Year-End Lists

Complex: The Best TV Shows of 2021

[see also 2022 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018]

1. Succession
2. Snowfall
3. South Side
4. Curb Your Enthusiasm
5. Invincible
6. Lupin
7. Insecure
8. Loki
9. The Other Two
10. WandaVision
11. BMF
12. Flatbush Misdemeanors
13. The Underground Railroad
14. Blindspotting
15. Squid Game

Eliana Dockterman: The 10 Best Podcasts of 2021, as published by Time Magazine

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2020]

1. 9/12
2. S***hole Country
3. Sway
4. Fighting In The War Room
5. The Just Enough Family
6. Poog
7. Spectacle
8. StraightioLab
9. The Sporkful
10. Criticism Is Dead

IndieWire: The 25 Best Movies of 2021

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2020 • 2010s • 2015]

1. The Power of the Dog
   Jane Campion
2. Licorice Pizza
   Paul Thomas Anderson
3. Drive My Car
   Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
4. Flee
   Jonas Poher Rasmussen
5. Titane
   Julia Ducournau
6. Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)
   Questlove
7. Memoria
   Apichatpong Weerasethakul
8. The Card Counter
   Paul Schrader
9. The Green Knight
   David Lowery
10. Parallel Mothers
    Pedro Almodóvar
11. Bergman Island
    Mia Hansen-Løve
12. Passing
    Rebecca Hall
13. CODA
    Sian Heder
14. Red Rocket
    Sean Baker
15. Procession
    Robert Greene
16. The Worst Person in the World
    Joachim Trier
17. The Lost Daughter
    Maggie Gyllenhaal
18. Pig
    Michael Sarnoski
19. Zola
    Janicza Bravo
20. There Is No Evil
    Mohammad Rasoulof
21. The Souvenir Part II
    Joanna Hogg
22. West Side Story
    Steven Spielberg
23. Spencer
    Pablo Larraín
24. Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn
    Radu Jude
25. Test Pattern
    Shatara Michelle Ford

Lindsay Zoladz: Best Albums of 2021, as published by The New York Times

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2020]

1. 30
   Adele
2. Call Me If You Get Lost
   Tyler, The Creator
3. Valentine
   Snail Mail
4. Heaux Tales
   Jazmine Sullivan
5. Let Me Do One More
   illuminati hotties
6. Sour
   Olivia Rodrigo
7. Ignorance
   The Weather Station
8. Hey What
   Low
9. Home Video
   Lucy Dacus
10. New Long Leg
    Dry Cleaning
11. Happier Than Ever
    Billie Eilish
12. Afrique Victime
    Mdou Moctar
13. Switched On Ra
    Bitchin Bajas
14. Juno
    Remi Wolf

Some runners-up worth mentioning

• Fatigue
  L'Rain
• Changephobia
  Rostam
• Head of Roses
  Flock of Dimes
• Chemtrails over the Country Club
  Lana Del Rey
• If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power
  Halsey
• Palberta5000
  Palberta
• Lily We Need to Talk Now
  Lily Konigsberg

Jon Caramanica: Best Albums of 2021, as published by The New York Times

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2011]

1. When Smoke Rises
   Mustafa
2. Bigger Than Life or Death
   EST Gee
3. Sour
   Olivia Rodrigo
4. A Gangsta’s Pain
   Moneybagg Yo
5. to hell with it
   PinkPantheress
6. Still Over It
   Summer Walker
7. Chemtrails over the Country Club
   Lana Del Rey
8. Call Me If You Get Lost
   Tyler, The Creator
9. Whole Lotta Red
   Playboi Carti
10. Donda (Deluxe)
    Kanye West
11. Vice Versa
    Rauw Alejandro
12. Planet Her
    Doja Cat
13. Blood Bunny
    Chloe Moriondo
14. Down Home Boy
    Kidd G
15. Ultrapop
    The Armed
16. 29: Written In Stone
    Carly Pearce
17. 4L
    Yeat
18. La Maquina
    Conway the Machine
19. La 167
    Farruko
20. Remember Her Name
    Mickey Guyton

And 20 more albums for a more well-rounded year

• Free Dem Boyz
  42 Dugg
• This Is What It Feels Like
  Gracie Abrams
• Savage
  Aespa
• Return of Okomfo Anokye
  Jay Bahd
• The Plugs I Met 2
  Benny the Butcher & Harry Fraud
• Alma Vacía
  Ivan Cornejo
• Timelezz
  Jhay Cortez
• We're All Alone in This Together
  Dave
• Certified Lover Boy
  Drake
• If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power
  Halsey
• Human The Double Album
  Cody Johnson
• Sticker
  NCT 127
• Crack Dreams
  RXKNephew
• Deacon
  serpentwithfeet
• Entertainment, Death
  The Spirit Of The Beehive
• Life of a Don
  Don Toliver
• SoulFly
  Rod Wave
• Green with Envy
  Tion Wayne
• Half God
  Wiki
• Punk
  Young Thug

Jon Pareles: Best Albums of 2021, as published by The New York Times

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2011]

1. Deja
   Bomba Estéreo
2. Outside Child
   Allison Russell
3. Seis
   Mon Laferte
4. Ignorance
   The Weather Station
5. Afrique Victime
   Mdou Moctar
6. Little Oblivions
   Julien Baker
7. Cavalcade
   black midi
8. Sour
   Olivia Rodrigo
9. Songwrights Apothecary Lab
   Esperanza Spalding
10. Call Me If You Get Lost
    Tyler, The Creator

Another 15 deserving albums, alphabetically

• 30
  Adele
• Vulture Prince
  Arooj Aftab
• Live In New York
  Khaira Arby
• Happier Than Ever
  Billie Eilish
• Promises
  Floating Points / Pharoah Sanders / London Symphony Orchestra
• Head of Roses
  Flock of Dimes
• They're Calling Me Home
  Rhiannon Giddens with Francesco Turrisi
• Crawler
  Idles
• A Martyr’s Reward
  Ka
• The Moon And Stars: Prescriptions For Dreamers
  Valerie June
• Fatigue
  L'Rain
• Collapsed in Sunbeams
  Arlo Parks
• Raise The Roof
  Robert Plant & Alison Krauss
• An East African Journey
  Omar Sosa
• Heaux Tales
  Jazmine Sullivan

Paste Magazine: The 30 Best TV Shows of 2021

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2010s • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016]

1. Hacks
2. Mare of Easttown
3. Only Murders in the Building
4. WandaVision
5. What We Do in the Shadows
6. Ted Lasso
7. The Other Two
8. Reservation Dogs
9. The Great
10. Succession
11. Cruel Summer
12. Girls5eva
13. Midnight Mass
14. Lupin
15. The Good Fight
16. Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist
17. Resident Alien
18. Cobra Kai
19. It's a Sin
20. Schmigadoon!
21. All Creatures Great and Small
22. The Underground Railroad
23. The Great British Bake Off
24. Dopesick
25. Kevin Can F**k Himself
26. I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson
27. Starstruck
28. Shadow and Bone
29. Dickinson
30. Nine Perfect Strangers

Richard Lawson: The 10 Best Movies of 2021, as published by Vanity Fair

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2020 • 2010s • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013]

1. The Worst Person in the World
   Joachim Trier
2. Drive My Car
   Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
3. The Power of the Dog
   Jane Campion
4. C'mon C'mon
   Mike Mills
5. Flee
   Jonas Poher Rasmussen
6. The Souvenir Part II
   Joanna Hogg
7. The Humans
   Stephen Karam
8. Mass
   Fran Kranz
9. The Green Knight
   David Lowery
10. Bergman Island
    Mia Hansen-Løve

Sonia Saraiya: The 14 Best TV Shows of 2021, as published by Vanity Fair

[see also 2020 • 2010s • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015]

1. Succession
2. Yellowjackets
3. Saturday Night Live
4. You
5. The White Lotus
6. Hacks
7. Station Eleven
8. Sort Of
9. Love Life
10. Dickinson
11. The Great

Gorilla vs. Bear: Albums of 2021

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2020 • 2010s • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011]

1. Mercurial World
   Magdalena Bay
2. Colourgrade
   Tirzah
3. Rhinestones
   HTRK
4. Shade
   Grouper
5. Pray For Haiti
   Mach-Hommy
6. Black Metal 2
   Dean Blunt
7. Honest Labour
   Space Afrika
8. Letter Blue
   Wet
9. Anything Can't Happen
   Dorothea Paas
10. Waking the Dreaming Body
    Karima Walker
11. Jimbo Demo
    Enumclaw
12. 4 New Hit Songs
    Doss
13. DJ-Kicks
    Jessy Lanza
14. Al Mundo Azul
    Mr Twin Sister
15. Haram
    Armand Hammer & The Alchemist
16. Sensational
    Erika de Casier
17. Untourable Album
    Men I Trust
18. Twin Plagues
    Wednesday
19. Reflection
    Loraine James
20. Cheap Dreams
    Small Black
21. Hildegard
    Hildegard
22. one hand on the steering wheel the other sewing a garden
    Ada Lea
23. Somewhere
    Sun June
24. Before Sunrise
    Nana Yamato
25. Son
    Rosie Lowe & Duval Timothy
26. The Makin' Magick II Album
    DJ Sabrina The Teenage DJ
27. Sound Ancestors
    Madlib
28. Spoiled Love
    Buzzy Lee
29. Call Me If You Get Lost
    Tyler, The Creator
30. Goteo
    Sangre Nueva
31. echo
    Indigo Sparke
32. Nu Grip
    harvey_dug
33. Valentine
    Snail Mail
34. An Overview on Phenomenal Nature
    Cassandra Jenkins
35. No Sun
    Nite Jewel
36. Pool
    Skee Mask
37. Renée Reed
    Renée Reed
37. J’ai rêvé
    Renée Reed
38. Mother
    Cleo Sol
39. Hey What
    Low
40. LP! (OFFLINE)
    JPEGMAFIA
41. Blue Banisters
    Lana Del Rey
42. Fun House
    Hand Habits
43. Lieve
    Holy Other
44. Madison
    Sloppy Jane
45. I can't complain but sometimes I still do
    various artists
46. Navy’s Reprise
    Navy Blue
47. Vulture Prince
    Arooj Aftab
48. Basic Tools
    Equiknoxx
49. Wave Your Moonlight Hat for the Snowfall Train
    You’ll Never Get to Heaven
50. Yaral Sa Doom
    Wau Wau Collectif