How Two Months at the End of 2021 Changed the Conversation about the Year in Movies

From "West Side Story" to "Licorice Pizza" and "The Matrix Resurrections," November and December changed everything about the year in cinema.

By Eric Kohn, Anne Thompson

January 4, 2022 5:00 pm

Mike Faist as Riff and David Alvarez as Bernardo in 20th Century Studios' WEST SIDE STORY. Photo by Niko Tavernise. © 2021 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved. — "West Side Story"

Niko Tavernise

If 2021 ended in late October, the conversation around the year in movies would be very different. Back then, anticipated fall titles like “West Side Story” and “Licorice Pizza” had yet to crack the awards season conversation; now, they’re all over it. Back then, “Spider-Man: No Way Home” didn’t become a blockbuster smash, and “The Matrix Resurrections” had yet to challenge our reality. It was a busy couple of weeks.

With Eric Kohn back from paternity leave, this week’s special bonus episode of Screen Talk finds the co-host joining Anne Thompson to recap the last two months, and what they portend for the awards season to come. Catch up on the guests that visited the podcast last fall here, and stay tuned for another episode later this week.

Listen to the full episode below.

Screen Talk is produced by Azwan Badruzaman and available on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, and hosted by Megaphone. You can subscribe here or via RSS. Share your feedback with Thompson and Kohn on Twitter. Browse previous installments here, review the show on Apple Podcasts, and be sure to let us know if you’d like to hear the hosts address specific issues in upcoming editions of Screen Talk. Check out the rest of IndieWire’s podcasts on Apple Podcasts right here.