2021 in Review
- 8-Bit Christmas, B-,
- West Side Story, A, a new and improved version of a classic musical
- Raya and the Last Dragon, A, good adventure story with strong themes
- The French Dispatch, A, a nice trip to Wes Anderson's version of Europe
- Cruella, A, fun caper movie with a more complex Cruella
- Summer of Soul, A, great time capsule of history, music, and culture
- Dune, A-, very impressive beginning with a strong cast
- CODA, A-, nice coming of age movie with solid performances
- The Sparks Brothers, A-, interesting look at a very creative cult band
- Belfast, B+, heartfelt portrait of a rough period, needs plot
- Free Guy, B+, fun, funny action movie about a video game
- The Rescue, B+, well made documentary about an amazing rescue
- Encanto, B+, nice looking movie overstuffed with characters
- King Richard, B+, sometimes muddled look at the making of champions
- Tick, Tick … Boom!, B+, neat movie about the difficulty of success
- Don't Look Up, B+, a late night monologue turned into a movie
- Luca, B+, by the numbers despite a nice story and concept
- Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, B+, fun, but more about the villain than the hero
- Flora & Ulysses, B+, low budget and simple with occasional genius
- In the Heights, B, underwhelming musical portrait of New York
- Nightmare Alley, B, great looking with strong performances, but hollow
- Ghostbusters: Afterlife, B, fun, nostalgic movie with a new, younger cast
- Nobody, B, violent action movie in sheep's clothing is fun
- Spider-Man: No Way Home, B, another so-so installment in this series
- Black Widow, B, backstory of a good character, but a little thin
- The Mitchells vs. The Machines, B, a lot of familiar ingredients give average results
- The Matrix Resurrections, B, nice to vist this world, but not as rewarding
- No Time to Die, B, sentimental Bond movie with weak story and villain
- Licorice Pizza, B, portrait of a seedy Seventies LA needs more plot
- The Worst Person in the World, B, unexciting movie about a very normal person
- Eternals, B-, too many characters with a questionable mission
- Jungle Cruise, B-, good leads with increasingly tiresome story
- Last Night in Soho, C+, weak mystery provides excuse to show 60's London
- The Suicide Squad, C+, overly violent, with a warped sense of humor
- The Green Knight, C, nice looking movie with a flawed hero and no story
- Ron's Gone Wrong, D, technology driven movie forgets need for humanity
- The Power of the Dog, D, agonizingly slow movie with people you don't like