I didn’t just read books. Watching films was one, but definitely not the only, reason why I didn’t read more books in 2024. According to Letterboxd I watched 90 films and spent 180 hours doing so. Most often on a Saturday evening!

A lot of those films were family time so we’ve been watching the Harry Potter series & a variety of family friendly movies with a noticeable preference for ‘Superheroes in action-packed battles with villains‘ type films. When I was watching on my own I noticed a tendency to retreat to the familiar, to choose to rewatch a film I knew I’d enjoy over a film that I didn’t know much about and might not enjoy. I think I’d like to be a little more courageous and watch more first-time-for-me films in 2025.

For the purposes of this post though I’m only going to choose from that smaller list of first time viewings despite the fact that none of those films is better than The Godfather or The Godfather II both of which I rewatched last year.

Most of the films were watched at home but there were a couple of trips to the cinema to see Dune: Part Two, Civil War & Alien: Romulus. I was a little underwhelmed by Dune 2 and found myself impressed by the visuals and bored by the storytelling. I felt the whole thing lacked tension, pacing & decent dialogue.

The film that has lived with me the most has without a shadow of a doubt been Civil War. It had everything I thought Dune 2 lacked. Including one of the tensest film scenes I think I’ve ever seen. A genuinely edge of your seat moment. The interesting thing about this film is not that America is at war with itself. Alex Garland, the director, never really explores why or how that has happened which shows he’s not that interested in the politics of it. What he is interested in is what war does to us and how our knowledge of war comes to us. War dulls you, you become jaded, cynical, the abnormal becomes normal but all along it is doing great damage to you.

I’ve had a post long that is still sitting in my draft box on the film and one of my goals for this year is to get it written. Civil War is a film that speaks.

Anyway here’s my Top 10.

1. Civil War. Film of the Year.
2. American Fiction. Excellent. Sweary.
3. Escape from Alcatraz. Clint Eastwood classic. Gritty & eschewing typical Hollywood convention in the ending.
4. The Outfit. Great performance by Mark Rylance in a tight, taut & tense performance set in just 2 rooms.
5. The Report. Strong performance in a claustrophobic film where Adam Driver seems to live in a bunker as he fights for the truth of US involvement in torture.
6. Jesus Revolution. Surprisingly good!
7. Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood. Classic Tarantino in so many ways. Funny, stylish, long, periodically violent.
8. Draft Day. We just enjoyed this one.
9. The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare. Rollicking, but slightly uneven film about bad guys fighting for the good guys against the really bad guys in WW2.
10. Operation Mincemeat. Insight into the sort of trickery the allies needed to pull off to hide their plans from Hitler.

I’m always interested in film recommendations and would love to hear about the films you enjoyed watching the most in 2024