Thursday, December 30, 2021

THE BEST OF 2021 - The Best MOVIES Of The Year

 
THE YEAR IN MOVIES - 2021

- While the state of the movies is very uncertain (as is the state of the world, come to think of it!), I can say one thing about 2021: after over a year without seeing a movie in a movie theater due to the raging pandemic, going back to the movies this past Spring was, truly, amazing. My first movie back, post-vax, was In The Heights. Seeing it on the big screen, in the ol' Burbank AMC 16's first-rate Dolby theater, was an experience I won't soon forget. The colors, the sound, the immersiveness and *bigness* of it all gave me chills. Because, man, as much as I'd made the best of a year of movies at home - for me, a passionate theater-goer, it just wasn't the same. So I was eternally grateful to go back to the movies in 2021. And as each new at-the-movies milestone rolled around - my first big action movie (F9!), my first new Marvel movie (Black Widow!) ... my residual nervousness of being in any sort of crowded indoor space was, mostly, offset by the feeling of sheer relief that, once again, I could go to my happy place.

Of course, that relief was somewhat fleeting. For one thing, a lot of my favorite LA-area theaters didn't survive the pandemic - notably the iconic Arclight Hollywood. Since moving to LA in 2005, I've had countless memorable movie-going experiences there. Avengers: Infinity War opening night, Q&A's with filmmakers, landmark movies seen for the first time with great crowds who loved film as much as I did. While some Arclight locations eventually re-opened under different corporate banners, we're all still waiting for news about the Hollywood location (and its historic Cinerama Dome) and crossing our fingers that it returns in some way, shape, or form.

For another thing, a lot of movie theaters failed to adapt as things evolved with the pandemic. When I went back that first time to see In the Heights, there was social distancing in place. Soon enough, social distancing was gone and it was back to business as usual. Later, some theaters thankfully began requiring proof-of-vax for admission, but others - like my local theaters here in Burbank, did not. The reason is that the City of LA is requiring this for theaters, whereas LA County - which includes surrounding areas like Burbank and Glendale - does not. I'm sure there are similar discrepancies across the country, and it's kind of ridiculous. Here's hoping that, as long as this pandemic is ongoing, more local governments get with it and require proof-of-vax for theaters, indoor restaurant dining, etc. And ... it's not just that. Pre-pandemic, theatergoing could be marred by inconsiderate people talking, checking their phones, etc. Now, post-pandemic, we have to worry about people not properly wearing their masks or, worse, deciding that they absolutely must scarf down a bucketful of popcorn even in the middle of an airborne pandemic. Why, people - why?! To adapt, my moviegoing has become much more strategic in the backend of this year - sticking to theaters requiring proof of vax, searching for emptier theaters, and going at off-peak times when possible. Not ideal, but worth it, to me, to see movies on the big screen.

Now, all of that said ... people, we've got a lot to talk about when it comes to movies. For one, we're seeing a total paradigm shift in who goes to movies and when and how often. The success of Spider-Man: No Way Home at the box office over the last few weeks has raised a lot of questions, and led some to be more optimistic about the future of movies and movie theaters. But was this one an anomaly - a lighting-in-a-bottle convergence of buzz and hype and fandom and multiple multiversal Spider-Men and people wanting to get to the movies at least one more time before new variants made the pandemic worse? And even in the face of Spider-Man's success, is the writing still on the wall for any smaller, non-event films of the low or mid-budget variety? Or, is it more so just that studios - desperate to attract big name talent, have let big name directors have carte blanche with their projects, even if those projects (say, remakes of sixty-year-old musicals) are not exactly hyper-commercial? The fact is, there's A LOT happening now, and it's still a total wild west in terms of where the movie business is at and where it's going. There's no question: streaming has changed everything. And once again, some of the year's best movies were Netflix or Amazon or even Apple originals. And even if many of those films received limited theatrical releases, people's behavior has changed irrevocably, and many are just perfectly fine watching films on their TV at home via streaming services they're already subscribed to - thank you very much. The problem, of course, is that this leads to more passive viewing selection vs. proactively seeking out the best stuff. It also hurts the overall movie-watching experience - because while many may not want to admit it, most can't go for a few hours anymore without multitasking on their phones. This is why the theater, in my view, is so vitally important to preserve. Putting screen size aside, movies are best enjoyed and appreciated with one's full attention given - with as few distractions as possible. The greater the immersion, the better. That's why I love seeing even smaller indie movies in a theater. For me, it's just a different, better experience.

So how do we save theaters? That's a question slightly above my pay grade. But I think lower ticket prices, more safety measures during the pandemic (requirement of vax!), promotional partnerships with streaming services, more premium viewing experiences, and more "eventizing" of movies (even smaller ones!) can go a long way. Here in LA, Licorice Pizza was released early in just one theater in Westwood. But seeing the film became a real event - the marquee was done up with 70's-style flare (matching the movie's setting), and a pop-up pinball arcade was opened adjacent to the theater. It was a real scene, and was super cool. And people went in droves to see the movie. More stuff like this!

Now, all of that said, it was great to be able to watch great content at home during times when going to the theater was not a good option. Windowing is continuing to shift, and I do think that movies becoming available for early digital PVOD rental, only a few short weeks post-theatrical, is a net-positive for the business. My sense is that a lot of movies - especially older-skewing ones - have had a good chunk of change added to their overall revenue because of early at-home availability.

Of course, there's also a more macro question here: does the next generation of potential movie-goers even care that much about movies? In a world of shortform social media videos, gaming, etc. - does sitting still for 2 or 3 hours to watch one thing really appeal to Gen Z and younger? It will be interesting to see if many movies are able to break out in the next few years with younger generations, save for the occasional Spider-Man-sized event.

Finally - whew! - we got A LOT of movies in 2021. Remember: a number of "2020" movies didn't actually come out in 2020. And so a lot of early 2021 movie viewing, for me, was catching up on films like Nomadland, Minari, I Care a Lot, One Night in Miami, and The Father that, while eligible for this year's awards season, had only screened for a handful of critics the year prior. So you'll still see those films on my Best Of list below. Also, because of production delays and COVID concerns, a huge number of movies were back-loaded into the last couple months of the year. So we had the usual parade of Oscar hopefuls in October, November, and December - but ALSO a ton of pushed-back blockbusters like Dune, The Eternals, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, and Spider-Man: No Way Home. Thank the movie gods that Dune eventually re-released in IMAX in December, after its initial October run was cut short. This meant, too, that many a movie got lost in the shuffle. Movies already challenged by older audiences staying home also had to deal with an insanely crowded marketplace (which included not just theatrical releases, but streaming movies too). It meant that some great films like Nightmare Alley and Red Rocket perhaps didn't get the attention from fans that they deserved.

So ... it was a year of many movies, and a year of a lot of very good movies. Even great ones! Where 2020 was sparse, 2021 was overstuffed. Even with all the movies I've seen (and I've seen ... a pretty good amount!), there are still a ton of strong-word-of-mouth films I still haven't got too. I still want to check out Drive My Car, Lost Daughter, and Parallel Mothers among others. But, I can only watch so much, and so, here's my list.


DANNY'S BEST MOVIES OF 2021:


1.) Nomadland

- Seen by select critics in 2020, Nomadland released to the public early this year and, over the last 12 months, no other film has stuck with me as much. A powerful, unforgettable film, I wholeheartedly endorsed the movie's Best Picture and Best Director win at the 2021 Oscars. Chloe Zhao created a masterwork with this movie, and Frances McDormand delivers an all-time great lead performance. This is a poignant film about a broken America and the people barely getting by within the systems we've created.


2.) Licorice Pizza

- I'll confess - this was a very tough year to narrow down my favorites. And with Licorice Pizza in particular, I went back and forth ... a lot. A couple of things about the movie nagged at me. I wish that writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson had ironed out some tonal issues, in which a racist character somewhat invites us to laugh with him as opposed to at him. And yet ... I get what PTA was going for. And still ... I can't shake the feeling that this was the best new release film of 2021 - a masterful look at a moment between eras, between childhood and adulthood, between failure and success. It's funny, heartbreaking, and feels "real" in a way that few other movies in recent memory do. It's got some of the year's most laugh out loud moments (Bradley Cooper!), most amazing performances (Alana Haim!), and most memorable sequences (that backwards truck drive is one for the ages). An imperfect (but such is life, and such is art) masterpiece, and one of PTA's best films to date.


3.) Pig

- Through work, I'd been hearing about this one and anticipating it for a long while. But when I finally saw it (back in theaters, baby!), my already-high expectations were not just met, but far surpassed. Because this is that rare beast - a Weird Nicholas Cage Movie that's also a Great Nicholas Cage Movie. And when those twain do meet, it's a beautiful thing indeed. Pig has it's moments of vintage Nic Cage Cage-iness, but it's also incredibly powerful and moving and thought-provoking - a soulful meditation on love and loss that hit me as hard as any movie has hit.

4.) Spencer

- This one floored me. Much like the movie Jackie, this is historical biopic as horror story - a look at how royalty - and its glaring spotlight - trapped Princess Diana in a literal and psychological prison that she wanted nothing more than to escape from. Anchored by a seminal performance from Kristen Stewart as Diana, this one is a jaw-dropper. And it's got the best movie ending of the year to boot.


5.) Dune

- The best big-budget blockbuster of 2021, Dune gave me that chill-inducing sense of awe and wonder that only a select handful of sci-fi and fantasy epics have ever been able to provide. Directed with incredible imagination and sense of scale by Denis Villeneuve, seeing Dune in IMAX was a monumental cinematic experience. Bring on Part 2.


6.) Tick, Tick ... Boom!

- This Netflix original is, somehow, Lin-Manuel Miranda's first-ever directorial effort for film - and he absolutely knocks it out of the park. A musical tour de force about the life of Rent creator Jonathan Larson, the film brilliantly weaves together Larson's music from his one man show into a meta-story about the ingenue's life and creative struggles. Filled with memorable songs, this one's also got a career-best performance from star Andrew Garfield that's more than deserving of Oscar gold.


7.) The Mitchells vs. The Machines

- From some of the same folks who gave us the brilliant Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse, The Mitchells vs. The Machines is one of the best animated family movies in recent memory. The movie is funny, timely, and has a great message about supporting your loved ones as they chase their dreams. It's also visually dazzling and full of imagination. And a stacked voice-cast, too. Highly, highly recommended.


8.) Red Rocket

- Sean Baker, who directed my top-ranked movie of 2017 with The Florida Project, does it again with Red Rocket. Simon Rex delivers an incredible lead performance (note the way he subtly and not-so-subtly changes his tone of voice depending on who he's talking to and in what context) - in a film that is a wild, memorable, satiric parable of an America on the verge of Trump-ian hell.


9.) The Father

- Another 2020 film that was only released to the public in 2021, The Father featured one of the best performances I've ever seen in a film from the legendary Anthony Hopkins (who rightfully won the Oscar at the 2021 ceremony). The film takes a grim subject - dementia - and creates a masterfully composed puzzle-box mystery around it ... leading to a film that has its share of melancholy but also never fails to entertain.


10.) The French Dispatch

- When it comes to Wes Anderson ... haters gonna hate. But for me, there are few things as awesome in film as Wes Anderson at the top of his game - and he surely is with The French Dispatch. The film has Anderson's usual hyper-attention to detail and precision and impeccably-arranged stylized aesthetic (and yes, it's quirky af). But this one's also got a real message behind the meticulously-designed sets and costumes, for The French Dispatch is, ultimately, a moving ode to the dying art of longform journalism (and, specifically, to The New Yorker). In chronicling the adventures of intrepid writers committed to delivering truth, Anderson - in his own whimsical way - reminds us of what we've lost in this social media age.

JUST MISSED THE CUT:


11.) Barb and Star Go To Vista Del Mar

- One of the funniest and most quotable comedies in years, Barb and Star was just the brand of absurdist comedy insanity we needed to get us through those dark days of early 2021. An instant cult-classic that you need to watch asap.
 
 
12.) Nightmare Alley

- This one had a lot of my favorite things - Film noir! Femme fatales! Weird carnivals! - but it still surprised me with some of the strange detours it took. It of course paid homage to classic film noir, but also with lurid shades of classic EC Comics - all with that unmistakable Guillermo Del Toro style and aesthetic. Cate Blanchett is the show-stealer, but the entire cast is excellent. Geek-out worthy for sure.
 
 
13.) The Sparks Brothers
 
- Edgar Wright's rock doc about the legendary cult-favorite band Sparks is a true marvel. I knew literally nothing about Sparks before watching this, but I now love them. This movie is one of the most creatively inspiring films I've seen in a long time - a wonderful ode to imagination, artistry, music, and free-thinking. It's the movie equivalent of a good friend geeking out to you about their favorite band. The passion is palpable.
 

14.) Minari

- Another 2020 holdover, Minari netted a well-deserved Best Supporting Actress Oscar win for Youn Yuh-jung. This story of one immigrant family struggling to live out the American dream - starring the always great Steven Yeun - is filled with fantastic performances, memorable moments, and a lot of heart. And it's surprisingly harrowing to boot.


15.) West Side Story

- Did we need another version of West Side Story? Probably not. And yet ... from moment one, this new adaptation is just Steven Spielberg, seemingly, showing off - directing the hell out of this movie with a level of skill that amazes, delights, and further cements his legend. Spielberg and writer Tony Kushner don't just dazzle us, they also cagily tweak the story to feel resonant to today's America. It's an impressive high-wire act that only two huge talents could pull off.


THE NEXT BEST:

16.) One Night in Miami

- Released in early 2021, though part of this past year's awards-season, One Night in Miami is a tour de force. The four main actors - depicting real life icons Cassius Clay, Sam Cooke, Jim Brown, and Malcolm X - were each incredible and awards-worthy. The great cast was matched by a razorsharp script that examined all sorts of issues of race, class, gender, and equality. And director Regina King nailed it too.


17.) Cyrano

- All hail Peter Dinklage. I mean, what can't this man do? In Cyrano, the Game of Thrones star kills it as not just a leading man, but a musical leading man! He sings, sword-fights, and romances his way through a hugely entertaining musical romance/adventure, directed with aplomb by Joe Wright. I can't wait for more people to see this one - it's a crowd-pleaser for sure.


18.) Annette

- What a year for Sparks! The cult-favorite band went mainstream this year - getting their own Edgar Wright doc, and penning the music for their own original movie musical to boot. And this movie, well - it's so gloriously weird. It feels like the closest we might ever get to a David Lynch musical. Adam Driver gives 1000% in this one and there are so many scenes/moments that I won't soon forget.


19.) Free Guy

- I'm so glad I got to see this movie on the big screen, because Free Guy was flat-out awesome - legitimately one of the best original blockbusters in years. Ryan Reynolds, Jodie Comer, Taika Waititi, Lil Rel, Joe Keery (Steve from Stranger Things) all killed it. The movie had ncredible action and HUGE applause moments and some big surprises to boot. I was cheering in my seat. A razor-sharp script, tons of heart - what more do you need?


20.) The Card Counter

- The Card Counter draws clear comparisons to earlier Paul Schrader works like Taxi Driver. As with that classic film, this is a story about a loner with barely-suppressed rage trying to make sense of a broken world. I was also reminded of Schrader's First Reformed, in terms of its at times almost surreal/nightmarish vibe. I found it to be mesmerizing, disturbing, thought-provoking, and at times downright jaw-dropping. Oscar Isaac is phenomenal in it, too - delivering a strange but unforgettable performance in the lead role.


21.) Benedetta

- Legendary director Paul Verhoeven - he of Robocop, Starship Troopers, and yes, Showgirls fame - has only gotten more daring and fearless in older age. And Benedetta is both an over-the-top, shock-value-for-days satire, but also surprisingly profound to boot. I was hyped going in, but this one lived up to that hype for me 100%. What a crazy film!


22.) Belfast

- Written and directed by Sir Kenneth Branagh, Belfast is full of charm and heart and nostalgia - as it's based on Branagh's own childhood growing up in Belfast in the 60's, during the start of The Troubles. This one left me misty-eyed, thanks in large part to stellar supporting turns from Judi Dench and Ciarán Hinds.


23.) The Matrix: Resurrections

- Okay, some of you led me to believe that this long-awaited new Matrix movie was some random meta side story / quasi-reboot. But this was not that - it was a full-blown sequel, baby - and it was awesome! The movie was rife with clever and winking meta-commentary, yes - but there was real epicness too. Lana Wachowski and team gave us a movie that expanded on the mythology of the original films in interesting ways - and actually retconned a bunch of stuff to make more sense and/or feel more important than it did in the sequels. There was some incredible sci-fi imagery, cool action, and IMO there was actually *more* heart than in the previous movies - namely, I cared about the central Neo/Trinity relationship more in this one than I ever had before. This one is divisive, clearly - but I come down on the side of: "it rocked!"


24.) Titane

- Titane is right up there with director Julia Ducornau's Raw as an all-time visceral, disturbing, and just plain crazy film. It's incredibly strange and uncomfortable to watch at times, but man, does Ducornau know how to create some incredible imagery. Working heavily in metaphor, she tells the story of two extremely damaged people who form a strange connection that probably shouldn't be, but somehow is.


25.) In the Heights

- I had zero familiarity with the In the Heights musical going in to this one, but man, it was really Lin Manuel Miranda at his best - clever, catchy, funny, moving, poignant, and inspirational. Jon M. Chu did an amazing job directing - adding tons of big-screen-worthy visual flair to the story. Several sequences were total showstoppers.


MORE GREAT FILMS OF 2021:


26.) King Richard

- Will Smith delivers his best performance in years, and the entire cast of King Richard is so fantastic, top to bottom. Just an impeccably written, acted, and directed feel-good film - that will no doubt net awards attention for Smith. The true-life story of Venus and Serena William's rise to the top of the tennis world - and the driven dad who got them there - is a classic crowd-pleaser.


27.) No Sudden Move

- A crackling period-piece crime caper with one hell of a cast and some surprising twists. Surprisingly timely as well. David Harbour *kills* it in this one - I think this is my favorite performance of his to date. Benicio Del Toro, Don Cheadle, Jon Hamm, Brendan Fraser, Ray Liotta, Bill Duke, Amy Siemetz, Kieron Culkin, and <redacted> are great too (it's truly an all-star cast). Another fascinating and thought-provoking film from the always-unpredictable Steven Soderbergh


28.) The White Tiger

- Another early 2021 release that was a 2020 holdover, The White Tiger was a unique and fresh take on the classic rags to riches story - vibrant, colorful, unpredictable, and darkly funny. And a scathing and fascinating look at Indian society as well.


29.) Zola

- A funny and entertaining fever-dream of a film that's also got a lot to say beneath the surface about social media, trash culture, feminism, and America (among other things). Amazing cast, and Janicza Bravo directs the heck out of this one too.


30.) Judas and the Black Messiah

- A powerful film about the rise of the Black Panther movement and the controversy it created, this one features two great performances from Daniel Kaluuya and Lakeith Stanfield, and is a fascinating look at a not-often-dramatized chapter in the fight for racial equality.


31.) A Quiet Place Pt. 2

- With quick, no-filler pacing, a smart script, some *killer* set-pieces, nonstop tension, and a great cast - A Quiet Place Pt. 2 is arguably one of the best horror sequels ever. John Krasinski ... man, this guy can seriously direct, too.


32.) Werewolves Within

- A nearly note-perfect horror/comedy/whodunnit that's often incredibly funny, Werewolves Within also has an amazing cast of "oh hey, it's that hilarious person from _________" actors. Seriously though - this is one of the best indie movies of the year and a must-watch new cult classic.


33.) House of Gucci

- What a year for Ridley Scott. I enjoyed this WAY more than I thought I might. It's ridiculously entertaining and insanely over the top (fitting, I suppose, given the subject matter). Adam Driver and in particular Lady Gaga are great, but ho-lee lord Jared Leto as Paolo Gucci is just INSANE. See also, Al Pacino. I’m going to need memes of his epic “NOOO! I’M DEAD!” freakout scene immediately.


34.) Riders of Justice

A darkly satirical revenge story that also has a genuine emotional core. Mads Mikkelsen is great (and this continues what I assume will be his Danish midlife crisis trilogy). Seriously though, highly recommended.


35.) Passing

- This Netflix original is a great directorial effort from Rebecca Hall. Ruth Negga and Tessa Thompson are excellent as the leads, in a film that is a thought-provoking, fascinating exploration of race, sex, and class in recent American history.


36.) The Harder They Fall

- A hyper-stylized Western revenge story with some serious Tarantino vibes, it featured an amazing ensemble cast and memorable characters - and some real visual panache from director Jeymes Samuel. Plus, a *killer* ending that really sealed the deal for me.


37.) The Many Saints of Newark

- I really enjoyed this long-awaited Sopranos sequel. The cast - from Ray Liotta to Corey Stohl (so great as younger Uncle June here) to Vera Farmiga to Michael Gandolfini was really strong. A welcome return to this world of the show.


38.) The Last Duel

- Anytime the great Ridley Scott gives us an historical epic, I'm all in. But, this one, really, is a much more deliberate and ambiguous drama than something like Gladiator - giving us the same story from multiple perspectives, a la Rashomon - in order to make a very timely point about how patriarchal societies can obscure the truth at the expense of women, and how that very much needs to change. Adam Driver and Matt Damon are both very good, while Jodie Comer (of Killing Eve fame) steals the show.


39.) PG: Psycho Goreman

- This movie is pure joy. A hilarious and ridiculous hand-crafted homage to 80's sci-fi and horror. A new midnight movie classic. This one deserves your love, so go rent it asap.


40.) The Alpinist

- An absolutely crazy story - filled with fascinating characters, as well as incredible freehand climbing footage. 2021 was a great year for docs, but this is one of the best.


41.) I Care a Lot

- A pitch-black satire of American greed, moral hollowness, and kill-or-be-killed mentality. Rosamund Pike definitely earned herself her Golden Globe in this one. And Peter Dinklage - so good.


42.) F9: The Fast & Furious Saga

- This much-delayed sequel was the perfect movie to welcome audiences back to <insert Vin Diesel voice> "the movies." An insanely over the top and breathtakingly entertaining bit of popcorn-movie magic, F9 was a step above 8 and featured kick-ass action and plenty of awesomely insane set-pieces.


43.) Spider-Man: No Way Home

- An incredibly fun spectacle, NWH had the epic, big-event, can't-miss feel that was a bit lacking in this year's other Marvel movies. But the funny thing is ... despite all the multiversal adventuring, big-name hero and villain appearances, and giant action scenes ... really, the reason, 100%, why this movie works as well as it does is simple: the relationships between Peter and his girlfriend MJ, and between Peter and his best friend Ned. It's a good reminder that no matter how big the spectacle, none of it matters if your story doesn't have a beating heart.


44.) Last Night in Soho

- Soho has some of the most visually-stunning scenes of Edgar Wright's directing career. Wright channels movies like The Shining and Suspiria to create a unique horror-mystery. It's fascinating to see Wright swing for the fences and try for something different, and I can't wait to see how he continues to evolve from here and what he tackles next.


45.) Encanto

- Encanto is a smaller-scale story vs. a lot of animated Disney movies, but it's got really fun music from Lin Manuel Miranda and a great and unique main character in Mirabel. There's also a great message here and some moments that I think will really resonate.

 

46.) Shiva Baby

- A dark comedy that's also practically a horror movie, Shiva Baby is so dead-on accurate in the way it portrays the awkardness and agony of coming of age in an overbearing Jewish family that I almost found it hard to watch at times. A really cool little indie film.


47.) Coda

- This Apple TV original is a very sweet film with some fantastic performances and a seriously great cast as well. Emilia Jones delivers what feels like a breakout performance as the lead (though she's also great on Locke & Key!).


 48.) The Tragedy of Macbeth

- Joel Coen's Shakespeare adaptation is more straightforward than you might expect from one half of the storied Coen Bros filmmaking duo - but it's also one heck of a film. Visually stunning and anchored by a commanding lead performance from Denzel Washington, the film is arguably one of the definitive filmed versions of the material.


49.) The Power of the Dog

- Jane Campion's enigmatic Western thriller is a slow-burn ... and the kind of film that almost demands multiple viewings to fully wrap your head around its subtly-revealed plot. That's not to say that the film, as a whole, is subtle. It's a strange, hypnotic movie filled with evocative imagery, dialogue, and character moments - with Benedict Cumberbatch's lead performance being one of the year's most unforgettable. 


50.) Ghostbusters: Afterlife

- A fun reinterpretation of Ghostbusters as an Amblin-esque kid-adventure movie, this one hit my nostalgia buttons and left me eager for a sequel. Mckenna Grace was SO good in this too. She completely steals the movie as the new franchise hero, and I'd love to see her character's further adventures.


HONORABLE MENTIONS - OTHER RECOMMENDED MOVIES FROM THIS YEAR:

- The Eyes of Tammy Faye
- The King's Man
- Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
- The Green Knight
- C'mon, C'mon
- The Suicide Squad
- Don't Look Up
- Reminiscence
- Roadrunner
- The United States vs. Billie Holiday
- Final Account
- Black Widow
- Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
- Candyman
- Copshop
- Halloween Kills
- Venom: There Will Be Carnage
- Fear Street 1994 / 1666 / 1978
- Under the Volcano
- Stillwater
- Malignant
- Port Authority



INDIVIDUAL 2021 AWARDS (Oscar 2022-Eligible Movies Only):


BEST LEAD ACTOR:

1.) Andrew Garfield - Tick, Tick ... Boom!
2.) Simon Rex - Red Rocket
3.) Peter Dinklage - Cyrano
4.) Nicholas Cage - Pig
5.) Tie: Will Smith - King Richard, Oscar Isaac - The Card Counter

(2021-Eligible Additions: Anthony Hopkins - The Father, Steven Yeun - Minari)


BEST LEADING ACTRESS:

1.) Kristen Stewart - Spencer
2.) Alana Haim - Licorice Pizza
3.) Agathe Rousselle - Titane
3.) Rachel Zegler - West Side Story
4.) Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo - Barb and Star Go To Vista Del Mar

(2021-Eligible Additions: Frances McDormand - Nomadland, Rosamund Pike - I Care A Lot)


BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:

1.) Ciarán Hinds - Belfast
2.) Bradley Cooper - Licorice Pizza
3.) Al Pacino - House of Gucci
4.) Jared Leto - House of Gucci
5.) Mike Faist - West Side Story

(2021-Eligible Additions: Leslie Odom Jr. - One Night in Miami, Daniel Kaluuya and Lakeith Stanfield - Judas and the Black Messiah)


BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:

1.) Cate Blanchett - Nightmare Alley
2.) Ruth Negga - Passing
3.) Judie Dench - Belfast
4.) Ariana DeBose - West Side Story
5.) Rebecca Ferguson - Dune

(2021-Eligible Additions: Youn Yuh-jung - Minari)


BEST DIRECTOR:

1.) Paul Thomas Anderson - Licorice Pizza
2.) Denis Villeneuve - Dune
3.) Lin-Manuel Miranda - Tick, Tick ... Boom!
4.) Steven Spielberg - West Side Story
5.) Wes Anderson - The French Dispatch

(2021-Eligible Additions: Chloe Zhao - Nomadland)


BEST SCREENPLAY:

1.) Spencer
2.) Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar
3.) The French Dispatch
4.) Zola
5.) The Card Counter
6.) Pig
7.) Free Guy
8.) The Mitchells vs. The Machines
9.) Licorice Pizza
10.) Werewolves Within

(2021-Eligible Additions: Nomadland, The White Tiger, The Father, Minari, One Night in Miami)


And that's a wrap on the Best of 2021. Yeah ... I'm ready for a nap. See you guys in 2022 - hopefully in theaters, probably on Netflix, and who knows - maybe in the metaverse!

THE BEST OF 2021 - The Best GAMES Of The Year



- Last year I talked about how thankful I was for games that let me escape the quarantine life and be virtually transported to far-away cities, worlds, and realities. I was equally thankful for that in 2021, and spent much of the year continuing to play through some of 2020's best games, as well as games I'd missed from previous years - from The Last of Us 2 to Spider-Man: Miles Morales to the Life is Strange series (so that, hopefully soon, I can play the latest entry, True Colors). There were, of course, a lot of great new games this year (see my list below!), and my Switch and PS4 got a workout for sure.

That said, the games industry was in a weird sort of limbo this past year. Production delays and development delays led to a constant waiting game for gamers. Scores of big new releases set for 2021 were pushed back to 2022 and beyond, and the Playstation 5 console was still nearly impossible to get ahold of. For me, I took the PS5's scarcity as a sign to just concentrate, for now, on my growing pile of un-played or unfinished PS4 and Switch games - even if I did feel major FOMO around a couple of key 2021 releases, like the new PS5 exclusive Ratchet & Clank game (Ratchet & Clank, as is well documented, being one of my all-time favorite series). At the same time, it was interesting to see so many thought-to-be PS5 exclusives end up getting released, also, on the ol' PS4 - most of them handling just fine on the old reliable last-gen console. Well, sort of reliable. Around Halloween, my PS4 - which I'd owned for several years! - randomly broke, where the disc drive just stopped working. And man, even just replacing my PS4 proved a challenge, with game-starved gamers making even older consoles scarce this Fall and Winter. 

So will 2022 finally be the year that next-gen consoles become readily-available to all? Let's hope so - as it's not great for the games industry to be stuck in this mid-generation limbo. And personally, I'm going to really want that PS5 as long-awaited games that truly take advantage of the system - like Horizon 2, God of War, and more finally release. But I also hope that the industry learns some lessons from some of this year's most successful and acclaimed games, and realizes that there is a path towards a more sustainable future. What I mean is: over the last decade plus, games have become too long, too overstuffed, and too determined to create persistent and evergreen experiences that serve as long-term revenue streams for publishers. But consumers are backlashing - rightfully so - and not buying hyped-up games, like last year's Avengers, because they've had enough. So publishers - look to games like this year's Metroid Dread and Guardians of the Galaxy - long-enough games that don't try to be everything to everyone, but just deliver solid, straightforward experiences that are exactly as advertised. Plus, more focused and less bloated game experiences are great for aging gamers like me, who no longer have endless time for massive games.

With all that said, I'm excited by the ever-increasing mainstreaming of games. Game influences are everywhere in movies and TV, game-related content on Twitch and elsewhere is watched by a huge audience, and game fans continue to push for more diversity and representation in games - as well as for fairness and zero-tolerance for harassment and abuse at their favorite game publishers and studios. Games, it seems, are growing up.


DANNY'S BEST GAMES OF THE YEAR:


1.) Metroid Dread

- Believe it or not, Metroid Dread is the first Metroid game I've ever owned. So while I was never a diehard fan of the Metroid series growing up, I did become a huge fan of the "Metroidvania" games genre that was inspired by the series (as well as the similar Castlevania series) - that encouraged adventuring through a huge map in which new powers and areas are gradually unlocked as you progress. And so, in an era of an overabundance of great games *inspired* by Metroid (Hollow Knight, anyone?), how would the OG series hold up with its long-time-coming latest entry? Turns out, it holds up pretty well! Metroid Dread is pure, old-school 2D Metroid - with some new polish, new wrinkles, and a new horror-inspired vibe in which the player must evade all-powerful creatures known as "E.M.M.I.", lest they want to face the cruel hand of insta-death. Dread took me a bit of time to get used to, and some of the gameplay can feel a bit wonky at first. But once I mastered the game's unique weapons control scheme, the game really opened up for me and became fun as heck. There's a driving urgency to this game that many Metroidvanias lack - propelling you forward with a constant sense of kinetic motion. This is a triumphant return for Samus Aron and for one of Nintendo's flagship franchises.


2.) Psychonauts 2

- Psychonauts was one of my favorite games of the PS2 era - an incredibly imaginative 3D platformer that brought the legendary humor of Tim Schaefer (one of the minds behind point-and-click classics like Day of the Tentacle) and the team at Doublefine to a big, fun, 3D action game. Now, decades later, we finally get a sequel - and it's awesome! This game reminded me how much I love 3D platformers - the feeling of freedom, immersion, and jumping around beatin' on badguys. But of course, the gameplay is only half the story here - there's also the amazing writing and storytelling to boot. This is the gaming equivalent of a Pixar movie, and it's one of the year's best.


3.) Guardians of the Galaxy

- After last year's critically-panned Avengers game, many were weary of this one - especially given that it was also from publisher Eidos. But whereas Avengers aimed to be a persistent-world, loot-based game, Guardians is just a straight-up action/adventure. Single player, story-driven, and linear - just like they used to make 'em. The result is a damn good game - a little bit Uncharted, a little bit Devil May Cry, and a lot James Gunn's Guardian of the Galaxy. The game's constant witty banter and space-faring story captures the spirit of the hit films.


4.) Eastward

- Indie games continue to be where a lot of the action was in 2021. And Eastward - an homage to classic 16-bit era RPG's - was one of my favorites. Clearly inspired, specifically, by Nintendo classic Earthbound, Eastward does a lot of interesting world-building, has a lot of interesting quirks, and has some truly gorgeous pixel art to boot. If you're looking for a nostalgia rush, this one's a can't-miss on Switch.


5.) F.I.S.T.

- I haven't seen a ton of people talking about this one, but I had a blast with it. F.I.S.T. is another 2D Metroidvania that feels great to play, with tons of fun weapons and upgrades and a really cool steampunk world to explore. The story and writing is a bit janky, I'll concede - but the addictive gameplay more than makes up for it.


6.) Mass Effect: Legendary Edition

- How to rank a next-gen remake of one of the all-time great gaming trilogies? For me, I'd been looking for an excuse to finally play the Mass Effect series all the way through, and it was great to be able to play this version with some much-needed graphical and control overhauls. In particular, I immediately noticed the smoother action controls in Mass Effect 1 - updated to be more like the more refined sequels. But man, there's no denying that this is one of the high water marks for videogame world-building and storytelling. 


7.) Unpacking

- In 2021, we all needed some calming and soothing influences in our lives. Enter Unpacking, a surprisingly therapeutic game in which you literally help to unpack an unseen protagonist's possessions following a move to a new home. Each "level" in the game brings you to that protagonist's latest living situation, and while the game relaxes you as you place various objects in rooms just so, it's also got a wistful quality as you get all sorts of hints about where this person is in their life and what's changed and what's stayed the same. A unique and low-impact indie that's highly recommended.


8.) Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury

- This one's another re-release of a Nintendo game that had the unfortunate luck of being released on the little-played Wii U system. But I'm glad Nintendo is doing these re-releases, as there were clearly at least a couple of real Wii U gems. This one is a very good Mario game - more 2D and linear in nature than more recent series entries like Odyssey, but still a lot of fun. But the real kicker here is Bowser's Fury - a sort of proof of concept for what a true next-gen Mario could be like. It's an add-on that provides an awesome open-world 3D, free-roaming Mario experience - and I can't wait to see more of this sort of gameplay in future iterations.


9.) Scarlet Nexus

- Want an anime-styled action RPG that just gives you straight-up, 100 mph craziness? Then look no further. Scarlet Nexus delivers some incredibly vivid visuals paired with super-fun gameplay that makes you feel like an all-powerful badass straight out of Akira. Good times.


10.) Guilty Gear Strive

- The Guilty Gear series of fighting games is a reliable franchise for fun one-on-one combat action, and the latest iteration, Strive, is no exception. The series is known for its hyper-fluid anime graphics, its rocking metal soundtracks, and its fast-paced and over the top gameplay ... and all of that is ramped up to eleven here. Whether you're a series expert of a casual fan / button-masher (raised hand!), this is one of the year's best fighters.

THE BEST OF 2021 - The Best COMICS Of The Year


THE BEST COMICS OF 2021:

- As with 2020, comic books were, for me, one of the great comforts of this crazy, mixed-up pandemic year. Perusing the Comixology website to buy my weekly digital books became an important ritual - a guarantee that, no matter how insane or dire things out in the real world got, I'd still be able to look forward to some quality time curled up with my iPad and some comic books - because really, what's better than that?

While comic distribution stuck to a pretty regular schedule this year, the market still felt like it was missing some of its heavy hitters. Brian K. Vaughn, for example, was mostly MIA - his fan-favorite sci-fi adventure Saga now slated for a 2022 return. But nature abhors a vacuum, and this meant that I discovered a lot of new favorite creative talent this year. Writer Mariko Tamaki is a prime example - until recently, I wasn't at all familiar with her work - but she wowed me this year with her versatile writing on DC's flagship Batman book Detective Comics and on their banter-filled father-daughter team-up book Crush & Lobo. Additionally, rising stars really found their groove this year - James Tynion IV went from "one of my new favorites" to "maybe the best in the biz right now," with his stellar, cerebral, page-turning work on everything from DC's Batman and related spinoffs to Image books like The Department of Truth and The Nice House on the Lake. 

Speaking of DC, they had a pretty good year. Their Batman books enjoyed one of the more engaging big-event stories in a while in the Tynion and Tamaki-penned Fear State saga, about an authoritarian regime known as The Magistrate taking over Gotham (with the help of the villainous Scarecrow). The mainline story, as well as its various spin-off one-shots, were excellent. DC also continued to use its recent status-quo changes (thanks to events like Infinite Frontier) to bring back long-missing pieces of its continuity from limbo, like fan-favorite characters Connor Hawke (who popped up in the Robin comic) or the original members of the JSA (also featured on the TV series Stargirl). Now that the pieces are in place, I hope that DC can really deliver on some can't-miss big event storytelling next year. 

As for Marvel, I tend to be more into their standalone stories as opposed to their big events. This year saw acclaimed writer Jonathan Hickman wind down his celebrated run on X-Men, which was one of my favorite books of 2020 and continued to entertain me so long as Hickman and his unique, mind-bending storytelling were driving things. I also continue to be a huge fan of writer Kelly Thompson and the fun, witty, action-packed vibe she brings to her Marvel books like Captain Marvel and Black Widow.

Of course, so much of what's great about comics is the cool stuff that can be found on the fringes. There's always more to discover - new books to find, new writers and artists to become a fan of. So I hope you enjoy my picks below, and maybe even find a new favorite comic book.

Oh, and one more thing! After years of thinking about it, this coming year I'm actually doing it - I'm writing and publishing my own comic book! Yep, keep an eye out for HALLOWEEN TEAM - coming in 2022 - written by me, with art by the uber-talented Matt Shults. It's going to be awesome.

 

DANNY'S BEST COMICS OF 2021:


1.) The Department of Truth

- James Tynion's ongoing book from Image has, gradually, became my favorite comic going today. It's a dark, thought-provoking X-Files for the current era, with a brilliant twist on the classic conspiracy theory genre: that conspiracy theories are only true when enough people believe them to be so. This metaphysical spin allows Tynion to really dig into modern American history, and explore exactly why and how certain ideas developed from fiction into supposed fact - from the Kennedy assassination to the "Satanic Panic" of the 80's to urban legends about aliens, Bigfoot, and more. If you want to really go down the rabbit hole, you've got to read this one.


2.) Reckless

- For the second year in a row, Ed Brubaker's graphic novel series Reckless is near the top of my list. With two new Reckless books out this year, Brubaker again shows why he's absolutely one of the best to ever write comics and one of the true masters of pulp crime-fiction. Set in the seedy Los Angeles of the 1980's, these brutal, page-turning pulp-fictions are filled with compelling mysteries and memorable characters. Brubaker at his best (and fantastic art from his partner in crime Sean Phillips as well).


3.) The Nice House On The Lake

- And here's James Tynion again - with another book with a banger of a premise: a group of people whose only connection is a mysterious mutual friend end up in an isolated vacation home together, only to discover that the world has ended and they - thanks to the supernatural influence of their friend - are the earth's last survivors. Killer premise aside, Tynion makes each chapter pack a punch - with well-drawn characters and cliffhangers a plenty.


4.) The Other History of the DC Universe

- This one made my Top 10 list last year despite being only one issue in - and so of course it's back again for 2021, now that award-winning screenwriter John Ridley has completed his sprawling profiles of some of DC Comics most underutilized heroes of color. Ridley deftly mixes the DC Universe's most seismic storylines with the real-world politics and news stories of of the era in which each issue takes place. In doing so, Ridley not only gives new depth to characters like Katana and Renee Montoya, but also succeeds in giving a broader historical and socio-political context to the DC comics of various decades. A masterwork.


5.) Rorschach

- Many understandably rolled their eyes at the idea of writer Tom King doing a Watchmen pseudo-sequel series. DC had made rather prolific use of the once-untouchable characters from Alan Moore's classic in recent years, and it was easy to wonder if this was a bridge best not crossed. But Tom King truly brought his A-game to this one - and crafted a wonderfully intriguing mystery that blends the impending-doom deconstruction of Watchmen with the style and aesthetic of classic 70's paranoid conspiracy thriller films. The result is a surprisingly fantastic maxiseries that really wowed me, featuring an unexpected spin on one of Watchmen's iconic characters.


6.) Batman: Fear State - Secret Files Specials (Miracle Molly, Peacekeeper-01, The Gardner)

- As I mentioned above, the big Batman event of 2021, Fear State, was pretty excellent. The story detailed Gotham on the brink of a full-fledged dystopia, with Batman having to rely on new allies and new tactics to not just stop the badguys, but win over the people of Gotham to his side. While the main story that ran through monthly books like Batman and Detective Comics was very good, the true highlights of the event were the series of "Secret Files" specials, each written by James Tynion (there's that name again!), and each spotlighting one of the new characters introduced as part of this event. The standout, to me, was Miracle Molly - the leader of an underground revolutionary group who Batman forms a reluctant partnership with. The story of how Molly mind-wipes herself in order to cleanse herself of mental baggage - consequences be damned - was both harrowing and affecting.

 
7.) Crush & Lobo

- Lobo is an iconic DC character - an over-the-top riff on antiheroes like Wolverine, Lobo quickly developed his own fanboy following throughout the 90's. But what to do in 2021 with a character whose central joke is perhaps slightly played out? Easy - give him a badass but still self-doubting LGBTQ teenaged daughter named Crush. Crush, introduced a few years ago over in the Teen Titans comics, has become one of DC's breakout characters, and it was great to see her get the spotlight here. Written by new fave Mariko Tamaki, this was a fun, banter-filled outer space adventure with humor and heart a-plenty.


8.) The Joker

- Okay, fine - one more book from James Tynion on my Top 10 (yep, the guy was everywhere this year). But The Joker is more than deserving of placement on this list. And it's funny, because I don't know that almost anyone was sold that The Joker needed his own series. But the genius here is that this isn't *really* a Joker series - it's a James Gordon series. And it's a series that dives deep into the long, messy history between Gordon and the Joker, and takes a hard look at the moral difficulties of being a purveyor of justice in an unjust world that would allow an insane killer like The Joker to continually cause havoc. A great read month in and month out.


9.) Nightwing

- Yes, it was a good year for the Bat-family books. Nightwing has had a lot of strong runs over the last couple of decades, but the character is currently enjoying another renaissance thanks to the fantastic creative team of writer Tom Taylor and artist Bruno Redondo. From great relationship-y stuff (Taylor addresses the will-they/won't-they Dick Grayson/Barbara Gordon romance head-on, with a lot of nuance and heart) to really interesting social justice questions (Dick uses his fortune in interesting ways to help the people of his adopted hometown Bludhaven) - Taylor gives a little bit of everything here. And Redondo's smooth, cinematic art makes the action scenes sing.


10.) Mazebook

- Jeff Lemire had another prolific year in 2021 (not to mention his seminal Sweet Tooth series getting adapted for Netflix). I'm a big fan of almost all of his work, and in 2021 I enjoyed everything from his Black Hammer franchise books to a weird pets-in-space sci-fi story called Primordial. But my favorite of his 2021 output was Mazebook from Dark Horse Comics - a very intimate story that's also a real page-turner. Written and drawn by Lemire, it's the story of a middle-aged man convinced that his long-dead daughter might still, somehow, be alive - and that solving a strange, all-encompassing maze might be the key to finding her. This is the kind of story that Lemire always nails, and I hope we get more like this from him in 2022.


OTHER FAVORITES FROM 2021:




Batman (James Tynion run)
Detective Comics (Mariko Tamaki run)
Captain Marvel by Kelly Thompson
Robin by Joshua Williamson
Black Hammer: Reborn
Catwoman by Ram V
Fantastic Four: Life Story
Life Is Strange
The Human Target
X-Men: Inferno
Fantastic Four by Dan Slott
Task Force Z
Superman and the Authority
The United States of Captain America
Batman: Urban Legends
Lazarus: Risen
Shadecraft
Batman: The Adventure Continues
The Next Batman
Dark Knights of Steel
Firepower
One-Star Squadron
Deathstroke Inc.
Stranger Things: The Tomb of Ybwen
Swamp Thing by Ram V
Made in Korea
Home
Barbalien: Red Planet
Superman '78
Action Comics by Phillip Kennedy Johnson
Superman: Son of Kal-El
Far Sector 


WRITERS OF THE YEAR:

1.) James Tynion IV (The Department of Truth, The Joker, Batman, The Nice House On The Lake)
2.) Mariko Tamaki (Detective Comics, Crush & Lobo)
3.) John Ridley (The Other History of the DC Universe, The Next Batman)
4.) Ed Brubaker (Reckless)
5.) Tom Taylor (Nightwing, Dark Knights of Steel)
6.) Jeff Lemire (Mazebook, Black Hammer: Reborn)
7.) Tom King (Rorschach, The Human Target)
8.) Matthew Rosenberg (Batman: Urban Legends, Task Force Z)
9.) Joshua Williamson (Robin, Deathstroke Inc.)
10.) Mark Russell (Fantastic Four: Life Story, One-Star Squadron)


ARTISTS OF THE YEAR:

1.) Bruno Redondo (Nightwing)
2.) Sean Phillips (Reckless)
3.) Dan Mora (Detective Comics)
4.) Jorge Fornes (Rorschach)
5.) Martin Simmonds (The Department of Truth)
6.) Alvaro Martinez (The Nice House on the Lake)
7.) Mike Perkins (Swamp Thing)
8.) Jorge Fornés (Rorschach)
9.) Amancay Nahuelpan (Crush & Lobo)
10.) Jeff Lemire (Mazebook)

 

Wednesday, December 29, 2021

THE BEST OF 2021 - The Best ROCK Of The Year

 

 

- The last concert I saw in 2020 was in February - an 80's-themed throwback show in downtown Los Angeles, featuring a dozen or so retro bands like Flock of Seagulls and Wang Chung and even MC Hammer. It was a fun night, but little did I realize at the time that, in about a month's time ... the whole world was about to shut down. It was a long year and a half of quarantine, anxiety, and no live performances.

But luckily, vaccines helped to pave the way for the return of live shows this past summer. For a moment at least, things seemed to be getting better. Since the summer, I've seen some amazing live shows. Green Day/Weezer/Fall Out Boy at Dodger Stadium and Alanis Morissette/Garbage at the Hollywood Bowl were both incredible concerts, and hugely cathartic after a year of being mostly trapped indoors. It's funny (and a bit sad) how so many of Green Day's Bush-era American Idiot anthems took on new resonance in the here and now. And, the show was this long-time Weezer fan's first *ever* time seeing the band live. In any case, hearing the stadium-shaking rock songs from those bands as well as Fall Out Boy quite simply hit different given that we were all freshly-emerged from months of the stay-at-home blues. As for Alanis, she's been one of my favorites forever, but I'd never seen her in concert until now. She absolutely killed it and put on a show for the ages. If anything, the show reinforced just how incredible of an album Jagged Little Pill was (and is, 26 years in) - just one iconic song after another.

I also returned to the theater to see some musicals, thanks to strict proof-of-vax and masking requirements in the City of LA. I *finally* saw Hamilton live for the first time ever (it was great!), at the Pantages theater, after having had tickets for April 2020 and that show obviously getting canceled as the pandemic raged. I also saw a great musical called The Band's Visit, which was really interesting - an Israel-set musical with some great songs and fun characters.

Will we still be able to go to concerts and live shows in 2022? Here's hoping. It's one of my favorite things to do, and in normal times there's so many great venues and shows to check out here in LA - it's one of the best parts of living in this city. 

Now, as for new music in 2021 - there were some killer new releases, and some of my favorite new albums in a while. Many long-delayed projects finally released, and some of my favorite bands finally came out with new stuff, a lot of it excellent. So without further ado ... here are my picks for the best of the year.


DANNY'S TOP ROCK SONGS OF 2021:


1.) Dead Sara - "Heroes"

- Dead Sara has been one of my favorite modern rock bands for a long time now, and their latest album Ain't It Tragic is both a kickass return to form and an interesting evolution of their sound. "Heroes" is my favorite track from the new release - a soulful rocker that takes full advantage of singer Emily Armstrong's husky yet powerful vocals. The song's lyrics seem to lament the state of the world in a way that I found poignant and powerful. But ultimately, this is just an awesome rock song - one of the band's best ever.


2.) Iron Maiden - "Writing on the Wall"

- Iron Maiden returned this year with an absolutely incredible double album, Senjutsu - an epic rock adventure that runs of the gamut from fast-paced head-bangers to slow-build metal ballads. For me, the album's lead single "Writing on the Wall" was my favorite - a straightforward rocker tinged with Western and medieval sounds, a killer chorus, and even an awesome animated music video that's like Heavy Metal meets Mad Max: Fury Road. Iron Maiden in peak form, baby.


3.) The Offspring - "Let the Bad Times Roll"

- Punk rockers The Offspring returned with a new album this year after a lengthy hiatus, and it was worth the wait if only for some legit great new songs like "Let the Bad Times Roll" - a vintage Offspring pop-punk rocker with lyrics that speak to the modern era of darkest-timeline insanity. So good.


4.) Weezer - "I Need Some of That"

- Weezer's album of 80's-style rock songs, Van Weezer, was delayed so many times that I kind of wondered if it would ever release (the band even did a whole other album in between Van Weezer's announcement and eventual 2021 release, and the first single off the album, "The End of the Game," made my Best of 2019 list!). But ultimately, this was worth the wait, as in my opinion this was Weezer's best overall album in many years - especially, if, like me, you're more a fan of their vintage pop-punk sound vs. their forays into mellower emo fare. "I Need Some of That" is about as pop-punk as you can get, an upbeat rocker that still contains bursts of Weezer quirk. And it references Aerosmith to boot, so you *know* I'm going to dig it.


5.) The Dropkick Murphys - "Lee Boy"

- The Murphys released a new album this year, and it was a comfort-food pleasure to get another dose of the band's trademark Irish-flavored punk rock. Boston's favorite sons almost always deliver solid albums, and this one was no exception. One standout track is Lee Boy - a fist-pumper of the vintage DKM variety, a feel-good ode to a friend of the band who seems to be, well, just a pretty solid dude. And in this day and age, that's something well worth celebrating.


6.) The Pretty Reckless - "Only Love Can Save Me Now"

- The Pretty Reckless returned this year with more of their soulful, goth-tinged hard rock - and it's tracks like this one that remind why they're such a welcome throwback to the rock n' roll glory days when guitar gods reigned supreme. This one's got some badass riffs and, of course, singer Taylor Momsen's deep-voiced growl. "The sound, the sound, the world is spinnin' out ...". Yeah, that tracks.


7.) Iron Maiden - "Death of the Celts"

- I had to throw in one more track from Iron Maiden's latest album. Whereas "The Writing on the Wall" is the standout straight-up rocker, "Death of the Celts" is an epic ballad that take some time before it can really sink its hooks into you. It's an Iron Maiden oddity for sure, but the almost medieval-like balladry combined with Bruce Dickinson's ever-operatic voice make for a new Maiden classic.


8.) The Darkness - "Motorheart"

- The Darkness' new album Motorheart gives us more of the UK band's vintage glam-rock stylings, with their usual mix of earnest rocking and tongue-in-cheek absurdity. The title track is the perfect emblem of the band's style - it legit rocks, but it also tells a crazy, over-the-top tale of finding love in all the wrong, robotic places.


9.) The Linda Lindas - "Racist, Sexist Boy"

- This out-of-nowhere viral punk rock hit warmed the heart - a couple of teenage girls raging against the machine ... or, in this case, a racist sexist boy who was, seemingly, racist and sexist and absolutely deserving of the verbal smackdown laid upon him in this anthem for the ages. The punk rock of it all is only heightened by the fact that the original viral video featured the band performing ad hoc in, of all places, their school library. Now that's badass.


10.) Dead Sara - "Hypnotic"

- Okay, fine, one more from Dead Sara. They had such an awesome new album this year that they deserve it. And "Hypnotic" is one of those risky departures from the band's usual sound that totally pays off - it's a banger ... a bouncy techno-rock song that makes you want to throw your hands up and get down. Do I want this to be the new direction of the band? Not really. But hey, it's always cool when an old favorite can surprise you.



THE BEST OF 2021 - The Best TV Of The Year



THE BEST OF 2021 - The Best TV Shows of The Year

- And we're back. But, wait - what year is it, again? Was 2021 really a thing, or did we just live 2020 again on repeat?

While there were some glimpses of hope in 2021 - moments where it seemed like we'd emerged from the proverbial muck of 2020 and that some degree of normalcy would soon resume ... this still felt like the slightly less-darkest-timeline spinoff of the hellscape that was last year. And nobody, it seemed, quite knew how to process that.

But if we're talking TV (and we are!), that weird murkiness about the state of the zeitgeist meant a constant discourse about what, exactly, the people demanded in these strange times. Was it feel-good fare like (well, on the surface, at least) Ted Lasso? Dark social satire like Squid Game? Or brain-dead reality TV to simply help tune out the noise? Turns out, the answer is all of the above. Not to worry though - there was content a-plenty in 2021, as production resumed and the floodgates of the post-golden-age age of "too much content" resumed. There was a seemingly infinite supply of television this past year, and there was absolutely no way most could keep up with even a fraction of it all. But hey, the good news is that there was something for every taste. And if your taste happened to be, say, Marvel superheroes - well, your plate in 2021 was likely overloaded *just* from the deluge of MCU content that hit Disney+ throughout the year. <Exhales>

There was more TV in 2021 than anyone knew what to do with. But the macro-level question here is: who, exactly, is all this for? With Gen Z's media time occupied by shortform social media videos, gaming, etc. - the whirlwind of content often felt like it was competing for the increasingly short attention spans of an ever-shrinking media marketplace. Actual on-air TV ratings were worse than ever, while the success of streaming series was kept close to the vest - frustrating the pundits used to Nielsen numbers to contextualize the marketplace. Something like Squid Game saw viral success seemingly out of nowhere - and to me, that's super cool. It allowed a Korean-language import - that, in past eras would have been relegated to, at best, cult classic status - to become one of the most watched series in America and around the world. Pretty awesome, right? At the same time, plenty of high-profile, big budget series bombed - a victim of the hard-to-navigate tsunami of content that is streaming-era TV, where a big-name cast is often less valuable than a novel premise that gets people talking on social media. And unfortunately, the Netflix's of the world are often quicker to swing the ol' cancellation axe than even network TV back in the day. How is all of this sustainable? Honestly, I have no idea. It speaks to the chaotic nature of TV now that so many streamers are going back to the tried and true "one episode per week" method of releasing - at least, there, you have a proven method to sustain a series' time in the conversation beyond just that first weekend of release.

Despite the chaos, I'm still heartened by the sheer variety of cool content out there right now. Not all of it is amazing, but we're seeing concepts thrive that *never* would have gotten past traditional network development back in the pre-streaming era. The doors that were opened by the likes of Lost, The Sopranos, Breaking Bad, The Office, The Walking Dead, and Game of Thrones have led to a world where no genre or premise is off limits. And even still, there is room for something like Squid Game to surprise.

Caveats for my list: it goes without saying, but there is way too much TV for even me to watch. I've yet to catch up on Succession or Hacks, I'm behind on several shows like The Other Two, Locke & Key, and Doom Patrol, and just at the tail end of this month alone there's been new stuff dropping like MacGruber, The Witcher S2, and The Book of Boba Fett that I haven't yet seen. 

I also just want to give a shout-out to the programming that perhaps did the most to keep me sane during this crazy year: pro-wrestling. The rise of AEW as legit competition to WWE has been a joy to behold - and while my interest in WWE has waned, I'm positively pumped to tune in each Wednesday evening to AEW's flagship series Dynamite - especially now that heavy hitters like Bryan Danielson and CM Punk have joined the fray. High-quality wrestling, a stacked roster, and a refreshing sense of unpredictability have all helped to make AEW programming feel like can't-miss event TV. If you're a lapsed wrasslin' fan, check it out if you haven't already. Shout-out too to the documentary series Dark Side of the Ring on Vice TV, which is an ultra-compelling show chronicling some of the most sordid and tragic moments in the always-crazy pro-wrestling industry.

Oh. a shout-out too for a notable piece of content from the very beginning of 2021 - In and Of Itself, the remarkable Hulu special featuring Derek DelGaudio. The special - a filmed performance of DelGaudio's one man show in New York (well, an amalgam of various performances of the show) - is thought-provoking mind-#$&% of magic, mystery, and storytelling that ponders any number of deep questions. Another highly-recommended, slightly uncategorizable pop-culture thing I loved in 2021.

And finally, I've got to mention that 2021 brought the end of CONAN - Conan O'Brien's long-running TBS late-night talk show. In turn, this marks the likely end of Conan's storied career as a late-night talk show host. While he's set to return to TV with a new HBO Max variety show, his talk show ending is, truly, the end of an era. And of course, as a former intern for Late Night With Conan O'Brien, I have a special attachment to the show even beyond my longtime fandom. But man, there was so much hilarity on the TBS show over the years - some of the funniest stuff Conan ever did with the format. From the instant-classic Jordan Schlansky remote sketches to the "Conan Without Borders" travelogue specials, Conan's TBS show was an amazing run of late-night that was too often under-appreciated. During the pandemic, too, Conan was daily slice of comfort-food TV - an old-reliable that never failed to cheer me up in these crazy times. I'm sad to see the show end, but here's hoping that Conan's TV absence won't be long, and that whatever he does next will be something special.

And now, on to my picks ...


DANNY'S TOP TV SHOWS OF 2021:


1. SQUID GAME

- Squid Game, for me, was *the* series of 2021, no contest. I watched each episode hanging on every word and moment, on the edge of my seat. You can talk about the show's astute social commentary and capitalist critique - that's a big part, no doubt, of why it resonated so much. But ultimately, Squid Game is just an example of flat-out fantastic storytelling that transcended language or nationality: memorable characters, a jaw-dropping and increasingly insane premise, kick-ass world-building, and killer cliffhangers. More, please.


2. THE HANDMAID'S TALE

- The best acting I saw on TV this year was from the always-formidable Elizabeth Moss as June - the titular Handmaid who, over the course of four seasons, has gone from enslaved servant in the dystopian future of Gilead to mother of the coming revolution. I know, I know - many dropped off from the show in S2 or S3. But Season 4 was the series' best since its first - filled with drama of the highest order, and the sort of fight-the-power spirit that is still very much needed and appreciated.


3. RESERVATION DOGS

- Another out-of-nowhere surprise favorite was Hulu's Reservation Dogs - a new series about a bunch of Native American teens trying to escape their bleak lives on the reservation. I absolutely loved this series - it's hilarious, for one thing. And though it dabbles in some absurdist humor and magical realism, it's also an incredibly authentic-feeling show that actually taught me a lot about Native American culture. But yeah, it's funny as heck and filled with heart as well. It's hard not to love this one.


4. WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS

- With S3, it's safe to say that What We Do In the Shadows is, officially, one of the comedy greats. Put it right up there with modern classics like The Office, 30 Rock, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine. The show is at that glorious moment in a comedy's lifespan where it's just firing on all cylinders - the jokes are popping, the characters' chemistry is a well-oiled machine, and yet, the show still manages to surprise and delight at every turn. The quick pitch is that this is The Office but with vampires. The reality is that, whether that premise immediately appeals to you or not, this is arguably *the* must-see comedy on TV right now.


5. MARE OF EASTTOWN

- I was late to the Mare of Easttown party, but when I finally caught up late this year, I was sort of blown away. For one, this is a moody, gritty crime-noir that's a little bit Fargo, a little bit True Detective, and a lot Kate Winslet. Winslet delivers one of the finest performances of the year, making Mare - ever driven, often ornery, and always haunted - into an instant-classic character. The whodunnit mystery at the heart of the show was incredibly compelling - but it was Winslet's iconic performance that made this a must-see.


6. ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING

- Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez (along with a killer supporting cast) joined forces to bring us one of the best series of 2021. Only Murders is an absolute delight - a legit murder mystery that's also filled with hilarious comedy from two of the all-time greats (and a very game Gomez). Watching Steve Martin and Martin Short play off of each other was a real treat, and Gomez fit right in - bringing an almost Veronica Mars-esque vibe to her droll, sardonic character. Bring on Season 2.


7. MIDNIGHT MASS

- Mike Flanagan does it again - in what may be his best TV outing to date. Indeed, the creative force behind Netflix's Haunting of Hill House and Haunting of Bly Manor (not to mention kickass horror movies like Doctor Sleep) returned in 2021 with an absolute banger of a show that, for the sake of not spoiling its many twists and turns, will only say is a total must-watch. This series - gorgeously directed - is a Stephen King-esque slice of gothic small-town horror that's got a ton to say about religion, morality, prejudice, and conformity. It's got one of the best performances of the year in Hamish Linklater's turn as the mysterious Father Paul Hill (I mean, seriously - damn!). I can't wait for whatever Flanagan does next.


8. IMPEACHMENT: AMERICAN CRIME STORY

- I went into this one a bit weary (like many, I'm sure) - but my curiosity and interest in politics led me to give it a shot. And, wow, what a surprise this was - an absolutely riveting series that was just the right mix of high drama, astute political commentary, and winking Ryan Murphy camp. The cast was truly all-star, but let's take a moment to call out the all-timer performance of Sarah Paulson as Linda Tripp - which was mind-blowingly good, and arguably a career highlight for the always-great Paulson. The series turned the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal into a story both fascinating for its intrigue and for the way it hits differently when viewed from a modern lens.


9. INVINCIBLE

- I was a huge fan of Robert Kirkman's Invincible comic book series, so was curious to see how Amazon would adapt it as an animated series. Turns out ... incredibly faithfully! Season 1 of Invincible not only captures the aesthetic of the comic book art from Cory Walker and Ryan Ottley, but it also, thankfully, captures Kirkman's unique storytelling style, offbeat sense of humor, penchant for hyper-violent action, and his talent for epic cliffhangers. The show adds to that with a top-notch voice cast, including Steven Yeun as our lead hero. The result: a hugely entertaining, highly-binge-able season of TV. This is a bar-raiser for comic book adaptations.


10. TED LASSO

- I have a lot of complicated thoughts about Ted Lasso. To me, it's the most misunderstood show out there. So many hold it up as an example of light, feel-good TV - when in fact, it's a pretty dark series in a lot of ways. Yes, Ted's outward persona is that of an almost preternaturally cheerful and good-natured dude, but, as Season 2 explored with a lot of depth and nuance, that is in many ways a manufactured personality hiding a lot of pain and anxiety. In S2, the show explored that in ways both hilarious (Ted's evil persona "Led Tasso") and serious (Ted's panic attacks). And really, this is a show about broken people working out their issues - and so it is ultimately hopeful, but also not exactly "light." But when it's at its best, man, this show can be great. In fact, my absolute favorite TV episode of the year was the Coach Beard-centric S2, Ep 9 - an absolutely sublime long night's journey into day that was a total stunner.


The Next Best:


11. PEN15

- This one was tough to exclude from the Top 10, because the second and final season of PEN15 was so fantastic. And the truth is, I was a latecomer to the show, and throughout 2021 the series was one of my big comfort binges. Rarely has there been such a funny and poignant look at adolescence. I'm going to miss this one.

12. BROOKLYN NINE-NINE

- Speaking of shows I'm going to miss ... all hail Brooklyn Nine-Nine, aka one of the greatest TV comedies of all-time. The show's final season - airing two episodes per week in rapid succession, flew by - and I wish the series had had a more drawn-out send-off with a longer season and a lot more fanfare. But, man, the show was funny to the end. Special shout-out to Andre Braugher, who over the course of the series made Captain Holt one of the great comedy supporting characters ever. Nine-Nine!


13. SCHMIGADOON

- Another fun surprise, this Apple TV series was a comedic homage to old-timey musicals that was incredibly creative, stacked with an amazing cast, and legitimately funny af. The musical numbers were hilarious but also extremely well done, and Keegan Michael Key and Cecily Strong were fantastic as the leads.


14. SWEET TOOTH

- I'm a longtime fan of the Sweet Tooth comic book series and of its writer/artist Jeff Lemite, so I completely geeked-out for the first major adaptation of one of Lemire's works (and, in Sweet Tooth, arguably his magnum opus). The show made changes to the story, but I thought they largely worked - blending Lemire's quirk with Spielbergian awe and wonder to craft a unique and gripping adventure.


15. CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM

- The long-awaited return of Curb was a much-needed dose of familiarity during these uncertain times, as one thing is indeed certain about this long-running series: Larry David will never change. And thank god for that. This latest season of Curb was slightly uneven at times, but delivered a handful of classic episodes and great finale to boot. Pretty, pretty good.


16. HELLBOUND

- Squid Game wasn't the only buzzworthy, high-concept Korean series to make waves on Netflix this year. Hot on the heels of that series, Hellbound also gained traction with an insane yet thought-provoking premise: what happens when an otherworldly force appears, and decrees that various people are sinners who will be condemned to hell (and then massive demons come to drag them straight there)? Shocking and unpredictable, the show came from the director of Train to Busan - and that same grim, pulpy, anything-can-happen vibe was on full display here.


17. COBRA KAI

- Cobra Kai was maybe my number one pandemic binge this year - somehow, I'd yet to see a show despite it seemingly have been created specifically for me. I absolutely loved S1 of the series, dug S2, and enjoyed S3 as well. While the series gets progressively more cartoon-ish and over-the-top as it goes, S3 still delivers some fist-pumping moments that are among the series' best and most memorable. Cobra Kai, you really are the best around.


18. THE WHITE LOTUS

- From the razorsharp comedic mind of Mike White comes a show that's hard to like but easy to love. What I mean by that is: The White Lotus is filled with characters who are snobby, smarmy, obnoxious, and just plain unlikable - but the brilliance here is the way in which the show examines the lives of its privileged protagonists with a keenly satirical eye (not to mention the way the all-star cast makes each character uniquely unforgettable). 


19. LOKI

- My favorite of this year's many MCU series, Loki gave us Marvel's version of Dr. Who - and was the perfect platform for Tom Hiddleston as Loki (aka, in my view, the MCU's greatest character). This series was filled with witty banter, whimsical imagination, and memorable moments. And it was worth the price of admission alone for all the great Hiddleston / Owen Wilson back-and-forth. "Glorious purpose," indeed.


20. RESIDENT ALIEN

- One of my favorite TV performances of the year was Alan Tudyk playing an alien, stranded on earth, inhabiting an unfamiliar human body in the Syfy series Resident Alien. This show was so funny and weird and interesting - really, unlike anything else on TV. Go seek it out if you haven't seen it!


21. WANDAVISION

- The first Disney+ MCU series felt like a minor miracle in the very dark days of early 2021. Unable to go to the movies (or basically anywhere), Wandavision brought the Marvel movies to our homes in a compellingly serialized form that, smartly, let us savor one new episode per week. The series' trippy weekly homages to classic TV sitcoms were an awesome blast of the past, and the ultimate "Agatha All Along" reveal was one for the ages.


22. THE WHEEL OF TIME

- Amazon's new epic fantasy adaptation brings a brightly-colored, Lord of the Rings-esque adventure to life with plenty of awe, wonder, and cool world-building. While the initial season of eight episodes has its ups and downs, the series delivers some fantastic action and visual prowess. Rosamund Pike, meanwhile, slays as the series' Gandalf-esque magical guide.


23. BIG MOUTH

- As always, Big Mouth is gleefully profane in a way that I'm not sure any other show has ever been. While one might argue that the show is beginning to lose a little steam as it ages, it still delivers some of the biggest laughs of any series out there. The latest season managed to provide some stuff that will likely be endlessly referenced (that whole "edging" episode, for one) by fans.


24. I THINK YOU SHOULD LEAVE

- If you need a fix of weird sketch comedy, this is your show. Season 2 was all over the map, but there's no denying that it gave us some all-time classic bits of comedy. Dan Flashes, anyone? 


25. SHADOW & BONE

- Shadow & Bone gave us epic fantasy with a decidedly YA bent - and while this Netflix series took time to really ramp up, it went out with a bang and really amped things up in its final few episodes of S1. The show also gave us some of the coolest new characters of any show this year - like the trio of loveable yet deadly thieves known as The Crows.


Just Missed the Cut:

- Yellowjackets (caveat: by this time next year, the show could be much higher!)
- Stargirl
- Rick & Morty
- Hawkeye
- The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
- The Great North



INDIVIDUAL AWARDS:


The Best TV Heroes of 2021:

1.) Invincible - Invincible
2.) Kate Bishop / Hawkeye - Hawkeye
3.) Moiraine Damodred - The Wheel of Time
4.) Gus - Sweet Tooth
5.) Stargirl - Stargirl


The Best TV Villains of 2021:

1.) Father Paul Hill - Midnight Mass
2.) The Front Man - Squid Gam
3.) Omni-Man - Invincible
4.) Aunt Lydia -The Handmaid's Tal
5.) The Darkling - Shadow & Bone
 

The Best TV Anti-Heroes of 2021:

1.) Seong Gi-Hun - Squid Game
2.) Kaz Brekker - Shadow & Bone
3.) Loki - Loki
4.) Johnny Lawrence - Cobra Kai
5.) Mare Sheehan - Mare of Easttown

Saturday, April 24, 2021

OSCARS 2021 - Pre-Show Thoughts & Predictions


OSCARS 2021 Thoughts and Predictions:

- To paraphrase Hollywood's highest-paid actor, The Rock: FINALLY ... it's time for the Oscars. This year's awards season comes at the tail end of what's been an insane year. Obviously, in general, everything since last March has just been crazy. But for movies, man, it's been a wild ride. As the pandemic began to spread early last year, theaters quickly shut down and countless movie release dates were delayed. Many movies skipped theaters and became available for digital rental or streaming. And the Oscars were pushed back from their usual February timing to late April - with films that only experienced a real release in January, February, or even March still eligible for this year's awards. For someone like me who tends to be a bit obsessive about watching and ranking each year's best movies, having to wait until 2021 to watch some of 2020's most-buzzed-about movies - like Nomadland, Minari, The Father, and Judas and the Black Messiah - was a bit frustrating. At the same time, thinking back to the before-times when I saw early 2020 movies like Emma or The Invisible Man - that I actually saw in theaters! - feels like a lifetime ago. 

But here's the thing: when you factor in all the Oscar-eligible movies from 2020 and early 2021 ... this year's Oscars are actually *loaded* with great films. I don't know that the Best Picture category, for example, has been this stacked with truly A-level films in quite some time. Are there some slightly "less-than" movies that snuck in here and there across the various categories? Sure. But there are also so many great films in the mix.
 
I would 100% encourage everyone to GO WATCH THESE MOVIES. With a few clicks into Hulu, Amazon, or Netflix - or for a few dollars via Apple or on-demand - you can see so many fantastic films from the last 15 months, safely at home. While I personally can't wait to, eventually, go back to theaters - there's also something to be said for the ease of access we all have right now to so many great current releases.


Now, we all know that the Oscars are not always a perfect representation of the past year's actual best films. The Oscars still tend to overlook a lot of movies that really shoulda' been contenters. And so, as is tradition ... here are my Top 10 OSCAR SNUBS for this year:

1.) Da 5 Bloods and Delroy Lindo

- Da 5 Bloods was my pick for Best Movie of 2020 - and the fact that it got zero major nominations is literally insane. I mean, this is top-tier Spike Lee - arguably one of his best-ever films. And DELROY LINDO. Dude. This was an all-timer acting performance. How was he not nominated?!

2.) The Assistant and Julia Garner

 - This indie film was one of the best of 2020. A stark, haunting portrayal of an assistant working at a movie production company with a Harvey Weinstein-like boss, this one should have been in this year's awards conversations.

 3.) Palm Springs

- Palm Springs was the perfect pandemic movie - and yet, no major Oscar noms? For shame. Yet another example of really good comedies being left out of the awards conversation just because they're funny.

4.) Never Rarely Sometimes Always

- This indie breakout from 2020 was another one that was on my Top 10 of the year but that sadly got no awards love from the Oscars. With so few big blockbusters in 2020, I would have hoped that the Oscars could have shown more love to smaller gems like this.

5.) The White Tiger

- While this one did get a screenplay nom, I can't help but think that it should have more so been in the conversation for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Leading Actor. A stylish crime thriller with a dark sense of humor - I really liked this one.
 
6.) Jodie Foster in The Mauritanean

- While I wouldn't quite put The Mauritanean up there as a Best Picture contender, it's still a very good film and it still features a fantastic performance from Jodie Foster that netted her a Golden Globe. So ... why was this film totally ignored by the Oscars? 

 7.) Let Them All Talk and Candace Bergen 

- Let Them All Talk really should have been in this year's Oscar mix. It was one of the best of 2020, Steven Soderbergh directed the hell out of it, and the entire cast was fantastic. Most notably, Candace Bergen was shockingly incredible in one of her best-ever roles. And yet, no Oscar love? What gives?

8.) Evan Rachel Wood in Kajillionaire

-  Yet another quirky indie that got totally snubbed by the Oscars. If anything, the amazing lead performance from the great Evan Rachel Wood should have been acknowledged. It was a world's away from anything we've seen her do before, but she nailed it. 

9.) One Night In Miami for Best Picture

- One Night In Miami did ultimately get a lot of awards love at the Oscars. But ... where was its Best Picture nom? I mean, this was a top-tier, A-level film - easily as good as or better than most of this year's actual Best Picture nominees. A major misstep, to be sure.

10.) I Care a Lot and Rosamund Pike

-  Another Golden Globe winner who came up empty in terms of Oscar noms, it's a bit mystifying how Pike's tour de force performance in I Care a Lot was snubbed. 
 
Bonus Snub: Spontaneous
 
- I almost didn't mention this one because it was always clear that Spontaneous would not be an Oscar movie. It was too quirky, too young-skewing, too genre-bending, too ... cool? ... for the Oscars to ever fully take it seriously. But why? Why is it such a given that the Oscars overlook cool movies like this? Spontaneous had one of the best scripts of 2020, and was one of the year's most memorable and interesting films, bar-none. 


2021 OSCAR PICKS AND PREDICTIONS:

 
BEST PICTURE:

Should and Will Win: Nomadland

- There are a lot of more-than-worthy movies nominated this year - from Sound of Metal to Minari to The Father to Promising Young Woman - but to me, Nomadland is just that one notch above the pack. It's a truly mind-blowing, chill-inducing film that speaks to the state of this country and the times we live in - and Frances McDormand is mind-blowingly good in it too. Give the win to Chloe Zhao and Nomadland. And while I think Minari has a chance to upset, I still think that at the end of the day, the sheer brilliance of Nomadland will win out with Oscar voters. 

 
BEST ACTOR:

Should Win: Riz Ahmed (Sound of Metal)

- Riz Ahmed seemingly came out of nowhere and completely blew me away with his performance in Sound of Metal. The movie left me totally shaken, and a big part of that was due to Ahmed. That said, there are some really great performances in this category, and after seeing The Father, Anthony Hopkins is up there as well. 

Will Win: Chadwick Boseman (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom)

- This is a tough one. Boseman was fantastic in Ma Rainey's, and it makes sense to want to honor his life, career, and tragic passing in 2020. So I think he will end up with a victory here. Boseman's performance was one of the best of last year - but just on an apples to apples basis, I'd probably give the edge to Ahmed or Hopkins.


BEST ACTRESS:

Should and Will Win: Frances McDormand (Nomadland)

- This is a difficult one to predict, as I could see upsets from Carey Mulligan or Viola Davis - or even from the Golden Globe winning Andra Day. But ultimately, I think the sheer force of nature that was McDormand in Nomadland wins out. It's an all-timer performance in an all-timer movie.


BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:

Should and Will Win: Paul Raci (Sound of Metal)

- I'd love to see Paul Raci win this one. He brought so much heart, soul, authenticity, and lived-in wisdom to Sound of Metal. That said, he is in many ways an underdog to win, given the much higher-profile names he's competing against. Still, I am going to go out on a bit of a limb and predict he pulls off the upset here. I could see the two actors from Judas (Daniel Kaluuya and Lakeith Stanfield) perhaps canceling each other out - opening the door for a Raci surprise. We shall see ...
 

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:

Should and Will Win: Yuh-Jung Youn (Minari)

- This is another tough category to predict, but I think Yuh-Jung Youn of Minari stands a good chance for gold. She is also my pick for personal fave in this category, as Minari has a great ensemble cast, but she in many ways is the show-stealer. For that reason, I think her status of MVP of one of the year's best films will make her a voter favorite.

 
BEST DIRECTOR:

Should and Will Win: Chloe Zhao (Nomadland)

- I think you can take this one to the bank, and deservedly so. Nomadland is a phenomenally-directed film, and deserves the win - and Zhao has already taken home multiple awards for this one to boot. Personally, I would be happy to see her win. I am such a fan of what she did with Nomadland - just an incredible piece of cinematic art.

 
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:

Should Win: Sound of Metal

- I like a lot of the scripts in this category, but I keep coming back to Sound of Metal as the film from 2020 that most floored me (along with the sadly not-nominated Da 5 Bloods). 
 
Will Win: Promising Young Woman
 
- I give PYW a lot of credit for just, well, going for broke. It's unique and pulls-no-punches. It's also very much a script-driven movie. So I think it will take this one. If it does, I'm very cool with it. This is one hell of a cool film.

 
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:

Should Win: One Night In Miami

- A lot of good scripts in this category, but man, One Night in Miami is just filled with amazing dialogue that absolutely sings. It's theatrical and its dense, but man, is it good. Still, Nomadland is so good overall ... I also can't help but root for that film too. And White Tiger. And The Father ...

Will Win: Nomadland

- I think the safest bet is that Nomadland sweeps the categories in which its nominated, including this one. But ... who knows.

 
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE:

Should Win: Onward

- As I've said previously, Onward for me was the best Pixar movie of 2020. I give it the edge over Soul because it worked so well thematically, and delivered a memorable and heartfelt ending. Soul came out of the gate hot, but for me, slightly fizzled by the end.

Will Win: Soul

- With that said, Soul is definitely perceived as the more prestige of the two Pixar movies - so it winning here is probably one of this year's safest bets.

 
BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM:

Should and Will Win: Another Round

- Given that it's also nominated for Best Director, you have to figure that Another Round is a shoe-in. I recently watched this one, and it is a really interesting film. I still need to watch some of the other nominees, but I give Another Round a hearty endorsement.

 
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS:

Should Win: Mulan

- I thought that, visually, Mulan was oftentimes flat-out awesome - with epic battle scenes and a real sense of style and flair and epicness. In a year with few real blockbusters, Mulan was one of the movies that most made me wish I had been able to see it on the big screen.

Will Win: Tenet

- I think Tenet gets the nod here just because of its name-brand recognition and prestige. The truth is that, IMO, this one lacked the same sort of memorably jaw-dropping visuals as past Nolan epics like Inception or Interstellar.


BEST FILM EDITING:

- Should Win: The Father or Sound of Metal
- Will Win: The Father

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:

- Should and Will Win: Nomadland

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN:

- Should and Will Win: Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

BEST ANIMATED FILM SHORT:

- Should Win: ???
- Will Win: Burrow

BEST DOCUMENTARY:

- Should and Will Win: Crip Camp

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT:

- Should Win: ???
- Will Win: A Concerto is a Conversation

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT:

- Should Win: ???
- Will Win: Two Distant Strangers

BEST COSTUME DESIGN:

- Should Win: Emma
- Will Win: Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING:

- Should Win: Emma 
- Will Win: Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

BEST SOUND:

- Should and Will Win: Sound of Metal

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE:

- Should Win: News of the World 
- Will Win: Soul

BEST ORIGINAL SONG:

- Should Win: Eurovision
- Will Win: Judas and the Black Messiah