Stew’s Top 30 Movies Of 2024 (#20 – 11)

And we are back at it! As noted previously, I ended up watching 111 new release movies from the beginning on through the end of 2024. It was far more than I thought I was going to get completed, even late in the year when I was keeping track and felt so far off my pace of 113 in 2023. But I pushed through and finished with this wonderfully symmetrical amount.

From that 111, I have been keeping a fluid list from best to worst throughout the year. Well I finally solidified it, and I’m counting down the top 30 movies from the new releases I saw.

Last time, we talked #30-#21, a segment that included way too many John Cena movies. Today we are diving back into the list and looking at the next ten. So let’s get into it!

20. Rebel Ridge

For my full review, click HERE.

Netflix original movies get something of a bad name, and heaven knows I’ve seen enough poor ones to understand why. They are sometimes pretty generic both in story and production, and sometimes they mistake casting bigger stars with quality.

Still, when they hit, they can be damn good mid-budget film experiences!

Last time, we talked about the Gen Z comedy-thriller It’s What’s Inside; today we look at an even better flick in Rebel Ridge. Aaron Pierre has a star-making turn in this story about corrupt cops abusing a single black former Marine trying to look out for his cousin. It’s not as action-heavy as you might imagine for the story, and it’s better for that. It’s more about the drama and the character-building, this one. Ands it’s done really well. For a Netflix original or any other movie, as a matter of fact.

19. A Quiet Place: Day One

If you introduce a cat into a movie fraught with peril, the problem is I will ONLY care about the cat. Where is the cat? Is the cat okay? Why are you letting the cat do that? Take better care of your cat. That was me, for the movie’s full runtime.

Lupita Nyong’o continues to be probably the world’s most underrated actress. She’s not quite as potent here as she was in Us where she was snubbed for an Oscar nom, but she is still incredible and full of every emotion under the sun. She’s a star.

This ticked up for me from 3 stars to almost 4 based on a strong and emotionally powerful third act.

I imagine most folks’ problem with this movie will be Lupita’s character’s quest for pizza in the face of world-ending peril, but… I bought it. Again, because she rules, but also because it’s a humanizing story for a character facing her mortality as hard as she was. She knew she was dead no matter what, so she just wanted to be at home and at peace. I can accept that.

18. Land Of Bad

Pretty damn good action and a really intense story that kept me engaged at a really high level. Great first two acts. It does get a bit silly in the third act when a cell phone call to Russell Crowe saves the day, but everything until then was gravy. Except maybe the name. “Land of Bad“. Who titled this, a five year old?

Still, I was recommended this by a friend who had this WAY up his personal list of best movies of the year. And while it doesn’t scrape quite so high for me, I can see the appeal. It’s a solid action movie with some very tense moments, and two really strong performances from Liam Hemsworth and Russell Crowe.

17. Ganymede

For my full review, click HERE.

Kind of a horror movie whose worst aspects are the horror elements, Ganymede is a coming-of-age story for a young queer boy whose family can’t stomach the idea of their children being gay. They force him into a program headed by an elder at their church, and he no less than tortures our protagonist, trying to burn the gay out.

Strongly acted and with a great story, Ganymede is one of those movies that does the little cinematic things well. It made me call out the sound editing in my review up there, and how often is that something you notice when watching a flick? The directors clearly made this one with a lot of care, and I am happy to say it all worked for me.

16. Maxxxine

Here’s my unpopular opinion, I guess: Maxxxine was by far my favorite of the X trilogy. But I also truly despised Pearl, so it wasn’t that much a competition (I thought X was fine, if a bit underwhelming).

After the snoozefest that was Pearl, I think I went into this with lowered expectations and was just excited that almost anything actually happened in this one. Mia Goth wasn’t tasked with just acting “whacky” this time; she actually had a character arc, and she carried through with the trauma she experienced in X. She was a powerful and sympathetic female protagonist who had learned to rely on herself, and I loved the way the story presented her.

This is a case of a bad third act, though, as they pull a forgotten line from the end of X (well, I had forgotten it, anyway) and based the entire climax here around it. If you watch them sequentially, it’s good writing. But seeing Maxxxine two years after X, it felt like the resolution was coming out of nowhere.

Still, I enjoyed this enough that the third act didn’t ding it too much for me.

15. The Killer’s Game

For my full review, click HERE.

Wildly underseen when it came out, this isn’t the kind of movie that’s really going to get Dave Bautista juicier acting roles going forward. It’s a basic action-comedy whose plot is abject nonsense (his doctor initially confuses Dave’s degenerating eyesight with a fatal disease, thus creating the story), but it’s all in the performances and writing where the fun shines through.

And this IS fun; it really is. Big Dave is great at this kind of stuff, and you’ve got other steady hands like Terry Crewes joining him. It ends up being a big ball of funny, sexy action.

14. Inside Out 2

In a few months, I’ll regret this placement the most, I think.

You see, Inside Out 2 was the last movie I saw in 2024, having watched it in the afternoon of New Year’s Day. And I liked it a lot. But without having time to marinate on how much I dug it, I placed it here, and… I think time will prove that this should be much higher for me. But I was also worried about overrating it due to recency bias.

It’s just SO GOOD. Sure, the plot is a repeat of what worked in the original (Joy and other emotions get ejected from the control room and have to explore the zanier sides of a young girl’s inner mind), but the writing is so genuine and full of care. It’s funny and sad and relevant and inspiring. It’s really good stuff!

And, oh man, when Riley’s new emotions build her new Sense Of Self and it comes to completion and gives the girl her new life manta? Heart-wrenching stuff.

Yeah, I can already tell I’m going to regret not having this in my top ten. Oh well.

13. Wicked

Based on the musical which is loosely based on my wife’s favorite book, coming in at #13 on the year is Wicked!

Arianna Grande and Cynthia Erivo really own this movie and take the mantles from Chenowith and Menzel with aplomb. If there was any concern they wouldn’t have the oomph to power this cinematic interpretation to the finish line, well they quelled the hell out of those.

It IS long, yes. As long by itself as the whole musical is, and this is just the first HALF. But it uses its length to establish characters in a way musicals don’t, not really. It sells you the story of Elphaba and her burgeoning friendship with Galinda, and it makes you care about their adventures in Oz and what will come of them in Part 2.

12. Heretic

For my full review, click HERE.

One of the only movies on this list I actually saw twice–both times in theaters–Heretic is up next. And it is really buoyed by an against-type performance from Hugh Grant. No longer the dashing and charming young man of yesteryear, he now can play more menacing roles like this. Who would have ever thought to cast Grant as a threat? But here we are.

The story of two girls (equally well portrayed by Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East) getting trapped by this elder who wants to show them what he has discovered is the world’s one, true religion is tense and eerie. Again, we run into some third act problems in this one, but the first two acts are just so… damn… good. It’s all very easy to forgive.

11. Smile 2

This movie is The Naomi Scott Show, and she elevates a sequel to a lightly-respected horror flick from two years ago to a full tier higher than its predecessor. Most people will tell you that Smile 2 outshined the original, and Scott is a big part of the reason why. She is a supernova here.

Even ignoring her, which is hard to do, Smile 2 has better scares, creepier moments, and a better conceit than the original. It’s an upgrade in about every way. If you slept on this because maybe the first Smile didn’t QUITE do it for you, I think you should check this one out. You’re likely to be surprised!

*******

And then there were ten!

Join us next time where the final countdown will give us three underseen gems, three horror/thriller treasures, and… what’s this?… even more Lupita Nyong’o. Always good.

Until next time… take care!