What Films You Watch Last Week (27/12-02/01) + YEAR E CLOSED

Welcome back to another week of the BEST & WORST edition of 'what movies did you see last week?' thread. For those who haven't been part of it before, basically your host (me) posts my weekly movies and you can comment on those and list your movie for the same time frame. I will get back to you on yours and you can talk to other users here about their films. It's a great place to talk about film.

YEAR END ROUND UP BELOW REGULAR WEEKLY REPORT

FIRST TIME MOVIE VIEWING

Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021, Jason Reitman)
Cinema
It is hard to switch genre's for sequels in a franchise, Aliens managed to do it from Alien. Here we have switched from the supernatural comedy of the first two films to an 80's style Spielbergian supernatural family adventure for this third Ghostbusters chapter. For the most part they have pulled it off and introduced some well rounded new young characters. 
The film is good but flawed, there are some issues in structure and pacing but whilst a lot of people have complained about the reuse of elements from the original, I think they made it work within the context of the story they were telling. The young lead (McKenna Grace) is really great, the film for the most part looks great but perhaps the best  and most moving part is how it is a loving tribute to the now deceased Harold Ramis who played original ghostbuster Egon Spengler.
7/10

C'mon C'mon (2021, Mike Mills)
This is a nicely shot black and white drama about the relationship between an uncle and nephew that is good to look at and well acted. The acting and cinematography make up for the story which is a little repetitive.
6.5/10

Wrath of Man (2021, Guy Ritchie)
A strange action/revenge film with an odd tone. The first half hour or so was  hard going until you get used to the tone and the terrible dialogue but it starts to find its footing and ends up being a pretty entertaining B movie.
6/10

REPEAT MOVIE VIEWING

Scream (1996, Wes Craven)
UHD Disc
Still holds up, a well executed, well paced meta slasher that brought in a wave of inferior teen slasher films in the late 90's.
7.5-8/10

A Time to Kill (1996, Joel Schumacher)
Netflix
A well done John Grisham courtroom drama set around a racially explosive case in the south. An all star cast from top to bottom and well made.
7.5-8/10

Gran Torino (2008, Clint Eastwood)
Netflix
Great latter day  grumpy Clint Eastwood character piece that works well. A lot of amateur actors were used and it shows but the material is strong enough to make it all work.
7-7.5/10

The Matrix (1999, The Wachowski's)
Had not seen in a long time and had forgotten how straight forward this was compared to the sequels. My favourite part is the first 20 minutes before Keanu comes on screen, he is not good but the role is such that its far from his worse. The film could have benefitted from a more timeless score but other than that it mostly works well enough.
6/10

It's a Wonderful Life (1946, Frank Capra)
I had forgotten how long it takes it to get to the super natural part which to be honest is the only part I enjoyed.
5.5/10

The Matrix Reloaded (2003, The Wachowski's)
This first sequel amplifies the worst elements  of the original and squashes a lot of what made it work. The first hour is terrible but luckily for the film it finishes much stringer with a great action set piece, freeway chase. This pretty much saves the film.
5/10

FIRST TIME TV VIEWING

Louis CK: Sorry (2021, Stand-up Special)
Not his best stand up special but still very good. A couple of legendary spots, my favourite being the Good Will Hunting diatribe.
GOOD SPECIAL

WEEKLY FILM AWARDS

BEST FILM: Scream
BEST ACTOR: Joaquin Phoenix - C'mon C'mon
BEST ACTRESS: McKenna Grace - Ghostbusters: Afterlife
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Sam Jackson - A time to kill
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Gaby Hoffman - C'mon C'mon
BEST EDITING: Patrick Lussier - Scream
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: Robbie Ryan - C'mon C'mon
BEST SCORE: Marco Beltrami - Scream
BEST SCRIPT: Akiva Goldman - A time to kill
BEST DIRECTOR: Wes Craven - Scream

YEAR END ROUND UP

Of the 49 (2021) Feature films I managed to get to this year (not including documentaries) these are my ranking/ratings.

1. Judas and the Black Messiah 8/10
2. Don't Look Up 7.5
3. king Richard
4. The Last Duel
5. Ghostbusters: Afterlife 7/10
6. The Power of the Dog
7. The Unforgivable 6.5
8. The Novice
9. Shiva Baby 6-6.5
10. South of Heaven

11. C'mon C'mon 6/10
12. Nobody
13. Wrath of Man
14. Pig
15. Lansky
16. Old Henry
17. Bad Trip
18. A Quiet Place II
19. Zack Snyder's Justice League
20. The Guilty

21. Coda
22. No Sudden Move
23. Dune
24. The Little Things
25. The Suicide Squad
26. Dear Street Part 2: 1978
27. Till Death'
28. Fear Street Part 3: 1666
29. Dig
30. Zola 5.5

31. No time to Die 
32. Spider-man: No Way Home
33. Last Night in Soho 5/10
34. Halloween Kills
35. Old 
36. Mitchell's vs The Machines
37. Fear Street Part 1: 1994
38. Night House
39. Finch
40. Belfast 4.5

41. Love Hard
42. The Card Counter 4/10
43. Flashback
44. Army of the Dead
45. Venom: Let there be Carnage
46. Coming2America
47. Censor 3/10
48. Those Who Wish me Dead
49. Bruised

Films from 2021 I’ve missed or have not come out here yet that I’m interested in.

Licorice pizza
Red rocket
Nightmare alley
The Mauritanian
Stillwater
The lost daughter
House of Gucci
The tragedy of Macbeth
Best sellers
Rose plays Julie
The eyes of Tammy Faye

YEAR END FILM AWARDS

BEST FILM: Judas and the Black Messiah
BEST ACTOR: Will Smith - King Richard
BEST ACTRESS: Jennifer Lawrence - Don't Look Up
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Daniel Kaluuya - Judas and the black messiah 
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Gaby Hoffman - C'mon C'mon
BEST EDITING: Claire Simpson - The Last Duel
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: Ari Wegner - The Power of the Dog
BEST SCORE: Jonny Greenwood - The Power of the Dog
BEST SCRIPT: Adam McKay - Don't Look Up
BEST DIRECTOR: Shaka King - Judas and the Black Messiah

10/10 - Perfection (or as close to it as possible)
09/10 - An Excellent film
08/10 - A VERY Good film
07/10 - A Good film
06/10 - A Solid film
05/10 - An Average film
04/10 - Below Average film
03/10 - A mostly bad film
02/10 - A mostly terrible film
01/10 - Awful through and through
00/10 - Not only awful but offensive too