My 10 favorite movies of 2021
A24
Obviously, 2021 was a better year in the world than 2020. Biden in. Vaccines available. These examples shouldn’t be necessary, but they’re worth noting anyway despite still having a long way to go toward so-called normalcy. Meanwhile, 2021 felt much more like a “normal” movie year, at least in terms of quantity and quality, especially the top 6 below. Enjoy!
WB
(tie) 10. The Suicide Squad. I can’t believe it either. But James Gunn’s (“Guardians of the Galaxy”) take on a new group of the DC antiheroes is deliciously refreshing for those looking for something else from the glut of comic book movies that bombards viewers every four seconds. The action is great, the performances are great, the characters are weird and interesting and fun together, and aside from sagging a bit in the middle “The Suicide Squad” is just a blast.
WB
(tie) 10. No Sudden Move. Steven Soderbergh can make a movie like this in his sleep. But that doesn’t make it any less impressive or solid when the filmmaker delivers something so tense and juicy and simultaneously light and heavy. You really don’t need to be sold on Don Cheadle and Benicio Del Toro and Brendan Fraser, or a narrative that continues Soderbergh’s frequent focus on the corrupt and or/clever powers that exist behind the scenes and eventually wind up holding the money.
9. Don’t Look Up. I expected Adam McKay’s latest attempt to blend politics and comedy to be embarrassing and pointless like “Vice”; instead he brings anger and sadness and a good amount of laughs to this amusingly cast disaster film, where the dopey scientist is Leonardo DiCaprio and the selfish, unqualified president is Meryl Streep. If the whole planet was going to be destroyed, would Earth, and specifically the U.S., get it together? That might seem like an easy, planet-sized target, but McKay finds something not just funny but profoundly, freshly heartbreaking about the consequences of a society that can no longer agree on truth or means of survival.
Searchlight
8. The French Dispatch. Perhaps the latest from Wes Anderson, one of my favorite filmmakers, will grow on me over time. After one viewing, “The French Dispatch” feels dizzying and surprising and perhaps a little too busy in its long-form-feature-story-style depiction of a publication’s last hurrah and the remarkable tales contained within. Of course the writing is rapid-fire and demanding, the direction pristine, the performances from Anderson vets and newbies a treat. That it all wobbles a bit more than the astounding “The Great Budapest Hotel” (to which it deserves comparison) is mostly a testament to the prior film’s perfection and the new movie’s willingness to live beyond the seams. Let us never be ungrateful for the colorful, verbal explosions that Anderson provides, utilized here in service of a tribute to human experience and tremendous reporting of creative freedom and complicated goals and repressions. Flatten this into five movies, and you’ll still be working through it.
Netflix
7. The Dig. Released in early 2021 and easily lost in awards season no-man’s-land, this old-fashioned saga of archeology and British history is anything but stiff. Simon Stone is never flashy but always impressive in his direction of this true story-inspired tale of a widow (Carey Mulligan) and the excavator (Ralph Fiennes) tasked with managing what turns into a major discovery in her massive backyard. If you think you will be bored, it’s totally understandable. But you’re also wrong.
NEON
6. Spencer. Take 10 hours and take 10 more hours and you still won’t have time to reflect on the wonder that is Kristen Stewart as Princess Diana in Pablo Larrain’s (“Jackie”) tart, surprising, potent exploration of an old-fashioned system attempting to harness a modern woman. Like the last movie mentioned here, any aversion to the subject matter is irrelevant; in fact, a healthy skepticism about the royals is better to bring along to a movie that delivers a rich portrait of the late, influential, controversial icon and a performance that takes Stewart’s already-fantastic filmography to an even higher place. Awards. Now.
NEON
5. Pig. Better than “Lamb” and better than any Nicolas Cage movie in quite a while (at least, what I’ve seen; the guy’s so prolific there are probably 25 I’ve missed), this intensely serious drama from standout writer-director Michael Sarnoski will have you thinking, in not-at-all corny fashion, more about being present and finding purpose in life than so many higher-profile awards-bait titles. (“C’mon C’mon” is bad. Very bad.) The straightforward narrative of a guy looking for his truffle pig becomes a beautiful exploration of passion and family and pointless rivalry, the film’s flavors bursting and lingering long after.
NEON
4. Petite Maman. Just 70 minutes, Celine Sciamma’s (“Portrait of a Lady on Fire,” “Girlhood”) latest is small and deceptively deep, considering generational relationships in a way that is very much in the wheelhouse of a filmmaker specifically interested in the particulars of dynamics between women. Besides remarkable performances by twins Josephine and Gabrielle Sanz, the film, about Nelly (Josephine Sanz) helping her parents clean out her late grandmother’s house, often feels epic instead of small, crossing impossible barriers to provide new insights without suggesting that all of the answers can ever be found.
Netflix
3. Bo Burnham: Inside. “The backlash to the backlash to the thing that’s just begun.” I feel like this musical comedy drama, which is sort of a concert film or a comedy special but also a legitimate pandemic wonder about one man’s attempt to be creative and funny during a stifling, horrifying time, blew a lot of people away and then became something from which many seemed to retreat. Not me: Despite not being a fan of any of Burnham’s other work (which I find smarmy and obnoxious), “Inside” is one stunning song after another, both incredibly catchy and wise without being dull or obvious or on-the-nose. It’s fun and weird and sad and hilarious and pretty great.
A24
2. Red Rocket. What might seem like a ridiculous, unhinged comedy is actually an original and quietly upsetting morality play, leveling the world into relationships and considering the intentions, consequences and accountability (or lack thereof) that determine how things turn out. Simon Rex -- yes, that Simon Rex -- is fantastic as Mike Davies, aka Mikey Saber, an adult film star who returns to his Texas hometown and majorly impacts the life of his estranged wife, his former neighbor and a 17-year-old cashier at the Donut Hole. Too disturbing to call a ride, too fun to call a cautionary tale, the latest from Sean Baker (“Starlet,” “Tangerine,” “The Florida Project”), set during the 2016 presidential election campaign, is very funny and also lives on the edge of disaster, with enormous results.
Netflix
1. The Lost Daughter. You’re not supposed to be able to do this. Nobody is. To make a directorial debut with this kind of polish, finesse, effortless insight and personality and character. Yet Maggie Gyllenhaal, who adapted the script from Elena Ferrante’s novel, does just that with “The Lost Daughter,” as Olivia Colman and Jessie Buckley are both exceptional as the present and past version of a woman who is accomplished and wounded and conflicted and human. I absolutely hate discussions about what is cinema; they’re so pretentious. But when you watch a movie like this, so exact in its creation (Ed Harris and Dakota Johnson are flawless as well) and expansive in its meaning and ability to drive conversation about parents and children, adults and kids, women and men, travelers and locals, it’s hard not to at the very least breathe a sigh of relief and say that this is what people mean when they say they want to go out and see a film. Uh, does anyone say that anymore?
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