MOVIES OF THE YEAR With kids stuck at home until August, Luis saw a lot more than 10 movies 2021 This was an incredibly strange year for movies. With the pandemic still ravaging parts of the country, most movies were released on streaming services. As Spring turned to Summer,
1. Spider-Man No Way Home The best Spider-Man movie to date, and quite possibly the best Marvel film ever. I’ll resist the urge to include a spoilery by simply stating it’s a visual masterpiece that is so deeply emotional and actionpacked at the same time. Tom Holland is the heart and soul of the new MCU.
2. In The Heights
Having never seen the stage version, I wasn’t sure what to expect besides great music and choreography. I did not expect to instantly be transported to Washington Heights in a peek at what was eerily reminiscent to my upbringing. I was absolutely blown away.
3. Encanto
The rare Disney film with no main villain, Encanto follows the Madrigal family through the eyes of Mirabel, the lone non-magical member of the family. In lieu of a main antagonist, the film finds each of the major characters struggling with their inner demons and self-doubt to rescue themselves, their family, and their neighborhood. That plus the original music from Lin-Manuel is phenomenal.
the movie studios pivoted and released some of the larger tentpoles to theaters. Almost every movie on the list below is available via streaming, save for one, which is my favorite.
4. Black Widow
Released simultaneously on streaming and in theaters (making its $183 million box office even more impressive) this release put a perfect bow on Scarlett Johansson’s time as Natasha Romanoff. The introduction of Florence Pugh’s Yelena imbued the entire franchise with a jolt of energy that I feel Marvel will benefit from for years to come. Also, the version of “Smells Like Teen Spirit” during the opening credits was pure perfection. Great take on that Nirvana classic.
5. The Micthells vs. the Machines
The best non-Disney animated film since Into The Spiderverse (also by the same team) follows a family that is seemingly drifting apart while on a road-trip when they all have to work together to defeat a global robot takeover. Hilarious and full of heart, one of the best family films of 2021.
BEST OF New technology expanded so Luis ranks services
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s the pandemic raged on and the Delta variant begat Omicron it became another year that meant if you wanted new content, you had to subscribe to streaming services. For most that meant subscribing to multiple services. The streaming services shell out more money for top creators and content, which means network TV has fallen way behind in producing quality content. Just about every Emmy award winner this year came from a streaming platform or premium cable (which now mostly have their own streaming platforms as well). DISNEY+ was by far the most viewed platform this year for us. The MCU television series were all huge hits. Premiering Black Widow to a streaming audience worldwide also proved to be a smart business decision. While it was a quiet year for live action Star Wars (both animated series that launched were critically well-received), they look to end the year strong with
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Art Department Weekly • December 2021
STREAMING the Book of Boba premiering on the final Wednesday of the year. Raya and the Last Dragon as well as Encanto quickly came to Disney+ as well after short stays in the theater. If this is their future model, I don’t see any service knocking off Disney+ soon. APPLETV+ proved to be a nice welcome addition (yay, to a free year-long subscription). The brilliant Ted Lasso and Schmigadoon made for a nice one-two punch. With other sci-fi titles, I can’t wait to take a larger bite of the apple. HULU was my third favorite streamer of the year. With great original content that skewed more comedic (pen15, Shrill, Only Murders in the Building) it became our go-to when we wanted to look for something to make us laugh. This is another streamer that I need to dive into more as they have an expanding partnership with FX. (I really want to see What We Do In The Shadows and Reservation Dogs.)
