These lists are weird, right?
None of us, no matter how dedicated we might be to the craft, have enough time to see every film released in a year. Especially when we have to write about them and a multitude of other things that get in the way. So most of these lists start to look the same because we’re all drawing from the same pool of films that we’ve already agreed are good, and quite possibly great. The other approach is, of course, to select just the ones that you really liked, even if nobody else did. Which is kind of what I’ve done here.
There were some leading lights that came in strong in the back half of the year. A Star is Born and If Beale Street Could Talk may be the La La Land and Moonlight of 2018. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and Avengers: Infinity War are sheer comic book perfection on screen.
2018 was a far more focused year in terms of my viewing. I used festivals as a chance to see Australian cinema and continue a focus (read: obsession) with Asia cinema. The Sydney Film Festival was amazing for that this year, and of course KOFFIA and the Japanese Film Festival. For the first time, I covered a couple of New York-based festivals that were just amazing: the New York Asian Film Festival and JAPAN CUTS.
It was also a year when I bought a home, started editing a new book, read a ridiculous amount of books, . So here’s my weird review of of the films of 2018. What else would you expect?
Shoplifters
Funny, heartbreaking, and socially aware, Hirokazu Kore-eda once again shows his mastery of demonstrating the subtle way in which humans do human things. Kore-eda has assembled one of his strongest casts to date, with family and new faces alike pulling in award-worthy performances. Put simply, this is another masterpiece from the king of intimate family dramas. Read full Review >>>
We the Animals
A visually and lyrically told coming of age story that sits on the edge of magical realism and heartbreaking reality. Director Jeremiah Zagar’s film won the NEXT Innovator Award at Sundance this year, alongside Night Come On, and is one of the most visually arresting films of recent memory. Read full review >>>
BlacKkKlansman
“Dis joint is based on some fo’ real, fo’ real shit.” Spike Lee’s joint is powerful. It’s funny. It’s also a chillingly accurate dissection of modern America in the guise of a period film. It is necessary. Read full review >>>
A Star is Born
How many remakes is too many? If Bradley Cooper’s directorial debut is any guide, then keep ’em coming. What is perhaps most surprising about this latest version of a familiar story is how completely enveloping it is. As touching a confluence of music and vision as any you’ll find at the cinema this year, expect to be seeing this at many awards ceremonies next year. Read full review >>>
If Beale Street Could Talk
Barry Jenkins (Moonlight) does it again. A measured pace belies the intensity of this character drama, sumptuously and intimately shot with a terrific and moody score from Nicholas Britell. I have no idea how this sits as an adaptation, having not read James Baldwin’s text, but as a piece of cinema it’s a hypnotic and enveloping entity.
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
After creating one of the defining neo-westerns of the 21st century with No Country for Old Men, this throwback cowboy film is a combination of all of the Coens tricks and traps. Highlighted by Bruno Delbonnel’s phenomenal photography (see: Leone realness in ‘Near Algodones’), each segment has its own way of enveloping you. From the musical opening of the titular vignette through to the incomparable Tom Waits as a grizzled old prospector in ‘All Gold Canyon,’ this is a textbook in impeccable casting. Take Liam Neeson in ‘Meal Ticket’, for example, who breaks your heart without saying a word. (Sidebar: the CGI aided Dudley Dursley is remarkable). ‘The Gal Who Got Rattled’ is probably the strongest episode, breaking you up and breaking your heart in equal measure. The final piece, ‘The Mortal Remains’ is perhaps the oddest bird, a weird little downer that feels out of place in a way, but it’s hard to think of any other way to finish it.
Isle of Dogs
Quirky doesn’t begin to describe Wes Anderson’s second animated feature, a film filled with good doggos that also pays tribute to classic cinema while nipping at the ankles of your emotions. This is a heartfelt tribute to cinema that is fully aware of the legacy that preceded it. These dogs may not have masters, but the film might just have mastered our hearts. Read full review >>>
Roma
A gorgeously shot and lyrical film. It’s measured pace may give the illusion that filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón is content to keep the audience at arm’s length. Then you remember that it’s filtered through the lens of youthful memory as the filmmaker goes full Fellini.
Leave No Trace
A mesmerizing piece from Debra Granik, the director of Winter’s Bone. It’s held together by a pair of amazing performances about a father and daughter who want to live on their own terms. Will be expecting big things in the future from young star Thomasin McKenzie.
Avengers: Infinity War
Some films change the world, while others just make it more awesome to live in for a few hours. The tenth anniversary Marvel Studios film falls somewhere in between and is a joyous celebration of comic bookery and beloved characters. More than that, it’s the culmination of an idea that began as a post-credits sequence a decade ago. It’s an emotional, sometimes downbeat, and always powerful piece of storytelling. The best part? It’s not over yet. Read full review >>>
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
This is exactly the kind of comic adaptation I have been waiting years for. Fun, cheeky but respectful to the source, it’s filled with so many Easter eggs that you’ll have to see it at least twice. It’s rare that a film is so unapologetically made for the True Believers but at the same time manages a universal appeal. Read full review >>>
The rest of the best
On one hand, Gaspar Noé’s CLIMAX is the least realistic experience of taking drugs since Refer Madness. Yet anchored by an amazing performance from Sofia Boutella, this is 95 minutes of videos, insane dance, growing madness, and visually assaulting the senses.
On the opposite end of the scale is A QUIET PLACE, a horror-thriller that transcends the silent gimmick to offer up an original take on the survivalist family genre. There’s rarely a moment in this film when the characters are without their own agency. Read full review >>>
WIK VS QUEENSLAND is a powerful documentary that shows is the human element and the social movement that went along with the political football of the 1990s. It is essential viewing for all Australians. Read full review >>>
Another documentary that deserves your attention is WON’T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOUR? While I didn’t grow up on Mr. Rogers here in Australia, I still laughed and cried along with every beat of this fascinating story. Fred Rogers’ personal philosophy shines through the centre of this and it is one that is nothing short of inspirational.
China’s WRATH OF SILENCE is a familiar tale gets a unique spin in what amounts to a Western by way of Chinatown. So…Rango? Or Kurosawa. Handsomely shot with a powerfully moody score, Xin Yukon’s film might challenge the Chinese censors but there’s a delicate interplay between death and life that could possibly only work in the unique context of Chinese rural life. Read full review >>>
Actually, given that I covered dozens of Asian films this year, you should definitely also check out the following: LIZ AND THE BLUE BIRD, MIRAI, THE SHADOW, ROOM LAUNDERING, MICROHABITAT, RIVER’S EDGE, AMERICA TOWN and PSYCHOKINESIS. Japanese films HANAGATAMI and the 5-hour AH, WILDERNESS may not have come out this year, but dazzled with their epic and visually impressive approaches to character.
YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE is Lynne Ramsay’s first feature film since 2011’s We Need to Talk About Kevin is a lightning bolt. Led by Joaquin Phoenix’s incomparable performance, this unconventional tale of a hitman will whack you over the back of the head with a hammer and leave you panting for breath in its wake.
If you need a good laugh after all of that, THE BREAKER UPPERERS is a fiercely proud Kiwi comedy, and unquestionably one of the funniest films of the year. Read full review >>>
Favourite firsts in 2018…and more!
Do you remember the first time?
There’s those films that may not have come out this year, but festivals or other mediums allowed me to see them for the first time. Sometimes it’s because Australia holds back awards seasons outings until closer to the ceremonies. LADY BIRD is a great example of this, and existing fans of this film will need no further hyberbole to see this brilliant character study.
Here’s some other stuff I saw and liked:
COLD WAR has a very deliberately measured pace, and some may argue a slow one, this is a hypnotically beautiful film marked by stunning black and white photography, enchanting performances, and a hopelessly romantic outlook.
Then there’s SEARCHING. Completely engrossing and not at all what I was expecting. John Cho is amazing as we watch him transform over the course of 100+ minutes. Genuinely surprised by final act. One of the best “found footage” films to date, if that’s a term that even applies to this unique way of telling a story.
COLOR ME TRUE (aka TONIGHT, AT ROMANCE THEATRE) might be a fairly blatant spin on Woody Allen’s The Purple Rose of Cairo, but you can watch this without any guilt! It’s also a loving tribute to a bygone era of Japanese and Hollywood filmmaking, lovingly recreated in backlots, poster art and over-the-top character actors. Sometimes cheesy as all hell, but there’s a certain amount of magic to it that will appeal to the hopeless romantic inside us all. (Mine is named Chester, and is a small monkey of some kind). Read full review >>>
