Year-End Lists

Sarah Knight Adamson: Best 20 Films of 2021

[see also 2022]

1. Belfast
   Kenneth Branagh
2. West Side Story
   Steven Spielberg
3. King Richard
   Reinaldo Marcus Green
4. Spider-Man: No Way Home
   Jon Watts
5. Cruella
   Craig Gillespie
6. Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar
   Josh Greenbaum
7. Passing
   Rebecca Hall
8. Spencer
   Pablo Larraín
9. The Rescue
   Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin
10. Dune
    Denis Villeneuve

AllMusic: Best of 2021

[see also 2023 • 2020 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011]

• 30
  Adele
• Queens of the Summer Hotel
  Aimee Mann
• Raise The Roof
  Robert Plant & Alison Krauss
• Outside Child
  Allison Russell
• Comfort To Me
  Amyl and The Sniffers
• Talk Memory
  BADBADNOTGOOD
• Open Arms to Open Us
  Ben LaMar Gay
• Happier Than Ever
  Billie Eilish
• Hardware
  Billy F Gibbons
• Inside (The Songs)
  Bo Burnham
• Deja
  Bomba Estéreo
• In These Silent Days
  Brandi Carlile
• El Madrileño
  C. Tangana
• Parallel World
  Cadence Weapon
• An Overview on Phenomenal Nature
  Cassandra Jenkins
• The River Doesn’t Like Strangers
  Chelsea Carmichael
• Screen Violence
  Chvrches
• Playground In A Lake
  Clark
• Mother
  Cleo Sol
• Prosthetic Boombox
  Cola Boyy
• The Tunnel and the Clearing
  Colleen
• Bloodmoon: I
  Converge & Chelsea Wolfe
• If Words Were Flowers
  Curtis Harding
• The Nearer the Fountain, More Pure the Stream Flows
  Damon Albarn
• New Long Leg
  Dry Cleaning
• The Obvious I
  Ed Dowie
• Phantasmagoria, or A Different Kind of Journey
  The Eivind Aarset 4-tet
• Dear America
  Eric Bibb
• Flat White Moon
  Field Music
• Medicine at Midnight
  Foo Fighters
• For As Long As I Can Remember
  Geoffrey O'Connor
• Shade
  Grouper
• If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power
  Halsey
• Far In
  Helado Negro
• Pärt: Passio
  Helsinki Chamber Choir & Nils Schweckendiek
• Mood Valiant
  Hiatus Kaiyote
• The Marfa Tapes
  Jack Ingram, Miranda Lambert, Jon Randall
• The Horses and the Hounds
  James McMurtry
• Jubilee
  Japanese Breakfast
• Dear Love
  Jazzmeia Horn and Her Noble Force
• Haydn: Piano Sonatas, Vol. 9
  Jean-Efflam Bavouzet
• Brighten
  Jerry Cantrell
• Septet
  John Carroll Kirby
• We Are
  Jon Batiste
• Presentable Corpse 002
  Jorge Elbrecht
• KG0516
  Karol G
• Broken Land 2
  Kenneth Whalum
• Butterfly 3000
  King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard
• Mozart: Clarinet Quintet & Horn Quintet
  Klenke Quartett & Nicola Jürgensen & Stephan Katte
• Fatigue
  L'Rain
• Pink Noise
  Laura Mvula
• Montero
  Lil Nas X
• Lindsey Buckingham
  Lindsey Buckingham
• Sometimes I Might Be Introvert
  Little Simz
• Soberish
  Liz Phair
• Former Things
  LoneLady
• Native Sons
  Los Lobos
• För Allting
  Makthaverskan
• Beethoven: Symphony No. 9
  Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
• Portas
  Marisa Monte
• The Path of the Clouds
  Marissa Nadler
• Hushed and Grim
  Mastodon
• Im Abendrot At Sunset Wagner, Pfitzner, Strauss
  Matthias Goerne and Seong-Jin Cho
• Afrique Victime
  Mdou Moctar
• Overtones for the Omniverse
  Mocky
• As The Love Continues
  Mogwai
• AAI
  Mouse On Mars
• Space 1.8
  Nala Sinephro
• Sour
  Olivia Rodrigo
• Liszt: Inspirations
  Olivier Latry
• to hell with it
  PinkPantheress
• Whole Lotta Red
  Playboi Carti
• Cyclorama
  Polo & Pan
• Beethoven: Missa Solemnis
  Rene Jacobs
• Sharecropper's Son
  Robert Finley
• Play With the Changes
  Rochelle Jordan
• Ontology
  Roxana Amed
• I've Been Trying To Tell You
  Saint Etienne
• Bye For Now
  Smile Machine
• Black To The Future
  Sons of Kemet
• Bright Green Field
  Squid
• Other You
  Steve Gunn
• Shirushi
  TEKE::TEKE
• Drones
  Terrace Martin
• Ultrapop
  The Armed
• Coral Island
  The Coral
• Open Door Policy
  The Hold Steady
• Dark in Here
  The Mountain Goats
• Uncommon Weather
  The Reds, Pinks & Purples
• Ignorance
  The Weather Station
• The Dept. Of Discontinued Lines
  William Loveday Intention
• BLK2LIFE || A FUTURE PAST
  Theo Croker
• Thirstier
  Torres
• Glow On
  Turnstile
• Call Me If You Get Lost
  Tyler, The Creator
• The Moon And Stars: Prescriptions For Dreamers
  Valerie June
• Beethoven: Sonatas 4, 5 & 7
  Viktoria Mullova and Alasdair Beatson
• Blue Weekend
  Wolf Alice
• Urban Driftwood
  Yasmin Williams
• Stand For Myself
  Yola

Ty Burr: The Best Movies of 2021, the first 20 of which are organized into pairings of complementary films on his Substack

[see also 2022 • 2020 • 2010s • 2014 • 2012 • 2011]

1. Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy
   Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
2. Drive My Car
   Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
3. Quo Vadis, Aida?
   Jasmila Žbanić
4. Parallel Mothers
   Pedro Almodóvar
5. Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)
   Questlove
6. The Beatles: Get Back
   Peter Jackson
7. Petite Maman
   Céline Sciamma
8. The Lost Daughter
   Maggie Gyllenhaal
9. Spencer
   Pablo Larraín
10. The Card Counter
    Paul Schrader
11. West Side Story
    Steven Spielberg
12. In the Heights
    Jon M. Chu
13. The Velvet Underground
    Todd Haynes
14. The Sparks Brothers
    Edgar Wright
15. Flee
    Jonas Poher Rasmussen
16. The Mitchells vs. the Machines
    Mike Rianda
17. The Worst Person in the World
    Joachim Trier
18. The Souvenir Part II
    Joanna Hogg
19. Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn
    Radu Jude
20. Red Rocket
    Sean Baker

Alphabetical order from here

• Annette
  Leos Carax
• Bergman Island
  Mia Hansen-Løve
• Bo Burnham: Inside
  Bo Burnham
• The Last Duel
  Ridley Scott
• Licorice Pizza
  Paul Thomas Anderson
• Nine Days
  Edson Oda
• No Sudden Move
  Steven Soderbergh
• Passing
  Rebecca Hall
• Pig
  Michael Sarnoski
• The Power of the Dog
  Jane Campion
• Procession
  Robert Greene
• Riders of Justice
  Anders Thomas Jensen
• Shiva Baby
  Emma Seligman
• The Tender Bar
  George Clooney
• The Tragedy of Macbeth
  Joel Coen

Noel Murray: The 10 (or 11) Best Documentaries of 2021, as published by Polygon

[see also The 10 Best Documentaries of 2022 • The Best Films of 2021 • The Best Films of 2020 • The Best Films of 2019 • Top 15 Films of 2018 • Best Films of 2017 • The Best Films of 2016 • The Best Films of 2015 • Top 15 Films of 2014 • 15 Best Films of 2012 • Best Films of 2011]

• All Light, Everywhere
  Theo Anthony
• Attica
  Stanley Nelson and Traci Curry
• Flee
  Jonas Poher Rasmussen
• Operation Varsity Blues
  Chris Smith
• A Cop Movie
  Alonso Ruizpalacios
• Procession
  Robert Greene
• Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)
  Questlove
• The Truffle Hunters
  Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw
• Val
  Leo Scott and Ting Poo
• The Velvet Underground
  Todd Haynes
• The Viewing Booth
  Ra’anan Alexandrowicz

An honorable mention to these music documentaries

• Tina
  Daniel Lindsay and T.J. Martin
• The Sparks Brothers
  Edgar Wright
• Under the Volcano
  Gracie Otto
• Listening to Kenny G
  Penny Lane
• The Beatles: Get Back
  Peter Jackson

Polygon: The Best Movies of 2021

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2019]

• Annette
  Leos Carax
• Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar
  Josh Greenbaum
• Bo Burnham: Inside
  Bo Burnham
• CODA
  Sian Heder
• Drive My Car
  Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
• Encanto
  Jared Bush and Byron Howard
• Evangelion: 3.0+1.01 Thrice Upon a Time
  various directors
• The French Dispatch
  Wes Anderson
• The Green Knight
  David Lowery
• Identifying Features
  Fernanda Valadez
• In the Heights
  Jon M. Chu
• Judas and the Black Messiah
  Shaka King
• Nine Days
  Edson Oda
• No Sudden Move
  Steven Soderbergh
• Parallel Mothers
  Pedro Almodóvar
• Petite Maman
  Céline Sciamma
• Pig
  Michael Sarnoski
• The Power of the Dog
  Jane Campion
• Preparations to be Together for an Unknown Period of Time
  Lili Horvát
• Shiva Baby
  Emma Seligman
• Spencer
  Pablo Larraín
• The Worst Person in the World
  Joachim Trier
• This Is Not a Burial, It's a Resurrection
  Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese
• tick, tick... BOOM!
  Lin-Manuel Miranda
• Titane
  Julia Ducournau
• Zola
  Janicza Bravo

Emily St. James: The Best TV Shows of 2021, as published by Vox

[see also 2010s • 2019 • 2018 • 2017]

The best TV show of 2021

• The Underground Railroad

12 other TV shows I really loved (in alphabetical order)

• Evil
• For All Mankind
• The Great
• Midnight Mass
• Mythic Quest
• Reservation Dogs
• Station Eleven
• Succession
• We Are Lady Parts
• Work in Progress
• Yellowjackets
• You

Five other shows, why not?

• Y: The Last Man
• The White Lotus
• What We Do in the Shadows
• PEN15
• Hellbound

Jordan Cronk: The Top 30 Albums of 2021

[see also 2022 • 2020 • 2010s • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016]

1. i became birds
   Home Is Where
2. Hey What
   Low
3. Shade
   Grouper
4. A Billion Little Lights
   Wild Pink
5. Illusory Walls
   The World Is A Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid To Die
6. Moot!
   Moin
7. Draw Down The Moon
   Foxing
8. Frailty
   dltzk
9. a softer focus
   claire rousay
10. Promises
    Floating Points / Pharoah Sanders / London Symphony Orchestra
11. New Music and Big Pop
    Another Michael
12. Between the Richness
    Fiddlehead
13. Made Out Of Sound
    Chris Corsano & Bill Orcutt
14. Structure
    Water From Your Eyes
15. Observatory
    Aeon Station
16. I Know I'm Funny haha
    Faye Webster
17. Mirror Guide
    Giant Claw
18. Sound Ancestors
    Madlib
19. To See the Next Part of the Dream
    Parannoul
20. Sour
    Olivia Rodrigo
21. Really From
    Really From
22. Uncommon Weather
    The Reds, Pinks & Purples
23. Glow On
    Turnstile
24. New Long Leg
    Dry Cleaning
25. GAMI GANG
    Origami Angel
26. Any Shape You Take
    Indigo De Souza
27. Honest Labour
    Space Afrika
28. Don't Know What I Am
    Alien Boy
29. Mercurial World
    Magdalena Bay
30. G_d's Pee at State's End!
    Godspeed You! Black Emperor

Ben Yakas: The Best TV Shows of 2021, as published by Gothamist

Dramas

1. Succession
2. Shtisel
3. The White Lotus
4. Station Eleven
5. The Underground Railroad
6. For All Mankind
7. Yellowjackets
8. Mare of Easttown
9. Impeachment: American Crime Story
10. WandaVision
10. Loki
10. Hawkeye

Honorable Mentions - Drama

• You
• Maid
• The Great
• Invincible
• Billions

Comedies

1. What We Do in the Shadows
2. I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson
3. The Other Two
4. Curb Your Enthusiasm
5. Mythic Quest
6. Hacks
7. How To with John Wilson
8. Only Murders in the Building
9. Girls5eva
10. PEN15

Honorable Mentions - Comedy

• It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
• Insecure
• Betty
• Sex Education
• Big Mouth
• Ted Lasso
• Starstruck
• We Are Lady Parts
• Dave
• Reservation Dogs

Patrick Ryan: 5 Best Albums of 2021, as published by USA Today

[see also 2020]

1. Screen Violence
   Chvrches
2. Daddy's Home
   St. Vincent
3. Valentine
   Snail Mail
4. Juno
   Remi Wolf
5. Blue Weekend
   Wolf Alice

Melissa Ruggieri: 5 Best Albums of 2021, as published by USA Today

1. In These Silent Days
   Brandi Carlile
2. Montero
   Lil Nas X
3. Sour
   Olivia Rodrigo
4. Home Video
   Lucy Dacus
5. =
   Ed Sheeran