Film Shapes

Ho ho, yo yos. Here's my rundown of films in 2024. By my best count I saw 124 films last year, 115 of them new watches (though not necessarily made or released in 2024), and 61 of them at the cinema. Of those cinema trips, 28 were at Luna Leederville , 14 at Palace Raine Square and 10 at the Backlot Perth , with 6 other cinemas making up the numbers. So here are my 10 favourite films from 2024, with a top 5 pod down the bottom... [Click on the titles for links to full reviews] 10. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024) George Miller's follow-up to Fury Road tells us the story of how Furiosa got to where that film started. I reckon this was the best blockbuster of the year, certainly the most entertaining, with one epic action sequence and a couple of fine performances from Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth. Great fun. 9. The Taste of Things (2023) Don't go in hungry! This is a foodie's shan-grill-ah, the high culinary masterwork of the last decade or more. Juliette Binoch...

What an oddly brilliant film this is. The Northern Irish hip-hop trio, Kneecap, have a pretty unusual career. According to my brief research, they currently have two studio albums and one feature film to their credit. Not knowing about these lads, I was surprised to find out that they aren't actors - you wouldn't know by their performances, particularly Liam Ó Hannaidh (stage name, Mo Chara). He's a standout. The film gives us a presumably fudged version of the band's origins - Mo and best mate, Móglaí Bap (Naoise Ó Cairealláin) have known each other since they were choir boys but it didn't take long for them to embrace the Belfast rave and drug culture, as well as the strong anti-British, anti-RUC feeling among sections of the Catholic community in the north of Ireland. Northern Ireland! North of Ireland! Northern Ireland!  One night, Mo is arrested at a rave and refuses to speak English to the 'peelers' (police), so an interpreter is called in, high school...