The Best of 2024: JBFC Staff's Favorite Films

by JBFC Marketing Manager Paige Grand Pré

As we close out another year, we’re celebrating the cinematic medium with a compilation of “Best of 2024” lists from staff members across the Jacob Burns Film Center. Featuring a wide range of titles that made us laugh, cry, grow, think, reflect, and cheer, this best-of roundup is a testament to our staff’s diverse tastes and undying love for film, as well the myriad ways this beloved art form can bring us together. Please note: Lists are only numbered if staff members ranked their picks.

We’ll see you at the movies!

Filipe Galhardo, Programming Administrative Assistant

1. Perfect Days | Dir. Wim Wenders
2. I Saw the TV Glow | Dir. Jane Schoenbrun
3. Between the Temples | Dir. Nathan Silver
4. Challengers | Dir. Luca Guadagnino
5. Problemista | Dir. Julio Torres

Alex Gorski, Director of Information Services

• My Old Ass | Dir. Megan Park
• His Three Daughters | Dir. Azazel Jacobs
• Hit Man | Dir. Richard Linklater
• Babes | Dir. Pamela Adlon
• Challengers | Dir. Luca Guadagnino

Patrick Saxton, Chief Financial Officer

1. Janet Planet | Dir. Annie Baker — While the film stands on it’s own, I saw it with my 22 year old daughter (Karina) and afterwards while having dinner, she shared her observations about when her mom (my wife Caroline) finds happiness and how it makes her feel.
2. Ghostlight | Dir. Kelly O’Sullivan & Alex Thompson — I loved how the father / daughter relation grew over the course of the Shakespeare production. Unrelated, Caroline and Karina find the thought of me in a Shakespeare production hysterical (and has never happened).
3. Wicked | Dir. Jon M. Chu — A bit long and I don’t generally like musicals – but AMAZING!
4. My Old Ass | Dir. Megan Park — Funny, with an unexpected ending.
5. Drive Away Dolls | Dir. Ethan Coen — Don’t judge me! It was hysterical, and fun to watch the relationship between Jamie and Marian build. And it was recommended to me by an Education Department member.

Best movie I didn’t see at JBFC: Unfrosted | Dir. Jerry Seinfeld

Best movie I saw for the first time in 2024: No Hard Feelings | Dir. Gene Stupnitsky (2023) — Perhaps should not have been made, and could not have been made if the gender roles were reversed, it was a perfect role for Jennifer Lawrence, and I’m still laughing from Andrew Barth Feldman singing “Maneater.” Again, don’t judge me!

Monica Castillo, Senior Film Programmer

1. The Brutalist | Dir. Brady Corbet
2. Nickel Boys | Dir. RaMell Ross
3. Anora | Dir. Sean Baker
4. Hard Truths | Dir. Mike Leigh
5. Janet Planet | Dir. Annie Baker
6. No Other Land | Dir. Yuval Abraham, Basel Adra, Rachel Szor & Hamdan Ballal
7. I Saw the TV Glow | Dir. Jane Schoenbrun
8. Ghostlight | Dir. Kelly O’Sullivan & Alex Thompson
9. All We Imagine as Light | Dir. Payal Kapadia
10. Green Border | Dir. Agnieszka Holland

Michael Lieberman, House Staff Member

1. The Brutalist | Dir. Brady Corbet — Once in a while, you get to experience something that brings you back to how you fell in love with the medium of film in the first place. For me, it was Brady Corbet’s The Brutalist. Have I been telling everyone about it in an annoying manner? Yes. Have I seen it four times now? Yes.  An absolute giant with ties of American epics of the 1950s, It’d be a vast understatement to call this film great… I truly think this is a masterpiece that’s necessary for our time- filmically speaking. It helps that this was the first picture since 1961’s One Eyed Jacks to be shot entirely in Vistavision, a format of 35mm film which was used as a way to bring audiences back into theaters. With news of Paul Thomas Anderson and Yorgos Lanthimos also using Vistavision for their next projects, it’s hard to deny that The Brutalist may have done something for the next generation of movie lovers. If you have a chance to see it on the big screen, do so. Play it big, and play it loud!
2. Hard Truths | Dir. Mike Leigh — It was inevitable that post-COVID anxiety films would come into fruition. Appropriately, it has to take the right filmmaker, the right cast, and the right crew to bring something worthwhile… and Hard Truths does just that. Showcasing my favorite performance of the year, Marianne Jean-Baptiste is outstanding as Pansy, our leading player whose emotional spectrum is astonishingly powerful. Writer/director Mike Leigh is an already-established legend, but Hard Truths certifies a sense of consistency that so little filmmakers have.
3. The Substance | Dir. Coralie Fargeat — The Substance, if seen with a packed audience, could’ve been your favorite moviegoing experience of the year. A wild and unforgettable journey, I had such a blast viewing this picture. Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley, and Dennis Quaid are just terrfic here. Coraline Fargeat is a real exciting voice for our time, giving us all sorts of scares, squirms and laughs throughout this body-horror piece. Here’s to her next project!
4. Harvest | Dir. Athina Rachel Tsangari — An overlooked gem this year would have to be Athina Rachel Tsangari’s Harvest. A take on pre-industrial westerns with a big emphasis on craft, utilizing natural light with gorgeous 16mm photography by Sean Price Williams, you’re absorbed into the landscape within the first frame of the film. Everyone is great in this.
5. Trap | Dir. M. Night Shyamalan — I loved Trap. I really, really, really loved Trap. [Please note that Hayley Mills, the FBI agent attempting to track down “The Butcher,” is most known for her role as the leading twins in the original Parent Trap (1961 | Dir. David Swift). Coincidence? I think not…]

Stephen Apkon, JBFC Founder & Founding Executive Director

1. Anora | Dir. Sean Baker
2. A Complete Unknown | Dir. James Mangold
3. Sing Sing | Dir. Greg Kwedar
4. Conclave | Dir. Edward Berger
5. Wicked | Dir. Jon M. Chu

Ian LoCascio, Programming Coordinator

1. Hard Truths | Dir. Mike Leigh
2. The Beast | Dir. Bertrand Bonello
3. Nickel Boys | Dir. RaMell Ross
4. Janet Planet | Dir. Annie Baker
5. Queer | Dir. Luca Guadagnino

Honorable Mention: Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World | Dir. Radu Jude — This was my “#1 film of 2023,” but it had its theatrical run in mid-2024 and it’s so good that I have no choice but to include it again this year.

Tara Bongiorno, Customer Service Manager

1. Anora | Dir. Sean Baker — My favorite film of the year! I didn’t want it to end. The cast was brilliant, especially Mikey Madison who in my opinion deserves the Oscar for best actress.
2. Wicked | Dir. Jon M. Chu — Highly anticipated release for everyone in my house, some even saw it twice. So much fun! The music, dancing, COSTUMES, acting was all amazing. We are HUGE Arianda Grande fans in my house but Cynthia Erivo stole the show.
3. A Complete Unknown | Dir. James Mangold — Timothy Chalamet WAS Bob Dylan. This film really took us back to the 60s in NYC. Enjoyable for all ages.
4. Dune: Part Two | Dir. Denis Villeneuve — Hans Zimmer’s soundtrack as well as the overall sound design for this film is perfection.
5. Flow | Dir. Gints Zilbalodis — Who knew I could enjoy a film so much without any dialogue. I fell in love with the little black cat who was our main character. Definitely see this one on the big screen.

Liv Hodgson, House Staff Member

1. I Saw the TV Glow | Dir. Jane Schoenbrun
2. Ghostlight | Dir. Kelly O’Sullivan & Alex Thompson
3. Dune: Part Two | Dir. Denis Villeneuve
4. Problemista | Dir. Julio Torres
5. The Wild Robot | Dir. Chris Sanders

Cameron Lee, Usher

1. The Brutalist | Dir. Brady Corbet
2. Anora | Dir. Sean Baker
3. I Saw the TV Glow | Dir. Jane Schoenbrun
4. Dune: Part Two | Dir. Denis Villeneuve
5. Queer | Dir. Luca Guadagnino

Denise Treco, Director of Marketing and Communications

• The Brutalist | Dir. Brady Corbet
• Conclave | Dir. Edward Berger
• A Real Pain | Dir. Jesse Eisenberg
• All We Imagine as Light | Dir. Payal Kapadia
• All of Us Strangers | Dir. Andrew Haigh
• Wicked | Dir. Jon M. Chu
• Anora | Dir. Sean Baker
• Ghostlight | Dir. Kelly O’Sullivan & Alex Thompson
• Rebel Ridge | Dir. Jeremy Saulnier
• Challengers | Dir. Luca Guadagnino

Paige Grand Pre, Marketing Manager

Best of 2024:

1. I Saw the TV Glow | Dir. Jane Schoenbrun — Rarely does a film so effectively immerse you in an environment, mood, and moment. A surreal allegory for the trans experience that also speaks to adolescent loneliness and coming-of-age anxieties, I Saw the TV Glow is brooding, haunting, and unforgettable. As someone who grew up in Westchester around roughly the same time as director Jane Schoenbrun, the film conjured up long-dormant fears in me as well as a hazy fondness; throw in influences as varied as Twin Peaks, early 90’s Nickelodeon programming, and Buffy: The Vampire Slayer, and the result is an all-consuming atmosphere that made me nostalgic for a time and place that seemed eerily familiar, despite never having existed in reality. It gets under your skin and stays there.
2. Hundreds of Beavers | Dir. Mike Cheslik — I’m hard pressed to think of the last time I laughed that hard, for that long, at a movie. To think they did it all on a shoestring budget makes the feat all the more impressive—a sparkling gem of true independent cinema.
3. Kneecap | Dir. Rich Peppiatt — I came into the film already a fan of the eponymous band to find that their biopic is every bit as fun, manic, and energizing as their music; a welcome respite from the tired historiographies we so often get in the music biopic genre.
4. Conclave | Dir. Edward Berger — I was, admittedly, fairly dismissive of Conclave when it first came out, chalking it up as run-of-the-mill Oscar bait; never have I been so happy to be so wrong. A slow burn political thriller that feeds the fire with whispered rumors and papal intrigue delivered through artfully controlled and incisive acting performances, Conclave may be the first film set in the Vatican to actually keep me on the edge of my seat.
5. Thelma | Dir. Josh Margolin — Chicken Soup for the Soul, but make it a movie. I don’t think any work of art has ever made me miss my grandparents quite so much—a real testament to the film’s heart and warmth.
6. Sugarcane | Dir. Julian Brave NoiseCat & Emily Kassie — When the secrets of our collective past are uncovered, which parts of our souls are laid bare—and which do we keep buried? A devastating commentary on generational trauma and the ways in which it ripples out through individuals, bureaucracy, and national identity over the course of history.
7. The Substance | Dir. Coralie Farge — Come for the film’s premise, stay for the absolutely bats**t third act; a welcome entry into the “good for her” horror genre [see also: Carrie (De Palma, 1976), and Midsommar (Aster, 2019)].
8. Endurance | Dir. Natalie Hewit, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi & Jimmy Chin — I have long been fascinated by the ill-fated 1912 Shackleton expedition, from the strength of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s leadership under extreme pressure to the crew’s unbelievable fight for survival. Pairing a retelling of this stranger-than-fiction tale of adversity with the present-day search for the sunken ship in frozen Antarctic waters, Endurance is a testament to mankind’s unwavering thirst for adventure and an investigation of the wanderlust that continues to draw us to the ends of the earth.
9. Dune: Part Two | Dir. Denis Villeneuve — While I found Villeneuve’s Dune (2021) a little underwhelming, Dune: Part Two hit all its marks, accomplishing everything the first installment should’ve and then some. The production design is staggering, while the film’s understated yet cheeky self-awareness cuts through the melodrama to perfect effect, resulting in an action epic that reminds us why movies are made for the big screen.
10. Wicked | Dir. Jon M. Chu — I’ve been an absolute sucker for Wicked the musical since I first saw it on Broadway as a kid, and this adaptation truly did it justice. The casting of Ariana Grande in particular was a stroke of genius.

Favorite First Watches in 2024:

1. Rosemary’s Baby | Dir. Roman Polanski (1968)
2. They Live | Dir. John Carpenter (1988)
3. Household Saints | Dir. Nancy Savoca (1993)
4. Mandy | Dir. Panos Cosmatos (2018)
5. Midsommar | Dir. Ari Aster (2019)
6. Peeping Tom | Dir. Michael Powell (1960)
7. Christine | Dir. John Carpenter (1983)
8. Attack the Block | Dir. John Cornish (2011)
9. The Rare Blue Apes of Cannibal Isle | Dir. Don Greer (1975)
10. Midnight Run | Dir. Martin Brest (1988)

Isha Parkhi, Marketing Associate

5 Favorites from 2014: 

1. All We Imagine as Light | Dir. Payal Kapadia
2. La Chimera | Dir. Alice Rohrwacher
3. Problemista | Dir. Julio Torres
4. Between the Temples | Dir. Nathan Silver
5. The World is Family or वसुधैव कुटुम्बकम् | Dir. Anand Patwardhan

5 Favorites (from another year) that I watched this year:

1. Atlantics | Dir. Mati Diop (2019)
2. Wendy and Lucy | Dir. Kelly Reichardt (2008)
3. Geographies of Solitude | Dir. Jacquelyn Mills (2022)
4. Where The Wild Things Are | Dir. Spike Jonze (2009)
5. Funny Games | Dir. Michael Haneke (1997)

Charlotte Exton, Manager of Education Programs

*I have still not seen Nickel Boys, The Brutalist, Nosferatu, and a few other highly anticipated movies for the year so take this with a grain of salt!

1. Ghostlight | Dir. Kelly O’Sullivan & Alex Thompson – this film broke me and then put me back together again by the end. A quiet but beautiful and incredibly powerful film that touches on the difficulties of grief, loss, and connection. I went in hearing great things about this film but left completely in awe of how in touch it was with real and sometimes uncomfortable emotions. I wish this film was getting more love this year as its a story we can all relate to in some way or another.
2. A Real Pain | Dir. Jesse Eisenberg – I went into this film expecting one thing and left having experienced something completely different. Another movie that is about the human experience with raw emotions and uncomfortable truths. This film expands on a problem many people face but didn’t quite have a solution for said problem – which made it all the more powerful. Not only are the writing and directing fabulous and keeps the story moving, but the fantastic performances of both Kieran Culkin and Jesse Eisenberg kept me engaged and wondering what will come next.
3. A Complete Unknown | Dir. James Mangold – as someone who doesn’t listen to a lot of Bob Dylan (I know, I’m sorry) I found myself enjoying this film immensely! I wasn’t expecting how invested I would be in the story, the setting, and the world within this film. As a complete novice to Bob Dylan and his counterparts, I left feeling deeply satisfied and moved by the story and characters.
4. Sing Sing | Dir. Greg Kwedar – a deeply moving and extremely timely piece of art and one that should be seen by everyone. This film reminds us why we should value art and arts education for all – no matter our background or experiences. Not to mention how many actors in the film were the real people involved in this program! It’s inspiring, motivating, and I’m so happy it exists.
5. Wicked | Dir. Jon M. Chu ­– as someone who is a theatre nerd (see picks #1 and #4) I couldn’t help but smile when watching Wicked. I know all the music and the story but I still felt like I was experiencing it for the first time. Not only does this film do musical theatre so well, but it is also introducing a brand new generation to musical theatre and allows audiences to explore through a new lens.

Mary Jo Ziesel, Executive Director

1. Wicked | Dir. Jon M. Chu
2. A Real Pain | Dir. Jesse Eisenberg
3. The Last Showgirl | Dir. Gia Coppola
4. Anora | Dir. Sean Baker
5. Babes | Dir. Pamela Adlon

Elizabeth Garrigue, Membership Director

• Anora | Dir. Sean Baker – An exhilarating, new take on the fairy tale. So much happening at top speed. Great cast. Funny too! Loved her strength and her “bodyguard.”
• My Old Ass | Dir. Megan Park – About that bumpy transition to adulthood, with introduction to current and future loss, memories and nostalgia tied to place, childhood, familiarity.
• Io Capitano | Dir. Matteo Garrone – A harrowing, heart-breaking journey. The community of the brave souls making the trek. Beautiful cinematography. Such great acting of the lead.
• Ghostlight | Dir. Kelly O’Sullivan & Alex Thompson – The power of the arts and theater to help open us to experience our grief and vulnerability more honestly and create new connections with others.
• Blitz | Dir. Steve McQueen – Really captures the resilience and humor of the Brits. Amazing scenes of London, the destruction, the bomb shelter experience and comradery.
• The Outrun | Dir. Nora Fingscheidt – Gorgeous island setting. With a community of stoic, independent islanders. The incremental lonely movement towards sobriety and strength. Love Saoirse!
• Sugarcane | Dir. Julian Brave NoiseCat & Emily Kassie – Bringing light to the harrowing experience of native children ripped from their homes and community. Giving voice to victims. Too slowly and too late – but a start.
• Challengers | Dir. Luca Guadagnino – Fun! Buzzy soundtrack. Gorgeous cast acting through intense scenes!