Here we go! My Top 5 films of 2018.
The only major film that I can think of at the moment
that I did not see and would have maybe had a chance at this list was
“Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse”. I do hope to get around to it soon, but as
for the end of the year, it just wasn’t in the cards.
Oh well.
Alright, without further ado, here are the Top 5 films:
#5: “FIRST REFORMED”
Question for you, Paul Schrader:
Where in the Hell did this come from??
Make no mistake, Schrader, as a screenwriter, has had his
name attached to some excellent films in the past thirty years or so; however,
his directing filmography has been a bit sketchy at best, including some of
Nicolas Cage’s recent direct-to-video fare. I don’t know if Paul was saving
this for a rainy day, or if a light turned on, but to go from a directing lull
to making of the darkest and sobering dramas of the year, along with one of
Ethan Hawke’s best performances since “Lord of War”, is nothing short of
stunning.
Suicide, alcoholism, crisis of faith, and church motives
beneath the veil only scratch the surface on what it is an otherwise smaller
picture consisting mainly with only Hawke and Amanda Seyfried as Pastor Ernst
Toller and Mary Mensana, respectively; one drinking his way right to the abyss,
ironically, and the other as a pregnant and newly single mother that is the
only beacon of light in his life.
It’s definitely one of those character dramas you might
not want to save for a rainy day, but it is quietly engaging just the same. I
loved it.
#4: “EIGHTH GRADE”
This might just be my formerly introverted middle school
self that related to every damn beat of this movie talking – but wow, this film
was really fucking good! Actually, I’d say it is the closest thing to
perfection any film has been this last year, and the only film that I gave a
perfect score.
There’s really nothing fancy or over-the-top about it,
and maybe that’s why it works so well. It would seem that Bo Burnham wanted to
tell an honest and earnest story about a bumbling and stumbling teenage girl
with a heart as big as the Eighth Grade finding personal enlightenment through
her awkward social struggles with classmates, and her struggles at home being
raised by a single father whom is clearly unprepared to help her walk through
this time despite his sincerest efforts.
Much like Krasinski with “A Quiet Place”, one would have
thought that Burnham has been directing films for years with how clean he
maintains the pace and doesn’t add a bunch of unnecessary fluff. Additionally, and
far be it for me to predict the future, but if this is how Elsie Fisher is
going to kick things off (voicing Agnes in “Despicable Me” does not really
count), she’s going to have one hell of a career. Fingers crossed.
#3: “BLACKkKLANSMAN”
Whether good, great, or not-so-great, there’s no doubt
that a Spike Lee film/’joint” is going to take audiences for a ride. One-part
dark comedy and one-part gripping drama, “BlacKkKlansman” might now be one of
my favorites in his impressive filmography. I mean, staunch racism in 1970s
Colorado shouldn’t have made me smile as much as it did, and yet here I am.
Let’s be honest, only the courage and experience of Spike
Lee could make a film like this work as much as it did; not to mention the fact
that despite the near five decades of separation, it’s eerie how timely and
on-the-nose the narrative compares to 2018’s socio-political landscape. Trust
me, the final scenes alone will sober any open-minded person up like a
steel-toed boot to the groin.
I also have to say how amused I was with how much some of
John David Washington’s mannerisms are so dead-on like his father’s. He’s got
some big shoes to fill as far as acting goes, yet he showed some decent chops
here. Also, his chemistry with Adam Driver proved to be critical and seamless.
Speaking of Driver, the more I see him in films like this
and “Logan Lucky”, despite having the same straight-faced style as, say, Ryan
Gosling, the less I like his work as Kylo Ren. That may or may not be his fault;
I just can’t help but think it.
But I digress. Go see this movie if you’ve yet to do so!
#2: “WON’T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR?”
I smile, for what a brilliant human being Fred Rogers was
for multiple generations of children.
I weep, for since his departure from this world, the void
he created still feels chillingly empty.
Ok, perhaps that’s a bit dramatic. I have no doubt that
there are many individuals all over the world with similar saint-like pedigrees
whom do not have the benefit of a television show to spread some positive light
in this rotting cesspool. Hell, maybe that’s for the best since most major
studios cannot help but screw things up any more; I mean, look no further than
the Discovery and History channel for examples. Fucking Christ.
Anyway, I could have watched this as a ten-hour
miniseries and been just as happy and nostalgic for one of my favorite programs
as a kid. Nonetheless, this ninety-minute documentary does a fine job of
spanning the entirety of Roger’s career, up to and including one of his final
appearances after the 9/11 attacks. The film also made sure to hit most of the
highest notes of his career, and some of the lower ones as well. For a man that
appeared so confident in himself on screen, it was fascinating and a bit
heartbreaking to see him be not always like that off the stage. Just like he
was for many people, he too needed a strong support system to help get through
some of the world’s negativity.
There’s bound to be a mixture of both sad and happy tears
for a majority of the film’s viewers, and I imagine if Fred were here to see
that, he’d tell us that both are okay.
And finally, MrMovieETC’s favorite
film of 2018 is:
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#1: “SEARCHING”
There have been many films
that I liked and some films that I loved this year, and sure, some that may be
deeper, more significant, or artistic, but there is only one that entertained
me at every turn so much that I wanted to watch it again the very next day –
perhaps even again the day after that – and that film is “Searching”.
Holy crap. Not only was this
directed by yet another feature length first-timer and somebody young enough to
still be considered a kid in the professional world (Aneesh Chaganty is only
27), but said kid at some point decided to himself that he is going take what
other filmmakers have tried to do with social media and “found footage” and
kick all their asses by writing one of the year’s best screenplays around the
gimmick. Literally, there are only a tiny handful of scenes shot that are not
either on a webcam, cell phone, security camera, or computer screen. It is
really kind of absurd how, during the entirety of the film, the mind wants to
keep objecting and think there’s no good reason this should work, but goddamn
it, it’s working like a dream.
Outside of the excellent
directing and editing, a lot of the film’s success needs to be credited to John
Cho as the widowed father of the missing girl. The idea alone of Cho acting as
panicked and suspenseful as he does knowing it is being seen through the lens
mostly of handheld cameras is an accomplishment that should not go unnoticed.
Well, when it comes to awards, that’s exactly what is going to happen, but what
are ya gonna do?
I’m sure there are many people
that feel other films easily should rank above this, but from a pure
entertainment standpoint, I had to put “Searching” in the top spot. Hell, I
loved this film so much and thought it to be so good, I have absolutely no
doubt that a god awful sequel will be out in no more than two years. That’s how
you know you’ve got a winner.
Thank you very much for
reading! I have one more list to go through that I wanted to do for fun. I hope
you check it out!
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