The movies of 2021.

My favorite movies of 2021:

10. Licorice Pizza - A delightful hangout movie from Paul Thomas Anderson, buoyed by engaging turns from newcomers Alana Haim and Cooper Hoffman.

9. Luca - With its engaging characters and unforced storytelling, Pixar movies don't come much more lighthearted than this.

8. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings - A splendid mix of martial arts action, lovely scenery and a Marvel movie.

7. Nightmare Alley - A little long and a little too violent, but even so, one of the most absorbing movies of the year; an effective remake that nearly matches the original noir.

6. In the Heights - Warm, splashy and big-hearted musical, perhaps the crown jewel of a busy year for Lin-Manuel Miranda...and yes, that includes...

5. Encanto - The songs are fine, but this Disney feature's real strengths lie in its eye-catching color palette and a rich assortment of characters.

4. Black Widow - It may have taken a while for the character to get her own movie, but it was worth the wait as spy thriller and dysfunctional family drama collide.

3. Raya and the Last Dragon - A little plot heavy, but this Disney feature is emotionally rich and a feast for the eyes.

2. The Mitchells vs. the Machines - The best animated movie of the year, with a consistently funny script, a strong emotional core and an off-the-wall visual presentation.

1. The Suicide Squad - Freed from the shackles of the PG-13 rating, James Gunn delivers an violent, over-the-top - and fun as hell - spectacle.

Runners-up:

Candyman

Copshop

Eternals

F9

House of Gucci

Nobody

No Time to Die

Spider-Man: No Way Home

Wish Dragon

Wrath of Man

Underrated: Coming 2 America, Don't Breathe 2 and Old

Overrated (maybe not entirely, but certainly to varying degrees): The French Dispatch, Last Night in Soho and The Tragedy of Macbeth

My favorite things in movies - 2021:

Alana Haim goes for a joyride (sort of) in Licorice Pizza

The childbirth sequence in Old

Det. Banks finds a solution to his deathtrap in Spiral: from the Book of Saw

The Die Hard reference in Godzilla vs. Kong; God only knows if it was conscious or not, but in a movie as dull and basic as this, you take the entertainment value where you can get it

The dinner scene in Don't Look Up

The dysfunctional family scenes in Black Widow; despite the expectations of a Marvel movie, the scenes of Scarlett Johansson, Florence Pugh, Rachel Weisz and David Harbour reconnecting left more of a mark on me

The family's flaws and foibles getting exposed in The Mitchells vs. the Machines

The Freedom Fighters meet up with the Squad in The Suicide Squad; proof that you can take the man out of Troma, but you can't take Troma out of the man

The guard avatar sequence in Free Guy

Harish Patel as Karun in Eternals

I'm not sure how to phrase this professionally, so I'm just gonna come out and say it: Christopher Lloyd wrecking fools with a shotgun in Nobody

Josh Lawson as Kano, the only person having anything resembling fun, in the otherwise disappointingly dour Mortal Kombat

Jeffrey Wright in No Time to Die and especially The French Dispatch

The "Land of 1000 Dances" sequence in Last Night in Soho

Michael Jordan gives the TuneSquad a pep talk in Space Jam: a New Legacy

Nia DaCosta's direction of Candyman, especially the staging of the apartment murder

A pair of action movies giving audiences one more reason to fear public transportation: the bus fights in Nobody and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

Rocci Williams learns the dangers of bad wiring in Don't Breathe 2

Wesley Snipes and Tracy Morgan in Coming 2 America

"You're pointing that the wrong way." "No, I'm not." - Those Who Wish Me Dead

Random thoughts:
- A lot of people didn't think too much of Space Jam: A New Legacy (and the biggest side effect of the backlash against it may well be people looking back to the 1996 original as if it were a masterpiece of cinema, which anyone with two eyes in their head can certainly see it was fucking not), but my main problem with it was the crowds loaded with characters from previous Warner Bros. movies. A clever touch, but the focus was pulled so badly - in seemingly every shot - and the film cut so fast that you can barely make out who the hell you're supposed to be looking at...and there's no way the likenesses of the performers playing the characters came cheap. The studio may as well have stacked $150 million in a pyramid and set it on fire a la The Dark Knight...and while I'm on the subject, why didn't they call this Cyberspace Jam?

- Apparently, there's a ton of stories where ghosts haunt a protagonist, only for the ghosts to be communicating with said protagonist. Last Night in Soho kinda lost me with this. "Help us." "Save us." "You couldn't have told me this from the fucking jump?! I almost stabbed a bitch in the face! Then who's gonna help you, huh?!"

- Say, here's a fun idea: when making a movie that's a several years later reboot of (or sequel to) a hit movie, don't reveal your complete and utter incompetence at life by having the characters remark on 'leaving classics alone'.

- Two people I otherwise mostly trust had me rolling my eyes in terms of their feelings on two of this year's platonic relationships: Sean and Katy in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and Kate and Dr. Mindy in Don't Look Up. In each case, they felt that there should've been a romantic relationship between both pairs of characters. And how would that have helped the narrative of either movie? Not every man and woman needs to be in a romantic relationship. This would've been especially egregious in Don't, especially since Dr. Mindy already cheats on his wife with Brie Evantee. This would've made both leading characters unlikable and Lord knows that this movie was not lacking for unlikable characters.

- Resolution for movie studios in 2022: no more movies that exist solely to set up other movies. If you're laboring so goddamn hard to make the next movie worth seeing, chances are that the movie happening right now is gonna be worthless.

- Lin-Manuel Miranda's had a hell of a year. Four musicals, one of which he directed. I greatly enjoyed In the Heights and Encanto, though I'm still not quite convinced that the latter would've been better without the songs.

- The year in PG-13 f-bombs: No Time to Die, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Red Notice, Old, Free Guy and the best of the year, Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins.

- My, but there were a lot of movies this year where chicks kick butt. Some funny lines aside, The Protege was pretty standard, but Kate's Japan setting and some effective fights made for a pleasant diversion. And there was also Jolt, Gunpowder Milkshake and I suppose I can count Bruised.

- How weird was it that Olivia Colman voiced characters in both of the year's technology-gone-screwy animated movies?

- Okay, so here's how I saw Spider-Man: No Way Home playing out: Peter getting in touch with the Skrulls that pretended to be Fury and Hill in Far from Home and engineering a situation where Spider-Man and Peter are in the same place. Of course, Peter isn't really Spider-Man! Hell, didn't the 90s Spider-Man cartoon do this...or was that a Batman episode? Eh. Might've been both.

- One reaction I actually, no foolin', encountered to The Addams Family 2 is lamenting that 'I'm pretty sure Wednesday killed someone'. See, this is what happens when basic familiarity with the source material and previous incarnations of the characters takes a back seat to having to be right.

- I learned that, in the midst of developing Spectre, the plan was for M to be a villain. For Christ's sake, just because the character is now played by Voldemort doesn't mean he always has to be a flipping bad guy. Had they gone through with this, I guarantee you it would've been a bigger insult to Fleming than anything in No Time to Die.

- And while I'm on the subject of 2021 movies produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, may I just say how gratifying it is to see them with a professional, non-gimmicky logo again. That ridiculous zoom out of the lion's eye hardly seemed befitting of a studio that once boasted of having 'more stars than there are in heaven'.

- Ghostbusters: Afterlife. Entertaining, if a bit too reverent of the 1984 original. Granted, it was done with the permission of his estate and family, but the CGI recreation of Harold Ramis at the end couldn't help but stir in me a genuine concern far weighter than movie run times or the number of superhero movies in a given year: will studios or will they not raise more departed actors from the grave? (I can only hope that that one James Dean project some putz threatened a long time ago is dead and buried.)

- Free Guy was a pretty fun comedy, but, unfortunately, in terms of its star, it was a tasty piece of meat bookended by two moldy-ass slices of bread. Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard - which I'm forced to assume culpability for as I bought a ticket to the first movie - would've merely been a complete waste of time, but it's hard to tell which was worse: the total emasculation of Reynolds's Bryce or Salma Hayek's Sonja being given more room to be completely abrasive. By the end, you find yourself wanting to walk off a boat much like Bryce does. I'd held out some hope that Red Notice would be better. It was slightly better...much in the same way that falling out of a two-story window is better than being hit by a bus. On its own, an acceptably mindless action movie...but then you factor in the incessant schtick, none of which was the least bit funny (and I'm torn as to what would be more horrifying: that it was all scripted or that Reynolds improvised it). It almost makes you wish that Danny Huston's Col. Stryker was No Way Homed out of his universe and dropped into this one to make good on his statement of melting Reynolds' character's mouth shut. To be honest, I'm pretty Ryan Reynoldsed-out. Shit, I don't even think that Deadpool 3 is an option, at this point. (This might change in a couple years, but now...hell, no.)

- Especially near the end of the year, there seemed to be a lot of movies that ran south (and, in some cases, north) of two and a half hours. The discourse argues that filmmakers can make movies as long as they want, but with the omicron variant and who knows how many afterwards, is this really a risk worth taking? New rule: unless you have an Oscar to your name, don't even think about making a movie longer than two hours. Even then, no excuse not to be reasonable. Then, when this disease is stamped out or curbed, three and four hour movies for everybody!

The film music of 2021.

Well, it's been quite a year. Let's get started.

My favorite scores of 2021:

(Lorne Balfe - Hollywood)

Balfe’s Russian-flavored score for the Marvel actioner might well be his best work yet.

Best tracks: "Natasha's Lullaby", "Whirlwind", "Last Love"

(Nicholas Britell - Walt Disney)

Infused with pop and classical styles, Britell gave the Disney prebootquel a lively accompaniment.

Best tracks: "Disney Castle Logo", "I Think You're Something", "I'm Cruella"

(Frank Ilfman - Milan)

Inventive and sinuous work by Ilfman for the all-star assassin thriller.

Best tracks: "Opening Titles", "Dressed to Kill", "To the Death"

(Rachel Portman - Lakeshore)

One of Portman's most engaging scores, with an appropriately bittersweet main theme.

Best tracks: "Growing Up", "Strong Opinions", "Bon Appetit"

(James Newton Howard - Walt Disney)

Howard provided a rousing score for Disney’s theme park adventure.

Best tracks: "Jungle Cruise Suite", "The Tree Fight", "Petal Negotiations"

(George Kallis - Walt Disney)

Who knows how some of these movies get made, but that doesn't stop composers like Kallis from wowing people with their exciting music.

Best tracks: "Finding Kolobok", "To the Land of the Dead", "The Battle with the Beast"

(Dan Romer - Walt Disney)

Romer provided a colorful and ineffably charming score for the Pixar confection.

Best tracks: "Meet Luca", "This Isn't Any Old Race", "The Portorosso Cup"

(Nathan Johnson - Hollywood)

Johnson's brooding score is a vital component of the noir remake.

Best tracks: "Storm's a-Comin'", "Lie Detector", "Grindle's Ghost"

(Amie Doherty - Back Lot)

Newcomer Doherty has a promising future ahead of her, as evidenced by this rousing Western score.

Best tracks: "Hendricks Tries to Break Spirit", "I Am the Train", "Leap of Faith"

(Bear McCreary - Sparks & Shadows)

An oddball murder mystery for which McCreary wrote a playful score.

Best tracks: "The Wallendorf Game", "The Game Called Snafu", "The End of the Game"

(Fil Eisler - Milan)

Despite the film’s sillier aspects, Eisler’s exciting music could come from a genuine superhero movie.

Best tracks: "This Town's Gonna Get What It Deserves", "6AM Day Two", "Boss Battle"

(Marco Beltrami - Sony Classical)

In the midst of a busy year, Beltrami’s flavorful score for the oddball sequel was especially terrific.

Best tracks: "St. Estes Reform School", "Mulligan Visits Eddie", "Venom and Blues"

Honorable mention: Barb and Star Go to Vista del Mar (Christopher Lennertz and Dara Taylor), A Boy Called Christmas (Dario Marianelli), Breaking News in Yuba County (Jeff Beal), The Claus Family 2 (Anne-Kathrin Dern), Don't Look Up (Nicholas Britell), Encanto (Germaine Franco), Ghostbusters: Afterlife (Rob Simonsen), The Last Letter from Your Lover (Daniel Hart), Last Night in Soho (Steven Price), The Last Warrior: Emissary of Darkness (George Kallis), The Mitchells vs. the Machines (Mark Mothersbaugh), Spider-Man: No Way Home (Michael Giacchino) and To Olivia (Debbie Wiseman)

My favorite CDs of 2021:

Banning (Quincy Jones - La La Land) - The golfing drama is largely forgotten today but for its Oscar-nominated theme song, but the tune supports a wonderfully jazzy score from Jones.

Extreme Prejudice (Jerry Goldsmith - Intrada) - Goldsmith's action score is rich in electronics, as befitting the gritty milieu of the neo-Western.

Hard Rain (Christopher Young - La La Land) - There are few action scores on Young's resume, and this score - the strongest aspect of this waterlogged drama - shows great facility for the genre.

Jerry Goldsmith at 20th - Vol. 3 (La La Land) - The Stripper is a pretty decent score, but...a complete S*P*Y*S! Do I need to elaborate on how incongruous (yet welcome) that is?

Lionheart (Jerry Goldsmith - Varese Club) - One of the true gems of last year's Gold(smith) rush was this complete edition of the lush medieval score.

Paycheck (John Powell - Varese Club) - The original 2003 program works well as is, but one can't help but cherish that every note of what may be Powell's best score is available.

The Prowler (Richard Einhorn - Howlin' Wolf) - One of the more insulting early 80s slashers was blessed with Einhorn's terrific orchestral score.

Space Truckers (Colin Towns - Quartet) - Towns's lively scoring turned out to be a good fit for Stuart Gordon's oddball space Western.

The Tamarind Seed (John Barry - Silva Screen) - Blake Edwards's spy thriller featured a silky score not from Mancini, but Barry, buoyed by a fantastic pair of themes.

Toy Soldiers (Robert Folk - Intrada) - The engaging Die Hard knockoff was treated to a tense action score; one of Folk's best efforts.

Other great CDs:

Die, Mommie, Die! (Dennis McCarthy - Dragon's Domain)

Drop Zone (Hans Zimmer - Quartet)

The Eiger Sanction (John Williams - Intrada)

Legend (Jerry Goldsmith - Music Box/Silva Screen)

Masters of Horror (Richard Band - Dragon's Domain)

The Pink Panther Final Chapters Collection (Henry Mancini - Quartet)

Somewhere in Time (John Barry - La La Land)

Stripes (Elmer Bernstein - La La Land)

To Kill a Mockingbird/Walk on the Wild Side (Elmer Bernstein - Intrada)

The Wind (Stanley Myers and Hans Zimmer - Notefornote)

Random thoughts:

- I’m sure you’re surprised to see this post up a little earlier than expected. Limiting myself to less than 100 scores to listen to will do that.

- I couldn't help but notice a whole lot of homages in film scores this past year: Morricone in Gunpowder Milkshake, Spirit Untamed and Army of Thieves; Charade in No Sudden Move; Bernstein in Ghostbusters: Afterlife (though this was likely by design); Barry in No Time to Die (ditto); Schifrin in Copshop and The Omen in Fear Street Part II: 1978. You'd think this would be fear of an unsettling trend, but I'm intrigued. If we forget music history, how will future generations know about it and continue it for further generations?

- Of the many scores released from major studio movies this year, digitally and (gasp) physically, one of the few to be left out in the cold was Danny Elfman’s The Woman in the Window. Even now, I remain gobsmacked that an all-star thriller from a major studio featuring music from an acclaimed composer would go unreleased. Was the film’s production that bad?

- Among the many specialty soundtracks this past year, a small portion of them (let's say...30%) were premiere releases. What's the deal with so many reissues? One gets the sense that the labels (the big three, in particular - Varese, Intrada, La La Land) sought to build up equity in these trying times by relying on what came before. Surely, one of them can afford to take a chance on a premiere release again. Disappointment is a 2021 emotion. We're in 2022, now.

- I'm pretty sure I've made clear my affinity for the work of David Newman, to the point where I got published on FSM an article detailing the still-unreleased titles in his filmography. (To be found here and here, if you're curious and why wouldn't you be?) Given such amazing compositional skill, it seems a waste to merely have him arrange the songs for West Side Story, don't you think? Still, if Best Achievement in Score Adaptation was still a thing, he'd have had a sure shot at a well-deserved Oscar...and speaking of...

- Now, no one's asking me for my Oscar picks, which is part of why they suck so bad. But - miracle of miracles - if they were asking, here would be my Oscar ballot:

Original Dramatic Score

Buckley's Chance, Christopher Gordon

Julia, Rachel Portman

Jungle Cruise, James Newton Howard

Nightmare Alley, Nathan Johnson

To Olivia, Debbie Wiseman

Original Score, Musical or Comedy

Cruella, Nicholas Britell

Don't Look Up, Nicholas Britell

Luca, Dan Romer

Spirit Untamed, Amie Doherty

Thunder Force, Fil Eisler

A prayer for the living.

So far, I’ve been pretty miserable this year, what with catching the omicron variant and the subsequent isolation I went through (and, I gotta say, work may have its slow spots, but being holed up in my room is boring as shit*). I still needed the bathroom and the kitchen, so my mother came up with a regimen of cleaning up after myself whenever the needs of the room were required.

After the five-day isolation period, I returned to work, as well as built up some strength (I hope) getting rid of the snow around my house. Last Saturday morning saw me making a much-needed trip to the store. I did my usual bobbing and weaving, but thankfully, I had a brand-new N95 mask to protect me. (Real talk: I can’t wear it too long as it tends to compress my nose too much...but better this than a hospital.)

My mother managed to locate some at-home tests for us, which we took today. Surprisingly, we both came up negative! However, that’s not the most amazing aspect. Back in the last week of December, I made an appointment for a booster shot, assuming that my test that I took in the wake of Christmas weekend would bear similar worry-free fruit. I forgot to cancel it. The appointment is for tomorrow afternoon, and if I’d made the appointment today, I’d probably be good around Valentine’s Day.

I’m feeling better - emotionally - than I’ve felt in a long time. Still, even with the protection that’s to come, I think I’ll keep up on the regimen, even if it annoys me. Of course, this likely means I may miss out on going to the movies for a while (if anyone spoils Scream 5 for me, they’re gonna wish they got blown up like the poor bastard in 3).

* - And given my hundreds of soundtracks and unfinished/barely started screenplays aching to be worked on, this statement is particularly damning. Maybe, it's time to do what Dad so menacingly told me to do over the years and get rid of some of the CDs.