These are the movies everyone was talking about in the first half of 2024. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the best movies of the first half of 2024, using July 15 as a cut-off date.
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00:00There will always be war, but to get home, Furiosa fought the world.
00:08Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the best movies
00:13of the first half of 2024 using July 15th as a cutoff date. We will be including movies that
00:20had a wide release in 2024, even if they technically premiered in 2023.
00:26You're American, okay?
00:29Okay. What kind of American are you?
00:35Number 10. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.
00:46The new franchise wrapped perfectly with 2017's War for the Planet of the Apes,
00:52but when the quality is this consistent, we'll always welcome a little more.
00:57Enter Kingdom, a standalone sequel that takes place three centuries after Caesar's death.
01:03Here, the roles are reversed, with apes having the ability to speak
01:07and enjoying the advent of civilization, while humans have become mute and animalistic.
01:13Why do they hunt her?
01:15She is smarter than most.
01:18The elders did not tell us everything about this world.
01:25This allows for a ton of fresh storytelling opportunities,
01:28which director Wes Ball takes full advantage of.
01:32Like all the best entries in the series, Kingdom is thoughtful and contemplative
01:37while proving to be an immeasurably good time at the movies.
01:40You'll beg for your king?
01:43Never.
01:44Number 9. The Bike Riders.
01:47From the beginning?
01:49Yes, please.
01:54Austin Butler's stock just keeps going up.
01:57Here, he plays Benny, a young member of a motorcycle club called the Vandals.
02:02The story is loosely based on real events, with the Vandals standing in for the Outlaws,
02:07the third largest bike club in the world, and according to the Department of Justice,
02:12an organized crime syndicate.
02:14Help yourself.
02:16This is Brucie, this is Benny right there with the boot, and I'm Johnny.
02:22We're the Vandals.
02:24The Bike Riders provides a personal and intimate access into a world full of outsiders,
02:30humanizing its characters and its sometimes controversial way of life.
02:34What about the bar?
02:36Burn it down.
02:37With fantastic performances, a fun atmosphere, bloody violence, and razor-sharp filmmaking,
02:43The Bike Riders is the motorcycle movie that Martin Scorsese never made.
02:47Yeah, you know, just think it over, you know?
02:52Number 8. Love Lies Bleeding.
02:55You talked to your dad recently?
02:59Why?
03:01A24 just keeps on winning,
03:04offering yet another mesmerizing original film in a lineup full of them.
03:09Love Lies Bleeding is a noir thriller starring Kristen Stewart and Katie O'Brien as a lesbian
03:14couple who find themselves tangled in a bloody web of violence.
03:18It's a totally bonkers movie, and intentionally so.
03:21I don't regret this.
03:25We'll just need to fight back.
03:27Taking cues from provocative filmmakers like David Lynch and the Cops,
03:31Love Lies Bleeding is fast, pulpy, and even a little dreamy.
03:35Stewart and O'Brien are captivating, and director Rose Glass crafts her film with great period
03:41detail, a relentless pace, and some garish violence.
03:45In an age of relative safety, it's nice to see a movie with such fearless ambition.
03:50I'll never fall in love again.
03:56Number 7. The Cure.
03:59Number 7. Thelma.
04:02What's your plan for the day?
04:03Ah, the usual.
04:06After decades of acting, 94-year-old June Squibb made her first leading role in Josh
04:12Margolin's Thelma, playing the titular grandma.
04:16Thelma Post is scammed out of $10,000, so she and an old friend embark on a quest to get it back.
04:23This is the rare type of movie that has it all.
04:25It's laugh-out-loud funny, tender, observational, and often genuinely exciting.
04:31I don't have much time.
04:32You left your grandson in the car?
04:34He's 24.
04:35It makes you chuckle before hitting you with a well-crafted action sequence,
04:39or a compassionate remark about the elderly.
04:42It's a jack-of-all-trades, a movie that sets out to entertain everyone,
04:46and largely succeeds in doing so.
04:48Why are we stopping at malls?
04:50To get a gun.
04:51Do you even know how to use it?
04:53How hard can it be?
04:54Idiots use them all the time.
04:56Now go call your grandma.
04:58Grandma?
04:59Hello?
05:00No, no, sorry, sorry.
05:02I'm just looking for my grandma.
05:03Number 6.
05:04Hitman.
05:05Tell me, Madison, what do you do for a living?
05:09Devoted wife.
05:10Obviously.
05:12I assume that's what we're here to talk about?
05:14Glenn Powell is quickly proving himself a charismatic leading man,
05:18and apparently a talented screenwriter.
05:21He co-wrote Hitman with director Richard Linklater,
05:24and we hope they collaborate on many future projects,
05:27because this was fantastically enjoyable.
05:30Were you Gary, or were you the Hitman?
05:32Which one were you going on around that one?
05:35Ron.
05:37Okay, so you're still around the Hitman tour?
05:40Who else would I be?
05:41Loosely based on real events, Powell plays Gary Johnson,
05:45an undercover mole who poses as a professional Hitman
05:48and begins falling for a client.
05:50The movie is a ton of fun, and Powell is exceptional in the lead role,
05:55being both funny and unbelievably cool.
05:58We are watching the birth of a movie star before our very eyes,
06:01and Hitman is his greatest work to date.
06:04So are you gonna kill me?
06:07What are you talking about?
06:09Are you gonna kill me?
06:12No.
06:13Number 5.
06:15I Saw the TV Glow.
06:16I don't want to alarm you.
06:18Do you remember a TV show we used to watch together?
06:22It was called...
06:25Back in 2020, Emma Stone launched the production company Fruit Tree
06:29with her husband Dave McCary.
06:31It has produced numerous films for A24,
06:34including what is arguably their greatest work yet,
06:37I Saw the TV Glow.
06:39This is the second film in director Jane Schonbrunn's screen trilogy.
06:43Following the indie darling, we're all going to the World's Fair.
06:47Sometimes the pink opaque feels more real in real life.
06:52Maddie, it was a TV show.
06:55Equal parts horror and drama, the film welcomes analysis,
06:59offering profound themes on identity, belonging, and nostalgia,
07:04while largely remaining dreamlike and elusive.
07:07It's also a filmmaking wonder, with glorious sound design,
07:10creative visuals, and an eye-popping color palette.
07:13Schonbrunn's film is daring, challenging,
07:16and above all, completely engrossing.
07:19I told myself I made the right choice.
07:30What if I really was someone else?
07:32Number four, Inside Out 2.
07:35Hello everybody!
07:37Oh my gosh, I am just such a huge fan of yours, and now here I am.
07:41Some people may have balked at the idea of Inside Out 2,
07:45but Pixar knocked it out of the park and was rewarded with their
07:48highest-grossing movie to date.
07:50Coming nearly 10 years after the original,
07:52Riley is now entering high school and facing a slew of new emotions,
07:56including envy, fear, and anxiety.
07:59Oh, I'm sorry. We wanted to make such a good first impression.
08:03What do you mean, we?
08:04Like all Pixar films, Inside Out 2 is a visual splendor,
08:08containing some of the best animation we've ever seen.
08:12What makes the film pop are its smart observations about the human condition,
08:16peppering in some smart psychology to go with its heart and humor.
08:20You can't just bottle us up!
08:23We are suppressed emotions!
08:26And yes, it also saved the 2024 box office,
08:30becoming the fastest animated movie to pass 1 billion dollars.
08:34Hey, hey, what are you doing?
08:35All right, she's all set.
08:36Set with what?
08:38Number three, Furiosa, a Mad Max Saga.
08:42What I found.
08:45What do we have here?
08:48Fury Road was the surprise of 2015,
08:51earning widespread acclaim and introducing one of the best heroines of the 21st century.
08:56That was Imperator Furiosa, played by a tough and chilly Charlize Theron.
09:01This is her origin story,
09:03taking place roughly 20 years before the events of Fury Road.
09:06If you survive everything we take on together,
09:08you'll have all the skills you need to get wherever you want to go.
09:13Like its predecessor, the movie is filled with wondrous action set pieces,
09:17reminding us of the transportive qualities of cinema
09:20and the seemingly limitless imagination of George Miller.
09:24It's also the most humane Mad Max yet,
09:26with great thematic depth, rich storytelling,
09:29and a typically excellent performance from Anya Taylor-Joy,
09:33who allows us to glimpse the compassion under the steely reserve.
09:39Remember me.
09:46Number two, Challengers.
09:50Hi.
09:50Hey.
09:51Sports movies are a dime a dozen, but none are quite like Challengers.
09:55This is a sports movie infused with the personality of Luca Guadagnino,
09:59the provocative filmmaker behind films like Suspiria and Call Me By Your Name.
10:04Zendaya stars as Toshi Duncan,
10:06a tennis coach caught in a love triangle between her husband and ex-boyfriend,
10:10both of whom are facing each other at the ATP Challenger Tour.
10:14You're incredible today.
10:15I mean, it wasn't even like tennis. It was an entirely different game.
10:20Challengers is far sexier than your average sports drama,
10:23filled with an unrelenting sense of energy and passion by Guadagnino.
10:27With the help of some arresting performances
10:29and an oddly fun pop score from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross,
10:34it is never less than entertaining.
10:36I assume you planned this?
10:37Not this part.
10:43Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.
10:47Monkey Man.
10:48Dev Patel shines in his directorial debut, proving an effective action filmmaker.
10:53There you are.
10:57You are a beast.
10:59Late Night with the Devil.
11:00And just when we thought the possession genre was dead and played out.
11:04You know who I am, Doctor.
11:10Please.
11:12A Quiet Place Day One.
11:13A great premise and a terrific cast results in what could be the best Quiet Place yet.
11:25Problemista.
11:26Fruit Tree continues their hot streak with a wonderfully surreal film from Julio Torres.
11:32Did you use FileMaker Pro at the facility?
11:35No, we use Google Sheets.
11:36Well, you can't compare that to FileMaker Pro.
11:40It's basically the same, except FileMaker is harder to use and not free.
11:45Long Legs.
11:46Thanks to producer and star Nicolas Cage, we have a new serial killer classic on our hands.
11:52Don't know what you see.
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12:11Number 1.
12:12Dune Part 2.
12:14She says you should be coming with us.
12:16You know I can't.
12:18She says you should be coming with us.
12:20You know I can't.
12:22She's asking why.
12:24Because I must continue fighting in the North to protect you down there in the South.
12:28Well, we can safely say that this is Zendaya's year.
12:31She also plays Chani in Dune Part 2, the warrior love interest of exiled Duke Paul Atreides.
12:38The first Dune was a solidly crafted piece of science fiction,
12:41if a bit underdeveloped, being, you know, half of a story.
12:45But the whole picture comes together with Part 2,
12:48which many have called one of the best sci-fi movies ever made.
12:51Welcome to Gaiety Prime, sisters.
12:54I hope your travels were agreeable.
12:56A long way to come just to watch our prospect risk his life, Lady Fenring.
13:00This is a magnificent adaptation of Frank Herbert's masterpiece,
13:04filled with outstanding performances, challenging themes,
13:08epic storytelling, and some of the best visual effects ever put to screen.
13:16So,
13:24this is sure to sweep the technical awards at this year's Oscars,
13:28and it reminds us of what cinema can be at its most ambitious.
13:32You chose the wrong side.
13:35Side?
13:37You of all people should know.
13:40There are no sides.
13:42Are there any movies we left off this list?
13:45Let us know in the comments.
13:48Okay, let's clear it all out.
13:50It's demo day!
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