The 10 Best Films I Saw in 2021

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There was simply too much released in 2021 to catch everything that I wanted to, or intended to see before the end of the year. That’s either a great thing or a bad thing depending on your schedule. In either case, with the influx of movies being released every single week, I managed to catch some fantastic gems that kept me entertained, thriller, and stunned. 2021 had its share of stinkers, but it also bounced back from the lull in 2020 with some bangers, to boot. This is ten of the best I saw this year.

Of course I’ll still be playing catch up with 2021 over the next month.

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The 5 Worst Films I Saw in 2021

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I didn’t offer up best or worst of lists in 2020, mainly because I spent all of December fighting off COVID. I was sick as a dog but thanks to Phil Hall and Emilie Black for keeping the site chugging along like a well oiled machine!

In either case, 2021 was sadly hard enough to keep up with, what with there now being at least five or six new movies released every week on twelve streaming services (and in theaters) in America. In either case, opting for less cynicism (and because I subconsciously avoided a lot of movies that I thought would stink, sue me) this year, this is five of the worst movies of 2021.

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The Bootleg Files: New Year’s Eve

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BOOTLEG FILES 790: “New Year’s Eve” (1948 Soviet animated short).

LAST SEEN: On YouTube.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: Not that I can determine.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: It fell through the cracks.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Maybe in an anthology collection of Soviet-era cartoons.

Here we are at the end of another year, and to say goodbye to 2021 I decided to lean back into the Cold War era and dig up a wonderful but obscure animated short from the Soviet Union that takes place on New Year’s Eve. The film, not surprisingly, is called “New Year’s Eve” and it is one of the most delightfully odd relics of the house that Lenin built.
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You’re Watching Video Music Box (2021)

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The story of Video Music Box is long, long overdue. Video Music Box existed in a world where everyone “wanted their MTV.” While MTV hesitated to play music from people of color well in to the eighties, “Video Music Box” was a New York institution that proudly played music videos and performances from African American and minority artists that were legendary and up and comers, and for that it continues to be heralded by iconic music artists.

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Krampus (2015): The Naughty Cut (Collector’s Edition) [4K UHD/Blu-Ray]

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The big trend this year has been Director’s Cuts as filmmakers like Zack Snyder and Sylvester Stallone have managed to go over past missteps in film and corrected course. Or at the very least, offer movie buffs a different look at a classic. This year Michael Dougherty, the mind behind “Trick r Treat,” teams with Shout! Factory to deliver loyal fans the “Director’s Cut” (or “Unrated Cut”) of his Christmas horror film “Krampus.” While I’d be hard pressed to call this a true director’s cut, I have no problem insisting it’s a great horror film, and a fantastic holiday film about family and appreciating the smaller things in life.

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The 10 Best Non-Holiday Christmas Films

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I know, I know, the annual onslaught of Christmas movies is upon us. Whether it involves those syrupy love stories that pollute certain cable channels or the usual round-up of holiday-themed productions, there are certain films that only show up during December and then vanish for the other 11 months.
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Musings On An Ear

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“Torture you? That’s a Good Idea. I Like that One. Sounds Fun.”

I’m often given a stink eye when I proclaim “Reservoir Dogs” as one of my lesser liked Tarantino films. While I think it’s stellar, I also think it possesses a lot of the hallmarks of a fresh talent desperate to impress right out of the gate. That said, I would agree “Reservoir Dogs” is a wonderful example of crime cinema, and a wonderful exploration on the levels of brutal violence. All at once Tarantino explores cartoonish action movie violence, brutal realistic violence, and a personal kind of violence that people still talk about to this day.

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