2021 in Movies: Revisited

While the nearly 8 months' worth of returns from 2022 movies have knocked its overall standing down a bit, 2021 remains a very solid cinematic year. For what it lacked in top-tier excellence, it made up with a heavy volume of really good B+ level movies and minimal amount of true garbage.

In terms of notable changes from January until today, there ended up being quite a few. The release of a couple new MCU titles this year further tanked Black Widow's stock, a re-watch of a certain cult favorite horror film that placed in the top 20 at year's end bumped it further up the list and I recently viewed a pair of small indie titles (Small Engine Repair, Mass) that were released last fall that now place pretty highly on my list of favorites from the year. There were also a trio of new additions to the bottom 10, a reshuffling in the high 20's/low 30's brought on by a late-night viewing of Last Night in Soho and zero movement in the top 10 despite some internal debates about whether or not King Richard and Red Rocket should be flipped. Below are the full results of this revaluation process complete with grades and the inclusion of all of the titles I've watched since the year-end list was posted. Hope you enjoy. 

152.(137) Chaos Walking (D)

151.(136) The Lost Daughter (D)

150.(135) The Marksman (D+)

149.(new) How It Ends (D+)

148.(134) Jolt (D+)

147.(133) Don't Tell a Soul (D+)

146.(new) American Underdog (D+)

145.(132) Awake (D+)

144.(131) Raya and the Last Dragon (C-)

143.(new) Werewolves Within (C-)

142.(130) Nightmare Alley (C-)

141.(new) A Journal for Jordan (C-)

140.(129) The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (C-)

139.(128) Good on Paper (C-)

138.(127) False Positive (C-)

137.(126) Tom & Jerry (C)

136.(125) Sweet Girl (C)

135.(124) Moxie (C)

134.(123) Prisoners of the Ghostland (C)

133.(121) Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain (C)

132.(new) The Addams Family 2 (C)

131.(120) Belfast (C)

130.(122) The Green Knight (C)

129.(119) Bruised (C)

128.(118) Happily (C)

127.(115) Red Notice (C)

126.(117) The United States vs. Billie Holiday (C)

125.(116) Coming 2 America (C+)

124.(113) The Paper Tigers (C+)

123.(114) The Spongebob Movie: Sponge on the Run (C+)

122.(112) PG: Psycho Goreman (C+)

121.(111) The Card Counter (C+)

120.(110) The Tomorrow War (C+)

119.(109) Locked Down (C+)

118.(107) Thunder Force (C+)

117.(108) Love Hard (C+)

116.(new) Antlers (C+)

115.(99) Passing (C+)

114.(106) The Protege (B-)

113.(105) We Broke Up (B-)

112.(104) Breaking News in Yuba County (B-)

111.(103) Our Friend (B-)

110.(102) Fatherhood (B-)

109.(101) The Ice Road (B-)

108.(100) No Sudden Move (B-)

107.(98) Shadow in the Cloud (B-)

106.(97) The Map of Tiny Perfect Things (B-)

105.(96) Ghostbusters: Afterlife (B-) 

104.(93) The Nowhere Inn (B-)

103.(95) 8-Bit Christmas (B-)

102.(94) In the Heights (B-)

101.(new) The Tender Bar (B-)

100.(new) Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City (B-)

99.(92) Cry Macho (B-)

98.(91)Ride the Eagle (B-)

97.(90) Vacation Friends (B-)

96.(89) The French Dispatch (B-)

95.(88) Jungle Cruise (B-)

94.(new) Encanto (B-)

93.(87) The Unforgiveable (B-)

92.(86) West Side Story (B-)

91.(85) Night Teeth (B-)

90.(84) Till Death (B-)

89.(new) Joe Bell (B-)

88.(83) Spiral: From the Book of Saw (B-)

87.(82) Pig (B-)

86.(81) Candyman (B-)

85.(80) Outside the Wire (B-)

84.(79) The Mauritanian (B-)

83.(78) Stillwater (B-)

82.(77) House of Gucci (B-)

81.(69) Black Widow (B-)

80.(76) The Eyes of Tammy Faye (B-)

79.(75) Old (B-)

78.(new) Parallel Mothers (B-)

77.(74) Without Remorse (B)

76.(73) The Little Things (B)

75.(72) Boss Level (B)

74.(71) Boogie (B)

73.(70) The White Tiger (B)

72.(68) Army of Thieves (B)

71.(67) Snake Eyes (B)

70.(66) Copshop (B)

69.(65) Reminiscence (B)

68.(64) The King's Man (B)

67.(new) The Voyeurs (B)

66.(new) Flee (B)

65.(63) Mandibles (B)

64.(62) Ron's Gone Wrong (B)

63.(61) Nine Days (B)

62.(60) Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard (B)

61.(59) Don't Breathe 2 (B)

60.(58) Saint Maud (B)

59.(57) The Woman in the Window (B)

58.(56) Oxygen (B)

57.(55) Escape Room: Tournament of Champions (B)

56.(54) Free Guy (B)

55.(53) Halloween Kills (B)

54.(52) Venom: Let There Be Carnage (B)

53.(51) Titane (B)

52.(50) Cruella (B)

51.(49) Mortal Kombat (B)

50.(48) Space Jam: A New Legacy (B)

49.(47) Zack Snyder's Justice League (B)

48.(46) Some Kind of Heaven (B)

47.(45) Those Who Wish Me Dead (B)

46.(44) Spider-Man: No Way Home (B)

45.(43) Together Together (B)

44.(42) Luca (B)

43.(41) The Mitchells vs. the Machines (B+)

42.(40) Gunpowder Milkshake (B+)

41.(39) Spencer (B+)

40.(38) The Forever Purge (B+)

39.(37) Kate (B+)

38.(36) C'mon C'mon (B+)

37.(35) Concrete Cowboy (B+)

36.(34) Plan B (B+)

35.(33) F9 (B+)

34.(32) I Care a Lot (B+)

33.(31) Army of the Dead (B+)

32.(25) Being the Ricardos (B+)

31.(30) Dune (B+)

30.(28) The Guilty (B+)

29.(26) Summer of Soul (B+)

28.(29) Last Night in Soho (B+)

27.(new) Mass (B+)

26.(27) Zola (B+)

25.(24) Don't Look Up (B+)

24.(23) Eternals (B+)

23.(22) Licorice Pizza (B+)

22.(new) Small Engine Repair (B+)

21.(21) The Power of the Dog (B+)

20.(20) Riders of Justice (B+)

19.(18) Wrath of Man (B+)

18.(17) The Matrix Resurrections (B+)

17.(16) The Night House (B+)

16.(19) Malignant (B+)

15.(15) No Time to Die (B+)

14.(14) Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar (B+)

13.(13) The Last Duel (B+)

12.(12) A Quiet Place Part II (B+)

11.(11) Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (A-)

10.(10) Malcolm & Marie (A-)

9.(9) Red Rocket (A-)

8.(8) King Richard (A-)

7.(7) Shiva Baby (A-)

6.(6) Godzilla vs. Kong (A-)

5.(5) The Harder They Fall (A-)

4.(4) Nobody (A-)

3.(3) Bad Trip (A)

2.(2) The Suicide Squad (A)

1.(1) Judas and the Black Messiah (A)