The movie-going and movie watching landscape continues to grow and evolve, against the industry’s will but for their benefit. 2021 saw the tail end of the extended awards season, while kinda-sorta embracing streaming as a viable option when faced with declining interest in the movie-going experience, which will more than likely become a niche endeavour, instead of a standard event. But across the board, great films continued to be released, here were my favourites from throughout the year.
Continue reading “Best in Cinema 2021: Part 1 – The Films”Best in Music: 2021
Best Album
This year saw two artists abandon their more downtrodden sounds and embrace a happier tone. Lorde had a more straightforward pop album in “Solar Power,” meanwhile the Michelle Zauner led Japanese Breakfast explored the facets of joy and happiness for one of her most personal and experiential records to date. It’s an album you can sit and envelope yourself in, or just have on in the background of a nice dinner, but it’s never disposable noise. It was certainly one of the top albums I had on repeat this year.
Continue reading “Best in Music: 2021”Best in Cinema 2020: Part 2 – Individual Achievement
My list does exclude a few awards season films that are being included due to the extended award season, yet are still 2021 releases. Judas & The Black Messiah, for example, is expected to have a presence at the Oscars this year, but is technically a 2021 film, so expect that to show up round this time next year, but not on this list.
Continue reading “Best in Cinema 2020: Part 2 – Individual Achievement”Best in Cinema 2020: Part 1 – The Films
To say my favourite films of 2020 are a reflection of the 2020 experience would be a whimsically reductive assessment of films made prior to the turning of the calendar and shit-hitting of a fan. But the art we gravitate to, be it book, song, film, whatever, are a reflection of ourselves and our state of mind. Could my picks for best films of 2020 be more of a commentary on how I was internally processing the events of the year? Perhaps. But they’re also just quality films worth checking out.
Continue reading “Best in Cinema 2020: Part 1 – The Films”Best Music of 2020: The Albums
2020 may have been one of the most daft years in recent history, but gods damn did we get a lot of great music. Music coming both in spite of all 2020 threw at us, and inspired by the trials and tribulations we all collectively went through. These are the albums that really moved me this year.
Best Album
Fiona Apple – Fetch The Bolt Cutters
Best Of Films 2019: Part 2 – Individual Achievement
Best Director
Bong Joon-Ho – Parasite
Honourable Mentions: Greta Gerwig – Little Women; Rian Johnson – Knives Out
Continue reading “Best Of Films 2019: Part 2 – Individual Achievement”Best Movies of 2019: Part 1 – The Films
Best Films of the Year
Parasite
This was the final entry into the list, the last I saw, but I was blown away with how perfect this film is. Bong Joon-Ho has long made interesting think pieces on class disparity, including past Top 10 entries Snowpiercer and Okja, but they haven’t so finely put a bow on it. And to his credit, he never marks a villain or hero in the story, so as not to demonize or lionize one particular class or the other. Bong Joon-Ho expertly crafts his story by attacking the systemic nature of disparity, as opposed to the unwilling participants. We feel for all involved, especially for the tragedy of the Kim family. The film is masterfully edited and brilliantly paced to pull you right in, and while it’s an ensemble piece, Song Kang-ho’s performance as Ki-taek is one of the more careful and nuanced performances of the year, bringing great heart and woe to the Kim patriarch.
Continue reading “Best Movies of 2019: Part 1 – The Films”Best Films of 2018: Part 2 – Individual Achievement

Best Director
Spike Lee – BlacKkKlansman
Honourable Mentions: Ryan Coogler – Black Panther; John Krasinski – A Quiet Place; Yorgos Lanthimos – The Favourite
Continue reading “Best Films of 2018: Part 2 – Individual Achievement”Best of 2018 – Film: Part 1 – Films

Best Films of the Year
Black Panther
It would be easy to dismiss this as a pop cultural phenom, a popcorn blockbuster for the masses. It’s Marvel by way of Disney, after all. But Black Panther as a film finally accomplished what comic books had been doing for years: Holding a mirror up to society. For numerous reasons. From nationalism to isolationism to racism. It captured that and ran it through a fantasy filter, but never lost its poignancy. Black Panther is a film for our time. A bloated, visual-effects laden, epic franchise comic book action film, that still manages to say something important, and look absolutely gorgeous doing so. The hero isn’t 100% right, the villain isn’t 100% wrong. This is a brightly-coloured grey area of a film. And it’s beautiful. Best film of 2018? Up there. THE film of 2018? Definitely.
A Quiet Place
If you know me, you know I tend to go genre with my favoured films. The Shape of Water, Arrival, The Witch. Had Black Panther not been the event it was, A Quiet Place would definitely be taking the top spot. It’s a deep contemplation on the anxiety of parenthood, particularly fatherhood. Director/star John Krasinski’s approached this with a lot of care, and we got a weighty monster film that does stick with you once throughout the entire film. You’re afraid to crunch your popcorn, slurp your soda, for fear of giving away their location.
Continue reading “Best of 2018 – Film: Part 1 – Films”Best Of 2018: The Music
Here’s what moved me in 2018. What got my toes tapping, my head bobbing, my fingers drumming, my lips humming. As in years past, I’ve got my Best Ofs, then a list of honourable mentions. There was a lot to enjoy in music this year. A lot I’m looking forward to
Album Of The Year
Janelle Monáe – Dirty Computer
It’s hyper-ambitious to rock a full concept album in R&B, and Janelle just lands it. It’s the perfect album for 2018, with the artist fully and unabashedly owning and celebrating her identity. Monáe’s third album feels as much as a statement of her musicality as it is a statement of her as a person. Finding out after the fact that Prince himself had a hand in crafting the album is a telling factoid that only enhances my enjoyment of the album.
Continue reading “Best Of 2018: The Music”
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