Joey's Top 15 Favorite Movie and TV Shows From 2021

There were a lot of great films and shows that were released over the past year. It’s always hard for me to narrow things down to a Top 15, but this is my list of favorite projects that were released in 2021. These are the films and shows that stuck out to me, things that I watched more than once and have immensely enjoyed.

Everyone has different tastes and I imagine many of your lists are different than mine, and that’s totally rad. I loved that we all have different personalities, views, and tastes on things! After you go through my list, please feel free to share your own favorites list!

Arcane

This animated series which is based on the League of Legends lore is my favorite project that has been released in 2021. The it was a visually awesome series and it told a strong, unique, and emotional story that was filled with wonderful and complex characters. You actually care about the characters that are introduced and watching their story arcs play out was such an amazing and moving experience.

Spider-Man: No Way Home

This was the big Marvel event of the year that everyone was excited about and waiting for, and boy oh boy, it delivered the greatness that the fans were expecting! This was the first film that I’ve been to in a long time where the audience was completely engaged and the theater was filled with cheers, applause, and tears. This is by far my favorite moviegoing experience of the year, and it made me so happy that movies are back in the cinema! 

Midnight Mass

Writer and director Mike Flanagan did it again and produced yet another incredible horror series for Netflix. Midnight Mass was a brilliant series that told a wonderfully terrifying tale. Flanagan is one of the best storytellers in the industry right now, and Midnight Mass was an enthralling series that captured my attention from the very beginning and never let go.

Pig

Nicolas Cage gave one of his best performances ever in Pig, and he certainly gave the best performance of the year. If he doesn’t will all the Best Actor awards for his role in this movie, Hollywood is dumber than I thought. On top of that, the story for this film was just so unique and introduced us to such a fascinating underground world of food. The story was also quite beautiful. 

Yellowstone

I’m finally putting Taylor Sheridan’s neo-Western onto my list. After four incredible seasons so far, this is easily one of the greatest series on TV right now and I know so many people who aren’t watching it for some reason! It makes me sad because if you’re not watching this show, you’re missing out on one hell of a great story filled with badass characters. Yellowstone is an amazing show that needs to be seen!

Dune

I was hoping that this movie would capture the epic scale of the classic Frank Herbert novel, and Denis Villeneuve delivered exactly what I was hoping for! Dune managed to give fans an epic scale that wis comparable to The Lord of the Rings, and it completely blew mind mind! I was so happy with this adaptation, and I can’t wait for the sequel!

Last Night in Soho

I’ve always wondered what director Edgar Wright would do with a horror drama, and he ended up giving us Last Night in Soho, which was an absolutely fantastic horror movie! This film told such a great story with a couple of wonderful lead actresses in Thomasin McKenzie and Anya Taylor-Joy, and they were both such a joy to watch in this film. They both gave incredible performances. McKenzie might just be my favorite performance from an actress this year.

Ted Lasso

Hell yeah, Ted Lasso is going on my list! This is an all around amazing show and I’m enjoying how they are playing with the characters. In this second season, there were some crazy unexpected twists in the story that I didn’t see coming, and it’s going to be really interesting to see how the story arcs for these characters continue to play out as the series continues. We’ve got one more season left! This show, for the most part, just makes me feel happy.

The Green Knight

I’ve always loved hearing and reading the stories of the legends of King Author and his knights. One of my favorites is the legend of The Green Knight. That story is crazy and director David Lowery did an incredible job bringing that wild tale to life. I absolutely loved the visuals created to bring this story to life. It’s a beautiful looking film, and it’s filled with some really cool imagination.

West Side Story

As a long time fan of the original West Side Story, I wasn’t sure if Steven Spielberg would be able to pull something off better than that. Well, he proved me wrong. I loved what he did with West Side Story. The visuals, the music, the acting, the singing… Spielberg gave us something special and this is my preferred version of West Side Story, and I did not expect that!

Coda

This was a wonderful feel-good, heartfelt, and inspiring coming-of-age story. I loved these kinds of films and this one was unique as it centered on the relationship of a girl who could sing and her deaf family. This was simply a beautiful film, which I appreciated.

Demon Slayer: The Mugen Train

This is such and incredibly well made anime that tells a spectacular story. I loved the series, and the story of the first season continued in the form of a feature film, which was crazy cool continuation of the story and it was such a cool experience to see the story continue to play out on the big screen in a theaters filled with fellows fans.

Belfast

The Kenneth Branagh-directed film told a charming story, which chronicles the life of a working class family and their young son's childhood during the heated times of the late 1960s in the Northern Ireland capital. It was also a beautifully shot film, and it’s quite enchanting.

The Power of The Dog

This Jane Campion-directed film tells a psychologically dense, unsettling, and murderous story that’s set in old west. Benedict Cumberbatch, Kristen Dunst, Jesse Plemons, and Kodi-Smit McPhee all gave incredible performances. It’s a powerful film that takes some time to absorb and digest after you watch it. It certainly sticks with you, especially with that ending that the story leads to. I’m a fan of movies that stick with you and make you think.

Nobody

It’s hard to believed that Nobody came out this year. It seemed like it came out years ago, but nope, it was earlier this year and it was so great! This was the first movie I saw in theaters during mid pandemic and it was an absolute blast! This is one hell of a badass action film and it’s the kind of film that I’d enjoy watching over an over again. It’s just pure entertainment.