Some Worthwhile 2024 Movies For Home Viewing

 By Len Weiler

We are charging into holiday season. Whether this means a bit of extra free time or a need for relief from seasonal tensions, we at Notes on Films are here to help with a list of nine worthy films now available for home viewing. These include two pictures not previously reviewed here,  along with some we wrote about at a point when they were available only in theaters. Even if you’ve seen one or more of these pictures in theaters, you are likely to find them just as enjoyable a second time around, perhaps sharing the joy with friends or family members.

So here goes (with newer movies listed first):

1. The Piano Lesson (2024) Only released theatrically about three weeks ago, we awarded this movie, about an African-American family in 1930s Pittsburgh, with an A rating in our November 11th review. It’s an adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning stage play by August Wilson.  Our review concluded with a strong recommendation: “Great writing. Great performances. A boldly dramatic story. Strong direction. It’s just a very solid, absorbing, intelligent and entertaining picture.”  Available on Netflix.  Link to our REVIEW.

2. Blitz  (2024) It’s September 1940, and the Nazi Luftwafe is bombing the hell out of London and other British cities. This picture, by acclaimed filmmaker Steve McQueen, is about what it was like for the people living through what became known as “The Blitz”, told through the experiences of a young mother (Saoirse Ronan) and her nine-year-old son. A third character is the heroism of the British people who nobly faced up to the raining conflagration with heart and determination. Available on Apple TV+.   Link to our 10/28/24 REVIEW.

3. The Wild Robot (2024)      Want something to watch with the kids (or not)? This is a highly lauded animated feature from DreamWorks and director Chris Sanders (The Croods, How to Train Your Dragon) based on the best-selling trilogy of Wild Robot novels for young people by Peter Brown.  Rated PG, it’s the epic adventure of a robot called Roz, shipwrecked on an island inhabited only by animals, who must learn to adapt and survive in the harsh environment, building relationships with the critters there and even becoming the adoptive parent to an orphaned gosling. The Wild Robot has an IMDB rating from viewers of 8.3 and a Metascore (from critics) of 85, both very favorable.  Brian Tallerico at RogerEbert.com wrote: “One could watch The Wild Robot with sound off entirely and still have a rewarding experience – turn it on and you have one of the best animated film of the decade.”      Available to rent on AppleTV, Amazon and other platforms at the premium price of $19.99 [as it is still showing in theaters].  Not previously reviewed on Notes on Films.

4. Emilia Perez (2024)    Winner of the Grand Jury Prize and the Best Actress award (for its ensemble of four leading actresses) at Cannes and the Outstanding Ensemble Performance award at Mill Valley FF, where it was the talk of the festival, this remarkably original movie was released theatrically in the US for only two weeks before it began streaming.  And it is like nothing else you’ve ever seen. It’s an operatic drama/melodrama/musical/thriller. The songs are not rendered in classically operatic voices, but neither are they show-stopping standout set pieces like in most American musicals.  Rather they emerge from and further the plot, voicing the thoughts and emotional responses of the characters to the twists and turns of the story. The plot concerns Manitas [Karla Sofia Gascon], a Mexican drug lord who, at the peak of his power (and wealth) decides it’s time to act on his secret, but long-held sense that he is a woman. He enlists Rita [Zoe Zaldana] a bright, young attorney to make all the arrangements – legal, medical and financial – to make this happen. This includes faking Manitas’ death, moving his wife Jessi [Selena Gomez] and kids out of the country to a secret place in Europe without their knowing why, setting up the transition surgery in Switzerland, changing his name and identity to “Emelia Perez” and so forth.  Don’t worry, though; all that is just the set-up for a complicated rest-of-the-story. While not deeply insightful, it is a super-engaging, creatively realized, wonderfully acted story.  Available exclusively on Netflix.   Not previously reviewed on Notes on Films.

5. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024)     This is the sequel, 35 years later, to the original Beetlejuice from 1988.  In our September 20th review of both movies, this update did not measure up to the original, but it was still fun – especially the big production number finale. And it has been quite popular with the ticket-buying crowd, pulling in nearly a half billion dollars (gross receipts) worldwide to date – and the fourth most popular movie of the year so far, in the US, based on ticket sales. So, if not exactly great, it is clearly entertaining.  

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice [aka Beetlejuice 2] is available to rent on AppleTV, Amazon and other platforms (about $10).   Beetlejuice 1 is available free on Max, and to rent on most streaming platforms (for around $4)   Link to our 9/20/24 REVIEW of both movies.  

6. The Outrun (2024)      The Outrun is Saoirse Ronan’s other feature film released this fall.  It’s a real showcase of her talent, possibly her best ever screen performance. It’s a close-up drama in which she plays a young woman trying to overcome an untethered alcoholic past and find a new life in sobriety by moving back to her home in the sparsely populated Orkney Islands. It’s based on a true story and it’s a must-see movie for fans of Ronan. Non-fans may become fans after seeing it. Notes on Films gave this picture an A grade.   Available to rent on most platforms at the premium price (as of 11/25/24) of $19.99 Link to our October REVIEW. 

7. Thelma (2024) This light, fun movie stars 94 -year-old June Squibb – in her first starring film role in a long acting career - as an elderly lady who gets defrauded via a phone call from a guy claiming to be her adult grandson in trouble. When she realizes her mistake, and after the police say there’s nothing they can do without more information than she has to offer, she decides to take matters into her own hands, with the reluctant help of another old-timer, played by Richard Roundtree in his final role. As our July 2024 review concluded, this film “is not a classic, but nonetheless is a well-played, well made, sweet motion picture and quite an enjoyable way to spend an evening, especially if you are in the mood for a smile.”       Available free on Hulu and for a modest rental fee on AppleTV, Amazon and many other platforms.    Link to our REVIEW. 

8. Daddio (2024) Daddio, one of my favorite movies at the Tribeca Film Festival last June,  is a two-hander starring Sean Penn as a taxi driver and Dakota Johnson as his fare.  It tells its story, which is primarily about Johnson’s character (called “Girlie” in the credits) but also, somewhat more obliquely,  about Penn’s character, Clark, through the conversation that gradually emerges between them on the long, late night trip from JFK airport to midtown Manhattan. It works because the two actors are so terrific. Penn, in particular, with a gravelly voice and a knowing, world weary attitude, is a revelation – maybe because we haven’t seem much of him over the last many years.  Daddio earned a Notes On Films grade of A- .       Available on Netflix, or for a modestly priced rental on many streaming platforms.    Link to our REVIEW.

9. Wicked Little Letters (2024) “What a treat it is to watch two of our best actresses, Olivia Coleman and Jessie Buckley, do battle in this new British comedy-drama.” So began our March 2024 review.  The film is based on an incredible but true story about a scandal that rocked a little British seaside town a century ago.  It concerns a series of very vulgar (and damn funny) poison pen letters that began mysteriously showing up in the proper, working-class town.  Coleman’s prim, religious spinster is the shocked recipient. Buckley’s coarse, young single mother neighbor is the suspect.  The film also features the talents of Timothy Spall as Coleman’s strict father and Anjana Vasan as the (very) junior woman constable, trying to crack the case. It’s a fun and funny, charming movie with heart.    Available on Netflix, or for a modestly priced rental on many streaming platforms.  Link to our REVIEW.