# Best of 2021: The Movies

- Link: https://www.nyrdcast.com/best-of-2021-the-movies/
- Published: 2022-01-03T16:27:28-06:00
- Author: Eugene Tierney

Each year I look at some of the best things that came out the previous year. This
year is no different. I’m starting with movies. As my kids get older, I’m getting
back to watching more new movies; I was up to 26 this past year. Here are my 10 
favorite, with 5 honorable mentions.

**Honorable Mentions:**
**Black Widow** – probably the weakest of the Marvel movies.
It was good, but it didn’t live up to many of the other solo movies they have made.**
Matrix: Resurrection **– The movie was OK; more nostalgia porn (see the last [podcast](https://www.nyrdcast.com/2021/12/the-nyrdcast-podcast-episode-122-nostalgia-porn/)).
There were good bits and stuff that I could have done without.**Summer of Soul **–
I love music documentaries and this one didn’t disappoint. The music was great and
I loved the look at the time period.**Justice League: The Snyder Cut **– Another
solid movie that had good and bad. Much better then the Whedon Cut, but it could
have been so much better.**Paper Tigers **– This hidden gem was far from perfect,
but it felt like some of the Kung Fu movies of my youth. Rather than the nostalgia
of “remaking” or “rebooting”, they made it original while still hitting those nostalgic
notes.

**10. 8-Bit Christmas **– This was a surprising addition to the list; like Paper
Tigers, this hit the right type of nostalgia. The story is appealing to both adults
that remember the Nintendo craze and kids who want the next big toy. As I’ve said,
this is the Christmas Story for my kids. Steve Zahn is great (as always) and Neil
Patrick Harris as the narrator is perfect. The ending is very touching on top of
the meat of the story.

**9. The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard** & **Red Notice** – These are listed as ties
on my list because Ryan Reynolds is pretty much playing Ryan Reynolds/Deadpool in
all of his movies. It fun now, but it’s probably going to get old. On top of that,
both movies had a big time male (Samuel L. Jackson/The Rock) and female (Salma Hayek/
Gal Gadot) co-stars to play off of. Stories were different enough to enjoy them;
both movies came off very fun. Both also mentioned gelato (see The Hitman’s Wife’s
Bodyguard for reference).

**8. The Eternals **– While this wasn’t popular with the mass audience, I really
enjoyed it. Sure, it lacked some character development and tried to do too much (
the story would have been better as a Disney+ series over 10 45-minute episodes).
But it had an epic feel and really set up some of the future of the MCU. They also
took some rough source material and updated it to be more appealing (I have tried
the original Kirby run and it’s rough compared to today’s comics).

**7. LFG **– 2021 was the year of documentaries that were impacted by Covid; **Last
Chance U: Basketball**, **Tiger King** season 2, and LFG. The USWNT was fighting
for equal pay and their case was killed by Covid. This was an interesting look at
what the program went through as the players were battling in court while preparing
to battle on the pitch.

**6. The Little Things **– This was one of the early straight to HBOMax releases
last year, and it probably would have gotten more attention pre-Covid. Denzel Washington
is excellent as a detective exiled to a small town, and pairs well with Rami Malek,
who is the hot-shot new detective in Los Angeles. There are twists and turns throughout
the story, and I didn’t see the end coming. Plus, we get a very good and creepy 
Jared Leto, proving that he’s a really good actor and the Joker performance wasn’t
his fault.

**5. Gunpowder Milkshake **– Netflix went all out for the movies about assassins
who save a kid, then go on the run because their employer wasn’t happy that they
didn’t complete their mission. Between this and **Kate**, this was the better movie(
although both are different after this plot point). Gunpowder Milkshake has the 
stronger cast, more exaggerated violence, and is shot in a very Tarantino-like style.
It was a lot of fun.

**4. Dune **– After reading the book and watching the David Lynch version, I was
very curious to see where this fell in the spectrum. I was very happy when this 
leaned more to the book then the Lynch movie. The cast was very good, the story 
followed the book, and Denis Villeneuve did well to dummy down many of the complex
story points from Herbert’s writing. It’s long and only part 1, but worth the 2 
1/2 hour investment.

**3. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the 10 Rings **– As of the beginning of September,
this was the best MCU movie released last year. It would have ended the year their
without Spider-Man. Simu Liu was great as the title character; he brought action
and humor to the role. Add in the supporting cast, including the MCU return of Ben
Kingsley as Trevor Slattery, and you get the best solo MCU movie since Thor: Ragnarok.
I’m looking forward to the sequel.

**2. The Suicide Squad **– I’ve never been all that high on DC movies since Nolan’s
Batman Trilogy (although **Man of Steel** and **Shazam!** were both enjoyable); 
Marvel has just been making superior movies. Until they poached James Gunn. Having
Gunn make a movie about a bunch of expendable villain was a perfect match. There
were so many off-beat characters that you didn’t care if they were killed; I was
just happy to see most of them on the big screen. I want a T.D.K. movie or show.

**1. Spider-Man: No Way Home** – This was a no doubter. No Way Home hit every beat
I wanted in the movie, between the brought back characters, to the emotional story,
to J. Jonah Jameson calling Spider-Man a menace. This was the top movie in the Tom
Holland trilogy. It also returned this version of Spider-Man back to the Friendly
Neighborhood version, without the Stark Tech. We also got to see why Matt Murdock
is a really good lawyer.

I’ll be back tomorrow with the 10 Best TV Shows of 2021.

### Share this:

 * [  Facebook ](https://www.nyrdcast.com/best-of-2021-the-movies/?share=facebook)
 * [  X ](https://www.nyrdcast.com/best-of-2021-the-movies/?share=x)
 * [  Email ](https://www.nyrdcast.com/best-of-2021-the-movies/?subject=%5BShared%20Post%5D%20Best%20of%202021%3A%20The%20Movies&body=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nyrdcast.com%2Fbest-of-2021-the-movies%2F&share=email)
 * [  LinkedIn ](https://www.nyrdcast.com/best-of-2021-the-movies/?share=linkedin)
 * [  Mastodon ](https://www.nyrdcast.com/best-of-2021-the-movies/?share=mastodon)
 * [  Nextdoor ](https://www.nyrdcast.com/best-of-2021-the-movies/?share=nextdoor)
 * [  Pinterest ](https://www.nyrdcast.com/best-of-2021-the-movies/?share=pinterest)
 * [  Reddit ](https://www.nyrdcast.com/best-of-2021-the-movies/?share=reddit)
 * [  Tumblr ](https://www.nyrdcast.com/best-of-2021-the-movies/?share=tumblr)

### Like this:

Like Loading…

### _Related_