Will’s Favourite (get it?) 2018 Movies

It’s my top ten of the year! And I don’t have a lot of time for this right now, cause I got to get to an Oscar thing (It’s the Oscars. I’m talking about the actual Oscars at the Kodak theatre. No big deal, but last year I directed a little movie called ROMA!?! Maybe you heard of it… punk? So I gotta go the real Oscars now, you know, in case I win shit.) so this’ll be a lil brief. Okay, so right now here’s my ten favorite movies from 2018, and who knows, maybe some least favorites or thoughts on other films in the future. I can do whatever I want!

10. Thoroughbreds

Shot four years ago (and featuring one of the final performances of the always-interesting Anton Yelchin), Cory Finley’s dark comedy crime thriller based on his own play may have sat on the shelf for a few years awaiting a studio with the balls to release something this edgy (what is this, the old Hollywood production code era?) but the final product turned out worth the sitting around. A provocative, frightening and wickedly funny look at detached teens, mental health, friendship and murder, I can totally see ‘Thoroughbreds’ gaining cult status a few years down the road to become the ‘Heathers’ of Generation Y (albeit a drier, less fantastical ‘Heathers,’ but isn’t that more appropriate for 2018 anyway?)

9. The Favourite

It’s important to know yourself as a movie fan. I know that I have a pretty high tolerance for comedy and action films, regardless of quality, and that I grow increasingly bored with your typical Oscar-bait historical dramas. Even ones I know have a lot going for them, like, say, 2017’s ‘The Post’ or ‘Darkest Hour’ just don’t really do much for me. So it’s always a pleasure when a period piece comes along that takes risks, makes daring assumptions, and, as Danny DeVito’s character on ‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’ might put it, gets real weird with it. On first viewing I laughed a lot, asked a lot of questions (just in my head mind you, I’m not one of those people) and walked out of the theater a little off balance. On second viewing, well, kind of the same thing actually. If you’ve seen the last two movies by greek director Yorgos Lanthimos (‘The Lobster,’ which I kinda liked, and ‘The Killing of a Sacred Deer,’ which I did not like) you already know something’s probably wrong with that guy. So forget the bravura acting and filmmaking — let me just speak to you someone currently under the spell of this strange, strange artist’s latest work and say, as Austin Powers might have put it, this is my happening, baby, and it freaks me out!

8. Sorry to Bother You

The directorial debut of rapper Boots Riley is a wild, hilarious and disturbing social satire set in a future/alternate reality that’s maybe not quite as different from our own world as we’d like to think. A rookie telemarketer is advised by an old-timer to use his white voice on the phone, and, really, you shouldn’t know much more going on, cause this thing’s got some gnarly surprises in store for you… (Now streaming on Hulu.)

7. If Beale Street Could Talk

Writer/director Barry Jenkins’ followup to his Best Picture Winner ‘Moonlight’ is another quietly beautiful picture, a heartbreaking yet uplifting romantic saga based on James Baldwin’s novel, featuring one of the year’s best ensemble casts.

6. Can You Ever Forgive Me?

From director Marielle Heller (she made 2015’s excellent ‘Diary of a Teenage Girl’) comes this very funny yet uncompromising look at a difficult, perpetually grumpy person, author Lee Israel, who in the early ’90s took to forging letters of dead celebrities to sell to bookshops and private buyers. Maybe the best performance of Melissa McCarthy (or at least certainly on par with her ‘Bridesmaids’ turn on a more dramatic plain), the movie also features a terrific performance from the indispensable Richard E. Grant. A great, believable and very enjoyable character piece.

5. Annihilation

Some sci-fi movies are fun (though maybe those should really be called fantasies?), and then some will spin you round, make you think, and mess you up. Annihilation, from genre pro Alex Garland (responsible for ‘28 Days later’ and ‘Ex Machina’ among many others) is a lot like ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’ in that it’s actually not like that at all. A haunting, immersive experience destined to become a cult classic. (Now streaming on Amazon Prime & Hulu.)

4. BlacKkKlansman

30 years after his masterpiece of racial tension ‘Do the Right Thing’ Spike Lee is still working at (or at least damn near) the top of his game with this explosive, funny and uber-relevant take (it seems somewhat loosely based) on a true story about a black Colorado cop who infiltrated the KKK using a white officer to impersonate himself in the 1970s. It’s a righteously entertaining and well-acted picture in its own right but also a screaming social siren and giant triumphant middle finger to an administration that sympathizes with Nazis.

3. Hereditary

Hey, you kids wanna get messed up? Watch ‘Hereditary.’ Hell, double feature ‘Hereditary’ and ‘Annihilation’ if you wanna just ruin your goddamn week. But, like, in the best way you could possibly do that. Okay, so every movie fan knows it’s about damn time we add an Oscar category for stuntmen — the people actually risking their lives in the name of entertainment. Maybe we could give a lifetime achievement award for the category to that crazy Tom Cruise (look, there’s my shoutout the last ‘Mission: Impossible,’ 2018’s best action movie; cry your hearts out, Marvel fans). I say while we’re at it, the Grammy’s has a category for best new artist, so how’s about a friggin’ category for best directorial debut? Let’s create one this year and give the first one to writer/director Ari Aster for ‘Hereditary.’ You people have connections, right? Please make that happen in two hours. Also the fact that Toni Collette wasn’t even nominated for her stupendous performance here tells me academy voters seriously need to watch some more horror movies. (Now streaming on Amazon Prime.)

2. A Star Is Born

Yeah, I wouldn’t have thought a remake (let alone one of a story told three times already) would make it that high on my list either, but Bradley Cooper’s quiet, intimate take on this grand, classic melodramatic tale is just that good. Remember those fake-looking digital crowds in ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’? Yeah, Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga just kinda low-key snuck into music festivals, performed for real crowds, and you can feel that energy. Great music and some of the year’s most exciting cinematography don’t hurt the experience one bit either.

1. Widows

Wow, really no awards at all for this one. Here’s my award: ‘Widows’ fucking rules. Now I ain’t got no shiny statue for that one, but… it does. A great ensemble cast leads this awesome and intense Steve McQueen/Gillian Flynn crime thriller to cinematic glory.

Okay, that’ll be all for now. And in case you’re wondering, yes, I liked ‘Roma,’ ‘Vice,’ and ‘Black Panther.’ And no, ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ was bullshit, and we should stop making musical biopics until we can figure out how to make them interesting enough to do their subjects justice. Daniel out!