What I've Watched In November 2021...

By Luca Newton

It's finally that time of the month to reflect on everything I watched in the past month. This is the penultimate one of these blogs of 2021..

Unlike last month, I like to believe that November has been one of my most productive months for movies, especially in the cinema-going sense - I've been at least 5 times. Let's just get into this and not waste any time!

Brave (2012) (Rewatch)

Continuing my Pixar binge, which is taking too long - but I will try to finish before the next issue - but this next film was Brave. I didn't remember much from this film, other than the first time I saw it in cinemas, but I remember it being pretty unremarkable. I sat down to rewatch Brave and low and behold, it was very unremarkable. I think there was potential here that is tapped in the first half, but the execution is underwhelming and it ultimately never reached the potential and ended up being an extremely boring mess with tons of storytelling misfires. Merida is completely unlikeable and the events of the movie seem to punish her reasonable mother over her. It's a very uncompelling movie.

Okja (2017)

Bong Joon-ho, director of Parasite and Snowpiercer, 2 incredible films, also made a movie called Okja in 2017 for Netflix. This is a very sweet film riddled with reality and fantasy in one. Raw and real mixed with pretty absurd. Okja is a mystical creature that exists as a experiment from a big corporation that holds them captive, abuses them and breeds them for profits. Mija is the main character as she tries to protect Okja. The film has a stacked cast with an absolutely absurd role from Jake Gyllenhaal, Tilda Swinton as both twin sisters and the CEO of the evil corporation, Paul Dano as a freedom fighter pro-Okja rights, with Steven Yeun as a supporting member of that group. It's weird as hell, but it's very sweet and in many ways heart-breaking. Definitely would recommend a watch.

The Harder They Fall (2021)

One of my most anticipated films was Jaymes Samuel's The Harder They Fall for Netflix because it looked like a fun western with such a star-studded cast. You have Jonathan Majors, Idris Elba, Zazie Beetz, Regina King, Delroy Lindo and Lakeith Stanfield. Each of these actors gave some great performances; especially Jonathan Majors and Lakeith Stanfield who stuck out for me as they were badass. It had a good score, the cinematography was good. I don't know why, but the film overall really underwhelmed me, I felt it was very mediocre. It's all well and good to have a great cast, and make the characters cool and make the movie look good, the script, plot and pacing has to work. For me, I really don't think either of those worked for me. The plot felt almost non-existent, and when it did exist it wasn't particularly good or compelling. The film dragged a lot for me. I really wanted to like this one more than I did..

Eternals (2021) (Three times!)

That's right, I saw Eternals in cinemas 3 times. As you know, Eternals was my most anticipated film of the year, and so at the start of the month I very excitedly went to see it on opening day. I was absolutely blown away with it. You already will know my thoughts if you check my article on it, but I just was absolutely enthralled with it. Going in I was excited but also worried if it would underwhelm me because of all the negative reception - I almost tempered my expectations to expect a pretty good film, but I thought it was straight up amazing. It's currently my second favourite MCU movie, and I won't apologise about that. The second and third times were also incredible.

Songs My Brother Taught Me (2015) and The Rider (2017)

After seeing Eternals, I decided to finish the rest of Chloe Zhao's filmography. I really liked both of these - The Rider is so sad in such a subtle way, and the way it has so much to say without being much of a narrative film was really well executed, although I didn't love it. I did love Songs My Brother Taught Me, which is this beautiful film which is about a dad dying who left many many children from different mothers, and in the wake of his death, they connect, but also the blood relation between brother and sister grows stronger as a bond. I found it deeply investing.

Monsters University (2013) (Rewatch)

Pretty good, but very flawed and filled with missed opportunities. I think I'd have really liked this film if they didn't have the Scare Games. I feel like they completely halted the entire movie and I don't think the movie ever recovered from it. I did like the ending, but I feel like that it doesn't really feel worth the drag of most of the second half. I really loved the first half, and I almost felt that if it stayed at the first half's momentum, I would've loved it.

Home Sweet Home Alone (2021)

Absolutely abysmal.. My expectations were low but holy crap.. I don't want to think about this movie anymore..

Jungle Cruise (2021)

Since it came to Disney+, I chose to finally give Jungle Cruise a go. I actually really liked it. Surprising to me, but I'm glad I thought so. Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt have very electric chemistry which is part of why the film works, and the overall adventure aspect of it was very fun. It's an unapologetically stupid and absurd adventure film, and it owns up to it. I have no clue what Jesse Plemons was doing, but it was hammy as hell and I love that.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021) (Rewatch)

I obviously loved Shang-Chi both times I watched it in cinemas in September, so I was very excited to rewatch it again on Disney+. That first half of the film is so elite.. I love the second half too, but that first half is on a completely different level and I adored it. Such a fun movie with so much passion and life. I will require that sequel immediately.

Red Notice (2021)

Marketed as Netflix's biggest investment to date starring The Rock, Ryan Reynolds and Gal Gadot, I was morbidly curious to watch this film. It somehow was significantly worse than I expected. This is absolutely one of the worst films I've ever seen. It's so devoid of any sort of life and passion. It's stupid without charm. It is excessively forgettable. I wish this film never happened, but oh well. I just want my time back.

Passing (2021)

The directorial debut of Rebecca Hall in a black-and-white movie starring Tessa Thompson and Ruth Negga, about the race issue of the period. I thought it was a good movie, but I felt it fell flat for me, with nothing to really cling on to. I love the performances and the directing and cinematography, but the message didn't come through for me and felt pretty surface level. Still a good film that deserves whatever awards it gets or is nominated for.

Squid Game (2021)

This is a show, but it was an absolute highlight of the month I had to include. Internet phenomenon, Squid Game is a Korean drama about the rich essentially exploiting poor, in-debt people to play games for money, but the penalty is death. I don't want to elaborate any further, but it's an absolutely incredible show with so much depth with each character, and so much sheer emotion, there's no way you're leaving the binge in shock, you'll be crying a lot. Not sure how I feel about a certain subplot outside of games, and the final twist only kind of works. Other that absolutely outstanding series. I can't wait for season 2.

Spencer (2021)

I also made a blog on this masterpiece. You might know that this is by far my favourite movie of the year. I've said everything I want to say, but the chilling performance from Kristen Stewart mixed with the unconventional storytelling and the phenomenal directing, everything about Spencer is pristine and top tier. I pray that this wins tons of Oscars. Please read my article based on Spencer which isn't very far back..

Inside Out (2015) (Rewatch)

Further down my Pixar binge, Inside Out used to be my favourite Pixar film for a while, and while I don't think it's that good anymore, I think it's still great. It has so many high concepts that were just so unique and fun to watch, and as you would expect, it is very emotional. I found the plot was pretty weak, but I really like the characters and the way they influence Riley and her actions, which are pretty relatable.

The Good Dinosaur (2015) (Rewatch)

Next up on the Pixar binge, The Good Dinosaur, actually pretty underrated in my opinion. Is it really good or great? No. It's pretty flawed, and I feel like there was a lot of potential for what the plot could've been instead of the very generic plot we got, but I still enjoy it with the bond between Arlo and Spot, and god it's gorgeous.

King Richard (2021)

Another cinema trip for me, this time for a film I quite honestly wasn't even fully convinced would be all that good. King Richard is about Richard Williams, father of Serena and Venus Williams - world famous tennis players. This film resonated with me in a way I wasn't expecting, Will Smith was incredible as Richard, and I thought Saniyya Sidney was incredible, hopefully a breakout star from this film. It's paced incredibly and is so compelling, I thought it was great.

tick, tick...BOOM! (2021)

Netflix's exclusive Tick Tick Boom was a welcome surprise for me. I wasn't exactly overly interested in it before it came out, but with the glowing reviews, it intrigued me. I found myself absolutely enthralled with the film and invested. It is my favourite type of musical I think, because I found the core story and themes of Tick Tick Boom to be so real and raw that it invested me and gave me something to grapple on to. Andrew Garfield absolutely deserves an Oscar nomination for this - also Robin de Jesus will be snubbed, but he really should also be nomination. For Lin Manuel Miranda's directorial debut, I thought it was very strong.

Kate (2021)

I would elaborate on this movie, but I've completely forgotten its existence. Kate is insanely bland, generic and boring with absolutely no fun. It barely has any personality, has absolutely nothing to say. I was utterly bored the entire time, waiting for it to end. They even tried to have an emotional ending I think, I don't know because I was too bored to care.

Last Night in Soho (2021)

The next Edgar Wright film.. yeah. You know my full thoughts if you read my last article. You'll know I was deeply disappointed in this film, It isn't bad, it's just mediocre. The reason is that I thought that the second was absolutely terrible and poorly executed, and in poor taste. It ruined the entire film. The first half was pretty good, and showed potential, but the dialogue was admittedly jarring, but I was willing to forgive it if that second half hadn't messed with the movie. It isn't scary, it has no creative psychological threats. I was left empty. It's a shame really..

The Start of my Studio Ghibli Binge..

Simultaneously to my Pixar binge still ongoing, I wanted to started Studio Ghibli's films, which I had admittedly never seen any of. I have seen, as of now, 3 of them; Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Castle in the Sky, Grave of the Fireflies. I will make a huge Ghibli blog when I finish my binge, where I'll elaborate on my thoughts, but I'll give brief thoughts. I thought Nausicaa was decent, but I was underwhelmed by it as I thought the main character wasn't even that interesting. Castle in the Sky I really liked, I found the characters more interesting and I loved the moments when they'd talk over the fire. I wanted more of that, but the film rarely slowed down. Grave of the Fireflies is absolutely incredible, and by far the best one I've seen far. It took heart and squeezed it so hard it exploded. It's so real and raw.

Finch (2021)

Earlier this year, the same day as Eternals actually, Finch came to Apple TV+, and it took me a few weeks to finally get around to it. I was expecting it to be really good, but I thought it was pretty great. Tom Hanks is a gem, and was really good here, and I really love how personal and intimate this post-apocalyptic adventure movie is with how it tackles almost a father and son relationship between Finch and Jeff the robot, and it's about what we leave behind. It resonated with me significantly more than I expected.

Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021)

Deemed the "Force Awakens" of Ghostbusters, a film that spawned only bad films after the first film's major success. It just seemed like that series should have just been a one-off. Afterlife was being given a lot of praise, so I chose to watch it in cinemas, expecting a fun film. I really didn't like the film to be honest. I felt that, with the exception of 3 scenes, the film was bland, it had nothing to say, it was horribly written and I just didn't have a good time. When they had a tribute to old stuff that's the only enjoyable stuff, and that's the issue. Phoebe was.. fine? I forgot Finn Wolfhard's character because he basically had nothing to do, and there's a character called Podcast - THE most annoying character of the year.. Eh, at least Paul Rudd's character was charming and fun to watch, shame he wasn't the main character.

Spider-Man Raimi Trilogy (Rewatch)

To get ready for Spider-Man No Way Home, I chose to give the Raimi trilogy another watch. I liked all these films - EVEN Spider-Man 3 - but upon rewatch, my opinions have changed. I used to think Spider-Man 1 was pretty decent, but on rewatched I really loved it. I thought the simple approach really hit harder on that second watch. Goblin is incredible with Dafoe, and the action is so good. An absolute triumph. I did love Spider-Man 2 already when I first watched, but that went up for me. I thought it was incredible. The balance of life and responsibility felt so real and well-released, there was so much sincerity in it. Doc Ock is definitely one of the strongest Spider-Man movie villains, he had such a compelling character arc, and he also made the action that much better. My opinion on Spider-Man 3 except that it's now the weakest in comparison, but I still really like it. I think that it's messy, but it doesn't really mess the movie up in my eyes. Venom wasn't done right, but the symbiote suit Parker was a match made in heaven, and made for some scenes that are truly iconic. I thought Sandman was very good here and Harry had a stupid amnesia story, but he was still great here and I loved his arc.

The Amazing Spider-Man Duology (Rewatch)

Of course, after the Raimi trilogy, I rewatched The Amazing Spider-Man duology. These 2 were critically maligned for a while, but fans have started to like them more and more. On my TASM1 rewatch, I found I have a soft spot for it, I think it's got its flaws, but it is really good in my opinion. Between the lower stakes, and the Lizard, I did genuinely like it a lot. Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy in general is great, and her chemistry with Andrew Garfield makes the film. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 just gets worse everytime I rewatch it. An awful film with a couple pretty good scenes, so people think it's underrated - nah, it's a mess, but just not a really enjoyable one. I like Gwen's death and the first swing of the movie with that Zimmer soundtrack.

House of Gucci (2021)

My next cinema trip, and penultimate cinema trip of the month was for Ridley Scott's latest film, House of Gucci. About the scandal of the Gucci family as Maurizio Gucci married Patrizia Reggiani and she caused a lot of issues in the family to get money and power. I've seen people love this film, and others hate it. I land kind of in the middle, because I really liked it, but didn't love it. It is overly long, but it didn't feel too long in the first 2 acts, it's the third act is the one that falls off. I did really like the campy tone of the first 2 acts, but wish the final act had a better tone, because they expect me to take it seriously out of nowhere.

Encanto (2021)

The last film of the month, and the final cinema trip - Encanto. Disney's 60th animated feature, by the director of Tangled and Zootopia, two of my favourite Disney animations, so I shouldn't be surprised that I adored Encanto. The soundtrack and animation are obviously great, and I loved how the animation was so dynamic and colourful in songs like 2D animated films. I thought Mirabel was an incredible and relatable protagonist, and the story was simple yet effective, with a resonant message and theme of not having to be physically powerful to be powerful. It was executed incredibly.

That is November. Join me next month for everything I see in the final month of 2021. I'll just add an extra note;

I will make a best of 2021 list. It will come out around the time of the Academy Awards 2022. I have several films I need to see and they either can't be watch until the new year, or they don't release in 2021 for the UK, but are 2021 films. I will only do my list when I feel like it's complete enough - obviously i can't see everything, but I'll wait until I see everything I care about, or I think is significant enough.

Thanks for reading.