For some a new year is something to look forward to, bringing with it a plethora of new possibilities and expectations.
For others, those 365 days ahead are filled with the anxiety of not quite knowing what lies ahead. A day might start off sunny and bright, and then you fire up a movie to review and you find yourself trapped by the sheer awfulness of something so inept that you have to wonder if the filmmakers had ever even watched a movie before they started rolling the film. Something, for example, like Mesa of Lost Women. How bad was it? Well, when Justin suggested I list my top and bottom three movies of the year, the first thing to spring to mind for the bad list was:
- Mesa of Lost Women
- Mesa of Lost Women
- Mesa of Lost Women
Seriously, it took me three attempts to finally get through that flick and I had to pad the review with a mini-bio of Jackie Coogan just to find enough to write about. Mesa of Lost Women isn’t so much a movie as it is seventy minutes of weapons-grade incompetence aimed squarely at a viewer left both dazed and confused by its vague and nonsensical storyline as well as the never-ending flamenco music that mounts a vicious assault on aural senses and delicate psyche alike.
On the other hand, sometimes you get to revisit a few old friends when you’re in the Mutant Review biz, and you might find a new favorite as well. Which brings us to the best movies that I reviewed in 2024:
Let’s face it: Valley Girl is a classic, Romeo & Juliet with feathered hair and a pastel wardrobe (as well as a happier ending), and it’s one of the best teen comedies of the ‘80s. I’ll happily revisit the romantic adventures of Julie and Randy any time, and the same is true of El Mariachi’s sojourn through Desperado, which is a hi-octane action flick just bursting at the seams with all the energy that a young director could muster. Which is quite a bit.
Surprisingly, it seems that a veteran director in his late 70’s is capable of mustering an astonishing amount of energy as well, because George Miller once again went to the post-apocalyptic well and came away with another stellar entry in the world of Max Rockatansky. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is a wild, stunt-filled ride from Miller, proving yet again that his mastery of the action film is second to none.
So it’s honestly hard to complain when the best movies outnumber the worst three-to-one. Granted, there’s more than a little mediocrity settling in the middle, but I’m just hoping that ratio can hold true for 2025 as well. It probably depends on if we do another Mutant swap week this year. After inflicting White Lightning on Sitting Duck, I’m sure he’s looking for some payback…
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