12/13/2023 0 Comments 10 most epic movies![]() ![]() Quickly shot in secret under pandemic conditions and clocking in at only 72 minutes, Celine Sciamma’s follow-up to her international hit “ Portrait of a Lady on Fire” may appear at first glance to be little more than a minor trifle, but even her most devoted supporters may be startled by just how deep and meaningful it really is. Once again, Almodóvar proves himself a master of effortlessly shifting tone while telling complex stories that fold in on themselves as they gleefully toy with and enthrall the viewer. Suitably primed, we’re hit with the most charged and angry last image in the director’s career. Our emotions have been properly tenderized and our guards are down. It’s only when the film returns to Janis’ hometown that we realize the Sirkian rope-a-dope Almodóvar’s been working on us. Meanwhile, Alberto Iglesias’ scary, moody score and cinematographer José Luis Alcaine’s colors and camerawork add the pungent spices that make melodrama so delicious. Cruz, and her even more impressive co-star, Smit expertly wrestle with the grandest, most excessive twists in the screenplay. The mature Almodóvar of his last few features reverts to his younger self he becomes that filmmaker whose love of all things maternal or female was expressed in gestures as rich, ripe and bright as his visuals. That development brings us to the mother in the title, though the pregnant Janis’ relationship to the other Mom-to-be, Ana (Milena Smit) is perpendicular, not parallel. It’s heavy subject matter, but just when you think Almodóvar is steering away from his melodramatic excesses, as he did with “ Julieta,” editor Teresa Font cuts to Janis and Arturo lustily going at it in bed. Her murdered great-grandfather may be buried there, and she’d like to have him moved to a family plot. The film begins when Cruz’s photographer, Janis, asks her most recent subject, a forensic anthropologist named Arturo (Israel Elejalde), to assist her in a wartime mass grave’s excavation in her hometown. In the process, he entrusts her with a subplot that finally explores a topic mostly absent from the director’s canon: the Spanish Civil War. After guiding Antonio Banderas, another frequent collaborator, to his best performance in “ Pain and Glory,” the director offers Cruz her own candidate for career-best work. “Parallel Mothers” marks the seventh collaboration between Penélope Cruz and Pedro Almodóvar. Runners-up: " Annette," " The Card Counter," " The Disciple," " Flee," "A Hero," "The Lost Daughter," " Passing," " Procession," " Titane," and " The Velvet Underground" We will publish our individual lists tomorrow from both our critics and our extended list of contributors, but these are the best films of 2021 as chosen by the regular critical staff of. There are great films just outside this top twenty, which truly proves how much there was to watch in 2021 (and, given how some of these films haven't been widely released yet, early 2022). Taking in all of the top ten lists of our film critics produced a master list of over 80 titles, whittled down to the list below based on a point system. Whether it's on a small or big screen, it's about the films themselves, movies that move us, transport us, and challenge us. Some of the best living filmmakers released new masterpieces while new voices joined them, giving us all hope for the next generation. And yet as people argued about theater safety and streaming services, the actual filmmaking felt like it returned to form. Once again, the conversation around cinema in 2021 seemed as dominated by how we watch movies as much as the quality of the films themselves. ![]()
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