by Audrey Callerstrom, Staff Writer

As I write this, I’m effectively in what is probably my 6th quarantine of 2021, awaiting a test, and canceling my plans to see Licorice Pizza on my birthday at my favorite theater which has recliner seats. So here are my top 10 films to-date, including a placeholder for Licorice Pizza, and a “safety school” option in case I don’t like Licorice Pizza.

10. Licorice Pizza (dir. Paul Thomas Anderson)

I sure hope I like it, and if I don’t, instead insert Spider-Man: No Way Home here because it made me cry and crying in a theater feels really good. Specifically, I cried when (redacted) had a scene with (redacted) and suddenly I was right back in a theater when I saw (redacted). An ode to the Sam Raimi films, for certain. Sure, it’s a lot of previous IP, but it recognizes how important some of those characters were throughout the last three Spider-Man iterations without dangling them in your face like you get a little nostalgia treat if you’re a good boy. 

9. Mass (dir. Fran Kranz)

Fran Kranz, the stoner from Cabin in the Woods, wrote and directed his first feature film about two families meeting years after a deadly school shooting. I braced myself for the genre of “people shouting at each other.” Mass is not that. It’s a compassionate story about trying to understand a complicated and violent act. All the performances here are terrific. Ann Dowd in particular is my favorite.

8. Pig (dir. Michael Sarnoski)

Back in “the day,” films played on regular TV in the afternoon pretty much all weekend. And a couple of those films for me were Valley Girl and Raising Arizona. So, at an impressionable age, it was ingrained in the folds of my brain to love Nicolas Cage. And I still do. I remember when this trailer came out and people were like “oh haha, he’s looking for his missing pig,” but the film is ultimately sincere and touching.

7. The Last Duel (dir. Ridley Scott)

I have never been so captivated by any piece of art from this genre, but I thought The Last Duel was terrific. What elevates it, I think, was that Nicole Holofcener (Enough Said, Walking and Talking) contributed to the screenplay, so there’s some modern-day discourse in a film that takes place in medieval times. Jodie Comer’s performance is terrific. Every scene serves a purpose, and those kind of films are my favorite.

6. Milkwater (dir. Morgan Ingari)
Two films about surrogates came out this year. Together Together starred Ed Helms and Patti Harrison as the dad-to-be and surrogate (respectively) who form a friendship. Milkwater was different. Milkwater was told from the point of view of the young, impulsive Milo (Molly Bernard) who thinks that being a surrogate for a gay man in his 50s (Patrick Breen) would be a fun little adventure. It’s a solid comedy/drama about boundaries and life transitions in the vein of Juno.

5. West Side Story (dir. Steven Spielberg)

West Side Story is vibrant. It breathes. It feels like an old Hollywood throwback, but in a way that honors that time without trying to mimic it. The sound is so good it feels like there is an orchestra pit. The opening shots, which drift over a wrecking ball at a construction site, were done via crane, and not drone. You can tell and appreciate the difference here, and in many of Spielberg’s choices throughout this remake.

4. Titane (dir. Julia Ducournau)

This film is wild. It grossed me out and then by the end I was like “aww, that’s sweet.” Lots of pushes and pulls. Mostly pushes. Bizarre, graphic, tender, and original.

3. Shiva Baby (dir. Emma Seligman)

Shiva Baby is a smart and wicked debut from Emma Seligman, based on her short film of the same name. Have you ever been at a family gathering that you could absolutely not leave? That’s the problem for twentysomething Danielle (Rachel Sennott), who is stuck at a shiva with her mom, dad, extended family, strangers, oh, and her sugar daddy, his wife, and their baby. It’s cringe comedy with heart. We like Danielle, and we want to save her from the awkward comments and embraces of this houseful of people who don’t know the concept of boundaries.

2. Slalom (dir. Charlène Favier)

Slalom is a visceral drama of a ski prodigy named Lyz (Noée Abita) and her predatory coach (Jérémie Renier). Words like “rape” or “abuse” or “grooming” are never used. What Lyz’s coach does behind closed doors is never openly acknowledged by anyone, including, and especially, anyone who could help her. Abita gives a powerful performance as a young, gifted girl who struggles to rise above the politics of an elite ski school.

1. The Power of the Dog (dir. Jane Campion)

The Power of the Dog is phenomenal. When a scene starts, it drops little hints that it’s going to lead a certain way, and then it changes trajectory. Benedict Cumberbatch is eerie as a mean, dirty cowboy in this drama set in the west in 1925. He terrorizes his brother (Jesse Plemons), his brother’s wife (Kirsten Dunst) as well as her young son (Kodi Smitt-McPhee). But he does so in such calculated, small ways, and largely without violence. Set in Montana but filmed entirely in the beautiful, untouched mountains of New Zealand.