[imagesource: Warner Bros.]

After the latest and last Daniel Craig James Bond film finally hit cinemas, along with the numerous other blockbusters that we were spoiled with this year, you might be wondering what’s left to watch.

If you’ve been there and done that with Dune (2021), The Suicide Squad, A Quiet Place Part 2, Eternals, F9, Venom 2, Godzilla vs. Kong, and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, then stick around a little longer because there is indeed more.

That’s because CNET staffers have been so kind as to “lovingly discuss their favourite movies of the year, many of which are probably not going to show up on other critics’ lists”.

Taking out those more well-known blockbusters, as well as award-winning masterpieces like Minari, Nomadland, and Judas and the Black Messiah, we’ve settled on five you might want to check out.

If you haven’t already seen them, at least, because they’re all in theatres or on streaming services by now:

King Richard

While most of us are completely over hearing about the personal life of Will Smith, he’s still an excellent actor and worth watching in this tribute to the father of tennis superstars Venus and Serena Williams:

At times heart wrenching and at others inspiring, the film is a tender portrayal of love, kinship and sacrifice, and a testament to the power of hard work and dreaming big.

The acting is phenomenal, with Will Smith, who plays lead Richard Williams, offering one of his best performances. It’s one of those films that’ll leave you feeling motivated and hopeful — much-needed sentiments in today’s world.

Gunpowder Milkshake

We covered the trailer for this stylised action thriller already, but the neon and bubble-gum coloured violence is too difficult to look away from:

The hero of our story is played by Karen Gillan, a likeable actor who’s mastered playing kick ass women as the grown-up Martha in Jumanji and as Nebula in Marvel’s Avengers series.

She gets to build on those personas as Sam, a highly-successful assassin with a moral code that leads her to save a young girl from other hit men.

I Care a Lot

Rosamund Pike might have taken a cue from her character in Gone Girl because the vibe feels the same for her con-artist character in this film. Not that anybody is complaining:

I Care a Lot is inspired by real news stories of professional guardians in the US and a legal loophole they exploited.

It moves at a slick pace, features characters in aviator sunglasses and a doomed anti-heroine who becomes wrapped up with larger-than-life crime lords. All movies should be this entertaining.

Barb and Star go to Vista Del Mar

If you’re not taken by the idea of Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo featuring in this fun film, then maybe the “pastel-coloured tropical absurdity” will do it for you:

Bridesmaids dream team Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo both write and star in this glorious campy acid trip as middle-aged, Middle-American women who step out of their comfort zones and go on holiday and find their sparkle– and have a threesome with Jamie Dornan.

Because of course! It’s ridiculous, it’s hilarious, and there’s plenty of whacky twists that make it truly memorable. I’m sorry, but that’s all I can say without ruining too much of it. You just have to let it happen to you and you’ll have a great time.

CODA

17-year-old Ruby (Emilia Jones) is the sole hearing member of a deaf family – a CODA, or Child of Deaf Adults. But the real crux of the movie is that she is gifted with a voice that her parents can’t hear:

This movie about the child of deaf adults has an amazing soundtrack — and it uses that music to show us about the otherness that people who are different feel as they navigate a society that doesn’t really know how to include them.

Yes, I pulled out the tissues for this feel-good movie that’s also about a family coming together in a new way.

But what so impressed me and makes this a movie I’d recommend is how writer and director Sian Heder used sound — and the lack of sound — to showcase the beauty and emotional power of music to connect with people…

Add these to the list. Not long until that sweet, sweet holiday and plenty of time with the feet up in front of the telly.

For the rest of the list from the “movie-obsessed” CNET staffers, head here.

[source:cnet]