2024 Favourites - Movies

According to Letterboxd, I've watched 120 films this year (as of 23rd December) which is sadly less than the 177 it says I watched in 2023. To be honest, I am not sure how I've managed to log less because I spent a considerable portion of the year doing a 2 hour commute to London where I watched a lot of films as most directors intended .... on my phone.

Out of the 120 films I watched this year, I logged 20 of them as being 5 stars with 9 of them being films that were released this year. To me, that's not a bad ratio. Overall, I would say it's felt like a pretty good year for watching movies, especially as we've come towards the later end of the year.

Here's what I gave 5 stars out of the films released in 2024:

Challengers

In April this year, Luca Guadagnino released the film Challengers which follows the story of a love triangle between an injured tennis star-turned-coach (Zendaya), her low-circuit tennis player ex-boyfriend (Josh O'Connor) and her tennis champion husband (Mike Faist). It's a film that got incredibly high praise from critics and audiences with the film also receiving 4 nominations at the upcoming Golden Globes. If you wanted to know what my thoughts were, this is what I put on Letterboxd:

'what a fucking film'

A true 5 star analysis.

The Fall Guy

A month later, David Leitch released The Fall Guy which follows stuntman Colt Seaver (Ryan Gosling) as he tries to solve a conspiracy around his missing leading actor. The film got generally pretty positive reviews but didn't do amazingly in the box office. I actually thought it was a pretty fun film with my 5 star review reading 'stunts are cool ', because there are a lot of cool stunts in this film.

Again, another great 5 star analysis.

Inside Out 2

I was really interested in how good this film was going to be due to most animated sequels not always working with audiences, but this film really worked for me. I think it's such a fascinating concept of a film and it's the type of film that Pixar does best. I've also recently watched their spin off TV series called 'Dream Productions' which is also really good if you haven't had a chance to watch that yet. I think the concept is a really beautiful way of showing how people grow up and the animation really helps to build the world inside Riley's head.

If you're wondering what my 5 star analysis is for this film, having felt enlightened by the previous film reviews, I went for 'I enjoyed this film'.

STEVE! (martin) a documentary in 2 pieces

I've been really trying to improve my knowledge of everything to do with Saturday Night Live in the second half of this year, and as a result, I ended up watching this documentary about Steve Martin on Apple TV+ as a bit of a tangent to that side quest. The documentary is in two parts with the first part focusing on his rise to the top in stand up comedy with the second part focusing on present Steve Martin reflecting on his career.

Here's my review;

'really enjoyed both parts of this documentary into an absolutely incredible career

part 1

mainly told through voiceover, it flies through his early career telling stories of his stand up and all the way through to him doing SNL. fascinating insight to his life

part 2

is a lot more documentary in style as we see Steve Martin in the present reflecting on everything since, regularly includes interviews with friends who all speak so positively about him

overall, I’m not 100% sure it needs to be 2 parts; but I’m glad it was because it offered two tonally different takes on different parts of his life whilst both informing the viewer pretty strongly about what it wants you to know!

this documentary made me want to be more like Steve Martin ❤️'

SIDENOTE: As you can see, as the year got further in and I started to write more film features, my reviews got a little bit more in depth.

The Wild Robot

In October, one of my favourite films of the year was released in The Wild Robot. The film follows the story of a shipwrecked robot named Roz (Lupita Nyong'o) who develops a parental bonding with an orphaned gosling (Kit Connor) and becomes friends with a mischievous fox called Fink (Pedro Pascal). It's a really beautiful film that focuses a lot on the themes of struggling to fit in, which is something that's really resonated with a lot of audiences. I remember going into this film knowing that everyone said they sobbed and being half way through being like

'??? what were people talking about ???'

I was proven wrong so incredibly fast, and spent pretty much the whole second half crying.

Here's my review:

'I loved this film!!

the animation was beautiful the whole film being about just wanting to fit in I loved it ahhh

I cried x

for more: www.dannyhumby.co.uk/post/i-saw-the-wild-robot-and-it-made-me-cry'

SIDENOTE: By this point, I was beginning to write more detailed reviews for my website in an attempt to build a portfolio. This one still manages to combine the highly detailed breakdowns we saw in the previous reviews whilst also offering a link to a genuine review too.

The Remarkable Life of Ibelin

When it came to the back end of 2024, there was a hot spree of 5 star documentaries that hit my Letterboxd Diary. The first being The Remarkable Life of Ibelin which tells the story of the secret life of a young World of Warcraft gamer called Mats Steen who found community through online gaming despite a degenerative muscular disease making it difficult for him to make friends in real life. This story was really creatively told using imagery from within World of Warcraft to tell the story of how Mats brought people together online and helped to change people's lives without even realising.

My review for this read:

'this made me cry a lot

beautiful story about how online gaming gave mats a life he couldn’t otherwise lead'

I also wrote a more detailed review about the film here:

https://www.dannyhumby.co.uk/post/the-remarkable-life-of-ibelin-a-beautiful-story-about-the-importance-of-online-gaming-communities

Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story

Another documentary that came out in the later half of 2024 that I absolutely sobbed my way throughout. The film follows the story of iconic Superman Actor Christopher Reeve who tragically became paralyzed in his early 40s as a result of a horse riding incident. Following on from his incident, Reeve and his partner went on to be a passionate advocate for disability rights and care achieving huge success with their foundation. It's a really tragic story that highlights just how fast life can change in any moment. This is something I echoed in my review;

'this is a really beautifully told documentary that had me crying from start to finish

a truly inspirational story that really brings home how fast your whole life can change in a moment'

.

I also wrote a more detailed review about this film here:

https://www.dannyhumby.co.uk/post/super-man-the-christopher-reeve-story

Grand Theft Hamlet

This documentary is the most niche film on this list so it's unlikely you'll have heard of it unless you're a hardcore film follower, but that doesn't stop it from being one of the most creatively told stories. The documentary follows two out of work actors as they attempt to put on a production of Shakepeare's Hamlet during a COVID lockdown, all through the online mode of Grand Theft Auto V. It's a really interesting way of combining film, theatre and video games and is also a really fascinating look back to a time period where the options to take part in arts were so limited. I watched it at my local picturehouse with a bunch of people considerably older then me. At the end of the film, I heard people talking about how it was interesting but they didn't get why it was a thing. It's a thing because people are creative!!!!

Here's my review:

'I really loved this

it was just a very creative documentary and choice of endeavour in a difficult time for many

it had a lot of heart and was funny in various moments, especially seeing how they staged it in the world of GTA

yeah, had a great time'

I wrote a more detailed review about this film here:

https://www.dannyhumby.co.uk/post/grand-theft-hamlet-when-film-theatre-and-video-games-combine

We Live In Time

The final film I gave 5 stars to this year, as of the 23rd December, is We Live In Time (which ironically isn't out in the UK until next year). I was lucky enough to see it through a Showcase Insider screening and they gave us free tissues and some popcorn which I thought was nice. The film follows the story of an up-and-coming chef (Florence Pugh) and a recent divorcée (Andrew Garfield) who find their lives forever changed when a chance encounter brings them together. Interestingly, the film is told in a non-linear time structure meaning that the film regularly moves between happier moments and sadder moments in their lives. I think the two lead performances were definitely some of the stronger ones I've seen this year with Andrew Garfield in particular being fantastic in the film.

Here's my review of the film:

'a really beautifully told film with phenomenal acting from Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh

wasn’t as devastating as I thought it might be but still incredibly sad

time and love is scary'

When I saw this film, I ended up writing a review that also dicussed how I feel the portrayal of time in films about love. Here's the link:

https://www.dannyhumby.co.uk/post/we-live-in-time-thoughts-about-love-and-time-in-films

BONUS 4 STAR SPECIAL MENTIONS:

I also really recommend the following:

Conclave - a intense drama that tells the story of what happens in the Vatican when the Pope dies.

Transformers One - an really pretty prequel story about the origins of the legend himself Optimius Prime.

Fly Me To The Moon - a very enjoyable comedy around the launch of Apollo 11 and the pressures around it to prove the moon landing was real