Top 10 Movies of 2018
I have listed my runners-up, honorable mentions, and "hard ones to categorize" at the bottom. For some of these, I also remind you, I will be going by Swedish release date, which includes many of the Oscar films, so I apologize in advance for the inclusion of 2017 pictures.
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- DirectorWes AndersonStarsBryan CranstonKoyu RankinEdward NortonSet in Japan, Isle of Dogs follows a boy's odyssey in search of his lost dog.Rarely is any artist's vision as complete as that of Wes Anderson, and rarely do they have the knack for detail and clockwork precision to realize it. Isle of Dogs is indeed a measured and precise stop-motion animation, full of infinitesimal touches on the characters and settings, as well as that zany camera work and sharp editing Anderson is well known for.
As usual, he has an all-star cast under his wing, including the likes of Edward Norton, Bryan Cranston, Greta Gerwig, Jeff Goldblum, Bob Balaban, Bill Murray (duh), Scarlett Johansson, Tilda Swinton, Liev Schreiber, Frances McDormand, F. Murray Abraham, and Koyu Rankin as the pilot boy who flies to Trash Island, where all of Japan's dogs are kept away from the population, seeking his own dog. Most of the stars I've mentioned voice the dogs and what delightful canines they are.
Famously, Wes Anderson's movies are impossible to talk about without ever mentioning the word "quirky" and it applies here too, in spite of the film's effective dramatic moments and such mesmerizingly meticulous stop-motion sequences as "the sushi scene". Sometimes we can tell it's just miniatures and puppets, but the things they are made to do and the details they harbor thus become all the more mind-boggling. Bravo, Wes. - DirectorAlfonso CuarónStarsYalitza AparicioMarina de TaviraDiego Cortina AutreyA year in the life of a middle-class family's maid in Mexico City in the early 1970s.This is the film on this list that I watched the most recently (excluding my revisit of The Shape of Water) so it hasn't had as much time to grow on me as the rest of these. I think it will, however, since this is a masterclass in just about every department; the acting, the cinematography, and how those two things have been directed to flow together flawlessly.
Roma is Alfonso Cuarón's most passionate project, based on the experiences he had back in 1970's Mexico, the political chaos that took place there, and the Mixtec maid who lovingly looked after his family. Everything in the movie is unthinkably well-coordinated. Even the youngest and most inexperienced actors hit all the notes and always follow along with the camera no matter where its pans may go.
The critics say that, since the movie exists on Netflix, you have "no excuse" not to see it. If the option exists to somehow see this on a much larger screen with a far better surround sound system, this is the option you'll want to pick. - DirectorPaul SchraderStarsEthan HawkeAmanda SeyfriedCedric The EntertainerA minister of a small congregation in upstate New York grapples with mounting despair brought on by tragedy, worldly concerns and a tormented past.Another immaculate movie that displays movie-making experience, full of neat details and thematically relevant visual touches most newbies wouldn't think to try, First Reformed examines modern religion in a way that moved even me. Take notes, Pure Flix.
Much like Loveless (below), this film frames its characters in ways that make them appear small and hopeless, but who knows what forces secretly loom in the remainder of the frame in First Reformed? This film manages this in spite of being presented in that archaic 4:3 aspect ratio, giving it a decidedly "old-school" feel along with director Paul Schrader's obvious love for the works of Ingmar Bergman and the great Polish film Ida.
Ethan Hawke and Amanda Seyfried are both magnificent, the lighting is almost completely natural (with good results), the tone is increasingly unsettling, and one scene in particular (the one the above screenshot depicts) gave me colder shivers than any real or fictitious Ouija session ever has. I am far from a man of faith. Certain films, however, can get one thinking. - DirectorAndrey ZvyagintsevStarsMaryana SpivakAleksey RozinMatvey NovikovA couple going through a divorce must team up to find their son who has disappeared during one of their bitter arguments.Loveless is a cold, heartless Russian film crafted with confidence and expertise (it toys with viewer expectations on several levels). Its story is that of a child who runs away from home as a result of his parents' ongoing divorce, and rarely has a film done such a harrowing reality justice.
The directing is by Andrey Zvyagintsev, the man behind Leviathan, who is visibly at home with the art form. Loveless is as well-thought-out on its technical level as it is in its social commentary; you can bet it has plenty to say about the everyday life of Putin-land (the Russian government, still miffed about Leviathan, notably refused to support this movie). Did you know that The Family is so important in some areas you need to be a part of one in order to maintain a job? These are the ugly truths the film touches on when not putting some of the year's best performances on display (the casting of Maryana Spivak was a lengthy but worthwhile process).
Last but not least is the camera work, which on top of making the characters appear lost and little, often creeps about the scenery in ways that are often ominous but sometimes deliberately create a false sense of hope. Certain shots towards the end seem to promise at least some sort of silver lining to the horror and heartbreak we've witnessed. Then it pans up. - DirectorJean-Stéphane SauvaireStarsJoe ColeVithaya PansringarmCherry MikoThe true story of an English boxer incarcerated in one of Thailand's most notorious prisons as he fights in Muay Thai tournaments to earn his freedom.This French-Chinese-British drama is one of 2018's hidden marvels. Not even the deep-cut movie nerds I hang around have checked this one out, which is a shame. It is a vicious and uncompromising retelling of boxer Billy Moore's time in a Thai prison that keeps us intimate with the main character through purposeful cinematography (there's a lot of turbulent close-ups) and audio editing.
A Prayer Before Dawn is all the more relentless thanks to its authenticity and I don't speak solely of the claustrophobic, realistic fight scenes. Outside of star Joe Cole (from Green Room, a runner-up on my 2016 list), the film has been cast with real inmates and prison faculty. It was shot on location in Thailand in conditions I imagine weren't entirely non-threatening.
Even when it hides violent sights and sounds from us, it never really lets us leave - neither the physical prison Bill occupies, nor the one of his mind, which seems broken and bears little comfort. It ends on a shot that, to me, is almost up there with Schindler's List in terms of concluding a piece of historical fiction. If you can find this one, chances are you won't regret it, no matter how shaken you will feel. - DirectorGreta GerwigStarsSaoirse RonanLaurie MetcalfTracy LettsIn 2002, an artistically inclined 17-year-old girl comes of age in Sacramento, California.Lady Bird was uncanny - almost scary - in how it completely transported me to a specific era of my past. I was no Lady Bird, let alone a lady, but there is not one person in this film I don't remember from one of the simpler yet most difficult chapters of the human experience. Coming-of-age stories are common, but something about this one feels more real.
Saoirse Ronan is amazing. In general. But doubly so in the role of Lady Bird, a not always enjoyable person whom we nevertheless relate to and always understand on some level. The main relationship is that of LB and her mother (Laurie Metcalf, also very good) though we witness her connections with many other individuals on her journey through youth. Among them we see rising stars Lucas Hedges (more consistent here than in Manchester by the Sea) and Timothee Chalemet (almost as good as in Call Me By Your Name).
There is nothing too immediately noteworthy about semi-newbie Greta Gerwig's directing, although the grainy image and the production design subtly create a convincing "early 2000s" setting. Despite its clichés, it is snappy enough to make it work. This is a wonderful movie that's going to hit close to home for many more viewers to come. - DirectorMartin McDonaghStarsFrances McDormandWoody HarrelsonSam RockwellA mother personally challenges the local authorities to solve her daughter's murder when they fail to catch the culprit.When I first reviewed Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, I was mostly positive. However, I could not have foreseen the unprecedented impact it would have on the way people respond to shoddy law enforcement in the real world.
Imitating Frances McDormand in the movie, protestors responded to the Grenfall Tower fire with painted vans reading "71 Dead... And Still No Arrests... How Come?". Activist response to the Stoneman shooting in February was similar: Slaughtered In School... And Still No Gun Control... How Come, Marco Rubio?" This spring's March for Our Lives brought similar messages on some of the placards. The list goes on - even if many real-life examples are ironically more black-and-white than Three Billboards ultimately is.
This darkly comical and also plain dark movie by In Bruges director Martin McDonagh is original in terms of story and a top-tier showcase for all actors involved. It is the ham-handedness of certain bits of commentary that keep me from loving the movie quite as much as everyone else, but I can't deny its achievements. Give this one a watch, if you somehow haven't yet. - DirectorEthan CoenJoel CoenStarsTim Blake NelsonWillie WatsonClancy BrownSix tales of life and violence in the Old West, following a singing gunslinger, a bank robber, a traveling impresario, an elderly prospector, a wagon train, and a perverse pair of bounty hunters.The Coen brothers do it again with The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, their best production since, well, Inside Llewyn Davis. Some of it is funny in its self-awareness of the Western clichés, some of it is dark to the point of genuine unease, all of it is Coen.
The film is an anthology; a collection of shorts from all around the Old West. The titular Buster Scruggs (Tim Blake Nelson) starts us off in his own segment, while the rest might follow a con man played by Liam Neeson, a prospector played by Tom Waits, a bank robber played by James Franco (I dare not describe what foe brings him to justice, or a gal who done got rattled (Zoe Kazan). If I point out that some of these settings and characters never seem quite real, I am not necessarily making a complaint since I believe this is on some level the point.
It is all presented as though each story is from a book. This is an interesting framing device since the words upon the pages we see provide hints and additional information. I haven't much else to say; it is another witty and clever entry in Joel and Ethan Coen's repertoire and since it was released to Netflix semi-directly, don't wait around. - DirectorGuillermo del ToroStarsSally HawkinsOctavia SpencerMichael ShannonAt a top secret research facility in the 1960s, a lonely janitor forms a unique relationship with an amphibious creature that is being held in captivity.Guillermo del Toro's The Shape of Water may be a clichéd and at times cheesy and heavy-handed Beauty and the Beast parallel, but it is an old-school fairy tale envisioned by the modern master of Fantasy and imagination, so why complain?
It is a sweet and touching film, while being as visually exquisite as any Del Toro film, from the convincing costume of Doug Jones to how seamlessly the sets and clothes evoke the 1960's - the era in which the movie is set, explaining the prejudices held by many of the characters. As I re-watched the film on a Blu-ray disc I received for Christmas (along with my Number 1 film on this list), this became all the more clear. It reminded me of Amélie in its occasional surrealism and its color schemes (namely its purposeful greens and reds); no wonder the director of Amélie accused Del Toro of also copying his Delicatessen.
Sally Hawkins is utterly phenomenal as the mute cleaning lady who finds a connection with a mistreated monster when she visits its holding tank - it evidently enjoys boiled eggs and photoplay musicals. Her co-stars (Richard Jenkins, Octavia Spencer, a cruel Michael Shannon, Michael Stuhlbarg...) do well in their respective subplots.
The themes of exclusion and mistreatment remain in focus, even when the film's attention isn't on the (no doubt peculiar) main couple. Del Toro has always made movies about monsters, one way or the other. When he won his Oscar, he gave a shoutout to his monsters, including those that receive this label in the human world. - DirectorPanos CosmatosStarsNicolas CageAndrea RiseboroughLinus RoacheThe enchanted lives of a couple in a secluded forest are brutally shattered by a nightmarish hippie cult and their demon-biker henchmen, propelling a man into a spiraling, surreal rampage of vengeance.When I saw Mandy for the first time, I was completely alone in my folks' summer home in preparation for another bad movie marathon (Wiseau, Breen and "shark films" often feature during these) the following day. 'Twas a dark October night, I had been driving for nearly an hour through virtually nothing but forest, and once I had unpacked everything and lit a fire, I decided to put something on for myself. I could not have made a more perfect pick and the atmosphere could not have been a better complement.
Mandy is thin on character and plot, but in terms of sheer style, it's one of the most thoroughly encapsulating nightmares ever dreamt by any director of horror. It begins with a slow and methodical descent into the pit (the shots are tinted with beautiful yet evil colors and bikers that look like Cenobites appear), until a woman (Andrea Riseborough) is sacrificed by a fanatical hippie cult, and Nicolas Cage is prompted to take gruesome revenge on monsters both human and... not so human. Strangely, chainsaw fencing and "death by head-squeezing" don't seem out-of-place.
Mandy is a truly hellish voyage. The music by late Jóhann Jóhannsson, which mixes electronic sounds with those typical of the 1980's (be they "synth" or metal), enhances the experience greatly and its episodic structure is not the only reason it has been compared to an 80's metal album. It is shot on film too, so if you're into classic horror yet desire a one-of-a-kind trip, why are you still reading? - DirectorPaul Thomas AndersonStarsVicky KriepsDaniel Day-LewisLesley ManvilleSet in 1950s London, Reynolds Woodcock is a renowned dressmaker whose fastidious life is disrupted by a young, strong-willed woman, Alma, who becomes his muse and lover.
- DirectorDamien ChazelleStarsRyan GoslingClaire FoyJason ClarkeA look at the life of the astronaut, Neil Armstrong, and the legendary space mission that led him to become the first man to walk on the Moon on July 20, 1969.
- DirectorAri AsterStarsToni ColletteMilly ShapiroGabriel ByrneA grieving family is haunted by tragic and disturbing occurrences.
- DirectorLuca GuadagninoStarsChloë Grace MoretzTilda SwintonDoris HickA darkness swirls at the center of a world-renowned dance company, one that will engulf the artistic director, an ambitious young dancer, and a grieving psychotherapist. Some will succumb to the nightmare. Others will finally wake up.
- DirectorBob PersichettiPeter RamseyRodney RothmanStarsShameik MooreJake JohnsonHailee SteinfeldTeen Miles Morales becomes the Spider-Man of his universe and must join with five spider-powered individuals from other dimensions to stop a threat for all realities.
- DirectorAlex GarlandStarsNatalie PortmanJennifer Jason LeighTessa ThompsonA biologist signs up for a dangerous, secret expedition into a mysterious zone where the laws of nature don't apply.
- DirectorDavid Gordon GreenStarsJamie Lee CurtisJudy GreerAndi MatichakLaurie Strode confronts her long-time foe, Michael Myers, the masked figure who has haunted her since she narrowly escaped his killing spree on Halloween night four decades ago.
- DirectorDavid FirthStarsDavid FirthPaul MacKenzieChristian Webb13 years worth of animated madness, stitched together to form a single stream of nightmare consciousness. With a wealth of unseen material as well as familiar classics and remastered, rejigged, reanimated nuggets.I wasn't sure whether to give this one a "special spot" at the bottom of this post, or an "Honorable mentions" spot. I only knew I had to include it in some form, even if it is arguably more of a clipshow than a film. But perhaps, in the end, it should really fall under "documentary"?
Umbilical World is a trip down memory lane for Flash surrealist David Firth, showcasing several shorts from his expansive collection, made in a wide variety of animation styles. They all flow together in a way that suggest they either take place in the same grotesque, pessmistic world, or symbolize the journey of David Firth's mind throughout the years; the icky ideas he had and the things he noticed about life on Earth.
Another feature film Firth has worked on is Kuso, and like Kuso, this "retrospective assemblage" isn't always too smooth in how it segues from one sketch to the next. One of Firth's Health Reminder shorts transitions into Dog of Man, which is rather different in tone, and it could have been more elegant. That's my only major gripe. Regardless, do go buy this one on Vimeo. - DirectorAnthony RussoJoe RussoStarsRobert Downey Jr.Chris HemsworthMark RuffaloThe Avengers and their allies must be willing to sacrifice all in an attempt to defeat the powerful Thanos before his blitz of devastation and ruin puts an end to the universe.Avengers: Infinity War is best viewed when we regard the mad alien Thanos as the protagonist. This is the "biggest" movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the arrival of Thanos requires the presence of all the superheroes we remember. Returning stars include Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Pratt (lotta Chrises), Zoe Saldana, Scarlett Johansson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Elizabeth Olsen (love hearts), Chadwick Boseman, Paul Bettany, Mark Ruffalo, Tom Holland and so on and so forth.
That sounds like quite a bit to keep track of, yes? All these heroes of adventures past aren't fighting for the spot of main character, however. Instead they are all nuisances to Thanos (Josh Brolin), who just wants to do what he deems right for the Universe. We buy his motivation, not because it makes sense, but because he clearly believes it.
Infinity War mostly averts the Marvel formula, not wasting time on re-introducing these superheroes and instead jumping straight into the war for existence. But it is still exceptionally good at making viewers get the idea without the need to see previous Marvel movies and it works references to said films into its script in ways that rarely seem forced or unneeded. It was an important thing for the ultimate Marvel Universe film to get right, I think: making us feel the scope of this Universe while keeping the main focus on he who all these characters must team up to face. It does things differently, takes risk, and has consistently good VFX for a film made on a schedule by a big studio. It's the only Marvel movie I can think of that grows on me. - DirectorDavid SladeStarsFionn WhiteheadCraig ParkinsonAlice LoweA young programmer starts to question reality when he adapts a mad writer's fantasy novel into a video game.I gave this recent Netflix experiment a special spot because it is a difficult one to categorize. It qualifies equally as a film, a choose-your-own-adventure video game, and a special episode of Black Mirror, the best and most terrifyingly astute/prophetic science fiction since perhaps the golden years of the genre.
Just as Alejandro González Iñárritu was a perfect fit for the world's first Virtual Reality short film, it figures something as nifty as Black Mirror would give us the first interactive feature-length movie (or at least a far more ambitious attempt than Plumbers Don't Wear Ties) whilst touching on subjects like multiverse theory, fate, and the supposed illusion of free will in the meantime. There is thematic relevance to the choice of presentation, the performances are great, and the story being of a young man's attempts at adapting a choose-your-own-adventure book into a computer game, while seemingly losing "control" over his own self, is Charlie Kaufman-level meta writing. Wait, is this just a crossover between Adaptation. and The Stanley Parable?
I knew I had to mention this somehow and the fact that I'm unable to categorize it properly ought to tell you what level of experimentation we're talking. Watch this very soon, and make sure you have the time to explore all versions of it.