Films watched in 2024

Touching. A heartwarming film about the importance of community and connection and the gutwrenching power of grief. Probably a little long, it took a while to get going. But a lovely finale. Essentially an American After Life.

Absurd. What is the point? We get it, he's impervious to bad guys. He will fend off every last villain that's thrown his way, however old, tired and injured he is. Felt like I was watching someone play a video game for large parts of this. Even the dialog felt like a cutscene. It was entertaining, if you forgive its ridiculous run time and inanity of the premise. Keanu is so wooden, there's a reason he only has a handful of lines. 3 stars is probably generous, but it was very pretty (if a bit showy in its obviously huge budget).

Fairly standard suspense/horror flick, but with an interesting key detail. Kept you interested, but the plot was routine and predictable. I went in expecting more gore & shock from the 18 certificate, but in reality it was reasonably tame. Worth a watch.

I won't pretend to follow exactly the events this film depicts, but this was still an insightful, engaging and funny biopic on the GameStop stock madness. An enjoyable film.

Didn't really get this. Felt a bit wooden and oddly paced. Nothing was really explained, which left it feeling a bit empty. Mortensen was good, but the bad guys didn't really get enough of the story. Small town vibes and a small town plot.

A powerful, poignant and sobering look into adapting to life after a horrifiying existence in captivity. A notably mature performance from Jacob Tremblay, as a five year old boy who's known nothing but the inside of a shed and his mother his whole life. A true film of two halves. First half had me gripped, second had me tearing up. A beautiful film about motherhood.

A dark comedy in the most blatant of definitions. Feels a bit dated now. Funny, clever characters and script. Part of the plot, but a lot of meaningless death which didn't sit quite right. A good statement peice.

Did a great job of making me hate Jason Bateman's character. Some good suspense and character building and an interesting development I didn't see coming. But overall a bit slow and ploddy. Not the most satisfying of conclusions.

It's a quintessential fighters story, from rags to riches. But it had a great cast and some stellar performances. Twee, yes, but it had some heart and the ending was a genuinely touching and emotional moment. A true story, obviously heavily dramatised, but it lended some authenticity to the plot. A young Simon Pegg lookalike cast as Nick Frost's characters son was a nice—and I presume not accidental—choice.

A silly film. But it's up front from the start and has a kinda clever narrative. Predictable, and cringey in parts, but entertaining. A bit of a piss take of the "woke" generation which was humorous at points. A great female protagonist.

Brilliant. Not much else to say about this, other than 2 and a half hours of captivating film. So much portrayed and felt in pure dialogue. Masterful performances all round and particularly from the protagonist's son in the conclusion. I'd read about the dog's performance before watching and I can confirm, it checks out.

A film profound in its ability to make you appreciate the stability in your life. Gritty and disorientating in how the story is told, exactly how you'd expect life post-partum after a disaster to be. A little bit wispy and slow in parts with some slightly confusing relationships being the characters But Comer played the role really well.

I expected it to be bad; it wasn't awful. A very typical action film of its genre. The ending was refreshingly quite good and pretty no-holds-barred on the destruction side of things. Probably pretty tense if you're afraid of sharks but I found it pretty tame on the horror front. Essentially just Jaws in Paris.

Dated. But still a decent ride. Undisturbed, raw Alaskan scenery mixed with crime. A textbook detective case, with a few interesting twists thrown in. Got a bit bored of a weary Pacino in the end and Williams, whilst excellent, just felt wrong in his character. Hilary Swank was good. Enjoyed it.

An informative and interesting documentary with some interesting firsthand accounts. But no new footage or deep insights into the railings of the day. Made me angry to see how much we fucked up as a country what was an historical day.

Just a really fun, gorey action thriller set almost entirely on a train. Loved the characters and the plot entertained. Nothing at all serious and at times it was ludicrously slapstick. But it maintained a degree of earnestness to prevent it from going off the rails. Brad Pitt was fun from start to finish.

I went into this with very low expectations. I was pleasantly surprised. It was fun. All-out action flick with enough not-so-subtle nods to the original. Silly in parts, but you can look past it and enjoy it for what it is. Never really felt the peril and sweaty palm tension the first was able to conjure up, but we're a long way past that with film making now.

I think I'm done with Hollywood films. This had the formula and all the ingredients for a great film, and although it was enjoyable, it lacked substance. Almost felt like I was watching a dream or a 2 hour long trailer. Cruise was good, as was the supporting cast, but the script was about as uninspiring and unoriginal as you'd expect from such a formulaic, nostalgia-driven tribute film. The backstory and harks back to the original felt a bit laboured. Some good action scenes and some very farfetched, if predictable, plot direction. It was a fun Saturday night film but not one that will live long in the memory.

A little lost on me. Needlessly hard to follow at times and an overly complicated backstory. A visual masterpiece with a wonderful soundscape but with a 3 hour runtime, I got bored in all honesty. It's a blockbuster, but without the fun and memorability.

This felt poignant but it didn't really resonate. Interesting premise that didn't really unfold very far. Great lead performances from Kano and Jediah Bannerman, and a nice cameo from Ian Wright. I think I missed some of the subtleties of the story.

Harrowing. Been a while since I've watched a horror and this was a really smart one. Unassuming, typical teenage party scene opening, but things soon get sinister. The premise could've been a bit silly, but it delivered expertly. Really good tension and excellent acting throughout. Had me hooked and didn't let me go. Chilling in just the right measure.

Nah, this wasn't it. Was waiting for it to get going the whole way through. Started OK but steadily got worse as it progressed. The twist was desperately needed but so late it did little to rescue the film. This kind of brooding, meandering vapid plot was lost on me. Some solid acting though.

A little slow and overly sentimental for me. Hadn't realised it was a Spanish film (the title translates to "Alone"). Some good action scenes and a nice bit of survival peril. But nothing groundbreaking in the genre. Despite it being based on a true story, I didn't really find myself massively rooting for the protagonist; his backstory was a little thin.

Bizarre. This flew right over my head. A "comedy" of sorts, but not funny at all, just a bit weird and quirky. An odd story from start to finish, a strange, meandering plot. Artfully well done, with a calm aesthetic of the era. The only saving grace was the family dynamic, which was sweet.

I think this was good. Had a nice style to it. But the plot did somewhat lose its way. Fassbender was good as the lead. Very little character development outside of it. Enjoyable, but not really much more to it than your John Wick / Taken style revenge flick.