The ‘best’ of 2021: Three critics have their say

Above : Wes Anderson’s “The French Dispatch” was one of 2021’s ‘best’ films. (Photo/Searchlight Pictures)

Every year, my “Movies 101” partners and I make lists of the movies we liked the best over the previous 12 months.

Nathan Weinbender prefers to call his picks the “best” of the year. Most other critics talk about the “best” as well.

But if 2021 proved anything regarding movies, it was that “best” is a relative term. The year boasted a lot of good films, but few deserved to be called great. So hardly any critic’s list was similar.

A few films did show up on many lists. For us, those include Wes Anderson’s “The French Dispatch” and Mike Mills’ “C’mon C’mon.” Other than that, though, our lists varied quite a bit.

Some caveats: A number of critically acclaimed movies didn’t open in Spokane in time for us to see them, including Joel Coen’s “The Tragedy of Macbeth.” Also, Nathan included “The Father” – a film that won Anthony Hopkins a Best Actor Oscar in 2021 – on his list.

And Mary Pat Treuthart and I included two streaming choices – “Bo Burnham: Inside” for MP, “Scenes From a Marriage” for me.

That’s about it. I’ve pointed out where each particular movie is (or should be) available.

Let the arguing begin.

Nathan (ranked in order of preference):

10. “Bergman Island” (Mia Hansen-Løve) Various streaming services

9. “C’mon C’mon” (Mike Mills) Various streaming services

8. “Some Kind of Heaven” (Lance Oppenheim) Hulu

7. Riders of Justice” (Anders Thomas Jensen) Hulu

6. “Summer of Soul” (Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson) Hulu

5. “Red Rocket” (Sean Baker) In theaters

4. “Annette” (Leos Carax) Amazon Prime

3. “The Power of the Dog” (Jane Campion) Netflix

2. “The Father” (Florian Zeller) Various streaming services

1. “The French Dispatch” (Wes Anderson) In theaters and various streaming services

Mary Pat (ranked in alphabetical order):

“Bad trip” (Kitao Saturai) Netflix

“C’mon, C’mon” (Mike Mills) Various streaming services

“The French Dispatch” (Wes Anderson) In theaters and various streaming services

“House of Gucci” (Ridley Scott) Vudu on Roku (Amazon Prime on Jan. 31)

“Bo Burnham: Inside” (Bo Burnham) Netflix

“Luca” (Enrico Casarosa) Disney+

“Quo Vadis, Aida?” (Jasmila Zbanic) Various streaming services

“Spencer” (Pablo Larrain) Amazon Prime

“Summer of Soul” (Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson) Amazon Prime

“The Truffle Hunters” (Michael Dweck, Gregory Kershaw”) Various streaming services

Me (after the first film listed, no particular order) :

“The French Dispatch” (Wes Anderson) In theaters and various streaming services

“No Time to Die” (Cary Joji Fukunaga) Various streaming services

“The Harder They Fall” (Jeymes Samuel) Netflix

“The Humans” (written and directed by Stephen Karam) Hulu

“About Endlessness” (Roy Andersson, 2019 but 2021 U.S. release) Amazon Prime

“West Side Story” (Steven Spielberg) In theaters

“C’mon C’mon” (written and directed by Mike Mills) Various streaming services

“Being the Ricardos” (written and directed by Aaron Sorkin) Amazon Prime

“The Woman Who Ran” (Song-soo Hong, 2020 but 2021 U.S. release) Not yet streaming

“Scenes From a Marriage” (2021, HBO miniseries) HBO Max