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Song of the Day #5,005: ‘Down to Joy’ – Van Morrison

Continuing the countdown of my favorite 2021 movies…

Best Films of 2021
#6 – Belfast

Kenneth Branagh’s filmography as a director is split almost down the middle between high-brow literary adaptations (particularly Shakespeare) and high-budget popcorn fare.

The same man who gave us definitive takes on Henry V and Hamlet is responsible for Thor and Artemis Fowl.

But his Belfast is something completely different. This is an achingly personal film, a romanticized depiction of his early years in Northern Ireland before his family escaped The Troubles to settle in England.

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Song of the Day #5,004: ‘Father and Daughter’ – Antonio Pinto

Continuing the countdown of my favorite 2021 movies…

Best Films of 2021
#7 – Nine Days

Nine Days, the feature length debut by writer-director Edson Oda, is one of the most promising introductions to a new filmmaker I’ve seen in years.

Set in a mundane purgatory where arbiters decide which souls can go on to inhabit human bodies, this film has the profundity of Pixar’s Soul minus the silly business with the cat.

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Song of the Day #5,003: ‘Backlash Blues’ – Nina Simone

Continuing the countdown of my favorite 2021 movies…

Best Films of 2021
#8 – Summer of Soul

During last year’s Oscar ceremony, Questlove (who was DJ’ing the event) introduced a trailer for his directorial debut, a documentary about a summer concert series in 1969 Harlem. I remember thinking it was nice that he got the opportunity to plug a passion project but that I’d probably never hear about it again.

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Song of the Day #5,002: ‘Joyride’ – Roxette

Continuing the countdown of my favorite 2021 movies…

Best Films of 2021
#9 – Flee

Nominated for an historic trifecta of Oscars — Animated Film, Foreign Film, and Documentary — director Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s Flee is unlike anything I’ve seen before.

The film chronicles the troubled childhood of Amin (an alias), who fled both Afghanistan and Russia to escape a round robin of authoritarian regimes. Amin is telling his story for the first time, encouraged by his friend of 20+ years.

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Song of the Day #5,001: ‘Bye Bye Bye’ – Suzanna Son

It took me until the first week of March 2022 to catch up with every 2021 film on my watchlist, but I did it. The last one I got in was multiple Oscar nominee Drive My Car, which was fine but in my view undeserving of the hype.

I felt that way about a lot of highly-praised 2021 films, including Dune, The Power of the Dog, Licorice Pizza and Passing.

But that doesn’t mean the year overall was a disappointment. On the contrary, I saw a ton of great movies and had to struggle to settle on a top ten. It pained me to leave deserving titles on the outside looking in, so let me pour one out for In the Heights, Zola, The Tragedy of Macbeth, The Last Duel and Mass.

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