Best Movies of 2024: Top 10 First-Time Watches
Kicking off my coverage of the best movies of 2024, I’m starting with something a little different. I made it a goal of mine to watch more movies I had never seen before in 2024, and I want to highlight some of my favorite movies I saw for the first time. This unranked list highlights my ten favorite first-time watches of 2024 and why I liked them so much. Also, no movie from 2024 is on this list so I could highlight a wide variety of movies from several genres and eras. Here are my ten favorite first-time watches of 2024.
Blue Collar (Paul Schrader, 1978)
Paul Schrader is a director I’ve grown to appreciate over the years as I’ve started diving more into his filmography. His debut film, about a group of money-strapped factory workers who hatch a plan to rob their union headquarters, is a hot-blooded, passionate, gritty film with an outstanding ensemble cast led by Harvey Kietel, Richard Pryor, and Yaphet Kotto.
Watched on Criterion Channel
Blue Steel (Kathryn Bigelow, 1990)
I’m mad it took me this long to watch Kathryn Bigelow’s cop thriller, but I finally got to it and I loved every second of it. Bigelow’s third feature film follows a rookie cop (Jamie Lee Curtis, in one of the best performances of her career) as she becomes entangled with an obsessed psychopath. Like most Bigelow movies, this is a tough, loud, powerhouse of film with a strong mystery at the center. Bigelow hasn’t made a feature film since 2017’s Detroit and watching Blue Steel made me miss her as a filmmaker.
Watched on Criterion Channel
Brick (Rian Johnson, 2005)
I’m almost 99% sure I saw this before my viewing this year, but I couldn’t recall it entirely so I’m considering it a first-time watch. Rian Johnson’s feature film debut is a slick crime story that’s set in a modern high school but is shot and written like a 1930s noir mystery. The mystery is gripping, the filmmaking is top-notch, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt gives one of the best performances of his career as our lead character who finds a dead body that sends him into an underworld he never knew existed.
Watched on Amazon Prime
Idle Hands (Rodman Flender, 1999)
I’m sure there are some “better” films that I watched for the first time in 2024, but I couldn’t leave Idle Hands off my list due to how much fun I had watching it. Rodman Flender’s horror-comedy about a teenage slacker (Devon Sawa) with a possessed hand is as uproarious as it is deranged. This needs to be played at repertory theaters as a midnight classic.
Watched on Criterion Channel
Incendies (Denis Villeneuve, 2010)
I did a full writeup of director Denis Villeneuve’s entire filmography earlier in the year, which allowed me to see one of my biggest blindspots as a cinephile and critic, Incendies, Villeneuve’s fourth film and the first of his films to earn an Oscar-nomination. This is a stunning, heart-wrenching film about a family digging to learn more about their past only for them to uncover something more sinister. It’s a dark and tragic film that stayed with me long after the credits rolled.
Watched on Amazon Prime
Le Samouraï (Jean-Pierre Melville, 1967)
There is one word to describe Le Samouraï: cool. Jean-Pierre Melville’s crime-thriller about a hitman who is seen by witnesses after a job is simple, efficient, and quietly thrilling. Alain Delon, who we tragically lost in 2024, stars as the methodical hitman, and the combination of his piercing blue eyes and stoic face makes for an impeccable screen presence.
Watched on Criterion 4k Blu-Ray
Paper Moon (Peter Bogdanovich, 1973)
Of all the Criterion Collection releases I reviewed this year, Paper Moon was easily my favorite. Peter Bogdanovich’s Depression-era crime comedy starring Ryan O’Neal and Tatum O’Neal, who won an Oscar for her fiery performance, is a true delight and a movie that has everything. There’s crime, drama, tons of humor, a tricky plot, and impeccable filmmaking. This is my favorite Bogdonovich film.
Watched on Criterion 4k Blu-Ray
The Silent Partner (Daryl Duke, 1973)
Elliot Gould and Christopher Plummer star in Daryl Duke’s dark crime comedy about a bored bank teller (Gould) who discovers his bank is about to be robbed after finding a disconcerting note. This is a nasty little picture that features plenty of humor, shocking deaths, and two sublime performances from Gould and Plummer.
Watched on Criterion Channel
Sorcerer (William Friedkin, 1977)
Director William Friedkin followed up The French Connection and The Exorcist, two films that saw great critical and box office success, with Sorcerer, an adaptation of Georges Arnaud’s book The Wages of Fear about a group of men who go on a dangerous mission to transport a truck full of nitroglycerin across the Latin American jungle. Upon its release, Sorcerer was deemed a failure, critically and commercially, but it has since seen a revival and is hailed by many, myself included, as another Friedkin masterpiece. Sorcerer is the kind of film that needs to be shown yearly on the biggest and loudest screens possible.
Watched on Criterion Channel
The Whole Town’s Talking (John Ford, 1935)
I tried to dive more into pre-1960s films in 2024 and while I was able watch a few, I didn’t get to as many as I wanted (we’ll try again in 2025). But one film I was able to catch was John Ford’s The Whole Town’s Talking, starring Edward G. Robinson in dual roles in a classic case of mistaken identity. Ford, known more for his epic Westerns, crafted a devilishly fun crime comedy and it features an excellent performance by Robinson who plays a seemingly normal man who looks just like an infamous crime boss, also played by Robinson. The Whole Town’s Talking saw two cinema icons, Ford and Robinson, doing something different and the result was gold.
Watched on Criterion Channel
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