Another weird year in the books. Going to the cinema was a strategic endeavor of finding unpopular showtimes and empty theaters, but I was still able to catch a bunch of new films. Here are my favorites I saw this year.

Honorable mentions to Last Night in Soho and The Eyes of Tammy Faye which were both well made and well acted, but left me feeling not good! (Also I couldn’t decide, so it’s a list of 11.)

11. The Mitchells vs. the Machines

10. Nobody

9. Plan B

8. Army of the Dead

7. The Suicide Squad

6. Tick, Tick... Boom!

5. The French Dispatch

4. Eternals

3. The Sparks Brothers

2. Spider-Man: No Way Home

1. Encanto

We watched a lot of TV series this year. I absolutely loved watching the final seasons of The Good Place and Schitt’s Creek. Top Chef All-Stars L.A. was a joy to watch. And we loved catching up on Better Call Saul, Money Heist, Community, and Lucifer.

This list though is my favorite TV series or mini series that debuted this year.

10. Selena The Series

9. McMillions

8. Never Have I Ever

7. Watchmen

6. Love Life

5. Little Fires Everywhere

4. The Queen’s Gambit

3. Lovecraft Country

2. Devs

1. Ted Lasso

Watching movies was pretty different this year and I seriously can’t wait until I can go to the cinema again. Still, many new movies were released and a lot of them were good (though I don’t think I loved any of them either).

I didn’t include Hamilton here since it’s not really a film, but it was a gift this year and I watched it so many times. Also I wasn’t able to catch Minari but I’m excited to see it once it has a wider release.

10. Onward

9. The Half of It

8. Da 5 Bloods

7. An American Pickle

6. The New Mutants

5. The Old Guard

4. Howard

3. The King of Staten Island

2. Palm Springs

1. Emma.

Just saw the new Emma. and it’s really wonderful and charming and funny. The costume design is top notch and these photos truly don’t do it justice. Every garment is just gorgeous to look at and I’m grateful the camera lingers long enough to really appreciate them. I recommend it!

Today we went to Alamo Drafthouse for a screening of the animated short films nominated for Oscars this year. Of the nominees, I hope Hair Love wins. It’s beautiful! And somehow the least devastating. (Seriously was that a requirement this year?)

After the nominees, they screened a handful of other animated shorts and wow, The Bird and the Whale is extraordinary. It’s paint-on-glass animation and all seven minutes are made of “over 4300, 24 x 34 inch paintings and took more than 14 months to paint.” The effect is gorgeous.

Here’s a trailer for the film and a behind-the-scenes video: