After declaring last year that I would attempt every year to see every single nominee at the Oscars before the ceremony (or as many as possible given the accessibility), two things dismantled my goal: One, Matteo Garrone’s nominated International Feature Io Capitano took months to show up on VOD and by the time it did, I completely forgot it existed, and still to this day haven’t seen it. Two, most of the Oscar-nominated shorts are not worth investing the time and energy to watch. Nothing against these filmmakers, most of which are just starting their careers, but it is just so rare to find a truly great nominated short film and most of them disappear from the brain shortly after viewing. That’s just my bias, so going forward, I’ve decided to commit to my goal… but just for the features. And I finished recently! So here we go…

1. Nickel Boys (Ramell Ross)

Filmed entirely through first-person perspective, and blending archival footage, documents, and experimental cinematic choices, Ramell Ross has achieved a monumental leap forward in how we tell stories through film. It’s bizarre to hear some critics and audiences polarized by the stylistic choice on display as I found it to be the most overwhelming emotional experience of the year.

2. Memoir of a Snail (Adam Elliot)

Adam Elliot’s genius second feature about a young girl caught up in a terrible life-long circumstance and her brother, who somehow has it even worse. Yes, this is intentionally miserable and often viscerally upsetting. But it’s also hilarious, brilliant, alluring, surprising, uplifting, and had me open-mouth sobbing by the end. A true piece of art and the best animated film of the year.

3. Dune Part II (Denis Villeneuve)

Denis Villeneuve’s epic second-half adaptation of Frank Herbert’s massive novel, is one of the best blockbusters of the decade, expertly weaving thrilling, jaw-dropping spectacle with challenging moral themes of religious fanaticism and a tragic dismantling of the hero’s journey.

4. No Other Land (Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal, Vuval Abraham, & Basel Adra)

There’s maybe no more important film released this year in terms of world change. Those intentionally dismissing this as antisemitic or even one-sided couldn’t be further from the truth. This is a necessary, soul-shattering depiction of the importance of communication and understanding.

5. Black Box Diaries (Shiori Ito)

A feat of cinematic journalism, Ito goes above and beyond to document and bring to justice her own sexual assault despite Japan’s outdated laws doing everything to work against her. Every moment of this is heart-pounding, riveting, and its conclusion is absolutely gratifying.

6. The Brutalist (Brady Corbet)

You will not see a better film this year than the first half of The Brutalist. That’s not to say the second half doesn’t work, it works tremendously, but not without some stumbles. Beyond that overall, Brady Corbet has crafted a film that feels ripped from the age of 1970s American epics. Adrien Brody’s performance is towering and Felicity Jones gives her career-best performance as well.

7. Anora (Sean Baker)

In this chaotic, hysterical, and ultimately heartbreaking “real” version of Pretty Woman, Sean Baker directs a pitch-perfect ensemble of witless goons, a rich Russian family, and a star-making lead performance by Mikey Madison in a film as intense as Dog Day Afternoon and as hilariously brash as My Cousin Vinny.

8. The Substance (Coralie Fargeat)

Back in May when this premiered at Cannes, there wasn’t even a thought that The Substance and Oscar would be in the same sentence outside of wishful thinking, but here we are! In what will undoubtedly be remembered years from now as one of the best body-horror films of all time, Fargeat’s demented Hollywood story centered on beauty standards and self-hatred makes a star out of Margaret Qualley and resurrects the career of Demi Moore, reminding us why she was a star in the first place. The third act is bonkers in all the right ways, though personally, it trends just a dash too silly, but that’s a minor nitpick in what is ultimately the grossest and most talked-about horror movie in years.

9. I’m Still Here (Walter Salles)

Fernanda Torres’ brilliantly subtle and devastating work elevates an already powerhouse true-story about a country in turmoil, forced into evil government control, and a woman’s decades-long fight to reclaim justice for her wrongly-imprisoned husband. What Torres is able to do silently with just her face is mesmerizing.

10. Nosferatu (Robert Eggers)

Crafted to gothic, wintery perfection, Eggers’ long-awaited passion project is brought to life to brilliantly spooky effect. With Dickensian production design and perfectly-calibrated-to-the-era performances, the 1922 silent film is lovingly recreated for modern day audiences. Not my favorite Eggers (that remains The Lighthouse), but a worthy achievement.

11. Better Man (Michael Gracey)

The best musical of the year and maybe the most underrated film as well? After the squeaky-clean, stale phenomenon that was The Greatest Showman, Michael Gracey delivers a ginormous step up with breathtaking musical sequences, stunning visuals, soaring energy, and genuine emotional resonance in the telling of polarizing but uber-popular UK singer Robbie Williams’ life, where he is geniusly portrayed as a chimpanzee. The “Rock DJ” sequence had me levitating out of my theater seat.

12. Conclave (Edward Berger)

A perfectly tight and deliciously fun papacy thriller about the election of a new Pope, filled with secrets, lies, backstabbing, conspiracy, and religious and moral debates. A barn-burner of a script with a pretty gobsmacking final twist, it may be too silly for some, but as an adult thriller, it’s the perfect type of film to finally get senior citizens to the multiplex and leave them talking.

13. A Different Man (Adam Schimberg)

Schimberg’s vision for this is immediately strange and alluring, with a script so full of surprises and dark humor, it does manage to successfully navigate a pretty obvious message. Sebastian Stan is brilliant as a man freed of physical deformity, begging for acceptance and success with his new life while Adam Pearson is a bolt of lightning/shot of tequila as his new opposite.

14. Flow (Gints Zilbalodis)

Albeit some plain character animation, this 80-minute silent animated film is a visual explosion of serene imagery, one that thrives on building a story through the companionship and cooperation of a group of animals through an environmental disaster, led by the cutest little black cat. It’s as stripped down and simple as it can be yet lands huge emotive highs.

15. The Wild Robot (Chris Sanders)

An admittedly manipulative but gorgeously animated Dreamworks tale about a robot learning motherhood through her relationship with a baby goose amongst a forest full of creatures. While it can lay itself on a bit thick, the way it navigates its relationships with its cast of characters and build on mature themes of overcoming differences to work together is ultimately too heartfelt and enjoyable to dismiss.

16. Sing Sing (Greg Kwedar)

It so easily could slip into being a just a cinematic PSA, but it’s so well shot on 16mm, so incredibly well-acted (as it should be, given the content) and is so expertly sympathetic. This eye-opening drama about finding expression through performance within the prison system didn’t break the waterworks quite like (a perfect 2024 companion piece to this) Daughters did, but the cast is remarkable.

17. A Real Pain (Jesse Eisenberg)

Eisenberg continues to impress as a director with his second feature, teaming up onscreen with Keiran Culkin who delivers a live-wire turn as his wildcard cousin with heavy emotional baggage. Sharp writing and a deeply felt respect for Jewish heritage add great perspective and purpose to this familial bonding experience through Poland. It’s a lean film that passes by ultimately too quickly to land the gut-punch effect it’s going for, but it does harness just enough resonance to succeed.

18. The Girl With The Needle (Magnus von Horn)

This unexpectedly horrifying film inspired by true events is stunningly captured in dreary old-school black and white and features two haunting performances by Trine Dyrholm and Vic Carmen Sonne. The first half is slow and languid, and its extreme bleakness can be a challenge, but the shock of the second half (if you aren’t familiar with the real history) woke me the f*** up.

19. Wicked (Jon M. Chu)

Jon M. Chu delivers a triumphant and epic vision of Oz in this overlong Broadway (first-half) adaptation infused with a love for its theatre origins and dedication to pleasing its fans. Due to its broken structure, certain story threads don’t get their proper due, but the musical numbers go as big as cinematically possible, with a perfect ensemble cast of brilliant singers, which is ultimately the only thing it needs to do. The ultimate mic drop is not just Cynthia Erivo’s voice during “Defying Gravity”, it’s the sound mixer that got to blast the volume on her final note.

20. Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl (Merlin Crossingham & Nick Park)

A very satisfying new entry for our favorite claymation friends featuring a long-awaited resurrection of one of cinema’s most terrifying villains, Feathers McGraw. It’s not the freshest or funniest film in this duo’s franchise, but it’s undeniably charming and the narrowboat finale is genuinely an impressive feat of stop motion animation.

21. A Complete Unknown (James Mangold)

Somewhat a unconventional music biopic, Mangold’s second go at reinterpreting the life of a famous singer for the big screen smartly focuses on the music, understanding Dylan through his career, and not his personal struggles, leaving him an enigma for the audience. It can be a meandering sit, like watching one long concert, but it’s also refreshing to see a film resist temptation to add sympathy for its subject. Chalamet plays Dylan note-perfect, Norton is a joy to watch as Pete Seeger, but Monica Barbaro is scene-stealing as the captivating Joan Baez.

22. Sugarcane (Emily Kassie & Julian Brave NoiseCat)

A restrained and empathetic documentary recounting the history of Native American lives that had been corrupted by abuse within the Catholic church. Its quiet and infuriating, although it can be a bit of a slow-burn watch. Necessary and vital all the same.

23. The Apprentice (Ali Abbasi)

The tightrope of making a biopic about Donald Trump released on the arrival of his re-election could not have been more thin, but Ali Abbasi finds a way to crack the humanity in the world’s most divisive human being, acknowledging his faults, his monstrosity, his tragedies in a way that does ultimately understand how he was created to be the figure he would become. It’s an uneasy sit, with even some queasy cinematography, but worth a look for Sebastian Stan’s incredibly studied performance, no matter what your feelings are on Trump. (He’s bad!!)

24. The Seed of the Sacred Fig (Mohammad Rasoulof)

First two thirds border on masterful, last third… yeah, I get the critiques. Just kind of crescendos into an entirely different movie, one that is built up from everything introduced but just shifts into a different gear that I don’t think totally lands. But I was pretty tense for the entirety of it. It’s pretty compelling for its entire 3 hours. Also just a miracle it got made in the first place and that Rasoulof is safe.

25. Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat (Johan Grimonprez)

Halfway through watching, I had to pause due to the intense flood of rapid-fire information this film hits you with just to take a breather. It’s an incredible feat of editing, hard to fathom sorting through this footage and gathering all the details to what feels almost impossible to contain in one film. It’s appropriately exhausting, but an eye-opening retelling of the corrupt involvement in the fall of a leader and the intentional employment of jazz artists by the the United States government.

26. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (Wes Ball)

It impresses most by being an incredible showcase of digital WETA effects, with fully CG characters and environments almost as impressive as the work in Avatar. This continuation of the series post-Caesar trilogy introduces a fascinating concept of the bastardization of religious history, and it’s nice to have a blockbuster more interested in its brains than its muscles, though admittedly, it can be a little long in the tooth.

27. Gladiator II (Ridley Scott)

Yes, comparatively, it never reaches the heights of the original, but Scott wisely tricks us with this long-delayed sequel’s premise: introducing Lucius treading the same path as Maximus that leads you to believe this will just be a copy-paste sequel, but with it, opening up a larger political landscape and the fight for control with a handful of deliciously-performed villains led by Denzel Washington. Scott embraces pure lunacy for entertainment, and if you can just let go, it’s the type of spectacle I wish we got more of.

28. Alien: Romulus (Fede Alvarez)

As a stylistic combination of Ridley Scott and James Cameron’s two original films, it often feels like the Universal Studios ride version of an Alien film, but that sort of escapism in a packed theatre at the end of summer just felt right. While it suffers from a few unnecessary nods to the previous films, for the most part Alvarez just nails the scares, gore, and thrills that will hopefully keep this franchise going.

29. September 5 (Tim Fehlbaum)

A crisply-made true-life thriller that works great as a taut 90 minute chamber piece, though the commitment to its premise doesn’t quite allow us to connect to the characters. It’s tough to know if its choice to remain apolitical strengthens or weakens it. It works best as a companion piece to Spielberg’s Munich, though you might as well just watch Munich.

30. Maria (Pablo Larrain)

The weakest of his “famous woman trilogy”, Maria is still a heartfelt portrait of Maria Callas, passionately performed by Angelina Jolie and shot brilliantly by Ed Lachman. It just can’t quite get inside us her head the way Larrain was able to with Diana and Jackie.

31. Emilia Perez (Jacques Audiard)

The awards season villain of the year, this French-made, Spanish language rock opera is a throw every gonzo idea at the wall until it collapses. What I will defend is Audiard’s vision, which I found often spellbinding and invigoratingly chaotic. What I won’t defend is its script’s earnest stupidity.

32. Inside Out 2 (Kelsey Mann)

Outside of a handful of creative new additions and a further development into the growth of Riley, this sequel is funny and charming, but also noticeably a step down from the original due to its premise unable to avoid rehashing plot points.

33. Porcelain War (Brendan Bellomo & Slava Leontyev)

It’s saved by its extraordinary first-person on the ground footage during the ongoing war in Ukraine, but unfortunately gets incredibly lost in the sauce trying to balance that with its commentary on the importance of preserving art.

34. Elton John: Never Too Late (R.J. Cutler & David Furnish)

A sloppy puff-piece documentary that feels less informative and less purposeful about Elton John than his own narrative biopic Rocketman (2019), which almost never is the case usually. I love Elton to death, but this was clearly made to promote a new song and little else.

35. The Six Triple Eight (Tyler Perry)

I don’t mean to roast Perry too hard, he has overall been a net-positive in employing black talent and boosting the economy with a massive haul of projects that get made under his name, but you may not see a worse directed film in 2024, with performances all over the place, camera angles not even in the right place, color grading that alters between shots, with his overbearing script only achieving a few moments of competent emotional beats. Diane Warren’s nomination was another eyeroll, but it’s also her best nominated work in a decade, so go figure.