GARY'S TOP FILMS OF 2021

Okay I’ll admit that the mixture of Covid and cinemas full of people has kept me away from watching films in their natural habitat this year as life got more “back to normal” plus work, general fatigue and the novelty of sitting on the sofa so much wearing off and the lack of films going straight to VOD has meant I’ve watched less films on the small screen too this year. It’s been a bit of a crap year for me and films. I’ve probably watched the least films I’ve ever watched in my life..

It’s hard to judge the year in film…have there been less good films or are studios still holding films back? Or is it that the return to normal Oscar season pattern mean that all the great films are coming out early 2022? Or did I just miss all the crackers? I didn’t get the chance to see Flee, Spencer or The French Dispatch and I haven’t seen Petit Maman or West Side Story yet plus there’s the few usual smaller films I missed like Censor but was there more?

Soz for being a bit miserable but I feel this has been the year of disappointment - all the long touted musicals have been shockers, Black Widow was one of the worst Marvel films ever and that James Bond film was a stinker.

Thank goodness for female filmmakers! Especially Reclaim the Frame who champion films made by women who pushed and promoted many of the great films of 2021 including Rebel Dykes and Oscar winner Nomandland.

And of course the comedy of the year ended up being Kristen Wiig’s Barb and Star Go To Vista Del Mar which is a camp classic in the making. Plus we have to celebrate the wonderful quirky comedy drama experiments of Miranda July and Bllie Piper with Kajillionaire and Rare Beasts respectively, two of the more interesting quietly funny films of 2021.

Here’s most of the films I saw this year from my favourite all the way down to least inspiring. If it’s not on the list then I still need to watch it - I cannot wait for the Jane Campion’s Power of the Dog which surely has Best Picture written all over it.

See you in 2022 and hopefully in the cinema!

  1. Tick Tick Boom!

  2. Nomadland

  3. Luca

  4. Promising Young Woman

  5. I Care A Lot

  6. Minari

  7. One Night In Miami

  8. Palm Springs

  9. Barb and Star Go To Vista Del Mar

  10. Rebel Dykes

  11. Zola

  12. Lady Boss: The Jackie Collins StoryRare Beasts

  13. Kajillionaire

  14. The Suicide Squad

  15. Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

  16. Last Night In Soho

  17. No Time To Die

  18. Tina

  19. Everybody’s Talking About Jamie

  20. The Mitchells vs The Machines

  21. On The Record

  22. Encanto

  23. Black Widow

  24. Single All The Way

  25. In The Heights

Gary Williams