My Best Of 2021
(17 minutes reading time)
Our second year of the Pandemic has felt both different yet the same as 2020. I could go on about how horrible it’s been, how angry it makes me that too much of the world hasn’t really treated this appropriately, especially idiotic anti-maskers and anti-vaxxers. But instead of my usual rant, here are the best things from 2021!
Vaccines
They gave us a semblance of a life, a slither of hope. We waited and waited, checked and rechecked, then whooped with elation once able to book in and finally felt such joy to be afforded a degree of protection.
We did stuff in the summer. And then we felt it all again when we needed boosters. Even my daughter got a jab at school. But not my youngest - pull your fingers out JCVI!
Thank you science!
Top Movies
In the cinema
In 2020 before the pandemic hit the UK, the last movie I saw in the cinema was Sonic The Hedgehog. This year I’ve very much made up for it with the following:
Dune
A truly epic, fantastic sci-fi cinema experience. Every single second is sumptuous viewing.
In The Mood For Love
My first time seeing this on the big screen and it was utterly beautiful.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
I actually cried three whole times as I watched this for the first time. I imagine this is how people felt the moment they saw Bruce Lee on the big screen back in the day. How black people felt when they went to see Black Panther. I felt relevant.
I loved this so much that I went to watch it again in the BFI IMAX for my birthday.
James Bond - No Time To Die
A great Daniel Craig finale with some top Bond moments. Ana de Armas as Paloma being the main highlight for me.
Spider-Man: No Way Home
The Spider-Man movie of all time. It has everything you’d hope for!
The Matrix Resurrections
Trinity was always The One for me in the original series. Better than the last two for sure.
At home
Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon A Time
The very long awaited end to all of Evangelion that really cleanses the palette of the nasty stuff before. A great finale.
Zack Snyder’s Justice League
At first I thought Whedon’s JL was OK, but subsequent viewings proved myself very wrong. I couldn’t see how it could be worse. Thankfully it wasn’t, and I made sure to watch Snyder’s Cut on a projector. I’m not a Snyder fan in the slightest, but once I saw that Peter Bradshaw gave it the thumbs up I had to see it.
One Cut Of The Dead
I was meant to go see this in the cinema back in 2018, but veto’d myself to go see Batman Dark Knight in the BFI IMAX instead which I did not regret. It took me a while between seeing the first “part” of One Cut Of The Dead and the latter “behind the scenes” magic. And it really is a magical work of genius. I’m not one for zombie movies, especially not during this pandemic, but this is such a great bit of silly fun.
Tenet
A spectacular timey-wimey thriller. It also gave me much hope for R-Patts as Batman.
Palm Springs
The Groundhog Day concept done to exceptionally smart and witty brilliance.
The Fantastic Four 1994
After watching the extraordinary documentary Doomed: The Untold Story of Roger Corman’s the Fantastic Four, I had to see the movie itself. I’d known of it of course, but not its history. It is far superior a movie to the dreadful FANT4STIC of 2015.
The Art of Self Defence
A troubling yet hilarious movie that resonatated with me, playing on a lot of my own fears. Jesse Eisenberg plays a soft boy who is brutally attacked by a gang, then joins a dojo run by a sensei who is the very personification of every toxic-masculine trope. But it all ends triumphantly well for the heroes.
The White Tiger
The privileged are either worse monsters or people who want to believe that they’re good while being inherently better. But they simply aren’t. It’s pure circumstance. This horrifying satire was a gripping watch.
Enola Holmes
Loved watching and enjoying this with my eldest daughter who had read the book. Enola is the younger, smarter, sister of Sherlock and (a dulled) Mycroft in search of her missing mother. It’s brilliant.
First Man
I fancied a space movie, and my search uncovered this at the beginning of the year. It really hit the spot! Tense, gripping and conveys a real sense of peril alongside Ryan on those test flights.
TV
Wandavision
If you know House of M, then you figured out who was behind things early on. What I didn’t expect was the sitcoms of our lives aspect, which while interesting was still good fun. It gets to MCU stride right at the end brilliantly.
Masters Of The Universe Revelations
My cousin and his boys really got into this. I was dubious of this Kevin Smith reboot, but it was indeed a… revelation.
Nora From Queens
Awkwafina is not only hilarious, her bond with her Nǎinai 奶奶 is universal. Grandma is the best character in this and I love her! I miss my Pópo 婆婆…
Modern Family
Modern Family is often my go-to background Netflix show that catches me with hilarious sit-com moments and one-liners from Lily. The warm fuzzy feeling of this show is often perfect.
Cowboy Bebop/Cowboy Bebop
I’d attempted to watch this before, when I was much younger but struggled to get into it. Then when I heard that Netflix was going to do a live action remake I started again and I love it!
It’s undeniable that the aesthetic is sublime, and the casting of the main three is spot on. I love Black Jet. But Julia and Vicious? 😴 So so boring. This series could have wrapped in six episodes, been snappier, more enjoyable and cost less. Maybe then it wouldn’t have got cancelled.
Hawkeye
Kate Bishop and Lucky the Pizza Dog. What else do you want?!? This show is perfect!
Music
Barely anything new from 2021, but songs new to me or rediscovered gems that are on heavy rotation.
- Ain’t No Stopping Us Now - Risco Connection
- Get The Message - Electronic
- It Makes You Forget - Peggy Gou
- Summer Madness - Khruangbin
- At Night (Peggy Gou’s Acid Journey Remix) - Shake Up
- Like A Ship - Pastor T.L. Barrett and the Youth For Christ Choir
- Lazy Susan - 21 Savage, Rich Brian, Warrent Hue, Ma Simei
This one is mainly for Ma Simei’s first verse. It is the best bar I’ve ever heard in Mando.
- Sometimes I Feel So Deserted (Skream Remix) - Chemical Brothers
- Hella Good - No Doubt
Videogames
Metroid Dread
I’ve always adored the graphics of the 16 bit SNES incarnations, but struggled with the tough gameplay. This however is quite a different Metroid. The movement is so fluid. I love this game.
The only thing I’m finding as a gripe in progressing through is that as Samus’s abilities increase, it becomes more complex from having to piece together a combination of movements to overcome the trickier obstacles. It’s still a tough game too.
If found…
I played this over New Years 2020/2021 and the haunting, snowy visuals and melancholic plot was kind of befitting as we went into another hard lockdown.
Florence
It’s only about £2 and such a bittersweet, fulfilling tale. I love the snippets of Canto Chinese as well.
Batman: Arkham Knight
Since buying the game when it launched in 2015, I’ve never managed to finish it. I finally decided to restart the game and am reminded of how much I love this. No where near the point of finishing it though. My nephews have each finished it in the past few months themselves and were shocked when I told them I never have 🥲
Zelda: Breath Of The Wild
Another Best Game Of All Time I’ve never got very far into, as I’m constantly getting lost and can’t be bothered with making potions or whatever. But I cannot deny how magnificent this legend is.
The Wonderful 101
This quirky and original little tinker is fun! You control 100 superheroes on screen. How bonkers is that?
Mortal Kombat 11 (Switch)
It’s not the best version visually, but it plays so damn good. A cathartic session of martial arts slaughter is needed sometimes.
Bazblue CentralFiction Special Edition
It was £3 in the sales and very silly, bombastic pixel fun!
Marvel’s Avengers
I enjoyed getting to be Iron Man and really love that they feature Ms Marvel heavily but the repetition makes it quite meh.
Grand Theft Auto V
I’d never enjoyed GTA 3 on the PS2 and didn’t think I’d much enjoy this. But I picked it up for £12 off of eBay after seeing they hype around the relaunch on PS5. The opening gameplay was epic, but the humdrum hustle missions are more doldrum than fun.
Watch Dogs 2
Driving around Piccadilly Circus when I don’t want to mix with the unmasked and unvaxxed!
Rez PSVR
So, so much better in VR.
Rogue Squadron PSVR
I’M IN A TIE-FIGHTER!!!
Superhot PSVR
I first played this on my friends’ Oculus, but this version isn’t as snappy due to tracking failings in the PSVR system.
Batman The Enemy Within
Easy going Batman gameplay for late night moments.
Hades
I’d never liked a rogue-like before, and I’ve only managed one escape with God Mode on. But the hyper kinetic movement and visuals really sparkles.
Witcher Wild Hunt 3 (Switch)
I am not an RPG fan. I don’t like big epics. But so many people told me to give this a go and I bought the Switch version as it’s cheap. Not got far yet, but it’s ok so far.
Gris
I’d play this straight after Metroid Dread as a gaming sedative to get the dopamine to subside gently. I loved it. It’s so chill, beautiful and fun. Shout out to Cat for the strong recommendation! TYSM!
Scott Pilgrim vs The World: The Game
I’d been waiting years for this to get a relaunch since I had it on the X-Box 360, and finally got a Limited Run physical copy and the download.
Super Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Edition (Switch)
I have always loved Street Fighter 2, especially the Alpha series. I had to get this somehow. But wow is it tough!
Super Mario Maker 2
I only bought this so that I could make my own levels that I could actually complete! I am so rubbish at Mario games but love the 2D ones the most. What I didn’t expect to find was the most insanely psychedelic levels by expert creators that just blow up the screen. Amazing.
Super Smash Bros Ultimate
It’s one of the top Switch games and just so expansive. The roster is so eclectic and I can’t get over being able to play as Isabelle in a battle game.
Wario Ware Get It Together!
I’ve not played this much yet, but I got it as something to play with my kids. Just haven’t had the chance to yet.
Audiobooks
This has been the year of the audiobook for me! A revelation that I’ve managed to finish more titles as audiobooks than I have read in the previous decade.
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
A life of regret is a life not worth living… perhaps. Searingly painful, but Carey Mulligan’s reading is exquisite listening.
Coders: Who They Are, What They Think And How They Are Changing Our World
Everyone involved in digital needs to read this book.
The crunching is no surprise, but what is is how some of these great titles went through epic gestations.
Food
- Pork Ragu Toastie - Arch Rivals
- Hand-pulled Belt noodles with cumin lamb - Xi’an Biang Biang Noodles
- Char siu wonton lo mein - Three Uncles
- Home BBQ’d Satay - me!
Satay is marinated and crucially skewered then BBQ’d. Anything else is not Satay!
- My bro’s birthday lunch - Wun’s Tea Room
- Chinese New Year Feast home kit - Wun’s Tea Room
- La Gran Carbonara - Gloria’s
- The Incomparable Lemon Pie (6” meringue!) - Gloria’s
Cycling
Swytch Kit
I moved to a place with a long, steep hill. I attempted the climb only once on the Brommie once and my heart felt like it was going to explode. Since getting the Swytch Kit it’s been a lot easier!
Temple Classic Lightweight
The Brommie is an amazing feat of engineering, however it’s better for multi-modal journeys with short bits on the bike. I was finding it uncomfortable for anything more than a couple of miles. So I got this! And I utterly, utterly love it! Not using it for up the hill though 😅
Friends
Lots of them getting married! Their plans for 2020 were curtailed, so delayed weddings finally happening in 2021 was all the more sweet to see. Congratulations you lot!
And a bunch had babies. It’s hard enough as it is, so you have my utmost respect!
Deskbots
Started a new collection of Transformers toys. Hasbro has been killing it recently.
Holidays
- Camping in Glynde
This humongous pop-up campsite was quite a discovery. Beautiful scenery, acres and acres of space and a great site manager plus nice food on site. The only bummer was that the night before our arrival had gale force winds, and there were only portaloos dotted around… 🤢
- Stayed in Nunney
- Visited friends near Haye on Wye at their cider farm!
- Stayed in Somerset to visit L’s family
- Popped to Suffolk to visit The Broads
- Hired a holiday home in New Forest and went for a walk with friends for L’s big birthday!