Was 2021 the full-blown return to "normalcy" we were all hoping for? No. Did the mooviess come back just like the great Vin Diesel promised they would? THEY SURE AS HELL DID (thanks Vin!)
After 2020's cinematic offerings got largely upended on account of the pandemic, 2021 made up for that relative lack of action with a robust offering of films on both the streaming services (namely Netflix-who released a whopping 257 titles) and in theaters-many of which were titles that had been delayed by 6-18 months because of COVID. And the slate wasn't just large, it was filled with consistent quality.
Nearly every genre imaginable had at least a couple of notable triumphs, some of the biggest directors (Ridley Scott, Lana Wachowski, James Wan) in the industry delivered their finest films in years, if not ever, new voices (Emma Seligman, Jeymes Samuel, Rachel Sennott) on both sides of the camera made their presences known with some incredible efforts and perhaps best of all, the number of real stinkers were very minimal. If a 2022 slate that currently has films from the likes of Jordan Peele, Robert Eggers and Rian Johnson on it (and might also feature the latest from Martin Scorsese, David Fincher and Darren Aronofsky) can follow a similar pattern, another great year of cinema in all forms will be imminent.
Below, you'll find a complete ranking of every film I saw from worst to best, a boatload of awards and superlatives and an early look at the films that are currently slated for release in 2022 that I'm most looking forward to seeing. Hope you enjoy.
Didn't Get a Chance to Watch, but Plan on Seeing in the Future:
7 Prisoners
A Journal for Jordan
A Mouthful of Air
American Underdog
Antlers
Best Sellers
Blast Beat
Blue Bayou
Censor
CODA
Encanto
Encounter
Fear Street Part One: 1994
Fear Street Part Two: 1978
Fear Street Part Three: 1666
First Date
Flee
Hard Luck Love Song
How It Ends
In the Earth
Jockey
Joe Bell
John and the Hole
Lamb
Mass
Mother/Android
National Champions
No Man of God
Old Henry
One Shot
Palmer
Parallel Mothers
Profile
Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City
Respect
Silent Night
Small Engine Repair
South of Heaven
Stowaway
The Courier
The Dry
The Hand of God
The Novice
The Sparks Brothers
The Tender Bar
The Tragedy of Macbeth
The Trip
The Voyeurs
There's Someone Inside Your House
Werewolves Within
Wild Indian
137.Chaos Walking (D)
136.The Lost Daughter (D)
135.The Marksman (D+)
134.Jolt (D+)
133.Don't Tell a Soul (D+)
132.Awake (D+)
131.Raya and the Last Dragon (C-)
130.Nightmare Alley (C-)
129.The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (C-)
128.Good on Paper (C-)
127.False Positive (C-)
126.Tom & Jerry (C)
125.Sweet Girl (C)
124.Moxie (C)
123.Prisoners of the Ghostland (C)
122.The Green Knight (C)
121.Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain (C)
120.Belfast (C)
119.Bruised (C)
118.Happily (C)
117.The United States vs. Billie Holiday (C+)
116.Coming 2 America (C+)
115.Red Notice (C+)
114.The Spongebob Movie: Sponge on the Run (C+)
113.The Paper Tigers (C+)
112.PG: Psycho Goreman (C+)
111.The Card Counter (C+)
110.The Tomorrow War (C+)
109.Locked Down (C+)
108.Love Hard (C+)
107.Thunder Force (C+)
106.The Protege (B-)
105.We Broke Up (B-)
104.Breaking News in Yuba County (B-)
103.Our Friend (B-)
102.Fatherhood (B-)
101.The Ice Road (B-)
100.No Sudden Move (B-)
99.Passing (B-)
98.Shadow in the Cloud (B-)
97.The Map of Tiny Perfect Things (B-)
96.Ghostbusters: Afterlife (B-)
95.8-Bit Christmas (B-)
94.In the Heights (B-)
93.The Nowhere Inn (B-)
92.Cry Macho (B-)
91.Ride the Eagle (B-)
90.Vacation Friends (B-)
89.The French Dispatch (B-)
88.Jungle Cruise (B-)
87.The Unforgiveable (B-)
86.West Side Story (B-)
85.Night Teeth (B-)
84.Till Death (B-)
83.Spiral: From the Book of Saw (B-)
82.Pig (B-)
81.Candyman (B-)
80.Outside the Wire (B-)
79.The Mauritanian (B-)
78.Stillwater (B-)
77.House of Gucci (B-)
76.The Eyes of Tammy Faye (B-)
75.Old (B-)
74.Without Remorse (B)
73.The Little Things (B)
72.Boss Level (B)
71.Boogie (B)
70.The White Tiger (B)
69.Black Widow (B)
68.Army of Thieves (B)
67.Snake Eyes (B)
66.Copshop (B)
65.Reminiscence (B)
64.The King's Man (B)
63.Mandibles (B)
62.Ron's Gone Wrong (B)
61.Nine Days (B)
60.Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard (B)
59.Don't Breathe 2 (B)
58.Saint Maud (B)
57.The Woman in the Window (B)
56.Oxygen (B)
55.Escape Room: Tournament of Champions (B)
54.Free Guy (B)
53.Halloween Kills (B)
52.Venom: Let There Be Carnage (B)
51.Titane (B)
50.Cruella (B)
49.Mortal Kombat (B)
48.Space Jam: A New Legacy (B)
47.Zack Snyder's Justice League (B)
46.Some Kind of Heaven (B)
45.Those Who Wish Me Dead (B)
44.Spider-Man: No Way Home (B)
43.Together Together (B)
42.Luca (B)
41.The Mitchells vs. the Machines (B+)
40.Gunpowder Milkshake (B+)
39.Spencer (B+)
38.The Forever Purge (B+)
37.Kate (B+)
36.C'mon C'mon (B+)
35.Concrete Cowboy (B+)
34.Plan B (B+)
33.F9 (B+)
32.I Care a Lot (B+)
31.Army of the Dead (B+)
30.Dune (B+)
29.Last Night in Soho (B+)
28.The Guilty (B+)
27.Zola (B+)
26.Summer of Soul (B+)
25.Being the Ricardos (B+)
24.Don't Look Up (B+)
23.Eternals (B+)
22.Licorice Pizza (B+)
21.The Power of the Dog (B+)
20.Riders of Justice (B+)
19.Malignant (B+)
18.Wrath of Man (B+)
17.The Matrix Resurrections (B+)
16.The Night House (B+)
15.No Time to Die (B+)
14.Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar (B+)
13.The Last Duel (B+)
12.A Quiet Place Part II (B+)
11.Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (A-)
10.Malcolm & Marie (A-)
9.Red Rocket (A-)
8.King Richard (A-)
7.Shiva Baby (A-)
6.Godzilla vs. Kong (A-)
5.The Harder They Fall (A-)
4.Nobody (A-)
3.Bad Trip (A)
2.The Suicide Squad (A)
1.Judas and the Black Messiah (A)
Awards:
Best Picture: Judas and the Black Messiah
Best Director: Shaka King, Judas and the Black Messiah
Best Actor: Simon Rex, Red Rocket
Best Actress: Jodie Comer, The Last Duel
Best Supporting Actor: Daniel Kaluuya, Judas and the Black Messiah
Best Supporting Actress: Anjanue Ellis, King Richard
Best Original Screenplay: Emma Seligman, Shiva Baby
Best Adapted Screenplay: Nicole Holfcener, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, The Last Duel
Best Cinematography: Greig Fraser, Dune
Best Score: Jonny Greenwood, The Power of the Dog
Best Original Song: "No Time to Die" by Billie Eilish (No Time to Die)
Best Visual Effects: Godzilla vs. Kong
Best Animated Movie: The Mitchells vs. the Machines
Best Documentary: Summer of Soul
Best Non-English Language Movie: Riders of Justice
Best Directorial Debut: Jeymes Samuel, The Harder They Fall
Best Villain: Rufus Buck (Idris Elba), The Harder They Fall
Worst Villain: Dreykov (Ray Winstone), Black Widow
Best Performance in a Bad Movie: Bradley Cooper, Nightmare Alley
Worst Performance in a Good Movie: Lewis Tan, Mortal Kombat
Best Performance by a Suspect Actor: Megan Fox, Till Death
Worst Performance by a Good Actor: Tom Holland, Chaos Walking
Best Overacting: Bradley Cooper, Licorice Pizza
Worst Overacting: Ray Winstone, Black Widow
The 4th Annual "Carry a Movie on Their Back" Award Presented by Greg Jennings: Andra Day, The United States vs. Billie Holliday
Best Action Sequence: "Warehouse Fight", Nobody
Worst Action Sequence: Everything in Red Notice
Best Blockbuster: The Suicide Squad
Worst Blockbuster: Chaos Walking
Best Theater Experience: Dune
Worst Theater Experience: Nightmare Alley
Finest Hidden Indie Gem: Shiva Baby
Most Insufferable Indie Trash: The Lost Daughter
Most Inspired B-Horror Insanity: Malignant
Biggest Waste of a Beautifully Insane B-Movie Premise: Prisoners of the Ghostland
Hardest Movie to Describe to Another Person: Titane
Best Plot Twist: Malignant
Best M. Night Shyamalan Film with A Twist That Literally Couldn't Have Possibly Been Guessed by Any Person Alive That Isn't M. Night Shyamalan: Old
Biggest Surprises:
1.The Last Duel
2.Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar
3.The Matrix Resurrections
4.Licorice Pizza
5.Plan B
Biggest Letdowns:
1.Nightmare Alley
2.Prisoners of the Ghostland
3.No Sudden Move
4.Coming 2 America
5.Candyman
Most Underrated Movies:
1.Shiva Baby
2.Red Rocket
3.Malcolm & Marie
4.The Last Duel
5.The Night House
Most Overrated Movies:
1.The Lost Daughter
2.Belfast
3.The Green Knight
4.Raya and the Last Dragon
5.Nightmare Alley
Top Performances:
1.Daniel Kaluuya, Judas and the Black Messiah
2.Simon Rex, Red Rocket
3.Jodie Comer, The Last Duel
4.Lakeith Stanfield, Judas and the Black Messiah
5.Will Smith, King Richard
6.Bendict Cumberbatch, The Power of the Dog
7.Kristen Stewart, Spencer
8.Rebecca Hall, The Night House
9.Jake Gyllenhaal, The Guilty
10.Anjanue Ellis, King Richard
Breakthrough Performances:
1.Rachel Sennott, Shiva Baby
2.Taylour Paige, Zola
3.Alana Haim, Licorice Pizza
4.Sanyiaa Sidney, King Richard
5.Suzanna Son, Red Rocket
6.Daniela Melchoir, The Suicide Squad
7.Woody Norman, C'mon C'mon
8.Simu Liu, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
9.Cooper Hoffmann, Licorice Pizza
10.Brittney Rodriguez, Red Rocket
Top Acting Ensembles:
1.Judas and the Black Messiah
2.King Richard
3.The Harder They Fall
4.Red Rocket
5.The Power of the Dog
6.The Suicide Squad
7.Zola
8.Don't Look Up
9.Being the Ricardos
10.I Care a Lot
2021 Bonus: Top Achievements in Cinematography (There could seriously be at least 25 honorees here. This is the best individual year in this category that I can recall.):
1.Dune (Greig Fraser)
2.The Power of the Dog (Ari Wegner)
3.West Side Story (Janusz Kaminski)
4.Malcolm & Marie (Marcel Rev)
5.The Harder They Fall (Mihai Malaimare Jr.)
6.Old (Mike Gioulakis)
7.No Time to Die (Linus Sandgren)
8.Candyman (John Guleserian)
9.Last Night in Soho (Chung-hoon Chung)
10.Spencer (Claire Mathon)
Top 10 Movies I Hope to See in 2022:
1.The Batman
2.Bullet Train
3.The Northman
4.Thor: Love and Thunder
5.Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre
6.Prey
7.The Bubble
8.Nope
9.The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent
10.On the Count of Three
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