During the first year of quarantine, March 13th, 2020 - March 13th, 2021, I streamed 231 feature films. Here are my top ten. Films were rated against these six questions: Is the picture saying something, does it have a strong voice? Is the casting and acting well done? Is the plot enjoyable, with surprises and twists? Is the production design good? Does it have a strong ending? Would you watch it again happily? The answer has to be “yes” on all six questions for a picture to qualify.
TOP TEN FILMS
Last Flag Flying
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
The Show
Hotel Artemis
21 Bridges
Enola Holmes
Lila & Eve
Logan Lucky
The Spy Who Dumped Me
Troop Zero
Fun Fact: Viola Davis stars in 3 of the listed pictures, in order: - ‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,' ‘Lily and Eve,’ and ‘Troop Zero.’ The film pictures are links to the trailers.
Chadwick Boseman is in 2 of the films, ’Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom' and ‘21 Bridges.’ The first being notable as the August Wilson play, with the film produced by Denzel Washington.
While the second is a traditional action crime thriller, directed by a white man, but* with representative casting. The climatic sequence involves 1 Sudanese-born English man, and 2 black men as the storytellers, with race never being an aspect of the plot. The Race Bechdel Test is: Are there two or more named people of Color? Who talk to each other? About something other than White people? And the answer here is yes, yes, yes!
SPOILERS: The cleaner, money launder Adi, is an older arab man (Alexander Siddig), who gives the crucial drives to the antagonists Michael (Stephan James), who is intern trapped by the protagonists Andre Davis (Chadwick Boseman) forcing the reveal of important information, which is crucial in changing Andre’s perspective.
Left: Chadwick Boseman, Alexander Siddig, Stephan James
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, The Show, Enola Holmes
Logan Lucky
Last Flag Flying, Hotel Artemis, Troop Zero
21 Bridges
The Spy Who Dumped Me, Lila & Eve
