brad dayton

My favorite movie of 2024 and that's saying a lot. Everyone needs to see this film.

I saw this at Sundance and it was my favorite drama in the festival this year. It seems like it is going to be your typical teen drama where the underdog triumphs to defeat the cool kids, but it is much more than that. I am a teacher and actually had a hearing student who lived in a family with deaf parents and siblings. I only saw a tiny glimpse of what they went through. This story is one that I have never heard nor seen on screen. Emilia Jones is amazing in the lead role and has a voice like honey. I hope they release a soundtrack. The supporting deaf actors are stellar too. Everyone needs to see this film.

So, I have always fancied myself a music nerd. As a teenager in the 80s, I thought I dug pretty deep into underground music, but I never got on the Sparks train for some strange reason. I knew them from Cool Places and I recognized the album covers since I practically lived in record stores, but regretfully I never indulged. This is a masterful documentary by "fanboy" Edgar Wright (Baby Driver, Hot Fuzz...). At 135 minutes it feels short. I would have been happy to have it be a 6 part doc. I now have a new band to delve into.

Quirky but with a heart of gold. Written and directed by the comic genius, Taika Waititi. It is a heartwarming story of family, redemtion without getting sentimental. This movie is full of hilarious one-liners that you will be quoting for the rest of your life. Taika as a preacher steals the show in the funniest funeral scene in any movie in the last 20 years. You will laugh and you will cry (if you have a soul).