The Month in Theaters December 2024

For the final month of 2024, I managed to see twelve movies in theaters and sixteen otherwise (with three repeats,) for a total of twenty-five reviews. That’s 153 movies in theaters for the year 2024. My all-time record, which was only set last year, is again surpassed.

The Order

A based on a true story film about the FBI taking down a white supremacist neo-Nazi terrorist group in the 1980s. The first of three Monday mystery preview screenings this month, although I did not go to the last one (I have since seen that movie in January.) It was intense at times. I am glad I did not know the story before seeing the movie. Would have removed a good bit of tension. Jude Law and Nicholas Hoult play off each other well. B to B+. The pacing wasn’t the best at times. Also, Tye Sheridan is in this. He’s not the best actor. He needs to hone his craft better. His acting in The Card Counter was also a letdown.

Y2K

A stoner comedy about Y2K actually causing an apocalyptic event. They cashier two characters in quick succession early into the film that just didn’t make much sense to me. And the love interest is played by an actress I am definitely not a fan of. This is a C to C+. It certainly could have sucked a lot more, and it didn’t. It needed some additional plot or some lore work. There is an incredible celebrity cameo for most of the third act playing himself. That was really cool. A24 has another stinker on their hands, as this didn’t even gross a third of its budget. Ouch.

Werewolves

This was bad. Direct to streaming slop that somehow got a theatrical release. F. The kind of trash cinema Frank Grillo is known for. The lore surrounding how werewolves work is muddled and confusing. A super moon essentially turns everybody on Earth who comes into contact with moonlight into a werewolf. This caused unmitigated bloodshed the first time it happened, which is not shown in any way but given as opening text on screen. Hunkering down seems to be a bad idea as most werewolves do not attack other werewolves. But this is what most people do. Advising everyone to just turn into a werewolf might be the best idea? There was some shenanigans about how turning into a werewolf becomes an addiction, but whatever. It isn’t really established if a regular full moon turns you into a werewolf after the super moon transforms you, so maybe that’s why. It’s just not a good movie.

Get Away

Seeing this on the same day as the last one, I thought nothing could really go wrong with a Nick Frost horror movie. It turns out? Bad resolution. The twist is good, but it opens up more questions than it answers. This movie is neither bad nor good. Just incredibly weird. C to C+. And we don’t really get much bloody violence until right near the end once the twist is revealed. I don’t want to spoil the twist in case a reader might get more enjoyment out of the movie than I did, but, as I said, certain nagging questions arise after the reveal.

September 5

The second Monday mystery of the month and one of the two best movies I saw this month. This one came well before the film’s general release. A to A+. This film covers the 1972 Munich Olympics hostage taking of Israeli athletes and coaches by Palestinian terrorists but from the perspective of the ABC news crew stationed a few hundred yards away from the hostage situation. I believe I knew how this resolved when the movie started, but I wasn’t completely sure. Again, like the previous based on a true story film, not 100% knowing the resolution helps add tension. Seeing how news was done in the more archaic era of the early 1970s was interesting, as in how they got around technological limitations and the technology of the time. Incredibly well-acted and paced.

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim

Seemingly only made so that WB could retain the film rights to The Lord of the Rings. The animation is nice most of the time, but the character at the center of the story doesn’t even have a name in Tolkien’s works. They had to give her one. An anime TLotR movie should have been better than this. Really cool hammer-shaped popcorn bucket that was way too expensive for me to get, though. C+. The action sequences are pretty cool. What tends to hold this movie back is you have a pretty good idea who is going to die very shortly after they are introduced. Leaves a lack of surprise and tension in the plot.

Kraven the Hunter

This movie was bad, but it’s nowhere near as bad as Madame Web. Still an F, though. I don’t know if my readers are aware of the Surf Dracula meme, but they do that meme to a tee at the end of this movie. So stupid. The Rhino and the Chameleon are both poorly handled. The CGI looks ass. Kraven the Hunter in the comics is a big game hunter. In this movie? He doesn’t seem to kill any animals. He also has vague animal-based super powers, which are similar to ones he had in the comics, but now with added animal flair. This movie is just sort of boring. I really don’t know why they decided to do a Kraven the Hunter movie without Spider-Man. His most famous storyline is him hunting Spider-Man for sport, like The Most Dangerous Game. This movie is a waste of the acting talent involved.

Mufasa: The Lion King

I didn’t like this movie either. Just seems completely pointless, answering questions no one really had and in unsatisfying ways. F. And, for some reason, the plot involves way too much Timon and Pumbaa, voiced by the same two actors from the “live-action” remake from 2019. Who do a disservice to the roles. It is a prequel but being told to Simba’s daughter by Rafiki. Timon and Pumbaa are also there, and they interject so many times. This would be like an hour-long movie if they cut out all that extraneous nonsense. The songs are not very memorable. Really not worth seeing.

Sonic the Hedgehog 3

A fun time, but not amazing. As seems to be the SOP for this series. Jim Carrey is, again, carrying these films. His manic madcap energy elevates the film as per usual. The two characters played by him are the only two human characters really necessary for the plot. Keanu Reeves does play a good Shadow. And Ben Schwartz is great as Sonic. But these movies would fall apart without a performance like Jim Carrey gives. B+. The human couple that Sonic lives with are back but do basically nothing for the plot, even when it tries to force their involvement. Netflix Jessica Jones is in this and does essentially nothing too. The flashbacks that fill in Shadow’s origins are sad and well done.

Babygirl

The issue with this movie is the ending has no real resolution in that the consequences for what happens during the plot appear to be nonexistent. The plot concerns a married female executive who decides to have a tawdry love affair with one of her company’s young interns. The performances in the movie aren’t bad; it’s just that the plot basically goes nowhere. C+. I don’t want to fully spoil the plot here, so I won’t go into too much detail. A problem I have with the movie is Nicole Kidman’s character isn’t even shown to be that unhappy or unfulfilled with her marriage. The movie needed better stakes, a better run up before the affair happens, and solid consequences. This movie should have been better than it was.

Nosferatu

While I enjoyed this movie, I wanted it to be better. It gets an A, but that might be my lowest rating for a Robert Eggers movie yet. It just didn’t feel as awesome as his other work. And his first movie not to have “The” at the beginning of the title. The Lighthouse is probably my favorite movie of his. Count Orlok, essentially Dracula, is really well done here. Didn’t even realize that was Bill Skarsgård. The cast all do a stellar job. I can’t really explain why this movie didn’t rock my socks; it just didn’t. Maybe I do need to see it again… I haven’t seen the original Nosferatu silent film. The cinematography is also top notch.

A Complete Unknown

The last movie I saw in theaters this year ended up being the Bob Dylan biopic. It only covers his life from about 1961 to 1965. Timothée Chalamet learned how to play guitar for this movie. And he sings all the songs, much like Joaquin Phoenix in Walk the Line, another film by this director. A to A+. The performances are wonderful, the set design is incredible, and the story is interesting. Scoot McNairy plays Woody Guthrie, but is confined to a hospital bed and doesn’t really talk. At least he didn’t have to memorize any lines. An enjoyable movie worth seeing.

EVERYTHING ELSE

I basically only played Peglin and Vampire Survivors in the month of December. The latter of which was due to the new Castlevania collab DLC. I have since finished that DLC. Here’s hoping something other than these two tickle my fancy in 2025.

A decent amount of television this month with eleven shows to discuss in some matter. What We Do in the Shadows concluded with a somewhat disappointing finale. Out of nowhere, the crew filming them for the mockumentary just decides they have enough material. And the remainder of the episode is the characters coming to terms with this. I feel it could have been stronger. The Floor also concluded. Like the previous season’s winner, this season’s winner didn’t actually win that many duels. Before the final one, he had only had one duel under his belt. That’s interesting. The Sticky was OK. Margo Martindale is the best part of the show. There is a new version of Jeopardy! on Amazon Prime Video. It is called Pop Culture Jeopardy! I enjoy it, but the team element is a little weird. Three teams of three compete instead of just one person. Creature Commandos, an animated show taking place in the DCU, is on Max. It is pretty dang satisfying. Happy’s Place is still on and still enjoyable. My fiancée and I watched more of The King of Queens. Still good. I finally got to watch more of Elsbeth. It is a murder mystery in the Columbo vein. Not as good as that show, of course, but very good in its own right. What If…? returned for its final season. Mostly just OK. There is so much more that can be done with the concept than what was actually done. I watched one episode of the game show The 1% Club on Amazon Prime Video. I did not enjoy it very much as it was padded to Hell to make it about an hour long. The last show I watched was Cross, which I didn’t finish before the end of the year but have since finished. Really good show. The three repeats were all films my fiancée wanted to watch: The Substance, Speak No Evil, and Juror #2.

My fiancée had never seen Moana. It’s a solid time with good music. A.

Our Little Secret is essentially one of those Lifetime/Hallmark Christmas movies but on Netflix. It stars Lindsey Lohan. It’s not awful, but it’s nothing to write home about. C.

The Dirt is a biopic about the band Mötley Crüe. It was interesting. B+.

I have not seen Gladiator in a long time. It was quite good. A+.

Arthur’s Perfect Christmas is a decent Arthur Christmas special. B.

There is a movie with the same title with Sam Elliott. This is the other one. The Quick and the Dead was quite enjoyable. A.

Carry-On was a fun movie. From the director of Non-Stop. A- to A.

Scary Movie is decent but isn’t amazing. B- to B.

My fiancée wanted to watch a bunch of Scooby-Doo movies, so we did. Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase is one of my favorites. A.

Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island is another of my favorites. “It’s Terror Time Again” is a great song. A.

This one isn’t as good but isn’t awful. Scooby-Doo! and the Witch’s Ghost is a B+.

It Happened on 5^th Avenue is a wonderful film from 1947. Glad my dad wanted to watch it, as I had never even heard of it. A to A+.

This is a weird movie. Nightbitch wants to say something about the modern demands of motherhood, but it gets muddled in weirdness. C.

And that’s a wrap on 2024. Pretty good year at the movies, if I do say so myself. Here’s hoping 2025 is even better.