Before I finalize the list for my top 10 favorite movies of 2024, I decided to do a bit of catching up over the last month. Given how many movies I had to see, I didn’t have much time to write full reviews. So, here are some mini reviews for those films.
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Demi Moore in "The Substance"
Photo Credit: RottenTomatoes.com
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The Substance - One of the most audacious movies of the year, certainly in terms of style, was writer-director Coralie Fargeat’s body-horror satire. The story follows an actress, Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore), who’s let go by her producer (Dennis Quaid) because of her age. She’s then introduced to the titular black market drug that allows her to grow a younger version of herself (Margaret Qualley), which soon leads to disastrous consequences. Moore gives the best performance of her career in a heartbreaking and shocking portrayal of someone who isn’t ready to be forgotten, pulling the audience into the depths of her crippling self-consciousness. Qualley gives a terrific supporting performance as the reckless younger self of Elizabeth, and Quaid is squirm-inducing as a sleazy producer. Although Fargeat’s screenplay can get a little heavy-handed and over-the-top in the finale, it nevertheless offers a memorable narrative of what it means to be pushed aside because of your age, particularly in the entertainment industry. As a director, Fargeat shows ample potential as our next great body-horror director, utilizing eye-popping practical effects with as little use of CGI as possible, going all in for the gross-out factors that might even have you watching some scenes between your fingers. This is only Fargeat’s second feature, and if this is what she accomplishes this early in her career, we’ll be in for some whoppers later on.
Grade: A-
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Nicholas Hoult in "Juror No. 2"
Photo Credit: RottenToamtoes.com
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Juror No. 2 - Although Clint Eastwood is an iconic American director who has enjoyed a mammoth career, it’s hard to deny that his output of the last 10+ years has been wildly inconsistent. However, despite being 94, he shows that he still has the talent to make something good if the right material is there, as evidenced by this legal thriller. The story follows Justin Kemp (Nicholas Hoult) who gets called to jury duty for a murder trial. Not long into the proceedings, he realizes that he might be responsible for the victim’s death. Hoult gives us a superb performance of someone who’s caught in preserving his own life when that of another is on the line, with some of his finest moments coming from just using his facial expressions to show Justin processing new details about the case and figuring out how it could implicate him. The screenplay by Jonathan Abrams is constructed as an old-fashioned courtroom drama, but that doesn’t make the story any less engaging, with him offering revelations that keep us wondering about Justin’s innocence and guilt. It all culminates in an ending that will surely get viewers debating. Eastwood isn’t a filmmaker who adds a lot of visual flourishes, but that isn’t a bad thing. His straightforward direction shows his ability to let pure tension and drama do the work, all while having his actors give grounded performances that ring true. As Eastwood has you sit in court, you’ll be absolutely riveted.
Grade: A
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Elle Fanning and Timothée Chalamet
in
"A Complete Unknown"
Photo Credit: RottenTomatoes.com |
A Complete Unknown - When you think of musicians from the 20th century and all of the icons that grew from there, it’s impossible to not think of Bob Dylan. His influence of the last few decades is unmistakable, and his career now goes from the stage to the big screen with director James Mangold’s biopic. The story follows Dylan (Timothée Chalamet) and the beginning of his career in 1961 to 1965, where he made the controversial choice to switch from an acoustic guitar to an electric, which was seen by his fans as a betrayal of his folk-music roots. Through his dialogue and singing, Chalamet masters the vocals of Dylan, fully inhabiting his character and displaying how much work he put into bringing the singer’s talent to cinema. There are some good supporting performances from Edward Norton and Elle Fanning, but the standout is Monica Barbaro, who’s absolutely magnetic as singer/songwriter Joan Baez. However, the screenplay by Mangold and Jay Cocks, which is based on Elijah Wald’s 2015 book “Dylan Goes Electric!,” is a rather repetitive approach to its subject, mostly being one musical performance after another with just a few minutes of drama in between, as if they figured it would be enough for viewers to just hear the songs they’ve come to love. Meanwhile, Mangold’s direction feels like it’s on autopilot to just deliver a standard musician biopic. While it was important for the performances, especially the central one, to be on point for a movie like this, Dylan’s legacy needed more than that.
Grade: B-
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Pamela Anderson in
"The Last Showgirl"
Photo Credit: Imdb.com
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The Last Showgirl - On this list is a film that would make a suitable, albeit very different, companion piece to “The Substance,” in that it tackles the subject of aging in the entertainment industry. Director Gia Coppola’s drama follows Shelley Gardner (Pamela Anderson), a seasoned Las Vegas showgirl. When her show announces its closure after 30 years, Shelley is faced with an uncertain future. Anderson gives a sweet and loving, yet heartbreaking performance of a woman who’s passionate about what she does, but now must confront a possible life without it. This is stunning work from Anderson that creates a whole new chapter in her career as a true film actress. Backing her up are great supporting performances from Jamie Lee Curtis, Brenda Song, and Kiernan Shipka, with the standout being Dave Bautista, who does some of his best work to date in an understated, yet strong performance as the show’s producer. While the screenplay by Kate Gersten, which was based on her play “Body of Work,” has some cliches of redemption and reconnecting with family, it also has a couple of small, yet effective dramatic twists that provide some depth to the character study at the center. As a director, Coppola uses cinematography from Autumn Durald Arkapaw that’s shot in 16mm, providing a graininess that fits well with the setting, as well as extensive closeups that really help the emotions from the characters land. When it comes to “The Last Showgirl,” if you want to see a movie led by an actress with freshly discovered talent, this is it.
Grade: A-
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Colman Domingo and Clarence Maclin in
"Sing Sing"
Photo Credit: RottenTomatoes.com |
Sing Sing - When it comes to movies about the redemptive power of the arts, it’s always engaging to see how people’s lives can change when given an outlet to express themselves. In this drama from director Greg Kwedar, we follow John Whitfield (Colman Domingo), an inmate at the titular prison, who gathers his fellow inmates to put on a theatrical performance through the Rehabilitation Through the Arts program. Domingo gives a transcendent performance as a man who finds solace and possibility in theater, as well as a sense of freedom behind prison walls. Paul Raci gives a great supporting performance as the prison’s theater director, but most of the supporting cast is made up former inmates portraying themselves, most notably Clarence Maclin, all of whom provide stunning emotional work. The screenplay by Kwedar and Clint Bentley does well in not just making this movie about its main character, but instead about all of the inmates, allowing us to get a sense who these people are, particularly in the audition scene and a mediation scene. With the help of cinematography by Pat Scola, Kwedar shoots the film on 16mm, which allows us to connect deeper with the setting because of how natural the visuals look, just like with “The Last Showgirl.” Through this film, Kwedar creates an invigorating portrait of how the creative process can be therapeutic and encourage us to see the world in a whole new way, and in that, “Sing Sing” doesn’t make you feel anything less than alive.
Grade: A
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