Best of First Half of 2021 | Films

So here we are, pandemic-inured, and living wirh and loving films, if from a different vantage than what we might have imagined. 

It is past the end of July and irretractably in the second half of the year. Which makes it a good time for me to signpost the best of cinema that I experienced in the first half. Through my biased eyes as seen from the way I’m wired and my own experiences. 

1. LUCA (streaming on DisneyPlus). I may be pelted for saying this, but I’m getting a little exhausted with Pixar outputs that insistently broach the abstract, the metaphysical, the mortality of human experience. So when something as simple as LUCA showed up with an abundance of heart, I embraced it with gratitude. Yes it’s literally a fish out of water story, not exactly original. But the film is also a neat metaphor for anyone who doesn’t fit in, who is the other living in constant fear of being found out. The film is also about giving consideration to a long thought enemy. And it is delightfully transportive to a coastal southern Italian town. I fell in love in the first five minutes of the film and surrendered to its charms with gratitude for the rest of the film. 
   
2. QUO VADIS, AIDA (streaming on Hulu) 
   
3. PAGGLAIT (streaming on Netflix)
   
4. CRUELLA (streaming on DisneyPlus)
   
5. A QUIET PLACE, PART TWO (streaming on ParamountPlus) 
   
6. BARB AND STAR GO TO VISTA DEL REY (streaming on Hulu)
   
7. THE GREAT INDIAN KITCHEN (streaming on Netflix)
   
8. PLAN B (streaming on Hulu)
   
9. BLACK WIDOW (streaming on DisneyPlus)
   
10. THE MITCHELLS VS THE MACHINES (streaming on Netflix)
    
11. SIR (streaming on Netflix) 
    
12. FALSE POSITIVE (streaming on Hulu)