The Year in Movies, As Of Right Now

Photo by Json, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

I am a huge YUGE movie buff. Even with two months going by of not seeing a single movie in theaters, damn COVID, I have seen 28 movies in theaters this year as of the time of writing. I have seen 10 movies in theaters during the month of July so far. I will be seeing at least three movies the last weekend of July, even though Sunday is the start of August. The average American, pre-pandemic, was seeing about four or five movies in theaters a year. I managed 120 in 2019 alone. This, of course, includes seeing movies multiple times. I see more movies than some of those paid to do it. Of the movies that were released this year (including any films that went directly to streaming,) there are some obvious bright spots and low lights. With movie theaters fully back in the swing of things, I want to talk about the nine best of the year in movies so far and a few of the terrible ones, two of which came out on the same weekend in July. If a movie won an Oscar this year, they were technically released last year and will not be counted, even if I really liked The Father.

My top three so far should surprise no one: Nobody, Werewolves Within, and The Sparks Brothers. Rounding out the top nine, in order, are Zola, Palmer, Pig, In The Heights, Old, and A Quiet Place Part II. As you might have noticed, I, being the Nerd of the People, have quite a diversity of genre interests. Outside of the three times I have seen Nobody and twice for A Quiet Place Part II, I have not seen any of these movies more than once. I really did want to see Werewolves Within again, but life has a way of ruining our best laid plans. I guess I’ll just have to wait for the physical release. I bring up these facts because many movies do not stand up to future viewings. Ted painfully did not. My opinions of these movies could change when I see them again, if I ever do. For instance, as much as I loved Manchester by the Sea, I have never seen it again since that full house at an indie theater back in December 2016. Not a dry eye in the house.

Nobody has an insane pedigree. It is produced by the studio that largely exists because action movie junkies love the John Wick franchise. Written by the writer of that trilogy and directed by the director of Hardcore Henry, this movie was almost made in a lab to appeal to me specifically. Bob Odenkirk proves, with two years of intense training before filming, that he has what it takes to be an action star. Started in comedy, drifted to dramatic roles, and now action. The action is impressive, the writing is sharp, and the acting is top notch from all involved. Everyone stays in the pocket. I do not think anything on the slate for the rest of the year will knock this king off the top spot.

I wrote an entire article review on Werewolves Within, so you can just read that.

The Sparks Brothers is a documentary directed by Edgar Wright about a band I had never heard of, somehow… I am a massive music lover. I took it as an insult to my musical knowledge to have never heard of this five-decade old band. I bought the band’s 58 track greatest hits album on iTunes before I had even left the theater. Insanely impressed. Edgar Wright has done it again. This better get nominated for Best Documentary Feature at next year’s Oscars. Amazon is releasing a movie later this year starring Adam Driver called Annette. Sparks did the entire soundtrack, apparently, and both members are even in the movie, per the trailer. No matter what happens, the soundtrack will at least be awesome.

Zola is basically Hustlers but so much better. Where that movie failed in the limitations of its “based on a true story” framing, Zola takes, I’m assuming, vast dramatic license with the truth. It is insanely funny at times while being filled with pretty much exclusively terrible people. But you get so many different flavors of terrible! Hard to think of a movie in the recent past that entertained me as much while not having a single redeeming character in it.

In a movie I had forgotten came out this year, Palmer tells the tale of one man’s quest for redemption. This redemption arc takes the form of a boy who, quite charitably, is different. Justin Timberlake shines in a drama reminiscent of Gone Baby Gone but with a more uplifting ending. It is streaming right now on Apple TV+.

Nicolas Cage brought it in Pig, basically John Wick as a drama. Someone stole his truffle pig. And he just wants his pig back. It never goes full-tilt insane like Mandy, but Nicolas Cage has an Oscar for a reason. He can deliver diverse and nuanced performances.

I walked into Into The Heights with low expectations. The reviews were not kind, but I cried at least twice during this movie. Like Hamilton, this musical is relentless. I nearly busted my bladder because I refused to get up and miss anything. Lin-Manuel Miranda shows he ain’t a one-trick pony. Annoying as Hell on House, M.D., but he knows how to craft a story and music to accompany it.

M. Night Shyamalan movies have a rocky history to say the least, but his most recent effort, Old, hit my thriller bones in the right spot. A thriller twist works if it is either an ending the audience can see coming, like Knives Out, or one that there is no real way the audience can see coming. Not going to say which Old is, but it is handled very well. Is the dialogue and acting stilted? Yes, but that’s par for the course for Shyamalan. You’re either on board or you never will be.

While not as good as the original, A Quiet Place Part II is a good horror movie sequel. I am a massive horror buff, so I cannot wait for the conclusion to this trilogy. Jim from The Office has proven not only dramatic acting chops, but consistency in writing and directing. I can’t wait to see what he does next. Please be Mister Fantastic.

The three worst movies this year, in order of worst to not as bad, are Space Jam: A New Legacy, Escape Room: Tournament of Champions, and Coming 2 America.

LeBron’s movie is a mess of terrible acting and horrendously lazy references. The reference to the second Austin Powers movie was by far the most egregious. And that’s all I have to say about that. Easily the worst movie of the year unless something later really grinds my gears.

While I enjoyed Escape Room, the sequel is perhaps the worst second movie in a horror movie franchise I’ve ever seen after the second A Nightmare on Elm Street. None of the mystery behind the secret organization running the games, think Jigsaw Killer with rich donors livestreaming the traps, is answered and all of the powder for anything else is waterlogged. None of the answers are satisfying. The trap rooms are interesting, but since none of the new characters are given any real narrative depth; I just didn’t care when they all died. What we learn of them is sometimes literally a sentence. There is a good movie in here if the script wasn’t so terrible. That’s one way to kill a franchise: in its crib.

Coming 2 America, outside of Wesley Snipes, was just lazy. The writing kills it on the launchpad. It doesn’t help that the convenience for the plot to happen at all is awful, and the new characters just don’t fit. The acting from all involved except for James Earl Jones, Morgan Freeman, John Amos, and the aforementioned Wesley Snipes, runs the gamut from phoned in to horrendous. Skip it, not even worth streaming on Amazon Prime for free.

It goes without saying that if I didn’t explicitly crap on a movie mentioned here, I recommend you see it, at least once. If some of my year in movies reviews were brief, it is because I refuse to spoil good movies unless I know the person that I’m talking to has seen it already. Then, I’ll talk your ear off.