The Year in Review- 2021

Will Smith may have singlehandedly saved the Oscars, with his winning portrayal of Richard Williams, the relentless, obsessive, profoundly-flawed father-coach of the greatest female tennis tandem of all time, Venus and Serena. It's a performance you can put next to his previous acting triumph, 2001's "Ali". From the mettle-making Compton ghetto to the posh, exclusive(and all-white) Florida clubs that build champions, director Reinaldo Marcus Green and screenwriter Zach Baylin crafted an inspirational, engrossing true story that the world needs now more than ever. Remember, you need an eighty-page career plan for your kids before they're even born. The results are undeniable. Slapping controversy aside(he clearly shouldn't have done it), the uplifting "Richard" is already an all-timer.

Movies are back. That was the takeaway. Tobey Maguire

deaf. This is a sweet, moving film that more people need to see.

Baker

Director Ridley Scott was 82 years young when he cooked up this blistering $100 million medieval epic, based on Eric Jager's 2004 book, that found it's audience on streaming platforms instead of abandoned multiplexes. Sir Jean de Carrouges and Jacques le Gris bring Scott's career full-circle for those that remember his 1977 debut "The Duellists". Battles are staged in France the old-fashioned way, "Gladiator"-style, with real, physical sets and locations, with CGI enhancing the environments rather then replacing them. The "Rashomon"-inspired script, written by Matt Damon and a blonde Ben Affleck(with a Nicole Holofcener assist), presents the rape of a noblewoman from multiple perspectives and the last judicial duel of 1386. Adam Driver is dynamite as the infamous, amorous knight. Jodie Comer landed her breakout role as the real protagonist, his victim and Damon's beautiful wife.

When you follow blindly, in the end, you only go blind. Jessica Chastain and Andrew Garfield are great as Tammy Faye and Jim Bakker, the most famous televangelist couple in America(and by far the most prosperous) in this slick, engaging biopic from director Michael Showalter("The Big Sick"). The ambitious pair were synonymous with Christian broadcasting and the monetization of faith for most of the '70s and '80s, until sex and financial scandals crumbled their empire. With the help of four-plus hours of Oscar-winning prosthetic make-up, Chastain completely disappears into her role, and her nine-year commitment to the project was rightly rewarded with the Best Actress Oscar. She even did her own singing.

Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem were both fantastic as Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, the immortal couple that invented the sitcom format with their 1950s TV institution "I Love Lucy". Some online fans mistakenly thought that the Oscar-nominated duo couldn't play these roles. Writer-director Aaron Sorkin pares his 1953-set story down to three things- Ball's alleged brush with communism, the weekly stresses of the show's production, and of course, their stormy marriage that would ultimately lead to divorce in 1960. J.K. Simmons is equally well-cast as classic curmudgeon William Frawley/Fred Mertz.

Campion

Spielberg

Honorable Mentions- "Zack Snyder's Justice League"(2021) HBO Max's four-hour version is a little better. "The Suicide Squad"(2021) So is the James Gunn version of these DC antiheroes. "A Quiet Place Part II"(2021) "Godzilla vs. Kong"(2021) "Black Widow"(2021) Scarlet Johansson bows out of the MCU. "Cruella"(2021) Emma Stone struts her stuff as the Disney villainess. "The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It"(2021) Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson get a threequel. "No Sudden Move"(2021) Steve Soderbergh's low-key comeback features Don Cheadle and Benicio del Toro. "Old"(2021) M. Night Shyamalan rolls on. "Tick, Tick...Boom"(2021) Andrew Garfield was on a roll as "Rent" creator Jon Larson in 1990 NYC. "The Card Counter"(2021) "Cry Macho"(2021) Clint Eastwood's final film role. "JFK Revisited: Through the Looking Glass"(2021) This Oliver Stone doc doubles down on his 1991 masterpiece. "Belfast"(2021) Kenneth Branagh writes and directs a coming-of-age tale in 1969 North Ireland. "Spencer"(2021) Kristen Stewart is at her best as Princess Diana. "Nightmare Alley"(1921) Guillermo del Toro, Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, and Rooney Mara. "House of Gucci"(2021), "Don't Look Up"(2021) Leonardo DiCaprio, Meryl Streep, Cate Blanchett, and Jennifer Lawrence in Adam McKay's satirical black comedy.