- A Quiet Place
- Annihilation
- Avengers: Infinity War
- Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot
- mid90s
- Mission Impossible: Fallout
- Sorry to Bother You
- Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
- Vice
- Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
There were a ton of great movies tin 2018, and a lot I’m still catching up on, but I tried to stick to my absolute favorites with this short list. I got an AMC Stubs A-List pass ($20 for 3 movies a week, every week), so I got to go the theater a lot, seeing a few of these films twice. Clearly, it was an insanely good year for action/blockbusters. Seeing Infinity War opening night in Seattle on the last night of the west coast road trip with Sean, feeling the excitement and energy, was electric. I don’t like disruptions during a movie, but I was cheering right along with the audience as Thor thundered into Wakanda. It really was the perfect culmination of what Marvel’s been working towards for 10 years…and there’s still another to go.
I though Infinity War was a shoe-in for my favorite of the year…until I saw Into the Spider-Verse. Wow. I already wrote about it, but god damn, believe the hype and more. I saw it once in IMAX, and again in IMAX 3D and it was even better.
Two excellent first films from first time directors: mid90s and Sorry To Bother You. mid90s hit home for a fellow small punk kid who wanted to fit in and did crazy shit in order to do so. And it was just beautiful, intimate, and real. Sorry To Bother You is something completely different, one of the most ridiculous, in the best way, movies I’ve seen in awhile, fucked up and hilarious at the same time.
Two incredible theater experiences: A Quiet Place and Mission: Impossible Fallout. A Quiet Place was, appropriately, probably the quietest theater experience I’ve ever had. The movie created that atmosphere expertly and earned the silence and anticipation, the scares and thrills. Fallout’s action was unparalleled, and must be seen on the biggest fucking screen possible for maximum joy.
Annihilation was another surreal experience, and while it didn’t hit me strongly initially, it’s stayed with me since I saw it, and I’m dying to watch it again.
Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far On Foot is one of the last movies I watched in 2018 and probably the most unlike any movie on this list. It’s based on the true story of John Callahan, played by Joaquin Phoenix, an alcoholic who is paralyzed in a drunk driving accident, and showcases his painful recovery, physically, and from alcohol through AA, onto becoming a famous, controversial cartoonist. Phoenix does powerful work, portraying a human being so fully: he’s a dick, he’s sweet, he struggles, he finds himself. Phoenix was in a number of powerful films this year (I still need to see the Sisters Brothers, I loved the book) but I want to give some more love to Jonah Hill and his year here:
Hill plays Phoenix’s eccentric sponsor, and on top of his directorial debut, he cemented himself as one of my favorite actors working today. I re-watched This Is The End earlier in the year, which is still one of the best comedies of the last decade, and I honestly think Jonah Hill deserved an Oscar nom for playing himself. I have to rewatch the Wolf of Wall St. now too. I hope he continues to make films himself, but I enjoy him so much acting and the interesting, challenging roles he takes. The press he did this year for mid90s was also very vulnerable and honest. mid90s seems to be very much about his own childhood, including the very end of the movie. In interviews he talked about his insecurities, lessons learned, and this only made him like him more.
Finally, Vice and Won’t You Be My Neighbor, two polar opposites. (Technically I watched these two in the beginning of 2019, but they’re 2018 releases so I’m including them.) Vice. God damn. One of the most fun, depressing movies I’ve seen. It’s an ambitious look at the quiet, power-hungry monster that is Dick Cheney, but the editing, direction and flourishes of filmmaking are kinetic, pulling back and in on all the horrible, dumb damage one expert, silent bureaucrat unleashed on the world. I liked the movie a lot, but I felt depressed afterwards. So the next night I watched Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, the documentary on Mr. Rogers. And I bawled like a baby throughout. Seeing the love and empathy he truly lived, the attention and pure focus he gave to each child he interacted with, and the determination behind each show and theme it covered, was gobsmackingly emotional. Probably because it’s so rare to see someone like that anymore. I can’t think of another human being, especially one on television, who is so empathic and heartfelt and gentle in their life and interactions. Especially today.
There you have it. A wonderful year for movies, and this is just a slice of what I thought was great this year. I’m excited to check out what I missed, but I can’t lie, I’m counting down the days til’ Endgame.