2021 has been a year filled with disappointing movies. The pandemic has played a crucial factor, with many studios opting to push back their release dates to 2022 (or 2023), hoping that theaters can lure audiences back once those who are more tentative feel safe again. Movies, as a whole, couldn’t get worse than the 2020 batch. Unfortunately, 2021 has proven to be worse. There are still a handful of films that I haven’t seen that I hope will elevate the year (Dune, Nightmare Alley, Belfast, Spider-Man: No Way Home, C’mon C’mon, Being the Ricardos, Licorice Pizza, Red Rocket, Spencer, Last Night in Soho).
Category Archives: Drama
A Hero (2021)
I recently took an annual leave day off from work. The plan was to attend my local independent art-house theater and see a movie that would receive a nomination for some Academy Awards. I watched an early morning showing of Jockey, a quiet, little film in its own right that will be what I review next. Upon leaving, I spotted a poster of A Hero. It was a film I had seen pop in advertisements on some of my other frequently visited movie websites. It had intrigued me, but I knew it was a subtitled (Persian) movie. I need to be in the right mindset, or I’ll get distracted and miss everything. Still, I debated buying a ticket and doing a double feature. But then I saw it was an Amazon Prime movie. I looked up the film on my phone and noticed that the movie was available on Prime starting that day. So, I decided to skip the theater viewing and watch it at home instead. I’m glad I did, but only because the film was a bit longer (127 minutes). I wanted to break it up into a couple of chunks (full transparency, I also took a quick nap between Jockey and A Hero…by the time I started the second movie, I was ready to go).
Worth (2020)
More often than not, movies that attempt to capitalize on the tragedy of real-life events have mountains to climb over that other movies don’t even have to navigate. The greater the tragedy (at least when it comes to the loss of human life), the closer the attempt to reap any profit from the tragedy through music, literature, art, film, or other types of storytelling expression to the actual event itself presents an even steeper cliff to escalate.
The Power of the Dog (2021)
II listened to Thomas Savage’s The Power of the Dog on a whim earlier this year. I loved the first couple of chapters, but it ultimately went nowhere. I understood the idea and thought it had the potential to drive home an important point. However, despite its setup, it missed its landing entirely. Shortly afterward, I saw that there would be a movie based on the novel. Not only that, but it was set for release later that year. On top of that, there has been some early Oscar buzz surrounding the movie, both for Best Picture, Best Director (Jane Champion), Best Actor (Benedict Cumberbatch), Best Actress (Kirsten Dunst), and Best Supporting Actors (Jesse Plemons and Kodi Smit-McPhee). Even in 2021, which has proven to be one of the worst years for movies in my lifetime, The Power of the Dog deserves some of the praise it’s already receiving and will likely continue to receive.
The Lost Daughter (2021)
Oliva Coleman (The Favourite, The Father) continues her recent run of extraordinary performances in Maggie Gyllenhaal’s directorial debut, The Lost Daughter, a movie about the pressures of motherhood. Set in the present day on an unnamed Greek island. Leda (Coleman), a divorced Italian Literature professor from the United States, is on a solo vacation at a lower-level seaside holiday rental managed by the affable and a tad eccentric Lyle (Ed Harris – The Abyss, The Hours). When first meeting Lyle, we think he might be in the movie; you might feel you are in store for another of Harris’s outstanding performances. But, unfortunately, he’s not much of a factor, and I wonder why he even chose to take this role.