Travis Leamons (President of the Houston Film Critics Society): If past is prologue, then best is argumentative. With film forums, social media, and tomatoes that become rotten, the B-word (“Best”) can be viewed as a pejorative sometimes. Favorites or recommendations might be more appropriate. And a critic trying to limit himself or herself to a list of ten – don’t get me started.
Before the nominations for our annual awards are announced, I wanted to let the society stable have its say. This year, we have fifteen members, me included, who wanted to share their lists. Some films you’ll see more than a couple of times, meaning they were not a complete unknown. Others you’ll find to be off the beaten path and, like J.K. Simmons in “Whiplash,” may not be your tempo. These would be the strange darlings of the bunch.
2024 was an odd cinema year. Not very many highs, a lot of lows, and with studios either setting up camp inside theaters (see Disney’s theatrical takeover with both “Inside Out 2” and “Deadpool and Wolverine”) or being too quick to jettison a title to PVOD status (Universal with “The Fall Guy”). Universal also whiffed by dropping a certain title only to have Mubi pick it up last May. That title was “The Substance,” which would earn an impressive $77.7 million worldwide. Not too shabby considering it is satirical body horror starring an actress who hasn’t headlined a film for more than 15 years.
Edward Berger pulled a David Fincher in taking an airport novel read and making theocracy elections great again (“Conclave”). David Zaslav and Warner Bros. committed elder abuse by not giving Clint Eastwood’s “Juror #2” a worthy theatrical release in the U.S. Apple is still putting the apple cart before the horse in throwing iPhone profits away at movie star vehicles that have more problems than a Cybertruck. A24 is still very much a vibe, though I would easily confuse Sean Baker’s “Anora” as one of their films from last year. Sorry to the folks at NEON: a studio whose marketing team gets a gold star for how they handled last July’s “Longlegs,” which creeped to more than $125 million globally.
A24 has big ambitions as seen with Alex Garland’s “Civil War,” and yet somehow the film producer/distributor couldn’t get its prison drama “Sing Sing” in more than 191 theaters during its mid-summer bow.
As for me, leave it to an animated film to move me harder than anything I’ve seen in quite some time. I watched “The Wild Robot” three times in theaters, and each time I bawled. Like I had rolled the dice in Monopoly and landed on Water Works. Director Chris Sanders showing that love is indeed a superpower regardless if your programming forbids it. Lupita Nyong’o as the voice of robot Roz just giving a subtle flex as one of the great, low-key talents working today. Her star pass is ready, Hollywood. Let her board.
MICHAEL BERGERON
Read the complete commentary for his list at Screen Reflections.
“Longlegs”
“The Brutalist”
“Saturday Night”
“I’m Still Here”
“The Gutter”
“A Complete Unknown”
“Strange Darling”
“Juror #2”
“The People’s Joker”
“Soundtrack For A Coup D’Etat”
T.J. CALLAHAN
“Conclave”
“A Complete Unknown”
“We Grown Now”
“Sing Sing”
“The Seed of the Sacred Fig”
“All We Imagine As Light”
“Wicked”
“Memoir of a Snail”
“The Wild Robot”
“Will & Harper”
“Civil War”
“Nickel Boys”
“City of Dreams”
ALAN CERNY
Read the complete commentary for his list at The Crying Dad Review.
“The Brutalist”
“I Saw the TV Glow”
“The Substance”
“Conclave”
“A Real Pain”
“Anora”
“Love Lies Bleeding”
“Challengers”
“Nosferatu”
“Rebel Ridge”
Honorable Mentions: “Better Man,” “Wicked,” “The Wild Robot,” “Hundreds of Beavers,” “Dune: Part Two,” “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga,” “A Complete Unknown,” “Strange Darling,” “Juror #2”
DUSTIN CHASE
Read the complete commentary for his list at The Daily News (Galveston County).
“Dune: Part Two”
“Disclaimer*”
“Wicked”
“Conclave”
“The Seed of the Sacred Fig”
“A Real Pain”
“The Order”
“One Life”
“Catching Dust”
“The Substance”
Honorable Mentions: “Mother’s Instinct,” “Challengers”
JAMES COLE CLAY
“Nosferatu”
“Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga”
“Inside Out 2”
“Queer”
“A Real Pain”
“Saturday Night”
“A Complete Unknown”
“Challengers”
“Anora”
“Alien: Romulus”
Honorable Mentions: “The Fall Guy,” “Gladiator II,” “Heretic,” “Kinds of Kindness,” “Sasquatch Sunset”
CARY DARLING
Read the complete commentary for his list at the Houston Chronicle.
“Nickel Boys”“
“The Seed of the Sacred Fig”
“The Brutalist”
“Challengers”
“Strange Darling”
“Conclave”
“Anora”
“A Real Pain”
“A Complete Unknown”
“Juror #2”
Honorable Mentions: “The Wild Robot,” “Didi,” “Kill,” “Blitz,” “Sing Sing”
JASON ESCAMILLA
“Wicked”
“Didi”
“Conclave”
“A Real Pain”
“The Substance”
“Speak No Evil”
“Juror #2”
“Smile 2”
“The Wild Robot”
“Strange Darling”
Honorable Mentions: “Heretic,” “September 5,” “Emilia Perez,” “The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie,” “Inside Out 2,” “Anora,” “Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl,” “Trap,” “A Complete Unknown,” “Look Back,” “Chicken for Linda!,” “Mufasa: The Lion King,” I’m Still Here,” “The Brutalist”
JOE FRIAR
Read the complete commentary for his list at the Fort Worth Report.
“Anora”
“The Brutalist”
“The Substance”
“A Real Pain”
“All We Imagine As Light”
“Nosferatu”
“Challengers”
“Dune: Part Two”
“Wicked”
“Civil War”
Honorable Mentions: “Emilia Pérez,” “A Complete Unknown,” “Conclave,” “Nickel Boys,” “Sing Sing,” “Hard Truths,” “His Three Daughters,” “The Bikeriders,” “The Piano Lesson,” “The Outrun”
TRAVIS LEAMONS
“Anora”
“The Brutalist”
“Challengers”
“Dune: Part Two”
“Love Lies Bleeding”
“Nickel Boys”
“September 5”
“Strange Darling”
“The Substance”
“The Wild Robot”
Honorable Mentions: “Sing Sing,” “Civil War,” “Rebel Ridge,” “Hit Man,” “Red Rooms,” “A Real Pain,” “Hundreds of Beavers,” “Flow,” “Ghostlight,” “The Fall Guy”
CRAIG LINDSEY
Previously featured as part of “Two Thumbs Up! The Individual Top Tens of 2024” on RogerEbert.com.
“Anora”
“Black Barbie”
“The Brutalist”
“Conclave”
“His Three Daughters”
“Made in England: The Films of Powell & Pressburger”
“The Monk and the Gun”
“Nickel Boys”
“The First Omen”
“Sing Sing”
Runners-up: “Babygirl,” “A Real Pain,” “Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell,” “Memoir of a Snail,” “Pictures of Ghosts,” “Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat”
KEVIN RANSON
Read the complete commentary for his top ten “recommended films” at MovieCrypt.com.
“Abigail”
“A Complete Unknown”
“Conclave”
“Heretic”
“Late Night With the Devil”
“Love Lies Bleeding”
“Memoirs of a Snail”
“The Substance”
“Tuesday”
“Wicked”
ADAM SANDERS
“The Brutalist”
“Anora”
“Rebel Ridge”
“Ghostlight”
“Sing Sing”
“Flow”
“Longlegs”
“La Cocina”
“Strange Darling”
“Megalopolis”
CHRIS SAWIN
“The Substance”
“The Wild Robot”
“A Different Man”
“Memoir of a Snail”
“Better Man”
“Ultraman Rising”
“Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In”
“Cloud”
“I, The Executioner”
“Baby Assassins: Nice Days”
CHRIS VOGNAR
Previously featured as part of “Two Thumbs Up! The Individual Top Tens of 2024” on RogerEbert.com. (Scroll down the article to read his commentary for his ten picks.)
“The Apprentice”
“The Brutalist”
“Day of the Fight”
“Evil Does Not Exist”
“Kinds of Kindness”
“Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger”
“Nosferatu”
“Pictures of Ghosts”
“A Real Pain”
“The Substance”
LISA WELLINGTON
“Anora”
“Challengers”
“Dune: Part Two”
“Emilia Pérez”
“Flow”
“Heretic”
“The Last Showgirl”
“A Real Pain”
“Sing Sing”
“The Substance”
Honorable Mentions: “The Bikeriders,” “The Brutalist,” “A Complete Unknown,” “The End,” “The Fall Guy,” “Hundreds of Beavers,” “Juror #2,” “Nosferatu,” “Tuesday,” “Wicked,” “Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl”