2024 - A Year in Viewing

2023 was a stupidly stacked year in viewing, 2024 was even more so. I set a new personal record in movies watched in a calendar year in 2024 (this is not a brag… I’m hoping to have a lower number in 2025 in order to make time for books and other Experiences).

I’ve listed my 101 favorite pre-2024 films that I watched for the first time this year, and paired each one with 4 still images from the film. This is the second year I’ve done this and it’s immensely rewarding looking at the images I’ve spent time with these past 12 months. It’s not too different from a looking at a photo album, or like an extremely detailed Letterboxd Wrapped. I didn’t write anything about the movies, I just let the images speak for themselves.

John Ford only showed up 5 times in 2024 compared to 2023’s 7 appearances (second year in a row he had 2 films in my top 4). But I did read a 700 page+ biography of the great (deeply flawed) man in the Spring.

101 Favorite first time watches 2024

*2024 releases not included

#101 - Dragged Across Concrete (S. Craig Zahler, 2018)

#100 -Tetro (Francis Ford Coppola, 2009)

#99 -The Reckless Moment (Max Ophüls, 1949)

#98 - Underworld (Josef Von Sternberg, 1927)

#97 - Predator (John McTiernan, 1987)

#96 - Basket Case (Frank Henelotter, 1982)

#95 - Tomasso (Abel Ferrara, 2019)

#94 - The Skin I Live In (Pedro Almodovar, 2011)

#93 - Never Take Sweets From a Stranger (Cyril Frankel, 1960)

#92 - Claire’s Knee (Éric Rohmer, 1970)

#91 - Lola (Jacques Demy, 1961)

#90 - Vampyros Lesbos (Jesús Franco, 1971)

#89 - Arrebato (Iván Zulueta, 1979)

#88 - Breezy (Clint Eastwood, 1973)

#87 - Happy New Year (Farah Khan, 2014)

#86 - Meantime (Mike Leigh, 1983)

#85 - Serpent’s Path (Kiyoshi Kurosawa, 1998)

#84 - The Music Room (Satyijit Ray, 1958)

#83 - A Scene at the Sea (Takeshi Kitano, 1991)

#82 - Smooth Talk (Joyce Chopra, 1985)

#81 - Has Anybody Seen My Gal? (Douglas Sirk, 1952)

#80 - Petulia (Richard Lester, 1968)

#79 - The Girl From Rio (Jesús Franco, 1969)

#78 - Through the Olive Trees (Abbas Kiarostami, 1994)

#77 - High School (Frederick Wiseman, 1968)

#76 - Remember My Name (Alan Rudolph, 1978)

#75 - Still Life (2006, Jia Zhangke)

#74 - Pompeii (Paul W.S. Anderson, 2014)

#73 - Sisters of the Gion (Kenji Mizoguchi, 1936)

#72 - A Moment of Romance (Benny Chan, 1990)

#71 - The Godfather Part III (Francis Ford Coppola, 1990)

#70 - The Talented Mr. Ripley (Anthony Minghella, 1999)

#69 - Don’t Torture a Duckling (Lucio Fulci, 1972)

#68 - Welcome to L.A. (Alan Rudolph, 1976)

#67 - A Bay of Blood (Mario Bava, 1971)

#66 - Top of the Heap (Christopher St. John, 1972)

#65 - Killer Joe (William Friedkin, 2011)

#64 - Streetwise (Martin Bell, 1984)

#63 - Fascination (Jean Rollin, 1979)

#62 - Mr. Arkadin (Orson Welles, 1955)

#61 - Zero and Ones (Abel Ferrara, 2021)

#60 - Four Sons (John Ford, 1928)

#59 - The Only Son (Yasujiro Ozu, 1936)

#58 - Pyaasa (Guru Dutt, 1957)

#57 - Night Has a Thousand Desires (Jesús Franco, 1984)

#56 - Goodbye to Language (Jean-Luc Godard, 2014)

#55 - A Hero Never Dies (Johnnie To, 1998)

#54 - Law & Order (Frederick Wiseman, 1969)

#53 - Love in the Afternoon (Éric Rohmer, 1972)

#52 - Nazarin (Luis Buñuel, 1959)

#51 - Opera (Dario Argento, 1987)

#50 - Hill of Freedom (Hong Sang-soo)

#49 - Solaris (Steven Soderbergh, 2002)

#48 - Happiness (Todd Solondz, 1998)

#47 - Dishonored (Josef Von Sternberg, 1931)

#46 - Dawn of the Dead (George Romero, 1978)

#45 - The Furies (Anthony Mann, 1950)

#44 - Comrades, Almost a Love Story (Peter Ho-Sun Chan, 1996)

#43 - Dr. T & The Women (Robert Altman, 2000)

#42 - Dangerous Encounters of the First Kind (Tsui Hark, 1980)

#41 - Steamboat Round the Bend (John Ford, 1935)

#40 - The Aviator’s Wife (Éric Rohmer, 1981)

#39 - Viridiana (Luis Buñuel, 1961)

#38 - El Sur (Victor Erice, 1983)

#37 - Letters from an Unknown Woman (Max Ophüls, 1948)

#36 - Claire’s Camera (Hong Sang-soo, 2017)

#35 - Halloween II (Rob Zombie, 2009)

#34 - The Long Gray Line (John Ford, 1955)

#33 - Life is Sweet (Mike Leigh, 1990)

#32 - Faust (F.W. Murnau, 1926)

#31 - Travolta and Me (Patricia Mazuy, 1993)

#30 - Welcome to New York (Abel Ferrara, 2014)

#29 - Secrets & Lies (Mike Leigh, 1996)

#28 - Stella Dallas (King Vidor, 1937)

#27 - Stray Dogs (Tsai Ming-liang, 2013)

#26 - Friday Night (Claire Denis, 2002)

#25 - Platform (Jia Zhangke, 2000)

#24 - Hanagatami (Nobuhiko Obayashi, 2017)

#23 - Theorem (Pier Paolo Pasolini, 1968)

#22 - Unknown Pleasures (Jia Zhangke, 2002)

#21 - 3 Bad Men (John Ford, 1926)

#20 - Awaara (Raj Kapoor, 1951)

#19 - Shanghai Blues (Tsui Hark, 1984)

#18 - Othello (Orson Welles, 1951)

#17 - A Confucian Confusion (Edward Yang, 1994)

#16 - The World (Jia Zhangke, 2004)

#15 - Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom (Pier Paolo Pasolini, 1975)

#14 - Terrorizers (Edward Yang, 1986)

#13 - The Clock (Vincent Minnelli, 1945)

#12 - The Spirit of the Beehive (Victor Erice, 1973)

#11 - Bull Durham (Ron Shelton, 1988)

#10 - There’s Always Tomorrow (Douglas Sirk, 1956)

#9 - Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (Aditya Chopra, 1995)

#8 - Celine and Julie Go Boating (Jacques Rivette, 1974)

#7 - Hotel Monterey (Hotel Monterey, Chantal Akerman, 1973)

#6 - Daisy Kenyon (Otto Preminger, 1947)

#5 - What Time Is It There? (Tsai Ming-Liang, 2001)

#4 - The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (John Ford, 1962)

#3 - Mahjong (Edward Yang, 1996)

#2 - Duvidha (Mani Kaul, 1973)

#1 - The Quiet Man (John Ford, 1952)

Bonus Nerdy Stats:

Directors with more than two appearance: John Ford (6), Jia Zhangke (4), Edward Yang (3), Éric Rohmer (3), Abel Ferrara (3), Mike Leigh (3), Jesús Franco (3)

Actors with more than two appearance: Zhao Tao (4), Wang Hongwei (4), John Wayne (3), Barbara Stanwyck (3), Chen Shiang-Chyi (3), Han Sanming (3)

Oldest Film: 3 Bad Men (1926) - John Ford

Newest Film: Zeros and Ones (2021) - Abel Ferrara

Highest Average (on Letterboxd): Streetwise - 4.3

Lowest Average (on Letterboxd): Pompeii - 2.3 (people are idiots)

Most Popular Decades:

1970s - 17 films

1990s - 15 films

1980s - 12 films

2010s - 12 films

1950s - 11 films