Blog:Top 20 Best Movies of 2021: Part One



Well, is it better than 2020? Yes of course, its still better than that. Like I said about the upcoming banner on my blog post, we decided to change 10 to 20 for best movies, except worst movies, which is unchanged.

And we are splitting into 2-parts. Time for part one.

The Power of the Dog




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Peter Gordon, the seemingly effeminate and mild-mannered son of Rose Gordon, reveals himself to be much more unscrupulous and cunning. Seeing Phil Burbank's emotional abuse drive his mother to alcoholism, Peter plots to kill Phil by manipulating Phil into trusting him. Getting close to Phil, Peter finds the opportunity to give Phil cow hide infected with anthrax by saying he can use it to make Peter's lasso. When Phil contracts anthrax from the hide and dies, Peter smiles at his results, satisfied that Rose and her husband are living happier lives free from Phil's influence while no one ever figures out that he killed Phil.

Jonny Greenwood provides a lovely, atmospheric score, somewhere between his work for There Will Be Blood and Phantom Thread. Although it's complicated due to being a ruse for Peter to kill Phil, Peter offering Phil cowhide to finish a lasso after Rose sold the remainder of the hide is this. After observing his cruelty for much of the movie, it's quite poignant to see Phil genuinely touched by something.

The relationship (and eventual marriage) between George and Rose. Although both of them go through a lot, there's something deeply heartwarming about seeing two lonely people finding gentleness and love in each other. It's especially sweet when they stop their car ride home to take in the mountain view and dance.

Tick, Tick... BOOM!




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It follows very faithfully of the semi-autobiographical musical of the same name by Jonathan Larson. Andrew Garfield's performance is another fantastic we ever had. Heck, his performances is probably one of the very best of 2021. The Supporting Characters like Susan, Michael, Roger and Karessa were all very likeable. Lin-Manuel Miranda makes his feature directorial debut, considering how he worked for musical stages and songs. The musical songs are excellent where it never changes and keeps it faithfulness. The scene at the end where in 1992, Jonathan performs the final song from Tick, Tick... Boom!, as he observes his friends and family in the audience, including Susan watching from the back ("Louder Than Words") is entertaining. The cinematography is amazing well done, as expected for Lin-Manuel Miranda's works. It features cameos Adam Pascal, Daphne Rubin-Vega, and Wilson Jermaine Heredia as homeless bums: all three were original cast members of the Broadway production of Rent, which was also written by Larson.

Vivo




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It is Sony's very first musical animated movie, and an incredible one at it. The idea of delivering a musical letter to a love interest of a deceased person is very interesting, and its execution was phenomenal. While on the subject of the film's plot, it's also worth bringing up the fact that a movie about a musical kinkajou is a very decent concept, and needless to say, it was also certainly well-executed. Very likable characters, like Vivo himself. Overall, Sony Pictures Animation hopes to continues to works more musical films.

The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It




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It still manages to have the charm of the first two films. Nice and creepy soundtrack composed by Joseph Bishara. The idea of a man committing murder and believing he had been under the influence of the Devil himself is very creative. The cinematography and camera-angles look marvelously terrifying, like the rest of The Conjuring Universe. The film was a major improvement over The Nun, The Curse of La Llorona and Annabelle Comes Home due to how the prior films have cheap jump-scares. The scenes are well-executed and greatly paced. The acting is spectacular, especially from Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson as they reprise their roles as Ed and Lorraine Warren along with Sterling Jerins who plays their daughter, Judy. The fact that the Valak painting and the Annabelle doll appear as a cameo at the end is pretty cool and a decent callback to the other two films. Pays visual homages to the classic horrors like The Exorcist and The Shining. The scary scenes are very intense, nightmare-inducing, and unpredictable. Even without James Wan, Michael Chaves still did a good job of directing this movie, and it reduces the jump scare-fest, unlike The Curse of La Llorona.

The Green Knight




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The titular Green Knight is a mysterious being testing the knighthood of young Gawain, offering his neck to a blow at Christmas Day with the stipulation that Gawain will receive a strike in turn a year hence. After leaving with his own severed head, the Green Knight is heavily implied to be the lord of a nearby castle who likewise tests Gawain with his wife and a magical girdle before their final confrontation in the Green Chapel. The Green Knight then indicates it was all a test once Gawain removes the girdle after a vision of the future and leaves it unclear if he will spare Gawain or take his head for real.

The scene at Winifred's is surprisingly full of deadpan comedy in spite of being a spooky scene in an already haunting movie. Overall, the ghost girl seems pretty irritated by Gawain, who broke into her house, slept in her bed (and as the reveal of her skeleton later shows, he might've unknowingly laid on top of her remains), tried to poke at her to see if she's real, and asked for compensation in return for retrieving her skull. She just seems really annoyed by the guy's general lack of chivalry.

Arthur's entire relationship with Gawain. It's obvious from the get-go that Arthur unconditionally loves his nephew and wants nothing more than to get to know him after spending too much of his life ignoring his family for the sake of Camelot. Gawain in return clearly looks up to Arthur greatly, and his attention means a lot to him. The scene before Gawain leaves where Arthur encourages him to seek out the Green Knight is particularly sweet. Behind closed doors away from prying eyes, Arthur shows that he does genuinely care for young Gawain as he gently and humbly cleans the mud off his face.

Malignant




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The acting is exciting and fun. Annabelle Wallis's prior credits in the horror genre, such as The Mummy (2017) and Annabelle are not exactly stellar, but in this film she puts forth a very powerful and effecting performance as The Woobie heroine, not to mention some strong physical acting in certain scenes.

Gabriel. From his coat, custom-made knife made from a trophy, intimidating voice by Ray Chase, his over the top fighting style, his brutal one-sided massacre on the police station, and interesting backstory and powers has made quite the impression on audiences as a badass and unique horror villain.

Gabriel's attacking the police station and making mincemeat of the officers? A terrifying display of power. Him throwing a chair from across the room to hit Detective Shaw? Hilarious at all say. Lots of shocking moments, such as the reveal that Gabriel is a malformed twin who lived in Emily's back. Sydney understandably screams in horror.

Encanto




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The premise of every child but one in their magical house having been granted a unique ability such as strength or healing powers is unique and creative. Proper representation of Colombian culture and ethnicities. Amazing voice acting in this movie. Stephanie Beatriz, in particular, did a excellent job voicing Mirabel.

The animation is a big step up from other Disney animated films, as its glamorous and gorgeous to watch, especially for the end of 2021, and with eye-catching visuals, original character designs and since much of its color palette is fantastic and appealing, almost very similar to Coco, another great Disney movie, which makes the movie seem like a beautiful sight to look at.

This is how you write a strong yet vulnerable woman (who happens to be of a foreign culture) without pandering to the masses or preaching. It steps away from the infamous "twist villain" cliche prominent in Disney movies of late. In fact, it actually reverses that complex by having an apparent evil person that turns out to be good; in here, the Madrigal family introduces Bruno as this malevolent and antagonistic man only for him to turn out to be very likable, shy, and someone who still loves and cares about his family despite being vilified by them over the years.

Zack Snyder's Justice League




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After 3 years of fighting, the Snyder Cut was finally released thanks to the efforts of fans around the world. To give you a good idea of just how anticipated the Snyder Cut's release was, even Marvel fans participated in the fight. Excellent score by Tom Holkenborg (AKA Junkie XL), which is a major improvement over Danny Elfman's score from the theatrical cut. Hans Zimmer's "Flight" from Man of Steel makes a return in the film, also recomposed by Holkenborg.

The Flash's character has been heavily reworked, and Cyborg is finally given a proper backstory. This gives both characters their shining moments in the movie, most notably Flash tapping to the Speed Force and reversing time at the exact moment the Unity fully synchronizes and Cyborg accepting who he is before he fully separates the Mother Boxes. Zack Snyder also described Cyborg's depiction as "the heart of the movie"... and it definitely shows. Darkseid finally makes his first full appearance in a live-action movie. Ray Porter makes Darkseid sound scary and intimidating at the same time.

Steppenwolf has been redesigned and his characterization is also heavily improved, going from being a "generic doomsday villain" to a legitimately intimidating figure with a surprisingly sympathetic motivation of trying to prove to Darkseid and DeSaad that he's still worthy of their service, which is similar to Thanos's motivation in Avengers: Infinity War. Furthermore, in the theatrical cut, Steppenwolf suffers a mental breakdown after his axe is destroyed and gets devoured by his own Parademons. Here, he goes berserk and tries to kill the entire Justice League with his bare hands despite being clearly outmatched. Steppenwolf has no desire to destroy the world in this version. All he wants is to return home and prove that he's still worthy enough to be one of Darkseid's followers.

The Mitchells vs. the Machines




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The Bob Clampett-esque CGI-animation and art-style is hilariously unique, gorgeous, and slick, the designs that are seen are excellent and even modern that fits very well, in fact, it's almost visually Spider-Verse levels of stunning. Great soundtrack by Mark Mothersbaugh, who also scored The Lego Movie, Thor: Ragnarok, etc.

Eric and Deborahbot 5000, the defective robots from PAL Labs, are likable and hilarious. They decided to help the Mitchells to fight the evil tech robots controlled by PAL, the one responsible for staging an uprising, and the two are also quite funny. They're decision to gain their own thoughts on humanity and resist PAL's control is also implied to be what causes them to survive her destruction near the end.

Great voice acting, especially for Abbi Jacobson, Danny McBride, Maya Rudolph, Eric Andre, Fred Armisen, Beck Bennett, Conan O'Brien from his late-night show on his same name, Charlyne Yi, Sasheer Zamata, Rianda, Olivia Colman and the Gravity Falls creator Alex Hirsch.

Pig




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The first act is pure noxious set-up for our dismantled expectations in the remaining hour. Beginning as a blank slate for our preconceptions of what Rob (Nicolas Cage) is capable of, and the violence he might or should inflict, the film instead offers connection and empathy as ammunition rather than bloodshed. Our protagonist is just asking to be understood. For a film that keeps everything so close to the vest, the final thirty minutes are emotionally overwhelming. Scene after scene of puzzle pieces finding their place, the story gaining momentum in scale and detail. A simple conversation set in a bakery drove me to tears. Nicolas Cage is a powerhouse, not in his usual register and yet it carries a low hum of an electric charge. This is a performance that renders trauma and grief in a very physical way. Also, it was really nice to see him back.

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Stay tune for part two.