Watched in 2024 #3: Oscar-nominated Animated movies, romcoms and so much more

I have not been reading as much as usual, but I have been watching SO MANY movies. In Watched in 2024 #2, I talked about 2024 Oscar nominees but I left out animated movies, so in this post, I’m talking about them and about some other random things I watched.

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The Worst Person in the World (4.5 stars): I don’t know what to say about this movie. It is relatable, unexpectedly sad, and captivating. I felt invested in the main character’s life, her constant existential crisis and her restlessness in the face of them, and her complicated and intense relationships. The script, cinematography, and performances are all incredible. It left me on the brink of tears.

Cha Cha Real Smooth (4.5 stars): This is such a wholesome movie and it has an awkward humor that it’s part of its charm. I love Dakota Johnson, she is so good in this, and her chemistry with Cooper Raiff is fantastic and makes this captivating. Also, this movie does a good job capturing that uncertain and in-between stage after college, but also for older people, the fear that comes with getting married, having children, and knowing that life will never be about just you again. I love the way this goes in a realistic but not entirely expected direction, and the bittersweet ending really hit me.

The Grand Budapest Hotel (4 stars): This is a fun and charming movie. It has witty dialogue and quirky humor. The color scheme and the cinematography in general were incredible. Ralph Fiennes’ performance is so engaging.

The Sound of Music (4 stars): Watching this for the first time in 2024 knowing nothing beyond the basic premise, I was completely surprised. This is such a charming movie, the songs, and the performances are great, and the ending is unexpected. My only minor critique of this is that some musical numbers go on a bit too long, but overall it’s a really good movie.

Quiz Lady (3.5 stars): This movie doesn’t do anything we haven’t seen before, but it is charming and entertaining and has funny moments. I love that we are getting more comedies with Asian women as protagonists. Sandra Oh and Awkwafina do a fantastic job with their parts, playing against type, and they have great chemistry.

Palm Springs (3.5 stars): This is funny and it has great performances. I especially enjoyed Cristin Milioti. Also, the chemistry between her and Andy Samberg is fantastic. This is a new take on the time loop concept, which was very well executed, and the movie’s fast pace kept it from becoming repetitive or boring. My one issue is that, because of the fast pace, there wasn’t as much time dedicated to exploring these characters and having the emotional depth that I wanted.

No Hard Feelings (2.5 stars): This has funny moments and the performances are solid. But the age gap gave me the ick and a lot of scenes that were supposed to be funny were just cringy.

ANIMATED MOVIES

Spider-man: Into the Spider-verse (4 stars): I enjoyed this more than expected as someone who doesn’t typically watch animated movies. The soundtrack is fantastic, the vibrant colors are captivating, and I really liked the mix of different animation styles. This was creative and fresh in many different ways, and the story kept me engaged the entire time.

Spider-man: Across the Spider-verse (4 stars): Surprisingly, I enjoyed this more than the first one, mainly because the emotional conflict was a lot more interesting to me in this one and because I appreciated the slower pace that let me be more invested in the characters and the story. This captures what was great about the first movie while expanding the world. There are so many new characters and new worlds and it’s all so interesting. The animation just like in the first movie was phenomenal. I didn’t mind the ending with its lack of resolution and I’m looking forward to the next movie.

Nimona (4 stars): The animation style is lovely, the dynamic between the two main characters is fun to watch and the development of their relationship pulled at my heartstrings, the humor was solid, I loved the casual queerness, and the world-building which mixes elements from fantasy and sci-fi is very cool. While the story was fairly predictable and they made a lot of changes from the comic to make this more palatable, it was still an entertaining and captivating movie.

The Boy and the Heron (3 stars): Visually this is absolutely stunning and the world created in this movie is so whimsical, imaginative, and captivating. However, the pacing is inconsistent, there were points where a lot of things were happening and I was really engaged, but then the pace would slow down and I got bored for portions of this. Besides that, the emotional journey did not hit in the way I wanted. This tried to be an exploration of grief but I feel like it didn’t go deep enough and there isn’t enough build-up to sell the message of letting go that it tries to deliver. The main character’s emotional journey is not clear. Also, it often rushes through emotional moments, especially towards the end.

The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse (3 stars): The animation is stunning and it’s a really cute short. While the overall message is good, it’s delivered in very basic, commonplace phrases that are the entire dialogue of the film, which makes it lack depth.

What movies or tv shows have you loved lately?

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