A Seattle moviegoing lifestyle magazine
Sweetheart Deal is 98 minutes of tragedy and heartbreak but it also felt so vital and important to tell the stories of these women who suffer from so much abuse and marginalization. “Sex work is work” and “my body, my choice” are good, rhetorical, platitudes (that I believe) but they are also too vague to meaningfully represent anyone whose choice and autonomy are often taken out of the equation, often by situations far beyond their control.
One of the most buzzed-about movies at the Seattle International Film Festival this year is unquestionably the world premiere of I’ll Show You Mine, the newest film from one of Seattle’s very best filmmakers, Megan Griffiths.
When I went into the theater to see the Sonic the Hedgehog sequel, I’m sure my expectations weren’t charitable or generous but the movie did something that won me over in the first few minutes.
There’s no rest until the credits appear on screen. Michael Bay’s greatest skill as a filmmaker is the ability to make it look really cool when shit blows up and he very much delivers here. The movie is full of non-stop action and propelled by adrenaline (there’s your pull-quote).
Did anyone really ask for this?
With his take on Batman, Robert Pattinson is much darker in the role than we’ve previously seen. If you thought Christian Bale’s performance as Bruce Wayne/Batman was too silly in Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy, I have just the movie for you. With the possible exception of Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker movie, this is the darkest Batman or Batman-adjacent movie I’ve seen.
Liam Neeson is Travis Block, a special fixer for the FBI that serves at the pleasure of its director, Aidan Quinn. Block’s specialty is getting undercover agents out of tricky situations when their cover is blown. It involves kicking lots of villain ass without breaking much of a sweat. He’s like the Wolf from Pulp Fiction in the body of a middle manager. Most of the time, Neeson looks lost or confused or not really sure why he’s here. Same, my dude, same.
The genius (for lack of a better term) of the Jackass extended universe is not that they brought in Francis Ngannou to test whether an athletic supporter can provide adequate protection against his fierce punches, but that it is likely only the fourth-worst way to sustain a groin injury that’s depicted in Jackass Forever.
Spain’s greatest cultural export, Pedro Almodovar (no offense, Picasso), returns with another deeply moving and powerful melodrama. It was an emotional experience for me, and I broke down crying in my car when I left the screening.
Every year there are great films, yes, but it felt like 2021 was a particularly good year for movies. Certainly better than 2020, but what wasn’t better than 2020? These movies below are my favorites, but they were also the ones that provoked responses from me, whether it be enjoyment, anger, befuddlement or some combination of those (and others). There are a few movies I couldn’t make it to before the end of the year, a snowstorm in Seattle right after Christmas did my filmgoing plans no good, but I am confident this is a good representation of the strength of filmmaking in 2021.
