Best films of 2021

These are the best films I watched that were released in the UK in 2021. There are some films that were technically out in 2020 but didn’t get a UK release until this year.

This list will also be in no particular order as I can’t make up my mind as to what the literal best film I watched last year was.

My Top Films of 2021

Undine directed by Christian Petzold

Perhaps my biggest film discovery of 2021 was the work of Christian Petzold, an arthouse director from Germany. I was utterly blown away by Undine which had its UK premiere in 2021 on Mubi (I swear I talk about this platform too much but it’s literally the best!). Alongside the film, they have a collection of his work called Phantoms Among Us: The Films of Christian Petzold and it was amazing to go through nearly all of the films he’s made, from short art pieces to full-blown masterpieces.

Undine is magical and has fast become one of my all-time faves due to its intoxicating mix of myth, architecture and romance. Sublime. Read my full review for Undine here.

Dune directed by Denis Villeneuve

I have mixed feelings about Dune. I enjoyed the book but it was a struggle to get through in places and in a similar way I found the movie enjoyable but also a little tough to get into. Sometimes it felt too big and hollow as personally, we didn’t get enough time to build up a connection with the characters, in this respect, a mammoth-like Dune would work better as a tv series, think 8 or 10 1 hour episodes. I also found that while the film is beautifully shot the colour palette was a little boring and later on in the movies in the scenes where the film flicks between broad daylight (dream) and darkness (reality), it really hurt my eyes.

Everything else was wonderful. I loved the casting. I will watch anything with Oscar Isaac in and Rebecca Ferguson played Jessica amazingly. Zendaya was in the film for the briefest moments but she was enchanting as Chani and Timothee Chalamet was the perfect choice for Paul. My only gripe with performances was that Dave Bautista was a bit too over the top but I can live with it.

The soundtrack was A+ ( I mean Hans Zimmer is always a winner) and the movie has made me want to continue reading the series so I guess that’s good too. I think I overhyped the movie because I love Villeneuve‘s work especially his Sci-fi stuff but I have to say I think a re-watch will make me love the movie more.

Spencer directed by Pablo Larrain

Like the ghost of Anne Boleyn haunts Diana in the movie this film is going to haunt my mind for a while. I was blown away by how emotionally raw it was and the fact that Kristen Stewart disappeared into the role perfectly, I suspect an Oscar might be on the horizon. The cinematography was perfection and the fuzziness of the film stock and colour palette felt dreamy and almost a little haunting in itself.

Don’t Look Up directed by Adam McKay

Satire at its best. The comet is obviously a metaphor for the climate crisis and it works really well. I can’t believe that the absurdity of this film is so close to reality but it most definitely is, and that’s quite scary. Probably the best comedy I watched in 2021. And finally, I would totally become unhinged if this happened in real life.

The Matrix: Resurrections directed by Lana Wachowski

Lana Wachowski, I love your mind. This was a brilliant sequel that was technically not needed and could have been a blatant studio cash in on 90’s nostalgia and the popularity of movie franchises - maybe it still is and maybe I’m one of the only people that really enjoyed this film, but tbh I don’t care. What Lana made Resurrections into was actually really beautiful. Born out of losing her parents (and the fear of the studio doing a sequel with or without her) she resurrected Neo and Trinity and she created a film all about love and the power it can have as a force of good.

I also loved how the film comments on the real world, especially through Neo aka Thomas Anderson being dosed up on blue pills to make him a ‘functioning’ member of society and the fact that Trinity aka Tiffany was made into a mother, perhaps out of expectation rather than a real desire to become one. There’s also a scene in an elevator where everyone is staring at a screen except for Anderson, people are willfully enslaved to tech and the Matrix has weaponised everything. Even memories are bent into ‘fiction’ to keep people oblivious. Genius.

If you’ve ever watched the sensational tv series Sense8 which was also created by Lana then you’ll also be delighted to see many familiar faces appearing in the movie. And thematically there’s a cross over too. Togetherness and love are weapons for good and in the 60 years after the events of the original trilogy, some machines and humans are working together, there is no us vs them anymore. and really Neo was never really ‘The One’, he was made whole by Trinity, so really together they are The One, and that’s just fucking beautiful.

Another Round directed by Thomas Vinterberg

Thomas Vintergberg and Mads Mikkelesen are a cinematic force to be reckoned with, The Hunt (<- click to read the review) is one of the best films I’ve ever seen and their 2nd collaboration is just as electric. I will watch anything Mads Mikkelesen is in, I have watched some absolute shit because he’s in it and tbh I will also watch anything Vinterberg makes because he’s a brilliant director, even that weird sci-fi film he made after Festen…I will watch it!

Another Round is funny, earnest and heartbreaking and looks at life in a very beautiful way and I think it’s the kind of film we all needed in 2021 because shit has been super dark these past 2 years. Also that final scene is a revelation and instantly iconic…what a life!!!

Passing directed by Rebecca Hall

Rebecca Hall’s first film as director, Ruth Negga and Tessa Thompson in lead roles, beautiful black and white cinematography and a tinkling jazz motif. This film was amazing, and so dark and complex. Every cinematographic choice made is deliberate and works to function as a riff on the idea of passing and how limiting and restrictive society can be. I have as a result of watching Passing bought the book it was based on by Nella Larson because I just have to delve more into it.

The Green Knight directed by David Lowery

Yikes, this was a depressing film, but it was an absolute piece of art. Taking one of the most famous 14th-century chivalric romances and turning it into a dizzying cinematic journey of operatic proportions is just genius. This is the kind of film that only comes around every so often and it is something to behold, unfortunately in the UK we didn’t really get much of a cinematic release so I had to watch it at home, and I literally ended up watching it on new years eve as I was putting it off for a while out of annoyance. Also, on a side note, the fox was really cute and I would never have volunteered to face the Green Knight because I’m an absolute coward.

Did I cry? Yes, quite a few times actually. I don’t really know why but I think it’s because I’ve been feeling quite emotional recently and I’ve also been feeling really unwell all over the Christmas period and there’s also been a return to death-related panic attacks that I wrote about last year here.

Shiva Baby directed by Emma Seligman

Stressful to watch and sometimes feels like a horror movie, Shiva Baby has to be one of the most fascinating and darkly amusing films of 2021. The concept hooked me and Seligman certainly delivered. It’s funny, awkward and in parts rather unsettling, especially in certain moments when the cinematography creates an air of immense claustrophobia and the soundtrack becomes overpowering and completely discordant.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings directed by Destin Daniel Cretton

Was Shang-Chi kinda just the usual father-son conflict plot? For the most part yes, but was it infinitely better because the legend that is Tony Leung Chiu-wai played Shang-Chi’s father? Absolutely! I do kind of feel like Leung overshadowed Simu Liu’s main character slightly but it’s hard not to when he is such a compelling actor. I am still in awe of that dance-like fight between Xu Wenwu and Yi Ling! But I must admit the bus fight scene was epic too.

Most Disappointing film

The Eternals

While Eternals wasn’t the worst film I watched last year it was certainly the one that disappointed me the most which is perhaps my own fault for overhyping it!

Was the film beautiful to look at? Yes, Chloé Zhao shoots some of this film like its arthouse, especially the natural landscapes and I loved that. Was the cast ground-breaking? Yes, I loved the diversity of the characters on display, there are different races and cultures, and also the first gay and deaf superheroes in the MCU. Why didn’t I like it that much then? The plot. I didn’t feel like we had enough time with these characters, if anything maybe a mini-series would have served them better, or perhaps its on me and perhaps I should have read some of their comics before to get a taste for the characters.

There were characters I liked, for example the bond between Angelina Jolie’s Thena and Ma Dong-seok’s Gilgamesh (why did he have to die!) was beautiful and I loved how he stayed by her side through the centuries and protected her, I also loved Makkari, I thought she was a brilliant character and her relationship with Druig was endearing…in fact I think every other character was more interesting than Sersi and Ikaris - who are supposed to be the main anchors of the film! Even Kingo and his valet had more chemistry with each other! Also, half the film was exposition and I did find it hard to hear what Arishem was saying because I have tinnitus!

I think I will watch it again when It arrives on Disney+ just to see if I was being too harsh and that maybe I was just in a weird mood as when I watched the trailer I felt like the film was going to be one of my faves in the MCU and it just didn’t hit me the way I thought it would!

However, I am super excited for Kit Harrington’s Black Knight because we got a voice cameo from none other than Blade!!! I loved the Wesley Snipes movies as a kid and I think Mahershala Ali is absolutely going to kill the role

5 reasons why Denis Villeneuve's Dune could be the greatest book to film adaptation ever made

Usually, book-to-film adaptations get a bad rep. Fans of the source material are prone to finickity nit-picking, and more often than not, the screenplay never quite captures the full essence of the story because, in most cases, there’s just not enough time to cover it all.

Of course, there's the odd good one, and the occasional great one, many of which we can thank the late great Mr Stanley Kubrick for. Yes, even The Shinning that Stephen King notoriously hated.

But 9 times out of 10, the consensus is always that the book is better than the movie. But Denis Villeneuve could quite possibly change that when his cinematic blockbuster adaptation of Dune hits theatres in October. 

Here are 5 reasons why Denis Villeneuve’s Dune will blow us away  

He's a fan of the book – and I mean a fan

Villeneuve has read Frank Herbert's epic space fantasy novel many times over; he has an undeniable passion for the material. When Denis made Blade Runner 2049, he took the DNA of Ridley Scott's movie and ran with it, he was loyal but also creative with the world, and that's exactly what Dune needs. Someone who loves it and wants it to be Dune but is willing to make it mainstream in a clever way.

He's done a Book to Movie adaptation before, and it was fantastic

The sophisticated and utterly classy 2016 film Arrival is based on a short story by Ted Chiang, and well, it was unarguably one of the best films of the year. This film cemented Villeneuve’s status as a certified Sci-fi wizard as he turned a rather intriguing and very short story into a mind-blowing theatrical experience that only gets better on re-watches.

It's a timeless look for a timeless book

From the looks of the trailer, we are getting a believable Dune. A much more palatable cinematic version, unlike the kitsch campiness of David Lynch's oh so 80's it hurts adaptation from 1984. If anything, there are some major operatic and Shakespearean vibes to the production. The scope of Dune is immense, and the political intrigue is Game of Thrones-level stuff, and that’s exactly what Denis is delivering.

It's woke

Climate crisis, Colonialism, whitewashing, white saviours – all terms that are very much in our verbal lexicon nowadays and this adaptation of Dune tackles them all.

Colonisers ravish Arrakis, for it is the only place where you can acquire the priceless spice Melange. Paul is part of the problem or, at best, a White Saviour, and if you look at Lynch’s 1984 movie it really was rather too white for an intergalactic society hundreds of years in the future.

For a book published in 1965, Dune is still very much contemporary, its issues are our issues, and really this is the perfect time for Dune to be hitting our screens. It’s pure sci-fi epicness with a gut-wrenching punch behind it. Dune is essential viewing.

In Denis Villeneuve, we trust

Going into a Denis Villeneuve movie is a safe thing; he’s a director you can trust. It’s like walking into a Christopher Nolan movie and knowing something about Time will be in the plot or into a Marvel movie and knowing it’s going to be a fun and formulaic blast.

With Villeneuve, you know you’re going to get great visuals, great stories and above all, you know there will be stellar performances. Timothee Chalamet is the perfect casting choice for Paul Atreides; not only is he one of Hollywood’s hottest talents under 30 right now he has the perfect sad boy vibe that just screams an epic coming-of-age story; I feel like he’s going to play Paul as a sort of space Hamlet, to be emperor or not to be emperor that is the question!

In The Mood for Love: A Valentine's Day Lockdown Watchlist

I have created a video with all the best romance movies to watch while in lockdown this Valentine's Day. There’s classic romances, French gems such as the always charming Amelie and one of the most tragic love stories I have ever watched.

Let me know in the comments section what your favourite romance movies are.

My Thoughts on Dune

Frank Herbert’s Dune is heralded as one of the greatest Sci-Fi novels ever written, its influence in the genre is absolutely undeniable, but, is it actually any good? Let’s find out.

Spoilers ahead so proceed with caution if you haven’t read the book!

Dune is a mammoth of a novel and granted there is a lot that happens but I found it to be quite boring in places. I loved the beginning of the novel with the political intrigue, the foreshadowing and the imminent danger that Leto was caught up in. I also enjoyed Yueh’s internal struggle about his betrayal and his role in the assassination of Leto. The Bene Gesserit were fascinating and the litany against fear is something I will take from this book and use in my life, as I feel like the line ‘fear is the mind killer’ can be a powerful mantra for anyone in a time of anxiety or difficulty (Hello 2020 I’m looking at you).

So what was boring? Well the Villain, I didn’t really want to read about him and delve into his thoughts. The Baron was rather one dimensional and his paedophilic obsession with young boys was vomit-inducing. I also found that the novel was just a bit too long, if some of the desert roaming stuff had been condensed then I would have enjoyed the novel a lot more than I actually did. I also found flicking between the story and the glossary to understand all the invented terms rather irritating as it instantly removes you from the narrative and reminds me of reading ye olde classics for English literature at uni!

Another thing is the question of whether Dune is problematic or not. You have a white saviour narrative, the uncanny references to Iraq (I mean the name of the planet is Arrakis, it’s too similar to be a coincidence) and Arabic culture and history. The spice Melange as a metaphor for the oil crisis, the list goes on. What was Herbert doing, as a White American Man, should he have been allowed to play with a whole culture’s history and use it for a novel? On the flipside, Paul can be seen as a villain, if you read the novel as a treatise on the dangers of colonialism and the violence of white supremacy it becomes something else entirely. Maybe this is what Herbert was trying to craft, a politically woke novel. One can hope. And actually, Quinn’s Ideas (go follow him if you’re a Sci-fi nerd his videos are brilliant!) on Youtube makes the perfect case for this:

The novel can also be read from an ecological angle, the world of Arrakis is a delicate and balanced ecosystem. Water is precious and the sandworms are revered as gods. But, a disturbance in this balance would be catastrophic, just like global warming is going to and has already caused immense harm to Earth. There are a few lines that stand out to me on this subject…

"The historical system of mutual pillage and extortion stops here on Arrakis," his father said. "You cannot go on forever stealing what you need without regard to those who come after.”

I feel like this is exactly the sentiment that needs to be adopted by society before it’s too late!

Back to my overall thoughts on Dune, I’m still harbouring mixed feelings but I like how much there is to analyse, and this review is only hitting the surface. I am still excited for Denis Villeneuve’s cinematic adaptation as I know he will take the best of the novel and make it pop on screen, and I’m pretty confident that Timothée Chalamet has the skill to play Paul as a complex and morally ambiguous character. But is Dune the greatest Sci-Fi novel ever written? It depends who you ask…