2021 MOVIE GUIDE

A quick note: I was fortunate enough to get to see several movies in the theater this year, sometimes in a full theater, which is just the richest way to get to do so. Not only because it’s the best way to experience the films – free of distraction, on a large screen, with booming sound – but because the physical act of going to see a movie makes the movie into an experience, for better or worse. One of my first dates with my wife was to see a movie with her. My best theatrical experiences haven’t just been relegated to mega-budget franchise entertainment, or even the original blockbuster work of someone like Christopher Nolan, but in movies like American Hustle or La La Land where a filmmaker reaches through the screen and pulls me into the world they’ve created, no matter how real that world is or isn’t. I’m worried that only a few kinds of movies will be shown in theaters as we (eventually) emerge from this pandemic, and what kind of historic experiences audiences will be robbed of.

Alright, now to the business of ranking and recommending. I’m implementing a letter-grade system here, but in the spirit of kindness I avoided giving anything I watched less than a C- so that I could actively search for what’s good even in what’s bad. What’s fun about this document is that I’ll be able to revisit it in the future and decide if I still agree with my own grading of these movies, and to compare my favorites with which ones have lasted.

For a film to earn an A+, it needs to not only be impressive, rich, deep, engaging, rewarding, but something I viewed as a historically special achievement. I had no A+ movies this or last year; for me, the last two are Parasite and The Irishman. Then again, I haven’t been able to see Drive My Car, The Souvenir Part 2, or The Worst Person in the World, which seem to have some promise.

The “A” Movies:

Licorice Pizza (A)

Paul Thomas Anderson is one of my favorite filmmakers, and so it probably comes as no huge surprise that he made my favorite movie of the year. Untangling my personal bias for PTA from recognizing this film as a genuine, lovable achievement wasn’t easy, but in a way it’s impossible to view PTA’s movies in a bubble – his style is constantly evolving, he’s constantly diving into similar-but-different themes and characters, and because of this his films are in conversation with each other and with their creator. In Licorice Pizza, he makes his sweetest, funniest, gentlest ode to his own childhood and to the concept of memory itself. Despite all that, there are very mature and provocative themes around every corner that, like we all do with experiences with our own lives, the audience is left to work through once the euphoric memory trip is over.

The Tragedy of MacBeth (A)

In a year full of black-and-white entries, many of which have been warmly received, this one stands as the most visually arresting and perfectly moody. This lean adaptation of the legendary “Scottish play” is filled to the brim with amazing performances, including one of the best Denzel performances I’ve ever seen, and its commitment to minimalism exposes the psychological thriller at the heart of this story. The black and white aspect exposes the noir story at the heart of MacBeth – you could draw a lot of similarities between this and Double Indemnity. This movie is so damn stylish that it’s impossible not to be gob smacked.

The Power of the Dog (A)

This movie’s been topping a lot of critic’s lists as the best of the year, and while I was super impressed by it, it’s a little harder to recommend if you’re just streaming it on Netflix, unless you really commit to locking in on the experience. This movie is one of the best written and finely acted movies of the entire year, whose story takes awhile to fully develop, and yet this slow-burn character piece never loses momentum. I’m curious to re-watch it knowing the ending – there’s a fantastic twist at the very end. If this goes on to win a bunch of awards including Best Picture, I won’t be mad at all.

The Green Knight (A-)

David Lowery is a director whose name more people really ought to know, and he has only gotten better and better but still exists in indie movie-land. I don’t want him to become too mainstream, but I really hope this movie buys him even bigger projects. Dev Patel gives one of my favorite performances of the year, this is one of the best-looking movies this year, and isn’t afraid to be too strange or scary. It's definitely not your grandmother's Arthurian Knight story, and it's all the better for it.

West Side Story (A-)

60 years ago, this play was adapted into a movie that made a ton of money and won 10 Oscars. When I heard that Steven Spielberg was re-making it, I was skeptical at my best and bummed out at my worst. What a fool I was to doubt Papa Steve. In a year over-stuffed with musicals, this is far and away the best made, with some of the most exhilarating camerawork that his movies have ever had. Tony Kushner’s script re-orders some songs to match the original Broadway version, and overall, the film is both a perfect update to and celebration of the original material. It features some terrific star-making performances, and a great reminder that with the right person in front of and behind the camera, there’s no spectacle like a real human face in the right light.

The French Dispatch (A-)

Here I am again, recognizing the fact that I’m just in the bag for a director named Anderson. Problem is, they both make consistently great movies and had great movies, if not their best movies, come out this year, and they’re really head and shoulders above most of their competition in terms of what they can do visually. This ode to artists, journalism, and the art of writing is a three-part anthology complete with ensemble cast and some of the wildest stylistic flexing that Wes Anderson has ever done. It’s super lean because Wes is so, so precise in his visual and emotional capabilities that I feel like a film twice as long would contain the same amount of style and feeling.

The “B” Movies:

Dune (B+)

Of all the big-budget franchise entertainment we were flooded with this year (4 Marvel movies, 4 shows, and 2 Star Wars shows), nothing is as transportive, good-looking, or awe-inspiring as what Denis Villeneuve creates in Dune. Maybe it’s the serious tone; maybe it’s the sharp direction, and feeling that a human made this, not a committee; maybe it’s the massive physical production that accompanied the CGI; maybe it’s the stacked cast. It’s probably all of them – this movie kicks ass.

Passing (B+)

Rebecca Hall made a fantastic directorial debut with Passing, an adaptation of a novel about two black women who engage in “passing” for white women in 1920s New York. Predictably, this leads to some complex ideas about racial identity that Hall and the cast tackle bravely. Tessa Thompson and Ruth Negga give some of my favorite performances of the year, and this movie is just sitting on Netflix for you to watch!

The Card Counter (B+)

Paul Shcrader, the screenwriter of Taxi Driver and writer/director of First Reformed gives us his typical yet perfect “God’s lonely man” who keeps a diary, is super jaded, but finds something worth protecting. I love this movie’s depiction of small-city casinos and poker circuits, and Oscar Isaac gives a magnificent performance. This movie contains some disturbing explorations of and big ideas about the ugly side of America’s War on Terror as a function this story, but Schrader hits most of what he shoots for.

The Lost Daughter (B+)

The other actress-turned-director debuts based on a novel this year that has garnered attention and praise – that’s also just sitting on Netflix – is the very impressive The Lost Daughter. Olivia Colman just keeps turning in great performances, this time as a woman who failed to be the mother her children needed and is working through her personal demons when she encounters a young mother while on a Mediterranean vacation. As we’re taken on this character’s journey through both young motherhood and middle age, director Maggie Gyllenhaal walks a fine tonal line with precision.

CODA (B+)

Like King Richard, this movie is full of predictable emotional beats, but this film’s setting, cast, and writing bring far more freshness to this sort of template than King Richard does. This is one of the most authentic movies that I saw this year, and one of the sweetest and most heartfelt. Despite some of its predictability, I was caught off guard with how much this movie would move me. And it’s just sitting on AppleTV+!

The Last Duel (B+)

In case you’re unaware, Ridley Scott made TWO movies this year and they’re both special in their own way. The Last Duel has far more to say about the world than Gucci, but the existence of both proves how stylistically broad Scott’s palette is. This movie has a strong if meandering script, bloody and brutal violence, mostly strong performances – including a standout performance from Jodie Comer, whose constant snubbing is a blatant awards crime this year – and a controlled, bleak tone. There’s nothing super flashy here, just a solid adult-oriented drama that I heartily recommend.

No Time to Die (B)

Daniel Craig closes out his fantastic run as James Bond in strong fashion, and with Cary Joji Fukunaga behind the camera, the action in this one is some of the strongest that his Bond has offered. This movie offers more poignant and touching moments than your typical Bond film, but overall is held back by being overstuffed and as a result, poorly paced. I like Rami Malek as much as the next guy, and the idea of a villain with a grudge against Spectre and Bond both is intriguing, but he’s not in enough of the film and when he is the story's momentum really stalls.

No Sudden Move (B)

This charmingly small heist movie from Steven Soderbergh dropped quietly onto HBO Max early in the year, and it features a stacked cast, a fun and twisty plot, and even a few themes behind it all. Soderbergh shoots it all on fisheye lenses, giving the period setting of ‘50s Detroit a fresh makeover. It’s just a small, clean, efficient, and enjoyable little movie without any big aspirations.

Shiva Baby (B)

This small, indie feature is a great debut for writer/director Emma Seligman; it’s fresh, modern, funny, and super claustrophobic and intense as Danielle’s precariously stacked house of cards lifestyle comes crashing down in what feels like real time. It’s quite a nervy exploration of generational differences in attitudes towards sexuality and parental expectations without being sparing in examining its protagonist. Seligman is a filmmaker to watch for sure.

Pig (B)

This year was chock full of strong directorial debuts, and Pig is no exception. Michael Sarnoski brings a mature confidence to his first feature film and is always in command of the scene. Despite me finding the second half of the movie far more engaging than the first half, this film’s transportation of classic mystery movies into the modern Portland foodie scene is quite inspired, and Nicolas Cage earns every ounce of the buzz he’s gotten surrounding his work as the lead. And I watched it on Hulu!

Belfast (B)

As predictably manipulative as this movie is, like CODA, it’s still quite charming. Branagh directs this film with a steady hand, but I was never super engaged with the film. The child at the center felt TOO cute, his grandparents were TOO sweet, and despite some maturely executed conflict between the mother and the father, the strife of Ireland’s “Troubles” are kept outside of the house. When they’re onscreen, I never felt a strong sense of danger or despair; when the family discusses them, it’s always a question of whether to leave or stay as opposed to how they feel about what’s happening in their neighborhood. I’m also torn between wanting the film to tell me more about the “Troubles” and telling its own story; perhaps if the story were more gripping, I wouldn’t be asking myself that question.

Spencer (B-)

This nervy, anxious, claustrophobic story puts an interesting twist on the biopic by choosing to focus one critical weekend in its subject’s life, and then subjects the audience to what that character was feeling with powerful precision. What’s imprecise is the story, which assumes knowledge of the events surrounding this weekend from hell, and so the reasons for the characters to act and think the way they are onscreen are completely lost to the uninitiated viewer. There’s some ridiculously over the top symbolism, no nuance, and an ending that’s tonally incongruent with the rest of the movie, history itself, and the version of Diana we’ve been exposed to throughout the movie’s runtime. Stewart is really great though.

The Matrix Resurrections (B-)

When this movie was announced, I groaned. When I saw the first trailer, I warmed up to the idea, but still had my doubts. When I finally got to see the movie, I was mostly on board with it; a very intriguing first hour that serves as both reboot and metacommentary on franchise storytelling as well as a bold reclamation of the Wachowski’s beloved original trilogy. The second hour of this movie features lackluster action, convoluted worldbuilding that is ultimately slightly redeemed by an emotional, character-focused ending. All in all, it’s a very worthy reboot/resurrection of a franchise that I have a love for.

King Richard (B-)

There’s a natural ceiling on biopic star turns, and we get an awful lot of them, so this movie would have to have been special to achieve a B or B+ rating in a year filled with so much originality. However, Will Smith’s performance is so winning, and the script feels semi-fresh, and Reinaldo Marcus Green fills the screen with vitality, that the product is very easy to watch and enjoy.

House of Gucci (B-)

This is such a go-for-broke, overbaked, over-stylish, over-ridiculous movie that it’s hard not to admire, even if the product is so uneven. Except for Adam Driver, every performer in this movie is going so far over the top you might begin to wonder if there is some other top that Jared Leto, Al Pacino, and Lady Gaga are reaching for. This film fails to reach the rollicking heights or thematic depth of something like The Wolf of Wall Street, but still brought me so much joy.

The “C” Movies:

In the Heights (C+)

This was the first movie I saw in a theater this year, and the movie’s musical spectacle was a great way to get back to the big screen. Anthony Ramos is charismatic in the lead role of Usnavi, and the movie’s energy feels fresh if you haven’t seen the first half of Do the Right Thing. Unfortunately, the film’s plot is full of shallow conflicts over easily avoidable misunderstandings and things seem to just happen to move the story along; on a stage, this is a lot less noticeable as the set breaks down between each scene, but in a movie where things happen sequentially, these flaws are much more noticeable.

Tick, tick…Boom! (C+)

Andrew Garfield is fantastic as Jonathan Larson, the creator of Rent, but this movie is a fine musical in a year full of one great, some fine, and one apparently very bad musical, so anything that isn’t Garfield kinda fades into the background for me. It’s strangely constructed around a one-act show that Larson himself put on describing this story (the inspiration for the film). The movie reconstructs this show as well as the events that its describing, which is a choice that I disagree with and takes away from the mounting pressure that Larson finds himself under rather than adds to it.

Don’t Look Up (C+)

Part of me wants to fast forward to April so I can stop seeing this film get nominated for things. Adam McKay’s purported satire about a fictional apocalyptic event fails to be satire because it fails to be funny and feels more like an evocation of our world as seen through an angry liberal’s eyes than the kind of black comedy that Dr. Strangelove is. The way this movie gets defended makes me like it even less; you can, in fact, believe that climate change is a threat while also thinking this movie isn’t as smart as it thinks it is. This movie is full of good performances from talented actors, and the rest of it is…just fine. By going an inch deep and a mile wide, McKay has created a portrait of contemporary American institutions without exploring any of them.

Zack Snyder’s Justice League (The Snyder Cut) (C+)

This film will forever stand as a remarkable cultural artifact because of the nature of its existence – after years of fans crying out for a better version of a movie they already got, the studio caved and allowed the director to come in, spend a lot of money on re-edits and special effects, and then dropped the uncut, R-rated, 4-hour movie onto HBO Max for the world to see. Visually, it’s absolute dynamite, and feels destined to be a guilty pleasure for a certain kind of movie fan (the way Snyder’s Watchmen is to me) but is too full of wooden performances and empty of pathos for me to consider it a B.

Black Widow (C)

I wonder if I would have been warmer to this movie if it came out in 2016 or 2017, when it was set, and I wasn’t so jaded towards Marvel’s cultural dominance. Had it been the personal, low-stakes spy thriller that it was pitched to the world as, and featured action, drama, or characters that were memorable I would have been warm to it in 2021. However, what we got was a mediocre superhero movie with an end-of-the-world plot that felt like a familiar suit in a slightly different color. I’m glad ScarJo got her money from Disney, but I genuinely forgot what happened in this one two weeks after I saw it.

Being the Ricardos (C)

If The Social Network, Steve Jobs, and A Few Good Men tell us why Aaron Sorkin is a great screenwriter, his self-directed movies continue to tell us why he needs a collaborative partner. His dialogue is still infectious, and I appreciate the behind-the-scenes story that this movie is telling, but I do not need documentary interviews telling me why I Love Lucy is important, nor do I appreciate ridiculously tidy happy endings. If this movie had done less of those things and kept tighter focus on this week from hell that its characters – all of whom are well-acted – were experiencing, this movie really could have been something.

The Tender Bar (C)

My dad recommended this movie to me, and like a dutiful son I fired it up on Amazon Prime a few days later. The script, by The Departed writer William Monahan, isn’t very good and at points feels like plagiarism of Good Will Hunting, particularly in its ending, and George Clooney doesn’t really have much visual style to speak of. Despite that, the production design evokes a time and place with the heart that the script is somehow both too full of and devoid of, and the cast turns in strong performances – most notably Affleck as a surrogate father figure. That’s a C if ever I described one.

The Hating Game (C-)

Hmmm. This isn’t the kind of movie that I usually like to spend my self-labelled valuable time watching, but sometimes when your wife asks you to watch something, you just gotta say yes. This script isn’t just full of clichés, it is itself the shining example of trashy-romcom-from-trashy-romantic-novel writing. I feel like this movie’s characters would say, unironically, that its actors understood the assignment, but like 2 years from now when that phrase is out of style. However, I was quite impressed by the cinematography and editing; the movie is sharply made, and I wish that it was remotely sharp in its conception or dialogue.