Top 5 in Entertainment (2021 Edition)

[HHNManics]

Discuss.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

• Only Murders in the Building - A delightful surprise of a show that is worthy of the praise it gets. Steve Martin's performance in the final episode is something I still think about every once in a while. I cannot wait for season 2. Don't want to say too much more besides "watch this".
• RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars 6 - I binge-watched Drag Race earlier this year and was able to follow along with All Stars 6 which turned out to be a total delight. The game within a game became a meme but overall the season had fun challenges, good drama, redemption for queens that got the villain edit, and some of the most epic lip-synchs of the whole show.
• Psychonauts 2 - Double Fine is the sort of dev where I enjoy their style, writing, concepts, and general vibe but almost never their gameplay. It brings me great joy to report that Psychonauts 2 finally brings that refined and fun gameplay to this stylish and ambitious game. The story of flawed individuals overcoming their mental obstacles and baggage to come together to defeat evil (or, more accurately, embrace it) is surprisingly nuanced. Well worth playing.
• Ted Lasso Season 2 - For some this was a contentious season, going both from "nothing is happening" to "too much happened with no set up". But if you are paying attention, and had some knowledge of personality disorders, it was clear where things were going. Nate's turn from underdog we were rooting for to simmering, vindictive bully was wonderfully done. I'm excited to see where season 3 goes.
• Hadestown - I first became aware of Hadestown through Why We Build the Wall which was featured in a random YouTube video I saw years ago. Then I saw the Tony's performance and listened to the OBC recording and fell in love. I wanted to see the show badly but then COVID hit and everything was placed on pause. With Broadway's return this year I jumped to get tickets and flew out for one weekend to see a show. it was incredible and I'm still obsessed. The show is complex with many layers and details I didn't pick up just listening to the OBC.

 

[quinnmac000]

5. Lisa-Money....the song itself isn't that great but with the airing of Squid Game and the large increase of crypto lovers, the song became the meme song of the year for anything related to finances.
4. Hadestown-The musical was so popular, I saw it in Korean, just so I was able to say I've seen it.
3. Shang-chi-- It was fantastic to see the first Asian superhero on the big screen. While not the GOAT of marvel films, it still was impactful.
2. Schmigadoon- The first apple+ tv show that my friends and I actually liked to watch together.....the SNL cast meeting the top broadway stars to tell a modern day old school romance was brillant
1. Succession Season 3: The finale episode was the best tv of 2021 hands down. Nothing and no one can compete with the last 20 minutes and the acting.

 

[belloq87]

In alphabetical order:

- DUNE: Incredible big-screen spectacle.
- THE GREEN KNIGHT: The best cinematic version of Arthurian legend since EXCALIBUR.
- MARE OF EASTTOWN: A solid murder mystery and an even better character study.
- SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME: The best kind of fan service.
- WEST SIDE STORY: Spielberg just showing off.

 

[OhHaiInternet95]

Can't limit it to five, but can't quite think of ten:

#8--Jon Stewart's rant on the Late Show
IDK if I can go into specifics here, but if you know, you know.

#7--Arcane: League of Legends
A compelling and beautifully animated political drama. Coming from someone who has no familiarity with the League of Legends franchise.

#6--Nightmare Fuel
Dark and adult themes/imagery with incredible stunts and a banger of a soundtrack. Perfect sendoff for the Fear Factor Live stage.

#5--Beneath the Ice and campground zone (can't remember name)
Very scary house and an elaborately themed, in-your-face scare zone. IDK what I'll do next year for haunt season (if anything--budget and all) but I'm glad they decided to expand HoS here as well.

#4--South Park: Post Covid (both parts)
Possibly the best thing the show has done in the last 10 years.

#3--Spider-Man: No Way Home
As said above, the best fan service imaginable.

#2--Invincible
A refreshingly brilliant take on the superhero genre (YES IT'S BASED ON A COMIC I KNOW).

#1--Velocicoaster
I mean, duh.

 

[Viator]

In no order. No format. Just five great, amazing things.

• Final Fantasy XIV (and FFXIV Endwalker) = by god, does Square Enix ***know*** how to make great RPG stories. Might be my favorite FF entry in general, it captures everything I want from the narrative beats of previous content, and flips aspects all over the head in the best way possible.
• Dune = Pure, full tilt, nothing I have ever seen. Will be incredibly disappointed if it doesn't get nominated for BP in the races to come.
• No Way Home/Matrix Resurrections = Putting both in one because yeah, I love both of them tremendously. No Way Home inches past Matrix Resurrection's on it's third act, but god do I love both tremendously. Definitely my number #1 (No Way Home) and #2 (Matrix Resurrections) respectively.
• Arcane = Setting the gold standard of what an adaptation of a video game can be, Arcane is probably my favorite show of the year. It is the complete package, with the best visuals out of any form of scripted TV/Film of the year (And that says a lot considering Dune and Matrix). Also has some of the best translations of characters for a jump from game to pre-scripted media like Film/TV.
• The Weeknd = This might be his year as an artist for the risks he takes on music, and for the strokes of popularity he has gained towards. Take My Breath is an absolute banger and it's MV accompanied by it is nothing short of spectacular. Silk Sonic (Bruno Mars/Anderson .Paak) might come close on how consistently great they were to me.

Also, because I can. Evangelion 3.0+1.0. Anno freaking killed it with his work here on Evangelion 3.0+1.0 for me.

And if need be a list on film in the immediate..

1: No Way Home
2: Matrix Resurrections
3: Evangelion 3.0+1.0
4: Dune
5: Mitchell vs. The Machines (flip flops from that or TSS)

Evangelion rises above Dune just by its characterization and depth. I love both, and its more a tie position on those two like NWH/Matrix, but I need Part 2 of Dune to make my feelings absolute.

 

[Nick]

Tobey Maguire is Spider-Man again, The new Matrix movie has people divided, Fast and the Furious had a sequel in theaters, and Daredevil is back on the big screen. It really was 2003 all over again. I guess everything that's old is truly new again if the hype is there for it still.

Top for me would be:

• Only Murders in the Building - My favorite show of the year, but I think @Joe described it best. It's sort of like a Steve Martin/Martin Short stand up routine, but dramatized in the best way. It knew when to take itself serious and when to poke fun at itself.
• Tick, Tick... Boom - Andrew Garfield *should* win Best Actor for playing Jon Larson. I still come back to this film and his performance every once and awhile and i'll watch some of the song clips not infrequently. It was probably the first performance in a film that I just thoroughly enjoyed the entire film and I thought and that made a lasting impact on me in quite some time.
• Spider-Man: No Way Home - I feel like my list would just be me trying to be elitist if I didn't include the film I had the most fun at this year and that was so good i've seen it three times in theaters and have already pre-ordered the Blu-Ray. Scorsese and others may say these films aren't "real cinema", but in a time when movie theaters are struggling big time, people took time out of their day to go see this film when they could've just stayed home and watched something on streaming ("The Power of the Dog", perhaps, since it's "real cinema"?)
• Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy - I was really skeptical that this was going to be a bit of a throwaway game at first, but wow, was this a great narrative game.
• XSX/PS5 - I finally got one of both of these systems this year and the games aren't out yet to fully utilize what these next gen consoles can do really, but I already feel like my gaming experience is vastly enhanced, especially with a feature like Quick Resume on XSX/S. The other huge thing that Xbox has going for them is Gamepass Ultimate. It's not cheap, but hell if i'm not trying out wayyyyyy more games that I never would have otherwise. Never would've played Forza Horizon 5 without Gamepass and ended up loving it. It's a game I always have on in the background and use the Quick Resume feature to just jump in and out since it's that type of a game.

 

[belloq87]

have already pre-ordered the Blu-Ray

Which one did you go with? I snagged the Best Buy Steelbook.

 

[Nick]

Which one did you go with? I snagged the Best Buy Steelbook.

Steelbook since I have a Steelbook collection. If I get a Blu-Ray, I normally get Steelbook.

 

[Jerroddragon]

Spiderman No Way Home
Invincible
Ted Lasso Season 2
The Sandman Volume 2 on Auidble
Arcane

Shout out to Masters of the Universe, Shawnman King, The Last Shadow (Enders Game book Series) and Halo

 

[HORRORable Commenter]

For me it has to be:
DUNE - Amazing epic with incredible intricacy, respect for the material, and distinct Villneuve flair.
The Suicide Squad - James Gunn makes an Edgar Wright film and it's incredible.
West Side Story - Spielberg remake drags in the second act, but works completely in faithfully retelling the shows story with modern panache.
All the MCU shows - Getting to hype and speculate weekly was incredible, and many episodes and moments have definitely entered my MCU top ten.
Doom Patrol Season 3 - Butts, aliens, and Alex Jones medication, this show rules

 

[Tbad556]

Weird year. COVID has worn me down hard, so I've avoided/missed a huge chunk of the "high-brow", serious movies/shows this year and relied more on light-hearted comfort entertainment.

TV:
- Succession
- Ted Lasso
- What We Do In The Shadows
- Loki
- Puppet History

Movies:
- Inside
- Luca
- Spider-Man: No Way Home
- The Mitchells vs. the Machines
- The Suicide Squad

Music:
- Injury Reserve - By The Time I Get To Phoenix
- Turnstile - GLOW ON
- Every Time I Die - Radical
- Tyler The Creator - Call Me If You Get Lost
- Backxwash - I LIE HERE BURIED WITH MY RINGS AND MY DRESSES
- BROCKHAMPTON - ROADRUNNER
- Aly & AJ - A Touch of the Beat Gets You Up on Your Feet Gets You Out and Then Into the Sun
- Halsey - If I Can't Have Love I Want Power
- Magdalena Bay - Mercurial World
- Wolf Alice - Blue Weekend

 

[Viator]

Got a more defined list for top 5s.

Film:
1: Spider-Man: No Way Home
2: Evangelion 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time
3: Dune
4: The Matrix Ressurections
5: The Mitchell's vs. The Machines

Gaming
1: Final Fantasy XIV Endwalker
2: Forza Horizon 5
3: Twelve Minutes
4: Psychonauts 2
5: Halo Infinite

TV
1: Arcane
2: The Village Bride (Star Wars Visions)
3: Falcon and The Winter Soldier
4: Loki

Music (artists)*
1: The Weeknd (The best to me on just how consistently and stellar the Music released was. Absolutely stellar.))
2: Dua Lipa (her piece with Elton John is an bona-fide banger)
3: Hans Zimmer (Dune and No Time to Die. Nuff said)
4: Lil Nas X ((his entire opening album)).
5: Silk Sonic ((a massive surprise, a welcome one too.))

*Music is where I value it not just on the individual song, but how good the artist did for me.))

 

[HORRORable Commenter]

Got a more defined list for top 5s.

Film:
1: Spider-Man: No Way Home
2: Evangelion 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time
3: Dune
4: The Matrix Ressurections
5: The Mitchell's vs. The Machines

Gaming
1: Final Fantasy XIV Endwalker
2: Forza Horizon 5
3: Twelve Minutes
4: Psychonauts 2
5: Halo Infinite

TV
1: Arcane
2: The Village Bride (Star Wars Visions)
3: Falcon and The Winter Soldier
4: Loki

Music (artists)*
1: The Weeknd (The best to me on just how consistently and stellar the Music released was. Absolutely stellar.))
2: Dua Lipa (her piece with Elton John is an bona-fide banger)
3: Hans Zimmer (Dune and No Time to Die. Nuff said)
4: Lil Nas X ((his entire opening album)).
5: Silk Sonic ((a massive surprise, a welcome one too.))

*Music is where I value it not just on the individual song, but how good the artist did for me.))

I enjoyed all of these quite a bit. Agree that Weeknd won the year, despite how you may feel about his Music. Great image, consistently on top, loved by general audiences, respected by critics, and made a ton of money.

My personal musical top 5 would be, in albums:

Donda - Felt like an experience with the hype, similar to Spiderman. Album was very good too imo, almost all of the tracks are great but exist in a really chill vibe that makes them boring on first listen.

If I cant have love (Halsey X NIN) - Never loved Halsey, but Reznor and Ross can produce anything.

Call me if you get lost - Tyler's third in this flowery and jazzy trilogy is my least favorite, but still a great entry with some fire bars

That baby keem album - This was hillarious and had me smiling the whole time. Kinda like Lil Pump or 69s records, but genuinely much better without loosing the funny vibes

Last spot is maybe the new Mastodon? Or Thugger? Idk, haven't listened to the Lil Simz record yet though but I've heard it's incredible and could likely round out my picks

 

[HHNManics]

(For right now. Still need to see more movies).
1. The Green Knight
2. Nightmare Alley
3. Spencer
4. Pig
5. West Side Story

TV:
1. Midnight Mass
2. It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia Season 15
3. Squid Game
4. Invincible
5. Chucky

 

[quinnmac000]

Since I really didn't list out this category I will go in depth my top 5.

Music
1. Doja Cat...her songs dominated tiktok, instagram reelz, films, and more while being catchy earworms that are easy to have on repeat and not get annoyed (Kiss me more, woman, streets, you right)
2. Lil Nas X....Montero alone was so popular and his visuals for his videos are so fun
3. The Weeknd...but when is the weekend bad
4. As much as I literally hate this group...BTS definitely had some massive ear worms
5. The song Stay (Kid laroi ft justin bieber) is a such a banger

 

[HORRORable Commenter]

I just saw Red Rocket by Sean Baker and would definitely add it to my yearly top 5. High recommend if you're able to get a showing; very funny, very dark.

 

[Jaden]

Not much for me but:

1. Spider-Man: No Way Home
2. JoJo Bizarre Adventure: Part 6
3. Invincible
4. The Suicide Squad
5. KOF XV (Even if it was just the beta, it was the most fun I ever had in a fighting game. Can’t wait for the full release)

 

[Nick]

If we want to get into top most anticipated for 2022...

Movies:
1. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
2. The Batman
3. Avatar 2
4. Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse (Part 1)
5. Knives Out 2
6. The Flash
7. Killers of the Flower Moon
8. Thor: Love and Thunder
9. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
10. Spirited

TV:
1. Moon Knight
2. The Last of Us
3. The Mandalorian (S3)
4. Only Murders in the Building (S2)
5. Peacemaker
6. Halo
7. The Lord of the Rings
8. House of the Dragon
9. Secret Invasion
10. The Flight Attendant (S2)

Honorable Mention: Pam & Tommy, The Dropout, Ms. Marvel, Shadow & Bone (S2)

Music:
1. Untitled The 1975 album
2. Untitled Kendrick Lamar album
3. Untitled The Weeknd album
4. Untitled Arctic Monkeys album
5. Born With Horns - Machine Gun Kelly

Video Games:
1. Starfield
2. God of War: Ragnarok
3. Breath of the Wild 2
4. Redfall
5. Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League
6. Hogwarts Legacy
7. The Callisto Protocol
8. Dead Space (Remake)
9. Marvel's Midnight Suns
10. A Plague Tale: Requiem
11. Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora

 

[belloq87]

My ten most-anticipated movies of 2022...
- DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS
- THE NORTHMAN
- KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON
- THE BATMAN
- BABYLON
- THE BLACK PHONE
- JURASSIC WORLD: DOMINION
- TOP GUN: MAVERICK
- THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER
- DEATH ON THE NILE

Honorable Mentions: AVATAR 2, THE FABELMANS, NOPE, SALEM'S LOT, MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 7