No Failing Grades for This
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Good movies don’t wait for awards season, which means loving movies is a
year-long gig. You’re probably used to seeing best-of lists pop up at the end of
the year, but when you wait that long, too many good ones inevitably get lost in
the shuffle. There are just too many good movies these days, and whether they
land in theaters, head straight to video or pop up on your favorite streaming
network, there’s always a new release to get excited about, no matter what time
of year it is. With that in mind, I'm casting a wider net and kicking things off
early with our best movies of 2018 so far, from big-hype blockbusters to indie
horror, studio comedy, animated gems, and everything in between. Let's look at
10 films that have risen to the top so far in 2018.
These are not in any particular order. |
ANNIHILATION
Director: Alex Garland, (For Full Review click the icon)
Although it was sold more as action movie, Annihilation is
far more comfortable in the mold of twisted, mind-bending
sci-fi. The plot involves five female scientists headed into
an alien phenomenon called “The Shimmer” only to discover
the rules of time and biology start to become warped within.
It’s a truly terrifying movie (the screaming bear made the
hairs on the back of my neck stand up), but one with a lot
on its mind about the nature of decay, self-destruction, and
the possibility of rebirth. Writer-director Alex Garland has
crafted the best kind of sci-fi with Annihilation: the kind
that keeps you talking about the movie long after the
credits have rolled. |
WON'T
YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR?
Director: Morgan Neville
Yes, this movie will likely make you cry, but as you’ll also
see from Morgan Neville’s moving documentary about Fred
Rogers, crying is more than okay. What makes Won’t You Be My
Neighbor? such a powerful look at Rogers’ life is that it’s
really about his ideas. Rather than simply doing a
cradle-to-the-grave hagiography about the beloved children’s
entertainer, Neville drills down into the ethos of Rogers’
work. While not all viewers will agree with Rogers’
conclusions, we respect them because we respect him because
he taught us to respect each other. The most important
question the documentary asks isn’t “What would Fred Rogers
do?” but “What would you do?” So wipe away those tears and
be the person Rogers knew you could be. |
FIRST
REFORMED
Director: Paul Schrader
First Reformed is not an easy movie by any stretch, but it
is one of the best movies of the year. Paul Schrader’s
meditation on faith and despair follows a priest (Ethan
Hawke) of a small congregation who is begins falling further
into hopelessness as he attempts to council a pregnant wife
(Amanda Seyfried) and her activist husband (Philip Ettinger).
Schrader allows the audience to sink into the despair with
its priest, but it’s never a punishing experience. Rather
than try to emotionally eviscerate the audience with
bleakness, First Reformed is almost a conversation with the
elements that cause despair from global warming to
institutions of faith that seem more designed for profit
than for spiritual care. And yet despite its lofty
ambitions, it’s never preachy or overbearing. First Reformed
can be dark and disturbing, but there’s still light in the
darkness. |
HEREDITARY
Director: Ari Aster
Ari Aster makes one walloping directorial debut with
Hereditary, an exquisitely crafted trip down a rabbit hole
of terror and torment, wherein one family on the brink of
self-destruction is torn apart by a supernatural menace.
Following the death of her mother, Annie (Toni Collette) and
her family wander into an inescapable nightmare of grief and
agony, where every choice and circumstance brings them
closer to their inevitable doom. Shot with tremendous
precision and carefully constructed to drag you into the
nightmare alongside them, Hereditary features some of the
most stunning technical filmmaking of the year bar none, and
the most breath-taking performance of Collette’s career
(which is really saying something) — not to mention a score
and sound design that would give you nightmares even if you
weren't watching the screen. But Hereditary will keep your
eyes glued to the madness as it unfolds, watching a family
walk into a trap they help build themselves. It’s an
intense, physical experience that sticks with you ages after
you leave the theater. |
A
QUIET PLACE
Director: John Krasinski,
(For Full Review click the icon)
The second horror film on the list. The genre is on a high
note currently.
I hope you’re ready to talk about A Quiet Place! Not just
right now when it’s new and buzzy, and not just at the end
of the year when it’s popping up on Best of 2018 lists. (And
who knows? Maybe even Academy Award prediction pieces as
well.) A Quiet Place is a cinematic and genre achievement
that’ll be discussed, analyzed and celebrated for years to
come. It’s a movie that fires on all cylinders. It boasts a
chilling core concept, stellar performances oozing with
emotion, and technical elements that bring it all together
in a way that makes it a visceral viewing experience. A
Quiet Place doesn’t let you sit back and watch the scenario
play out. You are wholly consumed by the atmosphere and
sound design to the point that you – the moviegoer – are
terrified to make even the slightest sound. It’s a standout
film that no doubt will make John Krasinski a hot commodity
as a director and also continue what genre successes like
Get Out, IT, The Witch and more have recently highlighted;
horror is a genre where style, craft and ingenuity can
thrive. A Quiet Place helps break the mold and pave the way
to more widespread and prestigious recognition. |
YOU
WERE NEVER REALLY HERE
Director: Lynne Ramsay
It’s been too long since the last Lynne Ramsay film (We Need to Talk about
Kevin), but her latest feature shows she’s lost none of her bite or ferocity. In
the hands of a lesser director, You Were Never Really Here would just be Taken
with Joaquin Phoenix, but Ramsay turns the picture into a fascinating portrait
of violence and madness. The brutality is absolutely gut-wrenching, but Ramsay
never loses the thread of her protagonist, who has been consumed by a lifestyle
he never really wanted and no longer knows how to escape. The film also features
one of Phoenix’s best performances, making full use of both his vulnerability
and his viciousness. |
BLACK
PANTHER
Director: Ryan
Coogler,
(For Full Review click the icon)
Inarguably one of the best Marvel Cinematic Universe movies
ever, director Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther is a thrilling,
moving, thoughtful, and challenging piece of blockbuster
filmmaking. The superhero pic doesn’t skimp on the heroics
or humor we’ve come to expect from the MCU, but the Creed
and Fruitvale Station filmmaker also threads a strong
thematic needle of what it means to be black in America vs.
what it means to be African, exemplified by the struggle
between Wakandan King T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) and the
film’s antagonist Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan). That’s not
the only theme at work, as the film also traverse issues
relating to isolationism, escalation, and gender dynamics,
and Black Panther gives us one of the most complex superhero
“villains” to date with a positively incisive performance
from Jordan, resulting in a surprisingly emotional viewing
experience. And then there’s the women of Wakanda, as Nakia
(Lupita Nyong’o), Shuri (Letitia Wright), Okoye (Danai
Gurira), and Ramonda (Angela Bassett) fill out a
delightfully dynamic ensemble filled with complex and
engaging female characters. We’ve come to expect enjoyable
experiences from Marvel movies, but never have we been
presented with one as rich and invigorating as Black
Panther, which transcends the genre as one of the best films
of the year so far, period. |
PADDINGTON
2
Director: Paul King
If you could bottle pure joy and turn it into a movie, it
would look something like Paddington 2. I almost get mad
when I think of all of the people that didn’t see this movie
in the theater, and then I calm down because that’s what
Paddington would do (he might give them a hard stare,
though). The film is a pure delight from start to finish and
it carries a great message about what it means to not just
be a good person, but the importance of treating other
people with kindness. The fact that the message doesn’t come
off as mawkish or maudlin is a minor miracle, and 2018 will
be hard-pressed to find another movie that leaves the
audience feeling so uplifted. Plus it features Hugh Grant
giving one of the best performances of his career. |
THE
RIDER
Director: Chloé Zhao
What’s so subtly special about Chloé Zhao’s intimate,
lyrical film is the way it takes what easily could have been
reportage and turns it into modern American myth. Injured
cowboy Brady and his rodeo riding friends live in a milieu
both quintessentially American and completely obscure to
most 21st-century Americans. And yet, their story will feel
immediately relatable to any person — or country, for that
matter — that has ever had to accept a fundamental change or
loss or blow to their sense of self. |
LEAVE
NO TRACE
Director: Debra
Granik
The extraordinary saga of a 13-year-old girl (Thomasin
Harcourt McKenzie) who lives in the woods, hiding from
authorities with her traumatized Iraq vet father (Ben
Foster), is both melancholy and brimming with hope. They
have an easy tender relationship — the actors seem keyed to
each other’s thoughts. Though she loves her dad, she slowly
realizes that his damaged psyche doesn’t have to be yoked to
hers. Of all modern feminist directors, Debra Granik
(Winter’s Bone) is the most mournful. Her heroines don’t
move on happily, but they’re responsible for themselves,
kids, and, implicitly, the life of the species. So move on
they do. |
FINALLY:
Hear Bocepheus, Rod Flash and Yours Truly discuss their Top Ten Films of 2017 lists (30 films in total)
on Episode 58 of The Alternate Reality Podcast....
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EPISODE 58: TOP 10 FILMS OF 2017
(010218)
Discussion of the Top 10 Films of 2017 |
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Images © Copyright 2018 by their respective owners No rights given or implied by
Alternate Reality, Incorporated
Review © 2017 Alternate Reality, Inc. |
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