The best movies of 2024: Bold visions and rising stars
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Though the “Barbenheimer" phenomenon seemed like a punchline in search of a joke, the release of “Wicked" on the same day as “Gladiator II" did illuminate how culture works today. Yes, intellectual property—or “IP"—continues to exercise dominion over our art, but it doesn’t have to mean the end of creativity.
Whereas the latest Roman epic is a wan imitation of its predecessor, its multiplex rival turns the Oz story inside out. Instead of tired toga-wrapped political intrigue, “Wicked" poses relevant questions that stretch beyond politics: How much of what everybody knows is simply a constructed fiction? Conspiratorial thinking made for great thrillers in the ’70s and it could reinvigorate filmmakers’ imaginations, if they’re willing to take a chance on doing something interesting. “Wicked" (in theaters) or rather “Wicked: Part One," as the opening title has it, was my favorite film of the year, combining the magic of the Harry Potter movies (though it’s far better than any of them) with the comic energy of “Mean Girls" (but it’s much funnier than either of those features).
The director, Jon M. Chu, isn’t an auteur. He isn’t interested in showy camera work or fancy editing.
He simply serves up a terrifically entertaining story with thrilling musical numbers. Auteurism was, however, very much the style of the other film that left me in awe this year: Brady Corbet’s “The Brutalist" (in theaters Dec. 20).
This staggering drama set in the world of postwar architecture proves that you don’t need a big budget to create an outsize experience. (Mr. Corbet, previously a director of little-seen indies such as 2018’s “Vox Lux," has said he had less than $10 million to work with.) He passionately
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