How can I define 2018 this year in terms of the release of movies? I'd say it has been rather exciting. Usually, in the midway-point, there are about 4-8 movies that are in contention for the best movies of the year. But, in this case, and this was a surprisingly number of movies I gave 3.5 or 4 stars. There are 15 movies in contention for consideration of the best movies of the year. I think this is the strongest first half of a movie year this decade so far and I love that most of the movies that I appreciated were from different genres. It seems that there is something for everybody that people will love.
Here's a better part of this blog article: there were more good movies than bad. I was counting the movies that were in consideration for worst or disappointing and there were about 9 or 10 so that was rewarding that I have seen more great discoveries than trash. But, there is a little bit of trash combined with disappointing results. Even though there are a lot of content on streaming, there is a lot of different and solid material in the theaters that one can experience in a first time more than on television or on the laptop. Imagine watching Game of Thrones in the theater, wow-ee.
With the worst movies, I narrowed it down to 5 or 6 (it's a tie for most disappointing at the bottom), with the best, I did something different. Since it is such a fantastic year and most will not probably be at the top 10 at the end of the year, I'll recognize the top 10 but single the 2 best movies whereas the other will be in alphabetical order.
The Best Movies of 2018...So Far
2. Won't You Be My Neighbor?
This is one of the best documentaries to come out as I was thoroughly enchanted and moved by how much good one guy can do for the world, talking to both children and adults about serious topics regarding the times back then. But, I would wonder what he would talk about now regarding the more divisive times today. We need a Mr. Rogers now and even though it is unfortunate we do not have that kind of person today, I think this documentary is the perfect medicine to make everybody great people. This is wonderful.
1. A Quiet Place
This is a most riveting and skillfully executed movie that delivers and never looks back. It is suspenseful in both its quiet and loud moments thanks to the kid actors, Emily Blunt and actor/director and Blunt's husband, John Krasinski. (Jim Halpert did a great job, eh.) I mean, it is Cloverfield mixed with The Twilight Zone in which you are fully invested with the characters and it works a lot better as a family drama amidst an outbreak that will kill people immediately. This is another potential horror classic like Get Out last year and this and Won't You Be My Neighbor? are fighting for the top spot.
ALPHABETICAL:
Annihilation
This is a sci-fi movie that made me think more than any other movie this year but for more for the right reasons because experiencing it the first time, it will frustrate you. Granted, it frustrated me but you have to talk to somebody in order to understand the whole story. There are scenes that echo 2001 and Alex Garland, the director, did a fantastic job. And, Natalie Portman and Oscar Isaac are the standouts in my opinion. I still did think one sub-plot felt a bit cliched and the ending did not fully work but it is still a very good movie with a kick-ass female group of scientists.
Black Panther
This continues a streak of great comic-book movies every year with Deadpool in 2016, Logan last year and now this. Yes, I really liked Avengers: Infinity War, but I wanted to limit to one and Black Panther delivers withe all the cool action, a great personal story, a great villain with Michael B. Jordan's performance as Killmonger, a fantastic supporting acting group along with great female warriors and some political commentary. I'll admit when watching it again at home that the special effects in the third act do not hold up as well but it does not take away my enjoyment of the movie directed by an amazing talent, Ryan Coogler.
First Reformed
This is a movie that focuses on a character that is as bleak as the snowy environment around him as writer/director Paul Schrader follows him along the film in this slow-burning, fascinating and psychologically violent movie. Ethan Hawke gives one of his best performances of his career as a priest confronting his faith and morality as he struggles with the loss of his son. This movie will be interesting double feature with the Scorsese classic, Taxi Driver, which Schrader wrote.
Game Night
I was thoroughly entertained by this fully-fleshed, well-executed comedy about a game night going horribly wrong as the players thinking that a guy being kidnapped is being part of the game. Brilliant comic performances by Jason Bateman, Rachel McAdams and Jesse Plemons and this is John Francis Daley's and Jonathan Goldstein's best comedic screenwriting work ever. Yeah, better than Horrible Bosses. It is a fun time and enjoy it because we do not get this many fantastic comedies often.
Hereditary
This dysfunctional family drama kicked up a notch and turned into something unreal and scary that will haunt people for days at least. It is a massively impressive debut by director Ari Aster featuring a flawless and Oscar-caliber performance by Toni Collette. It is quite a journey from a family tragedy to something quite different that it takes some plot devices from The Exorcist and Rosemary's Baby. I predicted that it would be divisive and it sure has but I think that this is a great horror/dysfunctional family drama.
Incredibles 2
Yep, we have been waiting for this movie for 14 years. It should have been too late but it was not. I loved that Brad Bird took his time creating this wonderful and fun movie that is more about the importance of family and what actually symbolizes or defines a superhero: it is parenthood. Mr. Incredible wants to be the best father he can be while Elastigirl is out there saving the world. This is the best sequel since Toy Story 3 but not quite up there. Jack-Jack steals the movie.
Paddington 2
Here's another sequel that worked but better than its original movie. It is a delightful film about spreading the message of being friendly and neighborly towards others. It is a pay-it-forward message. This movie is wonderful, charming and I kind of pity people for them disliking it because it means that you do not have a heart for this cuddly character. This movie well defines a family feature that is not as common today as in the 80s or 90s.
Tully
Thank God that director Jason Reitman is back to good filmmaking because I was so disappointed with his efforts with Men, Women and Children and Labor Day. He re-teamed with screenwriter Diablo Cody and actress Charlize Theron. Cody and Reitman nail down the pros and cons of motherhood especially with three children at her side. It is an exploration of the character played by Theron and also the titular character played by Mackenzie Davis. Theron is complex and incredible in this role as this may another consideration for an Oscar nomination. This is a truthful and humorous character study of the maternal human condition and it is done quite well.
THE WORST OF 2018
(tie) 5. A Wrinkle in Time
This is the biggest disappointment for me this year because Ava DuVernay is such a gifted director but it is like opening a package full of slow, moving CGI pictures that is beautiful at first, but I get dizzy, bored and then later, not caring about the story nor the characters. It is forgettable and creates a wrinkle in time in my life and that's not good.
(tie) 5. Red Sparrow
You can see based on this picture that Joel Edgerton and Jennifer Lawrence have no chemistry at all. It is like they are shooting some sort of Russian perfume ad in some scenes in which Lawrence tries very hard to perfect a conversation with a Russian accent and Edgerton seems lost. Plus, the thriller is tepid, disturbing yet boring. It is a spy thriller without the thrills or the seductive nature.
4. Death Wish
Do you think Bruce Willis is thinking of hitting his agent with that wrench? Maybe. He does have an attitude problem according to some sources. But, this movie reminded me of Attack of the Clones in which a guy asks Obi-Wan if he wants to buy some death sticks. After watching this uninteresting revenge plot, I would love some death sticks but I don't know this would be a great last movie to go out on.
3. The 15:17 to Paris
I can't believe director Clint Eastwood is in my worst of 2018 list so far. I understand the motivation of putting the real-life soldiers here. But, do I want to see them take a tour of Paris and other places and have fun? It is like more of a home video than a movie and I was questioning what Eastwood was going through here. But, despite a good action sequence and well intentions, this is an abysmal bio-pic that runs off-track and crashing into smithereens.
2. Fifty Shades Freed
"Side by side with your loved one, you'll find enchantment here..." You know the rest to that Belle Notte song from Lady and the Tramp. This title says it all and it frees me from not watching this trilogy ever but it's like watching villains reciting stupid, redundant lines where as the "villains" who are actually the good guys if you think about try to interfere with their relationship. This movie makes no sense but I'll save my frustrations for the end of the year because it's no surprise that it will end up in the Worst Movies of 2018.
1. Truth or Dare
Poor Lucy Hale. Poor Lucy Hale. She's getting a text message saying that she needs to explore other prospects in her acting career because these teenage/college films or shows are not working for her. After the success of her show, Pretty Little Liars, her career seems to be going nowhere and it got worse after this terrible train-wreck of a film that felt incoherent and not fun at all. But, it's not her fault, it is the script's fault for ripping off Final Destination, which seems like Night of the Living Dead compared to this dumpster fire. This is a lame, campy flick that you want to play once and then un-plug, not sell it but throw it in the garbage to save someone else's soul from playing it. Game over!
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