Here’s my Best of 2021 list, along with the rest of my year-end coverage:
- The best movies of 2021
- 2021 at the movies: what I hadn’t seen before
- 2021’s best movie-going experiences
- 2021: unusually strong year for biodocs
- 2021 Farewells: Behind the camera
- 2021 Farewells: on the screen
IN THEATERS
Drive My Car: director and co-writer Ryûsuke Hamaguchi’s engrossing masterpiece about dealing with loss – and it’s the best movie of 2021. Layered with character-driven stories that could each justify their own movie, this is a mesmerizing film that builds into an exhilarating catharsis.
Also in theaters:
- Nightmare Alley: enough burning ambition for a thousand carnies.
- Belfast: a child’s point if view is universal. If you have heartstrings, they are gonna get pulled.
- Red Rocket: a genius at burning bridges.
- C’mon C’mon: In Mike Mills’ charming and authentic film, Joaquin Phoenix plays a well-intentioned, emotionally intelligent guy who gets an immersion course in parenting.
- House of Gucci: Lady Gaga and Adam Driver shine in this modern tale of Shakespearean family treachery.
- Benedetta: Paul Verhoeven’s entertaining parable of belief and class, wrapped in scandal and sacrilege.
ON VIDEO
Being the Ricardos: a tepid slice of a really good story. Amazon (included with Prime).
The Hand of God: Filmmaker Paolo Sorrentino’s own coming of age story – and a time capsule of 1986 Naples. Netflix.
Some of my choices for Best Movies of 2021 are already on video:
- Riders of Justice: Thriller, comedy and much, much more. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu and YouTube.
- The Power of the Dog: One man’s meanness, another man’s growth. Netflix.
- Don’t Look Up: Wickedly funny. Filmmaker Adam McKay (The Big Short) and a host of movie stars hit the bullseye as they target a corrupt political establishment, a soulless media and a gullible, lazy-minded public. Netflix.
- Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain: Bad ass romantic. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube and redbox.
More 2021 movies on video:
- Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road: An unusual documentary about an unusual man.
- The Lost Leonardo: iI it a hustle? Does it matter?
- when tragedy begets humor .
- CODA: a thought-provoking audience-pleaser. AppleTV.
- The Velvet Underground: Immersing us in a cultural moment. AppleTV.
- Passing: navigating a racist society and the value of one’s identity. Netflix.
- Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time: when tragedy begets humor Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu and YouTube.
- Listening to Kenny G: derision, devotion and a hard-working guy. HBO Max
- Old Henry: too late for redemption. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu and YouTube.
- Wildland: giving family ties a bad name. Laemmle.
- The Many Saints of Newark: Tony Soprano’s origin story. HBO Max.
- The Unknown Saint: a shrine to really bad luck. Netflix.
ON TV
Once again, Turner Classic Movies is giving us a wonderful New Year’s Eve present – an all-day Thin Man marathon. William Powell and Myrna Loy are cinema’s favorite movie couple for a reason – just settle in and watch Nick and Nora Charles in The Thin Man and its sequels do what they do best – banter, canoodle, solve crimes and, of course, tipple.
Stars abound in supporting roles in the series. James Stewart had only made one feature film before 1936, the year, he appeared in After the Thin Man. Dean Stockwell, who died in November, played Nick and Nora’s son Nick Charles Jr in Song of the Thin Man. Film noir goddesses Gloria Grahame and Marie Windsor also both appear in Song of the Thin Man.
The pre-notoriety Tom Neal has a key role in in Another Thin Man. Classic film aficionados will also recognize Maureen O’Sullivan, Keenan Wynn, Leon Ames, Sheldon Leonard, C. Awbrey Smith, Joseph Calleia and Sam Levene.
These six movies from 1934-47 are still first-rate escapist entertainment. Love ’em.