Awards Moderator HarmonicGenerator Posted January 1, 2022 Awards Moderator Share Posted January 1, 2022 1 hour ago, Onyx2 said: Where's @HarmonicGenerator's annual film roundup? A yearly treat. Funny you should mention that, I’ve just spent my evening doing it!  Looks like I saw 43 new-release films in 2021, which is slightly more than usual for me. I’ll do my annual figuring out of where they all rank in the spoiler box below so you only have to read it if you want to. I’ll stick my final top 10 below the box. There will be musicals and there will be Marvels … sorry Devon for ruining your thread. I likes what I likes.  Spoiler Part 1. The beginning I think the first film we watched in 2021 was probably One Night In Miami - trying to get ahead of possible Oscar contenders before nominations were announced. Kingsley Ben-Adir is great in everything, and I immediately downloaded Leslie Odom Jr’s version of ‘A Change Is Gonna Come’ afterwards because it’s wonderful, but overall I found the premise more interesting than the execution. The best Regina King thing I saw this year was The Harder They Fall. I’m generally predisposed to enjoy 21st century Westerns but even so, this film’s fucking cool. Best I’ve seen Jonathan Majors, Idris does really good work, and LaKeith Stanfield does too. (A couple of other Western and Western-adjacent films while I’m there - News Of The World had a strong Tom Hanks performance and some stunning scenery going for it but not tons else, and The Power Of The Dog had a strong Benedict Cumberbatch performance and some equally stunning scenery, plus a really strong sense of repression and frustration that Jane Campion creates throughout the film. Could certainly see her getting a few nominations next/this year.) Linking LaKeith Stanfield and Oscar contenders, he’s also very good in Judas And The Black Messiah - as is Daniel Kaluuya. Though I admit I’m struggling to recall much more about that one, other than the two of them being very good. Other Oscar winners: Sound of Metal - loved this. Riz Ahmed was superb, and when you’ve got Olivia Cooke AND Lauren Ridloff in the cast you can’t go wrong. Wasn’t as in on the Paris scenes as the rest of the film but this was still my favourite of all the awardsy stuff. Promising Young Woman - really well done, made its points effectively. (However I have to admit my top Carey Mulligan film of 2021 was The Dig, which won no awards and was generally considered to be average and unremarkable. It probably is but I absolutely adored it. A gentle, relaxing drama about the discovery of Anglo Saxon artefacts in the 1930s - yes PLEASE. 100% charmed by the whole thing.) Minari - another charming one, with great performances all round, and one I’d definitely have missed out on if it hadn’t had its Oscar attention. My Octopus Teacher - octopi are amazing. I was not quite as keen on the humans here, but the central guy is doing good work for the oceans around South Africa now which is good. Nomadland - yeah, not for me, this one. Some really impressive visuals but can’t say I loved it, or even liked it much. My 2021 films (at this point) 1. The Dig 2. The Harder They Fall 3. Sound Of Metal 4. Promising Young Woman 5. Minari 6. The Power Of The Dog 7. Judas And The Black Messiah 8. One Night In Miami 9. News Of The World 10. Nomadland 11. My Octopus Teacher  Part 2. Cinemas are back! I made a New Year’s Resolution to get to the cinema more often when they reopened. I hopefully managed that. I really wanted my first film back on the big screen to be something BIG, spectacular and nonsensical. Godzilla vs Kong would have been ideal. But it came out on streaming in March instead so I rented it and watched it on the telly. BUT they did still put it out in cinemas when they did reopen and it WAS the first thing we saw. It is big and nonsensical and I liked the bits where the big monkey punched the big lizard and vice versa. Film 2 was A Quiet Place Part II. While it couldn’t recapture some of the magic of the first one (‘novelty’ isn’t the right word but it’s in the ballpark) it’s still brilliantly tense and it’s got one of the best prologues / opening acts I’ve seen this year. And now it’s time for Marvels & Musicals... Black Widow came out in July and it’s got problems but hell, it was brilliant to get that Marvel Studios fanfare on the big screen again. It also showcases Scarlett Johansson in a role she’s been underused in for a decade, and Florence Pugh’s awesome in it, and David Harbour’s good comic relief, and the opening salvo rivals Quiet II. And my wife loved it. She’s been waiting for another decent female led superhero film after being let down by Captain Marvel (where she left the cinema halfway through to go for a walk, she was so bored) and Wonder Woman 1984 (which I haven’t classed as a 2021 release because I think some English cinemas got it late 2020, but if I had, it’d be rock bottom of my 2021 list because it was rubbish) and Black Widow gave that to her. So anyway, after all that it was probably my favourite superhero film of the year. Of the other MCU releases: Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings - good fun, good action, good surprises, good cast. Generally good. Eternals - was really looking forward to this one when it was announced, but the trailers weren’t great, so I wasn’t really sure. The actual film has its flaws for sure, but there’s so much of it I really liked too - the first 15 minutes or so with a bunch of new heroes in cool costumes fighting and lining up and then Chloe Zhao hits you with some Pink Floyd… I was IN from that point. Also, Lauren Ridloff is in it, and Richard Madden wears a blue jumper towards the end that I want to wear SO much. Spider-Man: No Way Home - one of those which is a joyful experience while you’re watching it but if you think about it afterwards you start noticing all the logic holes. Probably my least favourite of the Tom Holland Spider-Mans. And I may as well do DC while we’re on superfilms: Zack Snyder’s Justice League - it’s basically a new film, so I’m counting this one as a 2021 release. Had to watch over several sittings because it’s so long, this is FAR better than the version that made it to cinemas. Even if you’re not a fan of the Snyder approach, you can see what we was going for much more clearly here - I admired it even if I didn’t particularly enjoy it. (Which is more than I could say for Snyder’s other one this year. I didn’t get on with Army Of The Dead even with Big Dave involved. It is also very long.) The Suicide Squad - contains many things I enjoyed. Big Match John. Idris having fun. King Shark. Nathan Fillion. And yet … very good-not-great for me. James Gunn seemed to take great enjoyment in having characters kill little birds. I know they were CG little birds, but still. No. No thank you. We didn’t just see big superhero blockbuster smashy films in the cinema this year. We did take in smaller fare too, like Supernova. The trailer for that one made me cry - the trailer! Oddly, the full film didn’t. But Tucci and Firth and their dog in the Lake District was still very well made and very moving at times. Right, let’s get the musicals done. Quite soon after cinemas reopened, In The Heights came out. It’s another one I was predisposed to like, and it was the film I was most looking forward to in 2021 (and originally in 2020). I fucking LOVED In The Heights. When I saw it in the cinema, I was getting to the end of the toughest month at work I’ve ever had, and was as close to breaking point as I’ve ever been. In The Heights uplifted me at the point when I most needed uplifting. It cheered me, it made me smile, it kept me going. Yes, if you can’t stand musicals you’d hate it. But I don’t and I didn’t. Two more musicals: West Side Story: went into this one with no preconceptions - I’ve never seen it on stage and hadn’t seen the 60s film until earlier this week. I didn’t love it as a musical, but Spielberg directed this beautifully - sweeping and cinematic - and Ariana DeBose was phenomenal as Anita. Having now seen the original film version… I think I prefer this one. If anyone here liked musicals that might be considered sacrilege. Oh well. tick, tick… Boom! It’s definitely not as accomplished as Heights or WSS from a filmmaking perspective. But it has got a sensational Andrew Garfield performance front and centre, some very good songs, and a story that I have to say drew me in more and more as it went on. Really enjoyed this one. My 2021 films (at this point) 1. In The Heights 2. The Dig 3. The Harder They Fall 4. Sound Of Metal 5. Black Widow 6. tick, tick… Boom! 7. A Quiet Place Part II 8. Eternals 9. West Side Story 10. Promising Young Woman 11. Godzilla vs. Kong 12. Spider-Man: No Way Home 13. Shang-Chi & The Legend Of The Ten Rings 14. Minari 15. The Power Of The Dog 16. The Suicide Squad 17. Zack Snyder’s Justice League 18. Supernova 19. Judas And The Black Messiah 20. One Night In Miami 21. News Of The World 22. Nomadland 23. My Octopus Teacher 24. Army Of The Dead  Part 3. Animation and stuff you can see on Disney+ now More than halfway there. Sorry. It’s been a good year for animation. Especially if you’ve had the good sense to see The Mitchells vs. The Machines on Netflix. What a tremendous film that is. Brilliantly animated, and the most I’ve laughed at any film this year. It’s hilarious, it’s heartfelt, it’s visually astonishing. Watch it! Disney+ released a couple of films over the spring and summer that I’d have gone to see in the cinema if they’d had a big screen release - and after seeing them, I wish they had. The visuals of Raya and the Last Dragon were the most impressive part of it and would have looked even better in the cinema (I’m so pleased we caught Encanto before it went to streaming - vivid, colourful, and the better of Disney Animation’s two films this year with some cracking songs. The ‘Dos Oroguitas’ sequence made my wife cry - as close as recent Disney’s got to Pixar territory there.) Luca made me desperate to go on holiday to Italy - everything looked so gorgeous on the TV screen, I can only imagine how beautiful it would have been in a cinema. I think I watched this not long after In The Heights, and it’s another one that really helped my mood and mental state. A lovely ode to friendship and summertime, with one of the GREAT movie cats in Machiavelli. And that pasta - YES please. Also animated on Netflix there was Vivo, which I only watched for the Lin-Manuel Miranda connection. It had a couple of catchy tunes but otherwise not much else to recommend it. We also caught Free Guy and The Last Duel in cinemas before they showed up on Disney+. When The Last Duel is good, it’s VERY good indeed - and when it’s violent it’s brutal and unflinching. But I’d have been happy with it being half an hour shorter, and I’d have trimmed most of that from the Matt Damon section which was the weakest of the three chapters for me. My wife didn’t like it at all, and made the argument that it could have just been Jodie Comer’s story rather than a woman’s story directed by a man and mostly written by men where two-thirds were from men’s points of view one of whom also wrote a main part for himself. We saw Free Guy on my birthday in August and I had fun. Reminded me of the kinds of throwaway blockbusters you’d go to see in the summer holidays. Like with Last Duel, Jodie Comer’s the best thing in it. Utkarsh Ambudkar in a supporting role was a good thing too. I also had fun with Jungle Cruise. Which I know I shouldn’t have because it’s objectively not that good. It’s trying to be like The Mummy. It’s not on that film’s level, obviously. But it has a go and I quite liked it for that. We rented it on steaming, I ended up watching it twice on consecutive nights and didn’t mind it either time. Can’t say the same for Cruella. Good soundtrack, and my wife loved the costume design and fashion aspects. I couldn’t get past the fact that we’re meant to like Cruella despite knowing she’ll go on to try and mass murder puppies. Nope. My 2021 films (at this point) 1. In The Heights 2. The Mitchells vs. The Machines 3. Luca 4. The Dig 5. The Harder They Fall 6. Sound Of Metal 7. Black Widow 8. tick, tick… Boom! 9. A Quiet Place Part II 10. Eternals 11. Encanto 12. West Side Story 13. Promising Young Woman 14. Godzilla vs. Kong 15. Spider-Man: No Way Home 16. Shang-Chi & The Legend Of The Ten Rings 17. Minari 18. Free Guy 19. The Last Duel 20. The Power Of The Dog 21. Jungle Cruise 22. The Suicide Squad 23. Zack Snyder’s Justice League 24. Raya and the Last Dragon 25. Supernova 26. Judas And The Black Messiah 27. One Night In Miami 28. News Of The World 29. Vivo 30. Nomadland 31. My Octopus Teacher 32. Cruella 33. Army Of The Dead  Part 4. Everything else I’ll rattle through these as briefly as I can. No Time To Die: Ana de Armas far and away the best thing in it. Good action, didn’t buy into the emotional side. Dune: took me a little while to get absorbed into it, but the second hour was Denis Villeneuve operating on an epic scale. Looking forward to Part 2. Barb and Star Go To Vista Del Mar: we’d heard raves about it so decided it’d be our Valentine’s Day film. Not for me. Tried my best but just didn’t click with it or find it funny at all. Baby Done: watched because we both think Rose Matafeo is ace. She is, but you’re better off watching Starstruck than this. The Green Knight: visually STUNNING, one of those films where every frame’s a work of art. As close to capturing the feeling of medieval chivalric poetry as a film will ever get. Deeply weird but in a very good way. Love and Monsters: There is a good dog in it. Also Jessica Henwick, who is great, but she’s very underserved, which is not. Last Night In Soho: it didn’t go down well on this forum at all, but I liked it - the first half more than the second. Anya Taylor Joy is always worth watching and Diana Rigg was too. Ghostbusters Afterlife: I don’t get the warm and fuzzy nostalgias for Ghostbusters (despite loving those first two films) so it didn’t really have the intended effect on me, but it was fine enough. Mckenna Grace is a star. People Just Do Nothing: Big In Japan: quite enjoyed this and got some good laughs from it. We’d just finished watching the series for the first time which helped a lot - not just because we wouldn’t have bothered with the film otherwise - it meant the characters were fresh in the mind which always helps with TV Shows: The Movies. Don’t Look Up: it gave me a frustrated churning feeling in the stomach. I think this is what it was trying to do, but it wasn’t how I wanted to feel on Christmas Eve night! My 2021 films (final ranking) 1. In The Heights 2. The Mitchells vs. The Machines 3. Luca 4. The Dig 5. The Harder They Fall 6. Sound Of Metal 7. The Green Knight 8. Black Widow 9. tick, tick… Boom! 10. A Quiet Place Part II 11. Eternals 12. Dune 13. Encanto 14. West Side Story 15. Promising Young Woman 16. Last Night In Soho 17. Godzilla vs. Kong 18. Spider-Man: No Way Home 19. Shang-Chi & The Legend Of The Ten Rings 20. Minari 21. Ghostbusters: Afterlife 22. Free Guy 23. The Last Duel 24. The Power Of The Dog 25. Jungle Cruise 26. People Just Do Nothing: Big In Japan 27. The Suicide Squad 28. Zack Snyder’s Justice League 29. Raya and the Last Dragon 30. Supernova 31. No Time To Die 32. Judas And The Black Messiah 33. One Night In Miami 34. News Of The World 35. Vivo 36. Nomadland 37. My Octopus Teacher 38. Baby Done 39. Love And Monsters 40. Don’t Look Up 41. Cruella 42. Army Of The Dead 43. Barb And Star Go To Vista Del Mar  So that would mean my Best of 2021 is: In The Heights The Mitchells vs. The Machines Luca The Dig The Harder They Fall Sound Of Metal The Green Knight Black Widow tick, tick… Boom! A Quiet Place Part II Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr_Danger Posted January 1, 2022 Share Posted January 1, 2022 Just reminded me how much I liked Love and Monsters and it’s 95% because of the dog. Probably the reason I got my dog this year too. Netflix are really shit at showcasing their good stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awards Moderator Onyx2 Posted January 1, 2022 Awards Moderator Share Posted January 1, 2022 Brilliant stuff Harmie. Agreed with many of your opinions. Thanks for the reminder to watch The Dig, I'd forgotten all about that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Devon Malcolm Posted January 1, 2022 Author Paid Members Share Posted January 1, 2022 28 minutes ago, Mr_Danger said: Just reminded me how much I liked Love and Monsters and it’s 95% because of the dog. My post would read much like this except with Jessica Henwick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr_Danger Posted January 2, 2022 Share Posted January 2, 2022 10 hours ago, Devon Malcolm said: My post would read much like this except with Jessica Henwick. I left her a 5% window but it’s a really good dog. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Devon Malcolm Posted January 2, 2022 Author Paid Members Share Posted January 2, 2022 Just expanding out my top 10, here's a top 50 I did of 2021 releases. I'd give all these four stars and above. Petite Maman (France) Another Round (Denmark) C'mon C'mon (USA) The Card Counter (USA) The Mitchells vs. The Machines (USA) Riders of Justice (Denmark) The Medium (Thailand) Censor (UK) Bad Trip (USA) The Killing of Two Lovers (USA) I'm Your Woman (USA) Apples (Greece) Sweat (Poland) All Hands on Deck (France) Pig (USA) Old Henry (USA) Dune (USA) The Voyeurs (USA) I'm Your Man (Germany) Undine (Germany) 200 Meters (Palestine) 7 Prisoners (Brazil) Shiva Baby (USA) The Truffle Hunters (USA) The French Dispatch (USA) Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets (USA) Val (USA) The Trip (Norway) Spencer (UK) Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes (Japan) Minari (South Korea / USA) Attack of the Murder Hornets (USA) Luca (USA) Lamb (Iceland) After Love (UK) Midnight (South Korea) Limbo (UK) Save Yourselves! (USA) Jumbo (France) Lapsis (USA) The Outside Story (USA) Gunpowder Milkshake (USA) A Quiet Place Part II (USA) The Nest (UK) The Rescue (USA / UK) Barb & Star Go to Vista Del Mar (USA) Raging Fire (Hong Kong) No Sudden Move (USA) The Sparks Brothers (UK) Nobody (USA) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members DEF Posted January 30, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted January 30, 2022 (edited) I've got to give a huge thank you to you guys. Particularly Dev for this thread and his top 50. This thread has been a god send. Last Sunday I tested positive for the vid. Luckily it's just a mild case as I'm triple vaxed. So isolation has essentially been the Best of 2021 movie marathon. I've watched 45 films in 7 days and watched every film recommended in this thread that is accessible via streaming that is at a reasonable price. Watched from the thread either in isolation or previously.... Spoiler Another Round The Mitchells vs. The Machines Riders of Justice Censor Bad Trip The Killing of Two Lovers I’m Your Woman Apples Sweat All Hands on Deck Pig The Voyeurs Undine 200 Meters 7 Prisoners Shiva Baby The Truffle Hunters The French Dispatch Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets Val The Trip Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes Minari Attack of the Murder Hornets Luca After Love Limbo Save Yourselves! Jumbo The Outside Story Gunpowder Milkshake A Quiet Place Part II Barb & Star Go to Vista Del Mar No Sudden Move Tick...Tick...Boom Nobody Shang Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings Sound of Metal Spider-Man: No Way Home Ghostbusters: Afterlife The Last Duel Wrath of Man For Those Who Wish Me Dead The Little Things Don’t Look Up The Father The Green Knight The Dig In The Heights The Harder They Fall Black Widow  Still yet to watch...  Petite Maman (France) C’mon C’mon (USA) The Card Counter (USA) The Medium (Thailand) Old Henry (USA) Dune (USA) I’m Your Man (Germany) Spencer (UK) Lamb (Iceland) Midnight (South Korea) Lapsis (USA) The Nest (UK) The Rescue (USA / UK) Raging Fire (Hong Kong) The Sparks Brothers (UK) Last Night in Soho West Side Story King Richard Titane  Re-evaluated Top 10  so far would be..  10. Riders of Justice - A toss up between this and Another Round. I think it gets the nod because of its comedy. 9. Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets - Cheers in real life. 8. Pig - The best Taken film. 7. Censor - Fantastically executed horror. 6. After Love - top notch simple drama. 5. Shiva Baby - Delicious 4. 7 Prisoners - Terrifying and utterly believable. 3. All Hands on Deck - Really charming and gave me the warm and fuzzies. 2. Suicide Squad - Still loads of fun. 1. The Father - Terrifying and heart wrenching but brilliant. To be honest they could all rotate positions on a whim. The only film I thought was a dud was Undine which was a bit of a chore. Edited January 30, 2022 by DEF Stupid phone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Devon Malcolm Posted January 30, 2022 Author Paid Members Share Posted January 30, 2022 @DEFÂ A good few of the films you have left are on Prime and Mubi at the moment, and a couple of them (Titane and Petite Maman) will be coming soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members DEF Posted January 30, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted January 30, 2022 (edited) 37 minutes ago, Devon Malcolm said: @DEFÂ A good few of the films you have left are on Prime and Mubi at the moment, and a couple of them (Titane and Petite Maman) will be coming soon. Looks like any of them that were there have been taken down from Mubi. Sparks Brothers is a 2.99 rental so I'm watching that now on Amazon. Otherwise I'm Your Man, Lapsis and The Nest are all available to rent at a reasonable price so I may rent them later. Unfortunately everything else is either home premiere prices or unavailable from the best I can tell. EDIT - Just got a dispatch notice on Blu for Raging Fire. Edited January 30, 2022 by DEF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Hannibal Scorch Posted January 30, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted January 30, 2022 1 hour ago, DEF said: Looks like any of them that were there have been taken down from Mubi. Sparks Brothers is a 2.99 rental so I'm watching that now on Amazon. Otherwise I'm Your Man, Lapsis and The Nest are all available to rent at a reasonable price so I may rent them later. Unfortunately everything else is either home premiere prices or unavailable from the best I can tell. EDIT - Just got a dispatch notice on Blu for Raging Fire. Spencer is coming to Amazon Prime soon. They just started running ads for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Devon Malcolm Posted January 30, 2022 Author Paid Members Share Posted January 30, 2022 1 hour ago, DEF said: Looks like any of them that were there have been taken down from Mubi. Sparks Brothers is a 2.99 rental so I'm watching that now on Amazon. Otherwise I'm Your Man, Lapsis and The Nest are all available to rent at a reasonable price so I may rent them later. Unfortunately everything else is either home premiere prices or unavailable from the best I can tell. Lapsis was recently on Film4, it might be back on soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members DEF Posted February 4, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted February 4, 2022 Watched Raging Fire this morning. Worth the wait. Donnie Yen is pushing 60 and putting out action that rivals anyone. As an action perv I'd have liked a bit more fighty fighty fisty cuffs earlier on but when it kicks off it really kicks off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Devon Malcolm Posted February 4, 2022 Author Paid Members Share Posted February 4, 2022 Donnie's in John Wick: Chapter 4, I'm sure he's saving something even better for that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members bAzTNM#1 Posted February 4, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted February 4, 2022 PUNQ usually reviews a lot of old films. I imagine some of them barely last an hour. Where do you all find you vintage films? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Devon Malcolm Posted February 4, 2022 Author Paid Members Share Posted February 4, 2022 1 hour ago, bAzTNM#1 said: PUNQ usually reviews a lot of old films. I imagine some of them barely last an hour. Where do you all find you vintage films? Thanks. Don't know where he finds them. But I find a lot on YouTube although the best place now is ok.ru. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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