Well it only took a year… Yes I never got around to posting my favorite movies of 2021, so ahead of the 2022 list, here they are (with minimal comment) for posterity sake.

10. CODA
CODA is indeed something pretty special. What an incredible ensemble of actors. Not a single performance doesn’t succeed wildly. Hard to see this not becoming a hit.

10. Karmalink
Seek out this Cambodian sci-fi gem from visionary director Jake Wachtel.

8. The Lost Daughter
THE LOST DAUGHTER is a ridiculously assured first feature from Maggie Gyllenhaal. Really challenging material and character work handled with remarkable grace by her and Olivia Colman.

7. Red Rocket
Sean Baker crafts another wonderfully entertaining tale of an oh so flawed character in RED ROCKET. Gorgeously stylized and exaggerated in all the right ways, I love the worlds he creates, but am so glad I don’t live there.

6. The Sparks Brothers
THE SPARKS BROTHERS is pure joy! Even considering I had never previously heard of the band, I was totally enthralled. Director Ed Wright shows some real directing talent; could have a bright future

5. C’mon C’mon
Mike Mills’s C’MON C’MON is a heartfelt meditation on how hard parenting is and how we’re all just trying to figure it out and if we do our best, the kids are gonna be fine and OMG it’s exactly the movie I needed to see right now. It’s also just a brilliantly made film

4. Luzzu
LUZZU is a wonderfully made humanistic look at Maltese culture in the 21st C. with remarkable performances from non-pros. Amazing debut work by director Alex Camilleri. Influence of his mentor/EP Bahrani is very evident. Totally loved this film.

3. The Rescue
THE RESCUE is another tour de force docu from Vasarhelyi & Chin (FREE SOLO). The story of the stranded Thai soccer team is incredible, but it takes a ton of craft to nail the suspense and so intimatelely paint the divers. Hope they have another shelf clear for statues.

2. Licorice Pizza
Paul Thomas Anderson’s period LA tale was just plain delicious.

1. Dune
Bring on part 2.

Just off the list… Nanfu Wang’s covid doc In the Same Breath, the wonderful animated docu Flee, and Todd Stephens’s Swan Song (the one with Udo Kier, not the one with Mahershala Ali).