The Top 10 Films of 2021
Creating this year’s Top 10 was not an easy task for me. More so than any other year I have felt a shift in my own observation of film.
What helped me to finally put these 10 films (and a few honorable mentions) together was the desire for them to be seen.
The theatrical experience - moviegoing itself has changed. I won’t say changed forever but it is certainly not the same. I hope that, if you are reading this, you will consider these films, which I consider to be the absolute best of 2021.
West Side Story
Steven Spielberg has crafted a masterpiece of a movie musical with the new “West Side Story.” Screenwriter Tony Kushner, using source material from the original Broadway musical, the 1961 film adaptation and Shakespeare’s “Romeo & Juliet,” has written a film that catapults this story into the present day while keeping the core of its predecessors - a story of ill fated star crossed lovers attempting to overcome racism, classism and internal conflicts in order to love.
There is a scene where Riff, played by the fantastic Mike Faist, buys a gun for the rumble where you can feel the Shakespearean influence in a way like never before. Even our leads, Tony and Maria, make more sense in this film. Tony gets a much needed backstory. Maria’s frustration with her brother Bernardo is more fleshed out. And they even get a date.
Sitting on the subway, they have an added scene that is so well and delicately written that we can see the cracks in their love at first sight. They begin discussing what to do about the rumble, that their friends seem destined to fight and possibly kill each other when it becomes quickly obvious that they barely even know each other. Of course, they both come around to the same plan to stop the rumble, but we all know that it won’t be enough.
The addition of Rita Moreno’s Valentina, the late wife of Doc, is wonderful. When she sings “Somewhere” it is a show stopping moment that is much more than the fact that Moreno won an Oscar for the original film. In this film it is a haunting tune of what could have been.
More than likely following in Moreno’s Oscar footsteps, Ariana DeBose as Anita is so incredibly alive. When I close my eyes I can still see and feel her pain at the morgue, another added moment in the film. The entire cast is remarkable in every perfect frame of the best film of the year.
2. Licorice Pizza
Paul Thomas Anderson has made his way to my Top 10 list many times. Set in a Los Angeles that could only truly exist in the mind of an adolescent teen, we get to see Alana Kane (Alana Haim) and Gary Valentine (Cooper Hoffman) play cat and mouse through an array of characters from Bradley Cooper’s Jon Peters to Sean Penn’s Jack Holden. Watching Alana Haim’s truck driving scene alone is a delight and certainly one of the most entertaining scenes in any film from last year. Anderson and co-cinematographer Michael Bauman film these characters with so much love and delight that you can’t help but smile, even days after the credits have rolled.
3. Nightmare Alley
Guillermo del Toro has directed a truly beautiful film with “Nightmare Alley.” It’s simple and yet also layered with themes of hope, redemption and fate. I couldn’t help but compare Bradley Cooper’s Stanton Carlisle to The Godfather’s Michael Corleone. You want to root for him, but you fully can’t because in the end, his choices speak for themselves. There is a heightened tone del Toro has set along with co screenwriter Kim Morgan, and the cast (especially Cate Blanchett) chews the perfect amount of stunning scenery to make it work. The end, though destined, somehow still manages to shock. That’s noir!
4. The Power of the Dog
I can count on one hand the number of times a film has made me so unnerved that I wanted to leave. “The Power of the Dog,” Jane Campion’s haunting new film is one of those. I know that might not sound like a good thing, but in this case, it is. In the film, “a domineering rancher (Benedict Cumberbatch) responds with mocking cruelty when his brother (Jesse Plemons) brings home a new wife (Kirsten Dunst) and her son (Kodi Smit-McPhee), until the unexpected comes to pass.” As the film moves along, the uncomfortability shifts into a desperate need to know what is going to happen to these characters. I won’t spoil that here, but if you have not seen this film, you must! In the final scenes, all of the seeds Campion has planted fall into perfect sense - a final product that will most likely win her the Directing Oscar.
5. Dune
Despite the fact that David Lynch is my favorite director, I never saw his version of “Dune.” I’ve never read the book, and going into the 2021 film, knew almost nothing about it. I started watching it on HBO Max and decided within 10 minutes that I had to see it on the big screen. I’m glad that I did. Denis Villeneuve directs the heck out of this film. In some ways “Dune” is yet another coming of age story for Timothee Chalamet who plays Paul Atreides, a young man destined to protect - his family, Arrakis, spice! It is full of adventure and style. One of the best action films I have seen in years -perhaps since “Mad Max” which topped this list several years ago. Greatly looking forward to the sequel.
6. The Hand of God
In 1980s Naples, Italy, an awkward Italian teen struggling to find his place experiences heartbreak and liberation after he's inadvertently saved from a freak accident by football legend Diego Maradona.
Paolo Sorrentino has not only directed one of the most beautiful films of the year, with Cinematographer Daria D'Antonio, but also one of the most entertaining. I found myself completely riveted by the cast of characters Sorrentino created, who are somewhat based on his own life. Actor Filippo Scotti, who takes on the part of fictional Sorrentino, is remarkable.
7. Spencer
Heading into Pablo Larraín’s psychological drama “Spencer,” it might be best to understand that you are witnessing a fantasy based somewhat in the reality of the events that take place over a fateful Christmas holiday in the life of Princess Diana. Those of us familiar with “Jackie” were prepared. I can not only still see the visuals created by costume designer Jacqueline Durran and cinematographer Claire Mathon, but I can feel them.
All that being said, the absolute heart and soul of this film belongs to Kristen Stewart. In the opening scene she shows us her Diana, unforgivingly original and yet true to the woman we all perhaps think we know. This performance is the best of the year.
8. CODA
Films like “Coda” are actually rare these days. An uplifting and inspiring family drama, full of heart and comedy. On the surface one might call this film formulaic. And although the film lands where we might expect it to land, the journey is delightful. Ruby, the only hearing member of an all deaf family joins the school choir to discover along with her teacher that she has real talent. But can she possibly leave her family to pursue her dreams? Simple story, yes, but told in such an honest way that it stands out amongst this years films as something truly special. The entire cast is stellar. Especially Marlee Matlin and Oscar nominee Troy Kotsur.
9. Passing
"Passing" follows the unexpected reunion of two high school friends, whose renewed acquaintance ignites a mutual obsession that threatens both of their carefully constructed realities.”
Rebecca Hall, an already accomplished actor, in her directorial debut has made one of the most subtle, beautiful and heartbreaking films of the year. And she doesn’t do it alone. The cinematography by Eduard Grau is among the best of the year. And Tessa Thompson and Ruth Negga deliver award worthy performances that seem to have been a bit too subtle for some voting members (AKA: the Academy).
10. Dramarama
I have watched many queer films over the years, but Dramarama, written and directed by Jonathan Wysocki managed to speak to me in a way few lgbtq films have since the very time the film was set! It’s 1994 and a group of high school theatre kids prepare to part various ways, but before doing so they spend an eventful slumber party evening grappling with secrets, religion, and of course - drama! Everyone is so wonderful in the film. Nick Pugliese, Nico Greetham, Danielle Kay…I could go on and on. My hope is that if you haven’t seen the film, you will do so. It will always hold a special place in my heart.