Tuesday, July 12, 2022

My Top Films for 2021

I only have 7 movies here in my 2021 list, so it's obviously not a top 10 list as per usual, but at least it's more than the 6 movies that I've listed for 2020...so I guess that's still a win? The pandemic really hampered me from going to the cinemas but to be honest, it really changed my habit of watching movies too. So far in 2022, I've only watched 5 movies, far less than what I used to before the pandemic.

I don't know how my 2022 list will look like but let's just focus on the current list. Late as per usual, here's my top films for 2021 (only those that I watched at the cinemas).


7 - The Vigil

Image source from Wikipedia

Have you heard about this movie before? I certainly didn't before I went to see it, so I didn't really had any expectation going into the cinema hall. I did quite enjoyed watching it; it has its moments and the creepy atmosphere was well done despite the small budget and the limited setting. The Vigil is the directorial debut feature of Keith Thomas (he later directed Firestarter) and starred Dave Davis, Menashe Lustig, Lynn Cohen and Ronald Cohen. The story involves the culture and relationship in the Orthodox Jewish community which I'm not familiar of and so I find the story quite interesting.


6 - Venom: Let There be Carnage

Image source from Wikipedia

This sequel to the 2018 movie Venom see the return of Tom Hardy, Michelle Williams and Reid Scott alongside newcomers Woody Harrelson, Naomie Harris and Stephen Graham. Directed by Andy Serkis, the movie continue to explore the love hate relationship between Venom and its human host Eddie Brock, while facing new enemies in the form of Carnage and its human host, a psychotic serial killer Cletus Kasady, as well as Kasady's lover Frances Barrison. The relationship between Venom and Eddie Brock is the most interesting aspect of the movie in my opinion beside some of the fun action scenes. I can't decide if I like this movie or the 1st one better, both movies have things that I like and dislike, either way I hope they can make it even more interesting for the 3rd movie which was confirmed to be in development by Sony.


5 - Mortal Kombat

Image source from Wikipedia

I watched this at the cinema despite it being released in HBO Go here in Malaysia as well. I do find myself enjoying the movie more while watching it at home on HBO Go compared to the cinema which I find kind of interesting. Where did you watched Mortal Kombat if you did watched it? Nevertheless, it was a fun movie overall with many great fight scenes, especially the one involving Sub-Zero and Scorpion. The ice special effects involving Sub-Zero were really beautiful to look at. I particularly love the opening of the movie which shows the back story of Hanzo Hasashi who would later become Scorpion. I don't think there is anything to shout about plot-wise since this is a martial arts movie so obviously the fight scenes should be the draw of this film. While the fight scenes were good, I do wish some of them were a little bit extended; some fights were shorter than others... although that kind of understandable considering the many characters that were featured in this movie. A sequel had been greenlit by the studio so if you're a fan, watch out for more news on that.