Favourite Movies of 2021

After another bizarre pandemic riddled movie year, 2021 managed to round out into creating a fairly impressive list of movies for itself despite whatever barriers may have exited for moviemakers. I didn’t grow up as a huge theatre goer, but as my love of movies has increased exponentially the past few years, so has my desire to see many new quality movies on the big screen in order to get a focused experience. What’s been a crazy past couple months of releases has amounted to me seeing more in theatres than ever before.

Yet, as many a scholar (most famously Switchfoot) hath quoted; “the more we learn, the less we know. Although I’ve been watching 2021 at a high clip, and managing to see 37 movies from the past year before January 1st, I still feel as though I have many a blind spot to fill to make a truly complete list of 2021 favourites.

I felt good about my top five movies, with a ton of depth in terms of decent movies following them. I’ve seen very few “bad” movies this past year as I’ve tried to be more picky. Still, it felt wrong to do a complete top ten given the list of movies I’ve yet to see, some of which include:

• House of Gucci, West Side Story, Shiva Baby, Titane, The Worst Person in the World, Spencer, Red Rocket, The Souvenir Part 2, The Lost Daughter, Drive My Car, Bergman Island, Judas and the Black Messiah, and The Card Counter

To list many of the decent movies I’ve seen, you can check out my tentative 2021 list here. Some of those include:

Pig (dir. Michael Sarnoski)

A movie I’ve seen very mixed reviews about, Pig feels like a first time director with one or two too many pots on the stove. The intrigue of where the story is going to lead keeps interest high, but it’s hard to parse whether or not it’s a good thing that it manages to subvert certain expectations I may or may not have had. I think the two leads of Cage and Alex Wolff are both strong in their performances and interesting chemistry, but at the end of the day I think the plot left me wanting more. There was a lot to like, in terms of patience, not over explaining, and building a world not often put to screen. I’m excited to see whatever Michael Sarnoski makes next.

• The French Dispatch
• The Harder They Fall

Spiderman: Far From Home

Besides the extremely bumpy liftoff the movie takes to set the plot into motion, it’s hard to not enjoy this movie. I won’t say the villains are managed perfectly, one particular scene has them falling back into the Marvel-y quips that make my stomach turn. Once were through that, it’s impossible not to grin at the three Spidermans on screen — each at different stages of life, and each easily differentiated from each other. It’s not a perfect movie, and if you’re going in to pick nits you won’t have a difficult time. But the ambition and execution should be commended. Holland delivers his final entry in the trilogy cementing his place as the best Peter Parker/Spiderman combo.

• Matrix Resurrections
• The Green Knight
• Old

The Tragedy of Macbeth (dir. Joel Coen)

This may as well have been in Ancient Greek because I still have absolutely no clue how to understand Shakespearean English.I guess I rode the coattails of having studied it in high school because I was surprised by how much I remembered. The great acting performances from Denzel and Frances McDormand definitely helped. The tertiary cast was fantastic as well, I hope to see many of them in future Coen joints.

My only real takeaway is definitely the visuals. They felt very of the 40s and 50s soundstages, a la The Seventh Seal or Bride of Frankenstein. Grey backgrounds, lots of smoke. Fascinating to see such elements shot in modern day. I couldn’t possibly give any sort of real rating. If you understand Shakespeare, you are likely to enjoy it more than me.

• Nightmare Alley
• No Time to Die

Ron’s Gone Wrong

Movie have always mirrored the era they were created in as directors speak on issues of the day. Yet children’s movies are often generations old tales that eventually get adapted for a big screen. That pattern seems to be evolving, as animation studios begin to speak on children’s evolving attention spans due to the technology that their target demographic’s world revolves around. Soul was probably the most adult Pixar movie, but in hindsight it very much relates to appreciating the real world around us. I have not seen The Mitchells vs the Machines yet, but as you can tell from the title, its a premise very much related to the dangers of technology.

I didn’t expect much from Ron’s Gone Wrong going in, and it’s predictable start felt like it was headed toward another bland children’s movie. The friendship of the main character barney and his “pet” robot Ron penetrates through, with a well-delivered message on technology taking over our lives. Even the host of side characters get well-realized arcs, feeling like a complete movie that isn’t just trying to preach to it’s viewers.

To give my actual top five as of this writing, here is my list:

5. The Power of the Dog (dir. Jane Campion)

4. Dune (dir. Denis Villeneuve)

Dune fully lived up to the hype as a worthwhile theatre experience. The cinematography is evident from any poster. The technical blending of CGI and practical effects still has me curious as to how they executed many of the visuals. I think Timothee Chalamet’s performance as the relatively bland Paul Atreides isn’t being talked about enough in terms of the good impression it made for carrying such a large scale picture. The supporting cast nailed their roles as well, particularly a magnetic Jason Momoa as Duncan Idaho stealing every scene he was in. Pulling off a two part movie is no easy feat, and I think Villeneuve did everything he needed to help Dune finish strong heading into Part 2 while still feeling more than just a piece to a broader puzzle.

3. The Last Duel (dir. Ridley Scott)

I’m still baffled by the lack of marketing for this movie. Adam Driver is one of the only new movie stars in Hollywood right now. Damon and Affleck coming together to write something for the first time since Good Will Hunting. A Ridley Scott film. Doesn’t seem like a terribly difficult sell. I digress.

The multi-perspective story telling is a favourite of mine, and seeing a medieval story speaking on modern issues with effective nuance that doesn’t hit you over the head with it’s message allows the story to breath on its own.

2. C’mon C’mon (dir. Mike Mills)

As much as I have loved almost everything Joaquin Phoenix has done over the course of his career, part of me has always subconsciously docked him for being an inherently “weird” guy who isn’t necessarily acting as much as we are lead to believe. Every character he plays is so bizarrely twisted. C’mon C’mon shows Joaquin has the ability to be normal — playing a documentarian who has to take care of his nephew for a couple weeks as his sister takes care of his brother-in-law.

As excellent as Joaquin is, it’s the 9-year old nephew, played by 11-year old Woody Norman who steals the show. His quirkiness, loneliness, stubborneess, curiousities, his struggles with his bipolar father. His ability to portray how viscerally frustrating it is as a child to be unable to properly articulate every day emotion. It is all perfectly conveyed in a wandering story that sounds like it could be cloying but remains completely earnest, full of heart and familial love tangibly exploding off of the screen filled with buttery black and white landscapes of the various American cities the quirky duo end up in.

1. Licorice Pizza (dir. Paul Thomas Anderson)

It’s impossible to fully articulate the beauty of this film and what resonates leaving the theatre. A definitive entry into the genre of hangout movies in the vein of Dazed and Confused or American Graffiti, Licorice Pizza is defined by emotion more than plot. Emotion of it’s characters, both primary and supporting. And the pure emotion that music and pure human moments can illicit, both presently, and in the form of nostalgia.

The visceral experience of the film is what has stuck with me. I have been playing the soundtrack on repeat since I left the theatre. The lighting. The time of day so obvious in every scene. From early morning, to the hot LA afternoon, to dusk. To the late nights that characterize so many wandering, boring but never bored, teenage nights.

The film is fairly anthological, with new characters entering and exiting within their respective chapters. We now get to forever discuss and debate which chapters of Licorice Pizza are our favourite. There is so much to unpack in each. The importance of each new character, the homages built into so many scenes. And most significantly, how these experiences build into Gary and Alana’s relationship.

Their back and forth is so perfectly juvenile. Never showing their hand. Never admitting to each other or even themselves what they are actually feeling. Two people who are both kids in search of something different than what they have. More than any of the other Gen-X hangout movies, Licorice Pizza speaks to the suburban struggle of being caught between adolescence and adulthood, and what that means for both teenagers of Paul Thomas Anderson’s generation and teenagers of today.