The cinema year, a bit messy The 2023 strikesIt might seem like it’s only just beginning. The box office is finally booming thanks to “Inside Out 2”. But halfway through the year, many great films have already been released – more, perhaps, than you realize.
Not even counting some of the films that had eligible releases last year – two of our favorites were “The Chimera” and “Totem” — 2024 has accumulated a wide range of remarkable films, big and small, with and without sandworms. Here are our favorites:
“I saw the television glow”
Jane Schoenbrun’s second feature film — a spectacular leap forward for the filmmaker and a translucent, mesmerizing parable — is one of the most exciting cinematic events of the year. The film, available for digital rental, is a chilling coming-of-age 1990s story in which a “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”-style series called “The Pink Opaque” offers a possible escape from drab suburban life and other stifling feelings. It feels like a beautiful, frightening glimpse into Schoenbrun’s soul — and the soundtrack is brilliant. — Coyle
“Dune: Part Two”
Its box office supremacy may have been overshadowed by some animated sentiments, but “ Dune: part two “remains the most dazzling cinematic spectacle to grace theaters in 2024.” Dune “was always going to be a difficult act to follow, but Denis Villeneuve Paul Atreides’ continued rise to fame proves both thrilling and deeply disturbing – a cautionary tale about a potential messiah that you can’t help but root for. Thank you very much for the moral crisis, Chalamet. —Bahr
“Robot Dreams”
Look, I don’t make the rules. But it turns out that an animated movie about a dog and a robot is one of the best New York movies in years, not to mention a surprisingly mature story of love and loss for a movie where the effects of rust are completely central to the story. But “Robot Dreams” an Oscar nominee directed by Pablo Berger, is charmingly its own thing. -Coyle
“Challengers”
This image released by Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures shows Mike Faist, from left, Zendaya and Josh O’Connor in a scene from “Challengers.” (Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures via AP)
It’s rare that a film seems to have an immediate impact on culture, being both on-trend and cutting-edge, but The sporty and sexy psychodrama of Luca Guadagnino That’s exactly what I did. It may not have broken the box office, but Zendaya, Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor ignited our imaginations, started trends/made everyone feel like a fashion insider for a moment (Jonathan Anderson’s tennis player, anyone?) and established a new genre. of Internet Boyfriend: The Sexy Rodent Man. —Bahr
“Angry”
This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows Anya Taylor-Joy in a scene from “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga.” (Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)
There’s just no life worth living up to. “Mad Max: Fury Road”; it’s too good. But “Furiosa” by George Miller The film still has some of the best action sequences of the year and quite possibly Chris Hemsworth’s best scene. It’s perhaps a bit too long and lacks the power that Charlize Theron brought to “Fury Road.” But a movie like this is as rare to find in the summer as water in the desert in “Mad Max.” —Coyle
“Love lies in bleeding”
Katy O’Brian, left, and Kristen Stewart in a scene from “Love Lies Bleeding.” (Anna Kooris/A24 via AP)
The luscious experience of Rose Glass looked like a cult classic from the start. It’s a pretty tough feat for a brand new film, but a testament to its wholly original take on female bodybuilders, toxic masculinity, and what Coyle aptly dubbed a “ pic kristen stewart “performance and Ed Harris with a deeply disturbing rat tail. With otherworldly visuals and a vigorous, sweaty, dangerous tone, it feels like being “thrown out of space” to quote Carol Aird. — Bahr
“Green border”
Polish director Agnieszka Holland’s latest film is easily the most captivating, unforgettable, and essential film of the year so far – which isn’t exactly to say it’s an easy film to watch. Holland’s film is a refugee drama set along the three-kilometre-wide exclusion zone around the border between Poland and Belarus and draws on some of the real-life experiences of migrants from these last years. The refugees, including a Syrian family, find themselves used as pawns by both countries and pushed – even literally thrown – from one side to the other of a barbed wire fence in a forested border area. “Green border” was the subject of Intense political debate in Poland when it premiered last fall Venice Film Festival. But as a story of migrants who want to go there, not here, “Green Border” resonates far beyond Eastern Europe. -Coyle
“Thelma”
I tend to overuse the word delicious. But I would take them all back and give them to ” Thélma”, in which June Squibb plays a 90-year-old grandmother who is tasked with recovering $10,000 from crooks. Squibb, now 94 years oldfires up at full throttle, playing its real age with its real limitations with fierce determination and comic brilliance opposite Richard Roundtree, gone too soon. It’s one of the easiest films this year to recommend to almost anyone—minimum explanation or justification required. —Bahr
“Ghost Light”
Keith Kupferer and Katherine Mallen Kupferer in a scene from “Ghostlight.” (IFC Films via AP)
The therapeutic powers of theater play a starring role in two of the year’s best films. There’s the next one “Sing sing,” a stunning film, based on a true story, about incarcerated men rehabilitated through a drama program. (A July 12 version falls outside our limit.) And there is “Ghost Light” a sublime little gem of a film about a Chicago family struggling to cope with tragedy. They’re played by a real family: Keith Kupferer (as the father), Tara Mallen (as the mother) and Katherine Mallen Kupferer (as the daughter). The father, a blank construction worker, is reluctantly persuaded to take part in a community theater production of “Romeo and Juliet.” “Is that Romeo?” someone says. Directing duo Kelly O’Sullivan and Alex Thompson (“Saint Frances”) deliver a film that could have been saccharine without ever losing its sweet, everyday tenderness. -Coyle
“Evil does not exist”
Ryo Nishikawa in a scene from the movie “There Is No Evil.” (Sideshow and Janus Films via AP)
If “Thelma” is an afternoon glass of sugary lemonade, ” Evil does not exist » is a bitter but rich digestif. Ryûsuke Hamaguchi’s film is a chilling film about a small Japanese mountain village and a large urban corporation that wants to set up a glamping site there. While an “ecodrama” probably doesn’t sound particularly exciting—there’s a lot of talk about septic tanks and water purity—the power of this film washes over you until its haunting conclusion. —Bahr
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Also: “The Beast”, “Girls State”, “Don’t Expect Too Much From the End of the World”, “The Fall Guy”, “How to Have Sex”, “The Bikeriders”, “Hit Man”, “Wicked Little Letters”, “Power”, “I Was Funny”, “Tuesday”.