My Top 10 of 2024

 

My top 10 films of 2024 (with honorable mentions for The Apprentice, Deadpool vs. Wolverine, and Hit Man), in alphabetical order:

• Anora
• Civil War
• Dune: Part 2
• Evil Does Not Exist 
• Emilia Perez
• The Greatest Night in Pop
  
• Juror #2
• My Favorite Cake
• The Seed of the Sacred Fig
• The Substance
  
  

Best movie of the year: 

• The Seed of the Sacred Fig

Worst movie of the year: 

• Trap

And my top 10 TV shows of the year ( at least among the ones I've watched), with The Boys coming out on top:

• 3 Body Problem
• The Bear (Season 3) 
• The Boys (Season 4)
• The Diplomat (Season 2)
• The Penguin
• Presumed Innocent
• Shogun
• Squid Games (Season 2)
• True Detective: Night Country
• Under the Bridge

Evil Does Not Exist (Aku wa sonzai shinai) (2023)

Director: Ryûsuke Hamaguchi. Cast: Hitoshi Omika, Ryô Nishikawa, Ryûji Kosaka. 106 min. Drama.

• A widower and his smart young daughter live in the serenity of a small Japanese village, far from the commotion of urban life - until one day, an imposing tourist corporation invades their calm, offering to build a "glamping" (glamorous camping) site on the villagers' territory, and thereby threatening to irreversibly disrupt the natural habitat, and as a result their own way of life. But read the movie title again: are any of the corporate agents ... truly evil? Are any of the villagers who resist the invasion (some in strange ways), evil? Or are we just living in a constant struggle, each employing our own Darwinian skills to survive?
• The scenes juxtaposing the villagers' lives, and the city dwellers' views on their lives, are nothing short of fascinating. The corporate people look at the village as a lovely rural paradise where they might want to retire, and the villagers look at them as imbeciles who have no clue what living in such a place means. The contrast brews an ominous atmosphere, and you know something awful is bound to happen soon. 
• This is a slow movie. It is directed by Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, who also directed the longer and slower 2021 Oscar-wining film, Drive My Car. But a movie's pacing should not be the reason to avoid one. You'll begin watching this, wondering: where are all these long tracking shots and haunting musical themes going? Until pieces start falling into place, and the surreal last scene is delivered with a smacking punch, leaving you in a daze to think what actually happened. 
• Watch this thought-provoking film in a group - you'll be discussing the ending (oh, that ending) for quite some time after it's done. And if you watch it alone, you'll be jumping all over the internet to understand the final scene. Just as I did.

MoGo's rating: 9/10

The Apprentice (2024)

Director Ali Abbasi. Cast: Sebastian Stan, Jeremy Strong, Maria Bakalova. Rated R. 122 min. Biography, Drama.

• This movie, about the early days of Donald J. Trump in the 70s and 80s, was widely released just a few weeks before the November 2024 election. So one would assume it's a piece a political propaganda to hurt Trump's chances of winning (and we all saw how well that went). For this reason, I intentionally postponed watching it to after the elections, to see if it contained any artistic merit regardless of the political atmosphere. To my surprise, it did.
• The Apprentice is directed by Ali Abbasi, a Swedish-based Persian director whose previous disconcerting film, Holy Spider (2022), was about the true story of a serial killer who committed crimes based on a blind ideology, and by the end of the movie, you're not sure if the criminal is driven by his own intent, or is merely a product of his environment - the same concept we see in The Apprentice. The young Trump tries to make his own under the condescending stare of his rich father, until he meets the lawyer Roy Kohn, who as IMDb puts it: "... personified the dark arts of American politics, turning empty vessels into dangerous demagogues - from Joseph McCarthy to his final project, Donald J. Trump."
• The ideology taught by Kohn (and later taken credit by Trump in his book, "The Art of the Deal") is clear: 1. Attack, attack, attack. 2. Admit nothing, deny everything. 3. Claim victory, and never admit defeat. The film shows how Trump thrived using these basic principles, and everything else became secondary. As very well symbolized in Trump getting a liposuction and scalp reconstructive surgery, this is a Frankenstein story - a creator creates the creature, and the creature later destroys the creator. Considering what we know now, the narrative does not sound too fictitious. 
• With grainy cinematography, flashy editing, and a musical score eerily reminiscent of none other than Brian DePalma's Scarface, the movie is incredible in establishing the feeling of 1970s Manhattan, and Sabastian Stan ("Winter Soldier" in the Marvel movies, and Tommy Lee in Hulu's Pamela Anderson biopic) is unbelievable at re-enacting the real life character's mannerisms, gestures and hand movements. Watch this actor - he will be flying high.

MoGo's rating: 8/10

My Top 10 of 2023

My top 10 films of 2022 (with honorable mentions for The Covenant, The Killer, The Sound of Freedom, and Wonka), in alphabetical order:

• The Creator
• Godzilla Minus One
• Killers of the Flower Moon
• Napoleon
• Oppenheimer
• Past Lives
• Perfect Days
• Robot Dreams
• Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
• Society of the Snow
  
  

Best movie of the year: 

• Killers of the Flower Moon

Worst movie of the year: 

• Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (Ant-Man 3)

And best TV shows of the year (again, among the ones I've watched), with The Last of Us coming out on top:

• Ahsoka
• Beckham 
• Blue Eye Samurai
• The Fall of the House of Usher
• The Last of Us
• One Piece
• Silo
• Ted Lasso

(Note: I stopped watching Beef after two episodes. Stressful and annoying.)

The Creator (2023)

Director: Gareth Edwards. Cast: John David Washington, Madeleine Yuna Voyles, Gemma Chan, Janney Allison, Ken Watanabe. Sci-fi/Adventure. 143 min.

• Ever since the Frankenstein monster killed Victor Frankenstein, ever since James Cameron's Terminator and numerous other revolting self-aware robots (2001: A Space Odyssey, The Matrix, I, Robot, Ex Machina, ...) became the defining narrative for A.I. in cinema, the idea has always been that the Creation will eventually destroy the Creator. That A.I. is the enemy. Now, for the first time, we have a brilliantly made film that invites us to accept artificial intelligence as a friend, as an entity that might not necessarily invoke the apocalypse, that can actually take care of us and each other ... that might even be better than us, and (should I say it?) deserving to take over the planet.
• John David Washington (Denzel's son) is a retired U.S special forces soldier, recruited to hunt down and kill "the Creator", who is rumored to have designed the ultimate A.I. weapon, only to realize: that weapon is an artificially intelligent child. I won't spoil the origins of this child, but let's just say by the end of the movie (one which I didn't check my watch even once during the entirety of its 2 hour-plus running time), you will sympathize that it would be unethical for the soldier to complete his mission. 
• Interestingly, the U.S. government here is the aggressor - the side of the battle that wants to blow A.I. communities into non-existence. And the Asian societies are on the opposing side, giving shelter to A.I. beings, and supporting their nurturing presence. I was charmed how well this reflects the current sociopolitical climate - the US being more traditionalist, and the Far East more accepting and forward-thinking. 
• Gareth Edwards, the director, is known as the maker of the only decent Star Wars spin-off, Rogue One. Here he borrows heavily from the Southeast Asia jungle helicopter scenes of Apocalypse Now, incorporates the atmospheric darkness of another A.I.-driven powerhouse, Blade Runner, and his robots are obviously plucked right out of the apartheid-inspired sci-fi masterpiece, District 9. But that's totally fine. You can steal others' ideas, as long as you do it well.
• The Creator was the first time a movie (or any medium, for that matter) made me understand that maybe ... A.I. is not a threat. Maybe by acknowledging it in a sym"bio"tic relationship, we can become better with A.I. This is a movie that doesn't shy away from starting a difficult yet important discussion.

MoGo's rating: 9/10

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Oppenheimer (2023)

Director: Christopher Nolan. Cast: Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Robert Downey Jr., Matt Damon, Florence Pugh, Alden Ehrenreich,  Jason Clarke, Tony Goldwyn, Kenneth Branagh, Matthew Modine, Rami Malek, Casey Affleck, Gary Oldman. Biography/History. 180 min.

• Christopher Nolan movies have a few recurring notions, but the most prominent (Memento, Inception, Interstellar, Dunkirk, Tenet) has always been the concept of time. In Oppenheimer, he visits it again with the countdown to Trinity - the first detonation of a nuclear weapon, the moment when the trajectory of human civilization forever changed. To emphasize the importance of that, he has a long tale to tell.
• Yes, Oppenheimer is long. The story of J. Robert Oppenheimer and what led this genius to invent such a monstrosity is dry, at times boring, and deservedly dark. And while Nolan makes every effort through the script's flashbacks and flash forwards and toggling between color and black-and-white to keep us engaged, there is a reason for this dreariness. Similar to some masterpieces in movie history (The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, The Godfather: Part II, The Deer Hunter, Das Boot) where the longer the film, the more impactful the climactic ending, here the entire movie is a preamble to prepare us for the 20-minute Trinity Test scene. That scene is worth every minute you spent to get there. That scene is why we go to the movies. 
• There were a few moments which I found incompatible with the greatness of the rest of the film. Opening scenes showing subatomic particles whizzing past in a dark background to give an idea of how quantum physics works were somewhat ... cheesy. And Oppenheimer's hallucinations of charred human bodies as a sign of his feelings of guilt after Japan's nuclear bombing, were cliché and repetitious - I was expecting more creativity from Nolan. But other pieces of this large puzzle fit fine, including but not limited to Einstein's role in the story: not the main figure, but always watching from the sidelines. Very wise character development.
• If no other major contender shows up by the end of the year, especially how together with Barbie it brought post-Covid moviegoers back to the theaters in droves this past summer, Oppenheimer has the chance of becoming next year's main Oscar winner, including Best Picture award, long overdue Best Director and Best Screenplay awards for Nolan, and Best Acting awards. While Cillian Murphy's cachectic appearance as the guilt-ridden protagonist gives him an edge in the Best Leading Actor race, previously nominated self-reinvented success story Robert Downey Jr. as politician Lewis Strauss, the driving force behind controversial hearings to revoke Oppenheimer's security clearance, should be considered a shoe-in for the Best Supporting Actor prize. (Watch for Gary Oldman as President Truman towards the end of the movie.)
• If you still have the opportunity, watch Oppenheimer on the biggest screen possible. This is a movie that is meant to be seen in all it huge wonderous glory, in the theaters. Try not to watch it on a TV. And you should be prosecuted if you watch it on a smartphone.

MoGo's rating: 9/10

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Leila's Brothers (Baradaran-e Leila) (2022)

Director Saeed Roustayi. Cast: Taraneh Alidoosti, Saeed Poursamimi, Navid Mohammadzadeh, Payman Maadi. 165 min. Drama.

• What's ingenious about this absorbing, heart-breaking, emotional rollercoaster of a social drama, is how it predated and predicted the "Woman, Life, Freedom" movement. An old godfather-wannabe is making every effort (even donating his life savings) to become his family's succeeding patriarch; his four sons (even the most pragmatic one) struggle to keep their abusive father happy and maintain the status quo; and his daughter, Leila, as the sole voice of logic, tries to keep the family's financial head above water by opposing every rotten element at core of this institution. Without spoiling anything, let's just say this clash of modernism and traditionalism shakes the film (and the world, by women) in the form of  ... a slap.
• Many have described this last year's Cannes Film Festival award winner as symbolic of Iran's current sociopolitical figures and groups, namely: the old father representing Iran's Supreme Leader; the brothers each representing the struggling middle class, the forever-doomed lower class, and the educated elite; and Leila, the female uprising, already upending the country's social and political strata. This metaphor is most beautifully pictured in an ending scene, with young girls entering a "birthday" party, the same time as another social class "dies".   
• Numerous memorable, thought-provoking quotes: "They just teach us to think, not how to think"; "I'm afraid of feeling happy"; "We're living based on dead people's decisions"; "Yes, Father, the [Trump] tweet was even more destructing than a bomb"; ... 
• Earth-shattering performances by Saeed Poursamimi (as the father), and of course, the great Taraneh Alidoosti (as Leila). This is a film whose characters, moments and concepts you'll be thinking about for days. Remember director Roustayi's name - you will hear it more in the future.

MoGo's rating: 9/10

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My Top 10 of 2022

My top 10 (actually 11, because two are pretty much one movie) films of 2022:

• Avatar: The Way of Water 
• The Banshees of Inisherin
• The Batman 
• Everything Everywhere All at Once
• Holy Spider
• The Menu
• Nope
• Prey
• Top Gun: Maverick 
• X, Pearl

Best movie of the year: Everything Everywhere All at Once

Worst movie of the year: Ambulance

And best TV shows of the year (at least among those I've seen), in no specific order, all definitely worthy of viewing, but Andor probably my favorite:

• Andor
• Better Call Saul
• The Crown
• The House of Dragons
• The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
• Moon Knight
• The Offer
• Ozark
• Rick and Morty
• Wednesday

The Banshees of Inisherin (2022)

Director: Martin McDonagh. Cast: Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Kerry Condon, Barry Keoghan. 114 min. Drama/Comedy.

• This is a very strange but piercing film. In a lovely re-pairing of Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson since 2008's In Bruges, one person, for reasons unknown to us, makes another person an innocent request - and accompanies it with a threat to harm his own self if the request is not followed. The other person does not understand the gravity of the situation, and does not follow the request. So what starts out as an uncomfortable comedy, gradually metamorphoses into a dark, disturbing drama, and then even to horror - because people who do not understand a perfectly clear picture with glaring warning signs staring them in the face, are very common. 
• Martin McDonagh has made a few good films (In Brudges, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri), but none of them have made me think as much about the seemingly simple but severe problems the characters of Banshees are facing. Watch this movie in a group - you'll see McDonagh is onto a very prevalent but lesser recognized dilemma. Any other word here would be spoiling your post-movie discussion.

MoGo's rating: 8/10

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Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022)

Director: Rian Johnson. Cast: Daniel Craig, Edward Norton, Janelle Monáe, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr., Kate Hudson, Dave Bautista, Ethan Hawke, Hugh Grant, Stephen Sondheim, Natasha Lyonne, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Serena Williams, Yo-Yo Ma, Joseph Gordon-Levitt. 139 min. Crime/Mystery.

• Looks like the Knives Out films, inspired by Agatha Christie's style of whodunit mysteries, are going down the path of the two recent actual Christie's adaptations: Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile: great first movie, good but not as great second movie. When it came to Glass Onion, I was as engaged throughout as the first Knives Out, and the multitude of colorful characters, including Daniel Craig as sleuth Benoit Blanc with his Southern accent, and Edward Norton as a reckless Elon Musk type, make it a delicious murder mystery (like Nile, they even go to sea!); just that I didn't get the feeling of originality like the first Knives Out, and was able to predict a mid-movie twist (the one regarding a dead body on the stairs) - probably because I read too many Christie novels as a teenager.
• Fascinating cameo appearances. Just look at the list above, after Dave Bautista.
• Obsessions with glass on this one: the main setting of the story is a literal huge glass onion, there's a question of vodka glasses with poison being passed around, and a major climax with glass sculptures being smashed to pieces. Even a gong sound heard on the island is said in the movie to have been composed by famed composer Philip Glass. Very funny.
• Would I look forward to a third Knives Out movie? Of course I would. As long as Daniel Craig is there. And ... they bring back Ana de Armas from the first movie.
  

MoGo's rating: 7/10

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Holy Spider (2022)

Director: Ali Abbasi. Cast: Zar Amir-Ebrahimi, Mehdi Bajestani, Arash Ashtiani. 116 min. Crime/Thriller.

• Of course, on the heels of the "Woman, Life, Freedom" movement in Iran, comes Holy Spider, based on the true story of a serial killer who in the '90s was targeting prostitutes in the holy city of Mashhad, and the female reporter who went to great lengths to expose him (I was in medical school at the time, when he was glamorized in the tabloids as the "Night Bat").
• While the Islamic Republic government of Iran is based in and thrives on misogyny, Holy Spider goes far deeper than that. It shows the struggles of merely being a woman in a theocracy, and how an act as simple as a lone female checking into a hotel is considered an act of defiance. How favorably a religious man is treated when he proves he's one of them ... but how even he cannot be sure of his fate when his acts ever so slightly undermine the system. How the simplest physical form of friendly affection (a kiss) is frowned upon, and how the act of sex becomes the direct antithesis of that other concept known as love. And surely, how the execution of violence by the self-righteous is supported, admired, and coveted by the religious community of a "holy" city, and that violence is passed onto next generations.
• Zar Amir-Ebrahimi won the Best Actress Award at this year's Cannes Film Festival, for her portrayal of the reporter. Amir-Ebrahimi, once an actress working in Iran, was banned from work and was forced to flee the country, after she was accused of appearing in a leaked sex tape (she denies the accusation). While at times difficult to keep your eyes on the screen during the protracted death scenes, watch this movie and come to believe her: she is a victim of the Holy Spider. 

MoGo's rating: 8/10

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