Honorable Mentions (in alphabetical order):
A Quiet Place Part II
Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar
The Last Duel
No Time to Die
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
10.Malcolm & Marie:
As reenforced by this past weekend's explosive season premiere of his HBO series Euphoria, Sam Levinson is a master of generating tension and unease out of real-life situations that aren't usually depicted in a horrific way on screen. Levinson brings that same viscerally nerve-wracking energy to his latest feature project Malcolm & Marie. Aided by some claustrophobic cinematography from longtime collaborator Marcel Rev and powerhouse performances from Zendaya and John David Washington as the titular characters, Levinson turns a real time argument between a young couple into a riveting high wire act where a single word or action can shift the entire mood for an extended period of time, ego-driven insecurities are weaponized with the intention of crushing the other person's spirit and everything about their relationship past and present is called into question until they reach the point at night's end where they have to reevaluate whether or not they're even going to be able to stay together. It's a fascinating take on the relationship movie and it's great that Levinson, Zendaya and several other members of the Euphoria team were able to channel their creative energy into something else really worthwhile during the series' extended COVID shutdown.
9.Red Rocket:
This extremely scuzzy yet often darkly funny character study about washed-up porn star Mikey Saber (Simon Rex) reluctantly returning to his Texas hometown after burning through all of the money and good will he earned in Los Angeles brings Sean Baker's naturalistic filmmaking style to new heights. Baker does an incredible job of establishing Saber as a desperate, narcissistic man who has a gift for manipulating people into doing what he wants them to do for him as well as the fascination the people of the sleepy Texas community have with him since he "made it" in a big city and Rex proves that Hollywood was wrong to give up on him with a revelatory performance that's among the most impressive acting feats of the year.
8.King Richard:
Will Smith's likely Oscar-winning performance as Richard Williams, father of Venus and Serena Williams, has kind of unfairly overshadowed the other excellent elements of King Richard. It has a nuanced script that paints a balanced picture of Richard's triumphs and failures as both a man and parent/coach/media promoter, terrific supporting performances from Anjaue Ellis as Richard's equally influential wife Brandy Price, Sanyiaa Sidney as Venus and Jon Bernthal as renowned tennis coach Rick Macci and an ultimately inspirational ending that works extremely well because of how much it details the hard work, resilience and struggle it took to achieve that moment of triumph.
7.Shiva Baby:
The most tragically underseen film of 2021 is a short and remarkably stressful dramedy that turns an elderly family friend's shiva into a living nightmare for an impending Jewish college graduate (Rachel Sennott) as she is overwhelmed by questions about her future from people she doesn't really know well and unexpected appearances from both her sugar daddy (Danny Deferrari)-who is secretly married with a newborn baby and her ex-girlfriend (Molly Gordon)-who is set to go to law school immediately after finishing undergrad. Emma Seligman comes out guns blazing in her feature debut with a tight script and anxiety-riddled direction that vividly portrays a state of steadily increasing unease and Sennott is pitch perfect as someone's whose whole world gets blown up at an occasion that was just supposed to be a mundane family obligation.
6.Godzilla vs. Kong:
Warner Brothers finally delivered the epic monster fighting spectacle they've been teasing since reviving Godzilla in 2014!!! Godzilla vs. Kong atones for all of the sins of both franchise's recent films by leaving the human characters (who are also admittedly far better than in past installments-largely in part due to some well-executed overacting from Brian Tyree Henry, Eiza Gonzalez and Demian Bichir) on the backburner whenever possible and actually showing the extensive badass titan vs. titan carnage in settings that aren't pitch fucking black. Huge shoutout to Adam Wingard, Eric Pearson and Max Borenstein for realizing the adjustments that needed to be made and delivering the wall-to-wall entertainment that monster movies always should be.
5.The Harder They Fall:
In what ended up being the most impressive directorial debut of the year, musician by trade Jeymes Samuel parlays his lifelong passion for westerns into the genre's best modern entry since the Coen Brothers 2010 remake of True Grit. The Harder They Fall is a rollicking revenge tale packed with colorful characters played perfectly by an endlessly charismatic ensemble (Jonathan Majors, Idris Elba, Regina King, Zazie Beetz, Delroy Lindo, Lakeith Stanfield, RJ Cyler, Danielle Deadwyler, Edi Gathegi, Deon Cole, Damon Wayans Jr.), crackling dialogue and dazzling shootouts that combines the lawless atmosphere of a classic western with a modern stylized visual flare and long overdue acknowledgement of the presence of Black outlaws in the old West (while the narrative is completely fictional, every major character in the film was a real person).
4.Nobody:
Bob Odenkirk fully commits to the role of a covert government assassin turned helpless family man that's forced to dust off his old skills after a break-in at this home forces him back into the criminal underworld he thought he abandoned for good in this terrific adrenaline-fueled action thriller from Hardcore Henry director Ilya Naishuller and John Wick writer Derek Kolstad. At just 92 minutes long, the whole affair has a brisk sense of pacing that is strangely becoming more and more rare in the current film climate and the hard-hitting, immaculately crafted action sequences pretty much blow the doors clean off everything else that was released over the past 12 months.
3.Bad Trip:
Leave it to mad genius Eric Andre to not only make an absurd, vulgar hidden camera prank movie that is easily the funniest comedy of the past few years but give it an unexpected amount of heart by showing some people's willingness to help strangers out in a time of apparent crisis-regardless of how unsettling or bizarre it may be.
2.The Suicide Squad:
Superhero movies packed theaters and streaming services over the past 6 months after nearly a year and a half of radio silence following the release of Birds of Prey in February 2020. On the whole, the crop was very good with Marvel releasing a couple of their more interesting projects (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Eternals) in years, Sony amplifying the singular craziness of the Venom brand with the sequel Let There Be Carnage and Spider-Man: No Way Home giving people all of the fan service they could possibly handle. In what I know is a radically divergent opinion, the superhero film that I believe towered over all the rest this year by a significant margin is The Suicide Squad. Free from the creative constraints of working in the meticulously calculated MCU, James Gunn made an R-rated standalone film that allows to him finally unleash his full creative arsenal in a superhero film and subsequently hits a new peak as a filmmaker. Courtesy of some exceptional writing that expertly weaves together an intelligent story packed with dark social commentary that would be off limits in any Disney-backed production and subtly strong character development that takes multiple viewings to fully unlock, a masterful tonal balance that see rapid shifts from funny to tragic to sweet to sadistic while always remaining cohesive and an exceptional group of actors (Idris Elba, Margot Robbie, John Cena, Joel Kinnaman, Daniela Melchoir, David Dastmalchian, Sylvester Stallone, Viola Davis, Peter Capaldi, Joaquin Cosio, Juan Diego Botto, Alice Braga, Jai Courtney, Pete Davidson, Michael Rooker, Nathan Fillion, Flula Borg, Sean Gunn, Mayling Ng, Jennifer Holland, Steve Agee, Storm Reid) that understands how to bring every facet of his vision to life, Gunn is able to strike the perfect balance between his polished blockbuster present and gory, dark grindhouse past, and it's a complete fucking joy to behold.
1.Judas and the Black Messiah:
An entire wave of Oscar contenders has hit since Judas and the Black Messiah was released during the final few weeks of eligibility for last year's expanded awards cycle last February and not a single one of them was able to outshine Shaka King's masterful Fred Hampton biopic. King has made a film that enlightens viewers with a rich, nuanced portrayal of Hampton just as much as it entertains and enrages with the details of the FBI operation that led to his assassination. Making something that hits all the right notes as a celebration of Hampton, an engrossing dramatization of real life events and potent reminder of the United States' government checkered history of systemic racism while also getting unbelievable performances from every major player of the cast (Daniel Kaluuya as Hampton, Lakeith Stanfield as William O'Neal-the petty car thief who was blackmailed by the FBI into infiltrating the Black Panthers and eventually provided them with the address to the house where he was killed, Dominique Fishback as Hampton's wife/mother of his child Deborah Johnson, Jesse Plemons as O' Neal's FBI handler Roy Mitchell, Martin Sheen as FBI head J. Edgar Hoover) is an unbelievable accomplishment for any director- let alone one who had only made 1 film prior to this-that will hopefully open many more doors for King in the industry.
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