The Movie Guy

With the Oscars being presented tonight, I like to focus on the films and performances that I found most memorable. In keeping with the tradition of the late Siskel & Ebert’s “If We Picked the Winners,” here are my standouts for 2021 using the nominees in the main Academy Award categories. While others try to second-guess Oscar politics with who ‘should win’ or ‘will win,’ I like to keep it simple. In case you missed any of them, these are the films and performances I’ll remember- simply put, these are the ones:  

After reinvigorating the “Planet of the Apes” franchise, director Matt Reeves puts the Goth in Gotham City with “The Batman.” Since DC started as Detective Comics, it only makes sense for Reeves to create a dark and dirty detective drama where Batman is a sleuth saving his city.

Kenneth Branagh returns as Agatha Christie’s super sleuth Hercule Poirot in “Death on the Nile” and it’s a far smoother ride than he provided with the Orient Express.

With the myriad of reboots and sequels we’ve been subjected to over the last few months, it only makes sense that 2022’s “Scream” keeps the original film’s tradition of spelling out the rules while creating terms for what it is: a ‘requel’ with returning cast members serving as ‘legacies’ to endorse the endeavor. However, by adhering to the rules without making the characters more interesting, it just traps this “Scream” into standard slasher fare.

Guillermo del Toro’s “Nightmare Alley” is a beautifully dark, atmospheric take on the 1947 original film noir starring Tyrone Power. Unfortunately, the new version’s tone is so dark that it makes its characters stiff and wooden in the process. As remakes go, “Nightmare Alley” pales in comparison to the first one’s fun in revealing the story’s twists and turns.

More saga than soap opera, “House of Gucci” makes its true crime story its star. At a staggered  2 ½ hour run time, the film’s saved from sinking by an A-list array of actors providing interest in the intrigue and director Ridley Scott’s knack for creating a cinematic world in which to escape.

Evidenced by his films “Arrival” and “Blade Runner 2049,” director Denis Villeneuve is serious about science fiction. “Dune” is no exception- it’s a visually stunning sci-fi epic that may be this generation’s “Star Wars.”

Just in time for Halloween is “Antlers”- an impressively efficient monster movie that earns its scares through skillful storytelling and an eerie atmosphere of awakening evil.

For those who remember televangelists Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, “The Eyes of Tammy Faye” provides a nostalgic look back to the ‘80s toppling of their PTL network through sex scandals and financial fraud. Thanks to dead-on portrayals by Andrew Garfield and Jessica Chastain, even those unfamiliar with the Bakkers will be riveted by the actors playing the religious duo.

On this 20^th anniversary of 9/11, one movie stands to assure that I will never forget.

Growing up, I spent the majority of my formative years glued to a television gorging myself on a steady diet of B-horror movies. In 1976, while America celebrated its bicentennial, I was a 7 year-old celebrating an early Christmas with the release of Dino De Laurentiis’ remake of “King Kong.”