Another year of watching movies, reviewing movies, and talking about movies is
complete and what a year it was. After not releasing any movies in 2020,
Marvel came out swinging with four movies and several TV series and I was here
for all of it. Film Festivals were mostly hybrid while some remained virtual
only as the pandemic continued on its inevitable path of variants and
lockdowns which also had an impact on theatrical releases around the world.
Now, here I am contemplating which films and performances had the biggest
impact with memorable moments and all the emotions and then putting it
together in a way that at least makes sense if not a little entertaining for
you to read. Thank you for reading these words that I've typed out and I hope
that this recap, my reviews, and my filmmaker interviews have helped you to
enjoy another year of cinema as well.
Documentaries:
The last few years have been amazing for documentary films and 2021 seemed to
be the best yet. From classrooms and covid beds to witches and aliens, there
was no shortage of captivating topics all put on screen by some terrifically
talented filmmakers. Of the ten films in this category, seven of them were directed or co-directed by women and seven were directed or co-directed by people of color. This had no influence on why I chose them although it is great to see that high percentage of diverse backgrounds behind the camera.
10) Try Harder!
9) Far East Deep South
8) The Neutral Ground
7) Wuhan Wuhan
6) Found
5) Summer of Soul
4) Alien on Stage
3) Ascension
2) The Rescue
1) The Witches of the Orient
One of my favorite things about the documentary is that Faraut tosses out the conventional talking head type of interview in favor of having the former volleyball players recount memories of their time on the team while showing footage of them participating in their current daily lives. It's quite a brilliant way to provide layers of information and context and relevance all in one fell swoop. - Full Review
Horror:
Commonly known as my favorite genre, I love the fact that you can find just about any type of film within the category itself. My ten favorites here include everything from comedy and science fiction to folk lore and witchcraft. Just try to find a more diverse crop of movies and movie makers, I dare you.
10) Werewolves Within
9) The Blazing World
8) Antlers
7) Nightshooters
6) Gaia
5) Hellbender
4) Tailgate
3) Titane
2) V/H/S/94
1) The Medium / ร่างทรง
Director Banjong Pisanthanakun combines a possession horror story with a found footage film and wraps it up documentary style into a nerve rattling, uneasy experience that had me pulling the covers a little tighter and wondering if maybe I should turn a light on just to be safe. - Full Review
Performances:
Rating or judging the performances by actors in movies has always been a strange thing for me. For some reason the only awards worthy stuff supposedly comes from dramatic features and arthouse cinema type movies that are designed for awards campaigns by being all serious. I try to look across all genres to find the performances that I really enjoyed and affected me in some way even if they weren't the star of the movie.
10) Jonathan Majors - The Harder They Fall
9) Hwang Jung-min - Deliver Us From Evil / 다만 악에서 구하소서
8) Udo Kier - Swan Song
7) Bob Odenkirk - Nobody
6) Andrew Garfield - tick, tick…BOOM!
5) Shuya Chang - Snakehead
4) Nicolas Cage - Pig
3) Mads Mikkelsen - Riders of Justice
2) Ariana DeBose - West Side Story
1) Emilia Jones - CODA
Jones spent nine months learning American Sign Language, took singing lessons and other various trainings to help create a an authentic and believable character. The movie as a whole is one of my favorites of the year and most of that is due to the performance from this up and coming superstar.
Feature Films Honorable Mention:
Before we get to the big moment, here are my other ten favorite films. The ones I really enjoyed but didn't quite crack my top ten. Here is where I'll reiterate that these rankings are my favorites and not labelling anything as "best" because handing that out just seems weird to me and I feel like other people are way more qualified than me to make those types of claims. Anyway, here we go...
20) Nobody
19) Raging Fire / 怒火
18) Black Widow
14) V/H/S/94
12) Encanto
11) Eternals
Narrative Feature Films:
As they say with these types of things: without further ado. Because no one likes excessive amounts of ado. May I present to you my ten favorite movies of 2021.
10) The Witches of the Orient
One of my favorite things about the documentary is that Faraut tosses out the conventional talking head type of interview in favor of having the former volleyball players recount memories of their time on the team while showing footage of them participating in their current daily lives. It's quite a brilliant way to provide layers of information and context and relevance all in one fell swoop. - Full Review
9) Wheel of Fortune and Time
The movie is split into three distinct parts yet the director keeps them woven together with emotional threads that end up feeling like that warm and comfy blanket you love to curl up with. - Full Review
8) Raya and the Last Dragon
A more than worthy entry into the pages of Disney animated storytelling and Kelly Marie Tran is a perfect addition to Disney's roster of famous princesses. It is an impressive achievement in animation and it is a strong step forward for representation in mainstream cinema. - Full Review
7) Riders of Justice
I think the real genius of this movie is how it does so many things and does them all really really well. On top of all the action and espionage, this is a genuinely funny movie and then to top it off, Jensen hits you in the emotions with a finale that I'm not ashamed to admit had me tearing up a bit. - Full Review
6) The Medium / ร่างทรง
Director Banjong Pisanthanakun combines a possession horror story with a found footage film and wraps it up documentary style into a nerve rattling, uneasy experience that had me pulling the covers a little tighter and wondering if maybe I should turn a light on just to be safe. - Full Review
5) And Then (short film)
The visuals are gorgeous and colorful and textured and all of it makes the story that much more engaging. By the end, I was full on emotionally invested and inspired by every aspect of the storytelling. - Full Review
4) The Harder They Fall
a beautifully filmed and creatively crafted Western that stylizes the genre in ways we've never seen before. What an incredible debut feature from director and co-writer Jeymes Samuel, this is easily one of my favorite films of the year. - Full Review
3) CODA
A wonderful feel good movie that will easily find a home among my favorite movies of the year. Director Siân Heder, along with the help of an amazing cast, has created a movie that is highly engaging, endlessly entertaining, and it represents the deaf community in a very authentic way. - Full Review
2) Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
It's a gamer changer for so many reasons. It's a great story. It's a fun movie. Shang-Chi is a fantastic character and is played perfectly by Simu Liu who has immediately cemented himself as a major player in the world of Marvel right as the franchise is diving head first into phase four. - Full Review
1) Spider-Man: No Way Home
As with any Marvel movie, the action is epic in scale, high flying, and involves equal amounts of magic, science, and heroism. Every single layer of story and every single arc has meaning and purpose and it's all woven together in such a beautiful way. - Full Review
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| Zendaya and Tom Holland in Spider-Man: No Way Home |
If you didn't already know, I have a podcast and Youtube channel where I interview filmmakers with an emphasis on directors from underrepresented backgrounds. The 2021 interview series, called Changing Directions, featured 34 different directors, producers, writers, and actors. I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to speak with each of these amazing and amazingly talented people. And to think it all started with an email from Sujata Day about her debut feature film Definition Please that I almost didn't see.
Every one of the interviews is available on my official podcast page and some are also available as video interviews on the official Youtube channel. Look for more interviews coming in 2022 on both Youtube and the new TheTwoOhSix Twitch channel.
Thank you so much for making it all the way through my 2021 recap post, I appreciate you spending any time at all reading or listening to me here on the website and podcast. I hope you have an amazing year filled with lots of movies and maybe at some point we'll all be gathering in theaters and film festivals like we did before. Until that time comes, please be safe and take care of each other.
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| Michelle Yeoh and Simu Liu in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings |
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