More Movies Like This, Please: 2021 List

I started something in 2012. Whenever I saw a new movie I liked, I would jump onto Twitter, identify the movie, then simply tweet: “More movies like this, please.”

Then I thought, Why don’t I do an annual More Movies Like This, Please list?

What do I mean by “more movies like this, please”? Not big popcorn flicks. Hey, I love huge spectacle movies as much as the next guy, but we know Hollywood is going to make them, studios don’t need encouragement to produce prequels, sequels, remakes, tentpoles, and so forth.

Rather, I’m talking about movies Hollywood seems to have a hard time committing to nowadays for a variety of reasons, most of them related to economics and conventional wisdom about what supposedly will work / won’t work.

Here are some of elements I’m looking for in my More Movies Like This, Please list:

• More adult dramas
• More mid-budget movies [$25–50M], smaller stories that need larger budgets to be told well
• More original movies [based on an original screenplay]
• More movies targeting people who love movies and appreciate the history of movies
• More movies that represent the vision of one writer / writer-director or team of writers / writer-directors
• More movies that explore interesting, unique and unusual subcultures
• More movies written, directed, and/or starring BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, and women
• More movies that take risks
• More movies that approach narrative in different ways
• More cinematic movies
• More quirky, whimsical, oddball movies reflecting a distinctive take on the world
• More movies where the focus is on characters, not special effects
• More movies that make me think
• More movies that have no reason to exist other than the fact they have a great story to tell.

So here is my 2021 More Movies Like This, Please list [Note: These only include movies I’ve seen]:

Annette
Belfast
CODA
The Card Counter
Four Good Days
The Green Knight
How It Ends
I Was a Simple Man
India Sweets and Spices
John and the Hole
King Richard
Land
The Last Duel
The Lost Daughter
Licorice Pizza
Nine Days
One for the Road
Passing
The Power of the Dog
Reminiscence
Spirit Untamed
Stillwater
Swan Song
Together Together
Wild Indian
Zola

There are a bunch of movies I’ve yet to see: Being the Ricardos, Jockey, The Mitchells vs. the Machines, Nightmare Alley, Parallel Mothers, Red Rocket, Spencer, The Tender Bar, The Tragedy of Macbeth are definitely on my to watch list.

The bizarre thing for me is this: I haven’t been inside a movie theater since February 2020. Everything I’ve seen has been online or via DVD.

I hate it.

Movies are supposed to be a social experience. But this is pandemic living.

On the plus side, I’ve already scheduled to watch 20+ movies at this year’s Sundance Film Festival as once again, I’ve obtained a press pass.

TV series I watched in 2021 which I recommend: The Great, Hacks, Mare of Easttown, Only Murders in the Building, Station Eleven, Succession, Ted Lasso, WandaVision, The White Lotus. There are so many other TV series I just haven’t been able to get to. Too. Much. Content!

How about you? Which movies would you put on your More Movies Like This, Please list?