I wish I watched this many films!

 

I loooooved seeing The French Dispatch at the bottom. It is pretentious and about half way through I was just waiting for the movie to end.

I wish I watched this many films!

 

I loooooved seeing The French Dispatch at the bottom. It is pretentious and about half way through I was just waiting for the movie to end.

Haha, I think my Cineworld Unlimited card makes things a bit easier. Me and my boyfriend go most weeknights when there's nothing much else to do lol. Hope you find some recommendations for things to catch up on at least!!

 

Thanks Herbs! :D

24. Old
directed by: M. Night Shyamalan
starring: Gael García Bernal, Vicky Krieps, Rufus Sewell, Alex Wolff, Thomasin McKenzie, Abbey Lee, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Ken Leung, Eliza Scanlen, Aaron Pierre, Embeth Davidtz, Emun Elliott

I was a bit weary going into after reading so many mixed reviews but I genuinely had quite a fun time watching & for that it deserves praise. The concept was actually pretty cool, and it was engaging to watch the characters age before our very own eyes. Props to the make-up and hairstyling department here for making it really realistic at times.
There were plenty twists and turns along the way to keep me entertained.

I enjoyed the pregnancy surprise and RIP to the baby for dying immediately as they’d not been fed for technically months, lol. I also though the experimenting for science aspect of the ending was a compelling twist that I hadn’t anticipated myself.

A few bits here and there that brought the film down a little. Some of the acting was really shoddy, and one liners felt forced in places. Additionally, their reactions to death were often pretty blasé which made the tone of the characters feel a little odd.

23. Tick, tick... BOOM!
directed by: Lin-Manuel Miranda
starring: Andrew Garfield, Alexandra Shipp, Robin de Jesús, Joshua Henry, Judith Light, Vanessa Hudgens

This was made for the musical theatre gays!
Andrew Garfield - what a performance. I really wish he was getting all the awards attention this year. He was so charming, and witty, and clever... he made for a really captivating lead. You really sensed that a star was being born in Jonathan Larson.
I loved the songs too. I didn't know about the story or the musical beforehand (I know 'Rent' fairly well but that's about it) so I was surprised at how familiar all the songs sounded. I guess that's due to the familiar writing style of Larson that is recognisable from his 'Rent' songs too. "Boho Days" was especially a joy to watch and I was just left wishing it was longer.
I'm glad this has made aware of a musical theatre legend that I was otherwise unfamiliar with beforehand. It was the perfect amount of true story mixed with 'made up bits by Jonathan' as it jokes at the start, haha.



22. Cruella
directed by: Craig Gillespie
starring: Emma Stone, Emma Thompson, Joel Fry, Paul Walter Hauser, Emily Beecham, Kirby Howell-Baptiste, Mark Strong

Still WOWING at the costume design. Despite being spoiled in the trailer, the burning dress reveal is already iconic. My favourite was the binmen truck reveal, that dress was just gloriously overdramatic.
Emma Stone was a delight - I hope we get to see her reprise the role in the future. Emma Thompson was very fun doing her best Miranda Priestley impression. And even Horace & Jasper were really fun side characters. Usually I find those kinds of bumbling companion characters really annoying but these had plenty of laughs too, and the whole audience seemed to enjoy them.

One of my favourite scenes was actually the mid-credits scene. It’s the sort of fan-service in-joke that I love. I hope it’s more than that though and it is actually a tease for a proper sequel with Pongo & Perdita. Even though it’s been done before, I just want more from this cast!

21. Free Guy
directed by: Shawn Levy
starring: Ryan Reynolds, Jodie Comer, Lil Rel Howery, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Joe Keery, Taika Waititi

Very fun! I’d defo watch a franchise of this like, give me Free City 3!
Ryan and Jodie were the most fun, they had loads of charisma. I loved Jodie’s in-game outfit, she looked like a bad bitch. She was hilarious when she found herself falling in love with an NPC as well. And then her blossoming relationship with Joe Keery was really sweet too (I was invested!)

Dude was funny at first too with his sentences being unprogrammed and unfinished. There was some really good gaming humour there lol until it got a bit stale at the end in all honestly.
It gets a whole extra star for the the Disney/Fox takeover and being able to include Cap’s shield, a lightsaber and Chris Evans!! I was beaming ear to ear in that scene.

Re-cap:
21. Free Guy
22. Cruella
23. Tick, tick… BOOM!
24. Old
25. Encanto
26. Boxing Day
27. The Last Duel
28. Roald Dahl's The Witches
29. West Side Story
30. Being the Ricardos
31. The Night House
32. Judas and the Black Messiah
33. Everybody's Talking About Jamie
34. Escape Room: Tournament of Champions
35. Cinderella
36. The United States vs. Billie Holiday
37. The Lost Daughter
38. Passing
39. In the Heights
40. Jungle Cruise
41. Help
42. Dune
43. No Time to Die
44. Stillwater
45. Run
46. The Woman in the Window
47. Don't Look Up
48. Titane
49. Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway
50. Single All the Way

I'm so glad someone else liked Old as much as meI really didn't understand the negative reviews - yes it was silly at points but it was a lot of fun and not to be taken too seriously imo

I'm so glad someone else liked Old as much as meI really didn't understand the negative reviews - yes it was silly at points but it was a lot of fun and not to be taken too seriously imo

Right?! Such a fun concept. I've not seen any anyone with the same opinion as me either haha so yay for us.

20. The Power of the Dog
directed by: Jane Campion
starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Thomasin McKenzie, Genevieve Lemon, Keith Carradine, Frances Conroy

I've never been known as a Western fan before, but throw in a bit of homo-eroticism and I'm there for it!
In all seriousness, this really wasn't what I was expecting going into it. I think Jane Campion does a good job with her direction by foreshadowing with little clues throughout. Every lingering shot or focus on something small comes back to mean something more later in the film. I really enjoyed that aspect of her direction. I'm glad she's getting so much praise for it.
There were occasions when I was a bit on the bored side but the cinematography kept me going through those.

Then the ending came out of nowhere and was really rather hitting. As an audience member, hearing the doctor say it was anthrax and then deducing where that had come from, everything just fit into place so well. It was really quite sad for Phil too, he had become quite likeable by the end - bless him.

Cumberbatch was brill! Smit-McPhee was great too - he really suited the role of skinny, awkward Peter (but so calculated too!). Dunst puts in a solid job as well.
This wasn't as high as it is here in my draft rankings but I just have not been able to stop thinking about it and that's the sign of a great movie, ey.

19. Space Jam: A New Legacy
directed by: Malcolm D. Lee
starring: LeBron James, Don Cheadle, Khris Davis, Sonequa Martin-Green, Zendaya

What a RIOT! I'm a sucker for all things fan service & pop culture and this provided that in spades. I genuinely had such a fun time watching this from start to finish. I was a little worried that I'd be bored as someone who doesn't care basketball in the slightest but it was like watching an action movie - so entertaining!
Loved seeing the different art styles from traditional cartoon, to 3D animation, to 2D comic style. It was just such a showcase and celebration of all things Warner Bros that it was impossible not to watch it with a big fat grin.

The Michael B. Jordan might've been my favourite gag in the whole film, it just came so out of left field that it really made chuckle.

The opposing team were really cool creations too and made for some really jaw-dropping moves. Despite being the whole third act, I felt like I could've even watched more of the actual basketball scenes still! The only downfall was the human side of things really with some shoddy acting from LeBron James, and a disappointed father figure storyline that's been done to death thousands of times before.
I've not seen the original Space Jam but I almost wish they'd pushed it even further with the remake. I imagine this is pretty close to the original, when the film we really wanted is to have the Warner Bros All Stars fantasy team of Hermione Granger, The Wicked Witch of the West & Catwoman (rather than have these properties just appear as side gags or background easter eggs). Maybe if we get another sequel in 25 years, lol.

18. Malignant
directed by: James Wan
starring: Annabelle Wallis, Maddie Hasson, George Young, Jacqueline McKenzie, Michole Briana White

Kind of hard to discuss this without spoilers, lmao. This was NUTS.

Wasn’t expecting the Professor Quirrell twist of it all, but I had a great time watching. It wasn’t really scary at all during the final act but I was having a great time watching the main girl backward crawl, backflip & stab her way through the crowd.

I would love to re-watch this with more people who don’t know what to expect,

just to watch their reaction at the T-Rex armed Voldemort-esque reveal of Gabriel!!

I think it’ll hold up on second viewing too as there were a lot of hints with the re-occurring bleeding head, adoption story & shared brain (that actually made sense once you knew the reveal).

This may just be an October spooky classic for me I think.

17. Luca
directed by: Enrico Casarosa
starring: Jacob Tremblay, Jack Dylan Grazer, Emma Berman, Saverio Raimondo, Maya Rudolph, Marco Barricelli, Jim Gaffigan

Stunning, gorgeous, beautiful animation. Just wanted to reach out and touch everything - Luca's hair, the SEA, the pasta... all of it was just so wonderfully designed.
The film itself was really rather lovely too. I loved how Italian it was. Every little one-off Italian phrase or street sign felt so authentic to my family and trips I've had there. I thought the concept of the sea monsters was really cool too. I was so on edge for the first two acts thinking they're playing it bloody risky and wondering when the first person would see them when they're wet on land.

And of course, it had the usual tear-jerker Pixar ending. I thought the sudden acceptance of sea monsters (just because they won a race and made friends with a little girl) was a little TOO neatly wrapped up.

But it made me smile, and the companionship between the three kids definitely felt earned at least. I think this is a tie with 'Onward' for my favourite Pixar film since 'Inside Out'.

16. Eternals
directed by: Chloé Zhao
starring: Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, Kumail Nanjiani, Lia McHugh, Brian Tyree Henry, Lauren Ridloff, Barry Keoghan, Don Lee, Harish Patel, Kit Harington, Salma Hayek, Angelina Jolie

Really appreciated how large in scope this was. The vast history of the eternals throughout time & universes was really interesting to explore. The final act on the beach was really gorgeous too - it reminded me of some of my favourite shots in Rogue One.
As with most of Marvel, the cool characters and powers is where the film truly peaks. I thought Makkari was the MVP, and I wish they’d utilised her more throughout. Druig was my second favourite so I hope they’re a power couple who appear more frequently going forward, lol.

I also didn’t see the twist coming either. It was intriguing to see some real internal conflict for once between team mates. Justice for Ajak.

At the end of the day though, it falls on the more boring side for the MCU and I'm not rushing to re-watching like the others.

Re-cap:
16. Eternals
17. Luca
18. Malignant
19. Space Jam: A New Legacy
20. The Power of the Dog
21. Free Guy
22. Cruella
23. Tick, tick… BOOM!
24. Old
25. Encanto
26. Boxing Day
27. The Last Duel
28. Roald Dahl's The Witches
29. West Side Story
30. Being the Ricardos
31. The Night House
32. Judas and the Black Messiah
33. Everybody's Talking About Jamie
34. Escape Room: Tournament of Champions
35. Cinderella
36. The United States vs. Billie Holiday
37. The Lost Daughter
38. Passing
39. In the Heights
40. Jungle Cruise
41. Help
42. Dune
43. No Time to Die
44. Stillwater
45. Run
46. The Woman in the Window
47. Don't Look Up
48. Titane
49. Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway
50. Single All the Way

Malignant was insane, cheesy and over the top in the best way. One of the most fun experiences I've had in the cinema of recent times!

Eternals was a weird one for me. I'm a huge MCU stan but this just feels like it would have worked better as a Disney+ series imo or in the very least would have gained from having one to set it up. Too many characters with too little time. I found myself not really caring for most of them because they weren't properly developed despite a good try from the director and team behind it. Had some interesting moments but it was just a bit too much in too little time for me lol. There were also some very obvious plot holes like

why didn't they help fight off Thanos? I know they said they weren't allowed to interfere with humans unless deviants were involved but I'd say giving humans tools definitely falls under "interfering with humans", also if the plan was to get the population to a certain number I'd say making sure half of the population isn't wiped out should 100% be in their own interest :lol:

 

 

I really enjoyed Free Guy, Cruella and just watched Encanto last night and it was really fun! Free Guy was very Ryan Reynolds by the numbers but the plot was fun/original enough that it still felt fresh and exciting. Encanto had some good songs (although personally not a big fan of LMM's musical style) but my main take was the storyline was a lot more fun than I was expecting. I love it when Disney explores cultures we don't see enough of in western media and while I wasn't pumped about the idea of a magic house at first and thought it looked a bit cheesy I was pleasantly surprised when I actually gave it a chance. Haven't seen Luca yet but might put it on soon.

 

Old .. idk personally I found it to be a bit weird and not the good kind of weird. So many plot holes that just made it a bit tough to get through and the acting was kind of bad.

 

Didn't notice you bumped off Don't Look Up and Dune already but those were easily two of my highlights of the year. DLU was such a great satire and while it wasn't explosive laughs all the way through it was littered with clever blink-and-you'll-miss-it jokes which is honestly my favorite kind of humor. The cast was also solid and I'm honestly stumped as to why it gets such bad reviews. It's a divisive film given the subject but it's also very important in times like today where podcast creators are considered more intuitive than scientists and researchers with far more knowledge of the subject at hand :lol:

 

Dune was just visually stunning and I absolutely love the worldbuilding going on here. I thought it was fitting that the TV show "Foundation" came out at a similar time because it was easy to compare the two. Despite featuring similar subjects they both take a vastly different approach to their world. Whereas Foundation wanted to show off the vastness of its universe, Dune took a more simple approach. I found the story of Dune to be very easily understandable despite the apparent complexity to the world and storyline. It was provided to the viewer in such a meticulous fashion that you didn't feel like everything was being spoon-fed to you via exposition but instead it gave me a feeling of satisfaction that you get when you finally solve a math problem you never thought you'd get through.

Malignant was insane, cheesy and over the top in the best way. One of the most fun experiences I've had in the cinema of recent times!

Massively insane, haha. I wish it was possible to experience it for the first time again tbh.

 

Cheers Jack!

 

Eternals was a weird one for me. I'm a huge MCU stan but this just feels like it would have worked better as a Disney+ series imo or in the very least would have gained from having one to set it up. Too many characters with too little time. I found myself not really caring for most of them because they weren't properly developed despite a good try from the director and team behind it. Had some interesting moments but it was just a bit too much in too little time for me lol. There were also some very obvious plot holes like

why didn't they help fight off Thanos? I know they said they weren't allowed to interfere with humans unless deviants were involved but I'd say giving humans tools definitely falls under "interfering with humans", also if the plan was to get the population to a certain number I'd say making sure half of the population isn't wiped out should 100% be in their own interest :lol:

 

 

I really enjoyed Free Guy, Cruella and just watched Encanto last night and it was really fun! Free Guy was very Ryan Reynolds by the numbers but the plot was fun/original enough that it still felt fresh and exciting. Encanto had some good songs (although personally not a big fan of LMM's musical style) but my main take was the storyline was a lot more fun than I was expecting. I love it when Disney explores cultures we don't see enough of in western media and while I wasn't pumped about the idea of a magic house at first and thought it looked a bit cheesy I was pleasantly surprised when I actually gave it a chance. Haven't seen Luca yet but might put it on soon.

 

Old .. idk personally I found it to be a bit weird and not the good kind of weird. So many plot holes that just made it a bit tough to get through and the acting was kind of bad.

 

Didn't notice you bumped off Don't Look Up and Dune already but those were easily two of my highlights of the year. DLU was such a great satire and while it wasn't explosive laughs all the way through it was littered with clever blink-and-you'll-miss-it jokes which is honestly my favorite kind of humor. The cast was also solid and I'm honestly stumped as to why it gets such bad reviews. It's a divisive film given the subject but it's also very important in times like today where podcast creators are considered more intuitive than scientists and researchers with far more knowledge of the subject at hand :lol:

 

Dune was just visually stunning and I absolutely love the worldbuilding going on here. I thought it was fitting that the TV show "Foundation" came out at a similar time because it was easy to compare the two. Despite featuring similar subjects they both take a vastly different approach to their world. Whereas Foundation wanted to show off the vastness of its universe, Dune took a more simple approach. I found the story of Dune to be very easily understandable despite the apparent complexity to the world and storyline. It was provided to the viewer in such a meticulous fashion that you didn't feel like everything was being spoon-fed to you via exposition but instead it gave me a feeling of satisfaction that you get when you finally solve a math problem you never thought you'd get through.

Wow, thanks for all the in-depth comments Jaf! Love a good movie discussion ALWAYS.

 

I think you've hit the nail on the head with Eternals. It just feels a bit too late in the game now to be introducing these God-tier characters that have been here all along supposedly. I guess we're asked to suspend belief all the time with comic book movies though and I still had a good time watching it the first time. I'm just not rushing back to it for repeat viewing like I normally am with the MCU.

 

The casa was perhaps my favourite thing about Encanto. I'd love to visit a recreation of it at a Disney land or something if they eventually do something like that. I'd recommend Luca though if you're looking for some gorgeous animation.

 

When it comes to Dune, I think I was one of those you're talking about that was a bit too dumb to get it first time lmao. I'm dying to re-watch it actually now that I do know more about the world and things. I'll definitely do it before we get the part two. Gorgeous film-making for sure though and Villenueve always delivers on that side of things.

 

Cheers Jaf. I enjoyed reading all of your comments here x

15. Black Widow
directed by: Cate Shortland
starring: Scarlett Johansson, Florence Pugh, David Harbour, O-T Fagbenle, Olga Kurylenko, William Hurt, Ray Winstone, Rachel Weisz

Coming out of thise, I did absolutely love it. I remember being a little worried going into this that it would feel like a step back as we're so used to huge galaxy-ending action from the movie side of the MCU recently. However, there was plenty of action to keep us entertained and the final act still managed to feel somewhat large scale.
Florence Pugh's addition to the cast was my highlight. She's like Marvel's very own version of Villanelle. I couldn't believe how much her performance reminded me of Jodie Comer!!

Some of my favourite parts were the face swapping/masking technology that Melina & Natasha used - that made for a really cool reveal. The Taskmaster scenes were cool too, especially when you could really seem them mimic the combat style of the Widows (as well as Cap, Black Panther and Hawkeye!!).

The pheromone was a bit silly though, haha. I know we suspend disbelief in superhero movies but how on Earth would that work?! And also, could she not have just gone across the room far enough away not to smell him & then shoot him right in the head like...

In hindsight, it does just feel a bit too little too late for this movie. If it was released in 2013 then I'd have been obsessed but there's little here to make me go running back to it. I am so happy with the secondary characters it did introduce to us. Long live the Yelena Belova era.

14. A Quiet Place Part II
directed by: John Krasinski
starring: Emily Blunt, Cillian Murphy, Millicent Simmonds, Noah Jupe, Djimon Hounsou, John Krasinski

My heart rate STILL hasn't slowed down. Literally on the edge of my seat for an entire 90 minutes that it was an actual relief when the end credits rolled.
So many scenes where my heart was literally in my mouth. The bear trap was this film's version of the nail through the foot scene from the first. I loved the back and forth storytelling of the final act too. It's rare for me to care equally about two storylines, but I was rooting for them all so much that I appreciated seeing how the two were linked & how both sides of the family were dealing with the monsters in real time. Any scene involving the little baby has me soooo uneasy.
Give us a Part 3!



13. House of Gucci
directed by: Ridley Scott
starring: Lady Gaga, Adam Driver, Jared Leto, Jeremy Irons, Salma Hayek, Al Pacino

I was really worried about the runtime of this before watching but I had such a camp old time and I didn't think it felt that long at all really. Plenty of jokes to keep me entertained and then heaps of deceit and melodrama as well. Gaga being front and centre of it all really stole the show.
She was by far the highlight. So engaging and it was just such a killer role (literally!). Some of her scenes were proper Oscar reels, especially her being told about the divorce outside of the school. Leto was a fun time too but I'm not sure whether it was actually good, or just a laugh.
I do agree with the criticism that it would've benefitted from being a more fleshed out TV series instead. It seemed to go from them meeting, to marriage, to having a toddler, to plotting murder quite suddenly - and I'd have preferred to see those decisions stew a bit more without the time constraints of a movie. It wrapped up really quite quickly with the epilogue of the court room and then the closing title cards too.



12. Venom: Let There Be Carnage
directed by: Andy Serkis
starring: Tom Hardy, Michelle Williams, Naomie Harris, Reid Scott, Stephen Graham, Woody Harrelson

Just as fun as the first one I thought. Far from a perfect movie but the runtime was the right length to keep me continuously entertained, and the jokes kept coming which kept things light-hearted. Proper popcorn fun! And it was nice to see it in an almost full post-lockdown cinema screening. It reminds me of those 00s comic book movies that aren't afraid to be almost too silly (along the lines of the first two Fantastic Four which I'm also a huge fan of, hehe).
Venom himself was the best thing about it, of course. He’s like a loveable uncensored teenager mixed with the cookie monster. The internal dialogue that him and Eddie Brock are priceless and they’ve still not got old. Him noping out when he realised Carnage was one of the red ones was hilariously timed, haha.
Shout out to Naomie Harris’ Shriek too who I thought was a good side character. I love a wailing sonic scream and her character design looked cool on screen. The eye make up & sound wave effects were some of my favourite visuals in the movie.



11. Annette
directed by: Leos Carax
starring: Adam Driver, Marion Cotillard, Simon Helberg, Devyn McDowell

I've certainly never seen anything quite like this before. I think that's what made me appreciate it so much. Telling a story of greed, fame, parenthood etc. but with a level of absurdity that nobody has dared to reach for before.
It balanced hard-hitting emotion with laugh-out-loud humour extremely well. The scene where Driver tells the story of tickling his wife to death was just so outrageous, and also expertly delivered (that was one of my favourite scenes).
On the other hand, realising that Annette has been a literal puppet by both parents... as a torture mechanism (from Mum) and an exploitation device (by Dad), until she is able to get her own agency at the end and free herself from their toxicity. Loved it, and I've appreciated it even more since reading up on it further after the film!
The Annette doll itself was a thing of nightmares. The absolute Chucky of it all!! Also, that birthing scene took me right back to the musical episode of Grey's Anatomy, lol.

Re-cap:
11. Annette
12. Venom: Let There Be Carnage
13. House of Gucci
14. A Quiet Place Part II
15. Black Widow
16. Eternals
17. Luca
18. Malignant
19. Space Jam: A New Legacy
20. The Power of the Dog
21. Free Guy
22. Cruella
23. Tick, tick… BOOM!
24. Old
25. Encanto
26. Boxing Day
27. The Last Duel
28. Roald Dahl's The Witches
29. West Side Story
30. Being the Ricardos
31. The Night House
32. Judas and the Black Messiah
33. Everybody's Talking About Jamie
34. Escape Room: Tournament of Champions
35. Cinderella
36. The United States vs. Billie Holiday
37. The Lost Daughter
38. Passing
39. In the Heights
40. Jungle Cruise
41. Help
42. Dune
43. No Time to Die
44. Stillwater
45. Run
46. The Woman in the Window
47. Don't Look Up
48. Titane
49. Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway
50. Single All the Way

Edited January 23, 20223 yr by Josh!

10. Last Night in Soho
directed by: Edgar Wright
starring: Thomasin McKenzie, Anya Taylor-Joy, Matt Smith, Michael Ajao, Terence Stamp, Diana Rigg

I was so pleasantly surprised by this!! I thought it'd be quite run-of-the-mill but I was really, really hooked. I loved the sense of humour throughout too. The first 30 mins or so were basically a comedy, lmao. I need a Mean Girls-esque spin-off starring Jocasta ASAP.
I adored the 60s scenes and how gorgeous the cinematography was especially. I found Eloise's wide-eyed naivety really endearing, and I felt much the same way when watching the first flashback scenes. It was enthralling to see her spiral as her idealistic dreams of London began to sour.

The TWIST of it at all as well. I didn't see it coming but it made perfect sense by the end. I think that it'll hold up on re-watch too. Plenty of little hints like 'keep the plugs covered as you'll smell it in the summer'... gross!

What's scarier than a ghost horror? A ghost horror about predatory men. The first scene of the creeping cab driver helped set the unnerving tone from the outset.

09. Ghostbusters: Afterlife
directed by: Jason Reitman
starring: Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard, Mckenna Grace, Bokeem Woodbine, Paul Rudd, Logan Kim, Celeste O'Connor, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Annie Potts, Sigourney Weaver

This is a franchise that has really benefitted from a remake bringing it into the 21st century with this one. I loved the focus on the younger generation - it gave me major It: Part One/Stranger Things vibes. Perfect balance of new meets old & the nostalgia helped to make this a successful follow-up.
What a stellar cast. McKenna Grace has the makings of a star. She was so adorable and dorky and she really carried the movie. Carrie Coon was iconic too. Loved how ‘over it’ her attitude was to begin with and then she was camp af when

she got possessed in the final act too.

Shout out to Paul Rudd for being such a professional too and so damn likeable.
As someone who disliked the original 1984 movie, this really blew it out of the water for me. It had comedy that actually landed (the mini Stay Puft marshmallow men were GENIUS!) and really cool action (it was nice to see the iconic monsters revisited with much stronger CGI as well). A super likeable cast and the perfect amount of fan service. Kudos!

08. The Father
directed by: Florian Zeller
starring: Anthony Hopkins, Olivia Colman, Mark Gatiss, Imogen Poots, Rufus Sewell, Olivia Williams

What a hard-hitting film. Those final few scenes set in the care home got me close to tearing up. A huge testament to the directing this film that enables you to empathise so much with Anthony in the film, even if you have no experience with dementia yourself. You feel a similar sense of confusion and frustration as a viewer due to the way the scenes are shot and edited together (It was a really interesting direction to take, I thought).
Wow at the acting performances too. There were plenty of zoomed in close-up shots of the actors which means every little reaction was given extra importance. Hopkins put together a flawless performance, the shower of awards he has received speak for themselves. Colman was brilliant too, lots of notable scenes with wet eyes where she tries to hold it together for her family but is beginning to struggle under the immense pressure she faces - it's her character that helps to bring a human touch to the film, and is the one that most viewers can probably relate with as well.



07. CODA
directed by: Sian Heder
starring: Emilia Jones, Eugenio Derbez, Troy Kotsur, Ferdia Walsh-Peelo, Daniel Durant, Marlee Matlin

One of those life-affirming movies where you go away thinking about family and making the most of life. It had everything going for it really. It was humorous ('you've got to put the helmet on your soldier'!!). It had some brilliant acting on show. Plus, it really showcased some struggled that I didn't know much about beforehand so it has educated me in a way too. What more can I ask of a film. Perhaps it was wrapped up a little too neatly in a nice bow, but sometimes we deserve happy endings - right!?
I would love to see both Matlin and Kotsur nominated at the Oscars this year. Matlin telling her daughter she wished she'd be deaf at birth was such a Oscar clip moment. The closest I came to tears was when her father was feeling the vibrations of her singing from the diaphragm in that intimate moment after the show. I was all choked up there.



06. The Suicide Squad
directed by: James Gunn
starring: Margot Robbie, Idris Elba, John Cena, Joel Kinnaman, Sylvester Stallone, Viola Davis, Jai Courtney, Peter Capaldi

Hugely enjoyable movie from start to finish. I was also a fan of the Suicide Squad that came before it to be honest, but I can see how this was an improvement.
My favourite new characters being King Shark (definitely the one who provided the most laughs), TDK (he had one of the funnier powers, lol) and Peacemaker (can’t wait to see more thsi year!). I was a little gutted that they

created largely a clean slate with the opening scene, because I’d like to have seen more of Captain Boomerang :(

I also loved the way the title cards were designed alongside the scenery. The film had such a fun artistic flair throughout, & I felt that this really added to it. The action scenes too were brilliant mainly. Not often you see a giant starfish tearing down a city but it did feel very threatening still, and the millions of tiny babies shooting out at full speed added to the sense of dread.

Re-cap:
06. The Suicide Squad
07. CODA
08. The Father
09. Ghostbusters: Afterlife
10. Last Night in Soho
11. Annette
12. Venom: Let There Be Carnage
13. House of Gucci
14. A Quiet Place Part II
15. Black Widow
16. Eternals
17. Luca
18. Malignant
19. Space Jam: A New Legacy
20. The Power of the Dog
21. Free Guy
22. Cruella
23. Tick, tick… BOOM!
24. Old
25. Encanto
26. Boxing Day
27. The Last Duel
28. Roald Dahl's The Witches
29. West Side Story
30. Being the Ricardos
31. The Night House
32. Judas and the Black Messiah
33. Everybody's Talking About Jamie
34. Escape Room: Tournament of Champions
35. Cinderella
36. The United States vs. Billie Holiday
37. The Lost Daughter
38. Passing
39. In the Heights
40. Jungle Cruise
41. Help
42. Dune
43. No Time to Die
44. Stillwater
45. Run
46. The Woman in the Window
47. Don't Look Up
48. Titane
49. Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway
50. Single All the Way

Edited January 24, 20223 yr by Josh!

omg does this mean Promising Young Woman is in the Top 5?? *.*

omg does this mean Promising Young Woman is in the Top 5?? *.*

 

(yes!!)

 

05. Raya and the Last Dragon
directed by: Don Hall, Carlos López Estrada
starring: Kelly Marie Tran, Awkwafina, Izaac Wang, Gemma Chan, Daniel Dae Kim, Benedict Wong

I had put off watching this one for ages due to premier access and not wanting to fork out - BUT after seeing this, it was probably worth my money all along. It's just so nice to have a proper Disney animation after a bit of a wait since Frozen 2 (which wasn't really one of their very best).
I just absolutely adored this. It felt like such an adventure! My favourite part was the Divergent-esque factions and exploring all of those different worlds throughout the film. The villains turning people to stone was interesting too, those parts reminded me of the Chronicles of Narnia. Sisu first flying reminded me lots of Harry Potter riding Buckbeak too, lol. Also the plot was very reminiscent of the search for Infinity Stones in the MCU. All of those fun similarities/references wrapped into one film made it such an exciting quest.
Sisu was probably my favourite character. Awkwafina is great at creating that goofy loveable character (and it was exciting seeing what powers she'd get from touching the stones too). Shoutout to the adorable conman baby as well, she could rob me any day and I'd let it slide.



04. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
directed by: Destin Daniel Cretton
starring: Simu Liu, Awkwafina, Meng'er Zhang, Fala Chen, Florian Munteanu, Benedict Wong, Michelle Yeoh, Ben Kingsley, Tony Leung

As someone who went in a bit sceptical of such an unknown character being the star of a solo movie, this has truly won me over. As far as the one goal of origin movies goes, I cannot WAIT to re-enter this world.
One of my main highlights were the action scenes. They brought a really cool dance-like choreographed combat style to the MCU that we haven’t seen before. The original fight between mother/father in the forest was like watching a performance - totally captivating!
The Asian setting made for some awesome animal character design too. Each creature was like a Pokémon brought to life! I want to reach out and touch/pet/ride them all.
Loved all the women as per usual. It was like Black Panther in that sense where the titular character is charming enough but the females are the main badasses. Shang-Chi’s sister and aunt totally stole the show with their powers & outfits. Awkwafina was just as delightful as ever too with her excellent comedic timing. I loved the scene of her ripping into him for changing Shang to Shaun whilst on the run.
However, the main source of jokes came from Ben Kingsley’s return. He had the whole audience chuckling - my favourite gag being him playing dead in the battle sequence. I wish I’d actually seen Iron Man 3 now so that had been even more impactful (guess I’ll have to catch-up, lol).
It ends with The Ten Rings will return… Tell us when & I’ll be there opening night!!
Also, it holds up on re-watch, 100%. The bus scene with Razor Fist & the fight sequence on the scaffolding are two of my favourite action scenes in 2021.
I love, love, love Awkwafina. She is THE highlight.



03. Minari
directed by: Lee Isaac Chung
starring: Steven Yeun, Han Ye-ri, Alan Kim, Noel Kate Cho, Youn Yuh-jung, Will Patton

Everything about this was just so delicately produced and made with such care. The scenery was beautiful, the attention to character detail was immense, and the relatability of it all made it hit home so much.
Saying that, I think a lot of this reminded me of growing up with Italian immigrant grandparents and the process of getting to know them as much as possible. A lot of the scenes with the grandma really stuck with me, and made me nostalgic for my own childhood. What a standout performance from ‎Youn Yuh-jung - she had me close to tears with emotion at times, as well as smiling from cheek to cheek at others.
Little David was absolutely adorable. I can see why he took the awards season by storm. Those little cowboy boots little made me broody, bless him.
That final 15 mins or so too. Phew! Proper heart in mouth moment.



02. Promising Young Woman
directed by: Emerald Fennell
starring: Carey Mulligan, Bo Burnham, Alison Brie, Clancy Brown, Jennifer Coolidge, Laverne Cox, Connie Britton

Super thought provoking stuff. Been reading up all evening about different interpretations of the plot, and that's always the best kind of film. Carey Mulligan aced it too, she had that perfect balance of being somewhat dead inside, but still getting a buzz from that one that keeps her going.
Really vibrant colour palette & fun soundtrack as well - bonus points for using Paris Hilton's "Stars Are Blind" during an entire scene.



01. Spider-Man: No Way Home
directed by: Jon Watts
starring: Tom Holland, Zendaya, Benedict Cumberbatch, Jacob Batalon, Jon Favreau, Jamie Foxx, Willem Dafoe, Alfred Molina, Benedict Wong, Tony Revolori, Marisa Tomei,

Andrew Garfield, Tobey Maguire, Rhys Ifans, Thomas Haden Church, Charlie Cox

Iconic of Disney/the MCU to actually pull this off. Every cameo and reference you've ever dreamed of in one movie. It's like an amazing fan-fiction come to life! Green Goblin and Dr. Octopus are such classics. They really steal the show here.
It's almost impossible to pick the highlights. Tom Holland is perfect in every way.

Andrew Garfield was so adorable, & the Tobey Maguire nostalgia gave me so much joy. Seeing his Parker face off against Goblin & Ock yet again in 2021 - wow!!

Shout out to Zendaya's MJ too. That last scene

in her workplace/diner was gutting. It reminded of The Doctor/Clara Oswald goodbye in Doctor Who.
Gutted about Aunt May but I'm glad she got to show off what a badass she was. I really enjoyed her being utilised more here, and she still had such a big presence in the finale/outcome of the movie despite not being physically there.

On rewatch I was just thinking 'Wow, they actually revisited Dr. Octopus and Green Goblin so fantastically here'. It’s the perfect swan song for both Molina’s and Dafoe’s depictions.

Knowing how the scene in the coffee shop at the end pans out, Zendaya really got me in my feels on re-watch with that goodbye whispered ‘I love you’ to Peter Parker. I don’t want this to be their ending !! :cry:

Edited January 25, 20223 yr by Josh!

and here's the final countdown! Thank you to everyone for their comments, debates and insights. I've appreciated them all!!

 

2021

01. Spider-Man: No Way Home

02. Promising Young Woman

03. Minari

04. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

05. Raya and the Last Dragon

06. The Suicide Squad

07. CODA

08. The Father

09. Ghostbusters: Afterlife

10. Last Night in Soho

11. Annette

12. Venom: Let There Be Carnage

13. House of Gucci

14. A Quiet Place Part II

15. Black Widow

16. Eternals

17. Luca

18. Malignant

19. Space Jam: A New Legacy

20. The Power of the Dog

21. Free Guy

22. Cruella

23. Tick, tick… BOOM!

24. Old

25. Encanto

26. Boxing Day

27. The Last Duel

28. Roald Dahl's The Witches

29. West Side Story

30. Being the Ricardos

31. The Night House

32. Judas and the Black Messiah

33. Everybody's Talking About Jamie

34. Escape Room: Tournament of Champions

35. Cinderella

36. The United States vs. Billie Holiday

37. The Lost Daughter

38. Passing

39. In the Heights

40. Jungle Cruise

41. Help

42. Dune

43. No Time to Die

44. Stillwater

45. Run

46. The Woman in the Window

47. Don't Look Up

48. Titane

49. Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway

50. Single All the Way

51. The Colour Room

52. Halloween Kills

53. Nobody

54. King Richard

55. Ron's Gone Wrong

56. The Matrix Resurrections

57. The Green Knight

58. F9

59. The Croods: A New Age

60. Spencer

61. Those Who Wish Me Dead

62. Another Round

63. Sound of Metal

64. He's All That

65. Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard

66. Nomadland

67. Godzilla vs. Kong

68. The Guilty

69. The Addams Family 2

70. The King's Man

71. Pieces of a Woman

72. Gunpowder Milkshake

73. Supernova

74. Candyman

75. Dear Evan Hansen

76. Red Notice

77. A Boy Called Christmas

78. Respect

79. Don't Breathe 2

80. Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins

81. Pig

82. The French Dispatch

'til next year!

 

That's a pretty great top 10 from what I know, I agree Last Night in Soho was great, it did run out of steam a bit towards the end, but it was still enjoyable and the earlier 60s settings were stunningly shot. Minari, Promising Young Woman and The Father were all excellent awards films, the latter especially was really tear-jerking and I had a lot of fun seeing Suicide Squad as well.

 

I need to check out Coda, hearing very good things. The Spider-Man movies have been a bit hit or miss for me, but I'm hearing universally good things about this one so I'll have to check it out (I've avoided even Googling it due to rife of spoilers :lol:)

 

 

I enjoyed your number one pick, as well as Luca, Suicide Squad, No Time To Die, Raya, Judas and Black Widow

Nomadland and Sound Of Metal were solid

Nobody was ridiculously fun. That scene with the fight on the bus was so funny. Reminded me of Hobbs & Shaw in some way.

I found Eternals to be one of the weaker MCU films but I still liked it

I enjoyed your number one pick, as well as Luca, Suicide Squad, No Time To Die, Raya, Judas and Black Widow

Nomadland and Sound Of Metal were solid

Nobody was ridiculously fun. That scene with the fight on the bus was so funny. Reminded me of Hobbs & Shaw in some way.

I found Eternals to be one of the weaker MCU films but I still liked it

Hi Dalek

 

I'm glad you enjoyed some of my faves. Have you watched any movies yet in 2022?

I'm with you on Eternals with it landing as my least fave MCU movie of the year. I'd place it near the bottom of my overall ranking too near to Iron Man and the Incredible Hulk. I'm certainly not rushing to re-watch it.

 

Thanks for your comments!

 

That's a pretty great top 10 from what I know, I agree Last Night in Soho was great, it did run out of steam a bit towards the end, but it was still enjoyable and the earlier 60s settings were stunningly shot. Minari, Promising Young Woman and The Father were all excellent awards films, the latter especially was really tear-jerking and I had a lot of fun seeing Suicide Squad as well.

 

I need to check out Coda, hearing very good things. The Spider-Man movies have been a bit hit or miss for me, but I'm hearing universally good things about this one so I'll have to check it out (I've avoided even Googling it due to rife of spoilers :lol:)

Thank you for your comments along the way Chez.

 

I think I was just having such a great time with LNIS, it was just gorgeous and felt timeless in a way. Predatory men have never felt so terrifying either.

 

Definitely check out CODA, I can't recommend it enough. It's life affirming in the best way. I hope it gets some Oscars attention next month!

 

Good job I spoilered a heap of that Spidey review, haha. You've done very well to avoid spoilers though, it's all I see on Twitter & Reddit. Even Facebook & TikTok are infiltrated, haha!

 

Thanks again :heart:

YESS!! at Promising Young Woman coming top 2!! It's seriously one of my fav movies of all time and I think the twist was so shocking we were honestly all still shook days after watching the movie that they actually did THAT.

 

Spider Man was amazing as well so I can fully understand it winning (and was kind of expecting it as I know you're a big MCU fan). It was a great theater experience even if I had already had those GASP! moments spoiled to me prior by accident lol.

 

Shang-Chi was great and Simu Liu is just :wub: :wub: although it was a bit silly to me but tbh it was just a Marvel movie through and through. :lol:

 

Raya was gorgeous & easily my fav animated feature of the year. Absolutely stunning. Interesting to see Awkwafina warm two spots in your top 5 :lol:

 

 

Hi Dalek

 

Have you watched any movies yet in 2022?

 

 

 

 

Not yet! Of the ones that are already out, The 355 and Scream 2022 look interesting.

I'm looking forward to the Batman movie coming out in March, and also Turning Red but that's being moved to Disney+