The 2024 Ben Hecht 500, Part II

Numbers 400-301, including 'Road House,' 'Blitz,' 'The Outrun' and 'Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire'

This is Part II featuring numbers 400 through 301. Part III and IV will arrive later tomorrow, with the final 100 arriving on Friday. I published my list of the 40 worst on Monday.

Once again: If a film has a plausible claim as a 2024 release, it’s included. It’s movies that got 2024 releases and were part of 2024 awards campaigns, and also movies I saw at film festivals and through other early-access channels, which may not have releases set in 2024. There are also some movies I saw at festivals in 2023 and earlier, that finally came out this year. If something was part of an awards campaign in 2023 or earlier, that’s out, but otherwise… there will be some films that make both the 2023 and 2024 lists. Also, movies (usually documentaries) that are two parts, get included as “movies,” for this list’s purposes, but if they’re three or more parts, they don’t.

Here we go:

400. Hip-Hop and the White House

Dir. Jesse Washington, streaming on Hulu, review here.

Documentary about the numerous connections between rappers and presidents, from Clinton’s Sister Souljah Moment to Trump’s pardon of Lil Wayne. Probably could have been longer.

399. The Philadelphia Eleven

Dir. Margo Guernsey, streaming on VOD, feature here.

Documentary about a forgotten moment in Philadelphia history, when 11 women were ordained as Episcopal priests in 1974 against the wishes of church governing bodies.

398. Spermworld

Dir. Lance Oppenheim, streaming on Hulu.

Wild documentary about the unregulated market for sperm donation. Crazy stuff, but I preferred Oppenheim’s other project this year, the docuseries Ren Faire.

397. Road House

Dir. Doug Liman, streaming on Prime Video, review here.

No, a remake of Road House was not necessary, although for what it is it’s at least watchable. I’m no Conor McGregor fan but he was well-used in this.

396. The Six Triple Eight

Dir. Tyler Perry, in theaters now and coming to Netflix soon.

Perry’s attempt to will his own version of Hidden Figures into existence. Pretty inert, despite a fine Kerry Washington performance.

395. ABBA: Against the Odds

Dir. James Rogan, streaming on VOD, review here.

Career-spanning documentary about the hitmaking, divorce-prone Swedish pop group. Nothing special as a doc, but it’s great to hear those songs.

394. God and Country: The Rise of Christian Nationalism

Dir. Dan Partland, streaming on Peacock, feature here.

Rob Reiner-produced documentary featuring anti-Trump Christians railing against the former and future president. Tim Alberta’s book The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory made the same points more forcefully.

393. Chowchilla

Dir. Paul Solet, streaming on Max.

HBO documentary about a strange mass kidnapping in California in the 1970s. I give it credit for being a documentary rather than a many-part series.

392. Join or Die

Dir. Pete Davis and Rebecca Davis, streaming on Netflix.

Documentary that builds on the work of “Bowling Alone” author Robert Putnam. It argues, convincingly but not excitingly, that you should go out and geet involved, rather than staying home and watching Netflix.

391. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire

Dir. Gil Kenan, streaming on Netflix, review here.

The latest Ghostbusters sequel, which brings the action back to New York, is better than the previous one. But it’s still unnecessary, all fan service all the time, and the frozen ghosts are terrible antagonists.

390. The Tuba Thieves

Dir. Alison O'Daniel, streaming on PBS

Documentary about a series of thefts from Los Angeles schools. Fascinating when it’s about that, less successful when it branches further out.

389. Nathan-ism

Dir. Elan Golod, in theaters now, review here.

Fascinating doc about a cartoonist who once guarded Nazi war criminals. Eventually take a bizarre detour into questioning whether his stories are true.

388. The Critic

Dir. Anand Tucker, streaming on VOD

Gorgeously photographed drama starring Ian McKellan as a theater critic in the 1930s. The plot is a bit contrived, but what a great-looking motion picture.

387. Lousy Carter

Dir. Bob Byington, streaming on Hulu

David Krumholtz is a rare starring role, as a guy who finds out he’s dying and starts living life to the fullest. The Dabney Coleman movie Short Time did a similar idea better.

386. Vermiglio

Dir. Maura Delpero, coming to theaters December 25.

Acclaimed, Oscar-shortlisted Italian film about a deserter arriving in an Italian village. I found it kind of boring.

385. The Outrun

Dir. Nora Fingscheidt, streaming on VOD, review here.

Sairose Ronan gives a fine, if Oscar-baity turn as an alcoholic. The movie, though, never rises above her performance.

384. She is Conann

Dir. Bertrand Mandico, streaming on AMC+

A female take on the Conan the Barbarian mythology. I love the idea, but I didn’t think it followed through that well.

383. Elton John: Never Too Late

Dir. R.J. Cutler and David Furnish, streaming on Disney+

Career-spanning documentary about Elton, albeit a bit unnecessary considering the recent biopic, and concert film. How impartial can a documentary be, if it’s co-directed by the subject’s own subject?

382. False Positive

Dir. Ismail Al-Amin, streaming on ESPN+.

A 30 for 30 about Butch Reynolds, the Olympic athlete who got screwed out of his chance at the Olympics by a dodgy steroid test. Fine, but probably not the greatest documentary possible about Olympic corruption.

381. Tokyo Uber Blues

Dir. Taku Aoyagi, streaming on PBS

Documentary by Aoyagi, about his time working as an Uber Eats driver in Tokyo. Better for that, than for the big statements it tries to make about the gig economy.

380. Despicable Me 4

Dir. Chris Renaud, streaming on Peacock

The latest in this animated franchise, which does little to disabuse me of the motion that the standalone Minions movies are better than the main Despicable Me ones.

379. Stress Positions

Dir. Theda Hammel, streaming on Hulu

There’s probably no genre I like less than the pandemic drama. But this one, featuring a colorful cast of characters in Brooklyn during the early days of COVID, is better than most.

378. Supernova: The Music Festival Massacre

Dir. Yossi Bloch and Duki Dror, not streaming.

One of the multiple documentaries this year about the October 7 massacre. This one isn’t the most memorable, although it was produced uncommonly quickly.

377. Bogart: Life Comes in Flashes

Dir. Kathryn Ferguson, in theaters now, review here.

A documentary about the life of Humphrey Bogart, which is fascinating. However, I didn’t love the decision to hire an actor to do a Bogie impression in voiceover.

376. Queendom

Dir. Agniya Galdanova, streaming on VOD.

Documentary about Gena Marvin, the Russian performance artist, complete with a drag persona, who has battled the Putin regime. Decent, but I thought the Pussy Riot doc a few years ago was a better version of this.

375. Blink Twice

Dir. Zoe Kravitz, streaming on MGM+, review here.

Kravitz’s inert directorial debut imagines an Epstein-like scenario, but can’t really escape the shadow of Get Out. It does sport a great cast, including some surprising people in the roles of creeps.

374. Freaknik: The Wildest Party Never Told

Dir. P. Frank Williams, streaming on Hulu

Fun documentary about what the famed Atlanta party weekend of the ‘80s and ‘90s. Like a lot of this sort of thing, goes back and forth on whether or not this legacy should be celebrated.

373. Gary

Dir. Robin Dashwood, streaming on Peacock, review here.

Documentary telling the sad story of child star Gary Coleman. Takes an odd turn near the end, with several talking heads implying Coleman was murdered.

372. No One Asked You

Dir. Ruth Lietman, streaming on Jolt.

Documentary about a tour of female comedians, arguing for the preservation of abortion rights. Clearly, the Supreme Court didn’t listen to the comedians. 37

371. Find Me Falling

Dir. Stelana Kliris, streaming on Netflix

Another relatively forgettable Netflix movie, once again set in a pretty location, this time Cyprus. Harry Connick. Jr., plays a rock star instead of a crooner.

370. Federer: Twelve Final Days

Dir. Joe Sabia, Asif Kapadia, streaming on Prime Video, review here.

Close-access documentary about Roger Federer’s final tournament before retirement. Not exactly the most fascinating tennis documentary of the last few years.

369. Electric Lady Studios: A Jimi Hendrix Vision

Dir. John McDermott, streaming on VOD, review here.

Documentary about Jimi Hendrix’s vision for a recording studio, which hosted some of his recordings, but mostly lived on for decades after his sudden death. Unlike in that movie with Andre 3000, you’ll actually get to hear his music.

368. The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare

Dir. Guy Ritchie, streaming on Starz, review here.

Ritchie’s answer to Inglourius Basterds is about a group of badasses hunting Nazis. Some fun moments, but not as good as Ritchie’s recent output, or Tarantino’s film.

367. Blue Road: The Edna O’Brien Story

Dir. Sinéad O'Shea, not streaming yet.

Inquisitive documentary about the life of the sometimes-scandalous Irish novelist, who passed away just a few months ago. An exceptional use of archival footage.

366. MoviePass, MovieCrash

Dir. Muta’Ali, streaming on Max, review here.

Documentary about the collapse of MoviePass, which is an absolutely fascinating story. But the film doesn’t really come after it from the most interesting angle.

365. Power of the Dream

Dir. Dawn Porter, streaming on Prime Video, review here.

Documentary about the WNBA, arriving just in time for unprecedented viewer interest in the WNBA. I get the sense, though, that a documentary about the most recent season would be more interesting than this one.

364. First Time Caller

Dir. J.D. Brynn, Abe Goldfarb, streaming on Tubi

Real-time drama about an Internet shock jock (Goldfarb) dealing with a threatening caller. Good as drama, although its parody of current Internet dynamics is less successful.

363. Torched: The Story of the Austin Torch

Dir. Hoag Kepner, streaming on VOD, review here.

Documentary about an Austin-based, all-female/nonbinary ultimate frisbee team. Doesn’t forget that playing ultimate is not a full-time, money-making job.

362. Born to Be Wild: The Story of Steppenwolf

Dir. Oliver Schwehm, not streaming yet, review here.

Sure, it’s a pretty straightforward boomer rock doc. But the band’s story is more fascinating than you probably know.

361. Cuckoo

Dir. Tilman Singer, streaming on Hulu, review here.

Hunter Schaefer, in her first starring role, is a fantastic screen presence. But ultimately, this film’s mythology makes little to sense.

360. Blitz

Dir. Steve McQueen, streaming on Apple TV+, review here.

This World War II movie, about a kid trying to stay safe during the Blitz, is both not that exciting and doesn’t feel anything like a McQueen picture. Still, Saoirse Ronan is better in this than in her awards contender movie.

359. To Be Destroyed

Dir. Arthur Bradford, streaming on MSNBC.com

Documentary about novelist Dave Eggers fighting with book banners, including the ones who wanted to ban his book. Most of MSNBC’s documentaries this year were subpar, but this one was way better.

358. Megan Thee Stallion: In Her Words

Dir. Nneka Onuorah, streaming on Prime Video.

I can give or take these first-person celebrity documentaries. But this one is better than most, covering an eventful period in the rapper’s life.

357. Young Woman and the Sea

Dir. Joachim Rønning, streaming on Disney+.

This year’s movie about a woman swimming a long distance, not as good as last year’s (NYAD). Makes good use of Daisy Ridley, which few movies have done, post-Star Wars.

356. The Honorable Shyne

Dir. Marcus A. Clarke, streaming on Hulu, feature here.

Documentary telling the wild story of rapper Shyne, who was a Bad Boy phenomenon in the ‘90s, went to prison for Diddy-related reason, converted to Hassidism, and is now a politician in Belize.

355. Wicked Little Letters

Dir. Thea Sharrock, streaming on Netflix.

Drama about a lady trying to figure out the source of ribald letters. Uses the contrast of fancy Britishness plus naughtiness, with only occasional success.

354. Giannis: The Marvelous Journey

Dir. Kristen Lappas, streaming on Prime Video, review here.

Fairly straightforward if fawning sports documentary telling The Greek Freak’s life story. Also lots of stuff about his love of Milwaukee, which isn’t going to age well if he ever gets traded.

353. Doc of Chucky

Dir. Thommy Hutson, streaming on AMC+, review here.

Five-hour long documentary – not five parts, but five straight hours — about the history of the Chucky character and the Child’s Play franchise. I was riveted even though I’ve never been all that interested in those movies.

352. Diane Warren: Relentless

Dir. Bess Kargman, not streaming, review here.

Documentary about the prolific songwriter, who has been nominated for countless competitive Oscars but never won until she collected an honorary one. Not shy about making its subject look difficult.

351. Horizon: An American Saga, Chapter 1

Dir. Kevin Costner, streaming on Max, review here.

Part 1 of Costner’s planned four-part “saga” feels like a long trailer for future movies that may or may not ever be made. I did enjoy the part with Jena Malone as a woman feeling the husband she shot.