The best films of 2018 (1 Viewer)

[Jake Lipson]

At least they got smart with Mirai and did a Fathom release last week.

You're right that Mary was a Fathom release in January, but it hadn't played anywhere else up until that point in a situation where they were tracking the box office and releasing that information. You're also right it would have had to have a qualifying run for a week to be eligible, but it appears they removed it from release after the qualifying run and restarted it in January. That, to me, is shady, and that's why I choose to count Mary as a 2018 film. Phantom Thread and The Post I would count for 2017 even though I saw them in 2018, because their official releases (and running box office tallies) began in 2017. This is my personal way of doing things.

I took a pass on the Fathom shows for Mirai because my arthouse has the movie booked for December 28 as a regular run. I see no reason to pay extra for it (a Fathom ticket is $13.59 here) if I know that by waiting a few weeks I can get in for $6 for the same movie.

 

[Thomas T]

The best films I've seen in 2018 in alphabetical order:

All Is True (Kenneth Branagh)
Annihilation (Alex Garland)
Bad Times At The El Royale (Drew Goddard)
Bel Canto (Paul Weitz)
Ben Is Back (Peter Hedges)
Bird Box (Susanne Bier)
Boy Erased (Joel Edgerton)
Can You Ever Forgive Me? (Marielle Heller)
Crazy Rich Asians (John M. Chu)
Destroyer (Karyn Kusama)
Little Stranger (Lenny Abrahamson)
Mary Poppins Returns (Rob Marshall)
Roma (Alfonso Cuaron)
Sisters Brothers (Jacques Audiard)
Suspiria (Luca Guadagnino)
Widows (Steve McQueen)
You Were Never Really Here (Lynne Ramsay)

Almost but not quite:

Blackkklansman (Spike Lee)
Blindspotting (Carlos Lopez Estrada)
First Reformed (Paul Schrader)
Isle Of Dogs (Wes Anderson)
On The Basis Of Sex (Mimi Leder)
Quiet Place (John Krasinski)
Star Is Born (Bradley Cooper)
Tea With The Dames (Roger Michell)

Biggest disappointments:

Beautiful Boy (Felix Van Groeningen)
Bohemian Rhapsody (Bryan Singer)
The Favourite (Yorgis Lanthimos)
First Man (Damien Chazelle)
Halloween (David Gordon Green)
Hereditary (Ari Aster)
Mary Queen Of Scots (Josie Rourke)
Other Side Of The Wind (Orson Welles)
Vice (Adam McKay)
The Wife (Bjorn Runge)

Guilty Pleasures:

Book Club (Bill Holderman)
Mamma Mia Here We Go Again (Ol Parker)
Ocean's Eight (Gary Ross)

The Worst:

The Meg (Jon Turteltaub)
Skyscraper (Rawson Marshall Thurber)
Winchester (Michael and Peter Spierig)

 

[Elizabeth S]

Did not see as many as usual this year, but these are my favorites:

Bohemian Rhapsody
Green Book
Searching
Juliet, Naked

Pretty sure Shoplifters has a good chance of joining the list, given Kore-eda's track record. Should open here soon. Many others to see.

 

[Peter M Fitzgerald]

In descending order:

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
Incredibles 2
A Quiet Place
The 15:17 to Paris
Ant-Man and the Wasp
Annihilation

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

There are still a ton of 2018 movies I want to see but have yet to see, but my top ten right now are:

1. Avengers: Infinity War
2. A Star is Born
3. Black Panther
4. Other Side of the Wind
5. A Quiet Place
6. Juliet, Naked
7. Every Day
8. Creed II
9. Instant Family
10. Ocean's Eight

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

Still thinking through my list, but so far, it is going to be very hard to top Sorry to Bother You this year for me..

OK, so I saw this last night and all I can say is THANK YOU, MATT AND TRAVIS!

Wow, I don't know how this picture got by me, I had never even heard of it, and I don't even know if it played anywhere near me.

I would definitely put this on the list of the best films of 2018 and I will give my reasons why.

First, what is this film about? Well, I would say first and foremost it is about how the United States has ended up in the mess it is in with who we have as our current president. So, yes, this film is expressing some pretty potent/relevant political ideas through satire. Now, don't get me wrong here, this picture never really directly makes any mention of our president but this is about the divide in this country between people who feel helpless and worthless and can't make ends meet and essentially the super wealthy and how they certainly appear to view these people as a labor force they can exploit to continue to live their ridiculously wasteful and selfish existence and not much else.

The writer/director addresses all of this through a character that takes a job as a telemarketer, essentially something most of us likely view as horrible work, and feels lost in the job but needs to keep it because he, like pretty much everybody he knows, is in a desperate financial situation, behind on all of his bills, and on the verge of losing what little he does have.

He also takes an approach that seems to indicate he has watched a lot of films while probably smoking a lot of dope. This fact and the obvious political leanings of the film will probably determine how most people feel about this one. I definitely felt I saw the influence of many other films and directors at work here. Everything from Kubrick to something like Robert Downey's Putney Swope which I think this picture owes a debt to.

I know first time writer/director Boots Riley has watched a lot of film because he mentions in a special feature that Paul Schrader's Mishima was also an influence on Sorry to Bother You...and I can see that.

Rather than approach his topics like Schrader or Kubrick might though, this film takes a more over the top and nutty approach that is much more reflective of Downey (the father not Ironman) or early De Palma stuff like Greetings and Hi, Mom! where comedy and a crazed imagination blend with the political satire.

I am, frankly, quite surprised this film even got made based on the fact that this sort of satiric look at our lives and culture is basically dead in the water when it comes to feature films. I don't even know how you would go about pitching this film to financiers these days as I can only imagine them showing you the door faster than they would be hiding their checkbooks. Annapurna, of course, distributed this picture the same company that has worked with guys like Paul Thomas Anderson...they seem to like interesting films from talented filmmakers and this has, as you might expect, landed them in some financial trouble. Sundance also appears to have played a large role in getting this developed and in front of people.

Bottom line, this is an impressive first film from Boots Riley (I had never heard of him either) and now I look forward to seeing what else he does. Not sure what he will do to follow this up, it's a pretty crazed and intelligent piece of work, but I will look for whatever it is. I think though now that financiers know what he is up to...well...they are not going to be too interested in speaking to him unless it is Netflix or Amazon looking for streaming content.

This is a fine film, jam packed with ideas and featuring excellent performances from the cast, including the actors that only provide voice work, that should inspire a lot of thoughtful conversation and reflection after having seen it...and really, a lot of laughs. It is a comedy but a very smart one. Boots Riley is a writer/director to keep an eye on and I hope he gets to bring more of his work to a big screen.

 

[JQuintana]

Ugh, I saw this was streaming and wanted to watch until I saw this part of your post...made me lose interest if it's leaning the direction you're hinting at.

First, what is this film about? Well, I would say first and foremost it is about how the United States has ended up in the mess it is in with who we have as our current president. So, yes, this film is expressing some pretty potent/relevant political ideas through satire. Now, don't get me wrong here, this picture never really directly makes any mention of our president but this is about the divide in this country between people who feel helpless and worthless and can't make ends meet and essentially the super wealthy and how they certainly appear to view these people as a labor force they can exploit to continue to live their ridiculously wasteful and selfish existence and not much else.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

Ugh, I saw this was streaming and wanted to watch until I saw this part of your post...made me lose interest if it's leaning the direction you're hinting at.

Well, it is not particularly cheery stuff if you think about the points the film is making. However, the film also makes the point many times that money isn't everything in life, that good friends and people you love are far more important and have a bigger impact on your life than cash.

Satire is always best when it is biting and when the person or people writing it express how they feel. Otherwise, it just can be bland and pointless. This is definitely not bland and pointless and Boots Riley is not holding back on where he stands. He also says that when he makes any kind of film or music his intent is to have some sort of positive message for the world.

My description should not be taken as what you might take out of the picture. It is a weird enough film where you might ignore all the satire. I am just expressing what I took out of the film. I also love satire so to me films like this or Thank You For Smoking or Dr. Strangelove are the kind of thing I am really into. We don't get a lot of these films anymore so when one actually happens I am pretty excited by it.

The picture is not a diatribe if that's what you are thinking and like I said it mentions no current or even past politicians by name.

It is described on IMDB as follows:

In an alternate present-day version of Oakland, telemarketer Cassius Green discovers a magical key to professional success, propelling him into a universe of greed.

Now, it can be taken as a simple story about the dangers and easy pitfalls of greed and how greed is always typically a destructive force in our world. So, basically the opposite message of Gordon Gekko and his lizard brain in Wall Street.

 

[TravisR]

It surprised me but Riley said on Twitter (and probably other places) that Sorry To Bother You was written prior to 2016.

And not that you asked, Reggie but if you like the criticisms in this movie, I'd recommend watching the TV series Mr. Robot which has a similar pissed off view of things shared by STBY. It stars Rami Malek & Christian Slater and if you've got Amazon Prime, I believe all the episodes are available on there (and the final season starts in 2019 on USA).

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

It surprised me but Riley said on Twitter (and probably other places) that Sorry To Bother You was written prior to 2016.

I believe that. I think he said it had been something he had been working on for years. I am not saying that the film is at all about our current president, I think it can be seen as what leads up to somebody like that getting elected. So, although it is supposedly set in some sort of alternative future I think it is really about our recent past. So, yes, the years leading up to 2016.

 

[mattCR]

It was written in 2012. But it really isn't so much about political current climate as it is about the fact there is a huge division between the wealthy and poor; and it is also a film about building unions, a unique look that people will tolerate horrors if they think it will make them money, and so on..

I loved it. And regardless of your political bent, anyone in this thread, you really should see it.. if for nothing else the zany, off the wall satire that it represents.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

It was written in 2012. But it really isn't so much about political current climate as it is about the fact there is a huge division between the wealthy and poor; and it is also a film about building unions, a unique look that people will tolerate horrors if they think it will make them money, and so on.

Yes, I believe this is true. Sometimes when you write something you get lucky. And what really led to the current political climate and electing somebody that believes in greed being the best part of being human was exactly this divide. So, in the writing of it he was not commenting on our current president, he just happened to be chronicling a very important aspect of what opened the door to that unknowingly.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

It has become very apparent to me in reading lots of best of 2018 lists around the internet that Roma is by miles the film that is the favorite to win Best Picture from the Academy. I don't think it is even close. Pretty likely that Cuaron also takes Best Director.

I was trying to hold out to catch Roma in a cinema but have not had the time or chance yet. I am so tempted to watch it on Netflix just to get a feel for it but really want to see something like this in a cinema.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

It has become very apparent to me in reading lots of best of 2018 lists around the internet that Roma is by miles the film that is the favorite to win Best Picture from the Academy. I don't think it is even close. Pretty likely that Cuaron also takes Best Director.

I think the biggest thing working against it -- and the reason it could potentially underperform with the Academy versus critics -- is that it's a Netflix release. There are a lot of people in the industry that don't want to see the primacy of the silver screen end anytime soon.

Mexico has selected it as its Foreign Language Film entry, so I could see the Academy giving it that as the consolation prize and going with a movie with a more traditional release strategy for Best Picture. I still think A Star is Born is going to be hard to beat.

 

[Jake Lipson]

I think the biggest thing working against it -- and the reason it could potentially underperform with the Academy versus critics -- is that it's a Netflix release. There are a lot of people in the industry that don't want to see the primacy of the silver screen end anytime soon.

To be fair, it seems like they've widened the release today -- I've heard of it screening in Indianapolis, Denver, Tucson and Palm Springs, and that's just markets where I know people -- but Netflix refuses to release information on how wide it is or what its grosses are. That to me is counter-intuitive because they're saying with the theatrical component, "Treat us like any other film," but they aren't willing to play ball like any other film would in terms of releasing numbers. Trying to have it both ways kind of defeats their argument about being taken seriously as a theatrical film. And then there's the fact that it's on Netflix simultaneously as you noted.

I saw it last month at an advance screening, and I thought it was tremendous. However, I agree the odds of it winning are minimal. In addition to the Netflix issue, there's the fact that it's a foreign language film, which doesn't officially count against it but practically does. So few foreign films have been nominated for Best Picture in the past that if it gets the nomination, that in and of itself is the reward.

I agree with you that it will win Foreign Film but probably not Picture, which was also the case with Amour, the last time a foreign film received a Picture nomination.

 

[Tino]

It has become very apparent to me in reading lots of best of 2018 lists around the internet that Roma is by miles the film that is the favorite to win Best Picture from the Academy. I don't think it is even close. Pretty likely that Cuaron also takes Best Director.

Nope and nope.

Little chance of both despite some Critic awards.

A Star Is Born
The Favourite
The Green Book
Black Panther

Have a better chance.

Started to watch Roma and still trying to get into it. Watched 20 minutes or so.

It’s the type of film that does well with critics but not the Academy imo.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

Nope and nope.

Little chance of both despite some Critic awards.

A Star Is Born
The Favourite
The Green Book
Black Panther

Have a better chance.

Well, I certainly could be wrong, I don't even watch the Academy Awards, and I have not yet seen any of those 4 films you mention. I really want to see The Favourite and Green Book but the other two I will likely take a pass on.

I actually think that none of those 4 outside of perhaps Green Book are the type of film that the Academy would give Best Picture to. They seem to like to be able to pat themselves on the back and talk about how "important" (meaning politically charged and relevant) the Best Picture is. Somehow, I just think Roma suits them more for a number of reasons including political.

Plus with so many people mentioning it as the best film of the year, I think momentum is also on the side of Roma.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I think "Roma" will have a tough mountain to climb as a made-for-Netflix original movie. Academy voters to date have viewed Netflix original films as being equivalent to TV movies and generally ignored them. That Netflix has put "Roma" and similar films into very brief theatrical showings to qualify for Academy Awards does not seem to sway the Academy. I tend to share this view and believe that an Emmy would be a more appropriate award for this type of release.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is my new third favorite movie of the year, and has bumped Ocean's Eight out of my top ten.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

I think "Roma" will have a tough mountain to climb as a made-for-Netflix original movie. Academy voters to date have viewed Netflix original films as being equivalent to TV movies and generally ignored them. That Netflix has put "Roma" and similar films into very brief theatrical showings to qualify for Academy Awards does not seem to sway the Academy. I tend to share this view and believe that an Emmy would be a more appropriate award for this type of release.

The Netflix angle is not one I have given much thought to. If that is something they would punish Cuaron for I guess they will punish Scorsese as well and treat his new film like a TV movie. That's a shame because I don't think the artists think of their films as such. Plus that means the new Coen film is also just a TV movie.

Obviously, they will need to come to terms with that and decide if showing a picture on Netflix disqualifies it from Academy consideration. I would think that's unfair to punish outstanding filmmakers because they have to go to Netflix for funding and/or distribution.