I started the year with one resolution—watch a film everyday. I am sad to say I failed. But, instead of reflecting on my failures and judging myself, I have decided to judge the films.
In the end I managed 355 films (with some repeats). These films will first be judged in the following categories, with up to 5 nominees and one winner for each: Best New Release, Best Old(er) Movie, Best Hidden Gem, Most Confusing Plot, Most Nostalgic, Worst Film and finally Best Film.
I will then do a quick genre rundown, giving awards to only the best in each category, with no nominees. The genre awards up for grabs are: Best Action, Best Comedy, Best Festive Film, Best Horror, Best Musical and Best Romance.
To start, the Best New Release category. I have some disclaimers here: I am considering films that released in the UK in 2024 and I have not seen every film that came out this year (although I have seen over twenty-five).
The nominees are: Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Priscilla, The Holdovers, The Sweet East, and Twisters.
And the winner is… The Sweet East. This was one of my absolute favourite films I watched this year as well as my favourite new release. If you haven’t seen it yet, I highly encourage you to.
The second category, Best Old(er) Film, again comes with some disclaimers. First, my sincerest apologies if any of the nominees are younger than you. I don’t really have a strict measure for an old(er) film but I largely considered classic films, films that were one first of their kind and films older than me.
The nominees I chose are: Carrie, Casablanca, Jaws, Life of Brian, and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
My favourite, and the winner, is: Casablanca. I watched it for the first time this year and can see many rewatches in the future—I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
For the next category, Best Hidden Gem, I considered films with under 50k watchers on Letterboxd. The nominees are: Benjamin, Boiling Point (2019), Drinking Buddies, Eagle vs Shark, and Tango.
Choosing a winner here was the hardest out of all the categories because I love all the films for different reasons. I definitely recommend having a look at each of them because they are all underrated amazing films.
In the end, the winner is… Eagle vs Shark. After much struggle I decided to choose this film because it was the most unexpected delight of all of them. I had little expectation going in and thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it.
The next category has fewer nominees than the previous, though more than one would hope. If you understand these films please keep it to yourself because some of us, me, found them endlessly confusing and I’d rather not believe that I am just dumb.
Here are the nominees for Most Confusing: Donnie Darko, Practical Magic, and The Church. The winner is… Donnie Darko. I am quite ashamed so keep your judgement to yourself. I found all the time travel science impossible to understand — I still enjoyed it though.
Next up is Most Nostalgic. For this category I have considered films I first watched in my childhood and rewatched this year. The nominees are Ella Enchanted, Fantastic Mr Fox, Penelope, Tangled, and The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants.
The winner is… Ella Enchanted! This film is really a childhood classic for me and choosing it as the winner was a no brainer.
Now for one of the major categories: Worst Film. Films in the running for this category are those I rated two stars and below. The worst of these were: Damsel, I Believe in Santa, Last Christmas, Luz: The Flower of Evil, and Uglies.
It is a great honour to present I believe in Santa as the worst film I watched in 2024. That being said, please watch it! It is somehow a joy to watch something so terrible.
And finally for the Best Film category, the nominees are: Barbarian, Betty Blue, Frances Ha, I’m Not There, and The Squid and the Whale. All of these films received a five star rating for me but only one was watched twice within the year. And that one was…
Frances Ha!
I watched this one in January and it was my 13th film of the year. Throughout the year it has stood out as a favourite, and I revisited it in August as my 234th film of the year. I already can’t wait to watch it again.
Now, onto the Genre Awards.
First up is Best Action and there is only one clear contender—Kill Bill: Vol.1.
Next up, Best Comedy. This one is one of my all time favourite comfort films and it is…Bridesmaids. In my initial review for SCENE I even claimed to be the biggest Bridesmaids fan on the planet.
And now for the Best Festive Film. I’d say I am pretty qualified for this judgement, with my festive film total this year reaching 20 give or take a few—depends on whether you count films like Die Hard and Bridget Jones’s Diary. The winner, without a shadow of a doubt, is The Holdovers. I laughed, I cried, and I felt very very festive.
If you have been paying attention, the winner of the next category, Best Horror, should be obvious. It’s… Barbarian. I was spooked, horrified even.
And now for Best Musical. Really feel like I should preface this one by saying I have not yet seen Wicked so I cannot in good faith put it in the running. The winner for me has to be La La Land. Quite obvious, I fear, but it is just that good.
Finally, and I actually mean it this time, Best Romance. It’s an all time classic for me and just a really lovely film. It’s About Time.
That brings me to the end of my 2024 film awards! Hopefully this gave you some new recommendations and maybe encouraged you to embark on a similar mission. I have really enjoyed watching all these films—I may never break the habit of watching a film almost everyday.