37 Hollywood & Acting Jokes: The 2021 “Spider-Verse, Sandworms & Family Chains” Edition

In 2021, Hollywood was all about the “Big Screen Comeback” and the “Pointy Finger Meme.” It was the year we learned that nostalgia is a powerful drug, that a giant worm is the ultimate desert roommate, and that the only thing stronger than a superhero is “Family” (especially if you have a fast car). If you weren’t busy pointing at two other Spider-Men, you were probably wondering if you could survive a game of Red Light, Green Light or why Lady Gaga was talking like a sophisticated Italian espresso machine.

The 2021 Industry Top 10: “Multiverses, Spice & Gucci Accents”

1. The No Way Home “Pointing” Meme: Why was the theater screaming? Because Sony and Marvel realized that if you put three generations of Spider-Men in one room, the audience will forgive any plot hole as long as the actors recreate a meme from a 1960s cartoon.
2. The Dune “Part One” Cliffhanger: Why was everything so beige? Because Denis Villeneuve spent $165 million to show us beautiful people staring at sand, only to end the movie just as the actual story was about to start, leaving us all waiting for “Part Two” like a thirsty traveler in the desert.
3. The House of Gucci Accent: Why was Lady Gaga so intense? For a performance where she spoke English with an Italian accent that was so thick you could practically spread it on a piece of bruschetta.
4. The Fast & Furious 9 Space Trip: Why the Pontiac Fiero? Because Vin Diesel officially ran out of roads on Earth and decided that “Family” is the only thing that provides oxygen in the vacuum of space.
5. The Don’t Look Up Comet: Why was everyone mad? Because Netflix made a movie that suggested if an extinction-level event happened, we’d spend the last six months of human history arguing on Twitter and making TikToks about the comet.
6. The Shang-Chi Rings: Why the bus fight? For proving that Marvel can still deliver a top-tier action scene as long as you have a talented stunt team and a guy who can lose his jacket mid-punch.
7. The Cruella Punk: Why the trash truck? For a Disney origin story that proved you can be a villain who skins puppies, as long as you have a great fashion sense and a killer 70s soundtrack.
8. The Squid Game (Global Impact): Why the tracksuits? For the year a South Korean show became the biggest thing on the planet, making everyone terrified of giant dolls and honeycomb cookies.
9. The No Time to Die Ending: Why the tears? For a James Bond finale that proved that after 15 years, the only thing Daniel Craig couldn’t outrun was a missile and his own contract ending.
10. The King Richard Drive: Why the tennis balls? For Will Smith proving that he can win an Oscar for being a dedicated (and very stubborn) dad, right before he gave the world the most talked-about “acting” moment of the next year.

The Full 2021 Acting & Industry Archive

11. The West Side Story Snap: Why the remake? For proving that Steven Spielberg can direct anything, even a 60-year-old musical, and make it look like it was filmed yesterday.
12. The Power of the Dog Bath: Why Benedict Cumberbatch? For a performance so “cowboy” that he refused to wash for months, making his co-stars the real heroes of the production.
13. The Black Widow Lawsuit: Why the kitchen fight? For a movie that was released a year late and resulted in Scarlett Johansson suing a mouse over her paycheck.
14. The Suicide Squad (The Good One): Why the Starro? For James Gunn proving that a movie about a giant psychic starfish and a man-eating shark can be the most emotional superhero film of the year.
15. The Last Duel Perspective: Why the haircuts? For a movie that told the same story three times, mostly so we could see Ben Affleck’s blonde goatee from different angles.
16. The Spencer Ghost: Why Kristen Stewart? For a performance that proved Princess Diana was mostly just 90% sadness and 10% running through a cold castle.
17. The Free Guy Glitch: Why Ryan Reynolds? For proving that he can play “Ryan Reynolds” even if he’s a background character in a video game.
18. The French Dispatch Symmetry: Why the three stories? For the most “Wes Anderson” movie ever made, where every frame was so perfect it looked like it was measured with a ruler and a dream.
19. The Godzilla vs. Kong Neon: Why the neon? For a movie that realized nobody cares about the humans as long as a giant monkey hits a radioactive lizard with an axe in the middle of Hong Kong.
20. The Titane Metal: Why the car? For a French movie that won the Palme d’Or and left every person who saw it asking: “What did I just watch, and do I need a tetanus shot?”
21. The Licorice Pizza Run: Why the 70s? For a movie that proved that in 1973, everyone was constantly running somewhere and Paul Thomas Anderson was there to film it.
22. The Tick, Tick… Boom! Sing: Why Andrew Garfield? For proving that he can sing, play the piano, and look incredibly stressed for two hours while the clock ticks.
23. The Coda Sign Language: Why the silence? For a movie that proved a small, heartfelt story about a fishing family can win Best Picture and make everyone reach for the tissues.
24. The Eternals Length: Why 7,000 years? For a Marvel movie that tried to explain the entire history of the universe but forgot to give us a reason to remember any of it.
25. The Last Night in Soho Neon: Why the 60s? For a horror movie that made London in the 1960s look beautiful, until it started trying to kill Anya Taylor-Joy.
26. The Matrix Resurrections Meta: Why the coffee shop? For a sequel that spent the first hour making fun of the fact that it was a sequel, before becoming a sequel.
27. The Pig Solitude: Why Nicolas Cage? For a movie where he just wants his pig back, proving that “Quiet Cage” is actually more intimidating than “Crazy Cage.”
28. The Luca Pasta: Why the vespa? For a Pixar movie that made everyone want to move to the Italian Riviera and never, ever tell anyone they are a sea monster.
29. The Old Beach: Why the wrinkles? For an M. Night Shyamalan movie that suggested the scariest thing about a vacation is getting 50 years older before lunchtime.
30. The Halloween Kills Mob: Why the “Evil Dies Tonight”? For a sequel where the townspeople were so annoying that the audience actually started rooting for Michael Myers to finish the job.
31. The Green Knight Green: Why Dev Patel? For a movie so artistic and slow that it made everyone realize that being a knight is mostly just talking to foxes and looking at moss.
32. The Encanto Door: Why the “Bruno”? For a Disney song so popular that it actually replaced “Let It Go” as the anthem for children everywhere (and the nightmare of their parents).
33. The Malignant Twist: Why the back of the head? For a horror movie that went from “serious” to “absolutely insane” in the final 20 minutes, involving a very talented wig.
34. The Ghostbusters: Afterlife Nostalgia: Why the jars? For a sequel that proved that if you have enough 80s props and a CGI cameo, you can revive any franchise.
35. The Nightmare Alley Circles: Why Bradley Cooper? For a noir movie that proved that being a carnival psychic is a great job until you meet Cate Blanchett.
36. The Mortal Kombat Fatality: Why the ice? For a reboot that proved the only reason anyone watches this is to see a guy freeze another guy’s blood into a dagger.
37. The 2021 Final Industry Vibe: Why the “Reunion”? Because it was the year we all went back to the movies together to see the old faces, the new heroes, and the giant worms that we missed in 2020.