In honor of Friday the 13th, I figured the second part of the June Swoon I would watch a good slasher film. Unfortunately, instead I watched Fear Street: Prom Queen.
I really enjoyed the previous installments of the Fear Street films. They came out in 2021, released once a week on Netflix. Based on R.L. Stein books, the Fear Street films were based in 1994, 1978 and 1666. They were connected and was a lot of fun.
It only made sense that they would return to the series. Prom Queen was lacking a lot of what made the first three films so great… namely a story, any interesting characters and fun.
According to IMDB, “Welcome back to Shadyside. In this next installment of the blood-soaked Fear Street franchise, prom season at Shadyside High is underway and the school’s wolfpack of It Girls is busy with its usual sweet and vicious campaigns for the crown. But when a gutsy outsider is unexpectedly nominated to the court, and the other girls start mysteriously disappearing, the class of ’88 is suddenly in for one hell of a prom night.”
This was such a dumb movie. I mean, dumb even for a slasher movie. The story made no sense. The motives of the killer made no sense. The kills were uninspired and boring. It just had a whole list of horror/slasher tropes that were not fun at all.
The writing was so bad. The acting was over the top. What a waste of time.
I was sorry to see this because I really enjoyed the Fear Street films form 2021, but this was nowhere close to a worthy successor to those three movies. This felt like a high school production.
I wonder if I would have considered this so badly if it did not have the Fear Street name attached to it? The memory of the great movies that preceded this may have not allowed this one a fair shot. On the other hand, this was aggressively bad and if a better movie was made, perhaps it would have benefited from the previous films. Either way, don’t bother with this one.
This was another movie that I never would have heard of if not for Dan Murrell, online critic, who put Ghostlight on his best of 2024 list. After hearing that, I added it to the June Swoon list.
Thank you, Dan. This was a sensational movie, one of the best that I have seen over the last year or so.
According to IMDB, “When a construction worker unexpectedly joins a local theater’s production of Romeo and Juliet, the drama onstage starts to mirror his own life.”
This script was beautifully constructed and the story told in a wonderful manner. Pieces of the story were given as the film progressed. We knew some of the things that happened, but they hold on to the overall events for the stretch. The writing was layered and worked so well that you could feel everything going on.
The performances were out of this world. Interestingly, the actors who played Dan and Sharon Mueller, Keith Kupferer and Tara Mallen, are married in real life, and their on-screen daughter Daisy was played by their real life daughter Katherine Mallen Kupferer. All of this made this feel real and all three of them knocked this out of the park.
I had immediate connection to this movie because I know kids like Daisy, who came out immediately with curse words and anger. I wanted to know more about what was going on, and these characters were so well done that everything was awesome.
I watched the movie on Amazon Prime and, I am not sure if this was the way it was supposed to go, but the very end felt like Prime cut off too soon. Maybe that was how the film ended, which, if so, it felt like I needed one more scene.
That was the only problem that I had with this film. It is one of the best movies I have seen in awhile. The story was small and emotional with the feeling of reality truly cutting deep. Ghostlight was great. If I were giving star ratings for these June Swoon movies, this would be five stars.
The internet was out when I got home from my last day of school, so, instead of just being mad at Mediacom, I decided to go to a movie. I had the tickets for tomorrow purchased and I know there was one film that I was going to see later next week. I went tonight instead.
Bring Her Back, the latest movie from directors Danny and Michael Philippou, the directors of 2022 Talk to Me, was one of the most disturbing and unsettling films I have seen in a long time.
This film avoided many of the horror tropes. There were no jump scares. It covered multiple types of horror, from body horror to psychological horror.
Step siblings are sent to a new foster home after their father died. It does not take long to realize that something was off about this situation.
There is no doubt that this is a movie that will be triggering for some. It is one of those horror movies that stuns you so much that you just want to go sit in silence and deconstruct.
Bring Her Back is a slow burn, but it does move well and never is without a healthy dose of tension and anxiety. There were times when I was grimacing, disturbed and looking away. There are some scenes that were very difficult to get through.
Sally Hawkins played Laura, the foster mother, who was extremely creepy, even in the moments when she seemed as if she was a loving individual. Hawkins was truly exceptional in this performance, which could have been too over the top, but turned out strong.
The kids in the movie do a great job too. Billy Barratt played the oldest kid, Andy, who had plenty of background troubles. Sora Wong played Piper in her debut. Wong, just like the character she played, Piper, is partially blind. She was remarkable and made everything work so well. Jonah Wren Phillips played Oliver, the boy Laura had already been fostering. All three of these kids did an amazing job, and they all had a different type of character to play.
I have to say, I was not completely clear about the demon aspect of this movie. It was a bit confusing, but you just accept that there is something supernatural going on and don’t question it too much.
This is going to be one of those movies that I will recommend, but never want to watch again. I squirmed in my seat several times during this uncomfortable movie. A24 has become known as a super horror film studio and they have yet another one. This is also a very different of sort of horror film than the Philippou brothers made previously.
There will be plenty of people who hate this movie. I was tense the whole time. My teeth were gritted several times. The film is remarkably well constructed and made. I understand if someone hated this movie. I don’t ever want to watch it again. But it absolutely did what it was trying to do.
The second episode of the second season of Light & Magic on Disney + featured heavily on the transition from practical effects to that of digital recording and the way in which ILM lead the way in the field of digital special effects.
It started out talking about the elephant in the room, Jar Jar Binks.
Jar Jar is one of the most hated of Star Wars characters among a certain section of the fandom, but the doc looked at the creation of the character. They spoke to Jar Jar actor, Ahmed Best, who was not taking the criticism and anger of the character well. The comments of Jar Jar being a racist character or filled of racist tropes was difficult for him to hear. It got so bad that he told a story about him going on a bridge in New York with the intent of “showing them” how much it affected him. This story of a man having suicidal thoughts over the creation of a movie character was very powerful as was the resolution of the story. It made me think about my own feelings toward Jar Jar.
I was impressed with how much of the negative thoughts and criticisms this doc dealt with. They could have easily brushed that under the rug, but the doc still showed the push back ILM received for its motion capture and digital film from the movie society in general.
The doc spent some time showing how they were involved in the creation of digital tornados for films such as Jumanji and Twister as well as the massive wave from A Perfect Storm.
They spent a good deal of time telling about how they transitioned from Yoda being a puppet as he was in the original trilogy to more of a digital character and then eventually to a point where Yoda could have a lightsaber fight with Count Dooku in Attack of the Clones. One of the more fascinating parts of that section of the show was seeing how Frank Oz, who was puppeteering and voice Yoda, went through so much trouble and challenges with this extremely heavy puppet that he had to hold up with his right arm.
There is one more episode of season two to go. My guess is that it will focus in on Revenge of the Sith.
Ryan Coogler has been hugely successful as a director. From his debut with Fruitville Station to his forays into the MCU with Black Panther to his entries in the Rocky franchise with Creed, Coogler has been a winner. Coogler decided to tackle the vampire genre with his new film Sinners, but there is so much more than just a vampire flick.
Conceivably, you could call this a Vampire musical. I was not expecting that.
According to IMDB, “Trying to leave their troubled lives behind, twin brothers (Jordan) return to their hometown to start again, only to discover that an even greater evil is waiting to welcome them back.”
I can see some people feeling that this movie is slow, and there is no doubt that the film takes the first hour or so of the run time to do lots of background. It absolutely takes its time to get to the vampire, and, while I was sitting in the theater, it did feel its length at times, what came after was worth it, and that first hour or so did make a difference with the deaths that followed.
Michael B. Jordon was wonderful in this dual role, as Smoke and Stack. You felt the connection between the twin brothers and Jordon does such a good job that there were a couple of times I questioned that it was him doing both parts.
What I did not expect was how much this was tied in with music, particularly with the Blues. Some of the musical numbers were amazingly complex and choreographed and a couple of them were downright surreal. I watched the one dance routine with spirits from the past, present and future with a shocked disbelief.
One of the best performances came from the debut of Miles Caton, who played Sammie. His character really made me think about Robert Johnson and the legend surrounding his life and career. Sammie was a phenom on the guitar, but his music seemingly brought forth the vampires. Caton was an impressive actor in this film.
The story was brutal and emotional, pulling on heartstrings of the different characters, providing pain and anguish as well as some joy of the music and being together.
Sinners is a challenging watch, but it is a worthwhile one, marking yet another win for Ryan Coogler.
Well, there is one on Hulu right now starring Stranger Things star Sadie Sink. It is called O’Dessa and it is something. I feel as if I should sit with this one awhile.
Sadie Sink played the titular character O’Dessa Galloway, a young farm girl who takes her father’s guitar and set off to become a rambler, a traveling musician, like her father. Along the way, she met Euri Dervish (Kelvin Harrison Jr) and she fell in love with him. O’Dessa must overcome series of obstacles in the way of their love to play one song for the world.
There are things that this movie does extremely well and things that it does poorly. It is definitely a mixed bag for me. Starting with the positives, Sadie Sink is absolutely the star of this movie and she showed that she has a bright career after her days in Hawkins, Indiana come to a close. She has amazing charisma and displays a lot of talent, elevating the movie above what the script gives her.
That script is one of the weaknesses of the film as there is not much there below the surface area of plot and character development.
As I mentioned in my recent review of Disney’s Snow White remake, the music in O’Dessa is entertaining and, in the moment, I enjoyed it, but I am not sure that I will remember any of the songs and it did not inspire me to go buy it on Apple Music. So that is a push. I enjoyed listening to the music during the film, but it does not occupy a place in my head as great musicals would.
The post-apocalyptic world is an interesting mishmash of styles and imagery. Some areas felt like the world of “Fallout” while others feature technology and neon energy such as Blade Runner. It felt as if there should have been one or the other.
Regina Hall and Murray Bartlett appear as a couple of villainous characters that do not have much more than the villainy that they commit. Both are outstanding actors that bring more to their roles than what was on the page. The ending segment with Sadie Sink and Murray Bartlett was engaging and thrilling even if there was not a ton of depth to the characters. I truly believe that this is because of the skill of these actors.
Overall, I would give O’Dessa a slight positive as the best parts outweighed the weaknesses and the music is passable enough for an under two hour film. I do not think this will be a cult favorite though which is what it should have strived for.
With a day off school for weather, I had a chance to watch Dog Man on Fandango at Home (Vudu). Dog Man was a movie that I was avoiding at the theaters because it just did not look like something that would intrigue me. The trailers did nothing for the film in my opinion and, even after some positive reviews, I did not care to watch it.
So when I rented Dog Man, I was not especially anxious to see it.
I have to say, this was a movie that I found much more enjoyable than I ever expected it to be.
The film kicked off with the origin of Dog Man, and set up his rivalry with the evil cat, Petey (Pete Davidson). With pressure from Chief (Lil Rel Howery) and the Mayor (Cheri Oteri), Dog Man was chasing Petey, and every time Dog Man would catch him, Petey would escape from the Cat Prison. Everything changed when Petey decided to clone himself.
The script of this movie was pretty good, as it told the story of what was going on, but also reveled in a ton of meta filmmaking. There were tons of jokes about the movie, the style, the animation, and about the tropes that were actually quite funny. They were jokes that worked much better in context than they did during the trailers, which always seemed to be painfully unfunny.
The look of the animation was original and creative. I thought this looked really good and kept my focus on the screen.
I am sure that the target audience for this movie, of which I am not one, would find this incredibly entertaining. I would go as far as to say that I was entertained as well. This had some jokes for me as an adult mixed in with the jokes for the youth. They worked well together.
It is very sweet, maybe even too sweet at times.
I am happy that I was able to watch Dog Man. It was much better than I thought it would be. I would highly recommend it to any families out there looking for some funny family fare that everyone will enjoy.
Companion is a sci-fi/thriller that flew under the radar. I knew very little about it before it was released in the theaters. I do not recall seeing any trailers for the film. I had heard some positive word of mouth about the film, but I still knew very little when I walked into the theater this morning to see it.
If you can go into this movie with as little knowledge as you can, please do so. Companion was an outstanding film that was a ton of fun and very creative and imaginative.
In the vein of going into this movie as free as you can, I am not giving any spoilers, nor am I going to give a synopsis, as this is one of those films where it is very difficult to give a synopsis without giving away some major plot points.
Starring Sophie Thatcher (Heretic, Yellowjackets) played Iris and Jack Quaid (The Boys) played Josh, a couple who was heading for a weekend with friends at a remote cabin. Both Thatcher and Quaid do a sensational job in this film as our main characters. They had a great chemistry and worked very well together to create a story that kept the audience on the edge of their seats the entire time.
The film was both exciting and funny, blending both together very effectively. The writing was so good in both structure and dialogue. You had feelings for these character, including the secondary characters played by Lukas Gage, Megan Suri, Harvey Guillen, and Rupert Friend.
You may never have heard of this movie, but it is absolutely worth your time. It is a blast and provides such a exceptional experience.
Today’s Genre-ary documentary was found on MAX called MoviePass, MovieCrash, which looks upon the rise and collapse of the movie subscription service MoviePass.
According to IMDB, MoviePass, MovieCrash is…”Exploring the company founding and the implosion of the business by outside investors who took over the company, left it bankrupt and under investigation.”
Stacy Spikes, the founder of MoviePass, took his idea and made it a phenom. For a limited fee monthly, you could go to a movie a day at any theater. It was a revolutionary concept that helped movie theaters. Hamet Watt was a board member of the company and was a co-founder with Spikes.
As they were trying to build their business, two other men came into the orbit of MoviePass. Mitch Lowe, who became CEO of MoviePass, and Ted Farnsworth, Helios and Matheson’s CEO. Helios and Matheson purchased the company in 2017. In 2018, Spikes and Watt were fired from the company that they had founded.
It was at this point where the company started to pull shady deals because they were hemorrhaging money and they were trying to find a way to bring down costs. The problem was they did not keep the consumer, their customers, in the loop.
They worked it so one of the massive movie releases of the summer, Mission Impossible: Fallout, would be unavailable for their users to go to, despite still taking their money. More and more error messages would come up when attempting to use the MoviePass card and the business was being driven into the ground. Finally the company had to declare bankruptcy.
There is an air of racial tint to this story as well. Spikes and Watt were both African American and, at the time that they were forced out of MoviePass, the rest of the board was all white. The doc touched upon this aspect, which was some of the more fascinating pieces of the story. One would wonder how it would have gone if Spikes and Watts were white.
The story of MoviePass is a remarkable one, a company that took off like a rocket, creating a huge success in the business of theaters only to be brought down by a couple of con artists looking for an easy score. It is an amazing story.
Den of Thieves: Pantera is the first, actual, film from 2025. I had never watched the first film and, this being a sequel, I was a little concerned about that fact.
And truthfully, I could never get into this flick. I do believe the fact that I had not seen 2018’s Den of Thieves was a big reason I could never build any connection to the film. I disliked the characters, I thought the story, with a few exceptions, was dull and boring, and I just was peeking at the time through much of the first half of the movie wishing it would get over.
I could care less about the robbery that they were setting up, but I will say that the execution of the robbery itself was my favorite part of the film. Outside of that 20 minutes or so, I really found this to be an excruciating watch.
Without spoiling it, there were no less than two… TWO… Deus ex machina endings for this movie, and I hated both twists… SO MUCH!
According to IMDB, “Butler returns as Big Nick (Gerard Butler), this time on the hunt in Europe for Donnie (O’Shea Jackson Jr.) who is embroiled in the dangerous world of diamond thieves and the infamous Panther mafia as they plot a massive heist of the world’s biggest diamond exchange“
I thought both Butler and Jackson Jr. were fine with their characters. i just did not care about either one. There was a scene early in the film where Nick gets drunk/stoned etc. and I thought that was so ridiculous that it completely derailed the film for me. I was having enough issues getting into the story so something like this knocked it down even more.
As I said, the actual robbery had some good tension to it, although it was very difficult to swallow. I was more able to give the leeway here because the set up to the theft was so much better than the rest of the movie. Sadly, the post robbery stuff had me rolling my eyes (including a moment that seemed to go from night to day in an instant).
I don’t know if my opinions would be different if I had seen Den of Thieves before going to the sequel, but I did not, so I can only judge this on what they gave me, and what they gave me was substandard in my thought.
2.2 stars
Edit: I went back and looked at my other reviews and I actually did see Den of Thieves in 2018. I gave it a 2.3 star rating. It shows you how memorable that first film was for me.
This documentary covers the life of EYG Hall of Famer Gene Wilder, one of the great comedic actors of all time. Wilder was the star of a multitude of amazing movies including Young Frankenstein, Blazing Saddles, Stir Crazy, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory along others.
I love Gene Wilder. Willy Wonka and Young Frankenstein are two of my all time favorite films and so I was interested in seeing this life
The film touches on his youth, but spends most of the time with his career and adult years. The background of the filming of The Producers and the other movie that followed was really great.
We had comments about the different movies and the genius of Gene Wilder from Mel Brooks, Alan Alda, Carol Kane, Harry Connick Jr., Eric McCormack, Ben Mankiewicz, daughter of Richard Pryor- Rain and Mike Medavoy.
The film spoke about Gene’s love and marriage with Gilda Radner as well as his discovery of his second wife Karen during research for the film See No Evil, Hear No Evil. Karen was a real emotional beat in the last section of the doc. As she was giving her first person POV of Wilder’s Alzheimer’s Disease, it was heartbreaking and I found myself with tears in my eyes.
Gene Wilder was such a kind and loving person and that comes across in this movie. We got much of this doc in Gene Wilder’s own voice. He did much of the narration of the film and it brought us even closer to this icon.
And here it is. The Top 30 Best Films of 2024 according to EYG. Again, as I said with the Worst Movies list, this is my opinion and if I have left off a film you love or you hate one of my choices, that is okay. You have the right to your own opinion. Make your own list.
I do think that this year has had a lot of films that have been in the middle. A bunch of movies that I was excited about turned out to be fine, just not great. I did have thirty films on this list and I did have to cut a few to get to that number.
Once again, the star ratings are not the end all in this list. I use the star ratings to get a general idea, but film opinions can change over time and this is my list as of now. For an example of how things could change, two years ago Wakanda Forever was my #1 film of the year, but now I wish I had made Matilda the Musical my #1 instead. It ended at #2, but if I were to do that list again, Matilda would be on top.
Anyway… here is the Top 30
EYG’s Top 30 Best Movies of 2024
#30. Nightbitch. I saw this movie last night. I had no idea that it was available and I spotted it on Disney +. It was legit a surprise to see it there and it kicked out Skincare from this list. I thought I was finished with 2024 movies, and here it made the Top 30.
#29. Rebel Ridge. A Netflix film featured a thinking-man’s Rambo like character played by Aaron Pierre taking on the crooked sheriff played by Don Johnson. I liked this approach to an action film.
#28. Emilia Perez. The first musical on the list and a film featuring a ton of great performances from Zoe Saldana, Selena Gomez and Karla Sofía Gascón. Another one available on Netflix.
#27. Kill. A violent, Indian Hindi-language film set on a train. It was brutal. It was vicious. It was exciting and filled with action. Worth every minute.
#26. Society of the Snow. Another version of the story of a rugby team that had crashed in the Andes and had to go to great lengths to survive the cold and brutal environment of the mountains. There is an avalanche that was astonishing.
#25. Civil War. Almost too realistic, this movie was difficult to watch at times. There was some real excitement involved here too as the cast does a solid job of showing the uncertainty of the world around them.
#24. Woman of the Hour. This is the true story of a serial killer who went on the Dating Game. Anna Kendrick excels as the woman who had to pick between the available bachelors unknowing that one of them is a real killer.
#23. We Live in Time. Emotional story told through amazing chemistry of Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh. This is a tragedy and a love story all wrapped into one. Two powerful performances carry this through.
#22. A Quiet Place: Day One. The prequel to the successful franchise was one of those that succeeded when it should not have. Lupita Nyong’o took the place as the film’s protagonist and does a great job detailing the first arrival of the aliens.
#21. A Real Pain. Jesse Eisenberg wrote, directed and starred in this passion project seeing cousins Jesse and Kieron Culkin go on a Holocaust tour after their beloved grandmother died. A very emotional movie.
#20. Fly Me to the Moon. Channing Tatum and Scarlet Johansson star in a romantic comedy featuring the potential moon landing and how the government wanted to fake the landing to beat the Russians. I liked how this movie blended the reality and the conspiracy theory into a narrative that worked.
#19. Didi. Izaac Wang starred as Didi in this coming of age story. Zhang Li Hua, who played Didi’s grandmother stole every scene she was in. The film shows how social media can cause troubles for youth. This film is filled with angst and emotion and was a great showcase for the young actor.
#18. Strange Darling. One of the most original movies of the year. I actually loved how this movie told its narrative in an unorganized fashion, jumping around through chapters of the story. It allowed the filmmakers to create a different mind about what was going on. It shows you what you can do with story structure.
#17. Conclave. The process of choosing a new Pope is shrouded in secrecy, so why not make a mystery out of it? This has a bunch of sensational performances from Ralph Fiennes, John Lithgow, Stanley Tucci, Isabella Rossellini and Carlos Diehz.
#16. Saturday Night. Live from New York… it’s Saturday Night! I had no idea how close it came to having those iconic words never uttered on TV. This movie is all about the first ever SNL show and the series of crises that nearly kept it off the air. Great performances.
#15. Anora. Just when you think you know how this film is going to go, the movie takes a swerve and you do not see it coming. Brilliant work from Mikey Madison as Anora and Mark Eydelshteyn as Vanya.
#14. The Fall Guy. One of the films this year that did not do well at the box office, but was extremely entertaining. Ryan Gosling was exceptional as the stunt man who gets injured and loses the girl and his confidence. Based on the early ’80s TV show, this was a lot of fun with sensational stunts (of course).
#13. The Last Stop in Yuma County. A small time film that surprised me with how fantastic it was. Brutal and violent, this movie saw some great interactions between actors and a truly shocking conclusion.
#12. Heretic. Another awesome film with an actor playing against type. I never would have seen Hugh Grant in this lead role, but he carries it off beautifully. Some of the best dialogue written in a horror/thriller this year.
#11. Dune: Part Two. I really thought this would wind up in the top ten, but it came just short. It had sensational special effects and some great performances in the continuation of the Dune story. One of two great performances of the year for Timothée Chalamet.
#10. Abigail. This was one that I thought would be higher on the list, which speaks well of the movies ahead of it. I loved this action/horror film and I just wish that they had been able to keep the secret that Abigail was a vampire secret. I understand why they thought they couldn’t but I can’t imagine what the moment would have been if I hadn’t known Alisha Weir was the antagonist. Oh well, still loved it.
#9. A Complete Unknown. The second Timothée Chalamet movie that featured a great performance. Chalamet played the icon Bob Dylan and he lost himself inside the singer/songwriter. Chalamet also did his own singing and guitar playing. This was a great movie.
#8. Late Night with the Devil. This film was on the top of this list early in the year and it stayed in the top ten. Another way to use the found footage subgenre for an original film. David Dastmalchian is great as a late night host that was having some surprising supernatural events.
#7. Alien: Romulus. I found this highly entertaining and filled with suspense and tension. The Alien franchise had not had a great movie in awhile. This is easily the best Alien movie since Aliens at least.
#6. The Wild Robot. Animation had a great year too as this original film was filled with emotion as the robot Roz finds and help raise a baby goose. The movie is beautiful and provides a sensational message.
#5. Transformers One. I never would have guessed that this movie would be number five on my Top 30 list, but it was so great. I did not think making Optimus and Megatron friends when they were younger was needed, yet it turned out to be just about perfect. This was full of action and goosebump moments. Excellent film.
#4. Inside Out 2. This is the third of the run of animated movies and I loved it. It may be a better overall story than the first one with a better use of characters. There is no villain in this movie. It is just emotions that may not take you in the right way. It was also the highest grossing film of 2024 at almost $1.7 billion.
#3. Wicked. This took a big risk and it paid off handsomely. Wicked Part One was engaging, hugely entertaining and filled with great music and amazing performances. The Some people doubted that they could adapt the Broadway musical into a successful movie, but those people had to eat their words.
#2. Nosferatu. Dark, brooding and violent. Nosferatu placed the character of Count Orlok into the basic story of Count Dracula and it created some of the best mood of the year. Robert Eggers gave us one of the best horror movies of the year.
#1. Deadpool and Wolverine. This was probably destined to be on the top of this list. Seeing Deadpool and Wolverine in an MCU movie together was awesome, as was the list of cameos that came along with them. This was a love letter to the FOX Marvel movies. One of the funniest movies of the year with amazing Deadpool action and emotional Logan moments. This reached every expectation I ever had.
So there it is. The Top 30 films of 2024. Happy New Year to everyone.
We are up to the big year-end movie lists, and we start off with the Top 20 Worst Films of the Year. Of course, it would be a little more accurate for me to call this My Least Favorite Films because that is what it is. Film is subjective and what I think is the worst movie, you may love. That’s fine. You have the right to your opinion.
I have all the respect in the world for the movie makers but everybody has their failures. Even the films that I hate have my respect for their efforts. Some times effort just is not enough.
I should specify as well that the star ratings that I give when I review the movies through the year are basically used as a guide. This is not place in direct order via the star ratings. Plus, movie opinions can change over time.
This was the oddest Worst Film list of all time because literally, I was considering seven movies as the #1 Worst Film of 2024. I have never had that many films in real consideration.
2024 EYG Top 20 Worst Films of the Year
#20. Venom: The Last Dance. The final of the Venom trilogy is not a very good movie. It has a lot of silliness and a waste of Knull as a villain.
#19. Monster Summer. An eighties type of monster film with Mel Gibson that is just not very good. Mel Gibson really did not fit with this movie.
#18. Afraid. AI taking over one house at a time. Killer Alexa? This is a stupid movie and John Cho has been in much better movies that are similar to this one.
#17. Trap. M. Night Shyamalan’s latest film is so full of dumb plots as a serial killer takes his daughter to a concert. The cops set up a sting operation at the concert. There are so many things that make no sense in this movie that it stretches credibility.
#16. Joker: Folie a Deux. What a step down from the first Joker. And I did not love that first film. This “musical” was such a waste of potential. This sequel seems to take a crap on the first movie too, throwing away most everything that was done well in the first one.
#15. Imaginary. There have been a ton of bad horror movies this year. This is one of them. Chauncy the Teddy Bear is causing trouble for the little kid. Terrible and not memorable.
#14. Immaculate. Sydney Sweeney did not have a good year in my opinion. She was a nun here going into an Italian convent. I did not like this one at all and it was not easy to watch, but not in the good way.
#13. The Exorcism. Russell Crowe also did not have the best year. Here, he is an actor playing a priest, dealing with an exorcism on set of a horror movie. I found this to be repetitive and boring.
#12. The Watchers. Another failed horror film. A bizarre situation that makes little sense and these characters are so unlikable that I want them to be gotten. M. Night’s daughter directed this mess.
#11. Lisa Frankenstein. I was looking forward to this comedy, but it was not funny, mean-spirited and had characters that I disliked. Cruel writing and a lack of humor does not make this worth seeing. It was quite a disappointment.
#10. The Strangers Ch. 1. Why did we need this movie? The original Strangers was a decent movie. This was just a wasted prequel with stupid characters and jump scares. And that ending…
#9. Night Swim. Here is the first film I watched in 2024. It was such a stupid movie about a haunted pool. A haunted pool? Yup. That’s what I said.
#8. The Crow. Another movie that has no reason to exist. This is such a bad idea and, what was even worse was, it was boring. The Crow did not need a reboot. This was a horrendous choice.
#7. Tarot. We are starting off with the seven films in competition for the worst film of the year. Tarot obviously deals with the deck of tarot and terrible characters that I couldn’t care less about. Completely forgettable.
#6. Kraven the Hunter. The most recent of the Sony Spider-Man without Spider-Man movies include a great cast in a terrible movie. Kraven is one of the greatest Spidey villains, but this is one of the worst super hero movies in years (although there may be a worse one upcoming).
#5. Borderline. I would have thought this was going to end up much higher than five, which tells you about the films ahead of it. Another great cast, including Oscar winners Cate Blanchett and Jamie Lee Curtis, but no story, horrible dialogue and such a flop of an adaptation. Eli Roth directed this mess.
#4. Kinds of Kindness. I had a guy on X call me names because I hated this movie. I’m sorry dude, but at least it is not my least favorite movie of the year. I found the three basic stories that made up the film to be pretentious, obnoxious and misogynistic. I hated this film.
#3. Rebel Moon Part 2: The Scargiver. I hated the first film of this series from Zack Snyder even more than Part One and I did not think that was possible. It was dull, boring and filled with characters whom I disliked. And I do not want to wait for the Director’s cut.
#2. Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey 2. Last year’s worst movie was this film’s first in the franchise. There was some chatter that this one was supposed to be better. Spoiler alert…it wasn’t. Although this is only the second worst film of the year, so I guess it could be considered a little better.
#1. Madame Web. Here it is… the film that survived the gauntlet of the horrible movies. This one took a C-level (more likely D level) Spider-Man character and put her in a film with horrible writing, horrible special effects, horrible villain, horrible ADR.. I could go on. Madame Web was a ridiculous film and even film star Dakota Johnson was putting it down before it had been released. Madame Web is the worst movie of this year.
The Batman and Robin Award for Rottenness are the annual look at films that just were not good. Some even bad. Yes, I know that it is very difficult to make a movie, and it is something that I have never done. Nobody sets out to make a bad movie (probably) and I have all respect for the men and women who do this job.
Still there are times when the film is just rotten. These awards look at those times. They receive the coveted Batman and Robin.
Worst Movie: See the list at the end of the year. Honestly, there are about six movies competing for this title yet.
Worst Actor: Scott Chambers, Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey 2. Not much anyone can do when this is your script.
Worst Actress: Sofia Boutella, Rebel Moon Part Two: The Scargiver. She never had a chance. This was worse than the last one.
Worst Director: Eli Roth, Borderlands. He clearly had no idea about this video game. This film is easily one of the worst of the year and Roth had a great cast that he did nothing with.
Worst Sequel: Rebel Moon Part Two: The Scargiver. If only we got to see the Director’s edition first. I’m joking. I do not want to watch a longer version of this.
Worst CGI: Madame Web. There was not much about Madame Web that was good. CGI was no exception.
Favorite Rotten Movie: If. Ryan Reynolds’ first hit of the year wound up with a Rotten Tomatoes score of 50% making it rotten. It is a much better film than that. I liked it. I’d even recommend it.
Worst Movie I did not see: Megalopolis. It’s on the list for 2025 June Swoon.
Cashing a Paycheck: Russell Crowe, Kraven the Hunter. Fun little accent he was playing with. Not sure where he was suppsoed to be from. This guy won an Oscar.
Worst Reboot/Remake: The Crow. Why would you do this? The Crow did not need to be rebooted, and this movie did the original dirty.
Most Successful Bad Movie: Despicable Me 4. This made a ton of money dumbing down the youth of our country even more.
Worst Movie Based on a TV Show/Video Game: Borderlands. One of the worst films of the year, setting back video game adaptations just as they were making some progress.
Worst Superhero Movie: Madame Web. Why Sony why? Madame Web is, at best, a C or D level hero in the Spider-Man universe, and that is when she is with Spdier-Man.
Worst Trailer: Transformers One. Already mentioned this in the Logan “Hurt” Award. Almost made me not see the movie.
WTF: Kinds of Kindness. In risk of offending that guy on X who called me names after my review of this movie, I found this a mess.
Worst Performance by an Oscar Winner: Ariana DeBose, Kraven the Hunter. She was truly terrible in that movie after being brilliant in West Side Story.
Worst ADR: Madame Web. The villain in this movie barely moved his mouth. The voice over is noticeably bad and that should never happen.
Worst TV Show that I Watched: American Horror Story: Delicate. The second half of this season is some of the worst TV I have seen. I couldn’t wait for this one to be done.
Worst TV Finale: Grotesquerie. The final episode of this show for its first season was a jumbled mess and was simply unsatisfying.
Unlike sci-fi, there has been a ton of horror movies. There are plenty to choose from for the best and worst this year.
Best Horror Movie
Previous Winners: A Quiet Place, It, Don’t Breathe, It Follows, The Conjuring, As Above So Below, Cabin in the Woods, Doctor Sleep, Black Box, Fear Street trilogy, The Menu, A Haunting in Venice
Best Horror Movie of 2024
Runners-Up: There are some great horror movies and several of these are going to wind up in the top 10 of the Best Movies list coming soon. I was hoping to give this award to a couple of these along the way. Such as Abigail, which when I first saw it, I figured this was the winner of this award. Heck, for awhile, this had a shot to be at #1 overall on the year (Spoiler alert: It will not be). I had loved Late Night with the Devil with David Dastmalchian. I found that to be completely original and reengaged the old found footage subgenre. I placed Alien: Romulus in this category instead of Sci-Fi and it was one of my favorites of the year. Another surprise film was Heretic with Hugh Grant. That movie was another huge hit and one that I loved.
However, I just recently saw the film that needed to win this award. It will be somewhere in the top 5 of the year on the final list.
Nosferatu
This vampire movie was such an amazing feat. It was basically the story of Count Dracula, but with Count Orlok in his place. And it was beautifully shot, acted and presented. It was creepy and scary as could be. A master class of visual storytelling as well as creation of a mood.
Worst Horror Movie of 2024
Runners-Up: There were an excess of poor horror films this year. The year kicked off with one of the worst with Night Swim. Imaginary I saw plenty of trailers for, but it was terrible. Dumb bear. Tarot is in contention for one of the worst films of the year, not just horror-wise. The Strangers Ch. 1 was a unnecessary reboot that ruined the franchise immediately. The Watchers… honestly I do not remember anything about that one. The Exorcism was one more bad movie starring Russell Crowe. Not his best year ever. Immaculate was another flopper among these horror flicks.
The worst horror movie of 2024 is from the same franchise that had the worst horror movie of 2023… a sequel!
Winner: Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey 2
This one fooled me. I went in thinking this would be better. I had seen a couple of positive reviews and I thought it would be good campy fun. Nope. Just the same horrendous acting, violence for no reason and just lackluster storytelling. The worst horror film back to back years… has to be a record!
EYG- Embrace Your Geekness 