Check out our favourite films of 2021 below:

10. The Suicide Squad

James Gunn made his return to the big screen with the wild and crazy supervillain rollercoaster of a movie with The Suicide Squad. And this was pure comic book pulp at its best. R-rated and totally over-the-top, Gunn was like a kid in a candy store as he took his favourite most despicable, and sometimes useless DC supervillains, and threw them into a do or die mission to save the world. The Suicide Squad was loud and in-your-face cinematic fun and audiences were sure to get a kick out of it.

9. Jungle Cruise

Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt took a trip into the Amazon jungle and this was one wild ride down the river! With terrific swashbuckling flair and moments of spot-on humour, Jungle Cruise was an enjoyable watch through and through. Johnson and Blunt had perfect chemistry together and you couldn’t help but fall in love with these two fantastic characters. Frank and Lilly were a terrific match on-screen and they certainly got involved in one hell of rush that was blockbuster fun at its best.

8. West Side Story

When you want that special feeling of the movies you only need to turn to movie legend Steven Spielberg and he delivered a stunning cinematic event to the big screen with West Side Story. Big, bold, colourful and bright, West Side Story was an incredible piece of cinema that was brought to life with the power of the famed stage show and translated onto the canvas of the movie screen like never before. This was a story to escape into and it truly got you in your groove thanks to a wonderful combination of performance, choreography and music, and made the movie theatre a very magical place once more.

7. Land

Filmmaker and performer Robin Wright took audiences out into the grand wilds of a still uncharted America in Land, and this film presented an intimate and meditative picture of life, love and loss. And it was sure to touch your soul. Using images and performance over dialogue and words, Wright showcased the feral beauty of a still untamed landscape and the consequences that happen when one encroaches on it. As her character Edee Holzer learn to live with the landscape she soon became one with it and a beautiful story of rebirth and renewal unfolded before the audience. Land was an absolute beauty of a picture and for those who witnessed it, it was certain to stay with them.

6. I Care A Lot

Rosamund Pike brought a cold, calculating and truely psychopathic quality to shady legal guardian Marla Grayson in the sharply original dramatic thriller I Care A Lot….and this one certainly cut deep. Frame by frame, minute by minute you had no idea where this crazy thriller was going to turn to next and as it moved quicker and quicker the tension only ramped up and the shocking final moment hit with the force of a 367 Magnum! This was cinematic originality as I’ve never seen before and I was hooked from the very first moment.

5. Spider-Man: No Way Home

The Multiverse has arrived and Tom Holland’s Peter Parker/Spider-Man jumped headfirst into the web-spinning fun of it all with Spider-Man: No Way Home. And there were plenty of ‘Oh My God’ moments in this superhero extravaganza! Packing together action and narrative all in one, long time Marvel fans were treated to some very cool treats thanks to director Jon Watts unique narrative and this was a cinematic experience that truly fed the fanboy or fangirl in all of us. Audiences of all ages were sure to love what was delivered in Spider-Man: No Way Home and the result was pure fun at the movies.

4. Cruella

Fashionistas beware because Emma Stone was about to smash the catwalk with the high energy, rock edge of Cruella. Stepping into the devilishly decadent couture stylings of the infamous Cruella de Vil, Stone showcased the origins behind the madness and mania of one of Walt Disney Pictures greatest ever villains and Cruella was one wild time out at the movies. Feeding off the rebel, rock n’roll energy of the 1970s, Cruella was a hell of a lot of fiendish fun and there were plenty of bold moments to make you sit up and say WOW! Gorgeous to look at, and entertaining through and through you certainly weren’t going to forget the rush of Cruella and the devil was certainly given her due.

3. Wrath of Man

Tough guy director Guy Ritchie returned to the big screen with a vengeance with an action film of pure Old Testament vengeance with Wrath of Man. And this one hit with the strength of an M4 on full auto! Jason Statham was in pure beast mode as the mysterious ‘H’, a security cash truck driver who was not all he claimed to be and who had one hell of a grudge to settle. And the result was pure chaos. Wrath of Man was packed full of testosterone and kept you guessing the whole way through and it was a great pleasure to see Ritchie and Statham back together and the result was a piece of classic action cinema. Wrath of Man was not for the faint of heart, but damn did it hit hard.

2. The Last Duel

Maestro filmmaker Sir Ridley Scott took audiences back to the steel and fire of the Middle Ages with The Last Duel, an extraordinary historical story of truth and justice and this was a cinematic event for the ages. Telling the true story of the quest of the Lady Marguerite de Carrouges (Jodie Comer) for divine justice and the battle that her husband Sir Jean de Carrouges (Matt Damon) would fight with his sworn enemy Jacques Le Gris (Adam Driver), this was a once in a lifetime cinematic event. Damon, Driver and Ben Affleck were all truly exceptional in their parts, but the success of this movie belongs to Jodie Comer who gave a fiery and passionate performance and would not quit until she saw justice done. Bold and mighty, The Last Duel was an impressive and powerful watch and is far and away one of the best films I can claim to have ever seen.

1. No Time To Die

After a long wait, we finally saw the swan song from Daniel Craig as he once again donned a tuxedo and stepped into an Aston Martin for his final performance as secret agent 007 James Bond in No Time To Die. And this blockbuster cinematic event was nothing short of extraordinary. Operatic and dashing, No Time To Die was a film of pure energy and character and had the flavour of the ultimate Bond film as Bond raced against the clock to save the world from a dangerous and unhinged new villain. Craig was in his element as Bond and brought a complete full circle to his performance as the debonair spy in this energetic and pulse-pounding action thriller and damn was it a fine watch. No Time To Die was a fantastic experience in the cinema and audiences sure got their adrenaline fix with this one. It was just magnificent on every single level and a very worthy choice for the best film of the year.

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Set in the 1970s in London during the punk rock movement, the film follows Estella de Vil (Emma Stone), an aspiring fashion designer, and explores the path that will lead her to become a notorious criminal known as Cruella de Vil.

It’s time to go back in time darlings. Back to the punk rock era of the fashionable early 1970s and it’s here that director Craig Gillespie takes us into the formative years of a talented young designer who is destined to become the ultimate Disney villain. And the results are diabolically good in Cruella. Gillespie has made a career of telling compelling and unique stories of misfit characters and the narrative of Cruella makes for plenty of big-screen cinematic fun in his hands. Gillespie understands the motives and aspirations of Cruella perfectly, and he’s all about telling a story of a bad girl who has no desire to be good, and who’ll do whatever it takes to reach the top.

In telling this darkly delicious narrative, Gillespie enlists the talents of Academy Award winner Emma Stone, who is a sheer goddess of the performing arts and who always charms with every role she takes on. With Cruella, Stone gets to sink her teeth into a very meaty character and there’s great layering and revelation in her performance as she brings this grand dame of Disney villainy to life. Stone does something interesting in the duel role of Estella/Cruella de Vil and brings to life a definite Jackyll and Hyde character, and the dual psychology at play in her performance certainly keeps audiences on edge.

As a talented designer, Estella is definitely prone to mischief, and her skills lend a considerable edge to her early exploits as a conwoman. But it’s when she embraces her dark shadow as Cruella where things really get interesting. As Cruella, Stone makes for a dangerous and darkly cunning criminal force who is willing to climb to the top of the fashion world by any means necessary. Stone has a blast in the role and you can tell that she was enjoying the process of completely slipping into such a dangerous and alluring character, and most definitely proves that bad girls have much more fun.

Facing off against Stone’s Cruella is two-time Academy Award winner Emma Thompson as Baroness von Hellman, a fashion icon and Cruella’s mortal enemy…and these two women don’t like each other one bit. As the Baroness, Thompson makes for a chilling Ice Queen who could cause even Miranda Priestly to cry and she really plays into a high level of psychopathy that gives Cruella a challenge and marks her out as a serious threat. Like Stone, Thompson revels in her chance to be villainous and she brings out plenty of surprises in the role that audiences certainly won’t expect.

Along with the Emma’s, praise also needs to be lavished on the supporting duo of Joel Fry and Paul Walter Hauser as Jasper and Horace, Estella’s best friends growing up and a pair of enterprising conmen who are always seeking a new score. Both Fry and Hauser make for superb supporting players in this villainous tale and no villain can get ahead without a little help…which these two are too willing to provide. This misfit family is made complete by animal companions Buddy and Wink, who play an important part in this gang’s grifts and these cuddly companions steal every scene in which they appear…especially the cute, but feisty Wink.

In terms of the cinematic experience, Cruella is a decadent feast for the eyes and Gillespie alongside costume designers Jenny Beavan and Tom Davies, and hair and make-up artist Guy Common, have completely gone to town with this one and the result is haute couture at its most stunning! Artistically lavish and incredibly bold, the costumes and looks that Cruella and the Baroness engage in are utterly glamourous in their presentation and serve an important role in taking audiences further inside the film’s narrative and Cruella’s rise to power. These bold haute couture pieces also serve to expand the transformation that Estella takes in her journey to becoming Cruella and the results will have audiences transfixed on the action that unfolds on screen.

Assisting the lavish visuals that are on display is one of the coolest cinematic soundtracks to be released in a very long time. Taking a trip back in time, Gillespie pulls together a range of amazing tracks from the likes of The Doors, Nancy Sintra, Electric Light Orchestra, Blondie, The Clash, Supertramp and The Stooges and this soundtrack supercharges this film with that anarchistic edge of the late 1970s. Added to this are Florence and the Machine’s title track, “Call Me Cruella”, and it makes for a perfect companion track for the complete and full appearance of one very diabolical villainess.

It must also be said that Gillespie and his team do a fabulous job of weaving in the past history of 101 Dalmations into Cruella and there are great callbacks to Dodie Smith’s original work, alongside the original 1961 animated classic and the 1996 live-action films that were a major part of my childhood. I was very impressed with how all of this material, alongside this new original narrative, came to create the Cruella that we all know and love and audiences will be in for some very neat surprises.

It’s been some time since we last had the pleasure of the spectacle of a Disney film up on the big screen and the arrival of Cruella is definitely to be celebrated. From its lavish visuals to the intense narrative, gripping performances and rocking soundtrack, Cruella has it all and is a guaranteed good night out for all those who are looking for plenty of diabolically good fun.

Image: Walt Disney Pictures

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Check out the brand new trailer for Cruella below:

Here’s the official synopsis:

Cruella, which is set in 1970s London amidst the punk rock revolution, follows a young grifter named Estella (Emma Stone), a clever and creative girl determined to make a name for herself with her designs. She befriends a pair of young thieves who appreciate her appetite for mischief, and together they are able to build a life for themselves on the London streets. One day, Estella’s flair for fashion catches the eye of the Baroness von Hellman, a fashion legend who is devastatingly chic and terrifyingly haute. But their relationship sets in motion a course of events and revelations that will cause Estella to embrace her wicked side and become the raucous, fashionable, and revenge-bent Cruella.

Building off of the first trailer and spot and teasing out the confrontation between Emma Stone’s Estella ‘Cruella” DeVil and her mentor turned archnemesis Baroness von Hellman (Emma Thompson), the catwalk is set to become a battleground as these two women prepare to go to war and turn each other’s lives upside down in a desperate bid to out-do the other.

Director Craig Gillespie (I, Tonya, Fright Night) is taking the reigns with Cruella and he’s promising something very special with this one and in Cruella, we’re getting our first-ever look into a Disney ‘villain movie” as we get to learn just how the forceful evil of Cruella de Vil was created.

Emma Stone again brings her A-game as the crafty and cunning Cruella and there are no boundaries that she won’t push in order to climb to the top of the fashion world, and it’s a part and a character that we’ve never seen Stone play before, and it’s sure to keep things very interesting for audiences.

Cruella is set to be one of Disney’s biggest and most daring productions of 2021 and Disney fans are going to be very excited to see all the diabolical fun that Cruella de Vil is about to bring to audiences when Cruella arrives IN CINEMAS and on Disney+ on May 27. And remember darlings…..it’s going to be diabolical.

Image: Walt Disney Pictures

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Watch the all-new Cruella spot below:

Here’s the official synopsis:

In 1970s London, young fashion designer Estella de Vil becomes obsessed with dogs’ skins, especially Dalmatians. Finding herself at the mercy of an uncaring employer, she reinvents herself as the vicious criminal known as “Cruella”.

Building off of the recent surprise trailer for Cruella, this new spot, set to an edgy new rendition of Nancy Sinatra’s classic rebel anthem ‘These Boots Are Made For Walking’, charts the metamorphosis of Estella de Vil, played by Academy Award winner Emma Stone, into the fiendish Cruella as she makes a play to conquer the world of London’s 1970s fashion scene, and there’s plenty of punk-rock glam going on here.

Alongside Stone’s transformation from Estella to Cruella, we also get a proper introduction into Emma Thompson’s Baroness Von Hellman, a noted fashion icon who goes from Estella’s mentor to enemy in rather quick succession. And there’s sure to be plenty of bad blood between these two. Thompson really brings out her inner terror here as The Baroness, and she’s sure to rile up Estella, which is sure to make things interesting for audiences.

Director Craig Gillespie (I, Tonya, Fright Night) is really cranking up the dark energy in this one, and this is a whole new side of Disney that we’ve never seen before. Gillespie’s focus on a true villain story can only lead to a film that is sure to entice the audience, and it’s great to see a filmmaker who has found a new side to a classic Disney character. Add in some irresistible punk tock flair, and you’ve got a movie that audiences are absolutely going to love.

Prepare for a very wicked time when Cruella arrives in cinemas on May 27.

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Watch the all-new trailer for Cruella below:

Check out my full reaction to this diabolically fun teaser trailer below:

Here’s the official synopsis:

In 1970s London, young fashion designer Estella de Vil becomes obsessed with dogs’ skins, especially Dalmatians, until she eventually becomes a ruthless and terrifying legend known as Cruella.

Directed by Craig Gillespie (I, Tonya, Fright Night) really turns up the heat with this one and crafts a dangerous and captivating film that follows up and coming fashion designer Estella de Vil (Stone) who is prepared to go to any lengths to climb to the heights of power in the fashion world and who unleashes her bad side as Cruella in the process.

Featuring a dark, horror meets haute couture styling in its design and tempo, Cruella presents a different side to Disney that we’ve seen before, and there’s plenty of visual brilliance, courtesy of Gillespie, cinematographer Nicolas Karakatsanis, production designer Fiona Crombie, costume designer Jenny Beavan and hair and make-up stylist Guy Common to keep you engaged and interested here, and Cruella is a lavish feast for the eyes.

Lead actress Emma Stone looks to be having a particularly fun time as Estella de Vil, and she readily accepts her psychotic dark side, and I personally believe we’re seeing Disney showcase its first-ever villain movie with this project. Stone’s Estella turns out to be a very bad girl as Cruella, and she absolutely radiates in her bad girl, punk rock swagger, and this one is all kinds of fun. Stone clearly had a ball in bringing this character to life and the results show through on-screen and audiences should expect something completely different from the actress here.

Prepare for the madness of evil’s creation when Cruella arrives in cinemas on May 27, 2021.

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Sporting a punk rock flared get up and a rebellious and maddening hairstyle, while wrangling a pair of Dalmatians, Stone looks wild, witchy and possessed by shock value in this brand new origin story that will take audiences behind Cruella’s desire to be glamorous at any cost.

Here’s the official synopsis:

Set in 1940s London, fashion designer Cruella de Vil becomes obsessed with dogs’ skins, especially Dalmatians until she becomes a ruthless and terrifying legend.

There’s no doubt going to be plenty of scares awaiting audiences in Cruella, and director Craig Gillespie should have a lot of fun bringing to life this crazed villainous.

They say that villains always have more fun and audiences will get to know Ms. de Vil in plenty of detail when Cruella arrives in cinemas on May 28, 2021.

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