Top Ten Movies of 2018

And we’re back! I’m very happy to be once again writing a top ten list for the year, and I’ve actually had the chance to see a lot more this year than usual thanks to AMC A-List and a city with 4 AMC theaters all around 20 minutes away. I still didn’t get to see some indie films like If Beale Street Could Talk and Can You Ever Forgive Me?, but I’m sure I’ll have the time to watch them in the new year.

As per usual, there are some movies I’d like to touch on that didn’t quite crack the top ten.

What I would describe as Deadpool for kids, Teen Titans Go! To the Movies took a wacky and zany approach to the comic book film and made a fun and hilarious ride out of what I was assuming would be utter garbage.

Searching is a fascinating, involving, and incredibly well-told mystery all told through the screen of a laptop. Huge shout out to star John Cho and writer/director Aneesh Chaganty for not only killing it, but further moving the needle towards diversity in great films.

Just when I think the coming of age story becomes a tired genre, Mid90s comes in to break the mold. Jonah Hill took on the challenge of casting real skater kids in supporting roles to round out a great cast for a strikingly real-feeling and rough-edged story filled to the brim with fun and heart.

I don’t think I saw a more likable movie this year than Green Book. Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali were my favorite pairing of the year to tell a great and compelling story that just felt good.

The only thing that I didn’t like much about First Man is that it didn’t blow me away like every other Damien Chazelle movie. Intimate and personal, looking at Neil Armstrong and his family rather than the launch itself made for a much more engaging movie. We know the outcome, but it was fascinating to shift the focus to the people and their personal struggles. Close-ups, push-ins, and cramped spaces push the audience up and into the struggles of the Apollo 11 crew rather than taking a backseat.

Alright, so I’ll bite. I really liked almost everything about A Star is Born. Directing, story, acting, music, the whole package. Bradley Cooper joins small company in actors who can successfully transition to a behind the camera role and still succeed. Big props to Sam Elliot for perfecting the “no small parts, just small actors” role, as he often outshined both Gaga and Cooper in my eyes, though not for lack of trying on either of the stars’ parts.

Now that that's out of the way...

10. The Favourite

Before you see the ten million jokes about how this movie is “the favorite” to win a bunch of awards, I’ll be one of the first. Yorgos Lanthimos’s follow up to his weird and off-putting film, The Lobster, was getting great buzz from the festival circuit, so I gave it a shot. The film keeps Lanthimos’s odd directing style and love for the bizarre but opts for a more normal story. The result is an enthralling tale that held my attention longer than it had any right to mostly thanks to the incredible performances from every actor, Olivia Colman especially.

9. Paddington 2

Paddington set a precedent of an absolutely delightful movie that I think literally warmed my heart, and there was no way that could happen again. Somehow, it not only happened again, but it was better the second time around with Paddington 2. It's really one of those movies that has absolutely no right to be as incredible as it is, but once you watch it, you'll know exactly what everyone is talking about. If you want to feel as warm and fuzzy as a teddy bear, take some time to watch a movie that made me smile lovingly for 90 minutes straight, and then rewatch both movies back to back.

8. Ralph Breaks the Internet: Wreck-It Ralph 2

I wasn’t a huge Wreck-It Ralph guy. I thought it was good, but it was just good. I went into the sequel thinking I’d come out the same way, but there are a few key changes made here that really helped out. One of those was the story, as Ralph really clings to his newfound best friend and has trouble doing things on his own. I never thought I’d see an animated movie with a message like Ralph 2 had, and the final act while a bit bloated, really hit hard. Second was the setting, as fake arcade games got ditched for the whole internet. I loved looking around every scene for all the little things that were sprinkled everywhere to make fun of and celebrate the web. The creators really got to play around a lot, and the fun they had really shines throughout the movie.

7. Mission: Impossible – Fallout

I love Mission: Impossible movies, so it wasn’t a big surprise that I loved the new one. C’mon, Tom Cruise travels the globe doing crazy stunts in a spy action-thriller that doesn’t let up for two whole hours. What’s not to like? All of the right elements are in place, and nothing has really changed all that much, but nothing really needs to for me to be wide-eyed and grinning as some insane action sequence unfolds in front of me. Another movie on this list that has no right to be as good as it is considering how long this franchise has gone on. Fun, crazy, and awesome is how the series excels and continues to make me accept the missions that come my way.

6. Avengers: Infinity War

They said it couldn’t be done. Almost every single Marvel hero together in the same movie. If there was anyone who could do it, it’s the Russo Brothers, and thank God Kevin Feige trusted them because the movie turned out better than I could have hoped. I’ve watched it three times, and this 2 ½ hour, 30-character epic never feels crowded, overly long, or too dramatic. Thanos is immediately established as a terrifying villain and he’s imposing from start to finish. Arguably the main character of the movie, Thanos takes center stage to destroy half of all life in the universe, and then he does it. If you don’t like the ending, you don’t appreciate what’s been set up here, and just how visceral of a reaction every person felt for every death in the movie. Endgame is coming, and I’m ready.

5. Eighth Grade

Following up Avengers with an indie movie feels weird, but Bo Burnham wasn’t going to release a feature film and not make it phenomenal. Mid90s is the coming of age movie of the year, but Eighth Grade is modern age movie of the year. Technology, its effect on children, society, and how we think is in the forefront of a movie that focuses much more on an awkward, hyper-relatable teen in a fantastic turn by Elsie Fisher. Listening to Bo in interviews about the movie and the choices he made as a director really solidifies how much thought and care went into this film. The movie casts real kids in its roles, and it just feels so right. Everything about being an eighth grader is encapsulated here, and while the climax is just a bit more forced and predictable than I would have liked, that shows that I can only nitpick in a movie I loved from start to finish.

4. Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

I didn’t really grow up in the heyday of Mr. Rogers, but he was a staple of my childhood years as PBS ran consistent reruns of Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood. I’m sure that I learned a lot of great lessons along the way, but the way this documentary affected me in the present speaks volumes to its subject and its creators. Chronicling Fred Rogers’ career and stitching together a lot of great moments is the backbone to an emotional, heartfelt look at a man who wanted to teach kids how to live a life worth living and deal with the terrifying world around them. A man who talked to children like people rather than objects, which made every one of them feel special and unique, and that’s exactly what he intended. Not many movies can make me both delightfully happy and cry through a smile in the same runtime, but I can’t think of any better person who could make that happen.

3. Widows

Steve McQueen is one of the best directors in Hollywood, and he continues to flex his muscles by moving just a little further into the mainstream with Widows. There are some incredibly smart moves made for the project. One was bringing on co-writer Gillian Flynn, author of Gone Girl. Flynn brings her twists and turns writing style to the table tremendously and she brings out a fascinating and compelling story that is easily my favorite screenplay of the year. Next, the casting of every part succeeded. Viola Davis, Brian Tyree Henry, Michelle Rodriguez, Daniel Kaluuya, Elizabeth Debicki, Colin Farrell and more all round out an ensemble that makes everything feel so real and present. But like I mentioned earlier, this is Steve McQueen’s show, and his grasp on the entire movie is felt all the way through, keeping everything so tight and precise in a movie that could have flown off the rails.

2. Roma

Easily the most beautiful movie of the year, Roma sees director Alfonso Cuaron at his absolute peak. The film uses its black and white aesthetic not as a crutch or as a gimmick, but to evoke the sense of nostalgia Cuaron made it with and to provide focus for each and every scene. The world around is sprawling and the camera moves with the grace of a ballet, somehow always holding tight to what needs to be shown. Cuaron mastered the long-take years ago, but there are just so many scenes that feel like they go on forever without cutting. It’s a breathtaking movie that is so full of life and so easily accessible with its distribution being handled by Netflix. Take a couple hours to put your phone down, read some subtitles, and experience another life through the lens of a master.

1. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Phil Lord and Chris Miller are officially my favorite people in Hollywood. They’re the masters of making the impossible work so well, which started with the script for Guardians of the Galaxy, moved to making The Lego Movie, and then somehow made a Spider-Man movie where there are 7 different spider-people not only accessible and rewarding, but incredibly deep and personal as well. Miles Morales is a much younger Spider-Man than Peter Parker and he knows the tale of having great power coming with great responsibility. More than anything, Miles wants to live a life without expectations thrust upon him, and his story is chock full of relatability and contradiction. The movie is incredibly fun and funny while having an enormous heart and loving warmth that surrounds all of the characters. It’s not the only movie on the list I saw twice this year, but it is the one I would rewatch again and again if it weren’t still in theaters. I was blown away when I saw it the first time and blown back away the second. I love the poppy, comic book animation, the stylized dialogue, the character and costume design, the amazing soundtrack, and everything else in this criminally underseen gem of a film. Yes, it’s the comic book nerd in me that loves this movie so much, but it’s really the film nerd in me that can’t help but appreciate the love and care that went into such a fantastic movie.

Did I forget to talk about any of your favorite movies this year? Let me know what I missed!