Welcome to the 2024 SiftPop.com Sifties!
This year, the SiftPop writers came together to nominate five films for Best Movie. There is always a good deal of subjectivity that goes into an award like this, but there were five movies that stood out as clear favorites of the group:
When you first watch The Wizard of Oz, you probably don’t have a whole lot of desire to learn more about the origin of the Wicked Witch of the West. She was the villain who was just plain evil. Kid logic dictates that Glinda was good, and the Wicked Witch was bad. However, Wicked does something magical, and flips the script on a story that felt unimpeachable. The story helps create an empathy that you don’t usually find for one of film’s greatest villains. In reality, the beauty that comes from Wicked is that a villain is manufactured, created, and spun at the hands of a tyrannical government that is looking to keep an iron grip on what they built. It’s hard to believe that Oz could be a place capable of such a thing, but given current world circumstances, Wicked feels not only so incredibly timely, but changes how you perceive a Hollywood classic. Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande are perfect together, managing to redefine the chemistry between two icons. Perhaps the most important things Wicked has done is make people feel like the musical is back, but also that the movie theater going experience a necessary experience.
The Wild Robot has impressive animation, score, comedy, soundtrack, and voice cast. However, what’s really gobsmacking is its ability to expertly juggle several themes throughout, ranging from parenthood, children leaving the nest, and a society of different people learning to put aside their differences to thrive together. In any typical “kids” movie, one of these themes would have been the primary focus, with little thought given to the others; but here, they are beautifully woven together and executed flawlessly. The Wild Robot is emotionally moving from beginning to end, and immensely impressive in what it accomplishes.
Sean Baker has been making humanist movies about underrepresented populations for over two decades now. From Starlet to Tangerine to Red Rocket, his movies have mixed authenticity, humor, and the American experience. Anora, Baker’s latest masterpiece, synthesizes every idea and filmmaking technique he’s been using up to this point to become a beautiful story of hope gained, lost, and recovered, but not in the most conventional way. Following Mikey Madison’s Ani, Anora is about a Brooklyn sex worker who gets the chance to have it all when she meets, falls in love with, and marries Vanya (Mark Eydelshteyn), the son of a Russian oligarch. The first third of the movie is a romantic comedy, the middle is a Safdie-esque chaos comedy, and the final third is the realistic culmination of the two. With incredible performances not only from Madison, but from Yura Borisov, Vache Tovmasyan, and Karren Karagulian, Baker wrangles what would be an untenable movie for most directors into what is already looking like one of the seminal movies of the decade.
Known for making movies about the messiness of love and coming of age, Luca Guadagnino has still never quite made anything like Challengers. By far the most high-energy movie Guadagnino’s ever made, Challengers stars Zendaya, Mike Faist, and Josh O’Connor as three tennis players who find themselves in a love triangle in the truest sense of the word. They’re all in love with each other — or aspects of each other at least — and tennis is the only way they know how to express that love. The three powerhouse performances, and Guadagnino’s inventiveness with the camera, all culminate into one of the most exciting finales to one of the most exciting films of the year.
It’s pretty incredible that Dune: Part Two surpasses Dune: Part One in overall quality. Where the original sets up the worlds, characters, and concepts, the sequel runs with them, creating a mythic epic that truly feels like this generation’s Star Wars or Lord of the Rings. It’s replete with stunning visuals, a moving Hans Zimmer Scores, and knockout performances, led by Timothée Chalamet. While being one of the most complete and jaw-dropping blockbusters to be released in recent memory, director Denis Villeneuve still reserves time to dive into what most drew him to Frank Herbert’s seminal novel: the warning about the effect charismatic leaders have on vulnerable populations, and the struggle that can go on inside of them. Villeneuve executes these ideas to a T, and Dune: Part Two is a masterpiece because of it.
Make sure to check out the previous 2024 Sifties winners!