Toward the end of 2019, I realized my taste in movies sucked. (See below.)
My Favorite Movies, 2019:
So in 2020, I made a resolution to watch 100 movies I hadn't seen. It was life-changing. (See "2020 In Titles" for reference.)
My Favorite Movies, 2020:
This year, my goal was to watch 103 movies I hadn't seen. I watched 134 and it was, again, life-changing.
Film has largely taken over my personality, but to try to keep that at least somewhat confined to this corner of the internet (okay, okay -- this and my twitter account), here are lists and thoughts on my year in movies.
All of the Best Movies I Watched This Year, 2021:
Everyone loved it and they were right: Parasite; Little Women
Was most surprised to love: Ghost
Movie I laughed the hardest at: What We Do in the Shadows
The hype was wrong: I'm Thinking of Ending Things; I Care A Lot
Favorite documentary: The Alpinist
Most movies watched in a month: 22
Least movies watched in a month: 1
My Favorite Movies, 2021:
I've also been dissecting what I think makes a movie good this year. I've watched an overwhelming amount of excellent movies over the past two years and also a ton of garbage ones. Here's where I'm at.
In a good movie: I learn something, I feel something, and I expand my understanding of the world.
The 134 movies I watched for the first time in 2021:
Soul
My Octopus Teacher
Pulp Fiction
Atlantis
King of Staten Island
17 Again
Coco
Jaws
Big Daddy
Perks of Being a Wallflower
Shaun of the Dead
Death to 2020
The Nice Guys
Parasite
Sister Act
Black Panther
Sister Act 2
Little Women
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
500 Days of Summer
Call Me by Your Name
Into the Woods
That’s My Boy
Bring It On
Marriage Story
Hunt for the Wilderpeople
Ghost
To All the Boys I've Loved Before 3
What’s Eating Gilbert Grape
My Best Friends Wedding
Happy Gilmore
Shutter Island
Malcolm and Marie
Friendsgiving
Goodwill Hunting
Goodfellas
The Matrix
American Psycho
The Girl on the Train
12 Years a Slave
Tom & Jerry
Booksmart
Rain Man
Godfather
I Care A Lot
Pretty Woman
Nomadland
Deadpool
Game Night
Late Night
Shape of Water
The Help
The Big Lebowski
The Big Short
This Is the End
Win a Date with Tad Hamilton
Wild Child
Friends with Benefits
Two Weeks Notice
What We Do in the Shadows
Promising Young Woman
Accepted
Mank
Murder Mystery
Logan
Mystic Pizza
Seaspiracy
Trial of the Chicago 7
Social Dilemma
If Beale Street Could Talk
Killers
Captain Fantastic
Between Two Ferns: The Movie
The Father
Bridesmaids
Breakfast Club
The Sweetest Thing
Garden State
Reservoir Dogs
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
I, Tonya
Friends with Kids
I Love You Man
Plan B
Always Be My Maybe
Love Happens
Quiet Place 2
Hidden Figures
Hamilton
Mary Poppins Returns
Keanu
Framing Britney Spears
Barb and Star Go to Del Mar
127 Hours
Uncut Gems
I’m Thinking of Ending Things
Wildlife
Fargo
Jungle Cruise
Kissing Booth: part three
Godzilla vs Kong
Badlands
Green Book
Ballad of Buster Scruggs
The Alpinist
Django Unchained
Free Guy
Silence of the Lambs
Something Borrowed
Beautiful Boy
The Vow
The Addams Family
Twilight
Dune
The Twilight Saga: New Moon
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn pt 1
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn pt 2
Letters to Juliet
21 Jump Street
Love Hard
Making Spirits Bright
King Richard
Christmas with a View
Next Stop Christmas
The Holiday
Single All the Way
West Side Story
Princess Switch 3
Spider-Man: No Way Home
Tick Tick Boom
Thor: Ragnarock
Don't Look Up
CODA
And, just for fun...
My Favorite Shows, 2021:
Saturday Night Live
Loki
Succession