My Top 10 Movies of 2018

DISCLAIMER: 

As I say every year, this is MY list and therefore MY opinions. You may not agree with the movies I’ve chosen and that’s fine. Just please be respectful. 

10. Leave No Trace

9. RBG

8. Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

7. A Quiet Place 

6. The Hate U Give

5. Black Panther

4. Green Book 

3. BlacKkKlansman

2. Avengers: Infinity War

1. A Star is Born

Honorable Mentions:

• First Reformed

• Three Identical Strangers

• Bad Times at the El Royale

• The Rider

•Eighth Grade 

Vice

Plot:

Based on a true story. Dick Cheney (Christian Bale) quietly wields immense power while serving as the Vice President To George W. Bush (Sam Rockwell). 

Pros:

•Adam McKay movies are kind of hit or miss for me. I’m happy to say that Vice for the most part is a hit. 

•Christian Bale has a real chance at winning Best Actor this year. Once again he transforms himself for the role. I didn’t see him, I saw Dick Cheney. 

•The supporting cast deserves recognition as well, especially Amy Adams and Sam Rockwell (whose not in it nearly enough for my liking). 

•I’m about to say something that I very rarely get a chance to say- Tyler Perry gave a good performance (he plays Colin Powell and has about 10 minutes screen time total). I’m dead serious. It’s amazing what he can do when he’s not writing and directing himself. 

•It was interesting to learn more about Cheney since I didn’t know much before he became Vice President. 

•Fantastic job by whoever did the makeup. 

•While I wouldn’t call it great, it’s definitely worth seeing. 

Cons:

•Had some serious pacing issues. Also, it seemed like it was never going to end. It just kept going and going. I found myself rolling my eyes several times. 

•Hated the narration. Totally unnecessary. There’s more I’d like to say about it but I would be getting into a slight spoiler. 

My Rating: 7.5/10

Mary Poppins Returns

Plot:

Decades after her original visit, Mary Poppins (Emily Blunt) returns to help the Banks siblings as well as Michael’s children through a difficult time in their lives. 

Pros:

•Emily Blunt was perfect casting. I really liked her take on the character. 

•One of the most colorful and gorgeous movies I’ve seen in awhile. 

•Rob Marshall does a great job capturing the spirit of the original while at the same time doing its own thing. 

•I enjoyed most of the musical numbers. Were they as memorable as the original? Well, no. But still very catchy. 

•This is definitely one of those feel good movies. And there’s nothing wrong with that. With all the horrible things going on in the world it’s nice to escape for a little while. 

Cons:

•Could’ve used some tighter editing. Some scenes easily trimmed down or taken out all together, mainly Meryl Streep’s musical number. 

My Rating: 8/10

Pick of the Litter

Plot:

Documentary that follows a litter of puppies as they begin their quest to become Guide Dogs for the blind. 

I usually avoid movies about dogs or animals in general because in my experience they don’t end well and I turn into a sobbing mess. But with this one I felt I’d be alright and would have a happy ending. And while it did, I still ended up crying but in a good way. Who doesn’t love seeing a movie about cute dogs? 

This was such a fascinating movie. It was interesting to see the whole process of becoming a guide dog and how hard it is to make the cut. And the amazing trainers that work with them. 

Only one very minor complaint- it felt a bit rushed. It’s only about an hour and twenty minutes and I would’ve loved to have seen them spending more time going through the whole training process. Still, this is the perfect movie to take your family to or if you’re a dog lover. 

My Rating: 9/10

Aquaman

Plot:

Arthur Curry (Jason Momoa) learns that he is the true heir to the underwater kingdom of Atlantis. 

Pros:

•Jason Momoa was easily the best part of this movie. I love his take on Aquaman. He really seems to be having fun and not taking it seriously, which is what you should do with a movie like this. 

•There are some really nice visuals, especially when it comes to Atlantis. And color!!! A rarity in a DC movie. 

•Some fun and even touching moments. 

•It’s not that good overall but it didn’t make me mad. 

Cons:

•The movie is two and a half hours and boy do you feel the length at times. 

•Terrible dialog. Whoever wrote this should be fired. But at least it was laughably bad. 

•If you take a shot every time there’s exposition you’ll be dead of alcohol poisoning in about five minutes. 

•Patrick Wilson I like you and all but tone it the fuck down! He took this way too seriously. 

•I have heard some bad songs in my time. But Pittbull’s cover of “Africa” may just one of the worst. Holy shit!! What the fuck was that? To give you an idea of how bad it was- I’d rather listen to Baby Shark on a loop then hear this song again. 

My Rating: 6/10

The Front Runner

Plot:

Gary Hart’s (Hugh Jackman) presidential campaign in 1988 is derailed when he’s caught having an affair. 

Pros:

•There is a lot to like about this movie. For one thing the performances. Hugh Jackman is amazing as always. There are some great moments between him and the strong supporting cast, especially Vera Farmiga and JK Simmons. 

•Jason Reitman does direct this well, although it’s far from his best movie. He really did make it look and feel like the 80s. 

•The score is subtle yet effective. 

•There’s some great bits of dialog. 

Cons:

•Overall though I felt that the script was kind of weak. 

•They spend way too much time developing the supporting cast (not that it wasn’t interesting, it was) and not enough time on the main character. 

•Could’ve used another round of editing. 

•I’m not sure if it was the theater I saw it in but if it wasn’t- the sound mixing was awful at times, especially in the beginning. It was hard to make out what some of the characters were saying. 

•Is it worth seeing? Sure. But I wouldn’t rush out or anything. 

My Rating: 6.5/10

The Favourite

Plot:

Set in early 18th century England. A frail Queen Anne (Olivia Colman) occupies the throne with Lady Sarah (Rachel Weisz) governing in her place. When a new servant named Abigail (Emma Stone) arrives she manages to charm everyone and fill in the role as the Queen’s companion. 

This is one of those movies that’s best to watch knowing as little as possible. So I’ll be brief with my review. 

If you go into this expecting your typical period piece then you’re going to be really disappointed. The director is Yorgos Lanthimus and his movies are certainly... unique. I mean that in a good way. If you haven’t seen any of his work (such as The Lobster and The Killing of a Sacred Deer) I suggest doing so in order to get an idea of his style. If you like those by all means see this one. 

All three main actresses are amazing. I can certainly see why they’re getting a lot of recognition this awards season. 

I also loved the costumes, score, and cinematography. 

My only complaint would be that the movie does run out of steam a bit at the end. Still, I highly recommend it and can’t wait to see what this director does next. 

My Rating: 8.5/10

Green Book

Plot:

Based on a true story. Tony Lip (Viggo Mortensen), a working class bouncer, becomes the driver of African American classical pianist Don Shirley (Mahershala Ali) who’s on a tour in the deep South in the 1960s. 

Pros:

• What makes this movie work so well is the strong writing. Tony’s son Nick not only wrote the book the movie is based on (detailing the story of his father’s unlikely friendship with Shirley) but I believe he was one of the co-writers of the script as well. 

•Mahershala Ali is quickly becoming one of my favorite actors. He and Viggo Mortensen each give award worthy performances. I thought they had really good chemistry as well. 

•If I didn’t already know ahead of time, I never would’ve guessed in a million years that Peter Farrelly directed this. When I first found out I was like wait, the guy that directed There’s Something About Mary and Dumb & Dumber? That Peter Farrelly? He does an amazing job and I hope he continues to do more movies like this. 

•Tackles a lot of tough issues but also manages to have humor and be inspiring. 

•Great soundtrack. 

•Over two hours long but never once did I feel the urge to check the time. Hell I could’ve easily sat in the theater a few more hours watching the story of these two men. 

Cons:

•Yes, it’s very cliched and predictable and filled with every single Italian stereotype you can imagine. This is the definition of an Oscar bait movie. Normally I would take points off my rating for these things, but I just love this movie so much that I’m willing to let it slide. Definitely go check this out everyone. 

My Rating: 10/10

Beautiful Boy

Plot:

Based on the memoirs of David (Steve Carrell) and Nic (Timothée Chalament) Sheff and tells the story of Nic’s struggle with addiction and the effects it has on his family. 

Pros:

•Very honest and realistic portrayal of the vicious cycle of addiction. This was extremely tough to watch at times but that’s the point. 

•Steve Carrell.... wow!! If he doesn’t get some recognition this award season something is seriously wrong. I’m so happy seeing him do more dramatic roles like this. 

•Timothée Chalament was good too but I’m not as crazy about him as an actor as a lot of people seem to be. I think he’s a bit overrated. 

•Definitely a gorgeous looking movie. 

Cons:

•The pacing/structure was a bit off, especially in the first have. A lot of weird editing. 

•Very odd music choices at times. Not Gotti level bad or anything like that but still... it takes you out of the movie. 

My Rating: 8/10