2021 "Top Ten" (Categories)

Two years ago, I stopped doing “top 10/20/whatever” lists and just decided to put everything from that year that I saw into 10 categories, from nope to yaaaaaassssss. I liked that idea so much I decided to do it again, so here are my TOP 10 (CATEGORIES) OF 2021 MOVIES. I saw 81 new movies this year (not including "new to me" movies, which is a whole other list), which is down from 2019's 108 but still a lot, so buckle up!

What you won’t see – I haven’t seen the new MATRIX yet (never saw REVOLUTIONS and I just generally need to revisit the whole series). Nor have I seen the new Spidey (only saw HOMECOMING because I had to for AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR, and I still haven’t seen FAR FROM HOME – there are Too Many Spideys! Don’t @ me about Batman in the 90s; those movies didn’t restart the timeline Every Dang Time).  I also have not seen a few arthouse movies I was dying to see but they came out too late in the year and I wasn’t in a place where I could see them (namely, THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH, PARALLEL MOTHERS, and CYRANO). I also haven’t seen The Lost Daughter yet, which I've heard great things about. And there are a handful of foreign films that are being held hostage for another month or so that I’m dying to see (namely, THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD).

Again, to spare you scrolling through everything, I've linked to each category below, plus listed all the films in all but the top two categories (which might be all you care about anyway), if you want to pick and choose that way.

All movies in all categories are listed in alphabetical order.

10. Thanks, I Hated It - The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, The Sadness, Wrong Turn, Mortal Kombat (2021)

9. Just Not My Jam (but Others Like them and That's Okay) - Ema, The French Dispatch, The Many Saints of Newark, Silent Night (2021)

8. Mixed Bags - Black Friday, Candyman (2021), Cry Macho, Fear Street trilogy, Framing Britney Spears, House of Gucci, No Time to Die, Psycho Goreman

7. Didn't Knock My Socks Off, but Still Pretty Good - Agnes, Black Widow, Don't Look Up!, The Eyes of Tammy Faye, The Found Footage Phenomenon, Free Guy, Gunpowder Milkshake, Let the Wrong One In, Muppets Haunted Mansion, A Quiet Place Part II, Strawberry Mansion, Wrath of Man, Yellow Dragon's Village

6. Should I Love This? - Malignant

5. I Love You, but I'm Not *in* Love with You - Antlers, Drive My Car, The Eternals, The Last Duel, Licorice Pizza, No Sudden Move, Red Rocket, The Suicide Squad

4. Delightful Surprises - Belfast, Belle, Bo Burnham: Inside, Dune, Flee, The Harder They Fall, Luca, Shiva Baby, There's Someone Inside Your House, Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched

3. Crank These Up to Eleven and Roll Down the Window! - After Blue, Benedetta, Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes, In the Heights, King Richard, New York Ninja, Nobody, Raya and the Last Dragon, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, She Will, Slumber Party Massacre (2021), Spencer, Tina

2. The Gold Standard (click link to view)

1. Behold! Cinema! (click link to view)

2021 Top Ten (Categories).- #1

 1. Behold! Cinema!

Thank you, Katie Mitchell (of THE MITCHELLS VS. THE MACHINES) for the perfect title for my top category. These movies, for me, transcend the notion of "lists" and "best of"s. If the other categories are the colors of the rainbow, these are the eighth color -- what Pratchett would call Octarine, or the color of Magic. Sound cheesy? I don't care. These movies all rocked my face clean off. They are all gigantic swings from at least two directors who are known for wild swings (and I'd argue the third has been making them for at least his two most recent films, but he's still a bit defined by his previous work). All of these movies have made me rethink what movies even are, and they are far and away my favorites of the year.

(All of these movies are currently available to rent on streaming services and will be avaiable to own digitally or on physical media over the next few weeks.)

Ladies and gentlemen, we now ask for your complete attention. If you want to sing, laugh, clap, cry, yawn, boo or fart, please, do it in your head, only in your head. You are now kindly requested to keep silent and to hold your breath until the very end of the show. Breathing will not be tolerated during the show. So, please take a deep, last breath right now. Thank you.

An insult comic and an opera singer fall in love and have a puppet baby, and then things get *really* weird. French director Leos Carax and the American band Sparks have different sensibilities, but they're compatible sensibilities and the marriage between them makes for something really special. The opening sequence, the fourth-wall-breaking "So May We Start," charmed me so thoroughly that I was ready for anything this movie had in store for me. And everyone in that scene seems so game for what they're about to show us, it's impossible not to be excited. What's in store might not be what you expect or might not be your cup of tea, but I don't think you could say that everyone here wasn't making exactly the movie they wanted to make -- they all "understood the assignment," as the internet loves to say.

There are so many incredible scenes -- many of which I included in my little collage above. The aforementioned opening number. Simon Helberg's conducting number. The storm and its aftermath. Annette's first performance. The incredible final sequence. Even the much snickered over love scenes are beautifully done and don't feel tawdry or merely expository. And it's all woven together by a bunch of original Sparks songs (and a couple of throwbacks), all of which feel very much like their music and not like they're trying to fit them into someone else's story -- this IS their story. I'm so happy that, after previous disappointments trying to collaborate on other movies, Ron and Russell Mael have finally gotten their chance. And I'm even happier that the result is so striking and rich. [Original review here.] 

***

This is London. Someone has died in every room in every building and on every street corner in the city.

For as long as I can remember, there has been immense nostalgia for the 1960s -- the fashion, the music, the films, the activism. It was a huge turning point in the 20th century and loads of people still look back on that time as the good old days. Director Edgar Wright is no exception, even though the 60s was a bit before his time (not unlike his film's protagonist, Ellie), and in many ways this movie is a love letter to 1960s London. A love letter that is ripped apart and thrown into a fire over the course of the movie's runtime. When 60s-obsessed Ellie discovers she can somehow travel back to that time and experience it vicariously through would-be singer Sandie, she has an absolute ball and Sandie's life seems nothing but exciting possibilities. But each successive time she goes back, things get worse and more nightmarish. The 60s, it turns out, were not so great for everyone, especially women -- most especially women who came to the big city with big dreams and dared to think they could make them come true.

This is not a movie that is interested in a tightly wound plot where everything fits neatly together and makes perfect sense. That is not a criticism; quite the opposite. This movie is all about the experience and atmosphere. There is all the technical skill and visually arresting filmmaking that you'd expect from an Edgar Wright movie, but it's the way he uses it that is striking here. The movie has the vibrancy of a Technicolor musical but the seediness of an early slasher (early like, say, PEEPING TOM). And I love that this is a horror movie about women where the boogeymen are ... men. Creepy, putrid men who feel entitled to women's time, attention and even their bodies. Subtle it might not be, but when it comes to this subject matter, frankly, screw subtlety. You'd never expect a movie like this from the guy who made SHAUN OF THE DEAD (another movie I adore, but which couldn't be more different than this), and that may be what I find most exciting about it. He's a filmmaker who has an artist's sensibility but also values what's fun and entertaining. Whatever he's up to next, I'm here for it. [Original review here.] 

***

I don’t care who you are. You will always be my son.

I watched the trailer for this movie and read a bit about it, mainly what had been publicly released about the premise, and one of my favorite things about this movie is that all I knew about it was covered in the first third of the movie before it took a hard left into something I truly did not expect. And when the movie starts as buck wild as this one does -- where a woman has sex with a car and then becomes a serial killer -- you'd think hard left means it gets even wilder, but no. We go from mechanophilia to murder and arson to -- BAM -- compelling personal drama that explores identity, gender, and family. With a good dose of body horror because the movie never quite forgets its bonkers first act and the things it sets up that still need to be resolved. There are some truly cringy body horror moments in this -- from a nipple ring detangling to Alexia trying to break her own nose to basically every time we see that baby bump (to say nothing of the birth).

Famed French actor Vincent Lindon is the star of this show, even if he's arguably not the main character, and he's certainly the heart of this movie. But obviously Agathe Rousselle, in her feature film debut, makes a hell of an impression as Alexia/Adrien. Many people will point to the car show sequence (top right photo in collage) as the highlight of her performance and one of the highlights of the film. And it's certainly ... something. I like the dancing firemen myself. Every frame of this movie is gorgeous, even the cringy stuff, and this was an incredible follow-up to Ducournau's previous film, RAW, which was in my top 5 of 2016. I'm fascinated by her choices and what she values as a filmmaker and I hope she has a long and wild-ass career. If her first two films are anything to go on, I think that's a safe bet.

2021 Top Ten (Categories) - #2

2. The Gold Standard

My top 15 and what I felt was the best of the year. Yes, there’s one more category after this. We’ll get there and it will hopefully make sense. These were the cream of the crop. I think they’re all genuinely great movies, and I loved them.

A woman named Trish is a woman you can count on.

Not everyone is into this soul douche of a movie and that’s understandable. You are either on its wavelength or you aren’t. Some people really connected with LICORICE PIZZA this year; I connected with this one instead and I’m so happy I did. The two main characters started as minor characters in the BRIDESMAIDS script (written by Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo, who also wrote BARB & STAR) – I think one of the ladies was meant to be Maya Rudolph’s mom and Wiig and Mumolo got carried away and ended up having to cut them. The plot is so absurd – two middle-aged women go on vacation for apparently the first time in their lives and get caught up in an evil villainess’s scheme – but you don’t watch this for plot. You watch it for the vibe. The strut-past-the-pool-in-a-tube-top-and-full-jewelry vibe. The manifest-a-sea-spirit-named-Trish vibe. Absolutely ridiculous from start to finish, it gets laughs from its subject matter without ever looking down its nose at the characters. (Streaming on Hulu and available to rent on other streaming platforms.)

And then there were two.

Not sure even how to categorize this (movie? television?), but again, what even are the rules here? Made from more than 50 hours of unused footage from LET IT BE, this is an eight-plus-hour documentary about the few weeks that the Beatles spent writing and recording songs for the album Let It Be (and a few that ended up on Abbey Road). It’s a loving tribute to the “90 percent perspiration” that goes into any kind of art and it’s a much more nuanced look at the relationships among the band than the conflict-focused LET IT BE. Some of the footage is scandalously inappropriate (who thought it was a good idea to bug a flower arrangement???) and some I cannot believe the filmmakers in 1970 decided was not important enough to use (name me a better moment in a film this year than Paul McCartney pulling “Get Back” out of the ether). Perhaps my favorite moments were watching John and Paul get along. And when Billy Preston came in like some much needed oxygen. Oh, and the fashion – Paul’s vests, George’s turtleneck and boots, and oh honey, Glyn Johns’s coats. I love that so many people devoured this and discussed it at the same time. And that finally people are realizing how unfairly fans and the media have treated Yoko Ono. (Streaming on Disney+.)

You can be surprised what the human brain can edit out when it can’t handle the truth.

This was one where I only really knew the setting and a bit about the main character (woman who works as a censor for the BBFC during the “video nasty” era), while the actual premise and what was going on was a complete mystery to me. That’s a good way to go into it and watch things unravel. It doesn’t really have anything to say about the video nasty phenomenon; that’s just the setting and the world that the main character lives in. It also clearly informs her character because despite her job she does seem drawn to sleazy horror films, the likes of which she regularly puts restrictions on. I really loved the turns this movie takes and how it submerges us in this one woman’s psychosis and how she uses her job to deal with unresolved family issues. One of the great horror films of the year. (Streaming on Hulu and available to rent on other streaming platforms.)

Well done, my brave knight. Now … off with your head!

It took a while for me to warm to this because I reread the poem before I saw the movie and I got very hung up on the creative leaps taken in the script. And then I realized the newness and the changes were the entire point and that director David Lowery is making this story his own and exploring something quite different. The visuals are astonishingly gorgeous, and Dev Patel humanizes the character of Gawain remarkably well. I love that Gawain is reimagined here as a clearly flawed character who is not yet a knight but who wants to be and wants to accomplish great deeds. But he hasn’t thought through what that really means and what it means to be a great hero, a leader, a king. The flash-forward to what Gawain’s future could be is brilliant, as is the abrupt, answerless ending, which puts us squarely in the same perspective as Gawain, full of questions. Questions that aren’t answered here because they remain unanswered in our own lives. (Available to rent on streaming services.)

It’s almost like stealing people’s data and giving it to a hyper-intelligent AI as part of an unregulated tech monopoly was a bad thing.

Hands-down my favorite animated film of the year and one of my favorite “family” films of the last at least 20 years. It’s National Lampoon’s VACATION meets THE TERMINATOR with beautiful animation (the character design reminded me a lot of the Harry Potter fanart of Heather Campbell, who went by the name Makani online), and I love seeing a Real Family as opposed to just a Dysfunctional Family. Katie and Aaron and Rick and Linda are so painfully real and relatable it’s almost hard to watch. And the movie absolutely nails the embarrassing family dynamic but also the subtle relationship things, where you say things just to make the other person happy and stop them probing further. I love how, once the action climax begins, we’ve spent so much time with these characters that nothing they do seems out of nowhere or implausible (given the already ridiculous hyper-action setup, of course). Seeing this family work through their issues and see each other’s strengths is a tonic. I don’t often get invested in movies about families and family dynamics, but this absolutely won me over. Also, Rick reminded me so much of my own dad that it was impossible not to love this. It also gave me the title for my #1 category. (Streaming on Netflix and available to rent on other streaming services.)

We don’t fool people, Stan. They fool themselves.

I love the original with Tyrone Power and my hero Joan Blondell, and I was very excited to see what Guillermo del Toro would do with this material. Both films are based on a novel by William Lindsay Gresham (which I always read as Lindsay Graham LOL) and it’s a story that seems tailor-made for del Toro’s sensibilities. This is on the longer side but it doesn’t feel it to me. There are two distinct settings in the film — the carnival world and the Big City world. I prefer the former and it seems more detailed and lovingly drawn to me, but the latter is fabulous and feels like it’s straight out of a classic black-and-white movie. This is an absolutely stacked cast – Bradley Cooper. Toni Collette, David Strathairn, Willem Dafoe, Rooney Mara, Cate Blanchett, Richard Jenkins, Ron Perlman, Mary Steenbergen, Holt McCallany (again!), Tim Blake Nelson, Clifton Collins, Jr. and Supernatural’s Jim Beaver – and a beautifully made film, with frames that look like paintings. Bradley Cooper is rightfully being recognized for his work here, which may be a career best performance. Everyone will point to his work in the final scene, which is genuinely incredible and I was actually surprised he had that in him, but his high-wire con man act throughout the rest of the film is spectacular as well. (Still in theaters.)

It's easy for a Negro to pass for White. I'm not sure it would be so simple for a White person to pass for Colored.

Tessa Thompson plays Irene, a light-skinned Black woman who runs into an old friend Clare (Ruth Negga). Clare has been passing for white for some time now, long enough to have married a white man (Alexander Skarsgaard) who has no idea his wife is Black (which I guess is a good thing because he’s hella racist and calls his wife a vile racist nickname as a “joke”). The more time the women spend together, the more complex their relationship becomes, especially when Irene begins to suspect something is happening between her husband (MOONLIGHT’s  André Holland) and Clare. The black and white photography looks wonderful but it’s not just a decision to make the film look stylish; it has purpose in the narrative. This is the first feature directed by actress Rebecca Hall, who has her own family history with the notion of “passing.” The ending is a bit ambiguous (as it is in the novel on which the film is based), but I’m not sure it’s actually meant to be up to the viewer to decide what happened. It feels like the movie does come down on one side, and a careful and thoughtful viewing of the events make it fairly clear. (Streaming on Netflix.)

They’re not real. You get that, right? None of it is real. The critics aren’t real … the customers aren’t real … because this isn’t real. You aren’t real. Derek, why do you care about these people? They don’t care about you, none of them. They don’t even know you, because you haven’t shown them. Every day you’ll wake up and there’ll be less of you. You live your life for them and they don’t even see you. You don’t even see yourself. We don’t get a lot of things to really care about.

This was compared to JOHN WICK a lot when it was released, but it feels like the exact inverse of that movie. Instead of seeking revenge on behalf of his animal, Nic Cage’s Rob just wants it back and he’ll go to extreme lengths to do it but he’s not a violent person. He is willing to endure violence to get information he needs but he has other tools in his arsenal to persuade people to help him. I love the structure of the movie, with each section presented like a course in a meal. I love the slow reveal of who Rob is and the realization that oh, he’s not just a chef, he was a master chef. People know him. Despite his haggard current appearance, people still have regard and respect for him and who he was to the city. Personal tragedy has caused him to withdraw from society but he’s still who he is and has all that matters to him (until some punks steal his truffle pig). The “restaurant scene” has gotten a lot of attention, and rightly so, but my favorite bit of the film is when he finally comes face-to-face with the last remaining person he thinks can help him and, instead of beating him up or threatening him for answers, he cooks him a meal and it’s honestly like he’s a wizard casting a spell. I know everyone loves Wild and Crazy Cage, but it’s easy to forget that he’s a legitimately great actor who can play a lot of different kinds of characters. I love seeing him restrained like this. And part of why the restaurant scene is so great is that he’s taking this guy apart in the gentlest of ways – without yelling, without pounding his fists, just holding a mirror up to the guy and asking “Is this really what you want?” Beautifully written, beautifully acted, and beautifully filmed. (Streaming on Hulu and available to rent on other streaming platforms.)

When my father passed, I wanted nothing more than my mother's happiness. For what kind of man would I be if I did not help my mother? If I did not save her?

Wow, Benedict Cumberbatch is a real sumbitch in this movie, and I don’t mean that in a good, endearing way. He and Jesse Plemons play brothers – Phil and George Burbank, respectively. When George takes a bride, Phil just isn’t having it and makes his displeasure known in many ways, none of which are terribly subtle and all of which are objectively psychological abuse (the piano vs. banjo scene is seriously one of the scariest scenes in any movie this year). This movie examines toxic masculinity in a few different forms (as well as what it could be covering for), not just in Phil’s relationship to his new sister-in-law, but also her son, his late mentor Bronco Henry, and even his brother. The ending has boggled a lot of people, and it’s difficult to explain why without spoilers, but if you watch it back again it’s easy to see the breadcrumbs that have been laid for you. In the end, you find yourself actually crying over this absolute bastard, and then you realize who you’re really crying for and the movie takes on another layer of heartbreak. (Streaming on Netflix.)

It’s not easy killing another man. Especially the first time.

Man, I love a complicated revenge movie and this is a good ‘un. Mads Mikkelsen continues to be involved in interesting projects and roles (his performance in last year’s ANOTHER ROUND was devastating) and goes on an absolute *journey* in this movie. In the beginning, his wife and daughter are on a train that collides with another train and his wife is killed. He is approached by a group of men, led by a mathematician who is convinced that the train collision was deliberate and the men start investigating, trying to find out who is responsible and help Mikkelsen’s character Markus get revenge. This movie is a fascinating and frequently humorous take on revenge and the ripple effect of seemingly small and insignificant events. Mikkelsen is predictably great, as is the rest of the cast, and a huge part of why it works so well is the lovely chemistry they all have with each other. And I love that, after all they experience through the course of the film, they’re all kind of bonded for life with a “well, that happened” story that they can’t ever tell to anyone else. (Streaming on Hulu.)

Amanda: Am I indecent? / Maud: No, you are lost.

Some of the best horror movies are about religion and faith and how something that is intended as a good thing can be a corrupting force. This movie’s main character, who calls herself Maud, is a private palliative care nurse caring for a woman named Amanda, who is suffering from stage four lymphoma. Maud (whose real name is Katie) formerly lost a patient and subsequently became a devout Catholic. She feels strongly that she has been called by God to save Amanda, whose behavior and demeanor she strongly disapproves of, and her growing obsession with Amanda eventually becomes abusive. Maud’s relationship with God is rather frightening and leads her to do some truly shocking things (if you’ve seen the trailer, you’ll remember her sticking tacks in the bottom of her shoes and walking in them). Much of her problem seems to be that she’s obsessed with her own self-importance, which is fed by her twisted view of God and what she thinks He wants from her. She’s inflated herself so much that she can’t deal with things not turning out like she expects because she thinks what she expects comes from God. The ending is pretty brutal, so much so that I found myself laughing at it as the only way of registering my shock. This is one of my favorite kinds of horror movies because there’s nothing actually supernatural going on; the horror comes from human nature and what people are capable of when they can’t accept challenges to their firmly held beliefs. (Streaming on Paramount+ and available to rent on other streaming platforms.)

It wasn’t just about the music.

Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson directed this documentary drawn mostly from footage taken at the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival. Never heard of it, you say? Perhaps that’s because all of the cultural bandwidth in the last five decades has been focused on that other music festival that took place the same year in Woodstock, NY. The Harlem Cultural Festival took place over six weeks that summer, intended as a celebration of Black excellence, and it was a feat of scheduling, with some of the biggest names at the time in Black music of all flavors. Stevie Wonder, Mahalia Jackson, Nina Simone, The 5th Dimension, Gladys Knight & the Pips, Sly and the Family Stone, and many many more did sets on a small stage in what was then Mount Morris Park (now Marcus Garvey Park). There are several incredible musical moments – Nina Simone and Mahalia Jackson were the standouts for me, personally – and the filmmakers take great pains to explain the context of each one and why they were so significant. The festival had long been considered an obscure moment in musical history, and one of my favorite parts was seeing all these people who were there now watching the footage and remarking that it felt so validating to see it because it meant it was real and they were really there and hadn’t just imagined it, and I never saw so clear a case of people who’ve been gaslighted by erasure in popular culture finally being vindicated by evidence. This isn’t just a documentary; it’s an essential historical record. (Streaming on Hulu.)

All pop music is rearranged Vince Clarke or rearranged Sparks. That's the truth.

There were SO MANY great music docs this year, but this was undoubtedly my favorite. The first time I became aware of Sparks was hearing “This Town Ain’t Big Enough for Both of Us” and not liking it at all (don’t worry, I have since come to my senses). The weird falsetto singing, the seemingly indecipherable lyrics … it was just too weird for me at the time. Then, through the incessant stanning of them by this film’s director Edgar Wright, I started listening to more of their stuff and absolutely fell in love, going so far as to fly out to Los Angeles to catch my last chance to see a show on their “Hippopotamus” tour in 2018. There was so much music to catch up on, I could only take it album by album (and I’m still working on it – most recent download was “Big Beat,” whose classic black-and-white cover inspired Wright’s filming of the movie’s interviews). The movie takes a similar approach, taking the viewer album-by-album through the Mael brothers’ history and the various incarnations of the band, sprinkled with interviews of Ron and Russell themselves, along with a parade of their fans, many of whom have gone on to their own great musical careers – Beck, Flea, Nick Rhodes and John Taylor of Duran Duran, Jane Weidlin of The Go-Gos (who sang “Cool Places” with Sparks back in the day), Weird Al Yankovic, Giorgio Moroder (who collaborated with them on the "No. 1 Song in Heaven” album), Jonathan Ross, Amy Sherman-Palladino, Patton Oswalt, Jason Schwartzman, Mike Myers, several former and current bandmates, any many more. It’s astonishing to see how a band so influential could still be so obscure, to the point that many still think the band isn’t actually real. But if you’ve never heard of Sparks, that’s a good way to go into this; you’ll almost certainly be a fan by the time it’s over.(Streaming on Netflix and available to rent on other streaming platforms.)

Jon? Steve Sondheim here. Rosa gave me this number, I hope it's okay to call you. I didn't get a chance to speak with you after the reading, but I just wanted to say it was really good. Congratulations. I'd love to get together and talk to you about it, if you have any interest. No pressure. The main thing though, is that it's first-rate work and has a future. And so do you. I'll call you later with some thoughts, if that's okay. Meanwhile, be proud.

The best possible choice Lin-Manuel Miranda could have made for his directorial debut and he nailed it. Like “Sunday in the Park with George” — the Sondheim musical which clearly inspired it (the musical and even more so the movie) — it is about the struggle of an artist to create. It is also about the difficulty of creating (and having the stamina to keep going) in a world where artists have to hold down at least one day job to keep a roof over their heads while they create. It is a semi-autobiographical musical written by Jonathan Larson, who is best known for creating RENT, which changed musical theater forever, and we are reminded from the very beginning that Larson never got to see the acclaim that eventually came to him and his work, because he died just before RENT premiered. We see him writing a musical called “Superbia,” which he hopes will be his big break. He struggles and struggles to put it together, while working at a cafe to pay rent, before a workshop performance that he’s depending on to get his name out there and get producers to want to put the musical into an actual theater. Of course, things don’t happen exactly like that, and I love that there's no sugarcoating that even though the workshop is a success that doesn’t mean his show is going to get produced. There are some really cool musical numbers in this. The big centerpiece is “Sunday” with all its Broadway cameos (I lost it at Bernadette and the hat), but my favorite is “Why,” which Andrew Garfield performs in an empty Delacorte Theater (the site of all of New York’s Shakespeare in the Park productions -- I kept looking for seats I've occupied). There were so many great musicals and music documentaries this year, and this movie feels like a perfect marriage of those two genres. (Streaming on Netflix.)

When love comes so strong, there is no right or wrong... your love is your life.

A truly spectacular reimagining of the stage musical (not the movie, as the filmmakers are quick to point out). It is vibrant, it is full of amazing performances from a talented and diverse cast (yes, including Ansel -- I don't know what y'all are talking about), and with more than 60 years between this and the original, it has some essential perspective that the original stage version and film could not have had. This is nowhere more clear in the film than the opening shot, over a pile of rubble that would eventually become Lincoln Center but which, at the time this story takes place, is former low-income housing that thousands of families are being displaced from. This sets the stage for a film that has immense love for the original musical but knows where things could do with a bit of shaking up. Some of the songs are moved around or given to different characters, giving them a different impact. "Cool" is now a Tony number, earlier in the story, where he's trying to talk Riff and the Jets out of the rumble; "I Feel Pretty," which was moved up in the 1961 film, is returned to its original place, after the audience knows (but Maria still doesn't) what happened between Tony and Bernardo; perhaps most poignantly, "Somewhere" is sung by a new character, Valentina (Doc's widow, who now runs the store, and is played by the 1961 film's Anita, Rita Moreno), and instead of being a song of hope and naiveté between Tony and Maria, it is now a song of hard-won experience from a Latina who, like Maria, fell in love with a gringo. "Gee, Officer Krupke" has always been my least favorite number, because it feels so goofy and out of place, but this is the least silly version of it that I've seen and I actually liked it. I love how the movie uses New York City, and it *feels* like New York City, not a soundstage (there are lots of iconic landmarks, but perhaps my favorite is Tony taking Maria to the Cloisters, which could hardly be a more fitting setting for "One Hand, One Heart"). And it takes some time to build up some of the smaller characters, like Chino and Anybodys. If you love the '61 film and/or the original stage musical, I can't imagine you not loving this. (Still in theaters.)

2021 Top Ten (Categories) - #3

3. Crank These Up to Eleven and Roll Down the Window!

These were everything I wanted and I adored them. I can’t quite bring myself to put them among the “2”s, but these are still some of my favorites from this year.

After Blue

Imagine if Heart’s “These Dreams” music video was given a wacky sci-fi concept and made into a movie. That’s the closest I can get to encapsulating what awaits your eyeballs if you slap them on this beauty. Set on a planet that humans fled to that soon became all-female because for some reason the men couldn’t survive the environment, this movie has galactic mean girls, a villain named Kate Bush, guns named after fashion designers, slime baths, and so much glitter they probably had to burn the set down to get rid of it. I have no idea what I watched but I can’t wait to see it again. (Not yet released.)

Benedetta

Classic Verhoeven, and all that entails, but “Showgirls in a convent” it is not. This movie is very intentional and you do not make a movie like SHOWGIRLS intentionally. This has quite a bit to say about the nature of faith and how it can be corrupted in the pursuit or protection of power. But Verhoeven gonna Verhoeven, so naturally there are hot lesbian nuns doing it in various states of what Joe Bob Briggs would call “nekkidity.” It’s great, and if you're a fan of Paul Verhoeven, you’ll probably love it. Just leave your expectations at the door when it comes to more bonkers fare. For all the kink, it's fairly straightforward. (Still in some theaters and available to rent on streaming platforms.)

Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes

This is so much fun and left me with a giant smile on my face. The premise starts out simply and interestingly enough. The owner of a cafe discovers that the TV feed in his cafe (which he can watch on his computer in his apartment upstairs) shows the future – two minutes into the future, to be exact. You might not think much can happen in two minutes, but just wait until you see what this movie has in store for you. As more of the main character's friends enter the situation, things get more and more ridiculous and complicated. Just when you think they’ve taken the concept as far as they can, they go even further. What a refreshingly original time travel idea; I’d begun to think we’d run out of those. (Not yet released.)

In the Heights

I had a few quibbles with some of the writing decisions, but this was as close to a perfect adaptation of the first musical I saw after moving to New York as I could have asked for. The cast album was in heavy rotation in my headphones for the first few months I lived here. The movie has so many imaginative musical numbers – “96,000” and “When the Sun Goes Down” being the biggest standouts. It was filmed very near where I live (Jimmy Smits’s trailer was right in front of my apartment building for a few days of shooting), and it was incredible to see these neighborhoods look as alive as they feel in real life. Forget “Sex and the City,” THIS is a real portrait of MY New York (well, except that the real thing is more diverse, as many people were quick to point out when the film was released). Anthony Ramos makes a great Usnavi and Gregory Diaz IV is the MVP. Love Lin-Manuel Miranda playing the Piragua guy and getting to do one of my favorite numbers of the show. (Streaming on HBOMax and available for rent on other streaming platforms.)

King Richard

I knew nothing going into this except that Venus and Serena Williams were the best tennis players (of any gender) in the world. So, if nothing else, this movie taught me a lot about their background and the efforts of their father (and mother) to make them the superstars they eventually became. I’m not sure I’d call this movie “inspiring,” exactly. I will probably never be as talented at anything as Venus and Serena are at tennis, and a whole lot of this film is Richard Williams stubbornly demanding opportunities for his daughters because he knows they’re not just good – they’re going to be the best. This isn’t about making them happy or encouraging them to follow something they like; Richard sees this as their destiny, and he has a detailed plan to make it happen, knowing full well all of the obstacles they’ll have to deal with. Lots of great performances in this, but Will Smith gives his best performance to date. (Available to rent on streaming platforms.)

New York Ninja

Oh. My. God. Bless this perfect diamond of a movie. Filmed in 1984, but uncompleted and abandoned, it was picked up by Vinegar Syndrome and lovingly reconstructed and finished by Kurtis Spieler, who not only cut the raw visual materials together into a (mostly) coherent film but also completely assembled new audio from scratch. All of this obviously makes this project special, but I think the real accomplishment was seeing the potential in what they already had. It looks like another dumb 1980s action movie, but it’s so much more. The DIY-ness of it, the amazing and surely-brought-from-home costumes, the bad wigs, that one guy with the epic rattail, and way more NYC location shooting than the original filmmakers could possibly have had permission for (plus a lot more that there’s just not enough space to mention) make this a must-see. It is more fun than ought to be legal, and I’m happy to hear VS has struck a 35mm print of it so it can play in some theaters and get some love from audiences. (Not currently in theaters but physical copies are available on Vinegar Syndrome website and Amazon has pre-orders available.)

Nobody

Is it a John Wick knock-off? Possibly, though I think that’s a kind of lazy comparison of two action movies that don’t have much else in common besides solo heroes who beat the crap out of people in campaigns of revenge. NOBODY doesn’t have the detailed worldbuilding of the John Wick movies. It’s still excellent and has great characters and I think fairly plausible motivations. I love seeing Bob Odenkirk get to tackle a role like this. I love the slow reveal of who he is and what he’s capable of after seeing his initial interactions with his family and others in his everyday life who don’t really take him that seriously. The fight scene on the bus is iconic and I think the best action scene in the movie, and among the best I’ve ever seen. (Available for rent on streaming platforms.)

Raya and the Last Dragon

This movie has such beautiful animation, from the setting to the characters, but there’s a lot more going on here. This is a great story with a good (if simplistic) message. There’s great worldbuilding here as well, and as someone who grew up on endless princess stories, I love seeing adventures featuring female characters and conflicts that don’t revolve around marrying a prince (or marrying anyone, for that matter). I love the voice talent, particularly Awkwafina as the eponymous dragon; Awkwafina should be in everything. Also, Alan Tudyk continues his incredible string of voice acting roles with yet another adorable animal who doesn’t speak but makes cute noises. (Streaming on Disney+ and available to rent on other streaming platforms.)

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

Possibly my favorite Marvel movie, at least partly because it’s not so danged interconnected with the rest of the MCU (seriously, all this serialization is wearing me out – too much homework!). Several incredible fight sequences (thanks to Brad Allen, stunt coordinator, who died this past year), of which a definite standout is the one on the scaffolding outside the building in Macau. A great cast, led by Simu Liu and (again) Awkwafina. And some great storytelling – I love the backstory of Shang-Chi’s parents and how it sets up Wenwu as an amazing, three-dimensional villain (played by Hong Kong acting legend Tony Leung). And once again, we get another play of my favorite song, Enemies Working Together for a Common Cause. (Streaming on Disney+ and available to rent on other streaming platforms.)

She Will

It’s folk horror, but neither as folky nor as horror as I expected – but that’s not a bad thing! This movie had me at Alice Krige and never let me go. Krige plays a former actress who’s recovering from a double mastectomy and goes to a retreat built on a site where women accused of witchcraft were burnt at the stake. The land, filled with the women’s ashes, seem to give Krige’s character special powers to enact revenge in her dreams, particularly against a former director of hers (played by Malcolm McDowell), who abused her when she was a young actress playing what would end up being her most recognized role. This is Alice Krige’s show and I’m here for it, but Kota Eberhardt gives a great supporting performance as her home health nurse. Perhaps I related to this a bit more than I would have otherwise due to my own health experiences this past year, but I loved this a lot. (Not yet released.)

Slumber Party Massacre

I love the original and I love its sequel even more, but I was *pumped* to see that someone had made a new version of the 80s slasher classic. Like this new version, the original was directed by a woman, but Amy Jones was a director-for-hire who had to check off some things for producer Roger Corman (namely, gratuitous T&A), and Danishka Esterhazy doesn’t seem to have been under any such constraints on this new one. I adore how this movie shows affection for the original (and the sequels - that guitar!) while updating it substantially for a more socially aware audience. Some of it is on the nose, but I think much of that is on purpose (the line about “getting rid of all the men” KILLED ME). This was so much fun, with tons of surprises. I watched and live-Tweeted it when it first aired on SyFy this fall, and I got a huge thrill out of the cast and crew (including the director!) noticing and interacting with my commentary. (Available to rent on streaming platforms.)

Spencer

I don’t know what people’s problem with this is, except that a lot of them seem to want it to be something it’s not. I suppose Princess Diana has always been a subject people have a lot of Opinions and Feelings about, and any attempt to navigate her as a person is going to light all those opinions and feelings on fire. But I thought this was wonderful and sad. This is not a “based on a true story” thing. The event this movie is built around probably never happened (that thing where everyone had to be weighed was definitely true, though perhaps not in practice by the time setting of the film – Edward VII apparently started it). But I buy it as a stab at what her experience with the Royal Family must have been like and what was so incongruous between her and the rest of the family. I felt so horrible for her, and while it doesn’t feel like actual histrionics, you can see where these awful people would have seen her behavior as such. The way food and clothes are weaponized in this movie is terrifying – my God, the drama over her wearing the wrong outfit to Christmas Day church! Her interactions with her sons seem the most revealing, and the snooker scene with Charles is one of the most amazing scenes in any movie in 2021. (Still in some theaters and available to rent on streaming platforms.)

Tina

I seem to have seen a LOT of music documentaries this year (well, for me) and this one was a banger. Tina Turner’s story has been told many times, but this feels like a complete version of that story, one that doesn’t revolve so much around her life with Ike. That is definitely a major chapter (which she has unfortunately had to relive many, many times in the media) but her comeback and remaking of herself is far more important. It’s great to see her happy with a man that she loves who adores her and treats her like the queen she is. And I like that, when we reach the end of the doc, she’s ready to step back and retire and just enjoy her life. She has more than earned it. (Streaming on HBOMax and available to rent on other streaming platforms.)

2021 Top Ten (Categories) - #4

4. Delightful Surprises

These were mostly movies I was ehhh about going in but ended up blowing me away. And I'm not sure if part of why I like them so much is that I had such low expectations or they just surprised me in some other way. 

Belfast

I thought this would be boring, eat-your-spinach-it’s-good-for-you Oscar bait. And maybe it is for a lot of people, but I liked it a lot. The story of a family’s experiences during The Troubles, seen through the eyes of a young boy, is surprisingly unstuffy and warm and not nearly as maudlin as I thought it would be. This is a semi-autobiographical film from Kenneth Branagh and it admits from the start – as the movie goes from color to black-and-white – that this is a nostalgia bomb. But there’s genuine stuff going on here, as you’d expect given the subject matter. I didn’t know much of anything about The Troubles before this, but it was impossible not to draw parallels to the modern world and see how close we might be to something like this happening in our own backyard. Not that this plays as a cautionary tale at all; it’s just there and I kind of couldn’t unsee it. Wonderful work from everyone, perhaps especially Jamie Dornan, and hurray for a child actor (Jude Hill) that can be cute without being cloying. I did wonder, however – what happens to Granny at the end? She just stayed there? I thought she and Pop lived with them. Anyway, lovely movie. (Still in some theaters.)

Belle

Anime is a genre I’m still struggling to get into, but I fell hard for this one. A Beauty and the Beast for the digital age, this was an amazing piece of storytelling. As someone who has spent a lot of time online, including several years in a huge fandom, there was so much in this movie that rang true to me. I will never be over the scene where the main character and her friend have to diffuse a rumor gone wild and it's the most hilarious and accurate thing I saw in a movie this year. There is so much excellent character work and an ending I did not expect, which is almost always a good thing. To describe it anymore would do it a disservice. Also, I'm sure opinions differ on this, but if there's a choice between dubbed and subbed, go with subbed. (In theaters.)

Bo Burnham: Inside

Technically television, I guess, but my number one in 2018 was a stand-up special, so what even are the rules? For all the cleverness of DON’T LOOK UP, nothing got to me more this year regarding the climate crisis than a line in Burnham’s song “All Eyes on Me” (“You say the ocean’s rising – like I give a shit. You say the whole world’s ending – honey, it already did.”). There’s lots of incredible material here, and even the silliest seeming songs have a surprising amount of pathos (“White Woman’s Instagram” took a hard left turn toward the end). I liked some of the songs and sketches more than others, but it’s impossible not to be amazed by what Burnham was able to do mostly (though not all) on his own in a single room. It was a perfect encapsulation of our collective isolation during the lockdowns. If I had one criticism it would be that people (not just Bo) should get over themselves about turning OMG THIRTY. It’s not the end of any kind of creative golden age; it’s an arbitrary, if round, number. (Streaming on Netflix.)

Dune

I was so scared I would be lost in this, but I knew I had to see it because so many people love the novels and there’s that weird awful(ly awesome?) 80s version and I felt like I would be left out of some zeitgeisty goodness if I ignored it. It is a gorgeous film and a textbook in worldbuilding, particularly of such a complicated and layered world. I loved getting to know this world and the characters in it. Yes, I wish it had been a bit less chilly and more (just a smidge more!) emotional – it had at least a couple of chances to give us some Gandalf-in-Moria-esque heart-tugging. And it is definitely in need of a Part 2. But it is a tremendous cinematic experience and I’m glad I saw it on the hugest screen I could – even if I was crammed in with a huge crowd and scared someone would give me the plague. (Still in some theaters and available to rent -- not cheaply -- on streaming services.)

Flee

It’s a non-cutesy animated film, a foreign film, and a documentary – three things that on their own (much less together) would make me lean away from this if something more easily digestible were available. Not that I have anything against any of those media/genres, but I’m usually slow to get excited about them and I tend to hold off on seeing them until I feel I “have” to. This was amazing, and compelling from start to finish. The animation is not just a style choice; it is a necessity to protect the film’s subject, who goes by the pseudonym Amin Nawabi and who escaped Afghanistan and fled to Denmark, as did his family. Seeing him take down the walls he’s had to build up over the years and trust someone with his story (he’s had to lie about the fate of his family members ever since he left) is incredible, and seeing what people have to go through to escape an unsustainable life in their home country, even to get to a country that is friendlier to refugees than ours, gives some much needed perspective. (In theaters.)

The Harder They Fall

An all-Black western could have felt a lot like a gimmick (especially in a white director's hands), but this is a great example of what can happen when Black stories are told by Black filmmakers. There’s no reference to slavery (that I recall), there’s no suffering at the hands of bigots to make white viewers feel better about how far we’ve supposedly come, and in fact there are barely any white people at all in this and the ones there are have no impact on the story. That shouldn’t be refreshing, but it is. And most of the characters here are real historical figures, showing that – shocker! – there are period stories about Black people that have nothing to do with subjugation. This was so good and I am so here for the Moment that Jonathan Majors is having right now. And I’m definitely all about a story using one of my favorite tropes – Enemies Working Together for a Common Cause. (Streaming on Netflix.)

Luca

It’s CALL ME BY YOUR NAME for kids and you won’t convince me otherwise. You might call this Lesser Pixar because it’s not high-concept and doesn’t have big-name voice talent or easy merch possibilities. But I love every second of this. It’s just a great story told well with animation as beautiful as anything the studio has produced (seriously, put this up next to FINDING NEMO any day). The setting is incredible, with the backgrounds looking almost photo-real, and the characters are great (I mean, screw that Ercole guy, but tell me you’ve never met one of those). And there’s a lovely, if on the nose, message about accepting people who are different. If this is one of Pixar’s “off” movies, I’ll take it. I’ll certainly take a mostly original story like this over another Pixar franchise sequel. Silencio Bruno! (Streaming on Disney+ and available to rent on other streaming platforms.)

Shiva Baby

I usually have a hard time enjoying a movie where I’m cringing so hard and feel so uncomfortable for the main character, but this was a pleasant exception. I don’t have a lot in common with Danielle on the surface, but wow the awkward family and social dynamics are painfully relatable. It’s very hard to watch Danielle for much of the movie, as she’s gotten herself into such situations that it’s difficult to see her continually bump up against her choices and the kind of mythology she's built up around herself to seem more acceptable to others. I was so in her corner because I’ve been in so many rooms like that – funerals, weddings, Thanksgiving dinners – where everyone means well, but they just can’t understand lives that are not like theirs. (Streaming on HBOMax and available to rent on other streaming platforms.)

There’s Someone Inside Your House

I love me some old-school slashers, but it’s been a while since a non-80s slasher tickled my fancy (probably since SCREAM). Now, this is no SCREAM, but it’s still quite good and has a lot of surprises. Cutting to the chase, the ending is a bit of a letdown. I found myself going “really??” but then the characters in the movie had the exact same reaction, so maybe that was the idea. I do love the idea of not just murdering ill-behaved teens (so forty years ago!) but using their deepest secrets against them, so they’re not just running from the killer but their own mistakes. And having the killer wear a mask of their victims’ faces – as if to say “you’ve done this to yourself” – is a clever stroke. (Available on Netflix.)

Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched

A three-plus-hour documentary about folk horror might seem a bit much, even if you love folk horror (as I do). But what started as a DVD special feature that was supposed to be a half-hour long grew into this massive endeavor and I learned so much about this subgenre and it made me really happy. I loved the connections made to films we don’t normally think of as folk horror but share a lot of its DNA, particularly in the conflicts between the “old ways” and a new kind of society (frequently represented by Christianity). Director Kier-La Janisse starts with the big three – THE WICKER MAN, BLOOD ON SATAN’S CLAW and WITCHFINDER GENERAL – and draws an elaborate family tree that includes more than 200 films, not just from America and Britain but also Asia, Australia and Europe. Really fascinating. (Available Jan. 10 on Shudder and for rent on other streaming platforms now.)

2021 Top Ten (Categories) - #5

 5. I Love You, but I'm Not *In* Love with You

These are the movies that I know are great, they’re objectively wonderful movies, and if you were to ask me about them, I would say “oh yeah, that’s a great movie.” But for whatever reason, I didn’t fall in love with them, and that’s most likely a “me” problem.

Antlers

I find it increasingly difficult to deal with depressing horror movies, and this one is depressing from the jump – a tragic nightmare from start to finish. We know something terrible is going on with the father and his two sons, but we’re not sure exactly what until the movie slowly reveals it to us through the investigations of the younger son’s concerned teacher. I found myself torn between wanting someone to find out what was happening and help them and wanting people to just leave them alone because no one could understand or accept the truth, much less be of any help. But of course when people go missing or turn up dead, that can’t be left alone. The end of this movie is truly heartbreaking and I’m glad it actually ends on a note of terror rather than hope. I just don’t see myself watching this again any time soon. (Available to rent on most streaming services.)

Drive My Car

This is a great movie. Well written, well acted, well constructed, a perfectly wonderful film. But it is THREE HOURS LONG. I’ve nothing at all against a three-hour movie, but this is not an epic three hours or an action-packed three hours; it’s a CONTEMPLATIVE three hours and that is very hard for me to fully connect with. There’s no way to trim it down without ruining what makes it great, but this was a TOUGH sit-through. Kudos to everyone involved and I look forward to seeing if it lives up to all the awards buzz, but this movie wore me out. I do wonder what I would have made of it if I were more familiar with the Chekhov play at its center. (Still in some theaters.)

The Eternals

There’s lots of wonderful substance here. It’s beautifully filmed, the special effects for the various powers of the characters are gorgeous, and I’m very much here for the diverse cast (especially Gemma Chan as basically the main character). I love the third-act reversal and the dilemma of whether to let millions die so that billions more can be born. It’s very different from what we’ve come to expect from a Marvel movie … until it isn’t. On top of this, there were just too many characters — so many that most of them don’t even get to *be* characters until the second half of the movie. That said, I wish more of these superhero movies took swings like this. (Still in some theaters.)

The Last Duel

My least favorite trope in all of storytelling is the “but was it *actually* rape” storyline, but some writers and filmmakers can manage to pull it off (see Mario Bava’s FOUR TIMES THAT NIGHT and Thomas Vinterberg’s THE HUNT). This movie was fairly well done, but I’m afraid I just wasn’t that into it until we got the woman’s perspective (which is the theme song to my relationship to most movies and television these days). This was an interesting project to be Matt Damon’s and Ben Affleck’s first time writing together since GOOD WILL HUNTING, and it’s fun to see these long-time BFFs play guys who can’t stand each other. But this is Jodi Comer’s show and the movie is far less interesting when she’s not the focus. (Available to rent on most streaming services.)

Licorice Pizza

The trailer did nothing for me, and in fact, made me afraid this would be the worst kind of manic pixie dream girl story, that the whole thing would center on the axis of how hot Alana Haim is, and — worst — that it would romanticize a relationship between a 25-year-old woman and a 15-year-old boy. The actual film is of course much more nuanced and I ended up liking quite a lot of it. It was made for a fairly specific demographic that I’m not a part of, though, which I think is why I didn’t connect with it the way others have. But it’s still objectively a very good movie and it has some genuinely great moments. I do, however, find it fascinating what some filmmakers get a pass on from critics and Film Twitter that others get the shit dragged out of them for — some get to do nostalgia, some don’t; some get to explore the nuance in transgressive relationships, some don’t. Something I love about Paul Thomas Anderson, though, is the impression I get that he doesn’t much care which side of that divide he’s on and makes what he wants to make regardless. Also, hurray for normal-looking people in movies, especially movies set in California. (Still in theaters.)

No Sudden Move

This reminded me a smidge of one of the Ocean’s movies, with lots of twists and reversals and surprise loyalties, but where those movies are light and fun, this is much more dark and dour and (for me) less enjoyable. It’s also really hard to describe, as it starts as one thing (a hostage robbery situation) and soon becomes something else. The cast is amazing, as you would expect from a Soderbergh film, with some of his regulars (Cheadle, Damon, del Toro) and loads of other familiar faces (David Harbour, Jon Hamm, Ray Liotta). I also loved seeing Brendan Fraser again in what I think was the beginning of his renaissance. If anything is “wrong” with this, it’s that there’s maybe *too much* story jammed in and it’s hard to remember it all except a vague notion of twists and turns. (Streaming on HBOMax.)

Red Rocket

This is genuinely great, but I simply cannot love it the way I do Sean Baker’s previous films. I was moved by TANGERINE. I was moved by THE FLORIDA PROJECT. I was incensed by this movie. It is set in 2016 and there are deliberate callbacks to the presidential campaign (though thankfully they are limited to a few background TV clips and literally no one in this movie actually talks politics). And whether it was intentional or not, the main character Mikey has a lot in common with the person who won that election. Every interaction with another human being is all about what will benefit him, every seemingly decent thing he does for someone is ultimately for his own benefit, and he says whatever he needs to say (compliments, small talk, promises) to make himself look better and get whatever he wants from the other person. This movie is great, but I kind of hated it. It did, however, compel me to listen to all of N’Sync’s “No Strings Attached.” Strawberry’s cover of “Bye, Bye, Bye” is legit. (Still in theaters.)

The Suicide Squad

There’s nothing wrong with this at all, and I know a lot of people love it. I love many parts of it. I never saw the other Suicide Squad movie, so I don’t have anything to compare it to. There is so much good stuff here – I especially love the opening fakeout – and so many fun characters (Ratcatcher II and her dad Taika Waititi were the absolute best). But while I love Harley Quinn in this, I love her so much more when a woman writes her (see BIRDS OF PREY). Her line to that guy about the “absolutely beautiful monster between [his] legs” is where I checked out for a minute, thinking “yeah, that was definitely written by a dude.” Also, I appreciate the heck out of the way they take that giant starfish down, but that was almost too much for me – even though we don’t ultimately see a ton of it, the implications had me squirming well after the movie ended. Which I guess was the idea, but still. It was A Lot. (Streaming on HBOMax and available to rent on most streaming services.)