The Films of 2024

Discussions of specific films and franchises
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Matt
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 12:58 pm

Re: The Films of 2024

#51 Post by Matt » Fri Jan 03, 2025 9:30 pm

CNN's documentaries are often mediocre, tepid affairs, but the newish documentary about Luther Vandross, Luther: Never Too Much, is really good. It's probably 60-70% performance clips, all the way from his work as a backup singer for Bowie and Chic to his eventual death. I consider myself a Luther fan and had no idea about his "real" debut album as leader of a vocal group called Luther (which has just been reissued); the number of TV commercials he provided vocals for (Löwenbräu ?!?); or the extent of his writing, arrangement, and production credits for other major artists (Dionne Warwick, Aretha Franklin, Teddy Pendergrass, Diana Ross, Whitney Houston). Truly a magnificent talent. Now I'm off to produce my biopic about his rise to fame starring Titus Burgess...

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thirtyframesasecond
Joined: Mon Apr 02, 2007 1:48 pm

Re: The Films of 2024

#52 Post by thirtyframesasecond » Wed Jan 08, 2025 4:27 pm

OK, well what I didn't know was that Vandross, Philip Bailey and Syreeta Wright sang those ad-libbed vocals in Stevie Wonder's 'Part Time Lover'. Luther had a terrific voice, absolutely effortless, and writing and recording 'Never Too Much' is more than what 99.9% of musicians will ever accomplish.

nicolas
Joined: Sat Apr 29, 2023 11:34 am

Re: The Films of 2024

#53 Post by nicolas » Wed Jan 08, 2025 4:43 pm

aox wrote:
Tue Dec 03, 2024 9:57 pm
The Director's Cut of Napoleon is a revelation. It's a completely different movie that focuses on his relationship with Josephine. Everything in the theatrical cut (e.g. battles/campaigns) is asides. How Ridley Scott doesn't have final cut at this point is a complete mystery to me. I hated the theatrical cut.
I also recently watched the entire DC and had a similar reaction compared to the terrible theatrical cut. The DC is the one to go as it feels like that cut was the original vision compared to the other. The 195 minutes of film actually flew by quite quickly. I still wouldn’t call the DC a masterpiece but a very well made, solid overview of Napoleon with a good Joaquin Phoenix performance and a number of stunning set pieces.

Shanzam
Joined: Sat May 29, 2021 7:34 am

Re: The Films of 2024

#54 Post by Shanzam » Mon Jan 20, 2025 8:55 pm

These days I'm watching a lot of film/TV adaptations of plays (Long Day's Journey into Night, Streetcar Named Desire), refreshing but a bit overwhelming to keep up with that much dialogue and indoor scenes, as for the films of 2024, I've watched The War of the Rohirrim and Mufasa (both among my favorite childhood stories) planning to watch Gladiator and Almodovar's recent film.

beamish14
Joined: Fri May 18, 2018 3:07 pm

Re: The Films of 2024

#55 Post by beamish14 » Mon Jan 20, 2025 9:01 pm

Shanzam wrote:
Mon Jan 20, 2025 8:55 pm
These days I'm watching a lot of film/TV adaptations of plays (Long Day's Journey into Night, Streetcar Named Desire), refreshing but a bit overwhelming to keep up with that much dialogue and indoor scenes, as for the films of 2024, I've watched The War of the Rohirrim and Mufasa (both among my favorite childhood stories) planning to watch Gladiator and Almodovar's recent film.

Funny, I’ve been watching many O’Neill adaptations as well. I love the 1996 Canadian Long Day’s Journey Into Night. A new adaptation is supposed to be released this year

Shanzam
Joined: Sat May 29, 2021 7:34 am

Re: The Films of 2024

#56 Post by Shanzam » Mon Jan 20, 2025 9:12 pm

beamish14 wrote:
Mon Jan 20, 2025 9:01 pm
Shanzam wrote:
Mon Jan 20, 2025 8:55 pm
These days I'm watching a lot of film/TV adaptations of plays (Long Day's Journey into Night, Streetcar Named Desire), refreshing but a bit overwhelming to keep up with that much dialogue and indoor scenes, as for the films of 2024, I've watched The War of the Rohirrim and Mufasa (both among my favorite childhood stories) planning to watch Gladiator and Almodovar's recent film.

Funny, I’ve been watching many O’Neill adaptations as well. I love the 1996 Canadian Long Day’s Journey Into Night. A new adaptation is supposed to be released this year
This is the 1987 version directed by Jonathan Miller, I still have few scenes to watch.

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knives
Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 6:49 pm

Re: The Films of 2024

#57 Post by knives » Wed Jan 29, 2025 3:23 pm

It’s not a surprise that there has been no discussion of Maria here as it’s such a weak film it doesn’t even accomplish the excitement of going to the well once too often. It’s a radically different experience from the other two great women films because there doesn’t seem to be a single perspective of Callas with the film just slowly revealing her whole life. Even the artistic conceit of this largely taking place in her mind doesn’t do anything to make Callas a compelling part of her own story.

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Matt
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 12:58 pm

Re: The Films of 2024

#58 Post by Matt » Wed Jan 29, 2025 4:45 pm

knives wrote:It’s not a surprise that there has been no discussion of Maria here as it’s such a weak film it doesn’t even accomplish the excitement of going to the well once too often. It’s a radically different experience from the other two great women films because there doesn’t seem to be a single perspective of Callas with the film just slowly revealing her whole life. Even the artistic conceit of this largely taking place in her mind doesn’t do anything to make Callas a compelling part of her own story.
It’s no surprise that it looks fantastic thanks to Ed Lachmann and the production/costume design. Angie is just not up to the task, however. It’s an extremely restrained, mannered performance, and you can instantly see where she went wrong when footage of the lively real Callas rolls during the end credits. It always seems like a really bad idea to end a biopic with footage of the real subject, yet so many do it.

There is one scene (Maria in the cafe with her sister) where the brittle facade crumbles and some real emotion comes out, and I thought it was perfect. Otherwise, the shots of her walking alone around Paris are the best parts of the movie.

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thirtyframesasecond
Joined: Mon Apr 02, 2007 1:48 pm

Re: The Films of 2024

#59 Post by thirtyframesasecond » Wed Feb 05, 2025 4:28 pm

I don't think A Real Pain had much discussion, but I thought it was an incredibly assured directorial debut by Jesse Eisenberg, a comedy-drama that struck a good balance in tones. Strong performances all round and Kieran Culkin will really deserve that Oscar.

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therewillbeblus
Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:40 pm

Re: The Films of 2024

#60 Post by therewillbeblus » Wed Feb 05, 2025 4:56 pm

His debut was actually When You Finish Saving the World, also produced by Fruit Tree

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knives
Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 6:49 pm

Re: The Films of 2024

#61 Post by knives » Sat Feb 08, 2025 11:22 pm

zedz wrote:
Tue Aug 06, 2024 7:50 pm

Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat (Johan Grimonprez, Belgium) – Daunting, encyclopaedic found-footage account of the rise and fall of Patrice Lumumba and its international repercussions, all footnoted to within an inch of its life. Grimonprez’s unlikely thesis is that this scandal has intimate ties with American jazz, but he finds enough evidence to back it up, and it means that the film has perhaps the most awesome soundtrack ever assembled.
The board is really sleeping on this film which is the best Adam Curtis film ever. A huge part of the fun to the film is seeing if Grimonprez can keep up things as it dazzles visually and aurally with a dense conspiracy which he sees the recompressions of to this day. The film is often painfully disruptive especially with the intrusion of modern ads, but never to the detriment of the narrative which is maintained in painful crystal clarity.

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hearthesilence
Joined: Fri Mar 04, 2005 4:22 am
Location: NYC

Re: The Films of 2024

#62 Post by hearthesilence » Sun Feb 09, 2025 2:40 pm

knives wrote:
Sat Feb 08, 2025 11:22 pm
zedz wrote:
Tue Aug 06, 2024 7:50 pm

Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat (Johan Grimonprez, Belgium) – Daunting, encyclopaedic found-footage account of the rise and fall of Patrice Lumumba and its international repercussions, all footnoted to within an inch of its life. Grimonprez’s unlikely thesis is that this scandal has intimate ties with American jazz, but he finds enough evidence to back it up, and it means that the film has perhaps the most awesome soundtrack ever assembled.
The board is really sleeping on this film which is the best Adam Curtis film ever. A huge part of the fun to the film is seeing if Grimonprez can keep up things as it dazzles visually and aurally with a dense conspiracy which he sees the recompressions of to this day. The film is often painfully disruptive especially with the intrusion of modern ads, but never to the detriment of the narrative which is maintained in painful crystal clarity.
I've been meaning to catch it - I've seen everyone from Jim Hoberman to John Waters to Marshall Crenshaw raving about it.

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thirtyframesasecond
Joined: Mon Apr 02, 2007 1:48 pm

Re: The Films of 2024

#63 Post by thirtyframesasecond » Mon Feb 10, 2025 8:48 am

Conclave was a pleasant couple of hours - and why wouldn't it be when it's all about the intrigue and dirty tricks that occur during the election of a new Pope? There are favourites of course, from different ideological wings of Catholicism, but gradually they take each other out and well.....if you know the novel you know the twist. If you don't, you probably won't guess and might find it bit of a "whuuuuuuut?" moment. A strong cast (Fiennes, Tucci, Lithgow et al) delivers very solid performances, and the script is tight and looks nailed on for Adapted Screenplay. It whizzed by, and I liked Polanski's 'The Ghostwriter' so despite not having read Harris's novels, there's clearly something very filmic about them.

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The Curious Sofa
Joined: Fri Sep 13, 2019 6:18 am

Re: The Films of 2024

#64 Post by The Curious Sofa » Mon Feb 10, 2025 9:00 am

I really enjoyed Conclave while watching it and cheered the ending (not having read the novel) and then I had forgotten all about it the next day

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