There are many films out there about obsessive artists and the ups and downs of their personal and professional careers, but few as compelling and ambitious as THE BRUTALIST. Holocaust survivor and brilliant architect László Tóth (Adrian Brody) emigrates to the US and falls on hard times until he is engaged by eccentric millionaire Harrison Van Buren (Guy Pearce) to build a unique building as a monument to himself. But László’s trauma, the arrival of his wife and niece (Felicity Jones and Raffey Cassidy) to the US and Van Buren’s increasingly volatile behaviour threatens to bring the whole thing crashing down. Brady Corbet’s film is the work of a master craftsman, executed with such confidence and an utter refusal to compromise on his challenging creative vision. Themes build upon themes, the rich visual tapestry and soundscape paired with memorable performances from the ensemble (particularly Brody, Jones and Pearce) that veer from heartbreaking to subtly funny, makes the imposing three and a half hours fly by. SSP
Review in Brief: The Brutalist (2024)
Review in Brief: Megalopolis (2024)
MEGALOPOLIS was always going to be flawed, but after three decades of waiting it’s frankly exasperating just how basic and ill-conceived Francis Ford Coppola’s passion project has turned out to be. In a stale and surface-level satirical conceit, Coppola asks, what if future USA becomes a literal Roman Empire sewing its own seeds of destruction? Genius architect Cesar Catilina (Adam Driver) plans a utopian city while battling corrupt politicians and rot set into an excessive society at large. Yes, even if the whole American Empire collapsing is becoming true it was still really clumsily executed. The dialogue is laboured when it’s not lifting from Shakespeare, the performances range from dull (Driver, Giancarlo Esposito) to engagingly weird (Aubrey Plaza) to unintentionally funny (Shia LaBeouf, Jon Voight) and the whole thing has an off-putting, unreal sheen. Not the high that Coppola would have wanted to go out on, but perhaps the ultimate lesson in artistic hubris. SSP
Review in Brief: Transformers One (2024)
Now that’s a Transformers movie. This is so much better than you’d expect it to be, a real treat for fans of the franchise and a pleasant surprise for many who are not. In an admittedly overused prequel conceit, mortal enemies were once friends as young cybertronian labourers Orion Pax (Chris Hemsworth, slowly growing into a Peter Cullen vocal range) and D-16 (Brian Tyree Henry, full of pathos) struggle in a rigid caste system and unravel a sinister plot on their home planet years before they become arch-nemeses Optimus Prime and Megatron. TRANSFORMERS ONE has imaginative, dazzlingly animated action, good jokes and a pretty righteous political message; all things lacking from the live-action movies. Where this iteration of the Transformers story goes next would have been fascinating to see, but it underperformed at the box office so this might be a one and done. What a shame. SSP
Captain America: Brave New World (Review) 2025
Review in Brief: Conclave (2024)
A load of old men locked in a room together to decide which one of them will get to be the boss, it’s the stuff thrillers are made of right? Based on the Robert Harris bestseller, the sudden death of the Pope triggers a Papal election, with every eligible cardinal sequestered from the outside world for a series of votes. Tasked with overseeing the conclave, Cardinal Lawrence (an awards-worthy Ralph Fiennes) attempts to remain impartial and not be drawn into faction politics while dark secrets in the front runners’ pasts begin to surface. This is impeccably constructed, pristinely performed old-fashioned filmmaking that proves effective thrillers can be talky and self-contained as long as the characters and their clashes of personality are interesting. CONCLAVE is a film made in its small moments, in director Edward Berger’s control over every facet, drip-feeding you information until the final shocking twist. This is subtle, but still a good deal more exciting than the majority of mainstream fare. SSP
Review in Brief: Wolf Man (2025)
While not as effective as his modern take on THE INVISIBLE MAN, Leigh Whannell’s WOLF MAN still works as a no-nonsense representation of a painful and tragic transformation. In a slightly laboured setup, Christopher Abbott’s Blake must return to his childhood home in the Oregon countryside with his wife and daughter (Julia Garner and Matilda Firth) to clear out his missing-presumed-dead father’s belongings, but is soon infected by a werewolf and faced with a horrifying transformation. The film’s main new gimmick is its “wolf vision”, where perspective shifts to the creature’s POV, with darkness illuminated and its prey’s dialogue muffled, their eyes now with retro-reflective highlights to show just how far removed from humanity he has become. There are some meaty themes here but they’re not really pushed far enough and the solid performances and great prosthetics work can’t make up for a relative lack of genuine scares. SSP
Review in Brief: Rebel Ridge (2024)
It’s depressingly rare today to come upon a suspense film that genuinely keeps you guessing the direction it is heading in. Jeremy Saulnier’s REBEL RIDGE, a politically pointed, punchy modern Western certainly does that. Terry (Aaron Pierre) rides into a small town to pay his cousin’s bail and falls afoul of a corrupt and institutionally racist police department under Chief Burnne (Don Johnson). Terry must work with public defender Summer (AnnaSophia Robb) and an anonymous police mole and utilise the skills from his past in his fight for justice. All of Saulner’s films are visceral, uncomfortable watches but the sense of righteous anger directed at the systemic racism still permeating US society and the balance between heightened tension and grounded emotionality makes this one of his most satisfying works to date. It probably runs a little long and does slightly strain credulity in the final act, but it’s one hell of an effective thriller overall. SSP
Looking Back and Looking Forward: 2024
The year in which Hollywood tried its darnedest to recover from a year of disruption and underperformance, and the resulting 12 months ended up being a mixed success.
Some studios like Disney saw some of their biggest box office hits in years with the likes of INSIDE OUT 2 and DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE while noted auteurs, notably Francis Ford Coppola and George Miller struggled to make their mark either creatively, financially or both. At least the indie sector, animation and films around the world kept pushing the art form forward in a turbulent time where it has never been more necessary.
As per usual, before my full top 20 films of 2024 (UK release dates), here’s the individual scenes that have stayed with me.
Best Scenes of 2024:
DUNE: PART 2 – Feyd in the Arena
Baron Harkonnen (Stellen Skarsgård) presents his nephew and heir to his subjects on Feyd’s coming-of-age, the deadly and psychotic young royal (Austin Butler) stepping into an arena to prove his physical prowess against (mostly) drugged prisoners as his fight is bathed in the cold light of Gedi Prime’s black sun. A sequence made in its boldness and in Greig Fraser’s ingenious infrared cinematography, Feyd makes one hell of a first impression.
POOR THINGS – Bella Acts Up
Still at an awkward phase of her development and seen as hugely embarrassing in public by the man who is more than happy to take advantage of her lack of inhibitions in private, reanimated cadaver Bella (Emma Stone) upends Duncan’s (Mark Ruffalo) fancy dinner engagement at a lavish hotel before dancing with wild abandon. Jerskin Fendrix, the film’s composer cameos as part of the band and also soundtracks Bella’s dance floor liberation, her jerky movements more than matching the discordant notation.
ALL OF US STRANGERS – One Last Family Meal
After regularly visiting his long departed parents (Claire Foy and Jamie Bell) in their home, Adam (Andrew Scott) realises it is time to let go of his past and his regrets and decides to say his goodbyes at a location close to all of their hearts – a slightly depressing American-style diner in a British shopping centre. You’d have to have a heart of stone to not be moved by this lowkey, impeccably acted farewell representing Adam finally coming to terms with his regrets and his grief.
DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE – Mini Van Fight
The Merc with the Mouth (Ryan Reynolds) and Wolvie (Hugh Jackman) haven’t had the most harmonious introduction, with the former essentially kidnapping the latter to save his universe, and after some uncomfortable truths are swearily unleashed, both stabby, regenerating antiheroes lay into each other in the confines of a family SUV soundtracked by a malfunctioning radio. It’s by some distance the film’s least spectacular action sequence but by imposing limitations of space on the scene it becomes its most memorable too.
FURIOSA: A MAD MAX SAGA – The Stowaway
The only sequence that even comes close to rivalling the spectacle of FURY ROAD sees the young Furiosa disguised as a mechanic and clinging to the underside of the brand-new, shiny and chrome war rig on its maiden voyage, inevitably coming up against some marauding raiders and fiery chaos ensuing. Miller specialises in escalation, tactility and momentum and this chase provides all of this in spades as well as serving as a searing character introduction for the now-adult title character (Anya Taylor-Joy).
HIS THREE DAUGHTERS – Perfect Goodbye
After a whole film’s worth of upsetting family squabbles as three sisters (Carrie Coon, Natasha Lyonne, Elizabeth Olsen) watch over their dad in his final weeks dying of cancer, a moment of welcome tranquility comes at the story’s close. As his daughters carefully manoeuvre him from his sickbed to his favourite chair, Vincent (Jay O Sanders) appears to recklessly tear out his IV and heart monitor, only for it to be revealed he has stepped out of his now unresponsive body to tell his children how proud he is of all of them.
THE SUBSTANCE – New Years Show
After breaking the unbreakable rule of using The Substance – not to double-dose – the younger ideal version of Elisabeth Sparkle Demi Moore), Sue (Margaret Qualley) horribly mutates into a third form, Monstro Elisasue. Not wanting to bow out of hosting the upcoming star-making New Year show on TV, the shambling horror squeezes into her dress, puts on her makeup and earrings and staples a promo image of her formally glamorous self to her face and heads down to the TV station for one of the most extreme, claret-soaked and hilarious film finales of all.
EVIL DOES NOT EXIST – Town Hall Meeting
When an unthinking corporation swoop in and expect a small rural community to cooperate with their proposal for the building of a power generator, their token offering of a public consultation quickly gets out of hand. Quickly their slick representatives crumple in the face of calm, firm and well-informed questions from the locals who just want to be left to their peaceful way of life.
REBEL RIDGE – P.A.C.E
There are plenty of great turning points in movies, moments where you feel a seismic shift in tone. After being pushed around, discriminated against and threatened by corrupt and prejudiced authorities, Terry Aaron Pierre) turns the tables on them as he has a heated conversation with the police chief (Don Johnson) outside his station. Terry gradually reveals he has a dark past and is a force to be reckoned with, just as the chief’s colleagues battle iffy WiFi to look to his service record and everyone realises simultaneously what a mistake it was to mess with him.
ANORA – Ani Goes Beast Mode
Inept thugs sent to break up an unapproved marriage between Russian playboy Ivan and stripper Ani (Mikey Madison) fatally underestimate how formidable she can be. Before long she is holding her own against two much larger men and causing them lasting damage as they fall over fancy furniture and attempt to restrain and gag her, her sailor’s mouth and flailing limbs making them think twice about every attempt they make to contain but not hurt her.
Best Films of 2024:
Honourable mention: ISRAELISM
20. MONSTER Full review here.
19. REBEL RIDGE Review in brief here.
18. THE SUBSTANCE Review in brief here.
17. INSIDE OUT 2 Review in brief here.
16. HIS THREE DAUGHTERS
15. THE REMARKABLE LIFE OF IBELIN Full review here.
14. CONCLAVE
13. ANORA Review in brief here.
12. MY OLD ASS
11. SING SING
10. HUNDREDS OF BEAVERS Full Top 10 write up here.
9. THE WILD ROBOT
8. SOMETIMES I THINK ABOUT DYING
7. KNEECAP
6. THE ZONE OF INTEREST
5. PERFECT DAYS
4. ALL OF US STRANGERS
3. ROBOT DREAMS
2. THE TEACHERS’ LOUNGE
1. POOR THINGS Full review here.
Coming up in a jam-packed 2025 we have the return of DC superheroes with James Gunn’s SUPERMAN and hopefully the return to form of the MCU with CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD, THUNDERBOLTS* and THE FANTASTIC FOUR. Tom Cruise reportedly bids farewell to Ethan Hunt in undoubtedly spectacular fashion in the eighth MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE and we can look forward to new films from Bong Joon-Ho, Ryan Coogler and others. That’s not even getting started on all the other IP including AVATAR, WICKED and the live-action takes on LILO AND STITCH and HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON. Here’s to a year of cinema that will help us cope with uncertain times. SSP
SSP Thinks Film 
Amazon to Take Full Creative Control of the James Bond Franchise
https://secondcutpod.substack.com/p/amazon-to-take-full-creative-control SSP