Sun. February 14, 2021
By Jerry Nunn
Thanks to the pandemic during the year 2020, the cinematic world has had many unprecedented hurdles to face and jump over. The usual screenings and rollout of films became unpredictable when much of the population stayed indoors throughout a challenging time period. Drive-in theaters tired to make a comeback and addicted to buttery popcorn fans cried every weekend while suffering at home. Cinephiles demanded big screens and producers pushed release dates later in the year. This left many wondering how much of the good stuff may not have made the cut to see the actual light of day.
The summer blockbuster crashed and burned while indie films returned with a vengeance. The industry was left with a surprising number of quality films that may have gone unnoticed forcing critics to seek them out as social media began to spread the word about the ones worth watching. Productions with heart turned out to be what audiences craved while escaping the tough reality that surrounded their everyday lives.
Here is a list of the good, the bad and the downright ugly films of 2020, starting with the good:
5- The Forty-Year-Old Version had Radha Blank creating a humorous piece of work that hit all the right notes in a story about a teacher and writer who attempts to find her true voice. The gay Asian best friend trope could have gone off the rails, but it rang true.
4- The Father was a character study about aging told in unpredictable and creative ways. Olivia Colman continues to carve out a career that is quickly making her a household name in America.
3- Sound of Metal depicted hearing loss that made viewers think differently about it. Lead actor Riz Ahmed would be taking home all of the trophies during award season if the competition just wasn't so stiff.
2- Driveways was an underrated simple tale about a mother and son cleaning out a deceased loved one's house. Rest in power Brian Dennehy who passed away after the filming.
1- The Life Ahead wore its heart on its sweet sleeve in an Italian film that proved Oscar winner Sophia Loren has still got it!
Ending with the bad:
5- Capone was no gangster on the screen when it came to making a captivating story. Just like his vault, this made watchers feel cheated after the result was revealed.
4- Scoob! tried to give young people a hip, new version of Scooby-Doo, but didn't solve the mystery of why the production had lackluster voices in the cast.
3- Hillbilly Elegy had problems from the beginning in its roots concerning poverty and stereotypical family values.
2- Dolittle somehow made the usually entertaining Robert Downey Jr. dull in an adventure about furry friends. Every actor knows not to work with upstaging animals, so why did he do Dolittle?
1-The movie Music will have singer Sia hiding her face for a while longer with a storyline that damaged the autism community with harmful rhetoric and ignorant ideas.
It will be interesting to see how the film industry navigates releases in 2021 as the pandemic continues to drag on and viewing from home is now the new normal. Until things change, pop some microwave popcorn, plug your laptop into your big screen television and buckle up for an uncertain new year of reel entertainment!
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