The Widow's best of 2021
Compiled by Liz Arratoon
2021 was the year Blackpool Pleasure Beach celebrated its 125th anniversary, and the magic world marked 100 years of sawing a woman in two. Hmmm! For us, spending more time at home meant we watched more films and read more books so both will feature more heavily in our list than usual, along with other stuff we’ve seen and enjoyed this year.
But before we get to any of that let’s start with the most beautiful thing we saw in 2021. It was right at the start of year – and nothing since has come close to it – when the London International Mime Festival directors Joseph Seelig and Helen Lannaghan managed to put on a brilliant event against the odds by going online.
MOST CREATIVE: Vertigo, a short film by mixed-reality artists Kristin and Davy McGuire of Studio McGuire commissioned by the London International Mime Festival. Four minutes of heaven as Kristin performs on a shiny pole, enveloped in a gossamer haze of digital images that are protected on to gauze. Stunning! Watch it here. Pic: Studio McGuire
BEST SHOW: David Byrne’s innovative concert/dance production American Utopia.
BEST CHOREOGRAPHY: Annie-B Parson’s thrilling moves in American Utopia.
FAVOURITE ACT: The Shandong Acrobatic Troupe’s plate spinners from 2019’s Monte Carlo International Circus Festival. In a refreshing break from tradition, it used the main theme music from Wong Kar-wai’s 2004 film 2046. Also watch out for Laura Borrelli's hula-hoop cameo in the film The Hand of God.
BEST TWITTER CIRCUS PIC: La Charmeuse de Serpents at the Folies-Bergère, posted by @PablosCircus.
BEST PROMO: Hula-hoop star Marawa the Amazing's delightful 'calling card', produced by her husband. Watch it here.
BEST SHOWBIZ STORY: Christine Walevska's stolen cello in The Tale of the Little Countess’ Little Cello on BBC Radio 4’s Outlook.
BEST SHOWBIZ TV SERIES: Hacks, with the incredible Jean Smart as a 'senior' Vegas stand-up comic.
BEST TV CHARACTER: Nunzia Schiano as Donna Nunzia in Gomorrah, the Naples-set Mafia saga, which also gets MOST STYLISH TV SERIES for its breathtaking lighting and locations. BEST DOCUMENTARY SERIES: Fran Lebowitz’s Pretend It’s a City, directed by Martin Scorsese on Netflix. BEST INTERVIEW: Sylvie Guillem by dancer Daniil Simkin. Watch it here.
BEST EXHIBITION: Noël Coward Art and Style at the Guildhall Art Gallery in London.
BEST SERIES: Spending the War Without You: Virtual Backgrounds. Laurie Anderson’s stunningly intelligent Norton ‘lectures’ – in reality, shows – from the Mahindra Humanities Center, six of them given to the world for free!
BEST MUSIC: The score for the TV series ZeroZeroZero by Mogwai.
BEST WEEKLY MAILOUT: David Mills’ Quality Time – “a five-point bulletin of curated curious content” – in which he scours the world for things to interest, surprise and delight us. Above is the original rhinestone cowboy Loy Bowlin, who covered his life and house, the Beautiful Holy Jewel Home, in glitter, tin foil, tinsel and so forth. What could be more showbiz? Subscribe for free here.
BEST DANCE: The Ballets de Monte-Carlo White Darkness by Nacho Duato and The Lavender Follies by Joseph Hernandez.
BEST COSTUMES: Russian synchronised swimmers Svetlana Kolesnichenko and Svetlana Romashina’s spider-themed outfits at the Olympic Games. BEST FILM: Apples, a Greek Weird Wave first feature film from director Christos Nikou concerning… um… a different sort of pandemic.
BEST ANIMATION: Hungarian 1976 short Scenes with Beans, directed by Ottó Foky, about a cosmic metallic hen that lands on a planet of beans and observes their daily lives.
BEST DESERT ISLAND DISCS CASTAWAY: Sophia Loren, by a mile.
MOST FUN: Stump the Guesser, a short film by Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson and Galen Johnson.
BEST SHOWBIZ BOOK: My Rock ’n’ Roll Friend by Tracey Thorn, and To the End of the World, Travels with Oscar Wilde by Rupert Everett.
BEST BOOK: Two more memoirs share this spot… Farewell to Gabo and Mercedes by Rodrigo García, and Linn Ullman’s Unquiet. Both concern ageing and death, which leads us on to…
GONE TOO SOON: Mary Wilson of the Supremes, Mike Nesmith of the Monkees and actors Michael K Williams (above) and Helen McCrory. And those we knew personally: our friend circus impresario Gerry Cottle, Spymonkey’s marvellous and unforgettable loon Stephan Kreiss (below), and lastly Lord Christopher Laverty of the magnificent @clothesonfilm, who was one of the most knowledgeable, and certainly the best, speakers we’ve ever had the pleasure of listening to, who died desperately young in a canoeing accident.
But so as not to end on too sad a note SPECIAL MENTIONS go to the Lucille Ball film Being the Ricardos, the kick-ass women in the TV series The Nevers, and the simply spectacular documentary House of Cardin, about genius fashion designer – among many, many other things – Pierre Cardin.