In case you don't know my criteria, any movie that I have seen for the first time in 2021 is in the running. If you haven't already, you should also read my best of regarding games and television.
I don't got much to say other than that, and I got a lot to cover. Like I said, I watched a lot of fantastic movies. In fact, I came across so many, I am going to have to make this a Top 11. With that in mind...
#11: Running Shine | LoZ: OoT Review
I was originally going to put Oldboy as the eleventh entry until I saw this video essay on YouTube while enduring an arduous airport layover. And immediately, you might be wondering why I would recognize a two hour video game review over a movie that some have considered as one of the most important films in the 21st Century so far. The answer is easy. I watched this review several times over the course of only a few weeks. Any visual medium that rewatchable must be something special.
It's rewatchable because Running Shine has this utterly striking sense of humor and way of conveying information. Despite his jokes and research shown being pretty commonplace if you are in the know. I mean, his humor is very Mr. Plinkett, and most of the information he shows can seen in practically any gaming YouTube channel. There is clear statement of difference in how Running Shine presents himself. His word choice, delivery, and overall intelligence all create this impeccable and refreshing experience through whatever game he decides to review.
I also love that he has incredible confidence in his opinion on games. There is a genuine problem where a lot of opinions in the gaming YouTube space are all about the hot takes or innovative observations. Running Shine completely avoids that problem, and his opinions feel incredibly authentic. It doesn't matter if the opinion aligns with the consensus or is even interesting. He just presents it, and you enjoy it because he colors it with his wit and writing style.
Running Shine is easily among my favorite game reviewers, right up there with Dunkey, Nerrel, Matthewmatosis, and SuperBunnyHop. While all of his reviews are masterful, I will have to give his recent review of Ocarina of Time as his best. I cannot wait for his next review. Until then, I will just watch his reviews several more times.
Oh and honorable mention to Oldboy. Sorry you got snubbed by a Youtuber.
#10: Wet Hot American Summer
This movie is a perfect fever dream. All the characters are all 'off' yet it doesn't take away from their likability. It is strange that these characters are more relatable and endearing than movies that take themselves more seriously.
The casting rocks. The comedy is incessantly stupid in a Zucker Brothers kind of way. It has been a very long time since a comedic movie has made me laugh this hard.
This is one of my new favorite comedies. This movie may not be for everyone. And if you come across someone in your life that hates WHAS, then they probably aren't cool enough to hang out with. You are better off being with other people.
#9: Spencer
A lot of people think of comic book films as lower class because they are committee thinking driven drivel half the time, so they go see an artsy biopic with a pull quote saying it was nominated by an Oscar. They'll watch it and pretend they weren't just advertised to. They will treat any garbage as a masterpiece as long as there is one good performance or the cinematography caught a few good angles. Artsy films are commercialized too. The term Oscar bait exists for a reason, and biopics can be just as soulless, uninteresting, and pointless as your typical Wonder Woman 1984 or Thor 2.
Very few biopics will ever resonant with me. At best they are emotionally impactful and then they disappear from my memory forever.
It's like getting a few pumps from a sexual partner before they fall asleep. At least I think that's what it would feel like. I don't know. I never had sex before.
Spencer, however, is none of that.
For once, a biopic is more than just portraying a neat person on Wikipedia. It's a film with actual narrative importance beyond the surface level.
It reminds me of Citizen Kane or Lawrence of Arabia where the real life human being is used as a vessel to explore a vast amount of themes. Here, we get to see the mental deterioration when faced with a pure lack of agency. We get to see the vapidness of following tradition. We get all of this with Kristen Stewart as our guide giving an excellent performance.
Is Spencer as good as Citizen Kane or Lawrence of Arabia? Not really. However, this film is the definitive example of what a biopic should be: striking, resonant, and doesn't freaking cum after two minutes!
#8: Hereditary
Hereditary is different. Unlike a slasher or the subdue psychological horrors in the past, Hereditary takes the horror and relates it to you on a personal level. Yeah, it is safe to believe that demons, cosmic entities, or deranged supernatural serial killers aren't a genuine threat in everyday life. What is a genuine threat, however, is trauma, spontaneous tragedy, and feeling isolated despite being in the company of good people, and that's the horror in Hereditary.
It has slow bits, and you don't really know what the film is trying to do until you're about 80% into the film leaving you mostly confused than scared in certain sequences. But other than that, Hereditary is quite absorbing. I love a film that you can't read or predict. It puts you in a position where you are just as lost and unaware of its direction as the characters are. No preconceived expectations on horror tropes or how a typical movie script is made will save you from Hereditary. You are in a rollercoaster in the dark. And if you can appreciate that kind of experience, then Hereditary stands as one of the most unique horror movies of the 2010s.
#7: Dune (2021): Part One
I might change my mind later on, but this is my favorite film of his so far.
This film is certainly not for everyone. It is definitely a cliff notes movie like Godfather or Ghost in a Shell where you need to have a wiki pulled up alongside it to understand what is going on. It's a tad slow and very dense in trying to adapt the source material. It's not the type of movie that I would love, but it grabbed me anyway.
There is a meditative quality to this film where it smoothly and quietly goes from one set piece to another. This movie was two and a half hours, and I didn't feel it at all. I love when a movie does that.
The action also has the Blade Runner 2049 quality where the action is slow paced which gives the movement and pacing a weird sense of hypnotism. It feels like a refuge to the deluge of mind numbing action popularized by the Transformers movies. When you watch a Villeneuve action scene, you pay attention to every frame.
Maybe the Lynch version lowered my expectations, but I was really impressed with this one. It certainly made me fall in love with the world of Dune which I can’t say about the aforementioned. I can't wait for part 2.
#6: Hackers
Hackers is corny, cringy, and sometimes upsetting, but I love it anyway. There is something about this film that captured my attention. It's a teenage boy fantasy personified. Even though this is my first time seeing this movie, I felt so much nostalgia. This movie does such a good job at conveying that feeling of an innocent boy who just wants to be cool and badass. It captures the wish fulfillment of wanting to be a techno genius hacker. And if that is not your cup of tea, then you can be greatly amused at the hilariously dated 90s aesthetics or the fact they casted 20 year old's as high school students. It works on both levels.
The film works on another level of being a solid fantasy film....Hear me out...
Obviously, its portrayal of hacking is extremely inaccurate. However, when you start to look at hacking like the Force or magic, then the film becomes a little more entertaining. It basically turns into science fantasy like Star Wars or the Marvel movies. It makes you appreciate some of the writing of the film. Obvious flaws aside, the film is structured pretty well and paced in a way where it doesn't meander like others in the genre. You can say a lot of negative things about Hackers, but I doubt you can call it boring.
Hackers kind of rocks. It has been officially two months since I have seen this movie, and I haven't stopped thinking about it. I imagine it will continue to be in the back of my mind for the rest of my life. I would call this film a guilty pleasure, but I feel no guilt whatsoever. I will kill a man over Hackers.
#5: Encanto
Encanto, on the other hand, simply grabbed me, hook, line, and sinker. God, it is nice to see a Disney movie that has personality and depth. That isn't trying to insecurely pander to Hispanics through chancla and tamale jokes. To me, this is what Coco should have been. A Hispanic movie that simply let's Hispanics be awesome and gorgeous. It's empowering when a culture is allowed to just exist that isn't there for a corporation to score a few woke points. Well ok, Disney is still trying to score woke points, but it doesn't do it the detriment to the quality of the film.
The plot is painfully predictable, but that's fine. It isn't trying to be subversive or some metanarrative of Disney films. It is just trying to be fun, and it is really good at doing that. The music is some of the best I've seen from Disney, and the pace of the animation is great. There are very few modern Disney movies that struck me as well as this one. For that, it had to be on the list.
#4: One Night in Miami
One Night in Miami is a American drama film about the meeting of four notable civil rights figures during a night in Miami. Since there is no record of what was actually discussed that night, the actual events are a fictional take. For all we know Malcolm X and Sam Cooke could have been arguing about the best Twilight Zone episode.
That said, what Kemp Powers decides to discuss using these four famous figures is far more engaging than talking about the best Twilight Zone episode. Because really, we all know A Game of Pool is objectively the best episode. If that was all that was discussed, the movie would be like twenty minutes. It was the right idea to focus on the uncertain role of the African American in Civil Rights era America instead.
I always wanted a biopic that focused on the sometimes conflicting priorities of civil rights figures at the time, and this is that movie. The conflict between Sam Cooke want for economic independency vs. Malcolm X's passionate vision of America. The collateral additions of Mohammed Ali and Jim Brown that color in other views at the time. This movie nails exactly what I wanted with a premise like this.
This movie is basically dialogue porn. The writing is so good and artful. It's the kind of writing that will never be said in actual human conversations, but it doesn't matter. The writing is too poetic and leaves that nice vibration in your ear when you hear it.
This will go down as one of my favorite biopics. And considering biopics rarely go above the level of good, it is truly nice to get something as great as One Night in Miami.
#3: Pig
Pig is deep and emotional. And unlike some arthouse films, it doesn't do that with sacrificing good pacing or overusing abstractness. Nicholas Cage gives his performance he likes to give every three to five years where he reminds us that he is still a great actor. The premise, while seemingly silly, takes you in a direction that's truly unexpected. It quickly turns from a film where you expect is a traditional revenge film to a film that's more introspective.
It's frustrating to talk about this movie because it's basically an effortless movie with very little to complain about. Everything works. Alex Wolff, who also stars in Hereditary, is excellent. The themes, while simple, are effectively told because the premise that frames it are striking and memorable.
Pig is truly excellent. It's so excellent that I feel weird for putting the next two movies above this one.
#2: Cold Lasagne Hate Myself 1999
It's rare for a comedy special to be really...well special. Unless you are Dave Chappelle or Bill Burr, I am likely only going to give either a middling or underwhelmed response from me, so you can bet my happy surprise when I started James Acaster specials.
I have been a fan of Acaster for a while with his appearances of shows like Taskmaster and the many British panel shows that litter the European airwaves. It wasn't until this year that I would watch his specials. I started with Repertoire and was easily impressed by the surrealness and quirkiness of his presence. It was like Norm Macdonald except Acaster also supplied a more progressive side that was willing to satirize the government and politically conservative forces. You can say this took his comedy from good to fantastic, and I had to get more. I was so desperate that I was willing to shelve the fifteen dollars for his new special which is unthinkable in a world where you can most watch most comedy specials for free via streaming. I suppose that is a telling sign that this special wasn't going to be like the usual comedy special.
Cold Lasagne builds on top of Repertoire. It's more quirky. It's more surreal. And more importantly, it was more satirical. It was refreshing to see a social justice perspective on satire as most comedians that I watch tend to push back against that things like "cancel culture" and "SJWs." Acaster manages to rebut these comedians and not just be funny but be fucking hilarious. It was the first time where my comedy heroes like Chappelle and Burr have a run for their money.
I could end it here and that would more than justify why this special deserves to be on here, yet Acaster builds it even more. On top of even that, Acaster explores other topics providing easily the best comedic rumination on mental health, relationships, and how they relate to one another.
I can see Cold Lasagne being at least one of my favorites if not the favorite. It should join the likes of Live on the Sunset Strip, Weapons of Self-Destruction, and Killin' Them Softly as one of the best specials in the history of comedy. And if Acaster doesn't develop an American following to equate that, then I will riot!
Honorable Mention: Lupin III: The First
I was a little upset that I couldn't put Lupin III on my best of list since I thought it would make a funny gag for these Top Tens to feature a Lupin III movie every year. Nevertheless, I still want to talk about it, because Lupin III: The First rocks.
Remember Tin Tin? Remember how great that film looked? Well this movie is Tin Tin times eleven.
Anime and CGI has had a tumultuous relationship. Anime for a while has had a tough time using a technology that has been perfected by Pixar in the early 2000s. In other words, CGI anime was meh at best and Berserk 2016 at worst. And in my experience, I haven't personally found a CGI anime that hit the level of Pixar or other amazing Western animated works until now.
Lupin III: The First to put it simply is the "first" film to convince me that not only CGI can work in anime but it can work wonderfully. Like Tin Tin, the most amazing thing about Lupin III is how they were able to adapt the flexibility and energy of the 2D counterparts. Even though I became a Lupin III fan as recently as last year, there is a level of nostalgia when watching Lupin in action in a 3D space.
The movie itself is fine hence why it didn't quite reach the best of list, but it is a treat seeing all these characters rendered beautifully in CGI especially Fujiko....( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)....
Honorable Mention: The Assistant
The truth was that I was going to see the Assistant during that time but got really squeamish due to the content of the film. It took months later to finally find the bravery to watch it.
If there is a type of horror that scares me the most, it would definitely be the kind I like to call "social horror." The kind where the scariest thing that happens is a guy catching his wife cheating on him or someone on the verge of losing their job. It's seen everywhere from Sideways to the U.K Office.
The Assistant is the pinnacle of this type of horror.
What makes the Assistant upsetting is how mundane the presentation of the entire movie is. There is no gravitas. You can say the movie is purposefully boring. But because everything is so starch, it makes the content less gratuitous and more effective.
This movie is more than a movie about #MeToo. It is a movie that shows a system where people are either powerless or complacent to the numerous abuses around them. If you wondered why it took so long for something like #MeToo to happen, then this movie should shed some light on it. The movie also manages to portray the monotony and psychology torment of an entry level job which gives an added layer of fear and relatability to the main character.
The Assistant is heart wrenching. If you haven't seen it already, then you most definitely should.
#1: Knives Out
And besides, if Last Jedi was truly the worst Star Wars movie ever made and Rian Johnson burned down hospitals in his spare time, he would be easily vindicated by Knives Out.
I watched this movie early in the year, and Knives Out managed to hold the top spot for me despite an entire year of competition trying to take its place.
I feel it holds the top spot because it truly struck me specifically in what I want in a film and amazingly in my immediate life as well. The rest of this entry will contain spoilers. Please watch Knives Out if you haven't. It gets my full recommendation.
The film is a murder mystery that centers mainly around a Latina nurse who accidently kills a wealthy novelist when trying to administer his medication. She tries to avoid getting caught due to her mother being an undocumented immigrant. Unfortunately, this gets complicated as the sole benefactor to the wealth and inheritance is none other than the nurse herself. Cue the wrath of entitled family members who just so happen to be white with some having problematic views on politics relating to minorities.
All of this was surprisingly more interesting than the mystery itself. I love murder mysteries more than you can possibly imagine, but that layer hit me at my core more than any other. This year was a year full of selfish people. People that refuse to get vaccinated. Government leaders who rather score intangible political points in the face of risking the safety and lives of the same people that vote for them. It's the year where a story about a daughter of an immigrant overcoming manipulative and entitled people representing that zeitgeist proved more cathartic than it ever has been.
I feel an insecurity putting this film at the top. I feel there is a weakness putting catharsis over something nuance and complicated. I would love to put something like the Green Knight on the top of this list, but I would be ignoring the basic truth that Knives Out was the most fulfilling movie experience I had this year. Sure, Knives Out is pretty straightforward. Other than it being a nice throwback to the murder mystery genre and its commentary on an aspect of racism, there isn't anything particularly groundbreaking about Knives Out. However, it is well acted, the cinematography is sublime, and the set design is wonderful. I am very excited for Rian Johnson especially for how he continues the series in Knives Out 2. If Knives Out 2 is as nearly as good as this one, then I'd expect a return of this series back on this list.
Actual #1: Sound of Metal
The thing that sets this movie among all the others I've seen this year is the fact that Sound of Metal takes you on an emotional journey I've never quite experienced before. Sure, there have been films about being deaf or becoming deaf. There have been films about struggling with disabilities. However, I never seen a film that commits to that concept as well as this one.
This film really captures the little things about struggling with a forced life change. It reminded me of Three Colours: Blue where you see all the little emotions on the main character's face. Losing your hearing affects more than your career. It affects how you enjoy the wind. It affects how you perceive almost every facet in life.
The acting rocks. It was nice to see Olivia Cooke from Me Earl and the Dying Girl. It was nice to have a film that feels so deliberate in its choices while presenting itself in a way that feels perfectly effortless.
This is my new movie that I will recommend to everyone. It's as close to perfect as I want in a movie. Easily my favorite movie I've seen in 2021. 2022 is going to have a tough time topping this one.
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