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Mickey 17 (2025)

I never thought I would say this, but I am now steadily considering watching the Twilight series.

The casting of Robert Pattinson of Edward Cullen (as well as his relationship with co-star Kristen Stewart) was thankfully not the first I had seen or heard of him (he of course was Cedric Diggory in the Potterverse), but it was not until the last few years in films like The Lighthouse (2019), The Batman (2022), and (in voice over) The Boy and the Heron (2023), that I realized the obvious truth: he is a rather proficient actor.

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"Top Tens", and others

My Predictions for the 97th Academy Awards

Looking back, I realize it is a plus that I became aware of the Oscars around the age of 10, because, at that age, I did not think of the Academy Awards as being something political.

While I can clearly see the political aspects nowadays, there is still a little bit of that naivety I have held on to that translates into this being the best night of the year for movies, even if the “best” never really comes out on top.

That said, I’ve been doing my predictions since I was 13, so I have no intention of stopping now.

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2 Stars Movies

Captain America: Brave New World (2025)

“Don’t die. Copy that.”

This is more than a repeated piece of dialogue that Joaquin Torres’ Falcon says to Sam Wilson’s Captain America. It could also be reflective of the MCU offices these days, making sure their movies (and TV shows, for that matter) are not being sent out without a thought of survival.

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4 Stars

DJ Ahmet (2025)

(This is the first of two films from this year’s Sundance Film Festival I got virtual tickets for.)

Am I alone in saying that the majority of what I learn about other cultures is from art?

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"Top Tens", and others Movies

Top 10 Films of 2024

Before I could finalize this list, it was rather fitting that the last movie I caught up with was Hundreds of Beavers.

While it did not make the list (despite being hilarious), it summed up the 2024 movie year with one word: Ambition.

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"Top Tens", and others

Top 10 Worst Movies of 2024

My good friend Kenneth is a worthy cinephile, but since the release of Megalopolis, we have been fervently discussing our differences over the film: I was genuinely disappointed (yet still eager to try it again), and he (like many) truly hated it.

Yes, the film does not work, but I could at least see (somewhat) the idea Coppola was going for as he went for a big swing (in a year full of big swings in the cinema). If he is reading this, Kenneth should know I did see more than ten films worse than Megalopolis…and not one of them are Hot Frosty. (I did thankfully dodge a bullet by not seeing films I have heard are trash such as Borderlands, Harold and the Purple Crayon, The Crow, and Kraven the Hunter).

That said, here are the 10 worst films of 2024 that are totally worse than Megalopolis (not including that one movie I saw for free on Twitter by someone I refuse to say makes movies: Kenneth knows who I am talking about).

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4 1/2 Stars

Nosferatu (2024)

Even over a century after it’s release, F. W. Murnau’s Nosferatu is still considered by many (including me) as the best of all vampire movies.

Although a basic rip off of Dracula (Bram Stoker’s widow vowed to have all the copies destroyed and almost succeeded), it is a stark reminder that being a vampire seems appealing (mainly famous a while ago in the Twilight franchise, from what I heard), but that, in the long run, it can….well, suck.

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5 Stars Movies

Flow (2024)

After the memorably disappointing Moana 2, it seemed like the end of the line for animated films in 2024. While the leader of the pack was clearly The Wild Robot, there was not much else apart from the admirable Inside Out 2 and the humorously bizarre Memoirs of a Snail (it may be hard for me to listen to John Denver for some time now.) 

Then, as can only be described as a tsunami, entered Flow.

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4 1/2 Stars

Wicked: Part 1 (2024)

“DISCOVER WHAT HAPPENED IN OZ BEFORE DOROTHY DROPPED IN!”

So said the radio ad as I sat in my room as a High Schooler, when I first heard of the musical “Wicked.” My first reaction as a theater kid was genuine: “This sounds like one of the stupidest thing I have ever heard of.” Not long after, in the band room at school, our teacher mentioned we would be performing the music of Wicked, and everyone burst into applause…including me (peer pressure is a powerful thing). A little over a year or so later, I finally saw the show on stage, and was a life long fan of what would be come possibly the biggest musical to hit the 21st century (at least until Lin Manuel Miranda came around).

I had finally trusted my instincts, closed my eyes, and took the leap.

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2 1/2 Stars

Blitz (2024)

Call it a theory, but I am becoming more and more convinced that World War Two has been used as a backdrop for movies more than any other event in human history (perhaps because it occurred right around when movies really become a cultural phenomenon, not to mention the fact that Nazis never fail to make effective villains).

There have been so many of these movies that I have a timeline in my head (similar to the ones you would find about the MCU online) where certain stories (fictional or not)  are being played, be it Dunkirk (2017), Saving Private Ryan (1998), Casablanca (1942), Grave of the Fireflies (1988), The King’s Speech (2010), Empire of the Sun (1987), Come and See (1985), JoJo Rabbit (2019), or Inglorious Basterds (2009) (the latter two being in an alternative universe). That does not even account for films about the Holocaust (which I would argue is a separate event).

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