My 2018 movie experience was heavily altered by the rise and fall of MoviePass, where I saw a ton more movies in theaters. So this upped my overall consumption of movies though my top ten were all movies I would have pursued regardless. For example, I saw Skyscraper and Hotel Artemis in theaters but they didn't make it into this blog outside of this paragraph. But I enjoyed the ride. Once MoviePass imploded, I bailed ship and I assume I'll look back years from now marveling at the preposterousness that was MoviePass.
Otherwise, this year's lot provided a ton of variety in terms of movie format and diversity of cast though pushing the boundaries seems to be the norm these days. Searching showcased an entire movie through a computer screen, American Animals was a thriller and a documentary, Spider-verse mixed up the animation style (and Spider-mans). Black Panther and Crazy Rich Asians starred majority actors of color and did alright for themselves in the box office.
All in all, a good year in film. Here are my favorites, a quick premise sentence, and a scene that really sold it for me.
Premise: A man tracking down his missing high school daughter.
Scene: Not a scene but the whole movie is shot as through a computer screen and that's just nuts because it's actually really good and not just a gimmick.
Premise: Celebrity biographer and author Lee Israel, along with her friend Jack, forgers letters of famous writers to make ends meet.
Scene: At the conclusion of the movie, after betrayal and further failing, Jack says, "You're a horrid c*#%" and Lee responds, "You too, Jack."
8. The Dawn Wall
Premise: Climber Tommy Caldwell (+ buddy) seeks to climb Yosemite's The Dawn Wall after heartbreak.Scene: When climbers Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson try to talk about their feelings and instead say a bunch of half-sentences.
Premise: Anxiety ridden eighth-grader fumbles her way through her last week of middle school.
Scene: The tracking shot at the pool party following eighth grader Kayla, with all of her insecurity and anxiety.
Premise: High school protagonist Starr deals with witnessing a police shooting, code switching, taking on the responsibility of fighting for social justice, and just about everything else a modern teenager of color deals with.
Scene: When Starr's dad lines up his kids on the front lawn after they see him detained by police.
Premise: NYC teen Miles gets bit by a spider, exhibits super powers, then meets a bunch of spider-beings from other universes.
Scene: When Miles (spoiler?) starts to fully utilize his powers, the music kicks in, he gets his new suit, and jumps off a skyscraper.
Premise: Trippy female led science-fiction "go on a mission" movie where reality is put into question.
Scene: Not a scene but rather the tone of this entire movie had me not knowing what was real.
Premise: Four college-aged boys attempt to pull off a lucrative heist from their school's library, searching for meaning in their otherwise dull lives.
Scene: In a well executed quasi-documentary style, the actual men responsible for the heist reflect on their actions, especially those causing harm to others.
Premise: T'Challa (Black Panther) returns to rule Wakanda, you know the rest.
Scene: So many! The car chase scene in South Korea, Black Panther's sister Shuri acting like a boss in the R&D lab, Michael B. Jordan in general, the soundtrack.
Premise: A documentary chronicling Fred Rogers life and work.
Scene: The final scene in which the documentarian asks the various people who has been impactful in their lives. Then just quiet shots of people contemplating. Ugh, this whole movie.
Honorable Mentions (A bunch more, listed alphabetically)
Beautiful Boy; Blackkklansman; Blindspotting; Crazy Rich Asians; Deadpool 2; The Favourite; First Man; First Reformed; Game Night; Green Book; Hereditary; Incredibles 2; Love, Simon; The Miseducation of Cameron Post; Mission: Impossible - Fallout; Ocean's 8; A Quiet Place; A Star Is Born; To All the Boys I've Loved Before; Widows; Vice
Highly Anticipated (A few more, listed alphabetically)
If Beale Street Could Talk; Bohemian Rhapsody; Boy Erased; Creed II; mid90s; Minding the Gap; A Private War; Ralph Breaks the Internet; Roma
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