This past year has been a big one in terms of iconic movie releases. From movie theater hits to Netflix originals, these films have created an abundance of entertainment for many. Whether you have seen them all or are looking for your next movie night watch, read along to see what your fellow raptors think of these popular films.

Nov 2023: Saltburn
This film, starring Jacob Elordi as Felix Catton and Barry Keoghan as Oliver Quick, follows two classmates at Oxford who quickly become close friends. Felix, coming from an extremely wealthy family, invites Oliver back to his family estate after Oliver faces a family tragedy. The summer is quickly turned upside down as a series of horrifying events occur. In between extravagant parties, bodies are found in corn mazes. As the summer progresses into mayhem, Oliver becomes even closer with the family at Saltburn, but not everything is as it seems. The movie grossed $21.1 million dollars in box office revenue as it quickly rose to fame. Songs like “Murder on the Dancefloor” by Sophie Ellis-Bextor and “Time to Pretend” by MGMT soared to the top of the charts as everyone desired the lifestyle depicted in the movie. Despite its popularity, there were some controversial opinions about the film. One of Elizabeth’s favorite reviews says, “Worse than a dumb movie is a dumb movie that’s convinced it’s smarter than you” (Letterboxd). She believes the movie contained more than a few plot holes and set up opportunities for incredible side plots only for them to be abandoned. The movie overall has great cinematography and an awesome soundtrack so if you’re interested in a visually captivating movie, give Saltburn a watch.

Dec 2023: Anyone But You

In the hit movie, Anyone But You, fan favorites Glen Powell and Sydney Sweeney play the role of Ben and Bea, respectively, as they embark on their unexpected journey to find love. While they appear to hit it off on their first encounter in a coffee shop resulting in a date, things go south when Bea overhears Ben talking about her after their night together. In a typical enemies-to-lovers fashion, Bea and Ben battle their emotions in this romantic comedy to eventually beat the odds. This movie may be known for causing a resurgence in the popularity of the song “Unwritten” by Natasha Bedingfield, originally released in 2004. Generating over $220 million in revenue worldwide, the success of this film is very likely to influence those in the future. The modernity of this movie furthers a new trend in more bawdy rom-coms as opposed to the heartfelt, coming-of-age classics from previous decades. While this movie certainly had its positives, many agree that there were quite a few cringy scenes, making the movie somewhat hard to watch. Sophia was not really a fan of the film and felt some scenes were super unnatural and the humor forced. It certainly missed on the themes of sweeter, innocent, true love like in some of the best, including Ten Things I Hate about You. It seems movie critics agreed, giving this film 56% rotten tomatoes. Nevertheless, if you are looking for an untraditional romance with some funny twists, Anyone But You could be your thing, but if you are on the edge, keep reading for some more options.

Jan 2024: Mean Girls (2024)

This lively remake of the 2011 classic was released in January of this year. The film, starring Reneé Rapp, Angourie Rice, Auli’iCravalho, and Jaquel Spivey, was a highly anticipated release for both fans of the OG movie as well as the Broadway musical. Adding songs and dance numbers to a film of such high acclaim while simultaneously maintaining the fire sparked by Tina Fey’s musical adaptation was a difficult task, and many had opinions on the result of Fey’s reprisal. The film achieved a 69% on Rotten Tomato’s ‘Tomatometer’ which is low compared to the 2004 original’s 84%. Elizabeth says that the movie is considerably more enjoyable if you’re a fan of the Broadway version, seeing as from her experience, those who weren’t had a lot to critique. The downside of recognizing the Broadway version is the automatic comparison you make between the musical soundtrack and the movie soundtrack. Broadway’s version is perfection on all accounts, but the lyric changes, song cuts, and overall lack of good vocals (absolutely not talking about Reneé Rapp) made for a lackluster movie soundtrack. Sousa Waggoner (12) loves this movie and thinks it is “A blessing to the world and will solve hunger and also have world peace” which prompted her to break out into song. If you’d like to be captivated as much as Sousa is, then you might need to give it a watch.

June 2024: Inside Out 2

In the sequel to the original Inside Out, this film follows the main character Riley’s life as she ventures from middle school to high school, and all the obstacles she faces. Unbeknownst to Joy and her fellow emotions, a big change is coming for Riley as she deals with the stress of being separated from her friends and trying out for her school’s ice hockey team, the FireHawks. Ranked number one overall for most revenue generated out of all movies released in 2024, making approximately 1.7 billion dollars, this movie was certainly a success. Released almost 10 years after the original, the audience of children who were Riley’s age at the time of the first movie was much older than her now. Sophia remembers watching the first Inside Out and felt the second was comfortingly nostalgic. Other fans agree, saying it was also a little emotional realizing they watched the first movie with their family and the second with their friends, emphasizing the theme in the second movie as Riley matures into a typical teenager and pushes back against her parents. While it may not live up to the fame of the original movie, Inside Out 2 was overall received very well. Critics agree with the sweetly sentimental value of this film and give it a 90% rotten tomatoes compared to Inside Out’s 98%. If you loved the emotions in the first movie, definitely give Inside Out 2 a watch, and if you haven’t seen either, then Sophia recommends you grab a friend–or your family–for a mini movie marathon and watch both!

July 2024: Twisters

With his sudden and recent rise to fame, Glen Powell, playing meteorologist Tyler Owens, stars in another successful film about an unusual job known as storm chasing. The movie delves behind the scenes of this specifically niche career path of chasing tornadoes, where people literally drive into tornadoes to collect data, or in Tyler’s case, for fun. In this film, the other main character Kate Carter, played by Daisy Edgar-Jones, has been fascinated with these natural disasters from a young age. Born and raised in Oklahoma, she has witnessed firsthand the devastating effects of tornadoes on her community throughout the years. This inspired her to pursue meteorology and become involved with storm chasing in the hopes of preventing future tornadoes before they cause massive destruction. Sophia thought this was a cool and exciting precedent for a movie and is very different from any action/thrillers she’s seen. She admits that while she is not a part of the Glen Powell bandwagon– which appears to be why so many other girls went to see Twisters– she can appreciate his role in this movie. Plus, who doesn’t love Luke Combs’ hit single addition to the film, “Ain’t No Love in Oklahoma.” If you haven’t seen Twisters and don’t mind a few potentially vertigo-inducing scenes, Twisters is an enjoyable watch.

September 2024: Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

This brand new release is a sequel to the 1988 Original titled Beetlejuice, which leads some to believe that there might be a third version to round out the famous saying. Winona Ryder reprises her original role as Lydia Deetz who is now an adult with a booming career as a ghost whispering TV personality. Deetz’s daughter, Astrid (Jenna Ortega), is a rebellious teenage girl whose refusal to believe in her mother’s abilities to communicate with the dead puts the entire family in a sticky situation after an unexpected tragedy. As always, the familiar character, Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton), returns to haunt Lydia after many years as his circumstances in the Afterlife become complicated. The film has a 77% on Rotten Tomato’s ‘Tomatometer’ and fans have said that, “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice shines with Burton’s striking visual style and dry wit” (Rotten Tomatoes). Elizabeth believes that the film had great visuals and superb acting from Ortega and Ryde and she thoroughly enjoyed her film viewing. She says, “Get your popcorn, sit down, and prepare to be enthralled in the magic that is Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.”

Sept 2024: Uglies

This Netflix original is an adaptation of the novel Uglies by Scott Westerfeld originally published in 2005. Uglies is a dystopian film set 300 years in the future. Everyone lives in a society where, when they turn 16, they undergo surgery that makes them ‘pretty.’ Until their 16th birthday, children live in a dormitory where they dream of becoming pretty and fantasize about entering the city where everything is perfect. However, there exists a place called “The Smoke” where citizens who disagree with the system go to live independently off the land. The “Pretties” in the City believe these people to be a threat to the system and throughout the movie, they aim to track down The Smoke. The movie stars Joey King as ‘Tally’ and Chase Stokes as ‘Peris,’ two young teens around the age that they would undergo surgery to become a Pretty. The movie got a 15% on the Tomatometer, which although Elizabeth believes is a little harsh, seems to be pretty consistent across movie-reviewing platforms. Elizabeth thinks that it’s a good watch if you’re half asleep because you don’t notice the actual quality of the film.

Thanks for reading, we hope you found your new weekend entertainment!