Best Movies, Films, and Streaming Features of 2021 - 25 to 1
Taking over the cinemas and our living rooms in 2021 were a new class of superheroes, hilarious comedies, non-stop action blockbusters, superb animation, indie treats, insightful documentaries, intense dramas, and a whole host of films and movies we're still dying to watch.
When it comes to the silver screen, there really has been something spectacular for everyone this year. Please enjoy Part One - 25 to 1 of our Best Movies, Films, and Streaming Features of 2021.
Head here for Part Two - 26 to 50 of our Best Movies, Films, and Streaming Features of 2021.
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1. The Mitchells Vs. The Machines
Its genre-embedded family bursts through every messy, jam-packed frame like they’re trying to escape (they often are), and in the process create the most energetic, endearing animated comedy so far this year.
This is a movie that understands its target audience. The Mitchells vs. the Machines is perhaps the first great animated comedy of the YouTube Poop generation, championing digital DIY creations and off-the-wall dumb (and/or morbid) jokes in equal measure.
Read more here.
2. The Suicide Squad
James Gunn's cynicism may be gone, but not his nastiness. At times, The Suicide Squad feels less like a movie than a mission statement from a director. Behold, look what I can do with a budget and all the comic book characters I can play with.
But, the unexpected heart at the center of the film, a sneaky anti-imperialist bent, and Gunn’s wild visual leaps make The Suicide Squad a bloody, gory delight.
Find out more.
3. Barb And Star Go To Vista Del Mar
Barb & Star Go to Vista Del Mar has one killer sequence after another. Comedy fans will quote this movie for decades. It isn’t a movie, it’s a wavelength. You either get on it or you don’t.
I’m sure some viewers will complain that Barb and Star are so quirky and chipper that they’re annoying, or that the film’s comedy is too bizarre and random. Take my advice: Cut those people out of your life. You don’t need to associate yourself with anyone who is that wrong about something this important.
Read full review.
4. The Harder They Fall
The Harder They Fall is a bloody pleasure: a revenge Western packed with memorable characters played by memorable actors, each scene and moment staged for voluptuous beauty and kinetic power.
Jeymes Samuel, who co-wrote, directed, and scored the movie, has not just studied the works of the directors he emulates, but understands what they were doing with image and sound, and feels it.
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5. Judas And The Black Messiah
Led by sensational performances from Daniel Kaluuya as Fred Hampton and LaKeith Stanfield as William O'Neal, the FBI informant who infiltrated his inner circle, this is a scalding account of oppression and revolution, coercion and betrayal, rendered more shocking by the undiminished currency of its themes.
Kaluuya’s Hampton has a raging fire in his belly, a quality that makes him a rousing communicator. “Anywhere there’s people, there’s power,” is one of his refrains. For much of the duration (the film runs a fast-paced two hours and change), the burning charisma of Kaluuya’s Fred makes him the sun around which everyone else orbits.
Read more here.
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6. Nobody
‘Nobody’ is more violent lark than probing satire, but between Bob Odenkirk’s smartly underplayed performance, the surprises in the screenplay by Derek Kolstad (the “John Wick” series) and the puckishly brutal direction of Ilya Naishuller (“Hardcore Henry”), it’s a wonderfully paced and consistently clever action movie that ups the ante of a genre that’s been dominated by Liam Neeson clones.
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7. A Quiet Place Part II
Once again, John Krasinski manages to render relatively straightforward tasks — nursing a baby, tuning a radio, walking through a train car — harrowing; dialogue, by necessity, is rarely wasted, and his actors feel far more sympathetically human and real than most meat-puppet horror chum.
Maybe that's why it all ends so abruptly, after a meticulous walk-up: When you've put in the work for this kind of world-building, it's not a one-and-done sequel; it's a franchise.
Read full review.
8. Black Widow
Part origin story, part action film, Black Widow is a deeper dive into the forces that shaped Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow. And even in a film that should please Marvel fans with its requisite action sequences and detailed plot, it ends up being less about Black Widow’s skills as a trained assassin and, in keeping with the way Scarlett Johansson has played the character throughout the series, more about her soul.
Director Cate Shortland has given us a fast-paced movie with action sequences, character depth, and very subtle social and political subtexts about the way women are seen, treated and exploited in the world.
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9. Free Guy
Over the years, Hollywood has notoriously struggled with video game movies; Free Guy is the most creative, heartfelt and perhaps best video game movie so far, the film is fresh and original enough that anyone can enjoy it. It’s uproariously fun, delightfully charming and unexpectedly sweet, with Ryan Reynolds perfectly in his element balancing action and comedy.
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10. Werewolves Within
A new comedy classic whodunnit in the honored tradition of Clue, Werewolves Within finds the laughs in the jump scare, and brings back the uproarious joy of the "it's behind you!" creeping fright. Kudos to director Josh Ruben and casting directors Gayle Keller and Emer O'Callaghan for assembling an ensemble that would make Christopher Guest cock an eyebrow.
Find out more.
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11. Godzilla Vs. Kong
Godzilla vs. Kong is a crowd-pleasing, smash-'em-up monster flick and a straight-up action picture par excellence. It is a fairy tale and a science-fiction exploration film, a Western, a pro wrestling extravaganza, a conspiracy thriller, a Frankenstein movie, a heartwarming drama about animals and their human pals, and, in spots, a voluptuously wacky spectacle that plays as if the creation sequence in "The Tree of Life" had been subcontracted to the makers of "Yellow Submarine."
Read full review.
12. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
Spectacular is the word for the martial-arts action in ‘Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.’ As the first Asian hero in Marvel history, former stuntman Simu Liu is action poetry in motion and his epic starring debut kicks off the fall film season on a rousing high note.
Hawaii-raised director Destin Daniel Cretton makes the move from indies (‘Short Term 12,’ ‘Just Mercy’) to blockbuster without a stumble. There's nothing he won't throw at the screen to keep our pulses pounding. And pound they do.
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13. The Card Counter
As director Paul Schrader makes clear with the film’s first line of dialogue (“I never imagined myself confined to a life of incarceration”), this is a movie about prisons.
‘The Card Counter’ finds Oscar Isaac operating at the peak of his abilities. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a more thrillingly necessary use of the filmmaking form this year.
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14. The Sparks Brothers
Shaun of the Dead director Edgar Wright is a perfect fit for the absurdist antics of art pop’s most elusive duo in this stranger-than-fiction documentary, wrestling with the stranger-than-fiction tale of one of pop music’s most influentially indefinable enigmas.
Read more here.
15. Together
Featuring pointedly jagged performances from James McAvoy and Sharon Horgan, the only characters in film besides their son Arthur (Samuel Logan), ‘Together’ is a riveting showcase for the actors and writer Dennis Kelly’s decidedly unsentimental script.
‘Together’ represents a welcome tonal shift, unafraid to showcase the nastiness associated with isolation and, paradoxically, becoming one of the most humane things Stephen Daldry has directed.
Read full review.
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16. Fin
A wide-ranging film which seems to keep evolving as it goes along, Fin is disturbing for a purpose, as it absolutely ought to be. There are also brief, magical scenes where director Eli Roth, underwater, cuddles and pets a wild shark as if it were a dog. Virtually everything told here is also shown, and here film serves another purpose: as a record of what may never be seen by human eyes again.
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17. The Power Of The Dog
This is an exquisitely crafted film, its unhurried rhythms continually shifting as plangent notes of melancholy, solitude, torment, jealousy and resentment surface. Director Jane Campion is in full control of her material, digging deep into the turbulent inner life of each of her characters with unerring subtlety.
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18. Vivo
Vivo is strategically contrived to hit audiences’ pleasure spots, blending a grown-up-friendly story of a Latin-music couple whose careers took them in separate directions with all the hyper-caffeinated comedy action the kiddos expect from the medium. Plus, the songs build on one another, hooking in your head and snowballing as the movie develops.
Find out more.
19. No Time To Die
If it wasn’t obvious before, it is now. We have been living through a great era for James Bond movies — and that era ends spectacularly with ‘No Time to Die’. The new movie takes its place among the best of the entire series. Daniel Craig leaves the series in a mammoth, 163-minute extravaganza that audiences will be enjoying for decades. It’s a lovely thing to see.
Read full review.
20. Batman: The Long Halloween
DC Universe Animated Original Movies has created forty-one films to date. The new look of this Batman film is a refreshing change, and it works for this story. Not only are the lines and angles sharper and less curvaceous but the movie has a film noir feel and a reddish/brown tinge reminding the audience of a sepia feature.
Written by Tim Sheridan (The Death and Return of Superman) and directed by Chris Palmer (Superman: Man of Tomorrow), this Warner Bros. Animated feature has a different look and feel than many of its predecessors. The vibe is mysterious and extremely dark and by the end of part one, you can't wait to watch part two for the conclusion.
Read full review.
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21. Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain
Roadrunner is a devastating portrait of Anthony Bourdain’s life and death. Morgan Neville's portrait of the late rock-star chef is as empathetic as it is tragic.
Watching Roadrunner feels like engaging in a kind of collective mourning, a desperate bid to understand a man who meant so much to so many, even if we never met him. For those of us who cared about Tony, whether through the television or a recipe, this is essential viewing.
Read more here.
22. CODA
The movie ‘CODA’ reminds us that cliches sometimes work — and brilliantly. This formulaic coming-of-age comedy-drama, adapted from the 2014 French film “La Famille Belier,” pushes our buttons shamelessly, but also with enough sincerity, warmth and finesse to forestall accusations of rank manipulation.
You’ll laugh, all right. You’ll cry. You’ll do both at the same time. ‘CODA’ is just that kind of movie. And thank goodness for it.
Find out more.
23. Woodstock 99: Peace Love And Rage
Setting aside its subjects’ lack of diversity, “Woodstock 99” is a must-watch documentary that reminds us, yet again, about history’s inevitable ability to repeat itself. Clocking in at nearly two hours, it’s amazing how breathless the pace is from the minute the heavily young, white, male crowd starts to arrive.
The documentary plays out in a straightforward manner, detailing the desire and failure from Woodstock creatives Michael Lang and John Schuer to do another multi-day music festival in the vein of what Lang had created in 1969.
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24. Zack Snyder's Justice League
This film is gorgeous, massive in scope, well-written, and superbly acted. It goes beyond being a Michael Bay-explosion fest and definitively transcends action and destruction porn. This is a real movie. Every single issue with the original release is fixed—everything from pacing, cinematography, acting, characterization, and even the film’s score.
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25. Nine Days
There is a difference between a first-time director taking creative risks and the imaginative swing that Edson Oda takes with his directorial debut ‘Nine Days’. This isn’t just creative. It isn’t just imaginative. ‘Nine Days’ is the sort of original cinematic art that, these days, is few and far between.
Read more here.
Head here for Part Two - 26 to 50 of our Best Movies, Films, and Streaming Features of 2021.
The Sea Shell mobile app is available worldwide as a free download on the App Store and the Play Store. Download it today.