Well that was some kind of year. You’ve almost made it. Just keep logging the movies, and everything will be fine. (And keep rating the movies, right up until midnight December 31, to give them their best chance of making our 2021 Year in Review—because we wrap when the year wraps.)
There’s a heaping helping of year-end cinematic treats released in December, including Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story, Guillermo del Toro’s Nightmare Alley and Paul Verhoeven’s Benedetta. Read on for selected Letterboxd member reactions to some of these, as well as plenty of other LB goodness.
There’ll be no Call Sheet from us next month—instead you get a whole Year in Review. It’s been quite the year, it’s going to be quite the year in review.
Sister Benedetta (Virginie Efira, foreground) gets a grip on her faith in Paul Verhoeven’s Benedetta.
Benedetta, from reliably provocative Dutch filmmaker Paul Verhoeven (RoboCop, Basic Instinct), tells the story of the, erm… titular nun (played by Belgian actor Virginie Efira), a real-life figure who caused scandal in seventeenth-century Italy by engaging in a romance with a fellow bride of Christ, Bartolomea (Daphne Patakia). In her thorough review, Sarah concludes that “Benedetta is the interplay between sex and violence, and that removing the former’s assertion as the latter, at least inherently, is what dismantles these power structures”, while Amaya grumbles that “if someone gave me 20 million dollars to make my fetish lesbian nun porn at least I would try to make it good”. Classic Verhoeven swings. (Now in theaters.)
Any initial questions as to the point of Steven Spielberg mounting a new version of West Side Story are being emphatically swept away by the effusive responses emerging from early screenings. “One of the most lovely, beautiful, energetic and artful films I’ve ever seen” writesDemi. “I don’t know why I was skeptical,” ponders Julius. “I mean, I do, because of Ready Player One and because of the success of the Disney remakes—but still, I ought to have known better.” Rest in peace, Stephen Sondheim. (In theaters December 10.)
Adam McKay and potentially the weightiest cast of the year (Meryl, Cate, Leo, Timothée and pals) try to get the world to take climate change seriously in the allegorical comedy Don’t Look Up, a scathing take on the plot of Meteor/Deep Impact/Armageddon/Greenland, in which some scientists struggle to get those in charge to care about humanity’s impending extinction. It’s in theaters December 10, and on Netflix from December 24. For a doom-laden double-down, pair it with Camille Griffin’s new Christmas movie, Silent Night, in which Keira Knightley and Matthew Goode—and the Earth itself—have more or less given up.
“It’s water resistant up to 50 meters”—Rooney Mara and Bradley Cooper in Nightmare Alley.
An intoxicating marriage of talent and material occurs with Nightmare Alley, Guillermo del Toro’s first directorial effort since winning the Best Picture Oscar with 2017’s The Shape of Water. A remake of the underseen 1947 film, it stars Bradley Cooper as a carnival charlatan who teams up with a dangerous psychiatrist (Cate Blanchett). Rooney Mara, Toni Collette, Willem Dafoe, Richard Jenkins and del Toro muse Ron Perlman (fingers crossed he’s playing a fairground strongman!) also star. Familiarize yourself beforehand with the small but tantalizing world of Carnival Noir. (In theaters December 17.)
Acclaimed indie filmmaker Sean Baker (The Florida Project) has long been an active member, and in his 2018 review of Joseph Kahn’s 2017 rap battle film Bodied, he observed that “Simon Rex has an extremely amusing cameo. Love him. I’d like to see him tackle a dramatic role.” Well, Baker took on that responsibility himself with Red Rocket, in which Rex stars as a former porn actor back in his small Texan hometown. It’s already generating wildcard Oscar buzz for Rex. Sonny says it’s a “really wonderful look at how a sociopath agilely moves through society, changing norms and perceptions just a hair here and there, until all of a sudden you’re ready to debase yourself entirely for his benefit”. (In theaters December 10.)
Once the domain of TV movies, celebrity biopics continue to attract major talent with Being the Ricardos, in which Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem star as Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, the married stars and producers of trail-blazing ’50s sitcom I Love Lucy. Aaron Sorkin writes and directs, to mixed praise. “Okay Aaron, time to put the director’s chair away for a bit,” requestsDavid, while Maureen counters that it’s “Far far better than anyone has predicted. The performances are thoughtful and nuanced, Sorkin’s writing is whip smart as always.” (In theaters December 10.)
The Keanu-ssance may reach its peak with The Matrix Resurrections, which sees Reeves return to his biggest franchise for what promises to be a different kind of blockbuster sequel. Director Lana Wachowski is riding solo for this movie, having co-helmed the previous three films with her sister Lilly. Cloud Atlas author David Mitchell contributed to the script, and there are exciting new franchise additions in the form of Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Neil Patrick Harris, Jessica Henwick and Jonathon Groff. We’re holding out hope for a Joey Pants cameo. Get yourself in the mood for the film by reading Eliza Ruiz’s amazing essay about how the original film played a significant role in her self-actualization journey. (In theaters December 22.)
Olivia Colman eyes up the DJ in Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Lost Daughter.
Actor/producer Maggie Gyllenhaal walked away from the recent Gotham Awards with quite the haul for her directorial debut The Lost Daughter, which stars Olivia Colman as a holidaying woman whose preoccupation with a young mother (played by Dakota Johnson) leads to some troubling introspection. Katie calls it a “strange and unsettling and beautiful film. I love, love, LOVE movies about challenging, inscrutable, brilliant women, and the quartet (Olivia, Dakota, Jessie, Dagmara) she’s assembled [is] nothing less than virtuosic.” (In theaters December 17.)
Whiplash-esque drama The Novice, which follows a driven university rower played by Isabelle Fuhrman, garnered positive notices throughout various festival berths, but has struggled to break into the year-end awards conversation, despite clearly deserving to be there. It’s one of the year-end favorites for our Letterboxd platform content director Jack Moulton. He calls it an “absolute knockout. There’s something profoundly American about that destructive path to victory.” Of Fuhrman, Ema writes: “Yes, yes, YES! My queen from Orphan continues to do it right!” (In theaters and on VOD December 17.)
Iconic Spanish auteur Pedro Almodóvar continues his exploration of motherhood with muse Penélope Cruz in Parallel Mothers, which follows two women who give birth on the same day. Muriel reassures us that “if there’s one thing Almodóvar is gonna do (besides having a very red production design), it’s make me rethink my whole relationship with my mother for god knows how long.” Letterboxd senior editor Mitchell Beaupre agrees: “Best Almodóvar since Volver. A stirring exploration into how we can’t heal without confronting the past, no matter how hard it may be.” (In theaters December 24.)
It’s a big month for sibling filmmakers going solo, with Joel Coen directing his first movie sans longtime collaborator (and brother) Ethan Coen. He’s got Shakespeare as a creative partner now, so he should be alright. Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand star in The Tragedy of Macbeth, which dazzled audiences when it premiered at the New York Film Festival, and dazzled A24 fans at a series of IMAX showings this month. Brian intriguingly writes that it “looks and feels like if Ingmar Bergman made an adaptation of Dune”, while Sanjeet Singh celebrates how it “sticks to Shakespeare’s original version, and yet marvels in the absurd/weird dance of light and shadow”. (In limited theaters on December 26 and streaming on Apple TV+ January 14.)
Star Wars
ONE STAR VS FIVE STARS, FIGHT!
“Is Sydney Pollack in here somewhere?”—Lady Gaga in House of Gucci.
“A monumental chore to sit through; there’s at least an air of arch camp ridiculousness, which maybe is enough for some, but this sort of film just strikes me as profoundly pointless. Whether it’s the standard, blandly interchangeable biopic format or this new wave of pop-trash miniseries that are like gawking at the wreckage of juicy historical scandals, it all mostly amounts to a bunch of celebrities playing dress-up to perform Wikipedia entries and gossip columns. The only thing that kept me from leaving was some dim hope that all the ludicrously underdeveloped bottom-barrel soap-opera passions would at least erupt into something kind of unhinged. They didn’t.”
“An absurdly good time. Emphasis on absurd. Every single person on screen is operating at 120 percent, to great comedic effect. Leto plays a Super Mario-inspired character and the thought of him method acting the whole time is funny by itself, but it still works in a crazy way. While not quite on Leto’s level of insanity, Lady Gaga absolutely brings the heat and I loved every moment she was on screen. Another fantastic entry in the yelling Pacino hall of fame. Had a smile on my face the whole runtime. Still I understand why it wouldn’t be everyone’s cup of tea… but it’s good f—king tea.”
“Truly hit me in the feels. Love letter to the fans who grew up with the Ghostbusters. This is a movie that handles the concept of fan service perfectly, it was first and foremost set on establishing itself as its own thing. It introduced new characters, a new setting, a new style and tone and while there were definitely callbacks to the original, not once did it feel out of place in the world they established and as soon as you get to that third act you’re invested in all the new but ready for some of the old to hit you.”
A podcast about movies from the makers of Letterboxd, the social network for film lovers.
Our director of social Aaron Yap and senior editor Mitchell Beaupre join hosts Slim and Gemma for a chat about their four favorite new films of 2021, including: Titane; The Power of the Dog; Malignant; and Godzilla vs. Kong. Also: the best ‘new to us’ films we saw this year, fetish objects, physical-media collections, and everyone’s adoration of Pig.
Irish scriptwriter and Letterboxd member Will Collins dives into his four Letterboxd favorites: Jaws; Fargo; Aliens; and It’s a Wonderful Life. Also: Slim advises on how to use the Letterboxd heart, and Gemma fangirls over Will’s work on Cartoon Saloon films Song of the Sea and Wolfwalkers.
Lyricist Carin Besser and musician Bryce Dessner dive deep into their four favorite films: The Green Ray and Singin’ in the Rain for Carin, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Harold and Maude for Bryce. Bryce chats about his work on three new films this holiday season: Mike Mills’ C’mon C’mon, Clint Bentley’s Jockey, and Joe Wright’s take on the story of Cyrano de Bergerac, with lyrics by Carin and her National frontman husband, Matt Berninger.
Austin Film Society lead programmer and exploitation genre fan Lars Nilsen dives into the muck and the grime, the farts and the fights, the stunts and the songs of his four Letterboxd favorites: Touch of Evil; The Switchblade Sisters, The General; and Phantom of the Paradise. Plus Lars’ new memoir, just published: Warped & Faded: Weird Wednesday & The Birth Of The American Genre Film Archive.
Old School
RECENT REVIEWS OF THE CLASSICS
“My sundial is water resistant to 50 meters”—René Laloux’s Fantastic Planet
“It’s what Terry Gilliam dreams after he’s eaten a seven-course meal, gotten drunk, and gone directly to bed. In the ’70s, artists had the freedom to make us uncomfortable. I can’t say I enjoyed this, and I’m not ready to make any sense of it yet, but I’ll certainly think about it more often than the other animated feature about characters with fins and gills on their heads that I saw this week (Luca)… and more than anything else from any other animation studio in recent years, and I’ll never forget it.”
“There is a faithless backdrop where the world seems to be getting bleaker and more discordant in that seedy urban ’70s way, cruddy public aged care and asylums, back alleys, tall stairs, downtown darkies, a protest atmosphere on campus, and then the helpless journey of a mother and daughter navigating the useless system and going to hell and back can be quite scathing and traumatic. But that’s pretty much it. You get some pretty production values and a lot of half-baked nonsense.”
“Encapsulates Beatlemania, the style set and popularized by the band, the foursome’s chemistry and naughty-schoolboy streak, and showcases the boys’ brilliant music within a docu-comedic framework which could only work with this band at this specific time. It’s incredibly random and has all the structure of a sandcastle in gale-force winds, but the charisma of The Beatles and Richard Lester’s commitment to capturing their lightning in a bottle has resulted in a work that feels absolutely essential to our understanding of and engagement with The Fab Four. Absolutely rollicking ride throughout.”
“A cracking good caper flick—maybe among the best of its genre—sure. But also a true feast of singularly New Yawk faces, swagger and patois. Maybe the most five boroughs-y movie ever made.”
The Vault: Christmas Edition
RECENT REVIEWS OF WEIRD, OBSCURE & LITTLE-SEEN FESTIVE FILMS
“Who doesn’t love a Christmas movie that blows up a church and orphanage with mysterious underground crystals that would also be worth a lot of money if the attempt at using child labor by a germaphobe had been successful. Absolutely batshit. Nothing makes sense. I’m impressed at how much effort they put into making something so extraordinarily bonkers. That said, it’s still miles ahead of its contemporary Jingle All the Way which is just self-inflicted violence to endure.”
“Giving this bad larry the 5’er because A: it deserves it (probably) B: I need to remind myself to rewatch this soon because Mr Claus prepping to peer into his massive telescope is both the only thing I remember and the greatest few frames in cinema history. That is all.”
“It’s so incredible to see a gay story that isn’t about sexuality and a film that wields animation to elevate its story and not just use the medium to present it. Saw the off-Broadway musical adaptation of The Visitor (2007) earlier today and maybe that horrible white-savior refugee story made me appreciate this even more but this wow this was good.”
“The story of the Kosovar women is one of resilience, courage and perseverance; they are women in search of themselves, trying to forge ahead with dignity, and who sooner or later will be able to reconcile with the past. Hive is an inspiring yet complex tale which, despite the pain and tragedy, shows a much needed glimmer of hope.”
“A brave and sometimes hilarious crowd-pleaser that treats its unheralded Dalit protagonists with respect. It’s a real shame that the film hasn’t found an avenue for distribution in India yet because this should be mandatory viewing for all the men and women out there peddling themselves as ‘journalists’.”
“There’s a lot of discourse in the film industry these days about story ownership and overstepping: who is allowed to tell whose stories, and whether empathy is an adequate substitute for lived experience. It can be a restrictive discussion, vulnerable to extremes of tone-deafness and hyper-vigilance, but it’s hard to imagine not having that talk with regard to Passing, the delicate but subtly provocative directorial debut from actor Rebecca Hall.”
Letterboxd’s Indigenous editor Leo Koziol celebrates the journey of Native filmmakers to the big screen, in an epic two-part feature titled New Native Cinema. In part one, he looks at the pioneering twentieth-century directors who helmed their own stories, while part two looks at the rapid rise of Indigenous film voices since the early 2000s. Also a good read, Leo’s interviewwith actor Michael Greyeyes and director Lyle Mitchell Corbine Jr. about their new film Wild Indian. Plus, here’s our list of Indigenous and Native Academy Award Winners and Nominees.
Looking for last-minute gift ideas for the movie lover in your life? Go no further than a Pro or Patron subscription for yours truly. A Letterboxd upgrade will unlock for the recipient a whole year of sweet, sweet stats, handsome backdrops, an ad-free experience, and other geeky pleasures. We have made it easy to gift Letterboxd membership—visit the Pro page on our website, or find the Gift Pro link on a member’s web profile—and we have also compiled our annual Gift Guide of wearable, watchable and readable movie treasures for the film lover in your life.
Speaking of gifts, one of the deepest pleasures as the year comes to an end is finding out what your favorite movies of the year are—not necessarily the highest-rated, or the most popular, but the ones that made your year better. Allain is collecting your submissions for his This is Someone’s Favorite Film in 2021 list, promising: “This is a judgment-free zone and you’re free to say any film that captivated your mind, body, and soul in 2021.” Clifford the Big Red Dog fans, have at it.
Pure viscera has been experiencing a minor comeback of late, and member Speakordie83 has put together this list titled Gorgeous Gore, which includes both recent films and classics featuring baroque blood-letting. We all have our thing.
To mark the rediscovery and restoration of once-banned Iranian film Chess of the Wind, distributor Janus Films put together a list of ten titles that have been banned in various countries, with reasons included in the ever-handy Notes view.
Filmmakers Joe Dante and Josh Olsen host The Movies That Made Me, the official podcast of the amazing Trailers From Hell website, and they produce a Letterboxd list of the films each guest references. Spencer director Pablo Larraín appeared recently, and made mention of a whole swathe of cool films. (Keep an ear out for Joe and Josh in a special Christmas crossover episode of The Letterboxd Show, in your podcast player soon.)
David Caruso and Peter Mullan prepare for therapy in Brad Anderson’s Session 9.
It’s time for Dom’s Pick! Each month, Call Sheet editor Dominic Corry ends with a film for your watchlists. This week: Session 9 (2001). Although it shows up on many “Best Horror Films You Haven’t Seen” lists (every title on this one is a winner), this effective chiller from director Brad Anderson (The Machinist) still doesn’t enjoy the awareness it deserves. Filmed in an about-to-be-demolished psychiatric hospital, the supremely creepy movie follows an asbestos-removal team losing their minds for potentially supernatural reasons. The cinematic possibilities of the atmospheric location are exploited beautifully and the offbeat cast (Peter Mullan, Josh Lucas, David Caruso, Brendon Sexton III) brings uneasy authenticity.
You received this because you’re a member of Letterboxd, the social network for film lovers. If you’d prefer not to receive these updates, you may unsubscribe or change your notification settings.
Sent by Letterboxd, P.O. Box 99280, Newmarket, Auckland 1149, New Zealand
