KSL Movie Show: Andy’s best movies of 2024
Dec 27, 2024, 6:00 PM | Updated: 6:01 pm
Editor’s note: This is an editorial piece. An editorial, like a news article, is based on fact but also shares opinions. The opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and are not associated with our newsroom.
SALT LAKE CITY — As co-hosts of the “KSL Movie Show,” Andy Farnsworth and Steve Salles watch A LOT of movies each year. In 2024 alone each of them watched over 200 different new releases, with Steve getting close to 300. Not all the films they watch are of the greatest quality, but many of them are indeed worth your time.
As heard on the final Movie Show of 2024, here are Andy and Steve’s lists of their top 5 movies, plus a handful of honorable mentions and where to watch them*:
Related: Steve’s best movies of 2024
5. “Wicked” (PG-13)
Visually stunning, colorful, energetic, fun, emotional, and full of catchy tunes. The fictional backstory of the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good Witch of the North from “The Wizard of Oz” comes to the big screen after a massively successful Broadway musical run.
Not sure it could have been adapted any better than it was by Director John M. Chu, and if you can make a 2-hour-and-40-minute movie not feel like a 2-hour-and-40-minute movie, then you’ve accomplished something amazing. [Still playing in theaters, including sing-along versions; available to purchase via VOD starting Dec. 30]
4. “A Different Man” (R)
Sebastian Stan plays Edward, an aspiring actor born with a facial deformity. Edward decides to undergo an experimental medical procedure that transforms him into looking like Sebastian Stan.
But this new life and new look can only change what’s going on outside and around Edward, who finds himself consumed with jealousy when another man with the same facial deformity (Adam Pearson, who turns in one of the best supporting actor performances of the year) shows up and is actually comfortable with who he is.
It’s darkly comedic at times, but a fascinating look at how it really is what’s inside that matters. [Available for purchase/rental via VOD]
3. “Sing Sing” (R)
A drama set in the notorious Sing Sing prison in New York state, it stars Colman Domingo as Divine G., an inmate who participates in and even writes plays for a theater group comprised of inmates, supervised by Paul Raci’s theater director.
What makes this movie good is the exploration of how theater can give people like these inmates a way to be someone else for just a little bit and see things beyond the concrete walls and bars they’re surrounded by at all times.
Add in a magnificent performance by the actors who play the inmates—all of them actual former participants in the real-life Sing Sing theater group, including and especially Clarence Maclin—and you’ve got one of the three best movies of the year, in my opinion. [Not currently available to stream; theatrical re-release planned for Jan. 17, 2025]
2. “Conclave” (PG)
Ralph Fiennes leads a great ensemble of performers, including Stanley Tucci, Isabella Rossellini and John Lithgow, as worldwide leaders of the Catholic Church meet to choose a new Pope after the death of the fictional pontiff in this story.
Fiennes is tasked with leading the conclave, dealing with all sorts of intrigue and stumbling blocks as members of the Cardinal have different ideas of the direction the church should take in the future, and some of whom may be willing to take an active hand in determining who will be the person to lead it.
Besides the powerhouse acting of the leads, the cinematography is gorgeous, the story is engaging and thought-provoking, differing viewpoints are fairly represented, and the resolution unique and beautiful in its own way. It truthfully portrays the pressure and uncertainty that comes with imperfect but sincere people trying to help shepherd others who look to them for leadership in matters of faith. [Available for purchase/rental via VOD; streaming on Peacock]
1. “Dune: Part Two” (PG-13)
Former prince Paul Atreides (Timothee Chalamet), having survived the assassination of his entire family and House, now plots revenge as he travels the desert of the planet Dune with the native Fremen, struggling to decide if he should embrace the messianic role that some have assigned him.
I loved everything about the movie. It immediately shot to the top of my “Best Movie of the Year” list in February when it finally came to theaters after being delayed by the 2023 Hollywood strikes, and nothing that was released afterwards was able to knock it off that perch. It is just an unbelievable, epic film with stunning visuals—the scenes on the black-and-white Harkkonen homeworld alone were mind-blowing. But it also has a massive scope, dense plotting, talented actors, and top-level action. And it makes what is a potentially boring story, actually interesting.
Denis Villaneuve had better get an Oscar nomination, since he somehow didn’t get a Golden Globe nomination for this. In a year where I watched over 200 new releases, I watched a 2-hour-and-45-minute movie three times. And I felt the same way each time I finished watching it. Don’t get me wrong; I’m all for grounded, character-driven dramas on the big screen. But “Dune: Part Two” is the realization of the full potential of what a movie that plays in theaters should be. [Streaming on Max]
Honorable Mentions
“A Real Pain” (R)
Jesse Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin play cousins who visit their late grandmother’s native Poland and the concentration camp she survived. Moving and thought-provoking. A 2024 Sundance Film Festival selection. [Still playing at Broadway Cinemas in SLC; coming to streaming Dec. 31]
“One Life” (PG)
Sir Anthony Hopkins plays the elderly version of an Englishman who made great efforts to get Jewish children out of Czechoslovakia before the Nazi occupation closed the borders at the beginning of World War II. He’s haunted by the ones he wasn’t able to save, but unaware of the impact he actually did have. Feels similar to “Schindler’s List” in many ways, but with a happier ending. [Streaming on Paramount+ with Showtime]
“His Three Daughters”
Carrie Coon, Natasha Lyonne, and Elizabeth Olsen play three sisters who come to stay at their dying father’s apartment to spend the last moments of his life with him. An amazing performance by all three women and a great exploration of how we each cope with grief differently. [Streaming on Netflix]
“Ghostlight”
Another exploration of grief and healing, as a construction worker from Chicago (Keith Kupferer) finds odd comfort and healing as he participates in a community theater production of “Romeo and Juliet.” There are some similarities to “His Three Daughters.” But it’s about the aftermath of tragedy and how theater can help you process emotions you would have trouble accessing otherwise. [Available for purchase on VOD; streaming on AMC+]
*Note: VOD means “video on demand.” It refers to places where you can purchase or rent digital copies of movies, like through Apple, Amazon, or Fandango at Home.
