This has been a great year for movies of all kinds– thrillers, romcoms, documentaries, even musicals. My criteria for my favorites is that the movie that has to either make me weep, stick with me for days after, or both. The five films below all qualify. And to get a sense of how long I’ve been compiling these lists, check out my favorite films from 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024.
To a land unknown: This story of two Palestinian cousins trying desperately to hustle their way out of the outskirts of Athens and on to Germany is as tense as a thriller, also doubling as a character study of two very different individuals. A story of refugees outside of a refugee camp, a story of Palestinians outside of Palestine, and a story whose protagonists aren’t saints- it’s a rarity. The acting by Mahmood Bakri as Chatila and Aram Sabbah as Red is extraordinary. A modern take on Midnight Cowboy, “To a land unknown” is an intense and moving experience.
Sorry, Baby: Eva Victor wrote, directed, and starred in this simple, affecting story about Agnes, a woman whose life as a grad student in a small town is turned upside down by a traumatic event. It also includes one of the loveliest depictions of friendship I’ve seen in the movies in a long time. As the years pass, Agnes gains distance from what happened, maintaining her fierce sense of self, along with her bond with her best friend Lydia, played by Naomi Ackie. Agnes speaking to her newborn goddaughter at the end of the film is delicate, heartbreaking, and touching. “Sorry, Baby” was a lovely portrait of found family and the ties that bind.
One battle after another: I’m not alone in loving this 10th film by Paul Thomas Anderson, and I’ll admit, I was baffled when I heard he was doing an action film about political revolutionaries. On the surface, it seems to have nothing to do with his previous movies. However, if there is a through-line of his protagonists, from Dirk Diggler to Daniel Plainview and now to Leonardo DiCaprio’s Bob Ferguson, it’s an outsider chafing against the constraints of normalcy, making their way the best they can. The cinematography, from Teyana Taylor’s pregnant, gun-toting revolutionary, to an epic escape sequence through Benicio Del Toro’s dojo/underground railroad, culminating in a dizzying car chase through the California desert, is all gorgeous. The political overtones, from revolution to bigotry, are timely, and the performances are outstanding, especially from Chase Infiniti and Sean Penn.
Train dreams: Before recommending this movie to a friend, I asked her, “Do you like Terrence Malick”? If you don’t, “Train dreams” is not for you. But if you love the meditative pace, the reflection on people’s place in nature, and the impact of one man’s small life in a changing world, then you’ll appreciate this movie. You may even find yourself moved to tears as you realize the totality of everything that Robert, played by Joel Edgerton, has seen and felt in his long life. Bonus points to Bryce Dessner for a gorgeous score that matches the lush Pacific Northwest setting.
Sinners: There is a scene in the last half of this movie, when the juke joint that twin brothers Smoke and Stack fought to open is finally filled with people dancing, boozing (you could say sinning), when the blues music playing gives way to African rhythms of the past to funk to hip hop to come in the future in one mesmerizing sequence. This is the scene that gave me goosebumps and stayed with me for days after, along with the music itself, the shots of rural Mississippi rolling by a car with the top down, and two electrifying performances by Michael B. Jordan as the protagonists. It’s well done, and it’s a lot of fun.
Honorable mention: I continue my cinematic education by watching movies most nights of the week, whether in the theaters or at home. Two of many movies that were new to me that stood out as absolutely gorgeous, memorable, original, and maddening, were “Incendies”, Denis Villeneuve’s first film, and “2001: A Space Odyssey”, Stanley Kubrick’s first movie. They both broke me open and left me dumbstruck on my couch. I replaying their brilliance in my head for days after the first viewing. That’s what a great movie can do.
The Lebanexican 