Griffith
With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
My favorite movies of 2021*:
The Many Saints of Newark - This isn't just a nostalgia pick, I'm not putting this movie on top because it's a satisfying Sopranos prequel, it might actually be kind of mediocre in that regard given fan response, but I liked a different sort of nostalgia this movie has, for the late 60s and early 70s, which is clearly what David Chase was most interested in as well. I just dug the look, color and vibe of this movie, and it worked as a character study too, both elements perhaps epitomized by the beautiful yet haunting scene on the beach.
Spider-Man: No Way Home - I already said all I needed to, but as far as pulling off a multi-studio, multi-iteration 20 year franchise crossover: They did it!
I Care a Lot - A highly stylized fictional deep dive into the predatory world of adult care! Things get out of hand when they go after the wrong old lady and bad guys get involved before several highly unlikely twists and turns ensue. Movies like this used to be a dime a dozen in the 90s and early 2000s, now they're back as disposable Netflix fare.
Dune: The Snyder Cut, Part Uno - This is a very well made, bloodless movie. It's only this high to satisfy my own sci-fi fan pretenions, but I was honestly pretty bored by it. We'll see if the whole picture really puts it into perspective next year.
Halloween Kills - This is a very unevenly made, bloody movie. But when you consider Michael Myers as the protagonist because the other people all suck, it's more tolerable. Objectively this movie belongs closer to the bottom of the list but I enjoy it.
Black Widow - Mid-tier Marvel at its okayist. I like all the ugly, chaotic flying around fighting at the end and the character stuff is passable and on the nose as always. It ended up in the middle of this list for a reason.
Mortal Kombat - I guess it was ok for a video game movie? Probably not better, or more iconic, than the 90s one, but this one had a different, R-rated spin at least. Idk, I enjoyed it but it's B-tier even by today's mediocre IP standards (see directly above).
Zach Snyder's Justice League, Part Deux - Easily wins the award for most movie of the year. I think it's cool that it exists though. Bring on the alternate streaming cuts!
The Suicide Squad - James Gunn's schtick was already wearing thin and I found the R-rated version of the same routine more dreary than fun. We get it, they're eccentric misfits with hearts of gold! But now they can really swear and do explicit violence. I'm old and tired. Speaking of which...
The Matrix Resurrections - This may be Lana Wachowski's attempt to kill the Matrix IP before WarnerBros can try to franchise it out the ass again without them. This is actually explicitly spelled out in the movie! I hated how they recast iconic parts with completely different looking randos with little to no explanation or even need; like, just bring back the old actors or don't have those characters since they aren't important enough to properly bring back anyway (this movie very clearly only gives a shit about Neo and Trinity)? It makes it feel like a cringey, amateur fan film when you pull that shit with multiple parts, and this series being guilty of it previously out of necessity does not justify it now. Anyway, cringey is a good way to describe it overall, this is the true successor to The Matrix... sequels. On the bright side, it's not obnoxiously ambitious, Keanu Reeves is likable as always, Carrie-Anne Moss has aged like she just stepped out of The Matrix, and I got some good naptime in during the third act and woke up happy during the credits; so, that's a plus to streaming premieres in your own home with a couple cocktails.
The Little Things - This is a replacement level mediocre manhunt movie with a twist so insignificant and dumb it barely registers that's what the it's actually about. It's basically about nothing, with Denzel pretending he's in a better movie and the other two guys pretending they belong in a better movie (they don't).
Godzilla vs. Kong - One of the worst movies ever conceived. How hard is it to cut through the fat and filler and have Godzilla fighting King Kong? This movie luxuriates in the fat instead and it's about the most distractingly putrid, awful shit one could come up with! This reminds me how spoiled I am by the competency of today's team-up/event movies because this reminds me of a time when they were all doomed to be the worst, hackiest bullshit ever made, which this is with more resources than any garbage before it. It's the Death Star of shit movies.
*That I streamed free on HBO MAX or watched screeners of. Also, I didn't like any of them that much and didn't see Licorice Pizza, so who cares?
The Many Saints of Newark - This isn't just a nostalgia pick, I'm not putting this movie on top because it's a satisfying Sopranos prequel, it might actually be kind of mediocre in that regard given fan response, but I liked a different sort of nostalgia this movie has, for the late 60s and early 70s, which is clearly what David Chase was most interested in as well. I just dug the look, color and vibe of this movie, and it worked as a character study too, both elements perhaps epitomized by the beautiful yet haunting scene on the beach.
Spider-Man: No Way Home - I already said all I needed to, but as far as pulling off a multi-studio, multi-iteration 20 year franchise crossover: They did it!
I Care a Lot - A highly stylized fictional deep dive into the predatory world of adult care! Things get out of hand when they go after the wrong old lady and bad guys get involved before several highly unlikely twists and turns ensue. Movies like this used to be a dime a dozen in the 90s and early 2000s, now they're back as disposable Netflix fare.
Dune: The Snyder Cut, Part Uno - This is a very well made, bloodless movie. It's only this high to satisfy my own sci-fi fan pretenions, but I was honestly pretty bored by it. We'll see if the whole picture really puts it into perspective next year.
Halloween Kills - This is a very unevenly made, bloody movie. But when you consider Michael Myers as the protagonist because the other people all suck, it's more tolerable. Objectively this movie belongs closer to the bottom of the list but I enjoy it.
Black Widow - Mid-tier Marvel at its okayist. I like all the ugly, chaotic flying around fighting at the end and the character stuff is passable and on the nose as always. It ended up in the middle of this list for a reason.
Mortal Kombat - I guess it was ok for a video game movie? Probably not better, or more iconic, than the 90s one, but this one had a different, R-rated spin at least. Idk, I enjoyed it but it's B-tier even by today's mediocre IP standards (see directly above).
Zach Snyder's Justice League, Part Deux - Easily wins the award for most movie of the year. I think it's cool that it exists though. Bring on the alternate streaming cuts!
The Suicide Squad - James Gunn's schtick was already wearing thin and I found the R-rated version of the same routine more dreary than fun. We get it, they're eccentric misfits with hearts of gold! But now they can really swear and do explicit violence. I'm old and tired. Speaking of which...
The Matrix Resurrections - This may be Lana Wachowski's attempt to kill the Matrix IP before WarnerBros can try to franchise it out the ass again without them. This is actually explicitly spelled out in the movie! I hated how they recast iconic parts with completely different looking randos with little to no explanation or even need; like, just bring back the old actors or don't have those characters since they aren't important enough to properly bring back anyway (this movie very clearly only gives a shit about Neo and Trinity)? It makes it feel like a cringey, amateur fan film when you pull that shit with multiple parts, and this series being guilty of it previously out of necessity does not justify it now. Anyway, cringey is a good way to describe it overall, this is the true successor to The Matrix... sequels. On the bright side, it's not obnoxiously ambitious, Keanu Reeves is likable as always, Carrie-Anne Moss has aged like she just stepped out of The Matrix, and I got some good naptime in during the third act and woke up happy during the credits; so, that's a plus to streaming premieres in your own home with a couple cocktails.
The Little Things - This is a replacement level mediocre manhunt movie with a twist so insignificant and dumb it barely registers that's what the it's actually about. It's basically about nothing, with Denzel pretending he's in a better movie and the other two guys pretending they belong in a better movie (they don't).
Godzilla vs. Kong - One of the worst movies ever conceived. How hard is it to cut through the fat and filler and have Godzilla fighting King Kong? This movie luxuriates in the fat instead and it's about the most distractingly putrid, awful shit one could come up with! This reminds me how spoiled I am by the competency of today's team-up/event movies because this reminds me of a time when they were all doomed to be the worst, hackiest bullshit ever made, which this is with more resources than any garbage before it. It's the Death Star of shit movies.
*That I streamed free on HBO MAX or watched screeners of. Also, I didn't like any of them that much and didn't see Licorice Pizza, so who cares?
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