2024 Year in Review Part 2: Movies

In part 1, I gave some background information on how this year in review came about and covered what I was reading. Now I venture onto movies. I watched at least 70 over the year. I’m obviously not going to go into all of them, but here are some of the ones I want to highlight.

Because of my new-found interest in Quantum Leap (1989) – see the television section – I started going back over the performances of leads Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell. Some of them were repeats, but there were a few new ones. In total, Dean wins out with 11 movies that I watched or rewatched (including my favorite, Married to the Mob), and Scott had 8. For completion, Michael Sheen had 3 movies, Martin Freeman had only 1 (it was Miller’s Girl and had some Choices ™) and I re-watched Ruthless People because I got to talking about how for a brief time in the late 80s, I had a crush on Judge Reinhold. (It holds up surprisingly well, and I can’t believe it’s Bill Pullman’s first movie.)

For Dean, I re-watched Compulsion, based on the stage play that also starred Dean Stockwell, and – considering it was made in 1959 – is pretty gay. (And I apparently have a thing for Psychopath!Dean.) Which – speaking of psychologically-related Dean Stockwell movies – I either watched or re-watched Sons and Lovers as well (can’t remember if that was one of the media I consumed the LAST time I was hyperfocused on Quantum Leap).

I also re-watched the delightfully cheesy The Langoliers, a two-part telemovie that made me joke that I want to be Dean Stockwell’s eyebrows. (Have you SEEN HIM in Dune???) It’s … not good – at all – but for some reason, I find it endearing. As I wrote on BlueSky, “It’s cheesy AF, and Bronson Pinchot should be put on a diet with how much he chews the scenery, but it’s got Dean Stockwell as the King expy character and for some reason I love it.”

And speaking of cheesy Dean Stockwell films (he’s got a lot of them), I rewatched the 1970 version of The Dunwich Horror (which you have GOT to read Glen Weldon’s write up of his first time watching this: it is hilarious) and then ventured into watching the 2009 version for the first time, which is – somehow – even worse. But hey – it’s got Dean shooting lightning from his fingertips AND using a shotgun. (Quote of the movie: after the main character is told the location of the Necronomicon: “Do you have a zip code for that? So I can type it into my MapQuest?”)

As for Scott, since I’m talking about hilariously cheesy films, I also re-watched Lord of Illusions. (Which – it has JEFFREY COMBS in it???) I’m pretty sure the last time I saw it was during that time in 2000-2002 when I was LAST obsessed with Quantum Leap. This time around, it was a fun watch because it actually takes place in Los Angeles, so they don’t hide the various filming locations. It also has a segment that supposedly takes place at the Magic Castle, which I’ve been to twice – the second of which was this year (for more on that, go to my personal update). So watching it as someone knowledgeable about that sort of stuff, it was a fascinating re-watch.

For the movie that I’d probably put as my favorite of the year, I have to give it to Scott’s Role of a Lifetime. As I wrote in my review of it, I don’t know whether to curse or thank the friend who brought it to my attention. I could not stop laughing and am so glad I found it.

Then there was Basmati Blues, a take on Bollywood with Brie Larson that has Scott in it for maybe five minutes. Despite it being a musical, he only sings once (! that’s like Disney casting Idina Menzel in Enchanted and not having her sing at ALL!). But it was a sweet movie that I was glad I watched.

Speaking of movies Scott is hardly in but are still sweet and ones I’m glad I watched, in Geography Club, he plays the dad of a student that gets pulled into a club at school that is publicly the geography club (hence the title) but is actually a club for LGBT-identifying students too nervous to start an actual LGBT club.

That’s a great segue to my queer movie genre. Among my viewing, I watched the (incredibly depressing) All of Us Strangers (Andrew Scott is brilliant in this, as always), I Saw the TV Glow (which absolutely wrecked me: I highly recommend it, but make sure you’re in the right headspace), Strange Way of Life (Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal have massive chemistry in this), and re-watched The Old Guard (I’m so looking forward to the sequel).

In movie adaptations, I highly enjoyed Spielberg’s adaptation of The Color Purple (the musical). If I’ve seen the original one, it was when I was young enough to not appreciate the story and haven’t read the book it’s based on (although I have read Possessing the Secret of Joy, which is in that universe). I also was thankfully impressed with Wicked, Part I (enough to where I watched it twice, because for reasons not important, the first time was without Kate).

2024 was a pretty stressful year, and there were a few movies I re-watched just to sooth my emotions. In the Good Old Summertime, Summer Stock, Popeye, Rifftrax Live: Space Mutiny, The Holiday (I will forever be upset that they let Jude Law’s character have sex, but not Jack Black’s), The Replacements (in lieu of the Superbowl: despite technically being ‘anti-union’, it’s a fun movie that has some great laughs), and Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (this is such a gleeful movie and ‘feels’ like a D&D campaign – also, Chris Pine has such great comedic timing).

In the ‘what the fuck did I just watch?’ category, there was Dicks: The Musical (it was somehow both compelling and stupid at the same time), Hot Frosty (which was surprisingly sweet), Hundreds of Beavers (an absolutely beaver-shit crazy movie), and The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (Nicholas Cage just Nicholas Cageing it up).

In documentaries, I watched one on Reading Rainbow, Jim Henson, a four hour takedown of Disney’s Star Cruiser on YouTube, and one on M*A*S*H.

Then there are the ones that didn’t quite fit into any of the above categories, but I felt needed to be mentioned. Wolfwalkers was a glorious piece of animation with a great story. And Next Goal Wins was absolutely delightful sports movie (which for someone who’s not that into sports, I apparently like a lot of movies that have sports in them).

Finally, I wrote reviews of three films for The Geekiary and one for my personal blog. The highlight is that when I posted my review of Deadpool & Wolverine on BlueSky, Hugh Jackman liked the post! I watched a screener for the horror movie I Will Never Leave You Alone for an interview with the lead, and I described it as ‘intensely traumatic’. I watched and interviewed the writer/director of Witchy Ways, but haven’t written it up yet (it also goes into the queer category).

My overall recommendations from 2024: I Saw the TV Glow, Wolfwalkers, and Role of a Lifetime – with a hat tip to I Will Never Leave You Alone if you like horror.