2018 proved to be a solid year for movies, the spillover of the Oscar season which opened the year proving especially strong. More and more studios are landing the big blockbusters, whilst finding quality middle budget films to release in the mainstream.
The downside has been a less that interesting Oscar season at the tale end of the year, but still plenty to see.
For for all my critical comments, there are good movies this year well into the 30s, and that’s a pretty good effort.
As always, I’m ranking all the movies I’ve seen in the cinema in the 2018 calendar year. I fell short of my 2017 record of 54 movies, but 52 isn’t bad!
Lucas Hedges backs up starring in my number 1 film for 2017 with no less than three appearances in the top 10 for 2018!
Timothée Chalamet has two top 20 films this year, after debuting on my 2017 list at #4, whilst Steve Carrel and newcomer Henry Golding also have two films in my top 20.
As always I’m sure there’ll be a lot on this list people will disagree with, and a lot of films I missed people will recommended seeing, and I look forward to your feedback and thoughts!
So, here we go!
1.Lady Bird
This is a simply lovely movie, which featured heavily during the awards season at the start of the year. The cast is incredible – Saoirse Ronan, Laurie Metcalf, Lucas Hedges, Timothée Chalamet – three of them rising stars who already had Oscar nominations prior to appearing in this film. I’m also a fan of John Karna in a minor role.
The script is a delight, and the direction engaging without ever being pretentious. The twists are natural, and kept my interest, as did the characters.
Just a perfectly told story; what cinema is meant to be.
2. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Another from the 2018 awards season which tells a good story with a great cast. Francis McDormand and Sam Rockwell each deservedly won Oscars for their roles in this film, and they’re well supported by Woody Harrelson, Peter Dinklage, and Lucas Hudges.
The plot is simple, but the characters are utterly gripping.
Comes second rather than first only because of the darker edges which at times make it a tough watch.
3. Love, Simon
Nick Robinson stars in an incredibly enjoyable comedy-drama that moves easily between bringing a lump to your throat and a smile to you face. Human, warm, and enjoyable. Jennifer Garner and Josh Duhamel give pitch perfect performances as Simon’s parents, and the younger cast members are equally solid.
Whilst it does inhabit the middle class fantasy middle America of most High School dramas, it is a delightful watch.
4. First Man
This makes the top 5 on the back of spectacle, as it is an amazingly well filmed movie; Damien Chazelle deserves another Best Director Oscar nomination for this film.
First Man brings home the achievement of landing on the moon, and doesn’t pull punches in getting there. Ryan Gosling gives a strong but introspective performance, but this movie isn’t about the cast; it literally is about the journey.
5. Bohemian Rhapsody
It’s hard to describe why this film is so amazing, but it is. Yes, some of the timeline is shifted around for narrative and dramatic reasons, but it all works. Just watch it, because its great.
6. Avengers: Infinity War
This film manages to bring together characters and plot threads from more than a dozen other movies, and still manages to be a gripping adventure, which sucks the audience in. Learning the lesson of 2017, Infinity War remembers to bring the humour as well as the drama. One of the best comic book movies of the last decade.
7. Ready Player One
A nostalgia-fest that worked for me. Spielberg has a lot of fun with this film, and I was happy to have fun with him. He proves he still knows how to film an action-adventure tale with some heart, and that’s exactly what Ready Player One is.
Tye Sheridan is good as the lead, but needs to land a performance with more confidence than this if he has a future as a leading man.
8. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
The latest in what is probably my favourite film franchise, this delivered lots of dinosaurs doing cool stuff. And that makes me happy! Some of the plot conceits (especially the nature of the film’s antagonist) were a little hard to swallow, but I still enjoyed the film, and I’m certainly very excited for the next in this second trilogy! Plus, this is the year I actually visited Jurassic Park, so… bonus points!
The final images left be begging for the next one!
9. Crazy Rich Asians
One of the surprise box office smashes of the year, this movie is incredibly fun, and looks sumptuous. The plot and the characters are nothing we haven’t seen before, but transposed into this world, with this cast, it feels new and interesting, especially with some delightful minor characters thrown into the mix. Henry Golding stars in one of two great performances in 2018.
10. Boy Erased
This is not an exciting movie, as the script eschews drama for emotion, but it delivers in spades on the emotion and the message. Lucas Hedges stars in one of his three top 10 movies for me this year, with a brilliant but subtle and contained performance. Emotionally tough, but very well done.
11. Black Panther
Better than I expected it to be, but not quite worthy of being in the top 10. Yes, some great performances and the expected high quality Marvel visuals, but in the end I just didn’t care enough about the world and the characters to get this into the top 10.
12. The Exception
Christopher Plummer stars as the deposed Kaiser Wilhelm II at the start of world war II, along side Jai Courtney as the new captain of his guard. Witty, elegant, and very well acted. This film didn’t get a lot of attention, but is really quite wonderful. Small, but wonderful.
13. Solo: A Star Wars Story
The irony of this film is that – I’m certain – many of those who didn’t bother to see it because of their problems with casting or with other films probably would have enjoyed it. Solo did what it said on the tin, being a fun and exciting space adventure. I really enjoyed it.
14. A Simple Favour
The black comedy of 2018! This film shifts between drama, humour and mystery with the greatest of ease. Henry Golding gives another great performance, but the stars are Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively clearly just having fun with their roles. Andrew Rannells is also great in his supporting role. The mystery works as one that isn’t obvious, but also doesn’t cheat, and the twists kept me guessing about the final outcome right until the end.
15. Vice
This is a hard movie to judge.
Without doubt it is a very clever script and film structure, and very well made.
Christian Bale is excellent as Cheney, and Steve Carrel likewise as Rumsfeld.
As the story of how a ne’re-do-well from Wyoming who ends up as Vice President, it does very well.
As a warning about the growth of the imperial presidency over the last forty years, it is also very effective.
That’s enough for me to put it neatly inside the top 20.
However, Rockwell is terrible as George W Bush, and the narrative is so warped and selective, leaving out critical context, that an otherwise excellent movie is rather diminished. Not top 10.
16. Lean on Pete
Another movie that didn’t get the attention it deserved, this is an excellent character tale about a young man’s quest for a new life, accompanied by a horse. Beautiful scenery adds to a story I totally bought in to. But it also has several massive gut punches. A really effective piece of cinema. I hope to see the young lead, Charlie Plummer, in more films over the coming years.
17. Maze Runner: Death Cure
I really enjoyed this YA trilogy with an excellent cast. Dylan O’Brien, Tom Sangster and Will Poulter are all back for a finale, that has some amazingly, AMAZINGLY, good direction, especially for an action film.
18. Beautiful Boy
As a vehicle to show off the talents of Timothée Chalamet and Steve Carrel, this is an excellent film. There’s no doubt I felt for both characters and was impressed by the movie. However, the pacing is simply too slow, with the result that what should have been a top 10 movie with real Oscar buzz is only a very good movie.
19. Breath
An adaption of Tim Winton’s book, this is a good story with some great Australian location filming, and Richard Roxburgh adding gravitas to what can sometimes be a little too whimsical (the ongoing sin of Australian cinema).
20. BlacKKKlansman
Clever, amusing, but with a serious point. John Washington and Adam Driver are great in the lead roles, although Topher Grace as David Duke frequently threatens to steal the show. I was certainly very well entertained by the film.
Where is falls down in the sense of hesitancy from director Spike Lee in not being sure how to balance the humour with the serious point he clearly wants to make.
21. Chappaquiddick
This movies tells the story of Senator Kennedy at Chappaquiddick very well, and has some really good moments. But none of the performances really shine, and overall it lacks the spark to be a truly good film.
22. The Favourite
A mostly fun – but also mostly fabricated – story set in the court of Queen Anne. What should have been an excellent movie was let down by a script writer trying to hard to shock, and a director trying far, far too hard to show off. The near-universally and inexplicably overrated Olivia Coleman gives her usual performance lurching from shrill & melodramatic to flat and lifeless, but on this occasion it suits the character. Nicholas Hoult doesn’t seem to be sure how he arrived in the film, but manages to have some fun. And there is a lot of fun to be had, but, its all just trying a little bit too hard.
23. The Meg
A cool shark movie. Job done!
24. I, Tonya
This film received a lot of awards buzz a year ago, and is overall very well made. But looking back, I’m really not sure what the point of it is. Were it not for Allison Janney’s amazing (and Oscar winning) performance, I think this would be a very forgettable movie. But watch it just for her!
25. Deadpool 2
This was good. It was fun. Once again, the “fourth wall” jokes were the highlight. But it was never going to capture the “where did this come from!?” feel of the original, and the plot is very low stakes, really.
26. 2001: A Space Odyssey
My first time seeing this on the big screen, and it’s a remarkable spectacle. No doubt the cinema experience adds considerably to this film. But its still bizarre!
27. Aquaman
There’s two-and-a-half movies happening in this film, which means that there’s no lack of action. And DC have finally realised that comic book movies need to be the fun. Its easily the best DC film for sometime, and I was well entertained.
28. Ant Man and the Wasp
What can I say about this movie? I enjoyed it, but was never really gripped by it.
29. Mamma Mia: Here we Go Again
Basically saved by Cher. Once again there’s a lot of fun, and the ending is very nicely done. As another crack at the format its entertaining enough. But yeah, without Cher would have been very forgettable.
30. Adrift
As a vehicle to show off what Shailene Woodley can do, this works very well. Some of the filming is also remarkable. But in the end it’s a very straight forward story with a VERY obvious twist. Good for filling in a couple of hours, but missable.
31. The Death of Stalin
A film from Armando Iannucci (who’s work I consider a lot more hit and miss than many others do). This film could have been so much better, but a basically very good script (from Iannucci) is let down by very flawed direction (from Iannucci). No one seems to know what tone the movie is going for, and the performances are frankly all over the shop. Even Michael Palin seems to be playing it a little too safe. The exception is Jason Isaacs, who clearly has decided to cut through the directorial equivocation and just enjoy himself!
32. The Shape of Water
I want to rank this Best Picture winner more highly, but I really can’t. Its magical and whimsical and intellectually brilliant in many ways… But is it enjoyable? Not especially. I can appreciate it, and certainly respect it… but as a story, its just a little too weird and detached for me.
33. Midnight Oil 1984
This was a fun look back at the band in its earlier days, but even for a doco sadly lacked narrative and context.
34. Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald
Cut thirty minutes out of this film, and it would likely be a very exciting movie with another fun performance from Eddie Redmayne. But as it is, it is SO SLOW. For every amazing scene, there’s either a lot of standing around, or a character doing something for no narrative reason. Should have been better. But I didn’t hate it at all.
35. Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool
Another film that I basically enjoyed, but which lacks a certain sparkle. Annette Being and Jamie Bell are very good as the leads, and that’s enough to make the film work and keep it in the middle of this list. But, had the potential to be more than it is.
36. Ocean’s 8
I had fun watching this. None of the ideas or performances are stand out, but neither was I bored at any point. Just a good film.
37. Incredibles 2
I’m not as big a fan of the first movie as others, and so was judging the sequel very much on its own merits. And its… fine. Nothing is especially original, but it’s a fun enough romp. Basically.
38. The Post
If this was a small, indy film I’d probably have been impressed by it. But its not. Its directed by Spielberg, and stars Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep! As such it really does underperform, and isn’t nearly as clever as it thinks it is. Streep especially is giving a bizarre and slightly unhinged performance, in a narrative that’s ultra-linear. Good, but should have been more.
39. The Darkest Hour
A basically sound film covered in so much treacle as to be a little sickening. A waste, really.
40. Kin
I like what they were trying to do with this sci-fi film, and they get very close to being a good film. But it is VERY disjointed as it moves between crime thriller, sci-fi action, and personal drama. Sadly the whole is less than the sum of its parts, but worth a look if you’re curious.
41. The Predator
Yeah. This was fine.
42. Darkest Minds
I’ll admit to being a bit of a sucker for a YA dystopia, and this is very typical of the genre. A very complicated conceit that’s created the dystopian world, and results in our lead having a very special role to play in the world. Within that, everything works pretty well.
However, it suffers from the cardinal sin of saving all the best stuff for the (hoped for) sequel and just using the “first” movie as a basic world builder, thus ensuring it lacks the impact to GET a sequel. But it has a lot of company in this.
43. Johnny English Strikes Again
I laughed a few times, and it has fun doing what its doing, but it was all a little too stupid, really.
44. My Friend Dahmer
Ross Lynch gives a great performance as the young future serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. But sadly there just isn’t 100 minutes of plot here, as the movie only takes us to the point of Dahmer’s first murder.
45. Wrinkle in Time
I suspect this is a story that works better as a book than a film. There’s some really interesting ideas at work in this film, but many of them have to be told to us or explained to us rather than shown to us. And it all becomes a bit of a mess at the end. That said though there’s some lovely visuals and the ideas ARE interesting. It just doesn’t quite hang together as a film.
46. Happytime Murders
Some of the jokes with the puppets were good, but… it just wasn’t that funny, and Melissa MaCarthy just isn’t very good.
47. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
A really interesting idea, but the end result is just too twee to live. Whimsy is not plot!
48. Disobedience
Another in the “really interesting idea” group, but wow this is so terribly slow and dull, and really fails to say anything interesting or insightful about the Jewish community in which its set.
49. Truth or Dare
A fairly stupid horror movie which changes its own rules as it goes along. Saved from being bottom 3 for the year by the cast including Tyler Posey, Hayden Szeto and Nolan Funk.
50. A Star is Born
A terrible film! Its a film about horrible people being horrible to each other in incredibly uninteresting and unrelatable ways. Stefani Germanotta gives a decent performance, but otherwise this was tough to sit through.
51. All The Money In the World
It’s a little hard to judge this film as weeks before release Kevin Spacey was replaced as the lead by Christopher Plummer. But in the end it IS boring, poorly structured, and manages to make a mafia kidnapping seem dull.
52. Christopher Robin
This really is a complete mess. It doesn’t know what its doing, thinks twee moments with CGI characters substitutes for narrative, and really is just embarrassing. Avoid.
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