Every year, I see movies in a year that had been released in the year before. Most of the time this is because a film is trying to become eligible for an Academy Award so it releases in like four theaters in New York or Los Angeles and then releases wide in January or February.

A few years ago, I decided to not take those films into consideration for the Best and Worst lists of the current year even though that was the year in which I saw them. Henceforth, this list of Best and Worst Movies of 2021 in 2022 came into being.

However, this year was different. As a follow up to the DailyView that I completed in April, I did what I called The June Swoon. In the June Swoon, I watched a movie that I did not see from 2021 every day in the month of June. It turned out to be 31 movies as I watched two in one day once that month.

That opened this list up dramatically as, instead of having five or six to choose from, I now had almost forty. This led to a top 10 Best Movie of 2021 in 2022 and a top five Worst Movie of 2021 in 2022 list.

Starting with the worst:

Worst Movies of 2021 in 2022

#5. Censor. I don’t remember anything about this one, but I had rated it a “MEH”.

#4. The Protégé. Predictable and a waste of Samuel L. Jackson.

#3. Red Rocket. I found this to be way overrated and boring.

#2. House of Gucci. another film that I just did not like. I could not get into it even though it was considered an Oscar worthy film. Not for me.

#1. Home Sweet Home Alone. I had been warned that this movie was God awful. Both Jeremy Jahns and Dan Murrell reviewed the movie and hated on it. Jeremy gave it his “dogshit” rating and Dan, if I remember correctly, put it at number one on his worst movies list. I still wanted to check it out for myself on Disney +. They were absolutely right. It was terrible and would have contended for the Worst Movie of 2021 Year End list had I watched it during 2021. Having the Home Alone name in the title is an insult to Home Alone 3. Yeah, that one.

Best Movies of 2021 in 2022

#10. The Tragedy of Macbeth. Denzel doing Shakespeare. Plus, the film had the best set and art design of any film last year.

#9. Flee. An animated documentary of an escape from Afghanistan as a child.

#8. Old Henry. A great Western with an exciting and dramatic twist at the end.

#7. Happily. A weird story about couples and someone punishing them for their bad behavior. I had a lot of funwith this one.

#6. Shiva Baby. An unexpectedly good film about a Jewish girl and her family sitting Shiva.

#5. Annette. Another bizarre film, this time with music. Adam Driver chewing up scenery all over the palce.

#4. Cyrano. A classic story also with music. Peter Dinklage as Cyrano is spot on casting.

#3. Summer of Soul. Documentary from The Roots’ Questlove. A look at some of the great music from the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival.

#2. Bo Burnham: Inside. A comedy film that I tried to watch once, but was having trouble getting into it. During the June Swoon though I loved it. Staying inside during the pandemic for the comedian Bo Burnham created so much amazing comedy.

#1. Barb & Star Go to Vista Del Mar. One of the funniest films of 2021. Another one that I did not find too interesting during 2021 and I was not a fan of the trailer. However, when I watched it for the June Swoon, I loved it.

With the number f comic book movies that come out in a year, a few years ago, this category was added and who was a better person to honor than Christopher Reeve? We then went back to 1989 and awarded winners for every year.

This year, the winner, to me, was clear.

The Christopher Reeve Memorial Comic Book Movie of the Year

Previous Winners: Batman (1989), Dick Tracy (1990), The Rocketeer (1991), Batman Returns (1992), Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993), The Crow (1994), Batman Forever (1995), The Phantom (1996), Men in Black (1997), Blade (1998), Mystery Men (1999), X-Men (2000), From Hell (2001), Spider-Man (2002), X2: X-Men United (1993), Spider-Man 2 (1994), V for Vendetta (2005), 300 (2006), Superman: Doomsday (2007), The Dark Knight (2008), Watchmen (2009), Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010), Captain America: First Avenger (2011), The Avengers (2012), Iron Man 3 (2013), Captain America: Winter Soldier & Guardians of the Galaxy [tie] (2014), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Captain America: Civil War (2016), Logan (2017), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Avengers: Endgame (2019), Birds of Prey (2020), Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)

In 2022, the standout comic book movie…

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Ironically, the first Black Panther movie did not receive the Christopher Reeve Memorial Award. It came out in the same year as Infinity War, which was tough competition. However, that first movie starring Chadwick Boseman as T’Challa was consequential and inspiring for a huge swath of a community. People of color embraced that film and made it one of the most successful films of all time.

Then, in 2020, tragedy struck. Chadwick Boseman died from colon cancer. A cancer that we had no idea he was suffering from. During the filming of Black Panther and Infinity War, he kept that to himself, suffering in silence. The suddenness of the loss took us all by shock.

It caused major problem for the Black Panther sequel, which had been written by writer/director Ryan Coogler already. Everything had now changed. Marvel Studios decided that they would not recast T’Challa and that they would use Wakanda Forever to, not only push the story ahead, but to honor their fallen star.

What Ryan Coogler and the cast of Wakanda Forever accomplished was monumental considering the obstacle that they faced. Wakanda Forever was a triumphant film, filled with real emotion from a cast that loved their ‘king’ but had lost him too young. Wakanda Forever was about grief, but also acceptance.

As the tremendous achievement filled the theaters, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will always have a spot in our hearts moving forward with Shuri (or eventually the young prince T’Challa).

Runners-Up: The Batman, Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Thor: Love & Thunder, Black Adam, Batman and Superman: Battle of the Super Sons

The second year of the Confirmed… or it it Award is here. The award goes to those things that the Internet/talking heads/pundits discuss and talk about, all but claiming it to be a fact despite having no real evidence supporting it. So many people claimed that Mephisto was behind everything in WandaVision that when the demon did not show up, some were disappointed. It was their own out of control expectations that wrecked their viewing habits for that show.

It is an unfortunate result of so many movie talk shows on YouTube that are trying to get clicks. Even those that had a reasonable idea that Mephisto was coming got themselves too wound up over it.

Although not exclusively, it does feel as if the majority of this happens for Marvel Studios’ projects. A good rule of thumb is that it is only true when you hear Kevin Feige say it (or it is leaked by Tom Holland or Alfred Molina)

Confirmed… or is it? Award

Previous Winner: Mephisto is in WandaVision

This year had, once again, plenty examples of this.

Runners-Up: The Leader was coming to She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, The X-Men/mutants were going to be introduced in (fill in the blank here), Upcoming Disney + shows, Spider-Man 4, Dr. Doom is in Wakanda Forever

However, this year’s winner is something that is yet to happen.

2022 Confirmed… or it it Award goes to:

The casting of Marvel Studios’ Fantastic Four.

People have been anxiously and impatiently awaiting the reveal of who the four actors will be portraying Reed Richards, Susan Storm, Johnny Storm and Ben Grimm. There have been literally dozen of rumors about who may be in this ensemble. When John Krasinski appeared as Reed in Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, it only picked up steam. Krasinski, who has been a popular fan casting for years, was brought into that movie to play an alternate universe version of Reed as fan service. Does that mean that Krasinski is not our stretching genius?

Then, speculation ran rampant that Marvel Studios was going to announce their FF cast at this year’s San Diego Comic Con. Fans guessed and waited. There was a ton of info dropped at SDCC this year including the announcement of Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars, but there was no sign of the Fantastic Four.

Then, everyone was completely sure that Marvel would reveal this cast at D23, Disney’s own conference. It was all but confirmed that we were getting the cast list at D23 and that they would surely walk out on the stage with Kevin Feige. But, once again, we got nothing.

That’s not completely true. They announced the director for Fantastic Four would be Matt Shakman, who directed the WandaVision series for Disney +.

Does Marvel have these roles cast? Who knows? Until the announcements are official, fans will continue to speculate rampantly.

The world of entertainment today can be a harrowing place. The fact that there are people online, on Twitter, on other social media platforms who believe it is okay to rant and rave about specific details of a movie, TV show or piece of pop culture content.

So to “honor” these Trolls, we here at EYG have instituted the Don’t Feed the Trolls: Insane Internet Rage Scandal of the Year Award into our Year In Review Awards.

Previous winners:

The Don’t Feed the Trolls: Insane Internet Rage Scandal of the Year

Previous Winner:  Baby Yoda eats frog’s eggs (2020), Masters of the Universe: Revelations part one (2021)

2022 had one that absolutely jumped to the forefront of the list because there was so much rage about it. It is sad that a lot of the undercurrent of the rage comes from serious issues such as misogamy and the anti-woke crowd, but this was clearly the standout of the crazy this year.

2022 winner: She-Hulk: Attorney at Law

The Disney + Marvel studios series received so much anger about so many things that it was difficult to remember them all. The CGI triggered several people. The fact that is was a female Hulk drove some mad. The lack of any true “big bad” in the season made many angry. Jennifer Walters did not “earn” her Hulk powers. The episodes were too short. She broke the fourth wall. They ruined the Intelligencia. This was the absolute end of Marvel Studios and the Disney + series are just the next step in the M-She-U.

And, of course, the haters couldn’t just not watch. They had to watch, spew their hatred on Twitter and make YouTube clickbait videos about how terrible the show was.

What was even funnier was that the show knew what kind of buttons it would be pushing and made their series’ villain the Trolls, showing made up Tweets that echoed the real life ones that would come after. The Intelligencia literally ran a hate web site about She-Hulk on the show.

Although everyone has the right to dislike whatever they choose, there were plenty of people who decided this was going to be the worst thing ever before it even aired. It’s okay if you watched the show and decided that it was not for you. Maybe you did not like the humor. Maybe the CGI took you out of it. Maybe you wanted a more consistent throughline of a plot. Though are all reasonable, but it seemed as if people kept watching it so they could hate on it more. Every Thursday evening/Friday morning after the newest episode was dropped on the streaming site videos would pop up on YouTube promoting how bad the show was would appear from the same content creators each week.

Then, don’t get me started on Daredevil’s appearance. People was mad that Daredevil wasn’t showing up. Then they were mad that Marvel Studios ruined Daredevil. Then they were mad that he did not appear more. He had a new costume. He fought with She-Hulk. The WALK OF SHAME!!!! How could they ruin Daredevil like that?

I thought She-Hulk: Attorney at Law was a fun series with some great characters and a top notch actor in Tatiana Maslany as its lead. We had guest stars in Wong, Hulk, Daredevil, Abomination among others. I loved the 4th wall breaks and I think the finale was the most original finale of the year with the appearance of K.E.V.I.N. at Marvel Studios.

I look forward to She-Hulk’s future in the MCU knowing that the Trolls will have plenty to eat upon.

2022 continued to have a lot of entertainment on YouTube. From weekly game shows to movie reviews and reactions to talking head shows, YouTube has, once again, featured a ton of hours of content.

The following is the top 20 YouTube shows, which varies from all the different types of shows.

#20, Jamel-AKA-Jamal. Reactions to music, movie trailers, Whose Line is it Anyway etc. I know he spent a chunk of the year struggling with the YouTube rules, but he is tremendously charismatic and fun to watch.

#19. Mr. Lloyd Reacts. Another reaction show. I started watching him because of his Weird Al reactions and I have enjoyed his intelligent and engaging comments.

#18. The Movie Couple. Wendy and Dustin. A married couple who do reviews and reactions. I enjoyed their take on severa of the Marvel Disney + shows as well as Stranger Things 4.

#17. For Whatever Reason. Another reaction channel that I started to watch because of some Weird Al reactions. Aaron had some real excellent work going through Al’s discography and he showed a lot of emotion during it.

#16. Heroes Reforged. Adam, Hector and Agustin react to plenty of my favorite shows as well. Hector brings a ton of knowledge with comics and the three of them are fun to watch.

#15. Late to the Party. Started with Late to the Party as a Schmoedown reaction channel and they have since expanded into another show that I look for after watching my favorite shows. Robert and Vanessa bring their won natural chemistry to the video.

#14. Dan Murrell. Dan has been a personal favorite for years (back as far as Movie Fights) and he brings a well spoken and intelligent opinion on movies and pop culture. I do enjoy checking in with his weekly Charts with Dan show focused on the box office. Dan is one of the best.

#13. FYC. For Your Consideration is Scott Mantz, Perri Nemiroff, and Jeff Sneider debate, discuss and list Academy Award nominations and predictions (and Emmy Awards this year too). Scott, Perri and Jeff have the utmost respect for each other and they show how three people can have disagreements on he internet and still be respectful.

#12. Alex Hefner’s TV & Movie Vault. A newer reaction show that I got involved with deeply as Alex reacted to the MCU movies. I have enjoyed his reactions to other films such as Alien, Back to the Future and John Wick. However, the Marvel Movies Mondays are what got me into Alex’s channel.

#11. Fatman Beyond. This one has slipped a bit from last year, but the schedule of Fatman Beyond has been inconsistent. The fact that Kevin Smith is very busy has been an issue with the show. I also feel bad for Kevin with the amount of internet rage he has received. It felt as if it was getting to him for awhile. Still, Kevin and Marc Bernardin have great chemistry and a re very funny together.

#10. Ashleigh Burton. I have loved Ashleigh’s reactions to the movies that she had never seen. She is funny and so engaged by everything she watches. She has a beautiful cat named Beans too. She has also been going through the movies of the MCU and her energy is infectious.

#9. New Rockstars. Eric Voss and the group at New Rockstars are one of the top breakdown channels around. They look deep into movies, trailers, TV shows and come up with some of the best theories around. And then there was Mephisto…

#8. The Movie Trivia Schmoedown. Last year, this was number one. Unfortunately, this year saw the end of the MTS. There was still some great trivia matchups on the year, especially featuring the final champion Samm Levine. It was a sad end for one of the best internet shows of all time. Sadly, the MTS wing of the EYG Hall of Fame both opened and closed this year.

#7. The John Campea Show. A group of people, including John Campea and Robert Meyer Burnett, sit around and discuss the key movie and TV news. Sometimes I find Campea’s opinions irritating and repetitive, but I can always respect them.

#6. The Geek Buddies. The. Geek. Buddies! AAAAAAAAAAAAA. A show upon John Rocha’s Outlaw Nation channel features John and two of his friends, Michael Vogel and Shannon McClung discuss pop culture and review movies, TV shows and trailers. Vogel and McClung bring a new energy and comedic opinion to Rocha’s ideas. They are friends and they have a lot of fun together.

#5. The Top 10 Show. John Rocha and Matt Knost have been doing the Top 10 for several years. I will say that it has slipped a little for me, but I still enjoy watching the pair debate about what movie is the number one on their lists.

#4. Ups and Downs. What Culture Wrestling’s top show, featured Simon Miller and the ‘finger of power” that gives the good bits an up and the bad bits a down. Simon reviews all the shows of the world of wrestling and it helps make me feel all warm and fuzzy in my tum-tum. Simon is funny and is an extremely Positive Pete.

#3. The Reel Rejects. Welcome to the citizens of the Reject nation. Greg Alba and John Humphreys are the main commenters (though we sometimes get Coy Jandreau too). They react to movies, tv shows, trailers, and even other YouTube videos. Greg and John have a great chemistry and bring a lot of fun and humor while still having very intelligent conversation.

#2. Settle the Score. Host Matt Knost and musical director Andy Merryweather have shot up this list with their movie music show, Settle the Score. Initially, I would watch episodes that contained contestants that I knew, but now I look forward to the new episode every Thursday. Merryweather is amazingly talented musician and Knost is funny and quick witted as the host.

#1. Preview’d. It’s Jay…and Adam…it’s Preview’d. My favorite reactors on the YouTube verse, Jay and Adam are two friends who have amazing chemistry and whose humor and banter, full of puns and jokes, make their reactions entertaining. And when Jay and Adam cry… well, it’s a good day. Jay and Adam are emotional and full of a wonderful energy. I love watching the two of them. Last year, Preview’d was number two… and this year… they take the top spot.

We are coming to the last few weeks of 2022 and it is almost that time once again for EYG to look at our annual Year in Review, this time for the year of 2022. This is our twelfth year of doing the Year In Review

We have a bunch of categories in the world of pop culture where EYG will give our opinions. These choices and opinions are those of Embrace Your Geekness and we do not intend on pushing those opinions on anyone. Feel free to agree or disagree with anything that I put on these lists because that is your right. However, these are my opinions and I have the right to mine. Always remember that you can disagree respectfully because cinema is always subjective.

We will be looking at the best and the worst of TV, Movies, YouTube, WWE wrestling, among other things. We have a record of past winners for our awards such as the John Carter Memorial Award for flop of the year as well as several others. We usually add categories every year and this year we will be including a separate TV category for “Super Hero” shows.

These lists and awards will continue until the end of the month of December when the Top 30 best Films of the Year and the Worst Films of the Year lists come out. I am still watching films that could go onto these lists so this is a very active and potentially fluid list. I can say that, although I have an idea of what films will be at the top of each list, I do not have a runaway #1 for either. I am fascinated to see when I sit down and start compiling the list where these films will end up.

As with any year end list, star ratings I give during the year will not be placed in any sort of order. They are, at best, used to generalize the films. A 4.5 star movie may end up higher than a 4.75 star movie on the list. Movies are always adjusting upon reflection.

So as we move forward, we keep an eye to the past.

2022 year in review.

And here it is.

The annual Top 30 Best Movies List from EYG. Once again, this is all my opinions. If they’re different than yours, that is okay. There should be differences. (Oh, by the way, technically there are 32 films here)

I will remind you again as well that when it comes to the Best Movies list, the star ratings I give during the year are simply guides. A 4.5 star movie may be higher than a 4.75 film in the end. And that is OK.

Here we go….

#30. Mass. I just watched this the other day as I was finishing this list up and I wanted to make sure it had a place on it. Had I seen it earlier, this would have been higher. Emotional gut-punch of a film.

#29. Being the Ricardos. The Amazon Prime original tells the story of a week in the life of Lucille Ball when she was being looked at as a Communist. Greta performances, especially from Nicole Kidmon as Lucy and JK Simmons as William Frawley.

#28. Army of Thieves. The sequel of the film released this same year that we did not know we needed. An actual prequel to the Army of the Dead, this featured thieves instead of zombies.

#27. CODA. This is a great movie on Apple TV +. Featured Emilia Jones as the only non-deaf character in her family. Jones wanted to be a singer, but the family needed her translation skills. Excellent movie with powerful scenes.

#26. Godzilla vs. Kong. The ultimate showdown between the two alpha monsters shook HBO earlier in the year. There was a clean result too. Sure it is campy, but what did you expect? The monster battles continue to be the highlight of these flicks.

#25. Muppet Haunted Mansion. Debuted on Disney + around Halloween this year. It was an hour or so special that featured Gonzo the Great and Pepe the King Pawn spending a night in the Haunted Mansion. It had all the Muppet goodness, but some odd cameos.

#24. Boss Level. Unexpectedly awesome, it featured another version of the “Groundhog Day” style of film with Frank Grillo trying to make his way to the next day. Very entertaining.

#23. Raya & the Last Dragon. And early Disney film this year with the typically great animation and touching story. Raya tried to find the last dragon to save her world from the monstrous Druun.

#22. PG: Psycho Goreman. This one had no right to be as awesome as it was. On Shudder, two kids accidentally unearth an intergalactic overlord, which attracts those beings that buried him in the first place. Funny and exciting, Psycho Goreman is an unexpected treat.

#21. Pig. Nicolas Cage’s pig gets kidnapped )kidnapped? stolen?) and he goes after the thieves. Some thought this was going to be John Wick with a pig, but it was much more introspective than that. Nic Cage gave a powerfully emotional performance and this is much more of a character piece than John Wick.

#20. Free Guy. One of the biggest hits of the year, Free Guy’s success was unexpected. It had been pushed several times and, even when it was about to be released, people did not know about it. However, people knew about it after it was released. Ryan Reynolds plays Ryan Reynolds, but he does it well.

#19. Dune. A film that has now officially became a Part One, Dune is a excellent sci-fi film with great visuals. The story did feel incomplete, because, of course, it was. Denis Villeneuve has gotten his passion project so we’ll see how it continues.

#18. Ghostbusters: Afterlife. Probably one of the most nostalgic films this year. Paul Rudd, McKenna Grace, Finn Wolfhard along with some emotionally satisfying Deus Ex Machinas made Afterlife a lot of Ghostbusting fun.

#17. Mitchells vs. the Machines. From Lord and Miller, this animated movie was colorful, engaging, full of family fun and intelligent. If you missed this, Mitchells vs. the Machines is on Netflix.

#16. A Quiet Place II. A worthy sequel to the huge hit, Part II looks not only at the result of the first film, but flashes back to see how it was like when the aliens first arrived. The contradiction between the noise at the beginning and the silence at the end is compelling.

#15. A Boy Called Christmas. I am so glad that I ended up watching this. I had not planned on it, but I loved it when I did. It hit all the right emotional chords for me and I had tears in my eyes during the third act. Outstanding Christmas movie, right up there with Klaus.

#14. No Time to Die. The long-awaited next film in the James Bond franchise finally arrived, marking the final appearance of Daniel Craig as 007 in a grand and exciting way. It was full of action and a surprising amount of emotion. It provided a beautiful end to Daniel Craig’s run.

#13. Eternals. I was nervous about Eternals because, even though I am a huge comic fan, the Eternals were characters that I was not that familiar with. I found this movie to be much better than I thought it could be and way better than the critics did.

#12. The Suicide Squad. This is so much better than the first film, Suicide Squad, and the main reason is James Gunn was in charge. I was a little disappointed with Starro, but the team’s chemistry overcame all of that and John Cena was great as Peacemaker.

#11. West Side Story. This was a great year for musicals. Steven Spielberg’s reboot of the Oscar-winning movie was not seen by a lot of people’s eyes, but they really missed out on something great. I preferred this version to the original and it had some great dancing and music.

#10. Belfast. Kenneth Branagh’s semi-self autobiographical film showed life in Belfast during the late 1960s. Funnier than expected, Belfast included some amazing performances, in particular from young star Jude Hill.

#9. Black Widow. Giving Natasha Romanoff a background and a “family” was great, if not too long overdue. This film introduced us to Yelena, played so naturally by Florence Pugh, as well as the Red Guardian himself, David Harbour. Scarlett Johansson was deserving of this film for years.

#8. The Rescue. I usually do not include documentaries on this list unless they are special. I had the Fred Rogers doc in the top ten a few years ago and now there is this National Geographic doc about the rescue of a group of Thai kids who were trapped in a cave that is quickly filling with water. This had more tension than most scripted movies this year. It is on Disney +, go see it.

#7. Fear Street trilogy. Yes, I kind of cheat here and I put all three films together, but it would be difficult to divide them into separate films. Fear Street 1994, 1978 and 1666 was so much fun and I really was looking forward to the release the following Friday of the next installment on Netflix.

#6. In the Heights. The second musical on the list (third if you count the Muppets) and the first one in the top 10 so far, In the Heights was such a joy and an amazing experience seeing it in the theater. Lin-Manuel Miranda had a big year and this kicked it off.

#5. In & Of Itself. Derek DelGaudio’s magic show on Hulu was more than a magic show. It was about family, it was about pain, it was about loss. It featured jaw dropping magic. It was one of the earliest experiences I had this year and it was amazing.

#4. Werewolves Within. A comedy horror film that was a mystery too. Could this town be dealing with a murderous werewolf? Or is there something less supernatural about the deaths happening? You’ll keep guessing all the way to the end of this great film.

#3. Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. The Master of Kung Fu’s debut in the MCU was brilliant. Shang Chi brought representation to the Asian culture and some of the best martial arts we’ve seen in a while (certainly the best from the MCU). Simu Liu was a wonderful casting as Shang Chi and Awkwafina made us all care about Katie. Plus, dragons!

#2. Tick, Tick…Boom. Andrew Garfield was unbeleivable in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s directorial debut in a musical about the writing of a musical. Garfield played legendary Jonathan Larson, who would eventually write the massive Broadway hit, Rent. This was before that as he struggled to get the attention he needed. Garfield won EYG Star of the Year and the Strangelove off the power of this performance.

#1. Spider-Man: No Way Home. This was probably a foregone conclusion, but the film was truly great and it was the best experience I had this year. Tom Holland gave his best performance ever and Willem Dafoe and Alfred Molina brought such deep feelings back to their famous roles. No Way Home has become the first film to break the $1B level (without a release in China) and it continues to make money. People talk about fan service all the time, but this film does not have much fan service (yes, the lawyer scene is fan service). Fact is, what many people are calling fan service is part of the narrative and not excess. This is how you do this effectively. Spider-Man: No Way Home is amazing and spectacular.

So we are up to the worst movies of the year.

The amount of bad films that I saw this year was down. The fact is that I used to go to the theater to see nearly all of the new releases, no matter what. However, with the pandemic still a problem, if I saw that a film had low Rotten Tomatoes scores or bad word of mouth, I would not go to it. They were also less likely to be bought on a streaming service.

So there is only 20 films this year that make this list.

Through the year, I give star ratings for the films I review. However, those star ratings go out the window for the final consideration for this list. It may help me narrow the list down, but just because one film got 1.5 stars and another got 1.8 stars, it does not mean that is the order that I have it. Opinions on films can change as time moves on.

Finally, this is my list and my opinions. If you disagree, that is fine. It is your right. If you do not like Worst Films lists, that is fine too. You are entitled to your opinion. I disagree and that is my right.

Top 20 Worst Films of 2021

#20. Don’t Breathe 2. I loved the first film, but when they tried to make Stephen Lang’s character the hero of this film after his character was a murderer and a rapist in the first one. Lang was like a superhero too. He did not feel like he was blind. All in all, really disappointing.

#19. Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway. James Cordon’s vehicle was watchable the first time, but the new sequel was terrible. It had a ridiculous story with the humor very limited.

#18. Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins. I guess that new G.I. Joe series of films is a no go, huh? Snake Eyes was truly the villain of this movie and Stormshadow was the hero. Then, the fight scenes were unwatchable.

#17. F9. The Fast and the Furious films were never great, but it went completely off the rail this year. They sent the crew into outer space in a car. The long rumored trip to space actually happened.

#16. Voyagers. It was like Lord of the Flies in outer space, only with less tension or surprises. It was pretty dull too.

#15. Halloween Kills. So many things wrong with the new sequel. The trailers made it look as if this was going to be the final confrontation between Michael Myers and Laurie, but they never see each other in the film. “Evil dies tonight”? Nah.

#14. Woman in the Window. Amy Adams is an agoraphobic, alcoholic, pill-popping child psychologist who witnesses a murder across the street that nobody believes happened. A poor person’s Rear Window, Woman in the Window has so many ridiculous twists that it becomes idiotic.

#13. The Unholy. A young girl seems to have gained the power of healing from the Virgin Mary, but Jeffrey Dean Morgan has doubts. I wish I had doubts before seeing this.

#12. The Forever Purge. In a film all about the anti-immigration ideas, the Forever Purge wastes our time with silly characters and bad decisions.

#11. Space Jam: A New Legacy. In what turned out to be a basic commercial for HBO Max and the WB franchises, LeBron James added to the argument why Michael Jordon is better than he is. And they killed Bugs Bunny.

#10. Reminiscence. Hugh Jackman stars in this sci-fi love story about memory and searching the past for lost memories. This neo-noir wannabe is just a waste of time.

#9. Thunder Force. How can a film with Octavia Spencer and Melissa McCarthy be this unfunny? The worst superhero movie of the year would have been higher if it had not been for Jason Bateman’s Jerry the Crab character. The rest is terrible.

#8. Addams Family 2. I do like the character designs of the Addams Family in this animated film, but the story is so stupid and the character choices make zero sense. You should not have to dumb down the Addams Family to get kids to enjoy it.

#7. Monster Hunter. Another failed video game adaptation, Milla Jovovich plays the same character she has been playing since The Fifth Element. Oh, how I miss Leeloo.

#6. Mortal Kombat. Another failed video game franchise film. Mortal Kombat is dumb and dull. It takes too long to get into the story and it never gets to what we wanted to see.

#5. America: The Motion Picture. I hated this. I had hear some positive things, but it has ever bit of humor that I despite. I found it completely unfunny and mostly offensive. One of the worst animated film of the year.

#4. Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin. I have no doubt that this movie was, in no way, a Paranormal Activity movie. I believe they had a film and they tossed the Paranormal Activity tag on it to try and boost the film’s profile. It failed.

#3. The Devil Below. Honestly, any of the top three could have been #1. These are the three lowest rated films of the year for EYG. I am so glad this is the last time I have to talk about this movie.

#2. Infinite. I purchased Paramount + to see if this was as bad as everybody was saying. It is. Don’t watch it.

#1. Tom & Jerry. There is a reason why the old Tom & Jerry cartoons were shorts. This was just terrible use of these characters in a stupid film with a idiotic story. This was one of the earliest films of the year and ends it on the top of the worst list.

For the first time ever, I am revising an award.

I am adding a second winner because I just saw this movie and had I seen it before, it would have been a shoo-in.

HERE is what was before:

Sometimes a movie does not have an obvious lead actor or actress and, instead, has a group of characters that all serve the story. The group is recognized with this award.

Previous Winners

The Avengers: Endgame Ensemble Cast of the Year Award

Previous Winners:  Avengers: Endgame, The Trial of the Chicago 7

Runners-Up: Marvel’s Eternals is a perfect example of the ensemble cast. We meet a whole flock of new characters in Chloé Zhao‘s epic. James Gunn put out another great super hero…well, maybe a super villain… film this year called The Suicide Squad. It was a top notch ensemble too including Margot Robbie, Sylvester Stallone and John Cena, to name a few. West Side Story has a great ensemble for the remake of the 1961 Oscar winner. Fear Street was a three film series released on Netflix for three weeks with a group of actors who played different characters in the different time periods.

Winner: In the Heights

Lin Manuel-Miranda’s stage play made the leap to the big screen in 2021 and the cast was just tremendous. Along with Manuel-Miranda, there was Anthony Ramos, Leslie Grace, Olga Merediz, Jimmy Smits, Corey Hawkins, Melissa Barrera, Dascha Polanco, Ariana Greenblatt, Stephanie Beatriz, Rita Moreno, Marc Anthony, Gregory Diaz IV, Daphne Rubin-Vega, and Noah Catala.

GOING ALONG WITH IN THE HEIGHTS, THE TIE GOES TO….

Mass

These four actors are so brilliant in this movie that they bring such emotion and such an amazing energy without any clear lead. This is the perfect example of an ensemble as they are special. The four actors are  Reed Birney, Ann Dowd, Jason Isaacs, and Martha Plimpton.

The Strangelove (Best Actor in Movie)

Previous Winners:  James McAvoy (Split), Denzel Washington (Fences), Bryan Cranston (Trumbo), Michael Keaton (Birdman), Tom Hanks (Captain Phillips), Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln), Ryan Gosling (Drive), Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody), Joaquin Phoenix (Joker), Chadwick Boseman (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom)

#15. Jonathan Majors (The Harder They Fall)

#14. Joaquin Phoenix (C’mon C’mon)

#13. Bradley Cooper (Nightmare Alley)

#12. Mahershala Ali (Swan Song)

#11. Tom Hanks (Finch)

#10. Jake Gyllenhaal (The Guilty)

#9. Daniel Craig (NO Tome to Die)

#8. Anthony Ramos (In the Heights)

#7. Jude Hill (Belfast)

#6. Nicolas Cage (Pig)

#5. Ryan Reynolds (New Guy)

#4. Benedict Cumberbatch (The Power of the Dog)

#3. Will Smith (King Richard)

Will Smith gives one of his best performances as the father of Serena and Venus Williams. This biopic takes a look at the way Richard kept his plan to bring his daughters to the top of the world of tennis. Richard Williams is a controversial figure and Will Smith brings him to life.

#2. Tom Holland (Spider-Man: No Way Home)

Tom Holland gave his best performance of his young career as we see his development of Peter Parker. His sixth appearance as Peter gives us the most emotion, the most powerful, the hero that Spider-Man is. With great power there must come great responsibility. The MCU Peter Parker finally learned that lesson and Tom Holland was right there.

#1. Andrew Garfield (Tick, Tick…Boom)

Our EYG Star of the Year, Andrew Garfield wins the prestigious Strangelove Award. His work in Tick, Tick…Boom, the story of the creator of Rent, Jonathan Larson, is just amazing (no pun intended). Who knew he could sing the way he did? Apparently not even Garfield. Andrew Garfield has always been known as a top actor, but this film put him on a new level.

The Liz Award

Previous Winners:  Frances McDormand (3 Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri), Viola Davis (Fences), Charlize Theron (Mad Max: Fury Road), Rosemund Pike (Gone Girl), Sandra Bullock (Gravity), Berenice Bejo (The Artist), Michelle Williams (My Week with Marilyn),  Yalitza Aparicio (Roma), Renee Zellweger (Judy), Viola Davis (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom)

#15. Rooney Mara (Nightmare Alley)

#14. Tessa Thompson (Passing)

#13. Emma Stone (Cruella)

#12. Naomie Harris (Swan Song)

#11. Rosamund Pike (I Care A Lot)

#10. Megan Fox (‘Til Death)

#9. Jennifer Hudson (Respect)

#8. Margot Robbie (The Suicide Squad)

#7. Emilia Jones (CODA)

#6. Angelina Jolie (Eternals)

#5. Nicole Kidman (Being the Ricardos)

#4. Jessica Chastain (The Eyes of Tammy Faye)

#3. Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow)

The long overdue Black Widow MCU solo movie finally hit the big screen this year and Scarlett Johansson delivered. She had great chemistry with Florence Pugh, David Harbour and Rachel Weitz. She looked like she should be leading a MCU movie. It is a shame that Natasha died in Endgame because her solo movie status just started.

#2. Kristen Stewart (Spencer)

Kristen Stewart has come a long way since Twilight. Her brilliant take as Princess Diana in Spencer this year was haunting. She showed the problems that Diana had to face within the Royal Family and how her marriage with Charles caused her such emotional problems. Kristen Stewart gave her career defining performance in Stewart.

#1. Rachel Zegler (West Side Story)

Rachel Zegler is a star. This was her big screen debut and she became the first debut performance to win The Liz Award. She was a light through Spielberg’s West Side Story. You could not take your eyes off of her in every scene she was in. Her voice is beautiful and she has that “IT” factor. She has a long career ahead of her.

Supporting Actor

Previous Winners:  Patrick Stewart (Logan), Michael Shannon (Nocturnal Animals), Sylvester Stallone (Creed), Edward Norton (Birdman), Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club), Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained), Andy Serkis (Rise of the Planet of the Apes), Richard Grant (Can You Ever Forgive Me?), Robert Downey Jr (Avengers: Endgame), Sasha Baron Cohen (Trial of the Chicago 7)

#15. Jimmy Smits (In the Heights)

#14. Ben Affleck (The Last Duel)

#13. Jon Bernthal (King Richard)

#12. John Cena (The Suicide Squad)

#11. David Alvarez (West Side Story)

#10. David Harbour (Black Widow)

#9. Robin de Jesus (Tick, Tick…Boom)

#8. Delroy Lindo (The Harder They Fall)

#7. Andrew Garfield (The Eyes of Tammy Faye)

#6. Troy Kotsar (CODA)

#5. Ciarán Hinds (Belfast)

#4. J.K. Simmons (Being the Ricardos)

#3. Eugenio Derbez (CODA)

Eugenio Derbez gave us a wonderful performance as the music teacher from CODA who inspired Emilia Jones to continue to push through the challenges. He did it with humor, dedication and a brilliant performance.

#2. Tony Leung (Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings)

Legendary Tony Leung brought more humanity to Wenwu than you ever expected and he made you think that Wenwu had relatable reasons for what he was doing. He is one of the best of the Marvel villains this year.

#1. Willem Dafoe (Spider-Man: No Way Home).

Then there is the top Marvel villain this year. Norman Osborn ditched the Power Ranger mask and became much more terrifying as the Green Goblin. Willem Dafoe was absolutely on fire during this film and he deserves this place.