2024 "On Your Left" Film Awards

 

2024 "On Your Left" Film Awards

As I do every year, I am writing about the best performances in film (that I saw).  Frankly, this was kind of a down year, both for my watching and the movies in general.  I have only seen one of the nominees for Best Picture this year, though I usually see at least half of the nominees.  Theaters around me simply have not been screening the nominees, and I haven't been in the mood to watch them at home.  Still, there were some impressive accomplishments to highlight from 2024.

For this Oscar-style awards post, I'm sticking with my rule that only films I've seen are eligible.  I will only bother to make note if I watched a performance but chose not to nominate it.  Otherwise, I'd be making a lot of "didn't see it" notes!  Other than that, if it's eligible at the Oscars this year, it's eligible for me.

Coming soon: Please also check out my year-in-review post with my top-10 movies of the year, most overrated and most surprising movies, and more, too!

Winners in bold

Runners-up underlined

Best Actor

Mike Faist (Challengers)

Hugh Jackman/Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool & Wolverine)

Gabriel LaBelle (Saturday Night)

Jude Law (The Order)

Josh O'Connor (Challengers)

Honorable mentions: George Clooney/Brad Pitt (Wolfs)

I didn't see any of the Best Actor nominees this year (this will be a trend), so it's a random assortment here.  One mini-theme was an emphasis on co-leads, or even just ensembles without a single clear lead.  Clooney and Pitt brought their Ocean's Eleven-style fun to Wolfs (which had its theatrical run nixed by Apple - BOOO!!!), but you can't top the delirious, irreverent joy of Jackman and Reynolds finally teaming up in Marvel's only 2024 movie.  Gabriel LaBelle was great as the put-upon but determined Lorne Michaels in a cinematic portrayal of the lead up to SNL's first episode.  And it's appropriate to return to duos for runner-up, which is a tie between the leads in Challengers, friends turned rivals (athletic and romantic) who exude raw emotion in every frame and keep you riveted.  But it's Jude Law who wins it for me, thanks to a committed but wonderfully understated role as an FBI agent hunting white supremacists in The Order.  He had to keep it subtle and he did, bringing a grim no-nonsense presence that is a tribute to real-life heroes.

Best Actress

Emily Blunt (The Fall Guy)

Scarlett Johansson (Fly Me to the Moon)

June Squibb (Thelma)

Anya Taylor-Joy (Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga)

Zendaya (Challengers)

I must admit, my movie-going in 2024 featured a paucity of lead female roles.  June Squibb was fine in the (overrated) quasi-action-comedy Thelma, but qualifies for the list for lack of better options.  Emily Blunt was quite sharp, however, in The Fall Guy, perhaps sneakily the best part of the film; I only wish they'd given her even more to work with.  Scarlett Johansson did get a suitably large role, but also the added difficulty of having to cover for a God-awful performance from Channing Tatum; she is a bona-fide star leading lady, handling a wide range of demands with ease.  Anya Taylor-Joy gave a fully committed, fierce performance in the action epic Furiosa, proving herself worthy of Charlize Theron's earlier portrayal of the role.  And it was Zendaya in the actors showcase of Challengers who rose above them all.  She was completely believable in the role of tennis prodigy-turned-power broker.  She is powerful yet vulnerable, kind-hearted and forgiving yet flawed and at times ruthless.  She anchors the turbulent film and its emotions and is oh so human in doing so.

Best Supporting Actress

Adria Arjona (Hit Man)

Rebecca Ferguson (Dune Part Two)

Eiza Gonzalez (Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare)

Rachel Sennott (Saturday Night)

Hannah Waddingham (The Fall Guy)

Adria Arjona (Good Omens) showed again that she has charisma to spare in the action rom-com Hit Man, providing the film a crucial strong opposite to the undercover professor.  Eiza Gonzalez similarly helped Ungentlemanly Warfare rise above being just another WWII action flick with the subtle skill and professionalism of her spy - and ability to up the intensity to go toe-to-toe with Nazis.  Ferguson was just as good in Dune Part Two as she was last time as hero Paul Atreides' mystical mother; the story crowds her out more in this one, unfortunately, but she also gets some even stranger but fascinating scenes.  Waddingham, following her star turn in Ted Lasso, makes for an over-the-top but hilarious producer/ villain in The Fall Guy, joyfully subverting expectations for who the main baddie is in this type of film.  My favorite supporting role of the year was for the most dramatic, but also the funniest, in Rachel Sennott's Rosie, co-producer of SNL with her husband, Lorne Michaels.  She shows herself at least as competent and talented as her more famous spouse, with a well-honed skill for managing chaotic sets and personalities.  She and LaBelle's Michaels also share brief but poignant moments of a relationship on the rocks.

Best Supporting Actor

Chris Hemsworth (Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga)

Nicholas Hoult (The Order)

Babs Olusanmokun (Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare)

Cory Michael Smith/Matt Wood (Saturday Night)

Denzel Washington (Gladiator II)

Honorable mentions: Hugh Grant (Unfrosted), Jim Rash (Fly Me to the Moon)

This was the richest acting category of the year, among films I saw.  I have to give shout-outs to Grant and Rash for their small but devastatingly hilarious roles in Unfrosted and Fly Me to the Moon, respectively; both movies are really funny overall (and much better than their critics' ratings) and these two are great examples why.  Olusanmokun is Gonzalez's counterpart in Ungentlemanly Warfare and a great one at that; he takes the secondary role in the pair but the combination is great.  Hemsworth, maybe inspired by being unleashed in the latest Thor movies, goes bonkers with the villain in Furiosa; twisted and cruel, he still makes the part nuanced enough that it's also fully human, too.  Speaking of twisted and cruel, Denzel Washington was the only great thing about the long-awaited Gladiator sequel; he provided a great tonal and quality level that the rest of the film sadly would/could not match.  Hoult is cementing himself as one of the very top actors in Hollywood today, this time with an absolutely chilling rendition of a real-life white supremacist in The Order; he makes the criminal seem almost normal at times, but shows all-too-much talent for drawing others to his vision and brutally carrying it out.  I am cheating with the winner, which is essentially the ensemble from Saturday Night (semi-led by Michael Smith's Chevy Chase and Wood's Belushi).  From the main cast of SNL stars we all know and love to a rich list of behind-the-scenes gophers, producers, and hustlers, they made this the best film of the year.

Best Director

Luca Guadagnino (Challengers)

Shawn Levy (Deadpool & Wolverine)

George Miller (Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga)

Jason Reitman (Saturday Night)

Denis Villeneuve (Dune: Part Two)

Shawn Levy helped pull off two neat tricks in 2024's only Marvel movie: he combined two major (and fan-favorite) heroes cohesively, and he reassured fans that Marvel could still bring mega-entertainment by stretching the boundaries of the genre.  George Miller somehow keeps it up, almost fifty years after creating the Mad Max series; here he wisely focuses on the 2015 entry's best new character, but kept the stunning, extended practical-effects-based action scenes that are at the peak of blockbuster thrills.  Denis Villeneuve also continues to show his skill, as among the top auteurs of the past decade or so; he makes the abstract, almost hallucinatory second half of the classic Dune novel comprehensible but also keeps a lot of nuance in creating a more sophisticated blockbuster.  I am a newcomer to Guadagnino, a rising director, but he immediately showed how to supercharge the intensity of a cinematic drama, from coaxing riveting performances from his young trio to choreographing his sports (tennis) scenes in awesome new ways.  Topping them all is Jason Reitman, whose Saturday Night was my favorite film of the year.  Yes, I am an SNL fan anyway, but this film gave an extraordinary view of the creative chaos and enormous number of levels at which a production must function to succeed.  Yet Reitman holds it all together, and - crucially - keeps it funny throughout, as any SNL-based work should be.

* From https://images.app.goo.gl/LQVUsq5MkcJVkdWY9

Captain America: Brave New World

 

Score:  A-/B+

Directed by

Starring Anthony Mackie, Harrison Ford, Danny Ramirez, Shira Haas, Giancarlo Esposito

Running time: 118 minutes

Rated PG-13

Long Story Short:  Captain America: Brave New World is the fourth Captain America movie - but the first starring Sam Wilson (Mackie) in the role - and a very solid entry in the overall Marvel superhero world.  Mackie's Wilson is a worthy successor to the shield and red-white-and-blue, even if he needs more time to become an icon of his own.  The story has a gripping (fake) political element that carries over from earlier movies, and the action is top-notch (and fortunately, less fantasy-based).  Highly recommended for theater viewing, Marvel fans or otherwise.

Sam Wilson (Mackie) is getting used to his new status and responsibility as Captain America, a role he has taken up from his old friend, Steve Rogers.  Complicating the transition is a new President, the former General Thaddeus Ross (Ford) who has long been opposed to superheroes operating outside of government control.  So Wilson cautiously decides to work with President Ross, but an attack on the White House causes an international crisis.  Both Wilson and Ross have long histories in major world events, and in Ross's case, many skeletons in his closet, some of which are threatening to come out into the open.  Not superpowered like Rogers, and without a team of Avengers around him, Wilson must rely on his wits and courage to avert all-out war.

Captain America: Brave New World is a solid return to a more standard superhero movie for Marvel; not as good as some of the originals, but entertaining and well-made.  Even though it replaces Evans's Rogers for Mackie's Wilson in the title role, this sequel retains much of the tone and style of the earlier movies: political intrigue-based story with more grounded stakes yet pleasingly hard-hitting action.  It's a nice change of pace since much of post-Avengers Endgame (2019) Marvel has emphasized more of the fantasy or sci-fi elements.  The story also continues Marvel's interconnected themes: among others, Ross was first introduced seventeen (!) years ago in The Incredible Hulk and there is an artifact from Eternals (2021).  You'll get more out of movie if you have followed Marvel's oeuvre, but it's not essential.  The most interesting idea in Brave New World is making Ross - an ordinary man trying to keep the peace and order in a superhero/villain-filled world - a complex, nuanced figure, neither good nor bad though quite flawed.  Wilson's character, unfortunately, doesn't get quite the same attention but is still intriguing as both a Black man taking on an iconic white hero's role, not to mention being a "normal", one-time sidekick trying to do so.  Again though, if you've seen previous works (especially Disney+'s The Falcon and the Soldier), you'll have a very good foundation for the character.  Mackie is very good as Wilson in a tough role.  He has developed a distinct persona and has grown to meet his new role, but he's not (yet) as brilliant as the original cast of heroes (RDJ's Iron Man, etc.).  Ford is great too, of course; while it feels a little odd since Ross was previously played by William Hurt (who died 2022), it's also somewhat appropriate since the character is different and more central here.  Esposito is unsurprisingly awesome as a minor villain (who could and should return!); Lumbly is still excellent as an old veteran/super-powered mentor (a great partner for Wilson); and Haas is interesting as head of security, and neat that she's a former Black Widow assassin (another callback).  My only gripe with the cast is Ramirez as Torres.  He's OK at best, but the movie really could have used a great new sidekick for Wilson, someone much funnier and/or more distinct; too often Torres is merely kind of annoying.

Brave New World's action is very high-quality and creative, with several different varied set pieces that don't blur together or drag on so long as to get numbing or boring.  Wilson's Captain America is an interesting hybrid who is his own hero: he still has Falcon wings (now with Black Panther's vibranium metal), plus an Iron Man-lite suit for tech/armor, and of course the shield.  This setup is versatile for fight scenes both high-flying and hand-to-hand, powerful but not ridiculously so.  The first fight shows off his abilities and skills, but also gives him a serious challenge and we see more of this later sprinkled throughout, just the right amount.The final fight against Hulk - which is frequently shown in ads/ previews - is better than I expected, as it effectively reminds us how powerful Hulks are and leads to a tense showdown with Captain America that features plenty of damage but not utter disaster-level.  Humor, another Marvel trademark, is not as good here, though the movie provides some chuckles.  The writing just isn't quite as snappy as the originals with their great banter and memorable one-liners; the dramatic dialogue isn't fantastic, either, but at least it manages to avoid being bad or cheesy.  Overall, this is a strong Marvel film: one that stands on its own with a self-contained story, yet is also strengthened by movies/shows that came before it and provides seeds for future development.

***

Captain America: Brave New World met my hopes for Marvel's "return" in 2025 (2024 had Deadpool & Wolverine, which was fantastic, but felt separate from the rest of the so-called MCU).  I already had confidence in Mackie and his ability to be the new Captain America, but I wasn't sure if the movie around him would do him justice.  Fortunately, in just about every way, it did.  I'll admit that it feels like it comes up a bit short to movies like Iron Man and the first Captain America, though part of that could just be my nostalgia.  Now that we (at least, I) can rest assured that Marvel is just fine still on the fundamentals of movie making, I do hope that they'll continue pushing forward with new stories, themes, and ideas, like it did here with a Black man taking up Cap's shield.  With two more Marvel movies to come this year plus probably at least a series or two, we shall soon see.  In other movie news, I saw One of Them Days recently (very entertaining!) but haven't written a review yet; I hope to do a mini-review sometime soon.  With the fallout from the pandemic and the 2023 writers' and actors' strike well behind us now, I'm optimistic for the rest of 2025.  Until next time!

* By https://dam.gettyimages.com/thewaltdisneystudios/allaccess/#!asset/28ks3rpv49gp7cmxc48t8rt, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=73349947