Officially the year in which I could no longer keep up despite how hard I tried. Most notably missing an array of features including ‘Bones and All’, ‘Flee’ and ‘Crimes of the future’ when it comes to film, ‘Yellowjackets’ and ‘Sherwood’ on TV. That said there were some great releases this year. I still hold that we’re passed the heyday of film, as the odds of any mentioned below standing the test of time against films such as ‘The Godfather’ or ‘Casablanca’ is very unlikely, but releases all round were strong and none more so than on TV this year. My #1 pick for TV show of the year blew me away and was by-far the standout on-screen experience for me. A flawless show that just goes to show that TV continues to be where we have to now go for unique voices, risk-taking direction and remarkable performances.
As always, I’d encourage everyone to vote with their feet and get to the cinema to support films; failing that please make the effort to pay to view smaller releases as piracy, big-budget releases and general apathy across the internet toward paying for content is making it near-impossible to survive as a filmmaker or creative in general.
As with every year, what you see below is what I’ve seen or heard this year so there may be a couple of pieces from 2021 in there.
FILM
1. Decision to leave
2. Blonde
3. Licorice Pizza
4. Everything Everywhere All At Once
5. Red Rocket
6. Nightmare Alley
7. Pleasure
8. The Banshees of Inisherin
9. Mass
10. The Northman
Honourable Mentions
Funny Papers, After Yang, Mad God, Moonage Daydream, Aftersun, Great Freedom, Apollo 10 & 1/2, Brian and Charles, Nope, On the Count of Three, Stutz, Ali & Ava
Overrated
X, Men, Barbarian, Turning Red, Avatar 2, Cyrano, Fresh, Kimi, Don’t Worry Darling, Pinocchio, Catherine Called Birdy, The Whale, Dr Strange
TV
1. The Bear
2. Atlanta
3. We Own This City
4. The Rehearsal
5. The White Lotus
6. Barry
7. How to with John Wilson
8. This is Going to Hurt
9. Russian Doll
10. Irma Vep
Honourable Mentions
Severance, Ozark, The Offer, Ramy, Yellowstone, Andor, Mo, The Responder
Overrated
Stranger Things, Euphoria, Peaky Blinders, Rings of Power, House of the Dragon, Jeen-yuhs
MUSIC (Albums)
1. Black Country, New Road – Ants From Up There
2. Big Thief – Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You
3. The Smile – A Light for Attracting Attention
4. Black Midi – Hellfire
5. Cate le Bon – Pompeii
6. Kendrick Lamar – Mr Morale & the Big Steppers
7. Mitski – Laurel Hell
8. Beach House – Once Twice Melody
9. Father John Misty – Chloë and the Next 20th Century
10. Animal collective – Time Skiffs
Honourable Mentions
Gilla Band, Arctic Monkeys, Hurray for the Riff Riff, Broken Bells, Lambchop, Sharon Van Ettten, The Weeknd, Fontaines D.C, Destroyer, Danger Mouse & Black Thought
Overrated
Beyonce, The 1975, Alex G, Harry Styles, Charli XCX, Liam Gallagher, Rosalia
MUSIC (Singles)
1. Kendrick Lamar – Mother I Sober ft. Beth Gibbons
2. Father John Misty – Buddy’s Rendezvous
3. The Smile – We Don’t Know What Tomorrow Brings
4. Big Thief – Little Things
5. Black Midi – Eat Men Eat
6. Black Country, New Road – Concorde
7. Arctic Monkeys – There’d Better Be a Mirrorball
8. Mitski – Working for the Knife
9. Kendrick Lamar – United in Grief
10. Beach House – Once Twice Melody