Best Movies Released Post Pandemic (Part 1)

Movies have been rocking it for the last 365 days. Due to the Covid-19 worldwide pandemic, movie theaters strategically held back films just so that they could release them in movie theaters. The result has been a barrage of great movies back-to-back-to-back, that we’ve been kind of in a whirlwind.

Last May Paramount kicked things off Memorial Day Weekend with A Quiet Place Part II, starring Emily Blunt and directed by John Krasinski. Then Universal Pictures really kicked things into high gear with the ninth installment of the Fast saga, F9 (Fast & Furious 9) reuniting Vin Diesel with Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Jordana Brewster, Jason Statham, Charlize Theron, Helen Mirren, along with newcomers John Cena, and Cardi B. The ensemble cast was truly amazing. Here’s to hoping that Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Vin Diesel can patch things up one day, so that The Rock can return back to the Fast Family.

After F9, we had the return of the MCU with the launch of Black Widow starring Scarlett Johansson, far removed from here starring role in Home Alone 3 (bet you didn’t even remember she was in that one). Black Widow was also the breakout movie for Florence Pugh, who has only seen her star rise.

Then fresh off the heals of Michael Jordan’s The Last Dance documentary which was produced by ESPN and Netflix, Lebron James threw his GOAT (Greatest of All-Time) hat in the ring for the hearts and minds of this current generation with the release of Space Jam: A New Legacy. Many of you will probably remember the original Space Jam which starred Michael Jordan. The movie was originally conceived due to Michael Jordan’s Nike Shoe commercials featuring Looney Tunes characters such as Marvin the Martian.

While Black Widow movie would have been enough in some year for the MCU, Marvel upped their game and released three more MCU movies in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, The Eternals, and the highly anticipated Spider-Man: No Way Home.

Shang-Chi was a stand alone MCU film that starred Simu Liu in his first major breakout role as the titular character Shang-Chi. Also co starring in the film was Awkwafina. Shang-Chi went on to break box office records for a Labor Day release. After the success of Warner Bros.’ Crazy Rich Asians, Shang-Chi was well positioned to be a major Asian centered film with massive crossover appeal.

October came around with strong entries in Halloween Kills starring Jamie Lee Curtis and our favorite psycho killer wearing a William Shatner face mask, Michael Myers. Warner Bros. also released a strong award-winning film in Dune. The Denis Villeneuve remake of the original classic has a mega-cast with massive stars like Zendaya, Oscar Issac, Timothee Chamalet, Jason Momoa, Javier Bardem, and more all in the cast.

Then November came in strong with the launch of the new MCU franchise, The Eternals. Starring a cast featuring Kit Harrington, Gemma Chan, Kumail Nanjiani, and Angelina Jolie, the movie packed tons of star power and introduced audiences to 10 brand new MCU heroes.

As theaters needed something good in their neighborhood, who were they going to call? Ghostbusters!!!

Sony Pictures took a bankable star in Paul Rudd and rebooted their new Ghostbusters franchise. And guess what… it worked. Paul Rudd has an incredible likeability and tremendous comedic timing.