4th Annual! Every 2021 Movie, Ranked
#158: The 2021 year in movies recap
Edition 158:
Hey movie lovers!
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2021 In Movies: Somewhere Over the Rainbow
As bad of a year as 2020 was, the promise was always that 2021 would become a “double movie year,” where the delayed releases would overlap with the scheduled releases to form some sort of cinema lover’s paradise.
That’s kind of true, considering this short list of big name directors who all released movies this year: Steven Spielberg, Clint Eastwood, Edgar Wright, Ridley Scott (x2!), Steven Soderbergh, Denis Villeneuve, Guillermo del Toro, Jane Campion, Wes Anderson, Aaron Sorkin, and Guy Ritchie.
Unfortunately, there isn’t a single one of those legends whose 2021 effort would rank inside their own personal top three or even five best movies they’ve made. All the double slate produced were a ton of B to B+ movies. The 30th and 40th ranked movies of this year blow their corresponding positions out of the water on each of my past lists, but I had a hard time finding firepower at the top that demanded a position in my top 10 or top 5.
The bigger truth here is that no one would’ve cared anyway. If 2021 will be remembered for anything historically, it will be as the turning point in the inevitable downfall of movies from the center of popular culture. It’s the year we had to finally accept three disturbing trends: 1) artistically-inclined “prestige movies” will never again be box office smash hits, even when they’re really good; 2) streaming services will both cannibalize the industry and change what it produces; and 3) dramas must now be expected to be two-and-a-half hours long (sigh).
Unlike most sites that do year-end lists, I don’t construct my top 10 to be “interesting” or to spark conversation. These rankings are legitimately the order in which I’d recommend them to a friend (with a neutral personal taste), regardless of whether they’re documentaries, foreign films, animated movies, tiny indies or giant blockbusters.
That doesn’t mean you’ll agree. In fact, I’ve seen many well-known publications who put into their top 10 (Annette, The Card Counter) movies which I have in Category 8. Obviously, and this goes without saying, the rankings are highly subjective to my own opinion.
My hope, as it is with every edition of this newsletter, is that you can use my massive time investment (91 entries make this is the biggest list to date) to discover some new stuff you wouldn’t have seen otherwise, and end up loving. Maybe along the way you might even learn a thing or two.
Previous year rankings: 2020 | 2019 | 2018
Minor programming notes:
Most years I include “wraparounds” I didn’t get to in the previous year, but it felt really unnatural to include movies like Promising Young Woman and The Father in this year’s top 10. So I reranked them in my 2020 list.
Entries below are linked to to my full write-up from earlier this year. In parenthesis is where you can watch the movie if you’re interested. “VOD” stands for “video on-demand,” meaning you can rent it on a service like Amazon Prime or Apple.
Every year I put the rankings list into “tiers,” which should make it easier to compare between years and help differentiate between movies that are probably just as good as something ranked a dozen spots higher.
Movies I haven’t yet seen that may have been worthy of high ranking: The Tragedy of Macbeth, Drive My Car, The Lost Daughter, Red Rocket, Parallel Mothers
Category 9: The So Bad They’re Offensive-s
91 - Zach Snyder’s Justice League (HBO Max)
90 - Infinite (Paramount+)
89 - The United States vs. Billie Holiday (Hulu)
88 - Mortal Kombat (HBO Max)
87 - F9: The Fast Saga (VOD)
86 - Space Jam: A New Legacy (HBO Max)
Category 8: The Bad-Timers
85 - The Matrix Resurrections (HBO Max)
84 - The Card Counter (VOD)
83 - Army of the Dead (Netflix)
82 - Annette (Amazon Prime)
81 - Concrete Cowboy (Netflix)
80 - Bliss (Amazon Prime)
Category 7: The Participation Trophies
79 - Tom Clancy’s Without Remorse (Amazon Prime)
78 - Old (VOD)
77 - The Woman in the Window (Netflix)
76 - Malcolm & Marie (Netflix)
75 - The Little Things (HBO Max)
74 - The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (HBO Max)
73 - All My Life (HBO Max)
72 - The Tomorrow War (Amazon Prime)
71 - Cry Macho (HBO Max)
70 - Barb & Star Go To Vista Del Mar (Hulu)
69 - Cruella (Disney+)
68 - I Care A Lot (Netflix)
67 - The Dig (Netflix)
66 - Love Hard (Netflix)
65 - Locked Down (HBO Max)
Category 6: The Lot to Likers
64 - The Velvet Underground (AppleTV+)
63 - Spencer (VOD)
62 - Reminiscence (HBO Max)
61 - Those Who Wish Me Dead (HBO Max)
60 - The Eyes of Tammy Faye (VOD)
59 - Pieces of a Woman (Netflix)
58 - The Many Saints of Newark (VOD, coming to HBO Max)
57 - House of Gucci (Theaters)
56 - Blue Bayou (VOD)
55 - Dear Evan Hansen (VOD)
54 - Black Widow (Disney+)
53 - Pixie (Showtime)
52 - Godzilla vs. Kong (HBO Max)
51 - WeWork: Or the Making and Breaking of a $47 Billion Unicorn (Hulu)
50 - Dramarama (VOD)
49 - Spider-Man: No Way Home (Theaters)
48 - Framing Britney Spears (Hulu)
Category 5: The Recommendations
47 - The Mitchells vs. The Machines (Netflix)
46 - The Guilty (Netflix)
45 - King Richard (HBO Max)
44 - Wrath of Man (Epix)
43 - Come From Away (AppleTV+)
42 - No Sudden Move (HBO Max)
41 - Hi, Mom (N/A, China)
40 - Bo Burnham: Inside (Netflix)
Category 4: The Pretty Darn Good Ones
39 - Shiva Baby (VOD)
38 - Another Round (Hulu)
37 - Zola (Showtime)
36 - Candyman (VOD)
35 - No Time To Die (VOD)
34 - The Green Knight (VOD)
33 - Two Distant Strangers (Netflix)
32 - Worth (Netflix)
31 - Encanto (Disney+)
30 - Stillwater (VOD)
29 - Belfast (VOD)
28 - A Quiet Place Part II (Paramount+)
27 - Together Together (Hulu)
26 - Summer of Soul (…or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised) (Hulu)
25 - Bad Trip (Netflix)
24 - Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain (VOD)
23 - Tiger (HBO Max)
22 - Woodstock 99: Peace, Love and Rage (HBO Max)
Category 3: The Almost Special Ones
21 - Being the Ricardos (Amazon Prime)
20 - C’mon C’mon (VOD)
19 - The Harder They Fall (Netflix)
18 - The French Dispatch (VOD)
17 - Nobody (VOD)
16 - Monster (Netflix)
15 - The Power of the Dog (Netflix)
14 - Pig (Hulu)
13 - Untold: Breaking Point (Netflix)
12 - In The Heights (HBO Max)
11 - The Last Duel (VOD)
10 - Nightmare Alley (Theaters)
9 - Don’t Look Up (Netflix)
8 - Last Night in Soho (VOD on Jan. 4)
Category 2: The Great Ones
7 - Dune (VOD, will come to HBO Max)
6 - Mass (VOD)
5 - Judas and the Black Messiah (HBO Max)
4 - West Side Story (Theaters)
3 - tick, tick…BOOM! (Netflix)
2 - CODA (AppleTV+)
Category 1: The All-Timers
1 - Licorice Pizza (Theaters)