Best Comedy Film: Licorice Pizza
Runner Up: Together Together
Best International Film: Identifying Features, Quo Vadis, Aida? (tie)
Runners Up: Flee, The Worst Person in the World
Best Animated Film: The Mitchells vs the Machines
Runners Up: Flee, Raya and the Last Dragon, Encanto
Best Action Film: Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
Runners Up: No Time to Die, Nobody
Best Horror/Sci-Fi Film: A Quiet Place Part II
Runners Up: Last Night in Soho, Dune
BEST MOVIES OF 2021
RUNNERS UP
- In the Heights
- The Last Duel
- Old Henry
- The Suicide Squad
- I Care A Lot
- Identifying Features
- Dune
- Licorice Pizza
- A Quiet Place Part II
- Last Night in Soho
- Mass
- Flee
- Nine Days
- The Harder They Fall
- Spider-Man: No Way Home
- Together Together
- Pig
- Gunpowder Milkshake
- Quo Vadis, Aida?
- Judas and the Black Messiah
- The Mitchells vs the Machines
- No Time to Die
- Nightmare Alley
- No Sudden Move
TOP FIVE
#5: Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
The mesmerizing martial arts joining forces with incredible fantasy will leave any and all picking their jaws up off the floor. Simu Liu does not disappoint as Shang-Chi. It looks and feels as though he and this role, which will undoubtedly change his life forever, is truly meant to be. Awkwafina is fantastic as his best friend, and the same can be said for Meng’er Zhang and Michelle Yeoh – playing his sister and aunt, respectively. And in his portrayal as Xu Wenwu, father of Shang-Chi and his sis and leader of the Ten Rings for around a thousand years – Tony Leung cements himself as one of MCU’s top-tier villains. His greatest desire is to have a family reunion and free his wife he lost long ago. Love hurts and his pain can cause a ton of carnage when wearing those mighty rings.
Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton (Short Term 12) from a script he co-wrote with Andrew Lanham and Dave Callaham, they tell an outstanding origin story that’s beautiful, refreshing, visually stunning, and funny with a few fun surprises for fans to eat up. The phenomenal fighting sequences, the explosion of cultures, mythology and magic, and, of course, Morris are prime examples of what I’m talking about. The finale goes more than a tad haywire and is distracting in parts due to being soused in CGI. However, it still doesn’t even come close to ruining the specialness of what we’re witnessing and the widespread meaning at its emotional center.
#4: CODA
Writer-director Sian Heder’s phenomenal family drama is heartwarming and inspiring. Its narrative structure is nothing new, yet the genuine emotion that comes from an exceptional leading cast will make audiences smile, cry, sing, and laugh. There’s not a single false note in any performance, with Emilia Jones’ incredible talents coming across loud and clear. Along with such a respectful representation of the deaf community, this triumphant, feel-good film is a blissful celebration of inclusion, family fealty, and doing what you love to do – paving your own path in the process. It plays like a beautiful song that’s both personal and universal, and I loved every minute of it.
#3: C’mon C’mon
Joaquin Phoenix reveals his softer, loving side in Mike Mills’ magnificent family drama about connection, a mother’s strength, and listening to and understanding how a child (of any age) express themselves when life gets tough and makes no sense. Johnny (Phoenix) is a radio journalist who hasn’t seen his sister Viv (a sensational Gaby Hoffman) and her son Jesse (Woody Norman) in over a year. But when he comes to visit, it winds up being an unforgettable experience in how an uncle and his nephew deal with each other – growing slowly into something beautiful and moving.
Phoenix’s gentle, nuanced performance is something he hasn’t shown us in quite awhile and he’s never better. His excellent chemistry with the sensational young Norman is arresting and absolutely affecting. Told in stunning black and white, it’s impossible not to be enamored with Mills’ sweet, perceptive, and brilliant film. It feels honest and real, having a kind, empathetic soul that should be cherished. Not only is this the best of the fest, but one of the best films of the year.
#2: The Power of the Dog
Writer/director Jane Campion constructs a phenomenally perfervid and methodical Western drama that is unyielding in the way it places audiences in a boiling pot of romance, ego, aloneness, toxic masculinity, and pretending to be something you’re not. The Burbank brothers are rich ranchers, but couldn’t be more different. George (Jesse Plemons) is more sincere and gentle, and is looking for something more to the life he’s living. And marrying Rose (Kirsten Dunst) could very well fill that emptiness within him. Then there’s Phil (Benedict Cumberbatch) who’s a bona fide cowboy, but make no mistake – there’s menace and jealousy behind his eyes, getting off on individuals fearing him and the cruelty he dishes out.
Rose and her son, Peter (Kodi Smit-McPhee), are introduced to it straightaway. It’s only a matter of time before the escalating tension between George and Phil spills out and floods the breathless landscapes surrounding them. Every performance is cracking, as is Jonny Greenwood’s haunting score. In a role that we’ve never seen him in before, Cumberbatch is beyond magnetizing. He’s a truculent bastard scarred by his secrets and desires. Slow burning and perpetually perturbing, and by the final scene – you’ll be left speechless. Campion and the compelling cast are at the top of their game.
#1: Belfast
Listen to “Ep. 88: Belfast Review, Kenneth Branagh as a Director” on Spreaker.Brandon Vick is a member of The Music City Film Critics’ Association, the resident film critic of the SoBros Network, and the star of The Vick’s Flicks Podcast. Follow him on Twitter @SirBrandonV and be sure to search #VicksFlicks for all of his latest movie reviews.
Check out the SoBros Shop. Become a Patron. Give us money for no reason. Like us on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter @SoBrosNetwork. Watch on YouTube.
