So these are the shows, movies and books I’ve loved so far in 2021. I would recommend checking all of them out obviously.
I will say though looking at a list of things ahead the 2nd half of 2021 is pretty event heavy so I could see some of these things being pushed out so I thought I’d give them some Mid-Year love.
TELEVISION
I don’t usually watch a lot of tv series and it’s been a really good year for them.
After Game of Thrones I realized my big point with book adaptations is do they get the characters right and I really think they do here. Hell even bringing in the crows as a prequel just to get the more popular characters in there… It shouldn’t have worked but it did and I hope they only get better in season 2.
I have made no bones about my surprise love for Ted Lasso (a show I honestly thought I’d hate) about an American coach going to England to coach a football club and I like, love it. Season 2 starts on July 23rd and it’s literally marked on my calendar with a big old heart.
Speaking of hearts…
Even though it had some problems I thought Wandavision was one of the best shows of the year and one of Marvel’s best and most interesting projects. I’m hoping it gets some deserved award love and honestly I don’t see this one being knocked off my final list period.
Books
I feel like this has been a very average reading year unfortunately but I’ve had some winners.
I loved all of this genre mix trilogy apart or as a whole. Loved the world and the characters and the story or a world torn apart by a generations long war and the huge toll it’s taken.
I also think I’m going to try to start reading series that are already done. It’s nice not to lose any momentum.
This is one of Sanderson’s older books about a fallen city of God like creatures now ravaged by the plague and I can see the problems of the book. I can see how Sanderson has improved but there was still plenty of stuff that grabbed me and kept me reading and intrigued.
The Wolf Den
A novel about a brothel in Pompeii. I’m going to do a review for this one it wasn’t what I expected at all but I loved the female characters and I thought that was the real strength of the story.
Amara and friends needs to be picked up for a series adaptation. Netflix? Anyone?
A beautiful story with a deep intriguing mystery about the life of a cemetery keeper in France. The beginning of the book was just okay but once the mystery kicked into gear I couldn’t stop reading and thought it was one of the best translations I’ve read in a while.
MOVIES
It’s nice to just take a chance on a Netflix movie you haven’t heard of and find a winner. Oxygen is (to boil it way down) about a woman trapped in a cryo-pod with rapidly dwindling oxygen and held my attention a hell of a lot better than a lot of the action movies I’ve seen this year.
The Croods Movies
I watched both Croods films for the first time this year and absolutely loved them. The films are about the adventures of a prehistoric cave family who ventures out into the world and meets Ryan Reynolds amongst other things.
Also I think Cave Daddy is Nicolas Cage’s most understated role in a while.
The Mitchells vs. The Machines
Again a fun Netflix surprise about a family taking their daughter on a road trip to college who must survive the AI apocalypse. Especially great fun voice work for Maya Rudolph and Olivia Coleman plus the films the daughter made added a nice element.
On a completely different end of the scale…
I thought this dark revenge tale was just as great as everyone said. Carey was robbed! Sorry Frances. I will say I went into this one without spoilers and I think that helped with the impact of the film.
I do understand why it’s pretty polarizing but I thought it was a great emotional film.
My last favorite so far:
Okay Cruella is another film where I can understand why people don’t love it (or even like it) especially I would assume if you have some attachment to the 90s films. (I do not.) And I have high attachment to the Emma’s, Stone and Thompson, who ate this one up.
It had great costumes, music, set design, etc plus I actually loved the twists with the dogs.
And like I said there’s so much in part 2 of 2021 I’m trying to figure out how to break it down 🙂
I mean Friday is Black Widow! At long last!!! Plus Witcher Con which hopefully means a trailer and a date announcement. Gunpowder Milkshake (one of my most anticipated releases hits Netflix on July 14th!) And the long-awaited Spiderman: No Way Home trailer will hopefully be any minute. So lots to look forward to 🙂