The Best Movies and Music of 2024

One of my favorite activities at the end of the year is to ask myself, “Was this year a good year for movies? What about music?” This year has been a fantastic one for both! Since this year has been full of heavy-hitters, why limit a list to just covering one topic when I can discuss both? Here are my top five movies and top five albums of the year. 

5
Rap World
(Directors: Danny Scharar, Conner O'Malley)

Rap World a found-footage style music comedy from the hilarious and inventive minds of Conner O’Malley, Eric Rahill, and Jack Bensinger. Don't worry if you've never heard of it: it's not because you have been living under a rock. Connor O’Malley has been uploading comedy short films (and even a stand-up special) to his YouTube channel for years now, but he is not a part of the mainstream. Perhaps recognized from episodes of Joe Pera Talks With You or Tim Robinson’s hit sketch show I Think You Should Leave, O'Malley frequently writes for other projects like those; however, his labor of love seems to be his YouTube channel. And Rap World is no different. O'Malley not only acts in the project with his other partners but directs and writes for it. It offers a full look into every bit of his creative process. Rap World can be described as a long glimpse into the group of people from your hometown whom you never wanted to be around. Three man-children living in a small town in 2009 set up a home studio and try to make a rap album to define their home. The film expertly uses its short runtime to its advantage by cramming hilarious bits in almost every scene. There isn’t a moment that passes within it where I wasn’t laughing -- or about to laugh. And ultimately that’s why it lands this high on my top five of the year; it sets up an easy to understand premise and executes it incredibly well.

4
Kinds of Kindness
(Director: Yorgos Lanthimos)

Kinds of Kindness from director Yorgos Lanthimos can be described as a triptych fable of sorts. Lanthimos, also known for fantastic films such as The Lobster and Poor Things, leans into the concept. The movie stars Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe, and Jesse Plemons, all of whom deliver Lanthimos’ surreal and awkward dialogue perfectly. The three stories exist in a familiar but distant reality, and each focuses on a lack of control. Revealing more would give away too much, but know that it gets weird. Real weird. This film lands at number four because as a huge Lanthimos fan, this feels like a return to form as he is, once again, writing with his partner Efthymis Filippou. It's evident the clear development in both Lanthimos's directing style and Filippou’s writing voice as the two fuse together better -- and funnier -- than ever. Worth the shot if mainstream cinema is beginning to bore you. 

3
The Substance
(Director: Coralie Fargeat)

Here, it's my most rewatched release of 2024, The Substance. The second feature film from French extremist Coralie Fargeat includes fantastic performances from both Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley. Those performances are balanced with the film's sleekness despite the horrifying, and impressive, practical effects. Those practical effects are captured by the award-worthy cinematographer Benjamin Kračun, who never fails to impress and shock. The story follows Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore), an older Hollywood TV personality, who looks for a new life through an experimental drug after being fired from her job due to her age. It's a film that combines gross-out body horror with effective messaging about women’s treatment in Hollywood as well as the view men have of women in Hollywood. Fargeat’s sense of innovation comes through in the rather stale body horror genre. And after viewing the film three times, I believe it is safe to say it deserves it's spot here.

2
Anora
(Director: Sean Baker)

The runner up this year goes to Anora, a fantastic film by director and writer Sean Baker. You may know Sean Baker from his films The Florida Project, Red Rocket, or Tangerine. The film follows Ani, a young stripper in New York who meets and quickly marries the son of a Russian oligarch. It's when their love is challenged that everything falls apart. Sean Baker is known for representing sex workers and other marginalized groups in his films extremely well and Anora is no different. Mikey Madison, who plays Ani, exemplifies a character’s deep attributes who has a clearly troubled life. On the opposite side: her loving husband Ivan, played by the relatively new but impressive actor Mark Eydelshteyn. It's with Eydelshteyn that the film finds its comedic side. His presence is felt and heard in every scene. Which is the heart of Anora: the comedy. Baker knows how to balance a hilarity and heartbreak with a human and flawed character. Anora is Sean Baker’s magnum opus. It not only contains everything I love about his work but everything I love about movies in general. 

1
Challengers
(Director: Luca Guadagnino)

Number one goes to one of the biggest and most culturally significant movies of the year Challengers. Being a big fan of Luca Guadagnino’s previous 2022 film Bones and All, I was expecting to like this film but not love it. After al, I never was a huge fan of sports movies -- least of all tennis. Little did I know. It is not a tennis film. It's one of the most stressful, edge-of-your-seat films of the past decade. Every piece of this film -- from the editing to the acting -- captures a feeling, an emotion, and shoots that straight into you. If you watch this movie and don’t get invested, do you classify as human? Jokes aside, Challengers feels that engrossing, that vital. Ads have audiences expecting a simple sports love triangle and come out sweating almost as much as the two players. Josh O’Connor, Mike Faist, and Zendaya bring my favorite performances of the year to the screen. They do it in style. The dialogue from each have three sides. There’s an agenda to it all. And the performances are elevated by the masterful, tight direction from Guadagnino in his element here more than ever. It goes without saying that the script, written by Justin Kuritzkes, matches Guadagnino’s style so much so that the two are a match made in heaven. Challengers is an incredibly important movie. What a wonder we get to have someone like Luca Guadagnino working in(and releasing two films!) this year.

It was a major year for both movies and music -- heavy-hitters left and right. It was a year where club culture came hard and sat front and center with hits like Brat and the revival of the indie sleaze movement in New York and LA. The year was sonically dense and here are my favorite moments, bravely narrowed down to the top five.

5
The Hellp
LL

The Hellp dropped a new electroclash, club banger this year titled LL, packed full of exciting and dancey tunes the whole way through. There's a good chance that you haven't heard of The Hellp. That's intentional. Composed of Noah Dillon, a semi-famous LA music producer, photographer, and artist and Chandler Ransom Lucy, a friend of Dillon’s and the main beatmaker of the group, their style changes from project to project. LL borders between classic EDM of the early 2000s and innovative experimental electronic. They understand their talents. Dillon’s strange songwriting and delivery with lyrics like “Call your mother, call your best friend/Tell the world that you got a—, got a wingspan/Hit the back door, kiss a mailman/Tell your girls you'll be home by the weekend" almost sound nonsensical, yet create a fun vibe. The best are “Go Somewhere,”(you need to watch this music video, trust me) “Rllynice,” and “Stunn.” 

4
Charlie XCX
Brat

Charli XCX’s genre-defining electropop club banger BRAT has a massive presence. Before your mom was asking what a “brat summer” was, she was probably singing along to Charli’s tame pop hits like “Boom Clap” and “Fancy." Charli has been making fun and genre-bending music for years, but it wasn’t until 2020 that she truly grabbed my attention with the under-appreciated experimental hyperpop record How I’m Feeling Now. That record acted as a stepping stone for her to put an artsy/experimental foot forward which later shape the behemoth of an album that is BRAT. BRAT is the definition of what a club banger should be. You have Charli making some of the most catchy pop music of all time with hits like “360” and “Von Dutch,” yet she is at her most vulnerable with her performances on “Sympathy is a knife” and “I might say something stupid.” Those moments make BRAT an infinitely re-listinable experience as there is something for every emotion. In one minute, you’re seeing a haze of flashing lights in a dimly lit club; before you know it, you’re in your bed crying about losing a best friend. Charli jumps from emotion to emotion and theme to theme quicker and more slick than many artists. Charli has created a time capsule of what 2024 felt like (for people my age) while delievering a Club-Pop banger that will be around for years to come. 

3
JPEGMAFIA
I LAY DOWN MY LIFE FOR YOU

If you know me, chances are I’ve annoyed you by talking about this man too much. JPEGMAFIA's experimental hip-hop and fantastic production behind every song he’s made immediately makes him one of the greatest artists working today. Each album pushes the boundary on what hip-hop can be. His 2024 release was no different. I LAY DOWN MY LIFE FOR YOU takes a different approach by leaning more heavily into genres like rock and hardcore. Listeners can hear it plainly through JPEGMAFIA’s use of monstrous vocal noises and heavy guitars on tracks like “vulgar display of power” and “Exmilitary.” When JPEGMAFIA isn’t wowing audiences with his dense and infectious beats, he brings out his more emotional side with songs like “i recovered from this” and “either on or off the drugs," both songs show JPEGMAFIA’s range, an ability artists need. Not only that, but he makes his crowds rage and mosh while getting them calm enough to reflect. I LAY DOWN MY LIFE FOR YOU is more than just another rap record, too. It is one of JPEGMAFIA’s most impressive albums to date, likely one of the more experimental rap albums I’ve heard. I LAY DOWN MY LIFE FOR YOU is the rap album that makes people ask, “Is this even a rap album anymore?”

2
Imaginal Disk
Magdalena Bay

The remarkable synthpop duo Magdalena Bay released their second studio album Imaginal Disk which includes fantastic use of storytelling through fresh and dance-worthy pop tunes. It's true! It was the year of electronic experimentation! No album displays it as well as Imaginal Disk. The band surprises on every track to a degree that evokes irrational anger -- look, I will never make something as sonically concentrated and impressive as this album. One of the most important aspects of the it is that it's an easy recommendation to anyone. It's that well made. Songs like “Image” and “Death & Romance” could (if given enough attention) be radio hits for years due to their catchy melodies and singable choruses. When Magdalena Bay innovates the synthpop genre, it's that every song feels fresh and new to a genre that has become stale. Vocalist Mica Tenebaum sings in manner reminiscent of Grimes -- everything keeps you interested, her vocal inflections always catch you off guard. Imaginal Disk can be a difficult album to describe, though, since all that works in its favor comes from listening to it rather than recounting it: so go and listen to it already.

1
Geordie Greep
The New Sound

I'm gonna cut to the chase. The New Sound by Geordie Greep is one of the most instrumentally grand and unique albums I’ve ever heard in my entire life. Geordie Greep, former frontman of the now-defunct band Black Midi, recorded this album with over thirty professional session musicians. You can tell. It's such a piece that becomes hard to articulate how unique each track sounds. The New Sound moves from sound to sound without a single break. For example, songs like “As If Waltz” take a more frantic, romantic approach only to move into “The Magician,” a twelve-minute epic, taking its time to evolve into a grand explosion of instruments. Greep’s vocals are, at times, more interesting than the instrumentals themselves as he recreates the album’s theme and story, a man on the brink of collapse who sees his life falling apart in front of him. Greep belts out theater-like performances on songs like “As If Waltz” and “Holy, Holy." “As If Waltz” features some of the best storytelling on the album. The song is a tale of a man falling in love with a prostitute and wishing for a life more grand than the minuscule hour he spends with her. Greep lays bare in lyrics like “And to pretend I met you anywhere but here/To wish I met you anywhere but here” and “To help you in any way I can/To give you whatever you need/To put you through school/To get you a job/To bribe professors and police." While “As If Waltz” isn’t the only song that follows a story here, it’s the best exemplar of storytelling through songwriting heard in years. The New Sound shows how technically impressive an album can be while still being a fun experience, one listeners want to return to again and again.