In 2024, I watched 620 movies. Though, I am sure over the year, I forgot a few movies to add to my Letterboxd.com account.  About a sixth of those movies were ones released in 2024.  The death of RedBox seems to have hurt the amount of new movies I watched in 2024.  The following are the 10 2024 movies I enjoyed the most.  This are listed in alphabetical order.

A sequel decades in the making. My daughter loved this movie so much she is now a huge Beetlejuice fan. As for me, I liked the original, yet I never really loved it. So how did the sequel hit me this time? Overall, I enjoyed this movie. There are only things that hit me wrong. The parts/roles/subplots of Willem Dafoe and Justin Theroux were unnecessary, not interesting, not funny and a general waste of time. That is shocking to me, because I generally love everything Dafoe does in movies.

So now the negative is out of the way. Let’s talk about the positive. I really liked how the story connected the movie together. Michael Keaton is amazing as Beetlejuice this time. He was the best part of Part 1 and he remains the best part of Part 2. The supporting cast is also good in their roles (minus the previous mentioned ones). Movie does a good job of action, drama and comedy. Movie looks good in the Tim Burton way. Final thought: I would re-watch this one in the near future.

Alright, I am so many reviews behind here on Letterboxd.com. I have watched the movies, yet have not gotten my reviews on yet. I blame the fact that I am a school teacher. That being said, I just finished watching Carry-On. Full disclosure…I am a huge Jason Bateman fan. I have heard every Smartless podcast. This was the 39th Bateman movie I have watched.

So…what about the movie? This is clearly a Die Hard rip off. Almost nothing was unique and contained plot twists that have been seen many times before. Taron Egerton get the John McClane role. Bateman has the Hans Gruber role. The cat and mouse game between the two is the best part of the movie. Both do well in their roles. Bateman makes for a good villain. There are some impressive action scenes. The best takes place in a car travel 70 mph while the two in the car fight. The finale is the weakest part of the movie, but I suspect many will like the ending. Final thought: Not a great movie, but a fun thriller of a movie.

After seeing the trailer on this one, I have to say I had no idea where this movie was going. Zendaya gives one of her best performances in this movie. I enjoyed watching the movie unfold. I do confuse, I am not a big fan of the ending. The tennis action is believable. The acting is good across the board. The ending, kept me from thinking this was a great movie.

When this first came out on Netflix it got some pretty bad reviews. A couple weeks later and it sits at 6.1 on IMDb. I was pleasantly surprised by Damsel. Millie Bobby Brown is good in the lead role. Robin Wright plays a good villain. I thought the special effects were good. I liked how the movie wrapped things up. I just liked this movie and would watch it again.

Why I watched this one? Though Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine is not a favorite, I did enjoy Ryan Reynolds first two Deadpool movies. Plus my 17-year-old requested to see it.

What is this one about? Deadpool is offered a place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe by the Time Variance Authority, but instead recruits a variant of Wolverine to save his universe from extinction.

My thoughts? This is a very funny movie. I lost count of how many times I laughed out loud. Normally movies do not get me to laugh. The plot twists and turns are very enjoyable. The cameos/extended appearances are a blast. I liked all the parts of the movie….the beginning, the middle and the end. A few jokes do not land, and those jokes get tried numerous times in the movie. In some ways, I hope this is the last one for our stars. Leave at a peak. Final thought: Worth seeing!

On our website, UltimateMovieRankings.com, Dune 2 is the highest rated movie of 2024 so far. Is it worthy of that spot? I think the greatest compliment I can give the movie is the fact that an almost 3-hour movie flew by. This is an exciting, fast paced adventure. Timothee Chalamet is awesome in the lead role…particularly in the last 30 minutes of the movie. The cast is stacked and great in their roles. Not being a big Dune fan, I thought this was going to wrap up the story. So, at first when I realized their was more story to tell I was slightly disappointed. Now, I am looking forward to seeing Dune 3.

So, let’s do a quick run down of Mad Max movies. Mad Max 1 is a classic. Mad Max 2 is even better. Mad Max 3 has some good moments, but the PG rating killed that movie. Mad Max 4, Fury Road, was not a favorite for me. It looked great, but had no story. Now comes Mad Max 5 or Furiosa 2.

Easily the best part of the movie is Chris Hemsworth. This is my favorite Hemsworth performance yet. The way the movie looks is incredible. The action is of course awesome. I liked the story, mainly because it had one. Anya Taylor-Joy is believable as the younger Charlize Theron.

Issues with movie? The action scenes get a little redundant. There is no Mad Max in the movie….though we do get a Mad Max Light version, maybe even two. The movie is very very long. At times, I looked at the clock as I wondered when the movie was going to end.

Final thoughts: I would say, this is either my second favorite or third favorite Mad Max movie. I would watch this again, though I will break it down into smaller size bites.

Why I watched this one? Glen Plummer is becoming one of my favorite actors. Richard Linklater has also directed very solid movies.

What is this one about? A professor moonlighting as a hit man of sorts for his city police department, descends into dangerous, dubious territory when he finds himself attracted to a woman who enlists his services.

My thoughts on this one? Loved this movie. It is a very original take on hitmen, rom-coms and screwball comedies. The leads, Plummer and Adria Arjona, are awesome together. The plot twists are fun to watch. There is a scene, near the end that revolves around a cell phone, that is now one of my all-time favorite scenes. Final thought: Watched this with three other adults, and we all loved it!

What is this one about? A US Army special forces unit is ambushed during a mission to retrieve an intelligence asset and their only remaining hope lies with a remote Air Force drone operator assisting them through a brutal 48-hour battle for survival.

Why I watched it? Free from my library, I generally watch everything Mr. Russell Crowe makes.

My thoughts on this one? This was way better than I was expecting. Liam Hemsworth does all the action. Crowe, looking very very big, is his eyes in the sky. The action is stage well. Movie creates some decent emotion. Crowe is good as Reaper….especially in the last 10 minutes of the movie. Final thought: Good action flick that has some heart.

This one is based on a true story. It revolves a hairdresser (Hilary Swank) who single-handedly rallies an entire community to help a widowed father (Alan Ritchson) save the life of his critically ill young daughter. Swank is good in the lead role. Ritchson is even better as the dad. Ritchson who is best known for his role on tv’s Jack Reacher shines as the father who is at the end of his rope. Yes, the movie pulls on the viewer’s emotional string often, but I really enjoyed this one.

My final spot was between Ordinary Angels and Inside Out 2.  For Pixar fans, Inside Out 2 got edged out at the end.