2018

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2018 is done, so let us look at this year’s "Top 10"movie list. I saw 98 [1 more than last year] “new movies” (feature length movies seen this year that have come out in the past 18 months), but I am still in the process of watching more and more. Prestige/award show time of the year.

Favorite Feature Films of 2018 (that I have seen thus far/awards nominees from last year excluded):

1. A Star Is Born - 8/10

2. Paddington 2 - 8/10

3. The Rider - 8/10

4. You Were Never Really Here - 8-/10

5. Black Panther - 8-/10

6. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse - 7+/8-/10

7. Eighth Grade - 8-/10

8. The Favourite - 7+/10

9. Avengers: Infintiy War 7/10

10. Isle of Dogs - 7-/10

Honorable Mentions:

Widows– 7-/10

Roma – 7-/10

First Man – 7/10


TOP 3 DOCUMENTARIES (that I was able to catch up with)

1. Won’t You Be My Neighbor? - 8+/9-/10

2. Minding the Gap - 8/10

3. Free Solo - 7/10




Worst of the Year:

47 Meters Down - 2+/10

Bright- 3-/10

Cloverfield Paradox - 3+/10

The Predator - 3+/10

Venom - 3+/10

Pacific Rim: Uprising - 3+/10



Movies that didn’t work for me but everyone else loved:

Roma - I liked it but did not love it. It is good, but I don’t quite get the intense adoration for it.

Sorry To Bother You - I appreciated a lot of what it was doing, but it went way off the rails. A mix of great film and mediocre film.

Halloween (2018) - I feel like this film got so much love for just not being a terrible sequel. It was a fine flick, but was over-hyped, overpraised and left a lot on the table.

Crazy Rich Asians - Good, and I very much appreciate what it meant in an uber white Hollywood system, but it wasn’t that good.

Blindspot - Best Film l Finally Caught Up With and Was Blown Away By

Come and See (1985) - 8-/10 - Unforgiving and soul tearing are Come and See’s stock and trade. A truly remarkable film and worth seeking out.


Films that won’t make end of year list, but you should check out:

Mandy - Trippy and wild cult film-making. A visual delight and properly gonzo.

Leave No Trace - A beautiful and quiet small drama about a father and daughter.

Searching - Inventive and well-realized murder mystery/thriller.

Apostle - More style than substance, but the creep and the skill are there to be relished in.

The Night Comes For Us - Top notch action and intensity, as one might expect from some of The Raid crew.

There were many films that I just wasn’t able to consume. Perhaps I wasn’t putting forth the effort, but I didn’t make it to a single film festival, am not a professional critic, and don’t live in a major metropolitan market, so I missed some films. I usually will get to them eventually… :

Burning, Shoplifters, Vice, The Wife, Support the Girls, Let the Corpses Tan, Cold War, Can You Ever Forgive Me?, Three Identical Strangers, Blindspotting, Capernaum, Destroyer, Mary Queen of Scots, Beautiful Boy, Dawson City: Frozen Time, The Tale, among many many others…