Danielle Solzman
An annual tradition, Solzy at the Movies presents the Solzy Awards for 2021 as a way of honoring the best achievements this year in film.
You might notice some films that you forgot about but that’s only because I did include the first two months of the year.
The Solzy Awards for 2021
Top 36 Narrative Features
- Don’t Look Up
- Belfast
- The Mitchells vs. The Machines
- CODA
- Spider-Man: No Way Home
- No Time To Die
- Shiva Baby
- The Power of the Dog
- tick, tick…BOOM!
- Jungle Cruise
- Malcolm & Marie
- Holler
- Free Guy
- Black Widow
- In the Heights
- Here Today
- Dating & New York
- Raya and the Last Dragon
- Red Notice
- Gunpowder Milkshake
- Dig
- Ghostbusters: Afterlife
- Eternals
- Cinderella
- The Lost Daughter
- Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
- West Side Story
- Dune
- Spencer
- King Richard
- The Harder They Fall
- Licorice Pizza
- Passing
- The Beta Test
- Werewolves Within
- Old Henry
Top Comedy Features
- Don’t Look Up
- Shiva Baby
- Free Guy
- Ghostbusters: Afterlife
- Here Today
- Dating & New York
- The Beta Test
- Werewolves Within
- Vacation Friends
- Queenpins
Best Documentary Features
Please see my Documentary Awards.
DRAMA
Best Actor (TIE): Benedict Cumberbatch, The Power of the Dog; Will Smith, King Richard
Best Actress (TIE): Kristen Stewart, Spencer; Emilia Jones, CODA
Best Supporting Actor: Ciarán Hinds, Belfast; (Runner-ups: Jamie Dornan, Belfast; Troy Kotsur, CODA)
Best Supporting Actress: Kirsten Dunst, The Power of the Dog (Runner-ups: Caitríona Balfe, Belfast; Judi Dench, Belfast)
COMEDY
Best Actor (TIE): Ryan Reynolds, Free Guy; Leonardo DiCaprio, Don’t Look Up; Jim Cummings, The Beta Test
Best Actress: Jennifer Lawrence, Don’t Look Up
Best Supporting Actor: Jonah Hill, Don’t Look Up
Best Supporting Actress: Jodie Comer, Free Guy
MUSICAL
Best Actor (TIE): Andrew Garfield, tick, tick…BOOM!
Best Actress: Rachel Zegler, West Side Story
Best Supporting Actor: David Alvarez, West Side Story
Best Supporting Actress: Ariana DeBose, West Side Story
Best Director (TIE): Adam McKay, Don’t Look Up; Kenneth Branagh, Belfast
Best Original Screenplay (TIE): Adam McKay, Don’t Look Up; Kenneth Branagh, Belfast
Best Adapted Screenplay: Siân Heder, CODA
Best Cinematography: Ari Wegner, The Power of the Dog (Runner-ups: Haris Zambarloukos, Belfast; Linus Sandgren, Don’t Look Up; Alice Brooks, tick, tick…BOOM!)
Best Editing (TIE): Hank Corwin, Don’t Look Up; Úna Ní Dhonghaíle, Belfast
Best Original Score (TIE): Nicholas Britell, Don’t Look Up; Hans Zimmer, No Time to Die
Best Original Song (TIE): “Just Look Up” from Don’t Look Up (Written by Nicholas Britell, Ariana Grande, Scott Mescudi (Kid Cudi), and Taura Stinson); “Beyond the Shore” from CODA (Written by Nick Baxter, Siân Heder, Marius de Vries, and Matt Dahan; Performed by Emilia Jones)
BEST FIRST FEATURES
- The Mitchells vs. The Machines
- Shiva Baby
- tick, tick…BOOM!
- Holler
- The Lost Daughter
- Passing
- Mass
- The Novice
BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCES
- Emilia Jones, CODA
- Rachel Zegler, West Side Story
- Rachel Sennott, Shiva Baby
- Jude Hill, Belfast
- Woody Norman, C’mon, C’mon
- Sasha Knight, Cowboys
Best Action Movie: No Time to Die
Best Comic Book Movie: Spider-Man: No Way Home
Best Comedy: Don’t Look Up
Best Drama: Belfast
Best Animated Feature: The Mitchells vs. The Machines
Best Action Comedy (TIE): Free Guy, Red Notice
Best Buddy Comedy (TIE): Vacation Friends, Queenpins
Best Heist Comedy: Red Notice
Best Romantic Comedy: Dating & New York
Best Horror Comedy: Werewolves Within
Best Classic Hollywood Throwback: Jungle Cruise
Best International Feature: Asia (technically, a 2020 Oscar submission but because the US release didn’t happen until 2021, I’m allowing it)
Best Music-Driven Film: CODA
Best Musical: tick, tick…BOOM! (Runner-ups: In the Heights, Cinderella, West Side Story)
Best Hollywood Satire: The Beta Test
Best Western: The Power of the Dog (Runner-ups: The Harder They Fall, Old Henry, Cowboys)
Best Live-Action Short: The Other Morgan (Runner-Ups: Sisters, The Mohel, GraceLand)
Best Cameo: Did you seriously think I’m going to spoil one of the best films this year? No way!
Most Likely To Be In Every Movie You Saw: Lil Rel Howery
Best Unreleased Films I Saw During A Film Festival
- The Survivor
- The Fallout
- Montana Story
Even though I have my own list of films that I absolutely did not like, I will not list them here nor issue a list of worst films. There’s so much negativity online that I believe it’s time that we, as a collective, do away with listing the worst films of the year.
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