Randall’s Top 2, 2021
2021 still sucked, but the content didn’t. This is because content is all we had. Here are my top 2 picks in the categories of things I enjoy.
Podcasts
Maintenance Phase - I love Aubrey Gordon and Michael Hobbes very much. Laughing while outraged: it works for me.
Las Culturistas - I discovered them 5 years too late, but I am now dependent.
In conclusion, I only want to listen to gay people talking.
Movies
Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar - I’m pretty mad it took Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo approximately 100 years to make their next movie, but this one’s perfect so I forgive. Jamie Dornan’s best performance.
Malignant - it took too long to get to the twist but the twist is exquisite and I can’t believe this hasn’t been my Halloween costume yet.
Books
We Run The Tides - I will read anything about high school girls in the 80s, and then it seems so effortlessly written, I am furious.
Klara and The Sun - Yes to robot books. Even though every time he describes a room or a landscape, I’m like wtf are you talking about. Still top 2.
TV
Reservation Dogs - Kid bandits 4 lyfe. This show is weird and funny and sweet and sometimes a little scary and goddamn Sterlin Harjo.
Succession - I would run from all of these people if I saw them but I’d also like to spoon them. BONUS: this New Yorker article about Jeremy Strong is woah.
Music
I only listen to Beyoncé and Enya, so I can’t engage here. Please don’t talk to me about music, and please please don’t ever pick up a guitar near me.
Honorable Mentions
Spooked (podcast) - consistently the best ghost stories; it gets better every year.
Ghost in the Burbs (podcast) - Liz Sower is delightful and her Massachusetts-based ghost and demon stories are not.
Busy Philipps is Doing Her Best (podcast) - Zero censoring. Unhinged in the best way if you like celeb gossip. Also Caissie St. Ong is a secret national treasure.
How Did This Get Made? (podcast) - well duh
The Dark and The Wicked (movie) - this movie scared the sh*t out of me in a way that few movies do anymore. It is not fun, but it is terrifying.
Don’t Look Up (movie) - not subtle but still great.
Encounter (movie) - Riz Ahmed AND aliens, two of my favorite things.
I forgot every other book I read in 2021 because they were all thrillers. Forgettable books are still good, I just can’t make them into a listicle.
Girls 5 Eva (TV) - the New York Lonely Boy song was so accurate, it hurt my feelings.
Hacks (TV) - I’m in love with Jean Smart.
Evil (TV) - Why aren’t there more demon procedurals?
White Lotus (TV) - duh
