Welcome back consistently confused moviegoer! We're getting closer to where I'll inform you which films are the finest so you don't have to discern for yourself because thinking is hard and you deserve a break. So let's take a look at the runners up of 2018. These are the upstanding films worthy of a place on any critic's TOP-TEN list. But ten is a finite number and I just loved ten other films than I liked a bit more than these. I've put this list in alphabetical order so as not to play favorites.
"A Quiet Place" is a quiet masterpiece. There's no other way of saying it. The pervasive silence pulls this terrible sense of dread together. It's one of the most brilliant horror films of late. It's tense throughout with a wonderfully concealed villain.
"BlacKkKlansman" didn't quite make my top ten list, but it's every bit as relevant as Spike Lee claims. Yes, this is an incredibly ambitious film and most directors would not be nearly be up to the task of putting it together. But Lee balances humor, anger and self-righteousness perfectly.
"Black Panther" achieves what nobody would have thought possible. It's a social commentary with primarily black characters on race relations and black-on-black violence, and it's an audaciously determined comic book movie. It's also entertaining as hell, so it works on several levels, doesn't it?
"Eighth Grade" harshly brings us back to our adolescent years and reminds us just how awkward we felt. We can also clearly see the cruelty pervasive among students, subtly encouraged by the teachers and principal.
"The Hate U Give" startles and grabs you demanding you join this visceral experience. The problem we have of police brutality and corruption needs as much light shone on it as possible. Starr (Amandla Stenberg) is a girl caught between two worlds. Her parents have enrolled her in an esteemed and private (white) school but she lives in a black neighborhood. When she witnesses a police shooting, she is pulled into a dangerous situation.
"I Kill Giants" is the story about a lonesome little girl who has just lost her mother and is coping by imagining monsters for her to defeat. She just doesn't know what to do without her mom and she lashes out, leaving only her older sister, a school counselor and a new friend who just moved in next door willing to help her. As much as this film focuses on this heartbroken child, it's about the journey of these three people desperately wanting to help this girl and wondering if they're up to the task.
"Let the Sunshine In" is the perfect romantic comedy, if you like that sort of thing. I usually don't but damn, I loved this movie. Isabelle (Juliette Binoche) is on an expansive quest for true love. It evades her, leaving us to wonder if it's them or if it's her or if true love even exists in her world.
"The Miseducation of Cameron Post" follows Cameron (Chloe Grace Moretz,) a gay teenager who, when caught making love with her girlfriend, is checked into a Christian conversion camp. Watching Cameron getting beaten down is as sad as the delusions and the quiet contradictions the leaders of the camp live with and teach by. You'll feel as bad for the staff as you will for these poor kids. (Well, almost as bad. Or just a bit bad. Maybe.)
"Overlord" is a treat for anybody who loves B-movies. It starts out as a perfectly serviceable WWII thriller, but then descends into a story involving scientific experiments and monsters. I just sat there with a huge grin planted on my face. "Overlord" easily won my undying affection.
"The Other Side of the Wind" is a joyous dream of what filmmaking can be. Yes, it's damning to today's Hollywood system, but it invokes a strong hope about how far art can take you. One of the best film-about-films I've seen, plus watching John Huston is just hypnotic.
"Won't You Be My Neighbor?" does more than make us feel nostalgic. It reminds us of the importance of truly relating to children as Fred Rogers effortlessly makes a connection with children everywhere. Watching it, I wondered whether or not this generation of children will breed more psychotics just because of his absence. He may have been that important. "Won't You Be My Neighbor?" would have been my #eleven had I been willing to lengthen my TOP-TEN list.
Coming in the next couple of days – THE TOP TEN FILMS OF 2018!
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