This sentiment that movies are doomed was not the consensus with most of the participants polled, there was even the sense that the first half of 2024 was actually a good one for cinema.
In the end, over 100 critics/filmmakers voted (plus a few online additions) on the best films of the movie mid-year. No surprise, Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune: Part Two” finished at the top of the heap with 46 list mentions. Villeneuve’s film is most likely headed to next year’s Oscars where it stands a good chance to be nominated in many of the top categories, including Best Picture and Best Director.
George Miller’s “Furiosa” finished in second place, just five votes shy of ‘Dune 2.’ Miller’s action film failed to ignite at the box office, was deemed less worthy than ‘Fury Road,’ but critics still seemed to really like it. We all knew it wouldn’t be able to top ‘Fury Road,’ which was named best film of the 2010s in a formerly conducted poll, but the film was still well-reviewed and lasting in the minds of critics.
All in all, the movie year is looking much more fruitful than expected, with a mix of both big and small movies winning critics’ hearts and minds. Even Italy, Japan and France got into the action with Alice Rohrwacher’s “La Chimera,” Rysuke Hamaguchi’s “Evil Does Not Exist” and Bertrand Bonello’s “The Beast” all making the top 10.
IndieWire used to conduct a mid-year poll, but then they just stopped doing it. I stepped in and took over in 2016. The first few editions were in tandem with Sasha Stone’s Awards Daily and then in 2019 exclusively became a World of Reel thing. This is the 9th year for the poll.
1) “Dune: Part Two” (Denis Villeneuve) — 46 votes
2) “Furiosa” (George Miller) — 43
3) “Challengers” (Luca Guadagnino) — 31
3) “Hit Man” (Richard Linklater) — 31
3) “Love Lies Bleeding” (Rose Glass) — 31
6) “Civil War” (Alex Garland) — 29
7) “I Saw the TV Glow” (Jane Schoenbrun) — 19
7) “La Chimera” (Alice Rohrwacher) — 19
9) “Evil Does Not Exist” (Ryusuke Hamaguchi) — 18
9) “The Bikeriders” (Jeff Nichols) — 18
11) “The Beast” (Bertrand Bonello) — 17
12) “Do Not Expect the End …” (Radu Jude) - 12
12) “Inside Out 2” (Ronnie del Carmen) — 12
14) “Thelma” (Josh Margolin) — 11
15) “Kinds of Kindness” (Yorgos Lanthimos) — 9
16) “Green Border” (Agnieszka Holland) — 8
16) “The Fall Guy” (David Leitch) — 8
18) “Late Night With the Devil” (The Cairnes) — 6
18) “Kingdom of Planet of the Apes” (Wes Ball) — 6
20) “Ghostlight” (O’Sullivan/Thompson) — 5
20) “Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell” (Thien An Pham) — 5
20) “About Dry Grasses” (Nuri Bilge Ceyland) — 5
CRITICS/FILMMAKERS:
Thelma Adams (AARP), Ethan Alter (Freelance), Jeffrey M. Anderson (San Francisco Examiner), Diego Andaluz (DiscussingFilm), David Ansen (Newsweek), Edwin Arnaudin (Mountain Xpress), Michael Atkinson (The Village Voice), Nicholas Barber (BBC), Nicolas Bell (IONCINEMA), Colin Biggs (That Shelf), Alex Billington (First Showing), John Bleasdale (Variety), Chuck Bowen (Slant Magazine), Richard Brody (The New Yorker), Jim Brunzell (Dark Star Pictures), Christopher Bumbray (Joblo), Erik Childress (WGN Radio), Daryl Chin (Freelance), Nick Clement (Variety), Laura Clifford (Reeling Reviews), Peter Debruge (Variety), Tony Dayoub (Cinema Viewfinder), Phil de Semlyen (Time Out), Edward Douglas (The Weekend Warrior), Steven Erickson (Freelance), Max Evry (Movie Maker), Matt Fagerholm (Roger Ebert), Jim Farmer (Out on Film), Scott Feinberg (THR), Roger Friedman (Showbiz411), Jean Jacky Goldberg (Les Inrockuptibles), Bill Goodykoontz (Arizona Republic), Karen Gordon (Freelance), Zaki Hasan (The Film Stage), Barbara Goslowski (That Shelf), Patrick Heidmann (Freelance), Barry Hertz (The Globe and Mail), Matt Hoffman (Film School Rejects), Peter Howell (The Toronto Star), Andrea Hudson (Freelance) Richard T. Jameson (Film Comment), Mark Johnson (Awards Daily), Don Kaye (Den of Geek), Glenn Kenny (Roger Ebert), Peter Keough (The Arts Fuse), Jonathan Kiefer (Mill Valley Film Festival), Harry Knowles (Aint it Cool), Eric Kohn (EDGLRD), Kevin Laforest (Extra Beurre), Eric Lavallee (IONCINEMA), Pascal le Duff (Le Télégramme Brest), Marcos Levy (Freelance), Craig D. Lindsay (Nashville Scene), Rod Lurie (Filmmaker), Wade Major (NPR Los Angeles), Philip Martin (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette), Steve Mears (Film Comment), Myron Meisel (LAFCA), Scott Menzel (HFCA), Jose Carlos Moreno (Freelance), Rafael Motomayer (The Playlist), Pat Mullen (That Shelf), Matt Neglia (Next Best Picture), Brian Owens (Calgary Film Festival), Michael Patterson (Michael’s Telluride Blog), Gerald Peary (The Arts Fuse),CJ Prince (The Film Stage), Ray Pride (Gay City News), Kristy Puchko (Mashable), Claudia Puig (USA Today), Emanuele Rauco (Venice Film Festival), Mara Reinstein (US Weekly), Timothy Rhys (Movie Maker), Nathaniel Rogers (The Film Experience), Ruben Rosario (WSVN-TV), Dan Sallitt (Filmmaker), Nick Schager (Slant Magazine), Christopher Schobert (The Buffalo News), Diego Semerene (Slant Magazine), Ian Schultz (PsychothronicCinema), Niles Schwartz (Slant Magazine), Don Shanahan (Every Movie Has A Lesson), Jason Shawan (Nashville Scene), Viguen Shirvanian (Culturopoing), Yael Shuv (Time Out Tel Aviv), Alex Simon (AFI), Matt Singer (Screen Crush), Jeff Sneider (TheInSneider), Giancarlo Sopo (Washington Examiner), Michael Sragow (Film Comment), Tony Stemme (Freelance), David Sterritt (Christian Science Monitor), Ed Symkus (Boston Globe), Drew Taylor (The Playlist), Tomasso Tocci (IONCINEMA), Christian Toto (Toto in Hollywood), Benjamin Tovias (Yedioth Ahronoth), Brian Truitt (USA Today), Mel Valentin (Freelance), Daniel Waters (Filmmaker), Max Weiss (Baltimore Magazine), Jeffrey Wells (Hollywood Elsewhere), Matthew Wilder (Filmmaker), Cam Williams (Freelance), Chuck Wilson (L.A. Weekly), Addison Wyle (The Wire), Stephanie Zacharek (Time)
UPDATE: Added 10 lists to the tally, which were found online, separate from those who participated in the poll (Nicholas Barber, Richard Brody, Stephanie Zacharek, Matt Singer, Phil de Semlyen, Kristy Puchko, Colin Biggs, Barbara Goslowski and Pat Mullen).