Till Death

So, if you have worked your way through my list of the best films of 2021 and are still looking for something to watch OR you just want to turn off your brain and have some fun, "Till Death" is the thrilling ride you need to jump on and strap in for. It's not quite as good as "Don't Breathe" or "Run" but it's pretty darn good. What's it about? I'm not telling you! It's ridiculous and a highly implausible story but if you are willing to buy the premise, then this elaborate revenge story of an extremely jealous husband will have you glued to your seat. I measure thrillers by my Hitchcock yard stick and Till Death stands pretty tall on that scale. It stars ugly old Megan Fox, as described by nobody, never. She is willing to get dirty and bloody for this role and she does a great job of it. If you are thinking of renewing your wedding vows, catch Till Death streaming on Amazon.    

Swan Song

 

I will have to update my list of best films of 2021 with this one. Swan Song stars Mahershala Ali as Cameron in a not so distant future where friendly robots offer you candy bars and oat milk coffees on light rail transit It's a future where there is lots of automation and things look great (looks like the pandemic is over too! Hooray!) but sadly they don't seem to have been able to cure cancer or whatever malady Cameron has (seems like an inoperable brain cancer if I were a guessing movie doctor). Anyway, in this future they can make an exact clone of you and transfer all your memories to it so you can have a perfect doppelganger to replace you in your life when you die and your family won't be any the wiser - if you want to. Yes it sounds ridiculous but if you are willing to buy the premise, then what we have here is more than just a philosophic thought experiment (and it's a good one) thanks to smart script and a knock out emotional performance by Ali. He elevates the material to something that is believable and truly affecting. I must say I teared up at this one. He is nominated for a Golden Globe and he deserves it for sure. And the movie doesn't go dumb at the end where it could have easily gone. Catch this smart Sci-fi drama streaming on Apple+.

Best Films of 2021

 I didn't bother make a list last year. There wasn't much to write about. These are my favourite films of 2021. I haven't seen everything so it's more than likely I've missed some great films. Everything here, I've written about on my blog. That's the whole point of the blog, stuff I recommend. This would be a tidy summary (in no real order):

1. The Last Duel 

2. Pig

3. Titane

4. No Time to Die

5. The Rescue

6. The Power of the Dog

7. The Card Counter

8. King Richard

9. C'mon C'mon

10. Summer of Soul

11. A Quiet Place II

12. Army of the Dead

13. Boiling Point

14. Spencer

15. Don't Look Up

16. Nowhere Special

17. Mandibules

18. Raging Fire

19. The Green Knight

20. Malignant

21. The Alpinist

22. Old Henry

23. VAL

24. The Feast

25. The Novice

26. I Care a Lot

27. The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It

28. Red Rocket

29. Coming Home in the Dark

30. Swan Song

Honourable mentions:  Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time, CODA, The Lost Daughter, The French Dispatch, Stillwater, Bestsellers, I'm Your Man

Guilty Pleasures:  Prisoners of the Ghostland, Resident Evil: Welcome to Racoon City, Zola, Benedetta, Antlers, Old, Night Teeth, Last Night in Soho 

The Year's biggest disappointments/stinkers: The Matrix Resurrections, Dune, The Beatles Get Back, Jungle Cruise, Candyman, The Electric Life of Louis Wain, The Guilty, Finch, Tick, Tick . . . Boom!, Reminiscence, Cry Macho

Red Rocket

 If you have enjoyed films like The Florida Project, American Honey, or Honey Boy, then you are going love Red Rocket. What's it all about? Mikey has returned home to his ex-wife's Texas home (although they are still technically married) broke and bruised and looking desperately for a place to crash. Mikey sweet-talks his way back inside, after all, Mikey is a charmer. He has spent the last decade or so working as an adult film star out in California. That's correct, a male porn star, out of work and out of money. He resumes his former Texas hustle of selling weed out of the local doughnut shop where he meets seventeen year old, Strawberry working behind the counter. Mikey sets his charm-o-metre to high and goes about courting this young lady into not only being his girlfriend, but his cream-filled, chocolate glazed opportunity to get back into porn. Mickey is played by Simon Rex and he has given us a truly balls-out performance. Everyone in the cast is fantastic. This white trash fairly tale is a banger. Catch it on streaming services. 

Spencer

 This is a portrait of pain. Kirsten Stewart has delivered us a heart wrenching performance as Lady Di, a woman tormented by her status, her marriage, and the overbearing staff of her mother-in-law. Diana is portrayed as someone who would like to jump out of her own skin and run away. Stewart does a remarkable job not only imitating Diana's walk and talk, but the way she tilts her head, she conveys a sense of dread, like she was recoiling from the world, a cornered animal behind the lacy veil of a fancy ornamental hat. Stewart grimaces like her pearls were actually strangling her, like they were a shock collar tightly affixed to a bad dog. She tries, as best she can, to shield her children from the royal world of ridiculous traditions and cruelty but we know how the story ends. It's a gorgeous film, cold, cruel. Stewart is deserving of her Globe nomination and I hope she wins. Catch it on streaming services. 

Don't Look Up

 Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence play scientists who have discovered a giant comet hurtling towards earth; a comet which will wipe out the entire planet. Meryl Streep plays the president of the United States as a kind of blonde Sarah Palin type figure. Jonah Hill plays her son. When this information is brought to the president, no action is taken until the comet plays well with voters. They hatch a plan to send Ron Perlman into space to destroy the comet like Bruce Willis in Armageddon. At the last moment the mission is aborted because it is discovered the comet contains valuable minerals used in the production of cell phones. A Jeff Bezos character (Mark Rylance) hatches a new plan to break the comet up into little pieces and let it hit the earth. It’s a crazy but believable story which makes it incredibly funny and incredibly sad at the same time. The film could be taken as an analogy for either Covid or the climate crisis. It is an astute observation of this social media world in which we live and it's one of the smartest films you will see this year. It's also one of the funniest. Catch Don't Look Up on Netflix. 

The Novice

The Novice is a portrait of obsession, grit, and raw determination. Isabelle Fuhrman plays Alex, a freshman who joins the rowing team in her junior year at university. Nothing will stop her becoming the best rower on the team. Through, blood, sweat, and tears, Alex pushes herself to new limits. Isabelle Fuhrman has given us one of the most brilliant and powerful performances of 2021. Already overlooked by the Golden Globes - Oscars, get your head out of your golden ass and pay attention. Isabelle Fuhrman is a powerhouse. The Novice is the feature directorial debut from Lauren Hadaway; she has given us a stunningly good looking film. It's beautiful like a boat of rowers in perfect unison; this movie glides gorgeously along. And it subverts expectations - there are a few twists I didn't see coming. Catch a ride with The Novice on streaming services.