PAOLO SORRENTINO

The Associated Press' film writers picks for best movies of 2021:LINDSEY BAHR:1. "Licorice Pizza": It's a rare film that makes you nostalgic for a time and place you never knew, but Paul Thomas Anderson's breezy, sunny "Licorice Pizza" does just that for the San Fernando Valley of Gary Valentine (Cooper Hoffman) and Alana Kane's ( Alana Haim ) youths. "Licorice Pizza": Paul Thomas Anderson's shaggy-dog story of self-discovery in '70s San Fernando Valley feels to me like a loose, easy-breathing culmination for Anderson, a virtuoso filmmaker here at his most tender and organic. "Licorice Pizza," crammed with the comic chronicles of adolescence and young adulthood, is the most lived-in movie of the year. If Anderson resurrects '70s California in "Licorice Pizza," Hogg's film is just as detailed in its '80s London.

Associated Press Film Writers Lindsey Bahr and Jake Coyle have named their picks for the best movies of 2021.

Italy Venice Film Festival 2021 Closing Ceremony Audrey Diwan holds the Golden Lion award for 'Happening' onstage at the closing ceremony during the 78th edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, Saturday, Sept. 11, 2021. Zhao’s “Nomadland” won the prize last year and went on to win best picture, best director and best actor at the Oscars. Zhao’s trajectory was the second time in four years that the Golden Lion winner has won best picture. Venice’s 2019 winner, “Joker,” simply went on to get a best picture nomination (and ten other nods as well). In the Horizons section, “Pilgrims” by Laurynas Bareisa won best picture.

Italy Venice Film Festival 2021 Closing Ceremony Audrey Diwan holds the Golden Lion award for 'Happening' onstage at the closing ceremony during the 78th edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, Saturday, Sept. 11, 2021. (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis) (Domenico Stinellis)Audrey Diwan’s “L’Evenement” (“Happening”) has won the Golden Lion at the 78th Venice International Film Festival. Zhao’s “Nomadland” won the prize last year and went on to win best picture, best director and best actor at the Oscars. Zhao’s trajectory was the second time in four years that the Golden Lion winner has won best picture. Venice’s 2019 winner, “Joker,” simply went on to get a best picture nomination (and ten other nods as well).

The French abortion drama “Happening” has won the Golden Lion at the 78th International Film Festival, while Paolo Sorrentino’s “The Hand of God” won runner up.

The fall movie season -- usually a reliable rhythm and cozy autumn comfort — is this year, like much of the past 18 months, a little disorienting.

Italy Venice Film Festival 2021 The Hand Of God Portraits Director Paolo Sorrentino poses for portraits at the 78th edition of the Venice Film Festival at the Venice Lido, Italy, Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2021, where he's presenting his latest movie 'E' stata la mano di Dio' (The hand of God). Sorrentino’s autobiographical “The Hand of God,” which premieres Thursday at the Venice Film Festival, recounts how his otherwise normal childhood in 1980s Naples was upended by the sudden, accidental death of his parents and how a certain athlete had an unintentional role in saving his life. But “The Hand of God” is the film Sorrentino felt he always had to make, and finally found the right moment after he turned 50 and the pandemic interrupted other projects. For the feature of his life, Sorrentino asked a member of his professional family, actor Toni Servillo, to play his father. “In my case, that is what happened.”After a period of loss, grief and uncertainty about finding his way, the young Sorrentino decided he wanted to make films.

Italian director Paolo Sorrentino is turning the camera on his own personal tragedy.

Hope for the future of cinema was front of mind for many as the Venice International Film Festival kicked off Wednesday on the Lido.

The Venice Film Festival has unveiled a starry lineup of world premieres for September including Pablo Larrain’s “Spencer,” starring Kristen Stewart as Princess Diana and Ridley Scott’s medieval drama “The Last Duel,” featuring Matt Damon, Ben Affleck and Adam Driver.