Lowder Awards 2021 - Keros' Favorite Things of the Year

 Finding Joy in 2021

In a year full of confusion and heartache, both personally and globally, there was an increased need to seek out refuge in the world of movies, tv, music, and books. What follows here is a brief, unranked summary of my favorite things I watched, listened to, or read during 2021.

MOVIES

Werewolves Within

This ultra-fun horror comedy, written by Mishna Wolff and directed by Josh Ruben, is the kind of gem that you would have been recommended from a Blockbuster employee back in the 90s that ends up being a cult favorite. A small mountain town devolves into chaos as citizens left and right are being killed by some unruly beast. It's a great whodunit with genuine horror thrills. Luckily, the film is available on demand and ready to watch at the click of a button. The cast is phenomenal, the writing is clever and fun, and the direction is smart and balances perfectly the thrills and laughs. This might be the most fun movie to watch of the year. 

Pig

I didn't want to rank the selections in this list, but Pig might be my favorite film of the year. Directed by Michael Sarnoski, Pig stars Nicolas Cage as an off-the-grid truffle hunter who spends his days in the woods outside of Portland with his foraging pig. After his cabin is invaded and his dear pig is stolen, he goes on a hunt for the thieves in an attempt to get his pig and his life back.

While it may sound a bit like a porcine version of Taken, it is definitely not. Cage gives maybe his best performance since Adaptation (2002) and the story delivers more heart and emotional range than was ever expected. Give it a shot and I think you will be delightfully and emotionally surprised.

West Side Story

I should be more specific and say Ariana DeBose's performance in West Side Story. Steven Spielberg's new take on the classic musical is beautiful, wonderfully choreographed, and exactly what you hope for and more. I love the blending of Spanish and English with no subtitles and I actually believe this film to be superior to the original. The one thing that stands out most to me, though, is the performance of Ariana DeBose as the firey Anita. She has already won the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress and will surely continue to add awards to her shelf as the season continues. While she stood out, she was one of several women in the cast that were stellar. A fantastic, moving movie experience.

The Green Knight

David Lowery directs this retelling of the midieval story of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Every single shot of the film is art. There was no other movie that was more visually engrossing than this. Dev Patel is fantastic as Sir Gawain and his hero's journey left me speechless, especially after the poignant end. It is an adventure that won't be everybody's cup of tea. The pacing leaves time for thought and reflection. It brings up very interesting moral questions about honor, bravery, and selflessness. Just like Lowery's A Ghost Story, The Green Knight leaves us pondering our own legacies and the kinds of stories we would like to be told about us. It's haunting and beautiful.

Dune

Denis Villneuve has become my current favorite director after Enemy, Sicario, Arrival, and Blade Runner: 2049. His incredible style mixed with a deft storytelling touch made me very excited for the latest feature film adaptation of Frank Herbert's Dune.

It has been years since my last reading of the sci-fi epic, but I remembered enough to enter the movie with a fair bit of context. The result was a stunning cinema experience that was thrilling more than perhaps any other movie of the year. I had some personal problems with the script and story, but most of them stem from me wanting more world-building and character development that could have come if the adaptation had been a series vs a film. In the end, I can't wait for part 2.

Honorable Mentions

Spiderman: No Way Home was probably the most fun I've had in the movies for quite a while and packed an emotional punch I was not expecting.

A Quiet Place Part II didn't quite live up to the first film, but it is still a world that is exciting to be a part of and the performances were just as great, if not better, than the first.

Encanto. A beautiful Disney movie that gets better with more views and some of the best music in recent movie memory.

Biggest Disappointments

Nightmare Alley. With an incredible cast of award-winners and a true auteur directing (Guillermo del Toro), this was poised to be one of the best movies of the year. Instead, we got a mess of a film that was an hour too long and provided little-to-no originality or surprise.

The Power of the Dog. The Golden Globe winner for Best Picture (Drama) was everything I would hope for in a film. Great cast, western setting, fantastic director, and an intriguing opening 20 minutes. Unfortunatey the movie ended up being an overly-simplistic take on toxic masculinity in western culture with a "gotcha" ending that revealed a shallow plot underneath its brooding pace. Wasted performances by great actors trying to breathe life into unpleasant and boring characters. I believe it will be remembered just like Crash (2004). A cultural flash that is deemed shallow and silly upon further reflection.

SHOWS

These days, there is a blurring difference between series/shows and movies. Some Netflix or HBO series run like 8 hr movies, divided into 1 hr episodes. Some shows continues where many seasons before left off. Either way, there were some genuine stunners from 2021. Here are my favorites:

Ted Lasso

Ted Lasso continues to be the sweetest combination of heart and humor. Jason Sudeikis and the entire cast and crew of the show have created a world that we want to live in. A club we want to cheer for. And a group of coaches we want giving us daily advice (and a daily box of biscuits). Season two picks up right where season 1 left off and expands the world even more. Certain episodes (Christmas, Funeral) were perhaps the best of the whole series. I can't wait for season 3.

Succession

Is there a more terrible, yet interesting family on television than the Roys? Every cast member is perfect in their role and every episode builds up the drama and tears down expectations. Season 3 just finished up on HBO. It's not a show for the pure of heart, but it is like watching a train wreck. You just can't turn away.

Squid Game

Intrigued by the flood of tik tok memes and sudden flood of people making honeycomb candy, I binged through Squid Game over a weekend and couldn't take my eyes off of it. The Korean drama is a wild ride held together by fun writing, great performances, and the series of deadly games. It isn't without flaws, but the commentary on late-stage capitalism, greed, and violence in entertainment is more than enough to make it a memorable and engaging watch.

The White Lotus

The White Lotus was just the most fun and shocking series of the year. Perfect performances and an ever-twisting plot from creator Mike White make it hilariously cringe-worthy while also carrying a decent amount of heart. It really feels like watching a bunch of real people. All flawed, imperfect, with varying degrees of "asshole-ness" but also all yearning for something a bit better and hoping to find a bit more love in their lives. The last episode is just nuclear funny and terrible and amazing and I can't wait to see where season 2 goes.

Midnight Mass

Mike Flanagan's latest horror offering for Netflix (Haunting of Hill House/Bly Manor) is more of a mystery than a pure horror. The small island town that seems to be haunted by the past and current bleak economical outlook provides a surprisingly claustrophobic setting for a group of people struggling with faith and hope. A new priest brings miracles and kindness and empathy that is too good to be true.

At times Midnight Mass is a monster movie, at others it's a romance. The quiet reflection of the first several episodes is punctuated by the chaos and destruction of the finale. It is not just a horror, but also a religious philosophy piece.

Honorable Mentions

The Witcher. Season 2 continues right where 1 left off. More fun. More political intrigue and more monsters.

Mare of Easttown. I was a bit disappointed with the wrap up of the mystery, but the performances were great and I breezed through all the episodes in about a day.

Book

Project Hail Mary

My absolute favorite book I read this year. The latest sci-fi drama from Andy Weir (The Martian) takes on global catastrophe and space travel and engineering and friendship all in one. I had tears in my eyes during several points of the story. The twists and turns are less episodic than The Martian and more based in the characters and environment. There is so much heart and charm in the protagonist, Ryland Grace, who wakes up from a coma on a space ship in the middle of nowhere. His struggles are human in an incredibly challenging environment. He is a reluctant hero, thrown into a horrific chaos and tasked with saving the world. I finished the book and immediately wanted to start again from page 1.