by Sam Christian, Staff Writer

I did not get out to the movies as much as I would have liked to this year, so instead of providing a top list of new movies, I’m going to be sharing my favorite new watches for me this year. The list is not ranked and should just be read as a top 15 movies I saw in the past year that I would recommend. 

The Pacifist (dir. Miklós Jancsó, 1970)

This year, I wanted to fill a lot of blank spots in some of my favorite directors, Miklos Jancso is one of the masters of cinema that not many people know about, which I find reprehensible. Jancso was a titan of Hungarian art cinema, his style is comprised of incredibly elaborately choreographed long shots so expertly done you never are taken out of the story by them. He was most active in the 1960s and ‘870s, and his films were usually about the political history of Hungary. The Pacifist stands out from his other work as it is set in Italy. Starring the incomparable Monica Vitti, it includes all his usual long choreographed takes, but here it is used as dreamy disorientation while Vitti’s character navigates the Italian youth protest movement.

Wings (dir. William A. Wellman, 1927)

Famous for winning the first ever Academy Award for Outstanding Picture, Wings truly holds up today. Starring the first ever “it” girl Clara Bow, and Jack Rogers, the movie is a love triangle set against the backdrop of American fighter pilots in the First World War. The inventiveness of camera movement and special effects throughout are so cool, they would look impressive for a film that had come out much later, let alone one almost a century old.

Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (dir. Russ Meyer, 1970)

This is my kind of happening and it’s freaking me out! I loved watching the swinging happenings in Beyond the Valley of the Dolls and realizing that this part of the inspiration for Austin Powers. The prototypical sexploitation feature–the usual for Russ Meyer–but I was surprised to learn that this film was written by none other than Roger Ebert. There is a skeevy atmosphere throughout, and Peppermint Alarm Clock is great fun.

Pride & Prejudice (dir. Joe Wright, 2005)

This adaptation is a solid, well-crafted movie with a stacked cast. Early on, Wright deploys a masterfully done one take shot that introduces you to Elizabeth Bennet (Kiera Knightley) and the rest of her family while she walks through her home and grounds. Following the life of the landed gentry of England is as engrossing as they are mild, their gestures of love and even interests in each other are muted and bottled up until they cannot take it anymore and give a huge proclamation of love in the rain. The performances in this are quite good, I especially loved Donald Sutherland as the aging father. Overall, Pride & Prejudice is a good romance for a lazy Sunday.

Altered States (dir. Ken Russell, 1980)

Ken Russell is at it again! After seeing some of previous films in the last couple of years like The Devils (1971) and the truly bonkers Lair of the White Worm (1988), I knew I had to seek out more of his films. Altered States is a wild ride. William Hurt plays a mad scientist trying to unlock human consciousness through a mixture of hallucinogens and isolation tanks, with the goal of discovering if human consciousness can alter the material world around him. But of course, he succeeds, but maybe he didn’t get the results he was looking for. Altered States has some incredible video effects that make this movie a real trip to watch. William Hurt is great in this as a more modern take on the mad scientist trope, and this would make a great double feature with David Cronenberg’s The Fly (1987).

Pumping Iron II: The Women (dir. George Butler, 1985)

After seeing Love Lies Bleeding (2024) earlier this year, I saw an interview with director Rose Glass describing her influences for the film, including Pumping Iron II: The Women. Having already seen and enjoyed the original Pumping Iron (1977), I knew diving into the women bodybuilding side of the culture would be interesting. This movie is so much more interesting than the first. It doesn’t just follow the contestants in the bodybuilding contest like the first movie, as there are long sessions within the judging room where we see the judges hashing out what makes a winning woman bodybuilder. Justice for Bev is all I gotta say on that matter.

Wild at Heart (dir. David Lynch, 1990)

This is by far David Lynch’s goofiest film. I love how over-the-top Nic Cage is, especially with his snakeskin jacket that represents his individuality and I love how Laura Dern is just permanently posing. Lynch is a master at having silly characters in the middle of dark and serious situations.

Candyman (dir. Bernard Rose, 1992)

RIP to Tony Todd who recently passed away this year, he played the titular Candyman, and is intensely menacing through this whole movie. Based off a Clive Barker short story, the film follows folklorists who are doing research into urban legends. Like every academic in a horror movie, they become victims to the very stories they’re studying. This movie is great for those wanting a great movie monster and a tense thrill ride. 

Teorema (English title: Theorem) (dir. Pier Paolo Pasolini, 1968)

Earlier this year, Criterion came out with an extensive box set of Pier Paolo Pasolini’s work. After going through most of the movies in the box set, Teorema is my favorite of the bunch. Teorema shares themes with the films of Luis Bunuel, mostly the themes of the depravities od the aristocracy, particularly The Discreet Charms of the Bourgeoisie (1972), or The Exterminating Angel (1962). The movie follows a mysterious young man (Terrance Stamp) as he seduces an entire wealthy family, and I’ll leave the rest is for you to discover. 

Faust (dir. F. W. Murnau, 1926)

F. W. Murnau’s film Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927) also won an award at the first Oscars for artistic achievement, a category that was nixed the next year. Murnau is by far my favorite silent film director. Along with Sunrise and other phenomenal dramas, he is most known for his horror classic Nosferatu (1922). For the longest time I’ve had a Blu-ray copy of his rendition of the Faust story, so I thought this year was the year to watch it and I am so glad I did. Every scene is steeped in exaggerated shadows that German Expressionism is known for. That is a direct inspiration for the devil in the “Night on Bald Mountain” section of Disney’s Fantasia.  Faust is a sight to behold and is perfect the next time spooky season rolls around.

Inherent Vice (dir. Paul Thomas Anderson, 2014)

It isn’t groovy to be insane! This movie is incredible. Based on the Thomas Pynchon novel, Paul Thomas Anderson and a star studded cast we follow private investigator Doc Sportello (Joaquin Phoenix) navigate the seedy underground of a post-Manson Los Angeles. This rambling and twisting plot takes you through real estate, drugs, cults, wellness centers, doped up dentists, mysterious drug running schooners, hippies, squares and everything in between. Inherent Vice is hilariously acted and is a great noir farce and worth checking out time and time again.

Inside Llewyn Davis (dirs. Joel and Ethan Coen, 2013)

‘Been down so long it looks like up to me’ perfectly describes the character of Llewyn Davis (Oscar Isaac), a folk singer on the precipice of Bob Dylan taking the genre across the country. We follow Davis as he bops around New York looking for work, getting work, making bad business decisions, trying to cut records, and following opportunities as a jaded musician, who while works incredibly hard is one of those people that success just won’t attach itself to.

A Serious Man (dirs. Joel and Ethan Coen, 2009)

2024 was a year where I really wanted to fill in some blanks I have, and from the Coen Brothers, I had only not seen Inside Llewyn Davis, Intolerable Cruelty (which I will save for another year) and A Serious Man . I loved this movie, I love how the main character—played by Michael Stuhlbarg–is portrayed as the most passive man to ever have lived, and we just follow him through a few months of his life where bad things just happen to him, and sometimes that’s just the way the world is. This is a very fun look at suburban life in the late 1960’s as well. Just an all-around solid drama. 

Female Trouble (dir. John Waters, 1974)

“Who wants to die for art?” I am so glad I finally got around to Female Trouble. Its almost as great as Pink Flamingoes (1972) and almost as filthy, but not quite. The movie follows the life of a bratty Dawn Davenport a highschooler played by the adult actress Divine, who runs away from home after not getting cha-cha heels for Christmas and descends into a life of crime with her girl gang, robbing banks in hilarious ski masks that have plenty of room for their huge Beehive hairdos. this quickly became a top 5 John Waters movie for me. Gross, Filthy and Divine. 

Punishment Park (dir. Peter Watkins, 1971)

Punishment Park is a phenomenal thriller filmed in the style of a documentary, showing a not so distant future (the mid ‘70s) where people are punished not for doing crimes but preemptively rounded up for their political leanings (left leaning) just in case they may do something radical. They are set in front of a tribunal of wealthy right wing people and offered to either go to prison or earn their freedom at the end of Punishment Park where they get hunted by the police in the middle of the desert. This film is a much watch and is a great primer for the rest of Peter Watkins films.