No better time to see the year’s best movies than this week. My year end coverage has expanded:
- The best movies of 2021
- Most overlooked 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.
- 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
The Real Charlie Chaplin: This biodoc seeks to reveal Charlie Chaplin’s childhood in poverty, his manipulation of very young wives and his blacklisting, but not his filmmaking. Showtime.
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.
- Lamb: This dark, cautionary fable of karma is a brilliant and unsettling debut by writer-director Valdimar Jóhannsson. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube and redbox.
More 2021 movies on video:
- The Hand of God: Filmmaker Paolo Sorrentino’s own coming of age story – and a time capsule of 1986 Naples. Netflix.
- Being the Ricardos: a tepid slice of a really good story. Amazon (included with Prime).
- 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.
- No Time to Die: I went to a James Bond movie, and a romance broke out. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube and redbox.
- 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
Yesterday, I wrote about George Wallace, coming up on January 12 on Turner Classic Movies, with its brilliant performance by Gary Sinise. George Wallace is not available to stream and is rarely broadcast, so set your DVR.