The 2024 year was coming off of a tough 2023. A lot of the year was closed off to the media because of the actor and writer strikes. Oppenheimer & Barbie stood the test of time and came out of the Academy Awards as the big winners, one with trophies the other with the best moment of the ceremony,  on March 10 2024. 2024 wasn’t looking  promising except that a bunch of films that were supposed to come out in 2023 got moved to 2024. This was exciting for me because I got to see Dune Pt 2, Challengers, and The Bikeriders as well as many others I was looking forward to early in the year. Little did I know many documentaries, horror films and blockbusters would also strike my fancy in the first half of 2024. Here is my list of the best films I’ve seen in the first half of 2024 so far.

Honorable Mentions:

Inside Out 2, (Steve): A Story Told In 2 Parts, Naked Ambition: The Bunny Yeager Story, Lost Angel: Judee Sill,  I’m George Lucas: The Connor Ratliff Story, Infested, Late Night With The Devil, Horizon: An American Saga,

10: Ezra

Divorced stand-up comedian Max Bernal struggles to raise his autistic son, Ezra. Forced to confront difficult decisions about the boy’s future, Max and Ezra embark on a cross-country road trip that has a transcendent impact on both of their lives.

Director: Tony Golwyn

Rotten Tomatoes 68% Fandango 92%

There are a handful of films this year that brought me to tears and one of them is Ezra. This dual tale of fathers and sons was very emotional for me. Both Bobby Cannavale and Robert DeNito’s characters were both very good in the film. As a broken standup comedian, this may have been the best Cannavale has ever been in his entire career. The Boy Played by William A Fitzgerald was fantastic. Tony Goldwyn created a story that I absolutely adored. The journey of these characters was heartfelt and touching. 

9: A Quiet Place: Day One

When New York City comes under attack from an alien invasion, a woman and other survivors try to find a way to safety. They soon learn that they must remain absolutely silent as the mysterious creatures are drawn to the slightest sound.

Directed by Michael Sarnoski

IMDB 6.9/10 Rotten Tomatoes 87%

This film has everything I loved about the Quiet Place Franchise. An alien Apocalypse, white knuckle survival moments, and adds a very poignant, heartfelt, and beautiful story on top of that. Lupita Nyongo and Joseph Quinn are both fantastic in their respective roles. There are elements of 9/11 and a terrific support cat that if you love animals you’ll probably love him.  Michael Sarnoski did what more directors should do. Take an established IP and put a great spin on it.

8: Love Lies Bleeding

Lou is a reclusive gym manager who falls hard for Jackie, an ambitious bodybuilder who’s heading to Las Vegas to pursue her dream. Their love soon leads to violence as they get pulled deep into the web of Lou’s criminal family.

Directed by Rose Glass

Rotten Tomatoes 94% Metacritic 77%

I’ve been a fan of Kristen Stewart for a while now. She has chosen some fantastic projects to be in in the last twenty years or so. Her latest is a revenge thriller where she teams up with a beautiful buff newcomer Katie O’Brian.  Together they rip a trail of blood through small-town America in the 80s. One of my favorite decades to see brought to the big screen. As her follow-up to Saint Maude, Rose Glass has created a terrific action thriller. 

7: Civil War

In a dystopian future America, a team of military-embedded journalists races against time to reach Washington, D.C., before rebel factions descend upon the White House.

Directed by Alex Garland

Rotten Tomatoes 81% Metacritic 75%

Alex Garland is one of those directors who has been hit or miss for me. His latest is a hit. He sets the film in the near future in the context of a modern-day Civil War. Viewers follow along with photojournalists embedded with various military outfits that are on the way to Washington DC. There are great aspects of political tension that will remind most audiences about events that have taken place in this country in recent years. The acting is solid and the relevance to today’s society and its problems is real. I was instantly invested in this story from beginning to end. There were a couple of genuinely scary moments. Jesse Plemons is in one of them.

6: Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

Snatched from the Green Place of Many Mothers, young Furiosa falls into the hands of a great biker horde led by the warlord Dementus. Sweeping through the Wasteland, they come across the Citadel, presided over by the Immortan Joe. As the two tyrants fight for dominance, Furiosa soon finds herself in a nonstop battle to make her way home.

Directed by George Miller

Rotten Tomatoes 90% Metacritic 89%

Like everyone else, I was a big fan of Mad Max: Fury Road.  It was an action-packed adrenaline rush of a film that brought this franchise back into the public consciousness. There was one character in the film that I, and many others, was most interested in and that was Furiosa played by Charlize Theron. So it made sense that George Miller would make a prequel to this film showing the origin of this beloved character. That being said, this movie was incredible. It was filled with the action we’ve come to know from this franchise and created a new villain besides Emorten Joe. His name was Dementus, played brilliantly by Chris Hemsworth. This movie is full of everything I love about movies. The look of it was beautiful as well.

5: Tuesday

A mother and her daughter must confront Death when it arrives in the form of an astonishing talking bird.

Directed by Daina Oniunas-Pusic

Rotten Tomatoes 81% Metacritic 70%

This movie deals with the difficult topic of death and the existential embodiment of the angel of death in the shape of an exotic bird. Anybody who has dealt with the death of a loved one will know it’s not an easy thing to deal with. This is a sad film with a couple of great performances by Lola Petticrew as Tuesday and Julie Louis Dreyfuss as her emotionally distraught mother. This is a touching movie that deals with these topics in a very competent way.  I was in tears at the end.

4: Jim Henson: Idea Man

A look at interviews of fans of Jim Henson, interspersed with footage from his works, including Wilkins and Wontkins Commercials that were previously lost.

Directed by Ron Howard

IMDB 7.8/10 Rotten Tomatoes 100%

I loved what Jim Henson brought to the world as a creator of what he called Muppets, a mix between marionettes and puppets. Fraggle Rock and Sesame Street were stables in my home when I was a kid as well. He had such a creative mind. That’s what Ron Howard brought to this documentary, creativity. To honor such a great man who was gone before his time. There are so many technical aspects to this film it’s one of the best documentaries of the year.

3: I Saw The TV Glow

A classmate introduces teenage Owen to a mysterious late-night TV show — a vision of a supernatural world beneath their own. In the pale glow of the television, Owen’s view of reality begins to crack.

Directed by Jane Schoenbrun

IMDB 6/10 Rotten Tomatoes 85%

There are different ways to tell stories about nostalgia. There are many permutations of nostalgia. I Saw The TV Glow deals with this in a great way. The stars of the film Justice Smith and Brigette Lundy Paine are both fantastic in the film. The latter introduced the former to a television show and they, despite their differences, watch it together religiously. Little do they know how this show will affect them both. As a big 80s guy, I loved this film especially the nostalgia elements that it has. I’ve watched many shows that have affected me in so many ways. One of my favorites at the time was Star Trek: The Next Generation. 

2: Monkey Man

 young man ekes out a meager living in an underground fight club where, night after night, wearing a gorilla mask, he’s beaten bloody by more popular fighters for cash. After years of suppressed rage, he discovers a way to infiltrate the enclave of the city’s sinister elite. As his childhood trauma boils over, his mysteriously scarred hands unleash an explosive campaign of retribution to settle the score with the men who took everything from him.

Directed by Dev Patel

IMDB 6.9/10 Rotten Tomatoes 88%

I’ve been a big fan of Dev Patel ever since I saw him back in Slumdog Millionaire in 2007. He has been doing great work for years now. His latest may be the most personal film he’s ever done. He wrote, directed, and stars in this action-packed revenge thriller. Monkey Man has an amazing look to it with blood and guts galore. There is so much violence and action I was literally blown away by how amazing this film was. It never stopped making me hold my jaw open because of what I was seeing with my eyes. It was so incredible. It reminded me of a John Wick film with a dirtier, more gritty style to it. Patel is a talent not just in front of the camera but behind it as well. 

1: Dune: Pt. 2

Paul Atreides unites with Chani and the Fremen while seeking revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family. Facing a choice between the love of his life and the fate of the universe, he must prevent a terrible future only he can foresee.

Directed by Denis Villeneuve

IMDB 8.6/10 Rotten Tomatoes 92%

Dune was coming off 6 Academy Award wins in the tech categories two years prior, so the sequel was going to have a lot to live up to. It by far lives up to the first film. It has beautiful cinematography once again by Greg Fraser, and an amazing score by Hanz Zimmer as well as phenomenal makeup & hair design and costumes. The new characters played by Austin Butler, Christopher Walken & Florence Pugh were all great additions to the cast. Austin Butler was brutal though. Timothy Chalamet and Zendaya are the real stars of this second installment. Specifically, Paul Atreides’s journey was in full effect in this film. Denis Villeneuve has recaptured what he was able to do with the first film and I can’t wait to see what he does with a third film in this soon-to-come trilogy. This is an early Best Picture and many other above and below-the-line category nominees come 2025. I loved this film! That’s saying a lot because Dune was my number-one film of the year in 2021.

By Dan Skip Allen