The Best Movies of 2021

Jeremy BeckTop 10 Lists
Hidetoshi Nishijima in Drive My Car, Dan Stevens in I'm Your Man, Anya Taylor-Joy in Last Night in Soho, Tessa Thompson in Passing, Paula Beer in Undine

Have the movies finally come back? Or did they never leave? Or maybe my outlook is too rosy; survey any random flock of experts, and you’ll likely be met with an alternative, despairing answer. The state of the motion-picture industry is in constant motion, requiring perpetual reassessment and funereal lamentation. You’ve heard all of these eulogies before: Movies for adults are dead. Disney has monopolized the box office. Streaming is cannibalizing theaters. Superheroes are the only remaining genre. Martin Scorsese lost.

All of these exaggerated appraisals of modern movie-going may well carry an element of truth. (Scorsese, after releasing his last film on Netflix, has changed horses and will distribute his new picture via… Apple.) And yet, as I did last year (and last week), I again find myself resisting the notion that our classical understanding of cinema—of anticipating, watching, and arguing about film—is in mortal peril. Sure, certain trends—in particular the box-office supremacy of the superhero genre at the expense of, well, virtually everything else—are alarming. But while audiences may no longer be piling into theaters with the same multi-pronged hunger, good movies just keep getting made, and you have ample opportunity to watch them. All that’s required of you is artistic curiosity. (Well, and the means to access the ever-expanding buffet of streaming services.) Read More

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At the Movies in 2022, Concept Is King

Jeremy BeckFeatures, Reviews
Ana de Armas in Deep Water, Sandra Bullock in The Lost City, Daisy Edgar-Jones in Fresh, Mark Rylance in The Outfit, Mia Goth in X

When it comes to modern movies, there are now two Americas. The first is a land of franchise dominance and corporate hegemony, where superhero flicks and sequels rule the multiplex. Even for fans of costumed entertainment—and I generally count myself among their number—surveying the box-office landscape can yield a dispiriting and homogenous view. The 10 highest-grossing films of 2019 were all based on existing IP, with seven hailing from the Walt Disney Company and an eighth (Spider-Man: Far from Home) that’s fully enmeshed within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, i.e., the Mouse House’s flagship franchise; zoom out to the top 15, and only two pictures (Us and Knives Out) were truly original creations. The COVID-19 pandemic aggressively accelerated this trend, and while cautious audiences may finally be returning to theaters, they only really pack the place for familiar properties. The mushrooming sprawl of these four-quadrant productions—competently made, ruthlessly merchandised, exceedingly familiar, rigorously safe—has inspired many industry experts to lament the death of cinema.

Maybe they’re right. After all, as the collective conception of a box-office hit perpetually narrows in scope and variety, it’s difficult to imagine studios routinely green-lighting risky original projects. And yet! I am once again compelled to repel these dire predictions, because there lurks beneath this marketplace of non-ideas a second America—one where original movies keep getting made, and in different shapes, sizes, and styles. Last month alone saw the release of at least five new films that are noteworthy for their strangeness, their pluck, their originality. Forget recycled superhero stories; these are movies with genuine concepts. Read More

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Oscars 2021: The Slap and the Slog

Jeremy BeckOscars
Will Smith slaps Chris Rock at the Oscars

For nearly two-and-a-half hours, the 94th Academy Awards were a predictably unpleasant disaster: awkward, arrhythmic, unfunny. They were destined to be aggressively forgettable, and their legacy was likely to be a harsh reputation of the Academy’s baffling decision to announce the awards for eight categories during the red carpet and then “integrate” them into the proper broadcast. It was a dull and haphazard show, one certain to ignite the usual funereal chatter about the Oscars’ supposed irrelevance.

Then Will Smith slapped Chris Rock in the face, and the show morphed into an entirely different type of fiasco—uglier, messier, and undeniably more memorable, albeit for bad reasons. Read More

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Oscars 2021: Prediction Roundup

Jeremy BeckOscars
Jessica Chastain in The Eyes of Tammy Faye

Over the past week, MovieManifesto has analyzed all 20 feature categories (sorry, short subjects, no offense intended) at this year’s Oscars. In the interest of service journalism, we’re compiling all of our predictions and preferences into this omnibus post. Click on the links to access our write-up for a particular category.


Best Actor
Will win: Will Smith—King Richard (confidence: 4/5)
Should win: Benedict Cumberbatch—The Power of the Dog
Worst omission: Simon Rex—Red Rocket

Best Actress
Will win: Jessica Chastain—The Eyes of Tammy Faye (confidence: 1/5)
Should win: Olivia Colman—The Lost Daughter
Worst omission: Rebecca Hall—The Night House Read More

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