Stan's "2021 in films (Ann and Stan)" and Ann's "2021 in films (Ann and Stan)" are their annual joint-posts on the year in film which we always cross-post here.
Ann and Stan here doing our usual year look back at films. In 2021, the pandemic continued. And a lot of bombs depressed the country even further. DUNE? Denis Villeneuve had already destroyed BLADE RUNNER when some idiot decided he was the one to reboot DUNE. Then you had Stephen Spielberg apparently now on fumes deciding to remake (ruin) WEST SIDE STORY. In "Why the West Side Story remake flopped," Marcia outlined many of the reasons the film flopped and we think this one is the most important one on her list:
Problem three?
Lack of star power. A bunch of nobodies.
In 1961, the original film came out. West Side Story, at that point, had been a huge hit on Broadway. Jack Warner didn't say, "Let's put the Broadway cast on film!" No. He knew nobodies weren't going to cut it.
Rita Moreno was an often photographed Latina actress (she'd had no real box office on her own and was better known for her cheesecake photos than for her films). She was still better known than the Broadway cast.
But Jack Warner knew that the film needed a star. Someone who people would pay money to see. Natalie Wood was a big name. She'd been a child star. In 1955, she 'grew up' with Rebel Without A Cause and earned an Academy Award nomination. She followed that with one popular film after another (and with the classic The Searchers). West Side Story came out after her massive hit (and Academy Award nominated performance in) Splendor in the Grass. West Side Story came out before her massive hit Gypsy.
Natalie Wood was huge. Where was the huge star that Spielberg cast in his remake?
No where to be found.
Get it? When the first film was made in 1961, while the show was a Broadway success, Jack Warner knew it required a star to carry it on the big screen. Somehow that reality eluded Stephen Spielberg -- maybe his mental state's degrading?
It was a bad film. There were so many of them. But here's our top ten of 2021's best.
10) BRUISED.
Halle Berry scored both in front of and behind the camera with this film (stream it on NETFLIX) which she starred in and directed. It's a big story with lots of elements -- domestic issues, alcoholism, dreams -- failed and ongoing -- and sports -- and director Halle navigates them so well, weaving throughout in a manner that holds you and moves you.
9) THE POWER OF THE DOG.
Jane
Campion returns in this film that features Kirsten Dunst delivering her
finest performance in years. There's much to admire in this film but
there's also Benedict Cumberbatch and we just don't buy him. He's got a
real problem of hollow performances. And he and his stretched out
face (did he have face lift?) are the weak point of the film. (Stream
it on NETFLIX.)
8) THE MATRIX RESURRECTIONS.
We loved THE MATRIX. We loved that first film. It was rooted in what appeared to be a world we might live in. The two sequels took us away from that and meant less to us. This film takes the threat back into the world we know -- or what we think is the world we know. And it roots itself in the relationship of Neo (Keanu Reeves) and Trinity (Carrie-Ann Moss). The chemistry between those two characters is still strong and present and we care whether Neo and Trinity will get together. The film has a lot to say about our would and the way we are controlled. Neil Patrick Harris makes a great villain. Everyone delivers and we really need to note Brian J. Smith because we were huge fans of SENSE8. (Stream it on HBO MAX.)
7) THOSE WHO WISH ME DEAD.
A
strong action film starring Angelina Jolie as a forest ranger who has
to protect the son of a whistle-blower. Angelina really delivers in
this film but so does everyone. Taylor Sheridan has gotten performances
worthy of praise from the entire cast including Tyler Perry and Jon
Bernthal (the latter of whom we've not been impressed with before).
It's a worthy and impressive credit on Nicholas Hoult's already
outstanding filmography. And it's a strong action film that more than
holds your attention. We're hoping that this year or 2023 will bring a
teaming of Angelina and Channing Tatum in an action film. (Stream it on
HBO MAX.)
6) THE MAURITANIAN.
Benedict Cumberbatch is the Stella Stevens of film in the 21st century. He keeps getting cast and delivering the same performance over and over. Hear he sports a strange and weird southern accent that goes to just how miscast he was. Otherwise, this is a first rate film directed by Kevin Macdonald and based upon the 14 year imprisonment of Mobamedou Ould Slahi by the US government. Shailene Woodley, Tahar Rahim and Zachary Levi are standouts but Jodie Foster? If Jodie Foster isn't nominated for an Academy Award, it'll be the greatest snub since the Acadmey ignored Cher in MASK.
5) ETERNALS.
It wasn't
critics that piled on, it was industry publications like VARIETY and THE
HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. They hated this film and wanted you to believe
that Americans did as well. These same trade papers pimped DUNE over
and over in their desperate efforts to save that under-performing bomb.
Enough Americans paid to see ETERNALS for the film to be the sixth
biggest grosser in North American ticket sales. DUNE? Not even in the
top ten. Academy Award winner Chloé Zhao directed this film with a sure
touch. She's managing both a large cast and many themes and she pulls
it off and then some. Strong praiseworthy work from Angelina Jolie,
Salma Hayek, Richard Madden, Bill Skarsgard, Gemma Chan, Brian Tyree
Henry, Lauren Ridloff, Haaz Sleiman and Barry Keoghan. This film offers
thrills and some deeper meanings as the Eternals have seven days to
save the earth. (Starts streaming on DISNEY+ on January 12th.)
4) WHAT WOULD SOPHIA LOREN DO?
Raising
a family and working outside the home, Nancy Kulik often found herself
questioning what the choice she should make was and, at those times, she
asked, "What would Sophia Loren do?" Born in America after her parents
arrived from Italy, Nancy grew up with Italian cinema and no one shined
brighter or intrigued her more than Academy Award winner Sophia Loren.
This film not only details how that played out in Nancy's life it also
brings Nancy face-to-face with Sophia. Quirky and touching. (Stream on
NETFLIX.)
3) SUMMER OF SOUL (... OR, WHEN THE REVOLUTION COULD NOT BE TELEVISED).
Ahmir
Thompson (Questlove of The Roots) directed an incredible documentary of
the year. It examines the Harlem Cultural Festival held in 1969 which
features live performances by Nina Simone, Stevie Wonder, The 5th
Dimension, Sly and The Family Stone, The Staple Singers, Mahalia
Jackson, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Blinky Williams and the Chamber
Brothers. That footage alone makes the film worth seeing. Thompson
also provides context and films interviews (like Mavis Staples
reflecting on dueting with Mahalia Jackson at the festival). (Stream on
HULU.)
2) TINA.
Director TJ Martin
delivered the best documentary of the year -- and this was a strong year
for documentaries -- if our list was a top fifteen, Andre Gaines' THE
ONE AND ONLY DICK GREGORY would make the list. It's a strong
documentary but what kicks TJ Martin's documentary onto the list and so
high on the list is that this is a reconfiguring of the way we see Tina
Turner. A rock legend whose songs will live on for some time, one of
the great live performers of all time, she is also someone that we think
we praise when we ask her about the abuse she survived. Tina is very
upfront about the post-traumatic stress she suffers from as a result of
Ike Turner terrorizing her and how questions can be structured in such a
way -- and often are -- that she has to relive the abuse. Remember,
Stephen Spielberg offered her a role in THE COLOR PURPLE but she turned
it down saying she'd already lived it. Tina's life has happiness now
and it's the sort of happiness we all aspire to. If you think you know
TINA, make a point to check out this documentary. Great documentaries
like TINA and SUMMER OF SOUL expand, enlarge our understanding. (Stream
on HBO MAX.)
1) SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS.
An amazing, fast paced adventure that is one of the most visually accomplished films of the year. There's really no superlative you can't attach to this film and it gives you a zip the way great films (think GOODFELLAS) do. And give it up for Awkwafina because she delivers and makes the film. Yes, she's great as the love interest. But the most important point she serves in the film is being us, the audience. Her questioning and disbelief echoes the audience in the beginning and as she accepts and witnesses events, we suspend disbelief as well. Simu Liu offers true star power and should be the star of many more films. Destin Daniel Cretton has made an unexpected classic -- and we mean classic film, not just classic superhero film. This is film making at its finest and this could be the first superhero film to win Best Picture at the Academy Awards.
Going out with C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"