Evan D. No Time to Die has been delayed nearly two years now I’m starting to become concerned about the 2021 film year. A few big titles have trickled in, from Judas and the Black Messiah taking advantage of the the extended Oscars window to Disney testing out Premier Access again with Raya and the Last Dragon. Those have been great, but so to date are proving to be the exceptions to the rule. What movie fans feared of 2020 is coming to a more dire fruition now.
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Evan D. Remember the Oscars? Believe it or not, more than 13 months have passed since Bong Joon-ho and his masterwork cleaned up at the Academy Awards. To some Parasite winning Best Picture is still the last good thing to happen in a since ravaged world. The film year that took place in those intervening months saw theaters closed and many would be awards contenders pushed back. Despite the migration of prestige films to 2021 and beyond, plenty of great films find themselves in contention this year. With nearly every title accessible at home in some form, the 93rd Oscars may be the toughest to prognosticate yet.
Evan D. What once was a simple task has become a Herculean undertaking in the time of COVID. While that statement can apply to just about anything, in this context I’m talking about projecting which movies will come out in 2021. Had I done this article a year ago, it would likely have included a large number of films that will populate this list. So many films got pushed, and many more still could this year, that a most anticipated list is purely guess work. Regardless, we soldier on. Here are some of the most exciting titles slated for release in 2021:
Evan D. In the world of movies, every year follows a similar pattern. Halfway through the calendar, those critics inclined to pessimism start ringing the warning bell over a lack of quality film. Outlandish fear over the death of cinema persists through the splashy summer season, but as Oscar season winds down the same conclusion is nearly always reached: a great year for film. Now, 2020 has broken just about every mold we understand, up to and including the way we perceive time. One thing this pandemic decimated year hasn’t changed? It has still been a great year for film.
Evan D. For years now, cynics in the world of film have been crying the downfall of movie theaters. To them, each new advancement in home video drives another nail into the theatrical coffin. In recent years these fears have only accelerated with companies like Netflix and Amazon chipping away at traditional industry norms. All that in mind, it should come as no surprise that Warner Media’s decision to completely blow up exclusive theatrical windows for 2021 landed heavily among those in the world of film.
Cody R. Source: Netflix When ‘Hubie Halloween’ hit Netflix it was assumed that all the buzz would center around Adam Sandler and his particular brand of nonsense. We’ve seen it over and over again with films like ‘Big Daddy,’ ‘Waterboy’ and ‘Billy Madison.’ Whether you enjoy this type of comedy or not is irrelevant, the only things that matter are June Squibb’s t-shirts. These novelty shirts warranted an additional half a star rating to some from reviews I have seen on Letterboxd. To show my appreciation I have decided to personally rank them from worst to best:
Evan D. First it was James Bond. Peter Rabbit and Mulan soon followed. These films were the some of the very earliest to flee their theatrical release dates as it became clear that the novel coronavirus would force theaters closed for an extended time. That emptying of the 2020 release calendar only accelerated, forcing studios to weigh the costs of full year delays against premium VOD drops. Although no film escaped the reality imposed by a global pandemic, one film has consistently led the charge to reopen theaters: Tenet. Cody R.There is an old phrase that states, “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.” The problem here is not the kitchen. The problem, if one even exists, is the warm hug. And it is here, by the creation of snow magic, does the chilling discussion over Olaf’s greatness begin. Let’s see if I can sum it up as quickly as he did in Frozen 2 over the plot synopsis of Frozen 1. There was a time when the idea of Olaf was no more than a mere fabrication from one’s own imagination. And as children we all had our own interpretation of what Olaf was to us. But it was here, through Elsa and Anna, that we were blessed with the reality of a new friend who possessed the ability to showcase compassion, empathy, foolishness, and of course without fail, a little bit of annoyance.
Evan D.For film buffs, Oscar nomination day can be a bit of a roller coaster. Coming on the heels of the frequently wacky Golden Globes there is always a flicker of hope that the Academy will make good choices. Far more often than that though, the nominees are exactly what everyone pessimistically predicted plus a few surprises that are also usually bad.
2020 was no exception as beloved films such as ‘Knives Out’ and ‘Little Women’ underperformed while ‘The Farewell’ and ‘Uncut Gems’ were excluded entirely. Conversely the film that led all others in total nominations was the highly divisive ‘Joker.’ It wasn’t all bad news though, the Documentary branch nominated 4 women and 4 foreign language films in their category and ‘I Lost My Body’ found its way into the animated feature nominees after being snubbed by the Golden Globes. Just like last year, I’m breaking down the nominations in the major categories. If you’re interested in how I did last year, check it out here. Without further ado, the nominees are: Evan D. Towards the end of Summer, the year in film was looking pretty bleak. Endgame had smashed box office records, but moviegoers had precious few truly great films to choose from. Fast forward to December and to consider 2019 anything less that great year in film would seem crazy.
Like most years, the best movies in 2019 were reflections of the world around us. Some of the most resonant films put a microscope on the global inequality we see today. We were treated to films that thoughtfully explored economic hardship, the uphill battle faced by women in male dominated worlds and the zero sum nature of late capitalism. It’s truly been a spectacular year for movies and here are my 10 favorites from 2019. |