Year: 2021

A look at the funner films of 2021

The best movie of 2021 is Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar.

Is it really? Who knows. But the urge to elevate the delightful over the seriously artistic is particularly strong this year. And I think backed up by experience: Several of the Serious Fil-uhm year-end movies (Being the Ricardos and Nightmare Alley or even legitimately good The Power of the Dog for example) have left me feeling sorta “shrug” while I fairly regularly rewatch the Barb and Star scene with Jamie Dornan powerballading to some seagulls because it’s never not joy-inducing.

I am as much of an awards-season completist as the next Oscar nerd, so while I haven’t seen The Card Counter, Spencer, The Green Knight, Respect, Licorice Pizza, Annette and The Lost Daughter they are definitely on my list to see soon (though I did say that last year about This Had Oscar Buzz candidate Ammonite and never got around to it). But I did see plenty to cheer about — from the high art to the “this movie will pair perfectly with popcorn, booze and a couch.” Here are some good, great and goofily entertaining movies I saw in 2021 — and where (as of late December at least) to find them. (Many will also be available for rent or purchase.)

• Let’s call these the “2020” movies: Every year I spend a good part of the first quarter watching some of the better movies that technically (and for Oscar purposes) have the previous year as their release date. That phenomenon was even weirder this year since some movies that actually did get an early 2021 release were in the extended Oscar qualifying window. I talked about a lot of these during Oscar season but these are worth searching for if you haven’t seen them yet. Sylvie’s Love (Amazon Prime) is a really swoony love story starring Tessa Thompson. Promising Young Woman (HBOMax) is a really angry grief story with a solid performance by Carey Mulligan. One Night in Miami (Amazon Prime) is a fascinating bit of historical fiction directed by Regina King. Judas and the Black Messiah (HBOMax) won Daniel Kaluuya his Oscar. Nomadland (Hulu) won director Chloé Zhao and lead actress Frances McDormand Oscars and is truly beautiful. Minari (Showtime) features a great Steven Yuen performance and a highly relatable family story. Sound of Metal (Amazon Prime) is a real showcase for actor Riz Ahmed. I won’t pretend that The Father (Starz) is a birthday party of a movie — it’s full of sadness and loss — but it also features one of Anthony Hopkins’ best performances.

• Good enough? Of course, most movies I saw this year are probably not Oscar-bound. Quite a few, however, fit the “decent entertainment from your sofa” bill. Thunder Force (Netflix) with Melissa McCarthy and Octavia Spencer as sudden, middle-aged superheros was not as good as I wanted but it had its moments. Netflix’s zombie movie and its prequel, Army of the Deadand Army of Thieves, are good lazy-day-on-the-couch fun. I probably liked the second even more than the first. The Ice Road(Netflix) contains exactly what it says on the label: Liam Neeson driving a big truck on an ice road. Red Notice (Netflix) is a very dumb movie that does not live up to the promise of Dwayne Johnson and Ryan Reynolds but I still laughed many times. VacationFriends (Hulu) is another dumb but fun outing with good comedic reluctant-buddy chemistry between Jon Cena and Lil Rel Howery. I know that Camila Cabello’s Cinderella (Amazon Prime) wasn’t, you know, “good,” but it was fun and her life’s ambition was more plucky than just “marry a prince.” Also on Amazon Prime, The Tomorrow War is a totally fine Chris Pratt-led action movie.

The winner of the “I’m not gonna say good but it’s worth a watch” prize this year might be an actual Oscar contender, House of Gucci, which is still in theaters and which the internet says will be on Paramount+ at some point in January. Come for the tacky-glam 1980s everything, stay for the “givin’ her all she’s got, Captain” Lady Gaga performance.

• Supermen & wonder women: For me, Zack Snyder’s Justice League (HBOMax), the longer, slower director’s cut of the 2017 movie, is probably more accurately in the previous category — not great but worth a watch. I felt very “oh now I see what’s supposed to be happening” and while it’s still not fun, it’s sort of an interesting historical document.

Things were much better over in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Eternals (in theaters and headed to Disney+ on Jan. 12, according to Wikipedia) offered an interesting new group of characters — probably too many to allow us to really focus on the characters with the most potential (Kumail Nanjiani) but I’m willing to ride this branching-out-the-MCU ride. Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (Disney+) has a compelling lead in Simu Liu, an even better supporting character in Awkwafina and an excellent villain (sorta) in Tony Leung. Yes, I know Black Widow’s (Disney+) whole deal is setting up other Marvel stuff, but I still enjoyed this stand-alone about Scarlett Johansson’s character (and I’m always excited to see Florence Pugh, “Russian” accent and all). The Marvel standout was probably the recently released Spider-Man: No Way Home (in theaters), which gives a nice completion to the three-movie MCU-Spider-Man arc and gave me a new appreciation for the previous Spider-Man series.

My favorite action franchise outing this year, though, might be No Time To Die(rent or purchase), the send off for Daniel Craig’s iteration of James Bond. I feel like he had more fun than he has in a while and the movie had some fun with the character.

• Family movie night:There was a particularly good crop of kids movies, specifically kids animated movies, this year. Raya and the Last Dragon(Disney+) is a fun adventure tale featuring a talking dragon but also beautiful animation and a lovely score. The Mitchells Versus the Machines(Netflix) is a fun family-on-a-quest tale and it makes fun of Big Tech and it looks great. Lin-Manuel Miranda had songs in two animated movies this year: Encanto (Disney+) and Vivo (Netflix), where he also voices a kinkajou. Both were a delight. Beautiful and soulful, Luca (Disney+) centers on the friendship between two mer-boys who want to check out life on land in Italy. After you watch it, check out the excellent short Ciao, Alberto (Disney+). And while you’re watching shorts on Disney+, check out Olaf Presents…, which features Josh Gad’s snowman doing his recaps on Disney movies and cracks my kids up every time. I know people have all sorts of opinions about James Corden but I really enjoyed this year’s live-action/CG mix Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway (Netflix), more even than the first movie.

• Christmas movies! I support this weird Christmas movie arms race happening across TV and streaming. Sure, there’s a lot of blah, but there’s also a lot of solid seasonal fare. This year, I enjoyed Shaun the Sheep: The Flight Before Christmas (Netflix), another all-ages friendly, sweet-hearted entry in the Shaun the Sheep Aardman Animation canon. A Boy Called Christmas (Netflix) is darker but does some good work looking at kids and grief. 8-Bit Christmas (HBOMax) stars Neil Patrick Harris offering us the A Christmas Story-riff I didn’t know I wanted about life way back in the 1980s. Single All the Way (Netflix) is an absolute charmer of a Christmas rom-com.

• How do you do, fellow kids? These teen movies were not made for me but they delighted me all the same. The Map of Tiny Perfect Things (Amazon Prime) used a Groundhog Day concept to examine a teen romance and teen grief. He’s All That(Netflix) was a fun riff on the 1990s teen makeover movie. Moxie (Netflix), with its zines and its riot grrrl music, seemed at least as aimed at X-ers like me as the teenager it portrayed. Netflix also offered some solid teen horror movies — There’s Someone Inside Your House and the trilogy Fear Street Part One: 1994, Fear Street Part Two: 1978 and Fear Street Part Three: 1666. Everybody’s Talking about Jamie (Amazon Prime) gives you a coming of age story (a teen developing his drag persona) and a joy-filled musical.

• “Above average” is not faint praise: With Monster Hunter (Starz), you get the very Resident-Evil-style Milla Jovovich punching monsters, like what else do you need? Dream Horse (Hulu) is the big-hearted a-town-pulls-together underdog story that feels like cozy socks in movie form. Worth (Netflix) is a bummer about the aftermath of Sept. 11 but features a great performance by Michael Keaton. In my review, I described No Sudden Move as “ a very Soderberghian cool crisp cocktail of capering and doublecross with just a dash of dry humor.” Nobody (rent or purchase) from the John Wick writer is basically John Wick as a suburban dad — and is fun in the same way. I liked Idris Elba’s performance in Concrete Cowboy (Netflix).

• The 2021 standouts: Comedy (or maybe dramedy?) Shiva Baby (HBO Max) is an entertainingly claustrophobic look at early adulthood. Plan B (Hulu) is another hilarious movie about teen-girl female friendship and the unnecessary difficulties of obtaining health care. Belfast (theaters and for rent or purchase) is Kenneth Branagh’s warm-hearted, semi-autobiographical look at life in Belfast in the late 1960s. That movie is in black and white and so is Passing(Amazon Prime), though it gives you race in America in the 1920s shades of gray along with a tense psychological, er, thriller? However you’d label it, it sticks with you. The Harder They Fall (Netflix) is a top-notch Western full of excellent performances (Regina King, Idris Elba, Delroy Lindo, LaKeith Stanfield, Zazie Beetz). If you like Wes Anderson and his little model train worlds, you’ll enjoy the short stories collected in The French Dispatch(available for rent). Madres (Amazon Prime) is a horror movie that packs a real (real world) gut punch. Pig(Hulu) is the excellent Nicolas Cage performance you didn’t know you were waiting for.

But my favorite of this group may be CODA (Apple TV+), featuring a truly great performance by Emilia Jones as the only hearing member of an otherwise deaf family. Her love of singing and her urge for independence have her parents (equally excellent Marlee Matlin and Troy Kotsur) afraid of losing her to a world they can’t access.

• Great docs: Val (Amazon Prime) is a fascinating memoir from Val Kilmer. Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go For It (Netflix) will remind you why the actress is so beloved. Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street (HBO Max) is a fun look at a revolutionary show. And speaking of revolution, Summer of Soul (…Or When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) (Hulu) is part documentary and part concert film, and according to iTunes, an accompanying album is slated for Jan. 28.

• Speaking of song:We got more music-filled movies this year. As someone who does not live in New York, I support any opportunities to bring Broadway to my living room. Thusly, I was charmed with Come From Away(Apple TV+). Of course, I can’t help loving West Side Story(still in theaters) and I even like the slight tweaks. And, yes, as mentioned up top, from culottes to Andy Garcia as Tommy Bahama, I love Barb and Star Go To Vista Del Mar(Hulu) and all of its music (“Edgar’s Prayer” but also everything from the hotel lounge singer).

• Most joyful:But OK, at the end of the day, I guess I won’t give those midwestern besties the absolute top spot. I guess that one goes to In the Heights (HBO Max), another Lin-Manuel Miranda musical, this one adapted for the big screen (versus Hamilton’s filmed stage production). This movie was bright and beautiful and absolutely joyous.

2022?

Look, who knows what the movie schedule will look like in January, much less the rest of 2022. But for now, here are a few things on the calendar that I’m excited to see:

• Scream (Jan. 14 in theaters) Yes, Scream, like the original, with Courtney Cox, Neve Campbell and David Arquette. I guess I am a sucker for some kinds of nostalgia.

• The Tragedy of Macbeth (Jan. 14 on Apple TV+) In theaters now (including Red River Theatres in Concord starting Friday, Dec. 31), this Joel Coen-directed version of Shakespeare’s play starring Denzel Washington will stream right into your home, for the convenience of current and former lit majors.

• Cyrano (late January) This movie starring Peter Dinklage has appeared on some year-end lists but won’t really get a release until January.

• Downton Abbey: A New Era (March 18, Peacock 45 days later, according to Wikipedia) I don’t know how I feel about this but I will still watch with some polite excitement this latest chapter.

• The Batman (March 4) Robert Pattinson dons the cowl.

• Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness (May 6) Our next Marvel Cinematic Universe movie.

Featured photo: Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar.