December is fast winding down, and here at&nbsp;The A.V. Club, that means one thing: We’re looking back on the pop-culture we loved these past 12 months. The site’s big staff list on the best films of 2021 goes up early next week. Before we unveil that, however, two of our contributing critics have sat down to discuss their own personal favorite films of this rapidly elapsing year. On the final, extra-long episode of&nbsp;Film Club&nbsp;before we all break for the holidays, A.A. Dowd and Katie Rife run down their respective top-10 lists, seeing where they align and where they diverge, and waxing rhapsodic on the 18 different movies represented across both.Visit: https://www.avclub.com/Like: https://www.facebook.com/theavclubFollow: https://twitter.com/theavclubSee Privacy Policy at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://art19.com/privacy</a> and California Privacy Notice at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info</a>.

<description>
 &lt;p&gt;December is fast winding down, and here at&amp;nbsp;&lt;em&gt;The A.V. Club&lt;/em&gt;, that means one thing: We’re looking back on the pop-culture we loved these past 12 months. The site’s big staff list on the best films of 2021 goes up early next week. Before we unveil that, however, two of our contributing critics have sat down to discuss their own personal favorite films of this rapidly elapsing year. On the final, extra-long episode of&amp;nbsp;&lt;em&gt;Film Club&lt;/em&gt;&amp;nbsp;before we all break for the holidays, A.A. Dowd and Katie Rife run down their respective top-10 lists, seeing where they align and where they diverge, and waxing rhapsodic on the 18 different movies represented across both.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Visit: https://www.avclub.com/&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Like: https://www.facebook.com/theavclub&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Follow: https://twitter.com/theavclub&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;See Privacy Policy at &lt;a href="https://art19.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;https://art19.com/privacy&lt;/a&gt; and California Privacy Notice at &lt;a href="https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
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Ahead of The A.V. Club's list of the best films of the year, critics A.A. Dowd and Katie Rife talk about the ones that mattered to them most.

Film Club's favorite movies of 2021

Last week was 2001 Week at&nbsp;The A.V. Club, and as part of this multi-day retrospective of the pop-culture of two decades ago, we voted on the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.avclub.com/the-best-movies-of-2001-1848148057" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">best movies from the second year of the new century</a>. On a brand new episode of&nbsp;Film Club, critics A.A. Dowd and Katie Rife continue that discussion of the bygone year in cinema, including thoughts on their respective favorites of Y2K1: David Lynch’s beloved dream-of-nightmare Hollywood reverie&nbsp;<a href="https://www.avclub.com/mulholland-dr-defined-the-modern-puzzle-box-movie-1798185418" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Mulholland Drive</a>, and Wes Anderson’s melancholy NYC family fable&nbsp;<a href="https://www.avclub.com/the-royal-tenenbaums-1798192840" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Royal Tenenbaums</a>.Visit: https://www.avclub.com/Like: https://www.facebook.com/theavclubFollow: https://twitter.com/theavclubSee Privacy Policy at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://art19.com/privacy</a> and California Privacy Notice at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info</a>.

<description>
 &lt;p&gt;Last week was 2001 Week at&amp;nbsp;&lt;em&gt;The A.V. Club&lt;/em&gt;, and as part of this multi-day retrospective of the pop-culture of two decades ago, we voted on the&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="https://www.avclub.com/the-best-movies-of-2001-1848148057" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;best movies from the second year of the new century&lt;/a&gt;. On a brand new episode of&amp;nbsp;&lt;em&gt;Film Club&lt;/em&gt;, critics A.A. Dowd and Katie Rife continue that discussion of the bygone year in cinema, including thoughts on their respective favorites of Y2K1: David Lynch’s beloved dream-of-nightmare Hollywood reverie&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="https://www.avclub.com/mulholland-dr-defined-the-modern-puzzle-box-movie-1798185418" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Mulholland Drive&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;, and Wes Anderson’s melancholy NYC family fable&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="https://www.avclub.com/the-royal-tenenbaums-1798192840" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;em&gt;The Royal Tenenbaums&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Visit: https://www.avclub.com/&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Like: https://www.facebook.com/theavclub&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Follow: https://twitter.com/theavclub&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;See Privacy Policy at &lt;a href="https://art19.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;https://art19.com/privacy&lt;/a&gt; and California Privacy Notice at &lt;a href="https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
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Mulholland Drive and The Royal Tenenbaums still shine 20 years later

Looking back on our favorite movies of 2001

Last week, Film Club dived into the two Paul Thomas Anderson movies starring Daniel Day-Lewis. This week, in the final installment of our four-week series on the movies of this essential filmmaker, critics A.A. Dowd and Katie Rife tackle the other major director-star collaboration of Anderson’s career: the one-two punch of <a href="https://www.avclub.com/the-master-1798174159" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Master</a> and <a href="https://www.avclub.com/p-t-anderson-goes-back-to-the-70s-and-noir-themes-wit-1798182170" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Inherent Vice</a>. Then we close this month-long retrospective with our respective choices for the best of PT Anderson. Surprising spoiler alert: It might be the same film.Visit: https://www.avclub.com/Like: https://www.facebook.com/theavclubFollow: https://twitter.com/theavclubSee Privacy Policy at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://art19.com/privacy</a> and California Privacy Notice at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info</a>.

<description>
 &lt;p&gt;Last week, &lt;em&gt;Film Club&lt;/em&gt; dived into the two Paul Thomas Anderson movies starring Daniel Day-Lewis. This week, in the final installment of our four-week series on the movies of this essential filmmaker, critics A.A. Dowd and Katie Rife tackle the &lt;em&gt;other&lt;/em&gt; major director-star collaboration of Anderson’s career: the one-two punch of &lt;a href="https://www.avclub.com/the-master-1798174159" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;em&gt;The Master&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href="https://www.avclub.com/p-t-anderson-goes-back-to-the-70s-and-noir-themes-wit-1798182170" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Inherent Vice&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;. Then we close this month-long retrospective with our respective choices for the best of PT Anderson. Surprising spoiler alert: It might be the same film.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Visit: https://www.avclub.com/&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Like: https://www.facebook.com/theavclub&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Follow: https://twitter.com/theavclub&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;See Privacy Policy at &lt;a href="https://art19.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;https://art19.com/privacy&lt;/a&gt; and California Privacy Notice at &lt;a href="https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
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Joaquin Phoenix brought out the mysterious, ambiguous side of Paul Thomas Anderson

The films of Paul Thomas Anderson (4): The Master & Inherent Vice

Over this past month, Film Club has been revisiting the films written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. It’s all been in anticipation of Anderson’s new movie, Licorice Pizza, which hits theaters this holiday weekend. On this special bonus episode of the podcast, we cap our four-part series with a conversation about his latest. Where does it rank in the filmography of American cinema’s most acclaimed contemporary filmmaker? Let’s discuss.Visit: https://www.avclub.com/Like: https://www.facebook.com/theavclubFollow: https://twitter.com/theavclubSee Privacy Policy at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://art19.com/privacy</a> and California Privacy Notice at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info</a>.

<description>
 &lt;p&gt;Over this past month, &lt;em&gt;Film Club&lt;/em&gt; has been revisiting the films written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. It’s all been in anticipation of Anderson’s new movie, &lt;em&gt;Licorice Pizza&lt;/em&gt;, which hits theaters this holiday weekend. On this special bonus episode of the podcast, we cap our four-part series with a conversation about his latest. Where does it rank in the filmography of American cinema’s most acclaimed contemporary filmmaker? Let’s discuss.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Visit: https://www.avclub.com/&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Like: https://www.facebook.com/theavclub&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Follow: https://twitter.com/theavclub&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;See Privacy Policy at &lt;a href="https://art19.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;https://art19.com/privacy&lt;/a&gt; and California Privacy Notice at &lt;a href="https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
 </description>

We cap our four-part Paul Thomas Anderson series with a conversation about his latest: Licorice Pizza

Where does Licorice Pizza rank in Paul Thomas Anderson's filmography?

What happens when the reigning Method actor of our time joins forces with one of America’s&nbsp;most celebrated filmmakers? On the third installment in our four-part series on the films of Paul Thomas Anderson, critics A.A. Dowd and Katie Rife&nbsp;discuss&nbsp;the two towering collaborations between Anderson and three-time Oscar winner Daniel Day-Lewis: the oil-man epic&nbsp;<a href="https://www.avclub.com/there-will-be-blood-1798203575" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">There Will Be Blood</a>&nbsp;and the fashion-world romance&nbsp;<a href="https://www.avclub.com/p-t-anderson-reunites-with-daniel-day-lewis-for-the-ex-1821100576" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Phantom Thread</a>.Visit: https://www.avclub.com/Like: https://www.facebook.com/theavclubFollow: https://twitter.com/theavclubSee Privacy Policy at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://art19.com/privacy</a> and California Privacy Notice at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info</a>.

<description>
 &lt;p&gt;What happens when the reigning Method actor of our time joins forces with one of America’s&amp;nbsp;most celebrated filmmakers? On the third installment in our four-part series on the films of Paul Thomas Anderson, critics A.A. Dowd and Katie Rife&amp;nbsp;discuss&amp;nbsp;the two towering collaborations between Anderson and three-time Oscar winner Daniel Day-Lewis: the oil-man epic&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="https://www.avclub.com/there-will-be-blood-1798203575" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;em&gt;There Will Be Blood&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;and the fashion-world romance&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="https://www.avclub.com/p-t-anderson-reunites-with-daniel-day-lewis-for-the-ex-1821100576" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Phantom Thread&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Visit: https://www.avclub.com/&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Like: https://www.facebook.com/theavclub&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Follow: https://twitter.com/theavclub&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;See Privacy Policy at &lt;a href="https://art19.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;https://art19.com/privacy&lt;/a&gt; and California Privacy Notice at &lt;a href="https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
 </description>

Daniel Day-Lewis and Paul Thomas Anderson are a match made in obsessive heaven

The films of Paul Thomas Anderson (3): There Will Be Blood & Phantom Thread

The A.V. Club's A.A. Dowd and Katie Rife discuss the week's biggest and best films.

The A.V. Club Presents Film Club

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