Christian's Top 10 Movies of 2021
As we here at The Couch continue to recap 2021 in sports in entertainment, Film and Television contributor Christian Becker offers his ranking of the best films of an abnormal year.
You can read fellow Film contributor Sierra Slaughter's Top 10 here as well.
10. The Guilty
I’m a sucker for “self-contained thrillers.” But they can go so wrong if the pacing is off. That isn’t the case with Antoine Fuqua’s The Guilty. A tense, gripping ride that never lets up.
9. King Richard
Yeah, I get that this is a typical, feel good sports movie. But it still hits all the right notes! Will Smith gives it his all and if this is to be his long-elusive Oscar win, it would be a very deserving one.
8. tick, tick...Boom!
I barely knew anything about this musical, or Johnathan Larson for that matter. But I love Andrew Garfield and that Lin Manual Miranda guy seems to know a thing or two about musicals, and the result is…you guessed it, a winner!
7. Derek DelGaudio’s In & Of Itself
This one might be a bit of a cheat. I always struggle with if filmed productions should be considered “films” or not. But this one moved me so much that it would feel shameful to keep it off the list. Rarely does a piece of art make you reflect on your own life in ways that this makes you do.
6. Barb And Star Go To Vista Del Mar
This gets the award for straight up funniest movie of the whole year. In a time where it can feel as though broad studio comedies are dead and done with, Barb & Star come in to make us all laugh again.
5. Nightmare Alley
This movie is an entire mood. A dark, mysterious mood that's beautiful to look at every single frame. It only helps that Bradley Cooper gives one of the best performances of his career with this one.
4. The Mitchells Vs. The Machines
A celebration of the weird, crazy world of animation and movies themselves. Yet another Lord & Miller production that feels like it shouldn’t work on paper, but it blows everyone else out of the water with its wild visuals, and incredible family heart.
3. The Green Knight
I haven’t been big on David Lowery’s films in the past, but he really came to play with this meditative epic. Another film where every frame could be hung up in a museum as its own painting. Dev Patel also turns in what might be his best performance ever.
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2. Licorice Pizza
A big ol’ hug of a movie. I don’t think I stopped smiling for one minute throughout Paul Thomas Anderson’s coming of age journey. One of the few movies I’ve seen in recent memory where I could tell I was witnessing a classic in the making.
1. C'mon C'mon
Mike Mills takes many years in between making films, but they’re always worth the wait. A wonderful celebration of life, childhood and adulthood that struck so many emotional cords in me. Everything from the writing, performances and visual choices were just charming and perfect in my eyes.
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