Here we are, folks – the end of another year. And, while you wait for our resident film critic Brandon Vick’s list of the best and the worst of 2021, I figured I’d chime in with my own list. Unlike Brandon, I only see about 15-20 new movies each and every year. But, I almost always have something on in the background of my office while I get to work. It makes for a pretty funny…at least interesting…blend of new movies I’m consuming every year. So, I thought it’d be fitting to just take the blinders off and go all in on every new movie I saw, or every movie I saw for the first time in 2021, and rank them #1 through #whatever. For the record, the films on this list were released in 2021, unless denoted otherwise in parentheses. These are my rankings of the 41 movies I saw for the first time in 2021.
The Best Movies I Saw for the First Time in 2021
41. America: The Motion Picture – I’m all for sophomoric humor and alternative history, but this ain’t it, chief. It’s been a long time since I’ve turned a movie off before finishing it, but this one made me do it.
40. The Losers (2010) – Cheesy, campy, and corny – it was a good sick day movie to doze in and out of, but it runs just a bit too long and wears out its welcome by the end.
39. Robocop (2014) – How the hell did they get Michael Keaton to do this?
38. Clue (1985) – I liked this movie more after Steven McCash told me that they filmed like eight different endings and showed different versions of the movie in different theaters. But, nah….this one didn’t do a whole lot for me.
37. The Tomorrow War – I’m officially over Chris Pratt.
36. The Cell (2000) – Was it really that good? No. But, Brittany Fernandez called it creepy dark ASMR and I’m 100% in on that take. Visually speaking, it’s a marvel to watch.
35. High Fidelity (2000) – I can’t believe so many of y’all like this movie. It made me irrationally angry.
34. Mortal Kombat – There were parts of this one I really enjoyed, and overall, it did speak to my nostalgic inner child. But, they simply left way too much on the table. So many holes and disappointments.
33. Snake Eyes: GI Joe Origins – See: Mortal Kombat.
32. Unhinged (2020) – Russell Crowe is bonkers ass crazy in this one, and that’s the only thing that made this movie memorable, as it is one of the most meme-able movies I’ve seen in awhile.
31. Raya and the Last Dragon – Would probably like this one much more if I didn’t watch it with my niece and nephew approximately 80 times in a single week when I went up to visit.
30. Beckett – It’s fine. It’s a movie that exists.
29. Untold: Malice at the Palace – A fascinating look at one of the most explosive situations in sports history.
28. The Little Things – I really dug the performances in this one, but that ending…whew….I looked up like “that’s it?!?!?”
27. Red Notice – I thought this was fine, fun, and mindless family action. One of those that I could easily see in my regular holiday-time rotation.
26. The Guilty – Jake Gyllenhaal can do no wrong, even if this movie is a little on the crazy side.
25. King Richard – Dug Will Smith. REALLY dug Jon Bernthal. Everything else…meh. It felt like Venus and Serena said “hey remember that time that dad [insert fond memory here]?” and then threw random scenes into the movie.
24. I Care A Lot – Was it great? Sure. It stressed me the fuck out, though, and I’ll probably never watch it again because of that.
23. Army of the Dead – Mindless and grandiose fun. Perfect movie for me to watch kicked back in my recliner, get drunk af on gin, and kill a Friday night. Just admit it, y’all.
22. Aquaman (2018) – I put off watching this one for years because of my irrational phobia of sharks, but it wasn’t too bad. Though a little on the long side, I rather enjoyed this, which is more than I can say about most DCEU flicks.
21. Godzilla vs. Kong – A wonderful cinematic experience out at the Dolby Cinema, and while there were parts that could’ve been cut out, thought it was a nice little clash of the Titans.
20. Nomadland (2020) – Listen – I loved the cinematography on this. I loved the performances. I loved the bleak feeling it instilled within me. But, it’s just way too long and drawn out for my liking.
19. Venom: Let There Be Carnage – As long as Tom Hardy is as invested as Venom as he is, I’m all in.
18. Halloween (1978) – Yep – my first time actually sitting down and watching the original, and I totally understand why it became such a classic.
17. Gunpowder Milkshake – An excellent up-tempo action flick that I didn’t see coming at all this year.
16. Dune – Man, I wish I had seen this one in theaters. The effects…the style….the cast…it was a home run in my book.
15. Black Widow – I don’t get the hate for this one. I didn’t really care about it at all, but it was a surprisingly fun, albeit simple, story.
14. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998) – What a trip, led by two excellent performances. As much as I love Hunter S. Thompson, I can’t believe I hadn’t seen this one before. It’s in my “every summer” rotation now.
13. The Harder They Fall – Can I say that this is the coolest movie I’ve seen this year? While the story was a bit by-the-book, this cast made for one of my favorites this year.
12. Trumbo (2015) – I have no idea what made me select this one on a day off back in January, but I’m glad I did.
11. A Quiet Place, Pt. II – Loved the addition to Cillian Murphy to this franchise, and as good as these two movies have been, they have a shot at making one of the greatest film trilogies of all time if they can keep it up for the third installment.
10. A Quiet Place (2018) – Pt. 1 is 1A, and Pt. is 1B as far as I’m concerned. I only give the first one the nod because it has more John Krasinski.
9. The Green Knight – Yeah…y’know….I get why people won’t like this one. It’s long, drawn out, cold, and dark. But, I loved the performance from Dev Patel, I loved the setting, and I loved the ambiguity of it all. Also, it doubles as a Christmas movie so props for that.
8. Killing Them Softly (2012) – Nothing is cooler than cool Brad Pitt.
7. Best In Show (2000) – What a surprise hit in my book. I knew this movie had a reputation for being dry and funny, but I had no idea how much it’d be right up my alley until I watched it in preparation for an episode of Drinking With… this year.
6. The Suicide Squad – James Gunn put together what is in my book just about the perfect comic book movie. It’s right up there with Deadpool and Logan as the greatest R-rated comic films out there.
5. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings – To say I was surprised by how well Marvel handled this property is an understatement. It’s only behind Thor: Ragnarok in the MCU to me.
4. House of Gucci – Style, acting, sound, cinematography – it wore on me a little bit because of how long it was, but I was blown away by Lady Gaga and Jared Leto.
3. Promising Young Woman (2020) – If I were to give out five-star out of five-star ratings, this is the first of three I would’ve given this year. What an excellent movie with excellent and unsettling social commentary.
2. No Sudden Move – Nothing cooler than Don Cheadle and Benicio Del Toro set in 1950s era Detroit, caught up in a spiraling web of deception and crime.
1. Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020) – Excellent story. Excellent acting. It flew by because of how mesmerizing every scene was. I would’ve voted it Best Picture at this years Oscars.
What did y’all see this year? Let me know what you’re #1 would’ve been in the comments.
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network, and a Dogs Playing Poker on velvet connoisseur. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD, #BeBetter, and ‘Minds right, asses tight.’ “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, Yankee Candle, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley.
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