Kninja Knitter

I’ve mentioned more than a few times that I am an AMC A-lister. This membership program allows me to see three movies per week for a monthly subscription fee. While my schedule doesn’t provide enough time for me to get to the theater for three shows each week, I do try to make the most of my membership when I can. There were a number of movies in 2024 that I didn’t get to see before they left the theater, but I still managed to see 69 movies on the big screen!

Here’s some analysis of what I saw, and then I’ll share some of the highlights.

I’m honestly surprised at the number of biopics that I saw last year. Please keep in mind that these are really classified as dramas, but the stories they tell are presenting real people/places and storylines. Some were quite obvious (Reagan, A Complete Unknown, The Apprentice, and Back to Black) while others told lesser known stories (Sing Sing, Kneecap, Ordinary Angels, and Sight) and those are just a couple handfuls of examples! A good chunk of the action movies were also comedies, and at least a couple included some romance. But I opted for a single primary genre for each movie.

I also was surprised to realize how many musicals I saw – or for that matter, how many musicals were released! The obvious ones were Wicked and Mufasa. But Wonka, The Color Purple and Mean Girls were also musicals. They didn’t seem to advertise that fact in their trailers that I can recall though.

Then there’s “dramedies.” These are dramas that have a fair amount of humor in them. As I was reviewing my list and categorizing each movie, I took a moment to think about each film, and I made the distinction based on my recollection. Of course, this also made me think about the number of movies I saw last year that got me to laugh out loud. And a lot of the time, I was the only one laughing audibly. I can take that reality in a couple ways: either I’m the only one, in my “advanced” years, who doesn’t care what anyone else thinks, so I laugh out loud while others are too embarrassed to do so, or I was the only one in the theater who caught the “funny.” I prefer to assume the latter, lol. Some movies are just so smart in the way they add layers to a scene or a script, making it subtly funny so others just don’t pick up on it. (I’m being a little sarcastic here… 😉)

Having seen so many movies, I don’t know that I can rank them. But I can spotlight some that particularly struck me. First, there aren’t many on the list that I would be very interested in seeing again. Examples are Madame Web – because I’m sure I missed details, and Marvel movies have a special place in my heart, even from the Sony-verse; Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire – the latest series does a wonderful job of honoring the original one, particularly the memory of Harold Ramis; Twisters – a pseudo-sequel, I’m a fan of Glen Powell, and the action was really fun; Empire Waist – after doing a deeper dive into some of my hidden emotions, this would be a worthwhile re-watch, as it does a great job of showing how much people focus on appearances though it’s what’s inside that matters most; Red One – this could become a seasonal classic for me, up there with Die Hard, especially as a Chris Evans conduit, lol; and lastly, Wicked – once the second part comes out, I’m probably going to start watching the pair regularly, at least for a while.

The other thought I wanted to share was about seeing actors in multiple films in the same year. The Rock did a voice in Moana 2 and starred in Red One, and his vocal talent co-star Auli’i Cravalho also starred in Mean Girls. Other actors who voice an animated role and also appeared on screen in another movie include: Bryan Tyree Henry, Lupita Nyong’o, and Chris Hemsworth. I also saw J.K. Simmons, Zendaya, Dakota Johnson, Sebastian Stan, Glen Powell and Tom Hardy in multiple roles. And rounding out the trend, Timothée Chalamet began and ended the year in movies where he sang. How cool is that?

I haven’t spent as much time preparing for movies in 2025 as I did last year. For one thing, I’m terribly frustrated by the number of horror/gore movies whose trailers I see before an R-rated movie, even though I’m not there to see horror/gore. I don’t understand when the marketing people changed their tactic. Do they really get people to see “those” movies just by advertising before any R-rated films? Anyway, I tend to see movies in waves based on my availability. But across the year, I definitely get my money’s worth!

Any questions about what I’ve shared here? I know I didn’t go into any detail, but my intention was to provide a summary of the year. But I’d be delighted to share more thoughts in a future post if there are questions!

Knit on. 🧶