The 2024 Random Awards! Celebrating the Best Movies, Moments, Swimming Pools and Performances of 2024
The 2024 Random Awards are here! It’s been a fun year for cinema and I had a great time putting together a plethora of random awards that will hopefully put a smile on your face and introduce you to some cool movies. Enjoy!
Before you get to the awards, here are my favorite films of 2024. I included them in my list because they feature excellent acting, memorable moments, and feel like the creators genuinely loved creating them.
Best Bike Riding During a Zombie Apocalypse Award – MadS
Watching Laurie Pavy cruising around town while turning into a zombie is one of my favorite 2024 moments.
Best Town Meeting Award – Evil Does Not Exist
Evil Does Not Exist is one of my favorite 2024 films and the town meeting scene is a big reason why. Watch it!
Best Hoarding of Snail Memorabilia Award – Memoir of a Snail
I haven’t been able to shake Memoir of a Snail from my thoughts and I’ve actually considered starting a snail collection.
Best Gooey and Squishy Noises Award – The Substance
The sound editing, sound mixers and foley artists got put to work while making and editing The Substance. There’s an absurd amount of squishy noises.
Most Badass Actor Award – One-Percent Warrior
One-Percent Warrior is a cheeky and meta film about an actor who uses a fighting method called “Wave” to destroy dozens of unlucky villains. Watch it!
Best Concrete Award – The Brutalist
The Brutalist might be the most ambitious films of 2024 and I love all of its big ideas and architecture.
Best Online Poker Award – Red Rooms
You will never watch a more stressful game of online poker in your life.
Best Wrestling Match Inside a Hotel Room – Babygirl
Nicole Kidman is a force of nature in Babygirl and it’s fun watching her engage in an odd wrestling match with Harris Dickinson inside a dirty hotel room.
Best Usage of Monopoly Board Games Award – Heretic
Hugh Grant’s Monopoly monologue is hilarious and brilliant. I’m happy he got nominated for a Golden Globe for his performance in Heretic.
Best Placement of Rocks Award – A Real Pain
When it comes to placing rocks near doorsteps, A Real Pain wins the 2024 award.
Best Quiet Performance of the Year Award – Small Things Like These
I’d love to see Cillian Murphy win all the awards for his quiet and perfectly calibrated performance in Small Things Like These.
Best Usage of Sharks in a Movie not About Sharks Award – Gladiator II
Sharks! Catapults! Front kicks! Gladiator II was made for me.
Best Hug Award – The Nickel Boys
Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor is excellent in The Nickel Boys, and she gives a very memorable hug. Watch it!
Best Local Store Clerk Award – Longlegs
With a little bit of screen time, Beatrix Perkins steals Longlegs from Nicolas Cage.
Best Breakfast Award – Strange Darling
Lots of butter, eggs, and about 14 other ingredients. According to writer/director, JT Mollner, the breakfast is a representation for the happiness, indulgence and contentment that a couple of side characters feel. Their happiness doesn’t last long, but the breakfast will live on forever.
Best Action Movie Bicycle Riding – Rebel Ridge
I got tired watching Aaron Pierre ride a bicycle during Rebel Ridge. The guy put in a lot of work to make sure his character could pedal for hours.
Best Line About Looking At a Person’s Face Award – My Old Ass
My Old Ass hits hard and it features one of the best endings of 2024.
Best Vampire Dancing Award – Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person
There’s a moment in Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person there is wonderful. Sara Montpetit played the moment perfectly and she put a huge smile on my face.
Best Outburst About Animal Poop Award – Hard Truths
I hope that Marianne Jean-Baptiste receives awards recognition because she’s perfect in Hard Truths.
Best Performance of Romeo and Juliet – Ghostlight
Watch Ghostlight! The ending will wreck you (in a good way).
Best Awkward Scene Inside a Parked Car Award – Between the Temples
I don’t want to spoil anything, just know that Jason Schwartzmen has a wonderfully awkward experience in a car that’s parked in a cemetery.
Best Voss Drinking Award – Smile 2
Some may chalk it up to product placement, but the drinking of Voss water in Smile 2 is actually necessary for the plot. Trust me.
Best Survivor Survivor Award – Blink Twice
Adria Arjona is the MVP of Blink Twice and it’s fun watching her reality show hardened character survive some extreme real world (not the reality show) stuff.
Best Vending Machine Award – Despicable Me 4
The vending machine bit in Despicable Me 4 is always funny. I’ve watched it at least eight times and it always makes me laugh.
Best Friendship Award – Sing Sing
Colman Domingo and Clarence Maclin have excellent chemistry together and they make Sing Sing a memorable watch.
Best Dan Stevens Accent Award- Tie – Cuckoo, Abigail, Godzilla x Kong
Listen to the MFF podcast episode where we pit all of Dan Stevens’ 2024 characters against each other. Also, the onions bit in Abigail is beautiful
Best Deep Blue Sea Reference Award – Jackpot
Bless you Paul Feig for including a Deep Blue Sea gag in Jackpot.
Best Decapitation in the First Five Minutes of a 2024 Film Award – The Shadow Strays
The Timo Tjahanto directed The Shadow Strays is a gloriously violent exploration of what happens when an absolute badass goes on a killing spree to save a kid. It’s on Netflix, stop what you are doing and watch it now.
Best Possum Family Award – The Wild Robot
I’m a big fan of possums, and it’s nice not seeing them treated like feral maniacs.
Best Letterkenny Cast Appearance Award – Venom: The Last Ride
Watching Rosie (Clark Backo) from Letterkenny ripping it up in a Venom film made me very happy.
Best Dad Jokes Award – Alien: Romulus
I want a glitchy android like Andy (David Jonsson) who tells cheesy jokes and is incredibly loyal.
Best 2024 Supporting Characters Award – Flow
Flow is one of my favorite films of 2024 and I think it features the best supporting characters of 2024.
Best Hair Work – Arianna Grande – Wicked
Arianna Grande does some A+ hair flipping in Wicked – She’s great.
Here are more random awards from the MFF crew!
Megan Hofmeyer
- Best song I need to hear ‘Funky Crab Legs’ – Moana 2
- Best title card drop – KILL
- Most insane pancake breakfast – Strange Darling
- Ticking fucking time bombs award – Blink Twice
- Best hand based reactions by a senate – Gladiator 2
- Best use of a Nespresso during a serious discussion – Conclave
- Best cat feeding – Nosferatu
- Best dancing while laying on the floor – Wicked
- Rock your baby award – My Old Ass
- Best coat – The Beast
2024 Honorable Mentions:
- Best Regrets: Can’t we just give her back and say sorry? – Abigail
- Best Cavil-rine – Deadpool & Wolverine
- Best Acronym Work – Rebel Ridge
- Hyperacid Award – Venom: The Last Dance
- Stop bleeding everywhere Award – Killers Game
- Best Minionese – antipasto! – Despicable Me 4
Jonny Numb – Follow Jonny on BlueSky
- When the Working Day Is Done, Oscar Winners Just Wanna Have Fun” Award: Cate Blanchett & Jamie Lee Curtis, BORDERLANDS
- Dumbest Movie About a Future We All May Wind Up Inhabiting” Award: CIVIL WAR
- Best Reboot (Sequence): David Jonsson, ALIEN: ROMULUS
- Most Expressive Hair Color: Willa Fitzgerald, STRANGE DARLING
- Fictional Character Who I Wish Really Had a Late-Night Talk Show, Because I Would Totally Watch It” Award: Jack Delroy (David Dastmalchian), LATE NIGHT WITH THE DEVIL
- Best Hissing, Snarling, Snapping, and Blood-Smearing: MadS
- Worst Case of Little Kids Playing Dress-Up” Award: SATURDAY NIGHT Best Fan Service: GHOSTBUSTERS: FROZEN EMPIRE
Zanandi Botes – Follow Zanandi on X.
- Best “Yeets a Guy Into the River” Scene – MadS
- Most Memorable Tattoo Work – I Saw the TV Glow
- Best Spit Bucket Gag – Hundreds of Beavers
- Best Anti-Food Porn – The Substance
- Best Kitchen Scene – The Coffee Table
- Best “This Guy Comes With a Soundtrack” – Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire
- Best Android – Alien: Romulus
- Best Onion Scene – Abigail
- Best “Everyone Has a Gun” Scene – The Last Stop in Yuma County
- Best Needle Drop – Deadpool & Wolverine
Aaron Neuwirth – Listen to the Out Now With Aaron and Abe Podcast!
- Best Post-Apocalyptic Musical – The End
- Best Roller-Blading-related Death – Y2K
- Best Car Chase in a Non-Action Movie – The Seed of the Sacred Fig
- Best Capybara – Flow
- Best Ayahuasca Sequence – Queer
- Best Depiction of Lobsters – La Cocina
- Best Documentary to add a Metaphysical Subplot – Dahomey
- Best Library – Wicked
- Best Use of Audio Mixing To Emphasize Blood Sucking – Nosferatu
- Most Dickensian Movie – Blitz
- Best Crime-Comedy/Trans-Positive Musical – Emlia Perez
- Best Desert Fakeout – Heretic
- Best Use of Ben Franklin – Here
- Best Grocery Checkout Line Argument – Hard Truths
- Best Piano Design – The Piano Lesson
- Best Film To Feature a Replacement for Lions and Tigers and Bears by Use of Baboons, Rhinos and Sharks – Gladiator II
- Best Public Pop Star Meltdown – Smile 2
- Best Use of Santa Clause – Terrifier 3
- Best Reason To Head to the Cluuuuuuub – Megalopolis
- Best Truck Purchase – Rebel Ridge
- Best Tribute to Body Swapping Comedies From the 80s – The Substance
- Most Disgusting Newborn – Alien: Romulus
- Best Life-Size Wooden Man – Oddity
- Worst Hat: Kevin Costner – Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1
Joey Lewandowski – Listen to the 2 Fast 2 Forever podcast!
- Best New York Movie: Anora
- Best Superhero Movie: The People’s Joker
- Best Video Game Adaptation: AGGRO DR1FT
- Best Period Piece: Rap World
- Smallest Movie with the Biggest Heart: Sometimes I Think About Dying
- Most Beavers: Hundreds of Beavers
- Best Local Government Meeting on Film: Evil Does Not Exist
- Most Coreys: Coreys
- Best Live Performance in a Theater: Megalopolis
- Most Fast & Furious Movie: Bad Boys: Ride or Die
- Best Journalism in a Movie: Civil War
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John’s Horror Corner: Deus Irae (2023), this Argentinian exorcism movie that pushes the limits and touches upon Lovecraft’s Outer Gods.
MY CALL: This is the heavy, gory, nasty exorcism movie for people tired of the same old exorcism movies. MOVIES LIKE Deus Irae: For more Argentinian horror, try Terrified (2017; Aterrados) and When Evil Lurks (2023; Cuando acecha la maldad). Additional Spanish language horror recommendations include The Passenger (2021; La Pasajera), The Platform (2019; aka El Hoyo), Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) and [REC] 1-3 (2007-2012)—but not [REC] 4 (2014).
Far behind us are the replayed gags of green projectile vomit and demonic voice-box voices from our possessed victims. The gory, brutal, macabre, torture-like imagery from these exorcisms is full tilt. Falling out teeth and bloody barb wire bindings are viewed so readily that these themes feel casual to the life of an exorcist. And my, but aren’t these little demonic possession vignettes so much more graphic and almost Lovecraftian compared to even the most intense exorcism films of the past? Arachnid legs emerging and bursting out of a ruptured skull, fingernails peeling themselves off as if by infernal telekinesis, a monstrous form like a ribcage with bony spider legs emerging from a carcass (a la The Thing) and crawling after you… this is next level nightmare fuel. The monstrosities are chonky, gooey horrors with bones and limbs adorned with almost ectoplasmic chunks of tissue and viscera.
Our main exorcist has seen such horrors, and so often, that he questions that perhaps we are not the chosen of God, but just the lowest link of a cosmic food chain—i.e., blasphemy. And like those who have stared too long and deep into the void, things have looked back upon him, and perhaps infected him. Javier often has difficulty discerning reality from nightmare-like fantasy. The psychological madness we witness seems like the logical, even “grounded” consequence of communicating directly with demons. Javier’s grasp of reality reaches Fight Club (1999) levels of confusion as he interacts with the world, his demonically possessed charges, and his two exorcist colleagues, who desire making the demons fear them as mankind fears the demons.
The named demons faced—Azathoth, Yog-Sothoth and Shoggoth—are names of Lovecraft’s mythos of Old Ones and Outer Gods. So for fans of all things Lovecraft, you’re welcome. You have writer and director Pedro Cristiani to thank for this darkest pleasure.
This film is pretty damn good! I love that the director explored the depraved depths to give what, frankly, feels like perhaps the most credible movie about demonic possession I’ve ever seen.
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The Movies, Films and Flix Podcast – Episode 597 – The Penguin, DC Studios, and Florida Sewers
You can download or stream the pod on Apple Podcasts, Tune In, Podbean, or Spreaker (or wherever you listen to podcasts…..we’re almost everywhere).
If you get a chance please make sure to review, rate and share. You are awesome.
Mark and DJ Valentine (@TryingToBeDJV on X) talk about the 2024 DC Studios show The Penguin (2024). In this episode, they also talk about Jock Jams, villains being villainous, and the excellence of Cristin Milioti. Enjoy!
If you are a fan of the podcast, make sure to send in some random listener questions (we love random questions). We thank you for listening, and hope you enjoy the episode!
You can download the pod on Apple Podcasts, Tune In, Podbean, or Spreaker.
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John’s Horror Corner: Deathcember (2019), a Christmas anthology horror featuring 24 Advent-style shorts.
MY CALL: An above average horror anthology with some solid ideas to showcase in 5-minute intervals. Entertaining, and often bloody and funny. But the lack of build-up in a 5-minute short keeps the highs lower. MOVIES LIKE Deathcember: For more 20+ segment anthologies, aim for The ABCs of Death trilogy (2013, 2014, 2016).
This is essentially a holiday-themed ABCs of Death anthology in that we have 24 short films averaging 5 minutes each. So we see a lot of inklings and ideas, but not much in the way of meaningful resolutions. I like to think of this as a filmmakers’ portfolio of ideas for films that may one day be made.
The filmmakers hail from diverse backgrounds, delivering short films in German, English, Spanish, French, and Japanese; exploring the genres of Sci-Fi, fantasy, thriller, horror, dark comedy, crime, slapstick, and even silent film; and tackling iconic concepts like Advent calendars, nightmare Christmas shoppers, Santa suits, Christmas parties, Christmas carols, family gatherings, meeting the parents, Christmas miracles, letters to Santa, ice skating, and Christmas presents.
Despite their brevity, many of the horror segments include some shocking and gory bits. Ritual sacrifice, blood-drinking, fantastic consequence, monstrous reindeer, killing Santa, mean revenge, brutal handsaw dismemberment, and a completely fragmented stomped skull are among the effects-driven gags explored.
A few of these shorts are worthy of mention. All Sales Fatal (#2) features Tiffany Shepis (Victor Crowley, The Hazing, Sharknado 2) as a mega-Karen who tries to return a toy, fails, and throws a very violent (and hilarious) temper tantrum that snowballs into a great fight with stabbery, fisticuffs, and a nail gun. Similarly haphazard and laughably bloody was December 19th (#19), which featured several amusingly brutal ice-skating injuries.
Other memorable shorts include Xmas on Fire (#4) with a mass Santa-police shootout and musical number; a very Lovecraftian, inherited family tentacle monster in Family Matter (#8); a fantasy-comedy showcasing the magical power of letters to Santa in Milk and Cookies (#16); and an awkward family game night culminating with a wildly gross exploding head in Christmas Cracker (#23). But what really stood out to me as unique was They Once Had Horses (#18), a featurette of a kind dialogue between two old west types around a fire, one of them badly injured, both of them scared of a monster in the darkness. But they still took a moment to exchange a small Christmas present and affirm how much they valued each other’s friendship. That was nice.
Overall, this was maybe an above average horror anthology. Entertaining for sure. But the lack of build-up in a 5-minute short keeps the highs lower.
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Bad Movie Tuesday: Silent Night, Deadly Night 5: The Toy Maker (1991), perhaps the “best bad movie” of the franchise.
MY CALL: Wonky killer toys, campy tactics, cheesy effects and an insane homicidal toymaker? This is the very nuts and bolts of a solid Bad Movie Tuesday. MOVIES LIKE Silent Night, Deadly Night 5: Probably Dolls (1987) or Demonic Toys (1992).
CHRISTMAS HORROR MOVIES: For more holiday horror, check out Black Friday (2021), Black Christmas (1974, 2006 remake, 2019 reimagining), Await Further Instructions (2018), Holidays (2016; Christmas), Better Watch Out (2016), A Christmas Horror Story (2015), Krampus (2015), Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (2010), Silent Night, Deadly Night 4: Initiation (1990; hardly Christmasy), Elves (1989), Tales from the Crypt Season 1 (1989; And All Through the House), Christmas Evil (1980), Silent Night Deadly Night (1984), Gremlins (1984), and Tales from the Crypt (1972; And All Through the House). I might skip Don’t Open Till Christmas (1984), The Oracle (1985), Silent Night Deadly Night part 2 (1987), Silent Night Deadly Night part 3: Better Watch Out (1989), and maybe even All the Creatures Were Stirring (2018).
This franchise has taken some interesting turns. Sure, we began with a proper psycho killer Christmas horror movie followed by the cheapest of throwaway sequel treatments in SNDN 2. But then we wandered into an ultra-basic Frankensteinian Michael Myers stalker movie in SNDN 3, and SNDN 4 feels like someone rewrote a witch movie to take place during Christmas for the sake of profiting on the recognized namesake. It seems that for SNDN 3-4, a bunch of weird crap just happens to occur around Christmas time (like Lethal Weapon 1987) instead of a proper Christmas movie (e.g., Die Hard 1988). But fret not, SNDN 5 is, at the very least, a Christmas horror movie! Even if it, like SNDN 3-4, has nothing to do with the source material.
One strange Christmas Season, young Derek (William Thorne; Demonic Toys) watches as a toy from a mysteriously delivered present murders his father (Van Quattro). Now mute since witnessing this tragedy, his mother Sarah (Jane Higginson; General Hospital, Slaughterhouse) is doing her best to have a normal Christmas for me. Their local, elderly toy store owner Joe Petto (Mickey Rooney; The Intruder, The Thirsting) and his son (Brian Bremer; Pumpkinhead, Dead Birds, Society) are behind the toy-related death, and more deaths to come. It doesn’t get explained, but these toys seem to be robotic intelligent.
Cheap, grotesque effects bring a smile to my face as an evil toy called Larry the Larva crawls through a victim’s mouth and eye socket. Very cheesy, hokey fun. I’m also left to wonder if this invertebrate monster is meant to be a tie-in to the gross giant larvae from SNDN 3. Additional off-kilter callbacks include a seasonal mall Santa Claus named Ricky (Clint Howard; Silent Night Deadly Night 4, Ticks, Ice Cream Man, Evilspeak, Leprechaun 2, Lords of Salem), though clearly not the same character despite being the same character name and actor; and Sarah’s neighbor Kim (Neith Hunter; Carnosaur 2, Silent Night Deadly Night 4), again the same character name and actor, but clearly not the same character.
Many of the corrupted toy deaths are weak. The rollerblades scene was lame was even worse than Derek’s dad’s death. Larry the Larva is the only death scene with a cool-looking toy. But then there’s the sex scene toy massacre, which is ultra-campy with extra cheese. This marks a real turning point in the horror action, effects and entertainment value in this movie.
I keep waiting for the third act revelation that Kim and Ricky are the very same Kim and Ricky from SNDN 3, a newly initiated witch and a mentally disturbed witch’s son. But no such satisfaction is to be found. But at least we wander into some very odd territory involving intelligent robots and highly perverse daddy and mommy issues.
As it turns out, this might be my favorite of the SNDN franchise. It’s not great, by any means. But this is the most worthy “bad movie” from the series (just above SNDN 3). Finally, a SNDN that’s so bad it’s good. Merry Christmas to everyone!
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The Movies, Films and Flix Podcast – Episode 596 – The 2024 Movie Draft
You can download or stream the pod on Apple Podcasts, Tune In, Podbean, or Spreaker (or wherever you listen to podcasts…..we’re almost everywhere).
If you get a chance please make sure to review, rate and share. You are awesome.
Mark and Brandon Peters (@brandon4KUHD on X) draft their favorite 2024 films and talk about the greatness of Hundreds of Beavers, Red Rooms, Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person, Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World and more cool films. Enjoy!
Make sure to listen to The Brandon Peters Show wherever you listen to podcasts.
If you are a fan of the podcast, make sure to send in some random listener questions (we love random questions). We thank you for listening, and hope you enjoy the episode!
You can download the pod on Apple Podcasts, Tune In, Podbean, or Spreaker.
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MY CALL: Wow. This film is… a lecture hall experience. Hugh Grant is a charmer of a villain in this very intellectual horror. Probably not recommended for the devout, and more for the agnostic. MOVIES LIKE Heretic: Some other interesting forays into religious horror include Azrael (2024) and The First Omen (2024).
Eager to save and baptize souls on their Mormon mission, Sister Barnes (Sophie Thatcher; Maxxxine, The Boogeyman) and Sister Paxton (Chloe East; The Wolf of Snow Hollow) work through their list of names and addresses to make their way to the home of Mr. Reed.
Mr. Reed (Hugh Grant; The Lair of the White Worm) is every bit as exceedingly charming as the actor filling his shoes. And from the very outset of their soul saving introductions, Reed peppers them with his knowledgeable religious inklings interspersed with poignant yet directly personal questions about his would-be saviors. These questions quickly verge upon invasive, and his inquiries begin to arouse spiritual origins clearly outside of the purview of the Church of Latter-Day Saints… even directly challenging LDS practices and general common religious practices alike.
Not 15 minutes into their house call, Sisters Barnes and Paxton have come to realize that Mr. Reed has proselytizing plans of his own for them. They are trapped in his home and require his “help” to find their way home. And now, his challenges of their perception, family values, and denial that shape their religious beliefs put a perverse twist to their house call. Is this a game that can be solved and won? Is it simply a cruel punishment to these religious women?
In many ways, this film feels like one of the most engaging theology-philosophy-history lectures I ever had the privilege to enjoy. The whole script is thoughtful repartee. I find it all captivating, somewhat as an intellectual exercise contesting for or against religion, and somewhat as a hostage chamber thriller.
Sure, aspects of this story may challenge one’s suspension of disbelief. But I loved this. Hugh Grant is such a delight even when donning the antagonist’s hat. Scott Beck and Bryan Woods (Haunt, Nightlight) co-wrote and co-directed this theological curiosity, and I now cannot wait for their next project!
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John’s Horror Corner: Silent Night, Deadly Night 4: Initiation (1990), hardly a Christmas Horror sequel, but more of a rewrite into a Witch movie.
MY CALL: This is a perfectly “decent” choice for a Bad Movie Tuesday. It has weird, gross, buggy special effects and gore and some over-the-top nonsense. PSA: This movie essentially has zero to do with the previous three Silent Night Deadly Night movies. MOVIES LIKE Silent Night, Deadly Night 4: For more holiday horror, check out Black Friday (2021), Black Christmas (1974, 2006 remake, 2019 reimagining), Await Further Instructions (2018), Holidays (2016; Christmas), Better Watch Out (2016), A Christmas Horror Story (2015), Krampus (2015), Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (2010), Elves (1989), Tales from the Crypt Season 1 (1989; And All Through the House), Christmas Evil (1980), Silent Night Deadly Night (1984), Gremlins (1984), and Tales from the Crypt (1972; And All Through the House). I might skip Don’t Open Till Christmas (1984), The Oracle (1985), Silent Night Deadly Night part 2 (1987), Silent Night Deadly Night part 3: Better Watch Out (1989), and maybe even All the Creatures Were Stirring (2018).
This franchise has taken some interesting turns. Sure, we began with a proper psycho killer Christmas horror movie followed by the cheapest of throwaway sequel treatments for more of the same, but weaker in SNDN 2. But then we wandered into an ultra-basic Frankensteinian Michael Myers stalker movie in SNDN 3 and now… a holiday horror witch movie? It seems that for SNDN 3-4, a bunch of weird crap just happens to occur around Christmas time (like Lethal Weapon 1987) instead of a proper Christmas movie (e.g., Die Hard 1988). More specifically, SNDN 4 feels like someone rewrote a witch movie to take place during Christmas for the sake of stealing the recognized namesake.
Seeking to impress her boss (Reggie Bannister; Phantasm I-V, Wishmaster) and become an investigative reporter, Kim (Neith Hunter; Carnosaur 2, Silent Night Deadly Night 5) is looking into the unexplained death of a woman who fell from the roof of a building… while on fire. While researching spontaneous combustion, she is gifted a strange book (Initiation of the Virgin Goddess) by a conspicuously interested shopkeeper named Fima (Maud Adams; Tattoo) who also invites her to a group picnic with an uninvited kiss on the cheek. Viewers, this shopkeeper may just be an important character with some big reveals coming ahead.
Just to let you know you’re wandering into weird territory, by the very next scene a certifiable wacko (Clint Howard; Ticks, Ice Cream Man, Evilspeak, Leprechaun 2, Lords of Salem) pulls an impossibly giant, slimy, writhing insect larva from an air vent. Why…? No reason apparently. Just because it’s weird and the prop guy had access to it during filming is my best guess.
From here we see lots of bugs, a giant cockroach, some possessed pasta, yet more bugs, Kim regurgitates a giant roach-like larva-thing that is then used in some sort of ritual, and then a weird gross sex ritual, and then an even weirder birth-mutation-macabre menagerie sequence.
So what’s really weird here is that this is a SNDN sequel, yet the only character named Ricky (Clint Howard) seems to have nothing to do with the Ricky character of SNDN 1-3. In fact, this “sequel” behaves as if those previous movies never even happened, making this one of those awkward standalone sequels like House III (1989). In fact, the only connection I can find to SNDN is when Ricky turns on the TV—when he sneaks into the room while Kim is having sex—and watches a scene from Silent Night Deadly Night part 3 (1989).
The whole purpose of all this: to initiate Kim into a witch’s coven? Seems like a lot. Maybe they could’ve asked if she thought it would be cool to join. And if she wanted to… would it still involve all the nonconsensual stuff with that monster larva? But, I guess that’s the kind of gross delight we’ve simply come to expect from director Brian Yuzna (The Dentist 1-2, Society, Bride of Re-Animator, Beyond Re-Animator, Necronomicon: Book of the Dead, Faust, Return of the Living Dead III, From Beyond).
The ending is kinda’ dumb, but totally par for the course for this level of bad movie fare. And overall I think this movie is a perfectly “decent” choice for a Bad Movie Tuesday, even if not the level of bonkers I’d normally recommend. However, this is definitely the best of the SNDN sequels so far. So I guess there’s that.
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Bonus Episode – The 2024 Marvel Cinematic Universe Recap
You can download or stream the pod on Apple Podcasts, Tune In, Podbean, or Spreaker (or wherever you listen to podcasts…..we’re almost everywhere).
If you get a chance please make sure to review, rate and share. You are awesome.
Mark and Norbert talk about Deadpool & Wolverine, X-Men ’97, Agatha All Along, and Venom: The Last Dance (which is technically a Sony release but it had to be covered). Enjoy!
If you are a fan of the podcast, make sure to send in some random listener questions (we love random questions). We thank you for listening, and hope you enjoy the episode!
You can download the pod on Apple Podcasts, Tune In, Podbean, or Spreaker.
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The Brutalist (2024) – Review
Quick Thoughts – Grade – A – Filmed in 34 days (what?) this $10 million budgeted epic is a thrilling and ambitious piece of filmmaking. Watch it!
In an interview with Variety, Corbet compared making a movie to constructing a skyscraper. It’s an interesting analogy because not only is there a tremendous amount of planning, there’s also budgets, egos, and clients who justifiably have a voice during the production/construction of each. László Tóth (Adrien Brody), the lead character of The Brutalist finds this out when he’s tasked with building a massive brutalist structure for a millionaire industrialist named Harrison Lee Van Buren (Guy Pearce). Amongst many other things, The Brutalist focuses on what happens when ambitious creative freedom meets the worried accountants of a blowhard millionaire.
What’s interesting is that Corbett has constructed a skyscraper of a movie for the price of a McMansion. To avoid opinions and notes, Corbet raised the $10 million budget over seven years and cut many corners to ensure that every cent was seen on screen. After years of delays due to Covid and other issues, Corbet shot the film in Hungary (and Italy) and edited it in the U.K to ensure some money-saving tax incentives. The finished product is a gorgeous 3.5 hour masterpiece that is split into two parts, an epilogue and a 15-minute intermission. It’s the type of film that only comes from a frustrated artist who wants to create something outside of the system – and it’s beautiful to behold in VistaVision.
The Brutalist revolves around a Hungarian-Jewish architect named László Tóth who made his way to America in 1947 and found himself living in Philadelphia with his cousin Attilla (Allessandro Nivola) and his American wife Audrey (Emma Laird). Attila owns a furniture shop and with the help of Lászlóstarts building a customer base which leads to an architectural assignment for Harry Lee Van Buren (Joe Alwyn – at his smarmy best), the son of a millionaire industrialist named Harrison Lee Van Buren. László’s modern designs are detested at first, but he is eventually hired by Harrison to build a community center that will stand as his legacy.
On top of building a gigantic concrete structure on a hill in Doylestown, Pennsylvania,László, who is a functioning heroin-addict, also has to juggle the arrival of his mute niece Zsófia (Raffey Cassidy) and his wife Erzsébet (Felicity Jones), who developed osteoporosis after years of malnourishment during World War II. The reunion is bittersweet as the intelligent and capable Erzsébet learns that László has poured all of his pay into the project and refuses to compromise with the Lee Van Buren lawyers and advisors. During the production, Corbet barely saw his daughter because the film owned his life, and the same goes with Tóth as he dives headfirst into the project and wants to see it through no matter the physical and mental cost.
It feels a bit odd writing a short review about a film that required an immense amount of work to complete (much like most films, but this one is special). I hope the main takeaway from this review is that readers learn that The Brutalist is an ambitious and thrilling experience. Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce, Alessandro Nivola, Joe Alwyn, Raffey Cassidy and Stacy Martin are all excellent, and they must’ve taken massive pay cuts to take part in a film like this – and I admire them for it. The cinematography by Lol Crawley (Four Lions, The Devil All the Time, Vox Lux) is inspired and I appreciate how he made the film look epic while shooting in a widescreen variant of the 35 mm motion picture film format known as VistaVision. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Crawley said “What you see is What we shot,” and I love knowing how deliberate Crawley and Corbet were with their shot selection that included very little coverage and not much of a safety net for the final edit. The production design by Judy Becker (Carol, Brokeback Mountain, Garden State) is unsurprisingly top-notch and she said it was a “dream come true” working on the film because she had to “draw on every inspiration, idea and element in my inner library to become László Tóth.” There are some gorgeous moments that take place in the vast Carrara marble quarries and the scale of the performances, production design and cinematography combine to create a low-budget epic that feels grand.
Between The Pianist and The Brutalist, Brody has excelled in “ist” movies and in an interview with IndieWire he says that “The Brutalist “begins almost where [The Pianist] ended in a way. It is a Jewish immigrant’s journey, surviving.” He owns every second of the film and it’s been fun watching him collect trophies during the awards season because he’s rightfully earned them. Making The Brutalist must’ve been a draining and brutal experience for everyone involved, but the cast and crew supported Corbet’s vision and the end result is something special.
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