Produced by The Lonely Island and featuring Andy Samberg playing himself in a pretty hilarious cameo, Self Reliance has some of the same dry humor and secret sentiment as the group’s movie Palm Springs, but with even smaller stakes and even less predictable storytelling. That’s an odd combination of improbably dissimilar projects, but they coalesce into an offbeat indie comedy about human connection, and the mortifying ordeal of trying to be known by people who aren’t all that interested in the knowing. But Self Reliance isn’t the kind of manic thriller that premise suggests Johnson told Polygon it’s much more of a mashup of two of his favorite movies: Wes Anderson’s Bottle Rocket and the Adrian Lyne thriller Jacob’s Ladder. Jake Johnson’s directorial debut follows a man who’s so at sea after a breakup that he agrees to star in an underground reality competition where he tries to survive for a month with assassins trying to kill him. Cheslik has made something genuinely special, an excellent film that reminds us just how funny early cinema could be - and proves slapstick can still feel fresh a century later with a few timely tweaks. Unlike its modern cult contemporaries, like The Room and the films of Neil Breen, there’s no irony here. And what writer/director Mike Cheslik does with a comparably cheap camera, some trashy beaver costumes, and a true talent with homespun special effects would make even the most ambitious YouTube editor’s jaw hit the floor. Its small cast would float comfortably in Adult Swim’s pool of lovable oddballs. The story - a trapper must collect enough pelts to survive, build, and eventually win love - parodies video game quests. But the black-and-white action comedy has gradually earned its reputation as a budding midnight movie thanks to its more modern flourishes. Hundreds of Beavers garnered attention for reviving the slapstick silent film, if only for its 108 minute run time. However, if you’re a film viewer who doesn’t traffic in Canadian arthouse obscurities, the pitch will take a bit more effort. I can sell a film nerd on Hundreds of Beavers with a seven-word elevator pitch: Looney Tunes by way of Guy Maddin. The best movies of 2024 so far Drive-Away Dolls And we have a short section at the end devoted to late 2023 releases we didn’t have the time to consider for our 2023 best movies list. The movies will be listed in reverse chronological order, so the newest releases will always show up first. And we’ll keep this list going throughout the year, so you can see what we’re watching and recommending and catch up on anything you’ve missed as new movies continue to roll out. It’s still quite early in the year, but we’ve already seen a variety of 2024 movies that we heartily recommend. Here at Polygon, we keep a running list of the year’s best movies, starting early and updating often, making a case for the films we think are worth your time. It’s easy to overlook new releases at the beginning of the year - but fortunately, it’s also easier than ever to catch up, given how many movies debut on streaming services these days and how quickly theatrical releases move to streaming. They’re competing with all the prestige movies still in theaters after the end-of-year rush for awards qualifications, and they’re coming out in a season where a lot of people are still exhausted from holiday season, financially strained by it, or both. Movies released during the first few months of any year have it pretty rough.
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