Oscars Sunday has arrived! Tonight, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will name its 91st Best Picture winner from a group of eight total nominees. Before they do that, for the 6th consecutive year(2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017) I present my list of the 10 Best Movies of the Year. I'm also including a group of honorable mentions ranked from 20 to 11.
This year only 2 Best Picture nominees appear in my Top 10, Roma and The Favourite. Those two are actually the only films in my Top 10 to receive more than one Oscar nomination this year. There's even less crossover with my honorable mentions group, as only one of those films received multiple nominations from the Academy. This pretty much follows a pattern from the past few years, but that's okay. That's what makes these lists so fun for me. It's all subjective. My tastes haven't aligned with the Academy's picks recently, but in the first 2 installments of my Top 10 Lists my #1 movie of the year was later named Best Picture of the Year by the Academy(12 Years a Slave and Birdman).
History won't repeat itself this year as neither Roma or The Favourite is my choice for the #1 movie of 2018. On that note, it's time to find out which film got that top spot, plus all the other ones too. Here's my list of the 10 Best Movies of 2018. Enjoy!
Honorable Mentions
20) (tie) Love, Simon and To All the Boys I've Loved Before
- 2 great Teen Rom-Coms for a new generation, one featuring an Asian Lead character and the other an LGBTQ Lead character
19) American Animals
18) Support the Girls
- Hidden gem featuring a solid lead performance by Regina Hall
17) Bad Times at the El Royale
16) Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
15) Hereditary
- Very scary directorial debut from Ari Aster. Hopefully his career trajectory turns out better than Shyamalan's.
14) Leave No Trace
- Once again: What does Ben Foster have to do to get an Oscar nomination?
13) Hearts Beat Loud
12) Can You Ever Forgive Me?
11) Private Life
- Excellent lead performance by Kathryn Hahn, one of my favorites of the year.
10) Sorry to Bother You
I used the word "ballsy" to describe Swiss Army Man a couple of years ago, and I'm using it once again to describe this film. Writer/Director Boots Riley throws everything at the screen and most of it works. I was thoroughly entertained from the first moment to the last following this film's many twists and turns and thought provoking themes. I won't get into plot details with this one so as not to spoil it. You'll just have to trust me: it's a must watch!
9) Free Solo
What an unbelievable achievement! Alex Honnold's rope-free climb up Yosemite's El Capitan is definitely one of the best on-screen moments of the year. Watching it in IMAX made it even better. This documentary explores Alex's motivation for being a Free Solo climber leading all the way up to the moment he makes that historic climb. And the achievement in cinematography on this film is just as extraordinary. Hands down the most inspiring film of the year.
8) Eighth Grade
An instant classic in the teen movie genre. Writer/Director Bo Burnham totally nails the anxiety of being an eighth grader. The movie covers the final 2 weeks of the school year for young Kayla (Elsie Fisher), and all the awkwardness that brings for her. We've all been there, only now we're seeing how the current generation experiences their adolescence. Excited to see what Mr. Burnham does next.
7) Madeline's Madeline
This one took me completely by surprise. I didn't know much going into it so I didn't know what to expect, and what I got was one of the most unique viewing experiences of the year. This film presents the theme of mental illness in a way I hadn't seen before, using great cinematography and editing and featuring one of the best performances of the year from newcomer Helena Howard. It's a tough watch so it might not be for everyone, but it definitely worked for me.
6) The Favourite
Yorgos Lanthimos makes my Top 10 once again. He directed the #1 movie of 2015 for me, The Lobster. I enjoy his signature brand of dark humor, and I really enjoyed how he applied it in this film. All the scheming, the backstabbing, the pettiness, I loved it. The three female leads (Olivia Colman, Emma Stone, Rachel Weisz) were all terrific, and all three received Oscar nominations for their work.
5) Roma
The first Netflix film to make it into one of my Top 10s. But this film definitely doesn't fit into what is commonly known as a "Netflix Film". I got to experience it in the theater, while on vacation in NYC, and it didn't disappoint. Alfonso Cuarón is an absolute master at work, this time wearing five different hats: producer/director/writer/cinematographer/editor. The production design and sound mix are also impeccable in this one. It does borrow a lot from Fellini, and the pacing might be considered a bit slow by some, but you just can't deny the technical brilliance you're seeing on screen. It's currently the frontrunner to win Best Picture tonight, so let's see what happens.
4) Paddington 2
What a lovely film this was. Just 100% feel-good from beginning to end. But it's not all fluff. There's a timely message here about the demonization of outsiders in our current society. And then there's all the excellent technical aspects the film has to offer: the editing, the visual effects, the production design, the original score, and more. This film's production value goes toe-to-toe with any of the best-regarded films of the year. Unfortunately the Academy didn't see it that way and totally overlooked it. Don't make that same mistake. This is an instant Children's/Family Classic.
3) The Death of Stalin
Arguably the best comedy I've seen this decade. This script was absolutely hilarious, and a bit terrifying too. Every detail felt so relevant to our political reality of today. The ensemble cast in this film was the best of 2018 for me. Standouts include Steve Buscemi, Jeffrey Tambor, Andrea Riseborough, and Simon Russell Beale. A must watch if you love political satire.
2) Minding the Gap
This documentary is truly special. Director Bing Liu presents the lives of a group of skateboarding friends, himself included, in their rust-belt hometown of Rockford, Illinois. We get to follow them for multiple years as they grow into adulthood and they have to deal with emotional baggage from domestic abuse situations from their past. This includes a moment when Liu decides to dig into his own past and interviews his mother as part of the film. Seriously, this is one of the best documentaries I've ever seen. It's that impactful and that good.
1) Shoplifters
This one hit me in my sweet spot. As a father of two kids for the past 4 years and 10 months, I know how strong that bond can be. But I also understand that families can come in all shapes and sizes. Hirokazu Kore-Eda shows us in this film that sometimes the family you choose can be as full of love or even more so than any other family. Every detail in this film feels so genuine, so alive. I was totally connected to this family, even though they weren't technically what our society would consider to be a family. Add to that the best performance I saw this year from Sakura Ando as the matriarch of the clan, and it results in one of my favorite films from this decade.