Yesterday Hollywood hotshot and cultural pulse-taker Lewis Beale sent his annual movie milestone list. I’ve included HE counter-opinions in some instances. Here, again, is HE’s 12.19.21 list of the year’s 30 finest films.
The Best: ‘Riders of Justice,’ ‘Pig,’ ‘Prayers for the Stolen,’ ‘A Hero,’ ‘The Power of the Dog,’ ‘The Hand of God,’ ‘Licorice Pizza’.” / HE: I have to presume Beale hasn’t seen “Parallel Mothers.”
The Worst: ‘Annette,’ ‘Cry Macho,’ ‘The Many Saints of Newark,’ ‘The Tomorrow War,’ ‘The Woman In the Window,’ ‘Titane,’ ‘Bliss,’ ‘The Lost Daughter,’ ‘The Mitchells vs. The Machines,’ ‘The Unforgivable.’
Overrated: ‘Passing,’ ‘In the Heights,’ ‘Drive My Car,’ ‘Petite Maman’.
Underrated: ‘Benedetta,’ ‘The Eyes of Tammy Faye’
Guilty Pleasures: ‘Godzilla vs. Kong,’ ‘Copshop’
Biggest Disappointment: ‘Summer of Soul’ (too much talk, not enough music)
Films You Couldn’t Make Me Watch Even If You Waterboarded Me: ‘The French Dispatch,’ ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife,’ ‘Halloween Kills,’ anything from the MCU. / HE insists that this year Beale got it wrong about the MCU, and I’m saying an an MCU hater for the most part — Spider–Man: No Way Home really and truly hits a grand slam during its final hour.
If Pornhub Were In the Feature Film Business: ‘Bad Luck Banging Or Loony Porn’ (Yes, this is the title of a real Romanian film)
I Took The Red Pill: And discovered the reality of ‘The Matrix Resurrections’ and its gloriously entertaining ridiculousness / HE politely points out there is NOTHING “glorious” about this in the least….nothing!
Best ‘John Wick’ Wannabe: ‘Nobody’
Worst ‘John Wick’ Wannabe: ‘Jolt’
Obvious Sergio Leone Wannabe: ‘The Harder They Fall’
Psychotherapy Trophy (awarded to the most mentally unhinged film of the year): ‘Titane’
Best Use of Pop Music: the Van Morrison tunes in ‘Belfast’
Most Gratuitous Nudity: The last scene of ‘Benedetta’
Best Performance Playing An Annoying Character: Will Smith as control freak Richard Williams in ‘King Richard’ (Runnerup: Simon Rex in ‘Red Rocket’)
Worst Third Act: John Lee Hancock‘s ‘The Little Things’
Best Villain: Rosamund Pike, ‘I Care A Lot”
Worst Miscasting: Nicole Kidman as Lucille Ball in ‘Being the Ricardos’
A Boring Book Becomes A Boring Movie: ‘The Lost Daughter’
Albert Camus Prize (For the film with the most existential despair): ‘The Card Counter’
Best Shot: Residents of an isolated Mexican village standing on a hilltop at night holding their phones aloft trying to find a signal in ‘Prayers For The Stolen’
Best TV Shows: ‘Hacks,’ ‘The White Lotus,’ ‘Mare Of Easttown,’ ‘The Expanse,’ ‘Money Heist’ (Spain), ‘Bordertown’ (Finland), ‘Borgen’ (Denmark), ‘Giri/Haji’ (England/Japan), ‘Call My Agent’ (France)
Best Books I Read This Year: ‘The Custom of the Country,’ Edith Wharton; ‘A Coffin For Dimitrios,’ Eric Ambler; ‘The Long Way To A Small, Angry Planet,’ Becky Chambers; ‘The Ways of White Folks,’ Langston Hughes; ‘Utopia Avenue,’ David Mitchell; ‘The Power of the Dog,’ Don Winslow; ‘Crossroads,’ Jonathan Franzen; ‘Brotherhood,’ Mohamed Mbougar Sarr
Best Actor: Will Smith, ‘King Richard
Best Actress: Jessica Chastain, ‘The Eyes of Tammy Faye’
Best Director: Jane Campion, ‘The Power of the Dog’
Best Picture: ‘A Hero’