Pop Culture Favorites of 2023

This wasn't the best year in film. The elite were few, and the rest were many. In TV, it was HBO and The Bear. The strike mucked up the works for basically the back half of the year. It looks likely that 2024 will see stronger effects of the industry hiccups of last year. Between the two, though, the highs were top-tier.

In some personal news, I have a six-week-old son. When I started publishing these lists a dozen years ago, I never dreamed that one day I'd have a family of my own. I think he's given me the motivation to continue making these things. You'd think I'd retain some semblance of critical confidence by maintaining this series after all these years, but I really don't. But now there will be a record of the things his old man liked most since the year he graduated college. That warms my heart.

(My arbitrary annual deadline, the Academy Awards ceremony, is sneaking up on me within the hour, so there is little to no elaboration on some of these picks.)

The Pretty Damn Goods of 2023

Season Two of 100 Foot Wave

Shouts to Chris Ryan and Andy Greenwald of The Watch podcast for yet again recommending an incredible piece of television that I would absolutely never have given the time of day. I didn't care one iota about surfing. What you learn when diving into this show, though, is that 100 Foot Wave is less about surfing and more about people, who surf. This second season features some of the most breathtaking camera work I've ever seen. I don't know if it's underseen or underrated, but shows seldom come as thrilling as this.

Season Three of The Righteous Gemstones

At the risk of jinxing him and the show itself, there are few surer things in television than Danny McBride. That feels relatively safe to claim in 2023. For a juvenile fun time, you can't do much better. Amidst the crass antics, though, there is plenty of heart in The Righteous Gemstones. This third season found itself exploring not only the extended Gemstone family, but what it is that pushes vulnerable and foolish people into the arms of extremism. Shouts to Steve Zahn for his tremendous supporting performance this season. The show always belongs to the main cast, including the legend Uncle Baby Billy Freeman, but Zahn proved himself yet again as one of the most gifted performers in television today.

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning (Part One?)

It's a shame this perfectly solid entry in the Mission: Impossible franchise was swallowed by the Barbenheimer phenomenon. Perhaps it was longer than it needed to be (it was) and more complex than the scope of the story warranted (it was), but there are two action set pieces in Dead Reckoning that stand up to anything that's come before it. The Fiat car chase and the climactic escape from the crashing train are some of the best action scenes of the decade. Director Christopher McQuarrie always excels when it comes to old school action film fundamentals. Sometimes less is more, but Mission: Impossible never seems interested in taking that advice. And that's perfectly fine.

Ryan Gosling in Barbie

It feels wrong to say that Ken is the best part of a Barbie movie, but who at this point can argue? If there's anything Ryan Gosling is bad at doing in front of a camera, we haven't seen it. Much like Brad Pitt, he is a top-tier character actor in the body of a Hollywood legend. He could stand and do nothing else besides smolder and he would receive critical acclaim. But he never half-asses a role. He is really going for it in Barbie. Many others would've fallen flat on their faces attempting this silly character, but in giving the silliness 100%, he completely stole the movie and is nominated for an Oscar tonight. Respect. 

"Elora's Dad"

Episode Nine of Season Three of Reservation Dogs

Reservation Dogs was a show that made a quick impact with its original voice and sense of humor, and insisted it not overstay its welcome. Even though the third season spent some of its limited time focused on stories outside of the core characters, the "Elora's Dad" episode was elite television. As soon as Ethan Hawke rounds the corner in that little store, you knew this was about to be one of the most important episodes of the series. It felt like a Richard Link later short film. You could feel the heaviness of the history between the two characters, like looking through a window at two people who still live inside their own losses. This is one of the best television episodes of this year, or any year. 

Favorites of 2023

10. "Forks"

Episode Seven of Season Two of The Bear

I was not won over by the first season of The Bear. Some of what I don't love about it remains. The weight over every single decision the characters make becomes tiresome. I also couldn't stand Richie, but this is the episode where he and the show altogether finally held me in its grasp. Richie has been humbled by life and work. Or so he thinks. The realization that he can be an effective front-of-house man in charge is exhilarating and, I hesitate to say, life-affirming. There seems to be a universal acknowledgement that we as a species neglect to make every second of our lives count. Our time is limited, so why wouldn't we? It's a difficult question to answer, but like Richie, it's never too late to start.

9. John Wick: Chapter 4

I think there's an easy case to be made that of all modern franchise cinema, the John Wickiverse goes the hardest, as people younger than me would say. I couldn't stomach the runtime in the cinema, so I waited around til Peacock to finally catch it. By 45 minutes, I knew I was watching an all-timer. It's by far the best of the sequels, and likely the best of the bunch. Surely they'll make more, right? Please?

8. The Holdovers

Sometimes all you need from a movie is a good hang. The characters are often forlorn, but The Holdovers is never maudlin. There's something about this cold world that feels warm and inviting. Not perfect, but Alexander Payne makes 'em like no one else. Hail Giamatti.

7. Oppenheimer

I started a Letterboxd account this year where I elaborated on what I liked and didn't like about Oppenheimer. One thing I didn't say is that I think this realm of the historical is where Nolan might ought to stick for a while. I think Dunkirk is his best movie, and clearly this one took the world by storm. It's not my favorite of his filmography, maybe not even top five, but Nolan movies are events. In a world where the cinematic experience is in danger of disappearing, he is at the forefront of keeping it alive. May it ever be so.

6. Poor Things

I haven't seen a movie this batshit bananas in years. It is also one of the two most fun movies I saw this year. I think that's because everyone involved is clearly having a blast. Ruffalo has never been better, and I think this is a new career best for Emma Stone as well. It's certainly not one to blindly recommend to anyone, but it's a grand achievement nonetheless.

5. Killers of the Flower Moon

I also recently said a bit about this on my Letterboxd account. One thing I didn't mention was the inspired ending. As I understand it, it was tacked on after filming had completed. No one except Martin Scorsese could conceive of such an idea. The film is an incredible achievement that, like so much of Scorsese's filmography, I will rewatch for many years to come.

4. The Zone of Interest

What an original take on history's worst atrocity. It resembles hardly any piece of the source material, but it clearly inspired writer/director Jonathan Glazer to explore a new way to dissect how humans inflicted the worst of which we are capable on our fellow man. It is a singular experience that will be hard to remove from my mind.

3. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

This is one of the single most overwhelming theatrical experiences since the first time I saw The Fellowship of the Ring. I'm not a comic book guy, so I don't know how much of this material predates Across the Spider-Verse, but the creativity that teems forth from this movie is astounding. The scenes with Gwen and her dad where the background is an ever-changing cascade of color and emotion are as affecting as anything I've ever seen. There was so much unexpected depth in this movie. It was also the biggest blast I had this year. The ending blew away anyone who hasn't seen Back to the Future Part II.

2. "wow"

Series Finale of Barry

The final season of Barry is one of the most audacious pieces of television I've ever seen. It's been very divisive, but there's rarely been a surer creative hand than Bill Hader's. My jaw was on the floor for the majority of this episode, certainly the final scene. This show took a lot out of Bill Hader, and I'm sure he's still exhausted from the effort, but I can't wait to see what project he tackles next.

1. "Connor's Wedding"

Episode Three of Season Four of Succession 

There couldn't be anything else. This was the year of Succession. I did not love the way the show ended, but this episode was transcendent. I don't know if creator Jesse Armstrong knew this particular character development would be handled the way it was, but experiencing it as a viewer seemed to mirror the stages of grief. There was disbelief, confusion, shock, grief and finally acceptance. Some of the best acting you'll ever see. I hate the show's gone, but I suppose it's better to burn out than fade away.

Pop Culture Favorites of 2022

Listward, ho!

The Pretty Damn Goods of 2022

Everything Everywhere All at Once

Seeing this in the theater last spring blew me away. Much like Daniels’ previous endeavor Swiss Army Man, Everything Everywhere All at Once is an astounding feat of creativity that’s only fulfilling if you lock into it and never look away. It’s a certainty you’ve never seen anything like it, and as far as first time watches go, there are fewer exhilarating cinematic experiences. I find that I’m more moved by what’s happening to the actors in the real world as this awards season plays out. Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan have had several interviews where you clearly see how much the appreciation and adulation of the performances and the movie itself means to them. As they’ve put it, Daniels gave them a chance to prove, if only to themselves, that they still have it. Daniels gave them a reason to believe in themselves. I think we all hope for something like that in our own lives.

"Outta Time" by Orville Peck

This is my favorite song that came out last year. There are other songs on Bronco that I’ve listened to almost as much, but there’s something about “Outta Time” I keep coming back to. There’s a swagger to its melancholy. It’s a great song to sing in the car with no witnesses to the failure of hitting the high notes. Orville Peck and his band are fantastic musicians and performers, and I’m glad to follow them on their journey.

"The We We Are"

The Season One Finale of Severance

Severance got off to a hot start with a tight plot that seizes your attention: employees of a mysterious corporation agree to have their work consciousnesses severed from that of the rest of their lives, effectively creating completely different versions of themselves who have no notion of what their “real” lives are like. It had the feel of old school 70s conspiracy thrillers like The Parallax View and The Conversation, this time with the stellar directorial eye of Ben Stiller, who I've been in the bag for for a long time. I admit my attention began to wander in the middle episodes, but as the season wound down to the finale, the show kicked into fifth gear. There are some core aspects of the show that I can’t bring myself to fully invest in or care about, but this finale gave me a rush unlike anything I’ve felt since the days when Lost was airing. As such, I would give this show a blanket recommendation to anyone for the sole purpose of watching the finale.

"Orange Juice, No Pulp"

The First Episode of The Rehearsal

Line of the year: "It's days like these that I curse the Chinese for inventing gunpowder."

The last five minutes of The Fabelmans

As a child of the 90s, I grew up with the idea that the release of a new Steven Spielberg movie was a special event. To put it bluntly, The Fabelmans is not special. Nailing an ending, though, is how you make anything memorable. The ending of The Fabelmans, for several reasons, is a home run. There is a cameo from one of my favorite human beings who ever lived, and he is a perfect fit for the person he's playing. I don't think you can tell from the picture who it is, if you don't already know, so I won't be spoiling it here. After that, though, is yet another brilliant moment. If Spielberg never makes another movie, the story of his own life won't be his best, but his final sentence will have been a master stroke.

Favorites of 2022

10. Sarah Goldberg in Season Three of Barry

Season three of Barry was quite a curveball. There have been several dark moments over the course of the show, but this season had an unsettling shadow cast over the whole thing from the jump. It’s still capable of delivering howling belly laughs, but with Barry’s mental descent that is seemingly beyond rescue and Sally’s irredeemable behavior, this show is evolving into an objective tragedy. When it was over, I wasn’t as quick to deem it as masterful as some others have, but for the rest of the year I could not get Sarah Goldberg’s performance out of my mind. Sally is the perfect example of the old expression "hurt people hurt people". In her desperate search for fame, she unfortunately gains notoriety from an incredible meltdown in an elevator that is one of the greatest fits of rage I’ve ever seen. I’ve watched the clip dozens of times. Command of one's own face is one reason why I stay in awe of actors, and Sarah Goldberg is up there with the best working today. I don’t think I could yell at someone like that even if I had reason to mean it. Knowing that Barry will be ending after the upcoming fourth season is bittersweet. It doesn’t seem like there are many more directions it can go, but if Bill Hader and company have proven anything thus far, we’re in for a wild ride to the finish line.

9. Andor

In the wake of The Rise of Skywalker, a movie I loathed from start to finish, I decided that Star Wars was no longer for me. I watched the Obi-Wan show out of respect for Ewan McGregor, and I couldn’t stand it. (I’ll admit that one scene with Vader’s broken voice toward the end was badass.) After that, though, I happily washed my hands clean of a realm of pop culture in which I no longer cared to participate. Then last fall, Chris Ryan and Andy Greenwald of my favorite pop culture podcast “The Watch” could not stop singing the glowing praises of Andor, the new show from writer/director Tony Gilroy about former Rogue One character Cassian Andor and his leadup to the events of Rogue One. During the Christmas holiday I gave in. Cue the gif of Silvio Dante doing his Michael Corleone impression; just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in. There are character depths explored in Andor that every other piece of Star Wars content did not have time for. There are scenes and arcs that are more exhilarating than some from the original film trilogy. I didn’t think I would care about the story of a guy whose fate we already know, but I found Andor gripping from start to finish. Though I am certainly out on every other piece of Star Wars content there is, I eagerly anticipate the second and final season of Andor to come.

8. "Crank Dat Killer"

Episode Six of Season Four of Atlanta

There are plenty of takes on whether the back half of Atlanta was a success or a failure, and I am not here to yell into that void. While Atlanta gave us plenty of head-scratching moments to chew on, it’s up there as one of the zaniest shows of all time. Season 4’s standout episode “Crank Dat Killer” captures that goofy yet ominous feeling perfectly. In the episode, it’s come to the region’s attention that there appears to be a serial killer who is dispatching anyone who ever posted a video of themselves doing Soulja Boy’s Crank Dat dance. Alfred remembers that he made one back in 2007 and he fears that he may be next. Meanwhile, Earn and Darius decide how far they’re willing to go to score new sneakers. The whole episode is juvenile in the best possible way. It feels akin to some of the old Derrick Comedy sketches that Donald Glover and company used to make in the late 2000s. Atlanta always expertly balanced sincerity and absurdity. Now that the story of Atlanta is set and complete, I think there is no better example of the latter than the tale of the "Crank Dat Killer".

7. Barry Keoghan in The Banshees of Inisherin

After two viewings, I'm still not quite sure how I feel about The Banshees of Inisherin. It went over my head somewhat the first time, and I was thrown because I thought I was getting something as zany as In Bruges, the first cinematic endeavor from the trio of writer/director Martin McDonagh and actors Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson. There are plenty of hilarious moments, but I was not prepared for how sad it would leave me. Nor was I prepared for Barry Keoghan to steal every single scene he's in. He's been turning in some stellar supporting performances, at least since the first time I saw him in 2017's Dunkirk and The Killing of a Sacred Deer. Keoghan's character Dominic is a boy who's been as battered as the coast of Inisherin itself. As such, he has difficulty connecting with anyone and is assumed to be a simpleton. It's in this movie that bills the great reunion of McDonagh, Farrell and Gleeson that Barry Keoghan and Kerry Condon deliver one of the scenes of the year beside the "great auld lake." It takes tremendous talent to balance the lines of sweetness, innocence, awkwardness, sadness, stupidity and hilarity without the intention of creepiness. At any moment, Keoghan imbues Dominic with one or all of those qualities. Dominic is pure impulse, a boy who wants nothing more than love, but but doesn't know how to give it or get it.

6. Aftersun

Aftersun is emotion conveyed through cinema in a way I've never experienced. “Pure cinema” is a phrase I generally associate with film snobs, but there are fewer examples I can think of that are representative of that phrase than Aftersun. I wouldn't call it an art film, but it does rely on many moments of silence. It's a fill-in-the-blanks movie that gets more fascinating as you ponder it. It lets you put the pieces of an incomplete puzzle together, where you can still see the big picture even though there are pieces that you never have. (That may not make as much sense as it did in my head.) The ability to translate what you have in your mind to the product on screen is something I’m in awe of, and writer/director Charlotte Wells knocked it out of the park with her first feature. There's a scene involving a mirror that gave me chills when I saw it. Aftersun prompted me to think about my own life in the context of my parents' lives, specifically their existences at the age I am now. That's the kind of experience you get from great literature, and seldom receive from cinema. This is a very special movie.

5. Season Two of Reservation Dogs

Reservation Dogs is the intersection at which sincerity and hilarity meet. It is a depiction of a world that only a select few experience in this country, but it finds innumerable ways to connect with the lives of anyone. Though I am a softie, I am rarely moved to tears by episodic television. It's difficult to establish heartfelt emotion in 20-something minute increments. There is no show I've seen that can elicit such strong emotion so swiftly as Reservation Dogs. The fourth episode, "Mabel", had me legitimately weeping one minute and laughing through my tears the next. Then you have the eighth episode, "This is Where the Plot Thickens", which is an absolutely bananas descent into depravity where Big accidentally consumes an overwhelming amount of psychedelics. The case can be made with little argument that this is the best show on television. It's certainly the most genuine.

4. Season Two of The White Lotus

I think the second season of The White Lotus might be the Godfather Part II of the limited series medium. Perhaps there's recency bias in that statement, but it's an incredible achievement in depicting romantic relationships and the nature of trust. It’s a show for grownups. There's a level of enjoyment here that's unlike the experience of watching other shows, where you can enjoy living vicariously through the characters existing in the beauty of these exotic locations which they themselves can't bring themselves to enjoy. They're not even doing anything different than they would be doing at home or anywhere else.

The writing is second to none and the tone is deftly balanced. There's an menacing air to the whole show by the way it's set up at the beginning, but there are plenty of laughs. When things turn genuinely sinister, part of you expects some of the air to be taken out of the sense of danger that's building because somehow it still doesn't quite make sense in the show we've come to know. In my opinion, the last episode of this season is one of the great singular episodes in television history. We're getting another season of The White Lotus, and while I have no idea what to expect the third time around, I trust that creator Mike White knows exactly what he's doing.

3. Top Gun: Maverick

Its nearly 1.5 billion dollars in ticket sales proves that my experience with Top Gun: Maverick was not unique. Nevertheless, my experience was thus. Until Top Gun: Maverick, I’d never gone to a theater to watch a movie three times. The first time I took my dad. For many years, we’ve tried to catch every new Tom Cruise movie in theaters. Tom Cruise movies are a foundational bond between us. When the pandemic upended everything, one thought that kept my head above water through it all was, I hope we make it out of this so I can see Top Gun with my dad. When I rolled out of the theater, it was like, Oh, now I have to ensure that everyone I love experiences this great time. The second time I took my mom. When Maverick splits those guys during the “Won’t Get Fooled Again” training scene, she pumped her fist and almost jumped out of her chair. The third time I took my wife. She thought it was loud.

I think the release of this movie at this time showed us how certain movies can connect us, not only with our loved ones, but with the world at large. The antagonist country is nameless, and it doesn’t matter. The climactic setpiece is literally the X-wing run at the end of the first Star Wars, and it doesn’t matter. Tom Cruise is a certified madman, and it doesn’t matter. We may be experiencing a kind of sunset on the cinematic experience as we know it, but we can always look back on the one thing that did matter in the summer of 2022: ole Maverick.

2. "Stand Still Like the Hummingbird"

Episode Five of Season Two of Euphoria

I’m not crazy about Euphoria. It’s one of the toughest hangs in modern television, and it’s most effective at making everyone over 30 worry that high school parties look like the ones it depicts. I admittedly only watch it, or rather started watching it, because I didn’t want to miss out on what most of my favorite podcasts cover. But you spend more time with these characters, monstrous as they may be, you start to care about them. Some of them, anyway.

I don’t presume to know what the behavior of an actual addict is like, but in the most general terms, they are broken people. Never have I seen the portrayal of such a person as Zendaya in this episode. The full spectrum of frantic human emotion is on display. Fear, cruelty, love, sorrow, and the struggle to survive. Zendaya is an unbelievable performer. For the whole hour, I was transfixed and glued to the screen. This is to say nothing of the episode itself, which begins as an intimate domestic dispute, and evolves into what is ostensibly a chase movie through the alleys and streets of Los Angeles. It’s not necessarily a bottle episode, but it works as something you can view on its own without needing broader context of the show itself. The rewatch factor is incredibly high. When the bow is tied on Euphoria, this is what will stand out. This is what we’ll go back to. I would go so far as to say it’s one of the great dramatic television episodes of this century. I really wanted to make this number one on my list, but I couldn’t justify it usurping what was the best television of the year.

1. The Sixth and Final Season of Better Call Saul

There's a pervading take that doesn't seem so uncommon anymore, that Better Call Saul is better than Breaking Bad. I'm not so sure of that, or that it's even useful to discuss, because both parts equal a whole story. Now that the entirety of Better Call Saul can be assessed, though, it towers over its predecessor in several ways. The filmmaking and shot composition is god-tier, the best there is on television. Granted, the team had the quite a bit of experience already with the previous series under their belts, but the creativity with so many of the shots in this series is inspired. When you break it all down, the meat of this show came out of throwaway lines from the "Better Call Saul" episode of Breaking Bad.

"It wasn't me, it was Ignacio!"

"Lalo didn't send you? No Lalo? Oh, thank God! Oh, Christ!"

We didn't know who Ignacio and Lalo were, nor did the writers, but what was clear was that Saul was scared of someone. As creators Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould have said in the past, their writers room thrives when they put themselves into corners they must write themselves out of. They created a co-lead in Kim Wexler who you cared for deeply, as much as Jimmy, even though she was arguably capable of inflicting more pain than he was. The season was not without flaws, and I'm still not sure I loved the finale, but there is an absolutely bone chilling decision in one of the middle episodes that is the darkest thing I've ever seen on television outside of Wallace in The Wire and something that happens in the penultimate episode of Breaking Bad. It makes you look at a significant portion of Breaking Bad through a completely different lens. I would've loved to have been a fly on the wall of the writers room when they said "Oh, we're really gonna do this."

As the show headed toward its end, some things seemed inevitable, but there's no chance you could ever guess how it gets there. The nutshell feat of the show is that they turned a character of comic relief into one with depth and history, and made him the centerpiece of one of television's most affecting tragedies. It gave an established supporting character a new identity that cemented itself on top of that. For the longest time, when you saw the character Bob Odenkirk plays, whether in the course of watching Breaking Bad or seeing him on merchandise or in advertisements, it was unquestionably Saul Goodman. Henceforth? Nah. That's Jimmy.

Pop Culture Favorites of 2021

Well... That was a little better. I guess? Maybe not. Anyway... to the list!

The Pretty Damn Goods of 2021

Reservation Dogs

Reservation Dogs is peek through a window into a world we rarely, if ever, see in popular culture. It’s a zany, hilarious and deeply affecting drama that, even though depicting a specific way of life in a specific time, touches on three fundamental aspects of what it is to be human: family (or lack thereof), love (or lack thereof), and loss. It’s refreshing to see a story that’s honest delivered with honesty. Sometimes you never need anything more than that. A little touch of the supernatural also doesn't hurt. The cast and its performances are impeccable. By the way, it's about time someone gives Zahn McClarnon (Officer Big) his own show. The guy is just about the best part of everything he's in. And shouts to Bill Burr, who has become the guest-acting equivalent of an all-star reliever.

MLB at Field of Dreams

For one hot August night in 2021, American society was in unanimous agreement on one thing: the Field of Dreams game was awesome. Never has an American sport so actively embraced a piece of popular culture that had become so embedded in its very existence. From Costner hamming it up by emerging from the corn and gazing ponderously at the horizon to the players themselves emerging, it was all over-the-top, but it worked. The game itself could’ve been boring as hell and the night would’ve been a success. But it wasn’t boring. It was incredible. Up and down, back and forth. Yankees are down 3 in the top of the ninth, come back to go ahead by one, and Tim Anderson walks it off for the White Sox while the fireworks go off in center field. It’s poetic that this all happened because of a movie, because you could not have scripted the night any better.

Pond - 9

My favorite Aussies put out an album this year that doesn't have a single hiccup. As I've said in the past, I feel dumbest when I attempt to talk or write about music. The highest praise I can give is that this album has my four favorite songs of the year, and none of them sounds like the other. I hardly keep up with new music in a given year, so take that for what it's worth. Long live Pond.

Stath Lets Flats

Finding this show was the greatest accident of the year. I was browsing what else Natasia Demetriou (Nadja from What We Do in the Shadows) had been in that I could stream. I came across Stath Lets Flats, created by and starring her brother Jamie, and saw it was streaming on HBO Max. I saw on IMDb that it had gotten significant acclaim in the UK but its user rating wasn't very high. I gave it a shot. In the second episode, I laughed harder than maybe any other moment in my life. I had to pause it  and could not dry my eyes for a good five minutes. I was completely blindsided by this show and have never seen anything like it. The eponymous Stath is the (touched?) son of a Greek immigrant who runs a lettings agency, which I came to understand is basically the UK middleman between landlords and tenants. Stath speaks an unusual kind of English that almost borders on its own language. It's so hard to describe, you've got to see it to understand. He is objectively awful at his job and only has it because his dad owns the place. The supporting cast are also hilarious in their respective comedic lanes. I am unable to stomach a lot of cringe comedy, but this show was right up my alley. The third season came out in 2021, so this entry may be cheating a little bit since this is a piece of praise for the show as a whole. Give it a try if you haven't. Subtitles are encouraged.

Alana Haim in Licorice Pizza

Licorice Pizza is an odd movie. It’s a mess, really. It’s unfocused, meandering and feels like the first draft of something that could have been great. I’m a mark for Paul Thomas Anderson, but the last 60 or so seconds of Licorice Pizza is maybe the most baffled I’ve ever been by something, not to mention the most disconnected I’ve ever felt from an artist’s perceived intention. Not really talking this up as a favorite, am I? Well, that’s because I’m also a mark for HAIM. While watching the movie a second time, it seems as though PTA himself wasn’t sure who the lead of his movie was, and by the time they started shooting, it was obvious it should be Alana Haim’s movie, but by that point it was too late. I don’t know if she wants to be a star, but she absolutely could be. She runs away with this movie quickly. Alana the character is as much of a child in spirit as Gary is as a person. She’s still trying to figure out her life at 25(?) while jealous that he’s moving from one business to the next at 15. She keeps getting used, acknowledges that fact, and continues to make poor decisions. I just wanted to reach through the screen and give her a hug. This Oscar season is somehow stranger than the Covid one in that, in my opinion, there is hardly a standout performance nominated in any category. Meanwhile, Alana Haim hangs out on the sidelines, better than all of them.

Favorites of 2021

10. Mare of Easttown

I’m no sucker for a murder mystery. I think the public fascination with murder investigations ala the central characters in Only Murders in the Building (a very nice watch, actually) is frankly disgusting. In fact, there were a few times in Mare of Easttown where I actively rolled my eyes. There’s a sense very early on that the creators are actively manipulating you. Whether or not it’s “fun” is up to the viewer to decide. You don’t have to be manipulative to tell an engaging story, but Mare of Easttown somehow does both effectively. What keeps it from veering off into melodrama is the earnestness of the performances. These characters are worn out from the jump. Nothing has come easy for any of them. Even though every episode has a “Uh oh, looks like the killer might be THIS person now!” ending, when the actors are doing as outstanding a job as Kate Winslet, Evan Peters and Jean Smart are, you can get past most all the nitpicks. (Evan Peters holds the championship belt for Most Authentic Drunk performance of all time. If he was not actually drunk in that scene in the bar, it’s the best embodiment of a sad drunk I’ve ever seen.) Whether or not we can leave a good thing alone and allow Mare of Easttown to be the one-off it was supposed to be remains to be seen (looking at you, Big Little Lies), but even if market forces demand more episodes that inevitably disappoint, they will not sully the original ones we got.

9. Jared Leto in House of Gucci

House of Gucci is not a good movie. It’s entirely too long and the argument could be made that every single role is miscast. It’s more serious than it needs to be and not as fun as it ought to be. Maybe that’s because Jared Leto is having all the fun. I have never in my life encountered a performance in a movie that’s as divisive as Leto’s playing of Paolo Gucci. Say what you want about the accent that sounds somewhere between Mario and Christopher Walken, or that he’s chewing scenery like it’s his last meal, but the dude is having a great time. He makes wild choices and just goes for it. It’s clear that he’s acting in a completely different movie than everyone else, and it likely would have been better than the one we got. 

8. Belfast

Movies like this, potentially indulgent semi-autobiographical tales by auteurs, usually strike me as top-tier cornball fare. But Belfast charmed the hell out of me. Much like aforementioned aspects of Reservation Dogs, such as depicting life in a specific time and place, the desires of different generations are what stood out to me the most in Belfast. Granny and Pop, to me, are the heart of the movie. Their descendants are struggling with the idea of leaving Belfast, and it’s something they never had the means nor the will to consider themselves. They had to make the best of what fell their way in the turn of the 20th century. Now that that’s a possibility for their descendants in a chaotic time, the grandparents must consider that their loneliness is what might have to be sacrificed for the betterment of their child’s and grandchild’s lives. There are certainly plenty of nits to pick, such as the strictly Van Morrison soundtrack, but despite those nits, the movie really sticks the landing.

7. Mavis Staples and Mahalia Jackson performing

"Precious Lord" in Summer of Soul

Midway through Questlove's fascinating documentary about 1969's Harlem Cultural Festival, Mavis Staples tells a story about Mahalia Jackson asking for her help before taking the stage to sing "Take My Hand, Precious Lord." Mavis hadn't planned on singing the song, but Mahalia basically asked her to open the song because she wasn't feeling well. So Mavis goes up there and belts what, as I was watching the documentary, was the most rousing gospel performance my ears ever heard. Then Mahalia Jackson comes up and immediately outdoes it. Gospel music is something I don't really get down with, but when the two of them were going back and forth on the mic, my hands unconsciously went in the air. I had chills. It felt like I was there. The documentary itself is solid, but live performance does not get any better than this moment.

6. Troy Kotsur in CODA

CODA was one of those Sundance darlings that I fully expected to spend the entirety of its length rolling my eyes. A hearing daughter in a deaf family wants to be a singer. Any seasoned watcher of stories can map exactly where CODA is headed, but it doesn’t even remotely matter. The execution is almost perfect. There are some questionable choices in the script, but the performance from Troy Kotsur as the patriarch of the family is the most affecting of 2021. As someone who’s had to spend his entire life depicting emotion through the language of his body, every moment he’s on screen is a joy to watch. A particular scene in which he’s communicating with his daughter’s potential suitor is the hardest I laughed in a movie last year. Lastly, it has been a very long time since any movie moved me to tears. This one got me, and it got me good. Kotsur may not win an Oscar on Sunday night, but no one this year is more deserving.

5. The White Lotus

At multiple points during each episode of The White Lotus, I found myself saying, "I have no idea why I'm into this but I think I love it." It's fascinating in ways that are difficult for me to articulate even after two full viewings. I have to admit that I could not remove from my mind the world in which the show was created. As I understand it, HBO asked creator Mike White for anything, and what he came up with was malaise in paradise. The result is a stroke of genius; he created a show in which he and his cast had free reign over a five-star resort in Hawaii during Covid-19. The show itself is about three sets of people on vacation and the people who are there to serve them. All of these people are in paradise, but not one of them can get over themselves enough to enjoy a single moment. The White Lotus provokes nuanced thought about a lot of things, chiefly status, or lack thereof. Maybe most of these characters suck, but the show doesn’t have contempt for them. I would assume most viewers found themselves thinking at some point, “How the hell could you be at a place like that and be so ungrateful?” But as the series plays out, you glean that going to a paradise doesn’t automatically enable you to ignore every issue in your life. It doesn’t matter if you’re a rich asshole, or someone who dropped a couple months’ pay to experience a few days in paradise, or someone who works to serve people in that paradise; if you don’t have yourself sorted out, it’s impossible to enjoy anything. 

4. Dune

As it turns out, Dune was never truly “unadaptable”, as many have claimed over the decades. All it needed was someone with vision and passion. Denis Villeneuve has said that it had long been his dream to adapt Dune for the big screen. He’s spent the last decade, with movies as intimate as Prisoners and as epic as Blade Runner 2049, establishing that he has a distinct vision. All of that finally culminating with the finished project of Dune (Part One) is the ultimate catharsis for fans of the source material. The worlds of Dune on screen look truly lived in. The walls of Arrakis bear the wear that the desert storms have wrought for centuries. The stone structures on the prison planet Salusa Secundus bear the terror that the prisoners have experienced. And the shores of Caladan are pristine. Seeing Dune in IMAX might be the most exhilarating cinematic experience I’ve ever had. The sound system felt like it was going to knock my heart out of its rightful position. This is sci-fi cinema that, much like the book, will stand the test of time. I expected greatness, and greatness was delivered.

3. The Green Knight

I did not expect greatness, and greatness was delivered.

You never know what hand you'll be dealt from a new A24 movie. You can never trust critical praise, and there's never unanimous audience response. But from the opening seconds of The Green Knight, I knew this movie was for me. The visual flourishes that pepper the entirety of this movie are some of the most inspired and creative I've seen in recent years. It's an old school adventure that's been dosed. It's a movie that lives or dies by its lead, and Dev Patel soars. Perhaps it makes the kinds of choices that would make Arthurian purists get up and walk out. Perhaps it makes the kinds of choices that would make anyone walk out. As reflected by its 50% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes, The Green Knight is not for everyone. I have endless respect for projects and artists that are willing to take those chances and swing big. If reactions to a movie are "that was a masterpiece" or "what a piece of shit" with nothing in between, it commands interest. I thought The Green Knight was a masterpiece and, in part because it caught me off guard, my favorite movie of the year. 

2. Kieran Culkin in Season Three of Succession

In the back half of 2021, it seemed like there wasn’t any area of cultural conversation that went without mentioning Succession, and quite right. Sometimes when people talk incessantly about a show being the best thing on television, they’re correct. While every corner of cultural commentary, near and far, has praised Succession to no end, there was a specific part of the show, a performer, that I could not get out of my mind. Everyone talks about Jeremy Strong and his Daniel Day-Lewis level of commitment to a role that really doesn’t call for it, but Kieran Culkin is the best actor I saw on television last year. Season three reveals more layers and complexities to the character of Roman Roy, giving us occasional fleeting glimmers of hope that he could actually be the one Roy with a heart. He is a Roy, so, yes, he is part monster. The abused becomes abusers. It’s a tale as old as time. He can’t help his innate impishness. Whatever havoc Roman wreaks, he genuinely loves his father. He may be the only Roy that loves his father. (SPOILERS BEGIN) And when you witness his accidental text to his dad in the penultimate episode, once you recover from painful belly laughter, you see the look on his face that reads like he’s ruined absolutely everything he worked to arrange. And you genuinely feel bad for him. (SPOILERS END) In a show that may already be on the Mount Rushmore of the best-written shows of all time, every actor in it is throwing 100-mph heat in every episode. Many times over, Roman Roy has instilled revulsion and abhorrence. His defensiveness is so relentlessly offensive because when he allows himself room to get hurt, he hurts hard. Sympathy and sorrow for the same character were feelings I never anticipated, and no actor’s face has worn those emotions in recent memory as effectively as Kieran Culkin in season three of Succession.

1. Bo Burnham: Inside

"Daddy made you your favorite, open wide."

There's no contest; nothing last year was better than Inside. God knows how many pieces came out analyzing the brilliance of Bo's one-room special, and I won't add to them. Pick any glowing review out there and apply it here. It's silly, profound and tremendously sad. Like many others, I've followed Bo since YouTube's infancy, and there's simply no one like him. From writing and performing to editing and directing, the case can be made that he is the most complete package of creative talent we've ever had. I feel fortunate to have been a witness. Is the messianic fervor a bit much? Perhaps. Who cares? Praise be to he.