In Pine Ridge, the Lakota Nation women are doing everything they can to let their situation known, including how the past, history, drugs in their town, and abuse are affecting them and their people. These ladies are rising up, speaking up, and fighting to get life better for themselves and their people.
In New Orleans, Louisiana, funeral parades and celebrations are common and expected. These are steeped in tradition going back to the early days of settlers and slaves. This film explores these and other traditions in New Orleans through the eyes of multiple people with different backgrounds.
Actress Charlotte Gainsbourg takes a look at her famous mother through her own camera.
“Jackass Forever” is exactly the kind of movie that we need right now. In a world where everything is so dark, it’s kind of fun to see Johnny Knoxville return with the gang to just do dumb crap for ninety minutes. The virtually critic proof “Jackass Forever” is kind of a sequel and reboot of the series that brings back so much of the cringe inducing, horrendous stunts that we’re used too, all the while introducing us to some brand new members in the process.
For the generation that cut their teeth on classic Universal horror movies, Boris Karloff is, was, and will always be the definitive Frankenstein monster. What “The Man Behind the Monster” seeks to do is act as an appetizer for the aspiring horror buff who hasn’t quite been lucky enough see much of Karloff’s work. Karloff was a man who was powerful on-screen even in to his old age; “The Man Behind the Monster” explores the powerful actor, and his tumultuous career that survived through political controversies, and the Hays Code.
Seth Porges’ fantastic documentary “Class Action Park” recently debuted on cable, prompting me to think back at the time I survived Action Park. I say survived, and not visited, because as a kid I had no idea how utterly absolutely dangerous and deadly the theme park had a reputation for being. On its surface it looked like a wonderful place to have some good summer time adventure, and the ads that played non-stop on television during the summer season made the place look amazing. But like “Itchy & Scratchy Land,” it was a death trap in disguise with horrendous hazards capable of maiming and or killing you.
Sans the robots, of course.
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.