Adam counts down the best Films of 2018
It’s that time of year again… The Top Ten lists. Where every writer that has a blog, youtube, live journal, myspace and Friendster account posts what they feel is the crème de la crème of the year in cinema. Why would The Movie Isle or it’s Editor in Chief be any different? We’re not and I am not. Like a good little lemming, I’m here to give my two cents.
For me, 2018 in film was often a surprising one filled with left turns and tangents. It was not built with a desire to rush out and see everything single piece of celluloid (well no longer celluloid in most cases). It was a year that had some genuine surprises in cinema more than I had anticipated. What my list represents is the shock, delight, and mastery of cinema in my eyes.
Let us allow the list to do the talking. Before the Top Ten, we’ve got the usual business of various exceptions and trickery that many do. I watched 421 films in my cinema year.
Much of it (about 190 of them were pre-2018). That is what I had to work with. I’ll be upfront, the special mention truly impressed me so much that I had to talk about it though many will contend that it is not a Film but a Television Episode. Another thing that will sure to piss people off only The Number One film is ranked, everything else has no number. Why??? Because that’s the way I wanted it. It’s the way that I’ve done my list for the last few years.
Without further ado…
Special Mention:
Bandersnatch (Netflix/Black Mirror)
Black Mirror’s Writer/Creator/Resident Technophobe Charlie Booker has outdone himself with Bandersnatch the “Christmas Special” just recently released on Netflix a few days prior to the New Year. Booker taking the concept of a “choose your own adventure” style narrative and forces us to question the nature of choice and fate all set in the world of early 80’s video game industry. The craziest part? The film is a choose your own adventure film!!! Set to a Tangerine Dream Score no less!!! This reviewer does not want to ruin the pleasures of playing out this particular media venture. Needless to say, it impressed me so much that just on a cinematic level it needed to be included here.
The Runner-Ups:
Two teenage girls find the power of filmmaking.
Bad Times at the El Royale
Why is it that Drew Goddard’s films become cult things? I really would like a film directed by Goddard to be a huge success because they’re some of the best pop entertainment out there.
Imagine a movie that’s about sex workers that’s sex workers positive, and add in a compelling horror film. That’s CAM in a nutshell.
Paddington 2
That damn Bear and his Aunt. Don’t forget your tissues.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Colorful. Deranged. Compelling. Unique. I mean they’ve got Spider-Ham, when did you ever think you’d see a movie with Spider-Ham in it???
The Top Ten:
You Were Never Really Here (dir. Lynn Ramsey)
Lynne Ramsay in a career that has spanned three decades, four films, six shorts, and one music video has never produced a project that wasn’t filled with artful intent and purpose. … You Were Never Really Here is a character study of a man of violence and the decay that has caused to his mind, body, and soul. Ramsay who wrote, directed and produced the film has pushed this material beyond the conventional trappings and clichés to something more artful, less defined. By its end You Were Never Really Here will leave one with more questions than answers. In any other director’s hands, this would be a critique. This is not only a compliment but a virtue in Lynne Ramsay’s hands. The film wants to provoke and confound, to cause a reaction, to have more questions than answers. In our homogeneous times of four-quadrant entertainment, this film stands proudly apart as defiant art.
A Quiet Place (dir. John Krasinski)
There are few films that scratch a cinematic itch as this one does for me. It’s post-apocalyptic. It’s a Sci-Fi Horror film. It’s about a father connecting with his children. It’s about Emily Blunt being a badass (in the traditional and non-traditional sense). Beautifully shot, directed, and acted. This is the kind of studio production that not just takes risks but succeeds in giving us what few of the bigger budget counterparts can; a gratifying ending.
Mandy (dir. Panos Cosmatos)
I’ve been working on a larger piece about Mandy since it was released back in September. The film continues to rattle in my head. Confounding as much as it delights me. Panos Cosmatos is a true artist, painfully drawing out a story of nightmare images and feelings from the deepest recesses of his heart and soul. The result is a brokenhearted LSD Frank Firezzta inspired revenge film like you’ve never seen.
The Favourite (dir. Yorgos Lanthimos)
Yorgos Lanthimos’ latest still shows his disdain for humanity but in an entirely new package. This bawdy costume drama is part Barry Lyndon and part deranged pitch-black screwball comedy. At its very core, the film is a toxic romantic triangle. With pitch-perfect script, direction, and acting it is sure to make Lanthimos new rabid fans while keeping his staunchest of supporters happy. The Favourite is the darkest of Dark Comedies in an Awards Contender’s clothing. It’s all the better for it.
Bodied (dir. Joseph Kahn)
To call Joseph Kahn’s Bodied another “Rap Battle” movie is akin to calling Spielberg’s Raiders of the Lost Ark just another “Adventure” film. Yes, to answer your question… Bodied is that good. Kahn’s film aims at everything from White Privilege, College Pretension, Woke Culture, Conservatism, Liberalism, Racism, Sexism, and Hip-Hop. Kahn and writer Alex Larsen manages to hit every single target in their cross-hairs, eviscerating American culture with the precision of a laser.
Blowin’ Up (dir. Stephanie Wang-Breal)
The first 43-minutes of Blowin’ Up throw you into the corridors, the staff, the cases, and the processes of New York City’s Queens Human Trafficking Intervention Court. This cinéma-vérité style adroitly used by director Stephanie Wang-Breal is a bold move that allows you to be thrust into a sector of the New York Court system that opts on the side of compassion and understanding that most of their offenders have been exploited. Wang-Breal’s powerful documentary is the type of film that reveals humans treating others with compassion in the face of an American Legal and Legislative Systems that have no compassion or mercy. Blowin’ Up is a hopeful message in the direst of times.
Blindspotting (dir. Carlos Lopez Estrada)
Many, and rightfully so, have praised the script for Blindspotting written by stars Daveed Diggs and Rafael Casal but often forget Carlos Lopez Estrada’s beautiful direction. Under his lens, there isn’t a street corner, house, or person that isn’t brimming with life. The film is a love letter to Oakland, Rap, Friendship, and betterment. At its core is Collin (Diggs) just trying to not fuck up his last 72 hours of parole. What happens over those 72 hours is so unexpectedly full of life, funny, witty, sharply observed and positive one will be elated that the film eschews almost all the pratfalls and clichés of the genre.
BlackKklansman (dir. Spike Lee)
Spike Lee’s newest joint Blackkklansman is a searing return to form. The based on a true story film of how the first Black Police Officer in Colorado Springs was able to infiltrate the Ku Klux Klan is Lee, Cast, and Crew working at the top of their respective crafts. The result is a film as funny, angry, intelligent, relevant, and entertaining as you will this year. Blackkklansman is what we as an audience search for but rarely finds; an entertaining and enlightening piece of bravado cinema. Bravado Cinema told by a Master Filmmaker at the height of his powers and prowess as a storyteller.
Black Panther (dir. Ryan Coogler)
People have announced Ryan Coogler as the new Spielberg. I can see the comparison. Extremely talented unique purely cinematic voice. But why don’t we just let Ryan Coogler be the next Ryan Coogler. Black Panther is commercial big-budget tentpole filmmaking at its finest. The adventure film has more on its mind than just simple “end of the world” nonsense. Rather Black Panther is about identity, unity, and the cost of being a King or a Ruler of a Country. Two ideologies at its center; T’Challa’s one of introspection and peace, Killmonger’s one of radicalization and freedom by any means necessary. Coogler is able to take both points of view and make them both right and wrong. This is what the enduring power of Black Panther will be, its themes, its ideology, and its core is more complex than some more robust “Awards” films.
1. Widows (dir. Steve McQueen)
Heat, The Town, Reservoir Dogs all high points in the Heist film genre. All have one other thing in common; little to no room for the Women in their respective worlds. Each also has their troubling portraits of women in these situations. Director Steve McQueen and Writer Gillian Flynn have concocted a heady brew from this vacancy and trouble portrayals of women. Widows comes fully formed and without reservation a blistering crime thriller with the women front and center. Widows is a high wire balancing; part Crime Thriller, part Political Potboiler, filtered through the lens of 2018’s tense social climate. The film isn’t just the best film of 2018 because it has so much to say about America at this moment but because it does so in such a populist commercial package you won’t even notice until it’s over. That is the ultimate power of Widows and why it will linger long after the end of the year.
1. If Beale Street Could Talk (dir. Barry Jenkins)
Barry Jenkins’ adaptation of If Beale Street Could Talk, his follow up to the Academy Award-winning Moonlight, is a love story of uncommon power. Adapting the novel by James Baldwin, Jenkins has made a film that is both a love story and social commentary without the clichés of either. What has been produced is not just a film for 2018 but a film for the ages. In an era of so much sound and fury and meaningless cinematic ventures, If Beale Street Could Talk eschews bombast and superficiality for warmth, understanding, and depth. Barry Jenkins has created another film unrivaled in its romance, hope, and humanity. What makes separates it from much of what we have seen in 2018, is that it understands that romance, hope, and humanity are all hard earned and worth fighting for.
1. First Reform (dir. Paul Schrader)
At 72-years-old Paul Schrader has made his masterpiece. First Reform is the type of cinema we rarely find; engaging mind, heart, and soul. The story of a man who is struggling with not only his faith in himself but in humanity. What is staggering is that it is a man of faith at the center of his storm, played by Ethan Hawke in a career-defining performance. The film is played out via journal entries from Reverend Toller (Hawke) as over the course of a year attempts to come to grips with his wavering faith in God. Few films have been honest about faith in the way that Schrader’s is. This is not some “faith-based” entertainment designed for comfort. Rather the film that Schrader has made is a serious discourse on the belief in God and Religion. Schrader pulls no punches here. This is not for the faint at heart nor those offended by heady critical looks at these religious governing bodies. The film isn’t a treatise on those governing bodies rather a look at what we have become and what we have done to the earth. From the beginning moments to the audacious ending First Reform is daring and meaningful cinema of the highest order.