Favorite Films of 2021

[Fencers]

End of year time. I usually keep a running list of what I enjoyed most in the year using a 10 point scale. I saw 164 new films released in 2021.

Here is what I settled on as my favorite films this year-

10. Lamb
09. Judas & the Black Messiah
08. The Power of the Dog
07. Drive My Car
06. Parallel Mothers
05. Red Rocket
04. Prayers For the Stolen
03. Licorice Pizza
02. Language Lessons
01. Titane

#11-20, no order; The Medium, In the Heights, West Side Story, Mass, Benedette, The Green Knight, The Harder they Fall, The Lost Daughter, Pig, The Princess Switch 3.



What are your favorite films of 2021?

What are some hidden gems?

What about foreign films not available in the US yet; what should I keep an eye out for?


Edit: It's a Pandemic. Not everyone can make it to the movie theater. Use some courtesy with spoilers if needed. Don't be a jerk to people.

[Dread Pirate Phayde]

I think I only saw a handful of films this year, which is strange considering I used to see something new almost weekly.

Dune was good.
Suicide Squad, I surprisingly enjoyed.

Godzilla vs Kong was okay, as long as I didn't actually start thinking about it.

Tomorrow War was entertaining, but similar to GvK, turn the brain off.

Mortal Kombat was okay, but ultimately disappointing.

Matrix: Resurrections I went into with zero expectations and still ended up somewhat disappointed.

[Triceron]

Hard to remember what films I even saw this year. Covid has made all the past years blur for me.


I'd probably say Dune and Shang Chi were the notable ones I enjoyed most.

Turned my brain off for most of the rest of the movies I watched.

Black Widow, No Time to Die, Godzilla vs Kong, Mortal Kombat, Tomorrow War, Free Guy; all mostly enjoyable-yet-forgettable movies.

I enjoyed Snyder cut too, and was quite memorable for all the changes it had. Not quite enough to reach the top of my list though.

[Asrialol]

Haven't heard of any movies the OP posted.. lulu.

I haven't seen any movies that blew me away this year. Been a pretty shitty movie year. Dune was alright, and one of the few I saw at the cinema. Not much else worth mentioning..

[Nihilist74]

Dune
Don't Look Up
No Time to Die
Ghostbusters Afterlife
The Little Things ( Seems like I watched this a long time ago before 2021 but it is listed as coming out January 2021 ).
Finch (Tom Hanks Robot Movie)

Dune was great but I liked the 1984 extended version a little bit more.

No Time to Die was a good and typical James Bond movie.

Ghost Busters Afterlife was better than I thought it would be.

The Little Things was a decent movie with great acting from Denzel Washington, and Jared Letto. Denzel Washington plays a cop trying to catch a serial killer.

Don't Look Up is a movie about a comet that is going to hit the earth and cause an extinction-level event. Leonardo Decaprio and Jennifer Lawrence are pretty good in it. It was funny but not bust a gut funny. Decaprios and Lawrence's characters try to get the government to do something about the comet. Meryl Streep does a good job acting as the female version of trump. Holy hell, I did not realize that Timothy Chalamet was in this too.

I am going to watch The Last Duel (Midevil duel), Crisis (About the opioid crisis in America), and Cry Macho (Clint Eastwood) today. They look like quality movies with good actors and actresses.

The Last Duel - Some great acting by all of the major characters. Good battle scenes. Interesting story but not the greatest story for a movie. I barely recognized Ben Affleck. Adam Driver, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Jodie Comer were all pretty great.

Crisis - An ok movie about the opioid crisis in America and Canada. Gary Oldman acted well in this movie as usual but there was not much to his part. The main character was played by Armie Hammer who plays an undercover agent trying to catch drug dealers. I can't imagine the guy who played the Winklevoss twins playing an undercover agent catching drug dealers but he was not bad.

Cry Macho - A good Clint Eastwood movie. Clint Eastwood plays the main character. His character is a very typical Clint Eastwood old cowboy character who goes to Mexico to bring back his boss's son to America. Somewhat of a heartwarming movie that is entertaining but not a great movie.

[Jastall]

01. Titane

The only film in your list I watched besides The Green Knight, and one of my biggest "WTH did I just watch?" experiences in quite some time. I get some of the symbolism and allegory, I think, but the package is just too out-there for me to appreciate it in truth.

As for my favorites, of the few new movies I've seen, I'd say;

1. Dune
2. The Green Knight
3. Shang-Chi

Guess I'm growing more mainstream as I grow older.

[cuafpr]

Matrix Rez
Ghostbusters Afterlife
Godzilla vs King Kong

those are the standouts with Matrix res at the top.

[druchii5]

Dune
The Green Knight
The Dig
Another Round

[Fencers]

The only film in your list I watched besides The Green Knight, and one of my biggest "WTH did I just watch?" experiences in quite some time. I get some of the symbolism and allegory, I think, but the package is just too out-there for me to appreciate it in truth.

I was big fan of her previous film Raw, which is milder (in a certain sense) than Titane. I really admired the vision and daring of Titane. I thought it was really gutsy and accomplished cinema. The propulsion and intensity of the film were incredible in the theater. When it was over the audience was like shell shocked. Terrific.

I believe it won the Palme d'Or at Cannes and I would say it was well-deserved based on the strength of the direction alone.

[StillMcfuu]

Dune
The Green Knight
No Time to Die

Special mention: GB Afterlife for almost making a newage goonies with ghosts and then fucking it up for the 3rd act.
And while everything about Matrix 4 is absolutely shit, I appreciate some of the attempts made in the movie to not just do a "remake" and to make more of a sequel that isn't a sequel.

[Orby]

In no order and spoiler free reasoning.

Green Knight. Pretty much loved this movie. a bit pretentious but very engaging. Best movie based on the Arthurian legend to date.
Licorice Pizza was my batshit surprise of the year. Loved it.
Pig, yes I fucked loved this movie, I went in expecting one thing and got a pleasant surprise of something entirely different and Cage was great here.
West Side Story, best Steve Spielberg movie in years, maybe decades.
Dune. I loved this movie more than I should have.
King Richard, brilliant movie, just heart-warming
Titane. It took me a while to know what to think of this movie, but by now its kind of got on the good side with me to a point I didn't think it would make this list.
The Power of the Dog, a solid movie that like a lot of this list I wasnt going in expecting much.
The Last Duel, fuck no one for seeing this movie. its a shame it bombed, it was a movie I enjoyed more than some of the more bigger 'blockbusters' this year.
Last Night In Soho. Not an original movie plot but well shot, well acted and well paced with some great suspense.

[Exkrementor]

Best movies in 2021:

1. Spider-Man: No way home
2. Godzilla vs. Kong
3. Nobody
4. Dont look up

Surprisingly not that bad movies 2021:

1. Dune
2. Boss Level
3. The Suicide Squad
4. Zack Snyder's Justice League

Disappointments of 2021:

1. Venom: Let there be Carnage
2. Wrath of Man
3. Army of the Dead
4. Matrix 4


I feel like 2021 was not a good year for movies. Maybe all the good ones got delayed.

[Fencers]

West Side Story, best Steve Spielberg movie in years, maybe decades.

I thought this was just terrific too. Had low expectations because 'Berg has been pretty dreadful the last few years. But I think he really liked this material and shows in how much he elevated it. I think this is the best telling of WSS on film and stage- and I have seen a LOT of WSS in my lifetime.

Absolutely terrific direction and production design here too. I would agree it is Spielberg's best film in years, probably since Munich. Moreover, WSS is likely the best purely directed film in 2021. A true masterful hand at directing.

I think I gave it a 9/10 or something because the casting was the only misstep.

- - - Updated - - -

2. Boss Level

Joe Carnahan? Hm. Didn't see anything about it this year. Added to my list!

Thanks.

[Jastall]

I was big fan of her previous film Raw, which is milder (in a certain sense) than Titane. I really admired the vision and daring of Titane. I thought it was really gutsy and accomplished cinema. The propulsion and intensity of the film were incredible in the theater. When it was over the audience was like shell shocked. Terrific.

I believe it won the Palme d'Or at Cannes and I would say it was well-deserved based on the strength of the direction alone.

There's daring all right, but personally daring isn't remotely enough if the material isn't engaging, and while most of the film is, the stuff that isn't feels just tacked on, out of place and there for its own sake (or at worst just to be confusing). I can't specify without going into spoilers which might start a back and forth on what is ultimately opinion, but it's one of these times where the strength of the execution wasn't matched by the strength of the premise in my eyes. Feels like two strong ideas shoved together. The shoving was well done, but the kitbash it sadly still obvious.

[Orby]

I thought this was just terrific too. Had low expectations because 'Berg has been pretty dreadful the last few years. But I think he really liked this material and shows in how much he elevated it. I think this is the best telling of WSS on film and stage- and I have seen a LOT of WSS in my lifetime.

Absolutely terrific direction and production design here too. I would agree it is Spielberg's best film in years, probably since Munich. Moreover, WSS is likely the best purely directed film in 2021. A true masterful hand at directing.

I think I gave it a 9/10 or something because the casting was the only misstep.

I gave it a 9 too. I also maybe want Steven Spielberg to maybe do more musicals now. Hopefully this wasnt a bit of a fluke

I actually did go into West Side Story feeling very not wanting to like it because I'll be honest, I never really liked the original. What surprise coming out of it, the colours the direction the emotion, felt so more alive than the original.

[Exkrementor]

Joe Carnahan? Hm. Didn't see anything about it this year. Added to my list!

Thanks.

Imdb says 2020 but I am pretty sure its a 2021 movie. idk

[Fencers]

Imdb says 2020 but I am pretty sure its a 2021 movie. idk

That's cool. I still wanna see it.

There's daring all right, but personally daring isn't remotely enough if the material isn't engaging, and while most of the film is, the stuff that isn't feels just tacked on, out of place and there for its own sake (or at worst just to be confusing). I can't specify without going into spoilers which might start a back and forth on what is ultimately opinion, but it's one of these times where the strength of the execution wasn't matched by the strength of the premise in my eyes. Feels like two strong ideas shoved together. The shoving was well done, but the kitbash it sadly still obvious.

Understandable. It can be a divisive film. Fair criticism.

[Trumpcat]

Dune.

Snyder's Cut.

[Fencers]

I gave it a 9 too. I also maybe want Steven Spielberg to maybe do more musicals now. Hopefully this wasnt a bit of a fluke

I actually did go into West Side Story feeling very not wanting to like it because I'll be honest, I never really liked the original. What surprise coming out of it, the colours the direction the emotion, felt so more alive than the original.

I think Speilberg is in the position at this point in his career where his best work is predicated on inspiration and novelty. I am sure some of these past films such as Bridge of Spies, The Post, The BFG, etc might have had one but not the other.

That is to say, I think Spielberg can be attracted to the novelty of making War Horse and Tin Tin or inspired by Lincoln and The Post. Not sure those films had both for him though and if they did, it was not apparent in the final product. Whereas I do think WSS was material he loved and wanted to bring a distinctive take to; I mean you can't say that about Ready Player One or Kingdom of the Crystal Skull by comparison.

[PACOX]

I'm basic. Dune.