The end of the calendar year brings something movie fans love to debate: critics' "top ten" lists, and as the movie awards season gets underway, "Inside the Issues" explored one critic's favorite films from 2024. 

Host Amrit Singh spoke with Los Angeles Times film critic Amy Nicholson on her favorite films of the year, starting with the epic "Dune: Part Two," based on the Frank Herbert science fiction novels. 

"This is a film that uses the studio system to create something with so much ambition and intelligence," Nicholson said. "This is a movie that is just not a re-telling of the novel, but it's a getting your fingers-in-the- sand, digging out what really matters adaptation...People have always said that 'Dune' is a prophetic book and I feel like this is the right movie for now, told in a way people are going to pay attention." 

Another one of Nicholson's favorites is "Anora," a modern day Cinderella telling of a New York exotic dancer (played by actress Mikey Madison) who marries the son of a Russian oligarch. 

"Having a character like Anora, this sex worker at the center of it, who is funny, fearless, ready to start any rumble and stick up for what she feels she deserves, she really carries this movie emotionally," Nicholson said. "I'd be shocked if [Madison] did not get a [Oscars] nomination. 

Nicholson also shared which movies she feels missed the mark in 2024, including "The Garfield Movie," which features Chris Pratt voicing the famous lasagna-loving, comic strip feline. 

"If you cast Chris Pratt as the voice of Garfield, you're casting a person with massive dog energy... This is a movie where Garfield's not even eating lasagna, he's eating pizza," Nicholson said. "I hate to do that thing where you're like 'you've ruined my childhood,' but there's no recognizable Garfield in this movie at all." 

Nicholson also shared which films have positioned themselves as the favorites as awards season kicks off. 

To watch the full interview with Amy Nicholson, click the arrow above.