With the year half over, we take a look at some of the best movies of 2024 (so far)…
And just like that, 2024 is already half over. Crazy, isn’t it? It feels like Christmas was just a minute ago, but here we are in the middle of summertime. Before we know it, the fall festivals will open up, the awards race will begin, and people will start debating the year’s best movies.
But here’s the thing – whenever people start talking about the best movies of the year, they always neglect all of the films that came out in the first half of the year. Studios know this, which is why high-profile, prestigious movies always bow in the fourth quarter of the year. So, to give these movies a bit of a spotlight, we here at JoBlo have decided to list the 10 best movies of 2024…so far (in no particular order).
Dune: Part 2:
Denis Villeneuve’s epic conclusion to his two-part adaptation of Frank Herbert’s novel was everything we hoped it would be. While the first film suffered because it came out at the height of the pandemic and was mostly viewed on HBO Max, audiences could finally see Arrakis in all its glory on the HUGE IMAX screen as Villeneuve always intended. This movie proved audiences are hungry for ambitious fare. With this and Wonka both dominating the box office in early 2024, it established Timothee Chalamet as one of the biggest stars of his generation.
The Bikeriders:
Dune: Part 2 also gave co-star Austin Butler his first great post-Elvis role, with him losing any trace of the King as the snarling villain Feyd-Rautha (his lingering Elvis mannerisms marred his role on Apple TV’s Masters of the Air). Jeff Nichols’s The Bikeriders is another great post-Elvis role for the actor, with him affecting a kind of James Dean cool as an iconic member of an early biker gang. That said, he’s only a small part of the show here, with Tom Hardy even better as the gang’s Brando-esque leader, while Jodie Comer gives the movie some heart. This is a terrific movie.
The Beekeeper:
I’m a sucker for a good action movie. Truthfully, I thought Doug Liman’s Road House remake would be 2024’s first great one, but I was wrong. It was decent, but another movie financed by Amazon-MGM was even better, David Ayer’s The Beekeeper. I’ve often been critical about how Jason Statham’s action heroes are a little too invulnerable. Still, it can’t be denied that he’s cast perfectly to type as the vigilante hero of this demented action epic. Ayer turned what could have been just a fun B-movie into an action thrill-ride that puts many action flicks with quadruple the budgets to shame.
Late Night With the Devil:
This was an unexpected smash hit for IFC/ Shudder earlier this year. A low-fi, the seventies-set horror flick, Late Night With the Devil, gives star David Dastmalchian a tailor-made role as a schlocky seventies host who makes the mistake of inviting the devil into his studio and pays a hefty price. The less you go in knowing about this one, the better.
Civil War:
A24’s biggest-budget movie ever grows more prescient by the day, with the U.S seemingly more divided than ever. Alex Garland’s film is an urgent call for both sides to find some common ground. More than that, it also showcases Kirsten Dunst in a career-best performance as a veteran photojournalist whose dormant conscience may prove to be her ultimate undoing.
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga:
The fact that George Miller’s epic prequel to Mad Max: Fury Road wasn’t a blockbuster will be one of the biggest cinematic tragedies of the year. We’ll never get to see his planned Mad Max: The Wasteland, while audiences missed out on one of the most dazzling action epics of the year, boasting iconic performances from Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Hemsworth, and Tom Burke. What a damn shame.
The Dead Don’t Hurt:
While Kevin Costner’s Horizon has gotten a lot of press, many overlooked another great old-school western that came out this year: Viggo Mortensen’s The Dead Don’t Hurt. Mortensen himself stars opposite Vicky Krieps in this romantic, touching old-school oater, which deserved a better theatrical release given that it barely played in most markets.
Bad Boys: Ride or Die:
Will Smith and Martin Lawrence can still pull in quite the crowd with the fourth instalment of the enduring series just about as big of a hit as the last film in the saga. It’s a big comeback role for Smith (in the wake of the Oscar slap) while it also re-establishes directors Adil & Bilall as up-and-comers to watch in the wake of the Batgirl disaster.
Hit Man:
Richard Linklater’s semi-fact-based Hit Man was the darling of the festival circuit last fall, with many claiming it offered Glen Powell his first truly great leading role. While it did fine on Netflix, it’s kind of sad to see how quickly the movie fell out of the cultural zeitgeist once it got released. If you haven’t seen it yet, it’s a real gem.
In the Land of Saints and Sinners:
Of the dozens of routine Liam Neeson action movies that have come out over the last few years, it’s ironic that the one truly great one barely made a dent at the box office. Neeson has one of his best roles in years in Robert Lorenz’s Ireland set hitman drama. However, it can’t be denied that co-star Jack Gleeson of Game of Thrones utterly walks away with the movie as an initially crazed associate of Neeson’s who proves to have a lot of depth and a noble streak. This movie is a true gem.
What do you think belongs on this list? Let us know in the comments!
