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The hollywood reporter critics pick the best films of 2021 (so far).

THR's film reviewers pick faves from the first half of the year, including a South African drama about a gay soldier, a female buddy comedy featuring Kristen Wiig and an adaptation of an exotic dancer's tweetstorm about a nightmarish Florida road trip.

By Jon Frosch , Sheri Linden , David Rooney , Deborah Young , Leslie Felperin , Jourdain Searles June 23, 2021 10:15am

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ALL LIGHT, EVERYWHERE

Theo Anthony’s brilliant doc confronts the permeating presence in our lives of automated surveillance, zeroing in on a focus group wearing hard-to-believe tracking devices; a leading U.S. body camera manufacturer; a classroom where Baltimore police are trained to use those cameras; and a company that specializes in aerial surveillance. The result is chilling. — SHERI LINDEN

BARB AND STAR GO TO VISTA DEL MAR

Kristen Wiig reteams with Bridesmaids co-scribe Annie Mumolo in this sweet, screwy comedy about two Nebraskan pals who hit up a Florida resort for midlife singles. The result, an unapologetically delirious frolic in which friendship is tested by romance, adventure and a very weird villain, was just what we needed at a dark time. — DAVID ROONEY

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I CARRY YOU WITH ME

Documentarian Heidi Ewing’s ambitious narrative debut traces the decades-spanning, border-crossing romance between two Mexican men with impressionistic flair and a stealthily innovative mix of fictional and nonfictional elements. It’s a poignant, urgently — though never stridently — political film that builds toward a hushed stunner of a conclusion. — JON FROSCH

IN THE HEIGHTS

Even if director Jon M. Chu brings more life to the explosive musical numbers than to the soapy connective tissue that threads them together, this big-screen adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s stage hit is a stirring valentine to a New York City neighborhood and its people. As the narrator-protagonist, Anthony Ramos delivers a star-making turn. — D.R.

Oliver Hermanus explores the toxic masculinity of apartheid-era South Africa and the twin forces of racism and homophobia that fed it in his brutal, beautiful drama about a gay military conscript (played with mesmerizing internalized anxiety by Kai Luke Brümmer) trying to remain invisible. It’s sometimes tough to watch, but the harshness is mitigated by moments of aching tenderness and desire. — D.R.

QUO VADIS, AIDA?

Bosnian filmmaker Jasmila Zbanic’s heartbreaking drama plunges into the horror of ethnic cleansing during the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Seen through the eyes of a U.N. interpreter (Jasna Djuricic, superb), the events unfold in 1995 in Srebrenica, where the Bosnian Serb army murdered more than 7,000 civilians. — DEBORAH YOUNG

Morfydd Clark and Jennifer Ehle play nurse and patient in a claustrophobic British thriller from debuting director Rose Glass. The influence of ’60s and ’70s psychological horror is clear, but Glass creates a smart, sinister film with its own strange vibe, auguring well for her future prospects — as well as those of lead Clark, who acts with both subtlety and white-hot fervor. — LESLIE FELPERIN

This affecting debut doc from Elizabeth Lo does for Istanbul’s dogs what 2017’s Kedi did for the Turkish city’s cats. The earlier film was soothing and hopeful, while this one pierces — illuminating, through its canines’ adventures, the economic and political divisions and cultural hierarchies of our time. — S.L.

TEST PATTERN

Shatara Michelle Ford’s staggeringly impressive debut follows a Black woman and her white boyfriend in the aftermath of her rape. The film takes a straightforward relationship drama and twists it into something far more complex, challenging us to consider the different ways power dynamics can play out in interracial relationships. — JOURDAIN SEARLES

The extent to which social media shapes our communication informs every aspect of this entertaining tale of fast friendship and premature trust. It’s been ingeniously adapted by director Janicza Bravo and Slave Play dramatist Jeremy O. Harris from a 2015 tweet storm in which Detroit exotic dancer A’Ziah King recounted a nightmarish Florida road trip. Leads Taylour Paige and Riley Keough are divine. — D.R.

This story first appeared in the June 23 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.

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‘Unsung Hero’ Review: Music Dedicated to the One They Love

In fact, there’s a lot of singing in the clan whose members inspired this movie and who have racked up five Grammy Awards for their Christian recordings.

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By Nicolas Rapold

In the faith-based drama “Unsung Hero,” an Australian concert promoter trying to earn a living makes a last-ditch move to Nashville with his wife and six children. Based on an actual family of musicians, it mostly plays as a treacly tribute to the parents of Joel and Luke Smallbone — a.k.a. the Christian pop duo For King & Country — and their sister, the singer Rebecca St. James.

Viewer beware: Between the uplift and the cringe, this movie may cause whiplash. Joel Smallbone plays his own father, David, who faces financial and reputational ruin after booking a big concert and failing to pack the house. He resettles the family in the United States, but no job materializes. His pep-talking spouse, Helen (Daisy Betts), and their beatific children pull up bootstraps and practically whistle while they work, but it’s not enough.

Community, humility and the power of prayer are the lessons on offer in their story, set in the 1990s, bathed in warm light and interspersed with home video segments. Fellow churchgoers pitch in, and David gets over himself; he secures auditions for his teenage daughter, Rebecca (Kirrilee Berger), who keeps breaking into dulcet song about how everything is beautiful. The outcome of “Unsung Hero,” as written and directed by Richard L. Ramsey and Joel Smallbone, is never in doubt, though the climax has a kicker line that genuinely surprises with its laughable shamelessness.

The family business has become a success: Rebecca, Joel and Luke have won five Grammys among them. But despite the fuzzy good intentions, it’s tough to make much of this making-of story.

Unsung Hero Rated PG. Running time: 1 hour 52 minutes. In theaters.

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Going Hollywood - Movies and Television from the Golden Age to Today Brad Shreve & Tony Maietta

• TV & Film
• 5.0 • 3 Ratings
• APR 23, 2024

Howard Bannister’s Rocks: Celebrating “What's Up, Doc?" and "Bringing Up Baby

A conversation about the timeless wit of screwball comedies as Brad and Tony pay tribute to the classics "What's Up, Doc?" and "Bringing Up Baby." Join the laughter-filled journey, where they unwrap the clever storytelling that emerged under the 1930s Production Code, and how it paved the way for the hijinks of later gems like Peter Bogdanovich's tribute to the genre.  Hear about behind-the-scenes genius, historic film language nuances, and the impact of 1938's "Bringing Up Baby" on Hollywood careers. They dissect the character-driven hilarity in films like "What's Up, Doc?" and examine why San Francisco's charm made it the real star of the 1972 film. You can find transcripts, a link to Tony's website, and a link to Brad's website at www.goinghollywoodpodcast.com

• 1 hr 16 min

One More Look: Analyzing the legacy of “A Star Is Born”

Join us for one more look at the timeless tale of “A Star is Born” as we trace its origins from the unofficial first version in 1932, "What Price Hollywood?", to Lady Gaga's dazzling turn in 2018. Tony and Brad dissect the enduring narrative of ambition, addiction, and the bittersweet dance of rising and falling stars.  They pick apart the fabric of each film, from Streisand's rock and roll missteps to the cultural reflections mirrored in every retelling.  They offer candid opinions on importance of cut scenes, character motivations, and the romantic and professional dynamics portrayed throughout the film They wrap up their tour with their spirited discussions and definitive ranking of each incarnation. You can find transcripts, a link to Tony's website, and a link to Brad's website at www.goinghollywoodpodcast.com

• 1 hr 14 min

When Hepburn Met Capote: The Enduring Appeal of “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”

Is Carrie Bradshaw the spiritual granddaughter of Holly Golightly?  How do you take a plotless novella about a call girl and her gay best friend and make it into a mythic romance?  Find out when you join us for a conversation about the alchemy of romance, comedy, and drama that makes "Breakfast at Tiffany's" stand the test of time.  From the genre-defying narrative to Audrey Hepburn's enchanting performance as Holly Golightly. Tony and Brad discuss the transformative journey of Truman Capote's novella to the iconic 1961 film. Venture beyond the surface with their deep-dive character analyses, where they peel back the layers of Holly and Paul Varjak's complex relationship.  The two explore George Axelrod's screenwriting wizardry and the strategic casting Audrey and George Peppard and examine the tension between the film's polished Hollywood exterior and the grittier truths of its literary origins.   No discussion about "Breakfast at Tiffany's" can exclude Mickey Rooney's controversial portrayal in the film and the subsequent backlash from the Asian Pacific Islanders group. You can find transcripts, a link to Tony's website, and a link to Brad's website at www.goinghollywoodpodcast.com

• APR 17, 2024

Introducing Going Hollywood

Conversations between esteemed film historian, Tony Maietta, and passionate movie buff, Brad Shreve, about cinema and television from Hollywood's Golden Age to contemporary hits. Whose side will you be on?  Listen as they discuss—and sometimes disagree on—their favorite films and TV shows. They'll take you behind the scenes of Hollywood as they explore storytelling, casting, characters, and more. You can find transcripts, a link to Tony's website, and a link to Brad's website at www.goinghollywoodpodcast.com

• © 2024 Going Hollywood - Movies and Television from the Golden Age to Today

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Val Waxman is a movie director going through a slow period in his career. Maybe it's more like a slow decade. He left his last movie project, explaining, "I quit over a big thing." What was that? "They fired me." Then he gets a big break, Galaxie Studios has just green-lighted "The City that Never Sleeps," and his ex-wife has convinced the studio head that Val, despite his laundry list of psychosomatic anxieties and neurotic tics, is the right guy to direct it.

Woody Allen 's new comedy "Hollywood Ending" quickly adds a complication to this setup: Waxman goes blind. It may all be in his mind, but he can't see a thing. For his ever-smiling agent Al Hack ( Mark Rydell ), this is insufficient cause to leave the project. Al says he will glide through the picture at Waxman's elbow, and no one will ever notice. When the studio demurs at the agent being on the set, Al and Val recruit another seeing-eye man: The business student (Barney Cheng) who has been hired as the translator for the Chinese cinematographer. The translator says he'll blend right in: "I will practice casual banter." Further complications: Waxman's ex-wife Ellie ( Tea Leoni ) is now engaged to Hal ( Treat Williams ), the head of Galaxie Studios. Waxman casts his current squeeze, Lori ( Debra Messing ), for a supporting role in the movie, but while Lori is away at a spa getting in shape, co-star Sharon ( Tiffani Thiessen ) moves on Waxman. In his dressing room, she removes her robe while explaining that she is eager to perform sexual favors for all of her directors (Waxman, who cannot see her abundant cleavage, helpfully suggests she advertise this willingness in the Directors' Guild magazine).

What is Val Waxman's movie about? We have no idea. Neither does Waxman, who agrees with every suggestion so he won't have to make any decisions. He's not only blind but apparently has ears that don't work in stereo, since he can't tell where people are standing by the sound of their voices, and spends much of his time gazing into space. No one notices this, maybe because directors are such gods on movies that they can get away with anything.

The situation is funny and Allen of course populates it with zingy one-liners, orchestrated with much waving of the hands (he's a virtuoso of body language). But somehow the movie doesn't get over the top. It uses the blindness gimmick in fairly obvious ways, and doesn't bring it to another level--to build on the blindness instead of just depending on it. When Waxman confesses his handicap to the wrong woman--a celebrity journalist--because he thinks he's sitting next to someone he can trust, that's very funny. But too often he's just seen with a vacant stare, trying to bluff his way through conversations.

Why not use the realities of a movie set to suggest predicaments for the secretly blind? Would Val always need to take his translator into the honey wagon with him? Could there be tragic misunderstandings in the catering line? Would he wander unknowingly into a shot? How about the cinematographer offering him a choice of lenses, and he chooses the lens cap? David Mamet's "State and Main" does a better job of twisting the realities of a movie into the materials of comedy.

Because Allen is a great verbal wit and because he's effortlessly ingratiating, I had a good time at the movie even while not really buying it. I enjoyed Tea Leoni's sunny disposition, although she spends too much time being the peacemaker between the two men in her life and not enough time playing a character who is funny in herself. George Hamilton , as a tanned studio flunky, suggests a familiar Hollywood type, the guy who is drawing a big salary for being on the set without anybody being quite sure what he's there for (he carries a golf club to give himself an identity--the guy who carries the golf club). And Mark Rydell smiles and smiles and smiles, as an agent who reasons that anything he has 10 percent of must be an unqualified good thing. As Waxman's seeing eyes, Barney Cheng adds a nice element: Not only is Waxman blind, but he is being given an inexact description of the world through the translator's English, which is always slightly off-track.

I liked the movie without loving it. It's not great Woody Allen, like "Sweet and Lowdown" or " Bullets Over Broadway ," but it's smart and sly, and the blindness is an audacious idea. It also has moments when you can hear Allen editorializing in the dialogue. My favorite is this exchange: "He has made some very financially successful American films." "That should tell you everything you need to know about him."

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

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Film Credits

Hollywood Ending (2002)

Rated PG-13 For Some Drug References and Sexual Material

114 minutes

Woody Allen as Val Waxman

Tea Leoni as Ellie

George Hamilton as Ed

Debra Messing as Lori

Mark Rydell as Al Hack

Treat Williams as Hal

Written and directed by

• Woody Allen

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That Civil War Movie Is a Symptom of Hollywood’s Problems

• Are Buttigieg’s Latest Airline Rules Going to Get People Killed? Katie Pavlich
• These Ugly, Little Schmucks Need to Face Consequences Kurt Schlichter
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I saw the new movie "Civil War" so you don’t have to. You’re welcome, and you owe me. Fifteen years ago this month, I started writing for the legendary Andrew Breitbart at Big Hollywood , where we drew attention to the increasing wokeness of Tinseltown. That’s why I saw this movie – to see if Hollywood had learned any lessons. I think it did, but it learned the wrong lessons.

Spoiler alert—it’s a bad movie, and you don’t want to see it. I’m going to tell you some of what happens, but you shouldn’t care because, if you’re smart, you’re going to listen to me and not spend money on it.

The problem with "Civil War" isn’t its point of view, to the extent it has one. Now, you can tell that, beneath the surface, it has a generic left-wing orientation. The bad guy president is vaguely Trumpy. He’s a straight white male, of course. In fact, every single villain is a straight, white male. None of the major heroes is a straight, white male. You can make movies where the villains are straight, white males, and where none of the heroes are straight, white males, but it’s now a woke Hollywood cliche to make all the villains straight, white males, and none of the heroes straight, white males. You can’t unsee it. Rural white guy? Definitely a villain. Black woman? Hero!

But the mandatory pseudo-diversity of Hollywood is not the main problem with "Civil War." Nor is how the movie employs the hackneyed device of characters doing stupid, impulsive things to drive the plot. Don’t go do that thing, don’t go do that thing, don’t go do that thing – and then the character goes and does that thing, and all the other characters have to deal with the consequences, and that’s how the plot progresses. Weirdly, it’s always a young female character who seems to go do that thing. Anyway, it’s annoying.

Recommended

But the real issue with "Civil War" is that it is not about the cinematic civil war. When I go to a movie called "Civil War," I’d like to learn a little about the civil war, like what happened and why it happened and what one side believes, and what the other side believes, and how our society degenerated into open combat nearly two centuries after the Democrats started – and lost – the last civil war. But you don’t get that. I spent two hours watching this movie and I still have absolutely no idea what caused this civil war. I know that the Trumpish president character – he’s not a complete Trump clone, but it’s pretty clear he’s Trumperrific – is supposed to be a bad guy. But that doesn’t mean that his side is necessarily bad. The good guys can be led by a bad guy. Or a good guy can lead the bad guys. The movie seems to attribute the cause of this civil war to a single personality instead of illuminating the politics that drove it. That’s not particularly compelling as drama.

I know a little about Second Civil War fiction since I’ve written a best-selling series of novels about it. And you know what I focused on? How America gets into a Second Civil War and what happens when it does. How do things change? What expectations are upended? How would things work out in that situation? That’s what’s interesting about the concept. That’s what we want to know. And frankly, that’s what teaches us what to avoid so we never get into that situation again no matter how much the Democrats try to provoke Round Two.

But this movie ignores the civil war stuff and is all about journalists on a road trip. Despite the fact that most journalists today are loathsome communists, that’s not necessarily a bad way to show us around the Second Civil War. You could get lots of perspectives, and you can see and learn what happens and why through reporter characters. But the only perspectives we get are about the reporters themselves, and they’re annoying people – which is at least a taste of realism. But they never talk about the war itself. There’s no context to all the mayhem.

Remember, it’s the world-building that’s interesting to us, not these characters. I don’t care about the characters. You have a jaded war correspondent. And another jaded war correspondent. And a third jaded war correspondent. And a fourth war correspondent who’s young and isn’t quite jaded yet but who gets jaded at the end. That’s not interesting, and that’s not what I’m trying to buy when I throw down nearly 20 bucks for a ticket to a movie called "Civil War."

Look, the actors are competent. They’re just playing boring people. And the movie is boring. That’s the crime. The lesson Andrew Breitbart always taught about political movies is to be good first. Be interesting. Make a good movie. Then you can get your message across. He didn’t object to the idea of a left-wing viewpoint. "JFK" is a left-wing movie with an idiotic message, but it was interesting. I couldn’t take my eyes off it, even though it was unbelievably stupid. I barely kept my eyes open here.

Alex Garland is not an untalented filmmaker. The Englishman has made a few vaguely interesting movies. The problem is he shoots this one like a movie-of-the-week. It is very workmanlike. What he wants to do is set up really interesting shots like helicopters flying around the Washington monument. That’s a pretty cool image. A gun battle at the White House? Yeah, that’s an interesting concept. But not the way he does it. You can see this was not a big-budget movie. All the battles have like 10 people.

Another beef – as a military guy, all the military stuff bothered me. It doesn’t look like a military operation, and it’s kind of hard to explain to civilians why. For instance, you’ll have a weird mix of vehicles with a HUMVEE and a truck and a tank and another HUMVEE and a tank rolling, and overtop are helicopters flying really low, and F-35s are flying at treetop level just because it looks kind of cool. But it’s not realistic. Military guys, be prepared to bust out laughing at the scene where a guy is sleeping on the ground around a bunch of parked trucks. Yeah, sleep on the dirt among parked trucks and see how that works out for you. Look, some of the battles do look kind of cool, but not as cool as they could. The movie isn’t particularly spectacular, though it tries to be. The imagery is kind of distracting.

But not as distracting as the relentless breakaways to boring expositions about the characters’ backgrounds. I think way too many Hollywood people have been watching Netflix shows where they stuff three hours of drama into nine hours of episodes. Here’s how I wrote the People’s Republic novels – I made it all good parts. If it didn’t make you think, or laugh, or get your pulse racing, I cut it out. Here, something interesting happens, and all of a sudden the action comes to a flying stop for a five-minute dialogue scene with the characters in a head-on two-shot sitting on benches talking about their childhoods. It’s a movie called "Civil War." I don’t care about your feelings or these characters.

Garland’s objective in not having any discussion of the politics in "Civil War" was clearly to take politics out of the movie. But here’s the problem. It’s a movie about a civil war. You can’t take politics out of it. That’s the essence of it. To make an effective drama about it, you have to have a point of view. In interviews, all the actors denied that the movie had an agenda, and maybe that was what they intended. But that’s the problem. Without a clear point of view, none of it makes sense.

My books have a point of view. I’m a conservative, and the conservatives in the books are right. Not perfect. Not faultless. And not always nice. But generally right. The conservatives are the good guys. In my books, the red states are who you should be rooting for. You know that going in, and you can evaluate what I say on that basis. Am I right? Am I wrong? What am I missing? You don’t have to agree with me, but at least we have something to debate.

What’s not interesting is a bowl of mush. This was a missed opportunity. We’re at a very dangerous time in our country. That’s the point of my Second Civil War novels . That should be the point of this movie. But the movie is afraid to make a point because it doesn’t want to alienate anyone. And that’s why it’s a missed opportunity.

But conservative billionaires, you have an opportunity to make a real difference. Instead of wasting cash donating to DC think tanks like the Forum for Families, Liberty, Eagles, and Forums, throw a few million bucks behind some conservative movies. That was Andrew Breitbart’s hope – that we make quality, thought-provoking entertainment with a conservative message. Note the order – the thought-provoking and entertaining parts come before the conservative message part. And until we make our own movies, we’re going to be stuck with stuff like "Civil War."

Look, we need your help to keep up the fight by joining Townhall VIP right now. You get access to a bunch of great stuff, not the least of which is my extra  Wednesday column , the weekly  Stream of Kurtiousness  videos every Friday, my  Unredacted podcast  every Monday, my VIP members-only direct email address, and more! Join now! Use promo code KURT for 50% off membership.

Follow Kurt on Twitter  @KurtSchlichter . Get the newest volume in the Kelly Turnbull People’s Republic  series of conservative action novels set in America after a notional national divorce, the bestselling Amazon #1 Military Thriller,  Overlord ! And get his new novel about terrorism in America, The Attack !

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