Every year, I try to go the movie theater as much as possible. Usually 3-5 times a week but significantly less over the past 2 years. I like to keep stubs/dates/scores/etc for fun. In theaters, I saw 5 movies in 2015, 9 movies in 2016, 140 movies in 2017, 162 movies in 2018, 192 movies in 2019, and 44 movies in 2020. This is my full ranking of every movie I saw in theaters in 2021.
My reviews/scores are not meant to be anything serious, and it's really just a personal enjoyment scale, I don't keep a checklist or anything, just a ticket stub and a rating when I leave the theater, sorted at the end of the year with a few random thoughts. Scores sometimes change after re-watch and ranking, but most stay the same. I'll admit that my scores this year are probably more inflated than usual because being back in theaters on a regular basis was amazing. I try to stay away from reviews and trailers as much as possible so I can go in blind for most movies.
I got COVID in mid-December so I'm running behind on a lot of the more recent big movies and/or award-contenders (Spider-Man, Nightmare Alley, Licorice Pizza, Passing, Matrix 4, Red Rocket, The Lost Daughter, Tender Bar, etc), but I should get to most of those in the coming week or so. I also skipped on a few other big titles (Annette, The Suicide Squad, Godzilla vs. Kong, etc). Hopefully next year will be better and I'll get close to my 200 goal. I don't rank anything I've seen outside of theaters.
Dune - 10/10
Asia - 9/10 - Depressing, heart-wrenching, and a closing scene that'll make you want to curl up into a ball and cry. I love a good punch like this once in a while. The pacing is a little bit off and it's very depressing, but it works. This movie came out of nowhere and is probably the one I regularly think about the most from 2021.
Pig - 9/10
Nomadland - 9/10
King Richard - 9/10 - This could have been another cheesy, shallow ego project (ahem, like American Underdog that I saw on January 1st, and will be low on the 2022 list), but it did so much more. I cried like a baby at the end, and Will Smith/Aunjanue Ellis/Jon Bernthal were an amazing trio and elevated this to be one of the best sports-biopics of the past decade.
The Father - 9/10
The Green Knight - 9/10
Murina - 8/10 - *Biggest surprise of the year and the best debut film
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