For any movie buff, the arrival of the year 2022 could be tinged with a slight frustration. Will I have time to watch all the films made in 2021 that interested me? Did I miss something essential? And if in addition we are attracted by all these films that will never touch French soil, we have not left the hostel. However, since this pandemic period, it seems that the film industry is moving in fits and starts. Either it's flat calm, or it's turnip in all its glory, or the planet is submerged, dragged, caught (and other grasses) by a South Korean series with Japanese movie aftertastes. The doll that sang "Mugunghwa kkoci pieot seumnida" hypnotized us and consoled us in her own way with a certain lack of regularity. She plugged the holes, what. 
We must face the facts, the year 2021 will not remain in the annals of cinema. Even La casa de papel tried to finish beautifully, proving once again that we must always control the price of success. Which in short, would mean, that you have to know how to stop and that the Oh bella ciao of the first season would have been a good way to say hasta la vista. Farewell. And then, while Gong Yoo, reluctant until now, makes his first appearance on social networks by posting the photo of a squid and the hope of a smart film that would mark the spirits seems as likely as to splurge on December 31, the series "The silent sea" and the brilliant "Don't look up" appear. "We're all going to die!!! " A derision as acid and sub-real as Leonardo DiCaprio traveling in a private jet to talk about ecology. An image, a mirror of society that is better to laugh at, because it could be very scary. 
"Hellbound" had tried to send us a message but… Do we really need such a headache right now? Why did Bollywood see the light of day once? Simply because Indians prefer to see dances and love stories than poverty, corruption and misery. Because sometimes reality is so unbearable, that we ask a film to make us forget, if only for two hours, that our life is rotten. Well, to stay lighter, we will rather say, make us forget that the situation is very difficult. So the long-awaited Hellbound melted as fast as ice in the sun and disappeared into oblivion without leaving too many traces.
The year 2021 still gave us some gifts.
Dune, with the charismatic Timothée Chalamet. Nothing to do with David Lynch's version, to our delight. The production did not skimp in the means, and these means in question plunged us into the atmosphere so particular of Frank Herbert's novels. The film's soundtrack is composed by Hans Zimmer, to whom we owe, among others, the soundtrack of Black Rain, Thelma and Louise, The Lion King, or Gladiator. And the cinematography of Greig Fraser who had managed, in the case of the film Lion, to walk us through the landscapes of India or Australia as if we were present. The only problem with this version? We have been promised the sequel for 2023 and these days, the sequels are often very uncertain. Let's hope that none of the actors will have fantasies with cannibalistic inclinations and that no one will rape or kidnap anyone. Fingers crossed. 
The French Dispatch. Why not. Wes Anderson, either we like him a lot or we don't like him at all. He has the gift of immersing us in this extravagant and dreamlike world that is so unique to him. An incredible cast of actors who are, undeniably, a blatant part of this magical setting. (It seems that he likes extended generics. And not just any extension cord). It feels like being in Harry Potter's animated diaries without any pejorative intent. Interesting, unusual, picturesque, brimming with sensuality and sensations, this sketch film is worth looking into. But, little advice, if this is your first time with Wes Anderson, and not to enter too brutally into his world, it might be wiser to watch before some of his films. The Tenenbaum Family, Aboard Darjeeling Limited (with the late Irfan Khan), Moonrise Kingdom or The Grand Budapest Hotel, not to mention Isle of Dogs, would be very good choices. All of them, actually. Unforgivable, distributed by Netflix, directed by German director Nora Fingscheidt and played by a Sandra Bulllock as abrupt, skin-deep and as beautiful as the film itself. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Marvel Studios is bursting with creativity more than ever. With great actors turned into superheroes who fully assume their role in this generous and impressive special effects table. Young Adult Matters, a Korean cinema UFO that wants to show us the hidden side of this youth without landmarks who has abandoned, as voluntarily as taking the Covid vaccine in France, any path leading to glory. Unfiltered, unscrupulous, the story of an 18-year-old girl (a minor in South Korea) who wants to have surgery to remove the baby she has in her womb. As dark as the subject is, the interpretation of the young actress Lee Yoo-Mi (Squid game) gives an unexpected effervescence. It will take us to the guts without falling into drama.
A year end medley
So, for a smooth transition, we offer you the Christmas movie, A year end medley. It is one of those films that, out of context, prove too meek to be appreciated. But… we are not so far from the holidays and its magic will remind us of those old American family Christmas movies. The smells, the warmth of the fireplace, the gifts. This illusory cloud of happiness that covers middle-class households… A week before December 31, 2021, seven love stories unfold under the watchful eyes of a luxury hotel. New encounters, unrequited love, bromance (not very clear, unfortunately). This first love that still causes butterflies despite gray hair… the rich and the poor who fall in love… yes, yes, yes it's too cliché but A year end medley and like a touch of warmth in the middle of these strange times. And then, with all this range of famous actors, wouldn't it perhaps be a way for these actors to wish us to keep hope? Director Kwak Jae-yong has already done better, such as My Sassy Girl or The Classic , but, it must be granted, that despite his habit of focusing on the characters and their stories, he knows how to keep a charming and intimate atmosphere. This atmosphere that always transpires a certain color of happiness, leads us and in this case, makes us go beyond the clichés and thank the director for giving us the gift of these beautiful stories. To watch with family and without prejudice. 
Technical data sheet
Directed by Kwak Jae-yong Release date December 29, 2021 Duration 138 minutes Country South Korea Korean language
distribution
Han Ji-min as So Jin, Emross Hotel Manager Lee Dong-wook: CEO of Kang Ha-neul Hotel: Jae Yong, a guest Yoona: so Yeon, a hotel employee Won Jin-ah as Lee Young Kim Young-kwang as Seung Hyo, radio producer Ko Sung-hee as Young Joo, a jazz pianist Seo Kang-joon as Lee Kang Lee Kwang-so: Sang Hoon Lee Jin-wook as Jin Ho Lee Kyu-hyung Jo Joon-young as Park Se-jik Won Ji-an as Lim Ah-yeong, a figure skater Lee Hye-young as Catherine Jung Jin-young as Sang Gyu Baek Eun-hye as Emross Hotel Chambermaid Lee Joong-ok as Executive Director Kim so-gyeom as Lee Chul-min https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Elk33W4erkY OST Young Adult Matters
