Every year, we like to look back at the year in movies by gauging the favorite picks from our Cinematary contributors — both on the website and the podcast. As always, the list contains a variety of films from foreign and arthouse favorites, to mainstream blockbuster hits and musicals featuring marionette puppets.
Here is the Cinematary list for the best films of 2021 and below is the podcast episode:
10 - West Side Story
9 - Licorice Pizza
8 - Days
7 - Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy
6 - Memoria
5 - The Green Knight
4 - Annette
3 - The French Dispatch
2 - Dune
1 - Old
Individual Ballots
Logan Kenny
Drive My Car
Cry Macho
Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy
Old
Zeros and Ones
The Matrix Resurrections
Wrath of Man
F9
Long Weekend
Dune
Honorable Mentions: Zack Snyder's Justice League; Petite Maman
Cam Watson
The Green Knight
DUNE
Squid Game
Inside
Shiva Baby
OLD
The French Dispatch
Together Together
Pig
Minari
Honorable Mentions: Bad Trip; ZOLA
Titus Arthur
Cruella
Luca
The Mitchells vs. the Machines
Black Widow
Raya and the Last Dragon
Thunder Force
Shang-Chi
Single All the Way
Eternals
Mortal Kombat
Reid Ramsey
Old
The Last Duel
The French Dispatch
Shiva Baby
Bergman Island
Barb & Star Go To Vista Del Mar
Malignant
West Side Story
Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn
The Tomorrow War
Honorable Mentions: Memoria; No Time To Die
Jessica Carr
Squid Game
The Green Knight
Dune
Inside
Minari
Licorice Pizza
Pig
Old
Lamb
Together, Together
Honorable Mentions: Bad Trip; French Dispatch
Jessy Alva
Dune
The Last Duel
Petite Maman
PVT Chat
Benedetta
A Glitch in The Matrix
Licorice Pizza
Spencer
Inside
The Green Knight
Honorable Mentions: I’m Your Man; Old
Andrew Swafford
Annette
Malni – Towards the Ocean, Towards the Shore
All Light, Everywhere
Malignant
Memoria
Licorice Pizza
Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar
The Green Knight
Shiva Baby
The Last Duel
Honorable Mentions: PVT Chat; Spencer
Etan Weisfogel
Days
Old
Wife of a Spy
West Side Story
The Many Saints of Newark
The Woman Who Ran
Karnan
Dune
Stillwater
Isabella
Honorable Mentions: Raging Fire; Jagame Thandiram
Nadine Smith
Days
The Beatles: Get Back
Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy
Army of the Dead
F9
Jungle Cruise
Old
El Planeta
Malni - toward the oceans, toward the shore
The Matrix Resurrections
Honorable Mentions: Zack Snyder's Justice League; JFK Revisited: Through the Looking Glass
Crue Smith
The Card Counter
Licorice Pizza
Nine Days
The French Dispatch
Dune
Barb & Star
The Green Knight
Wrath Of Man
Spider-Man No Way Home
Cry Macho
Aster Gilbert
Worlds (Isaac Goes)
The Matrix Resurrections (Lana Wachowski)
Merapi (Malena Szlam)
Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy (Ryusuke Hamaguchi)
West Side Story (Steven Spielberg)
Introduction (Hong Sang-soo)
The Men Who Wait (Truong Minh Quy)
Old (M. Night Shyamalan)
Annette (Leos Carax)
Cry Macho (Clint Eastwood)
Honorable Mentions: Zack Snyder's Justice League (Zack Snyder); We're All Going to the World's Fair (Jane Schoenbrun)
Nazeeh Alghazawneh
MEMORIA
WHEEL OF FORTUNE AND FANTASY
WHAT DO WE SEE WHEN WE LOOK AT THE SKY?
ANNETTE
THE CARD COUNTER
THE FRENCH DISPATCH
VORTEX
EL PLANETA
ALL LIGHT, EVERYWHERE
FAYA DAYI
Honorable Mentions: PEBBLES; BENEDETTA
Darren Hughes
Annette
Days
The Souvenir Part II
Memoria
France
What Do We See When We Look at the Sky?
The Salt of Tears
The Inheritance
Siberia
Azor
Honorable Mentions: The Power of the Dog; State Funeral
Tomasz Warchol
Rose Plays Julie
Riders of Justice
Last Duel
CODA
Together
Stillwater
White Tiger
Benedetta
Parallel Mothers
Petite Maman
Honorable Mentions: Passing; Hand of God
Zach Dennis
Memoria
maɬni – towards the ocean, towards the shore
Licorice Pizza
The French Dispatch
Beba
The Power of the Dog
Petite Maman
All Light, Everywhere
West Side Story
The Last Duel
Honorable Mentions: Stillwater; Bad Trip
Michael O’Malley
The Power of the Dog
The Green Knight
Benedetta
The French Dispatch
West Side Story
Dune
Old
Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar
Malignant
maɬni – towards the ocean, towards the shore
Honorable Mentions: Shiva Baby; All Light, Everywhere