recent past. Many of those are represented here. Some movies I like less are also represented because they still managed to have something I liked and because movies are almost never binary, all good or all bad. I'm certain I'm forgetting plenty of cool moments, so please feel free to share some of your favorites in the comments. Without further ado:
The opening moments of The Brutalist
The ending moments of Anora
The cartoon that opens Joker: Folie a Deux
A beautiful dream, His Three Daughters
The drive-in, 'Salem's Lot
Amy Adams sings "Dare to be Stupid," Nightbitch
Navigating the floating acid blood, Alien: Romulus
Monica Bellucci's origin story in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
This is why you don't pick up hitchhikers. Strange Darling
The Jesse Plemons sequence in Civil War
Reggie defends the house, Bad Boys: Ride or Die
The hand comes out, The First Omen
"Against All Odds" in The Fall Guy
The first reveal of Longlegs in Longlegs
Dylan goes electric, A Complete Unknown
Monstro ElisaSue in The Substance
Harkonnen soldiers float in Dune Part 2
Skydiving, V/H/S Beyond
Deescalation, Rebel Ridge
"Flame on!" in Deadpool and Wolverine
Hugh Grant talking in Heretic
Ellen takes matters into her own hands, Nosferatu
Margaret Qualley in The Substance
Aubrey Plaza hugs Chad, My Old Ass.jpg)
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Morning yoga in In a Violent Nature
Group dinner in A Real Pain
Lamorne Morris sings "Kill All the Whities" in Saturday Night
The Butcher confesses, Trap
Watching the tape, Kinds of Kindness
The Kyle Gallner sequence of Smile 2
The Krsy Fox sequence of Terrifier 3
The general store, Horizon: An American Saga Part 1
Glen Powell and Adria Arjona argue and text, Hit Man
Lupita Nyong'o puts her headphones on, A Quiet Place: Day One
Phoebe Bridgers hits the stage, I Saw the TV Glow
Riding the sandworm, Dune Part 2
Anxiety arrives, Inside Out 2
Love makes you huge, Love Lies Bleeding
The tennis stuff in Challengers
The last shot of Juror #2
I like this, even if it's just adding movies to my ever growing to-watch list
ReplyDeleteI'd completely forgotten Reggie Defends the House sequence, but that was the one redeeming scene in BB4! Good call out.
ReplyDeleteI love this list because it reminds me of moments I'd forgotten as well as ones that also stood out to me. The Hit Man one is a contender for scene of the year--just so good!
Margaret Qualley is a goddess divine but The Substance was so well made it has confirmed for me that I am not a body horror guy.
ReplyDeleteGreat list, it's nice to remember that even some movies that were not standouts during the year had some really good moments in them.
ReplyDeleteGreat list, Patrick! Can I play, too?
ReplyDelete- The nightmare, Kraven the Hunter
- Don’t ride your bicycle at night, Cuckoo
- The fireworks, Twisters
- Performance of the title song, Bob Marley One Love
- Key claws, Maxxxine
- Assassination attempt, Cosmopolis
- “Those are f***ing onions,” Abigail
- The girls dance on a table at some crappy roadside diner even though they know their lives are in danger, Madam Web
These are great additions that are mostly from movies I missed out on! Will check them out for sure.
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