{"id":1281,"date":"2019-01-08T04:00:16","date_gmt":"2019-01-08T04:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/otherpeoplesmovies.com\/?p=1281"},"modified":"2020-02-09T17:28:29","modified_gmt":"2020-02-09T17:28:29","slug":"top-ten-movies-of-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/otherpeoplesmovies.com\/index.php\/2019\/01\/08\/top-ten-movies-of-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"Top Ten Movies of 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Jon Hamm in Bad Times at the El Royale<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

2018 saw a steady stream of original, daring, and adult-oriented movies released onto the marketplace. Many of its most touted releases turned out to be relative disappointments and many of its masterpieces were quiet surprises with short theatrical runs or straight-to-online-streaming releases\u2014but, hey, what else is new these days?   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Time always tells what the masterworks of any year truly are. We\u2019ll see in another decade if the following list of films still have or have gained the audience they deserve to become the classics this writer already believes them to be. Today, however, these are the ten (well, twelve) movies from 2018 that stood out the most.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Chris Hemsworth in Bad Times at the El Royale<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

1. Bad Times at the\nEl Royale<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Writer\/director Drew Goddard\u2019s linearly-fractured, multi-character, sixties-set noir is one of the smartest and most complex thrillers in recent memory. A group of troubled souls intersect at a novelty hotel on the Nevada\/California border. Traditional narrative is thrown out the window in favor of an organic and unpredictable unfolding of events that follows the behavior of its richly drawn and developed characters\u2014and the extreme consequences of their chance encounters.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jeff Bridges, Cynthia Erivo, Lewis Pullman, and Chris Hemsworth stand out amongst the stellar and flawless ensemble. Goddard\u2019s filmmaking is as innovative as it is subtle. Bad Times at the El Royale <\/em>is the fullest and the most thrilling cinematic ride of the year.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Ethan
Ethan Hawke in First Reformed<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

2. First Reformed<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paul Schrader\u2019s directorial masterwork is an exercise in perfection. From concept to execution, it\u2019s a rare film that simply works on every level it aspires to reach. It succeeds in its grand-scale themes of ecological disaster and in its smaller, intimate moments of character study featuring an alcoholic and lifeless priest (Ethan Hawke, in the best performance of his career) falling deeper and deeper into a self-induced vortex of despair and alienation.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amanda Seyfried offers excellent support as Hawke\u2019s only hope for human connection. First Reformed <\/em>is an instant classic by one of the few remaining filmmakers of his time whose integrity and talent (in spite of some bumps in the road) are still fully intact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Lakeith
Lakeith Stanfield in Sorry to Bother You<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

3. Sorry To Bother\nYou<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Boots Riley\u2019s directorial debut is one of the smartest, most original, and most daring American satires of this or any era. <\/em>Lakeith Stanfield stars as a young African American man who loses his identity while rising in the ranks of a white-dominated (in every possible way) call center. Absurdist (and spot-on) observations of racism, capitalism, American values, and general stupidity accumulate into a conclusion that is as justifiably scathing as it is unbelievably (and ingeniously) strange.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is nothing else like this movie. Riley proves himself to be an unquestionable name to watch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Evan
Evan Rachel Wood in Allure<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

4. Allure<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Evan Rachel Wood\u2019s performance in Allure<\/em> should be as celebrated as Ethan Hawke\u2019s in First Reformed.  <\/em>It\u2019s just as emotionally brutal, just as\ncommitted, and every bit as devastating to witness.  Wood portrays a troubled house cleaner who\nseduces the teenage daughter (Julia Sarah Stone, in a heartbreakingly\nvulnerable performance) of one of her clients, then proceeds to hold her\nphysically and emotionally captive.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Easy escapism it is not, as Allure <\/em>refuses to pull any punches. \nThe film takes its subject matter very seriously, refusing to succumb to\nthe cheap thriller formula its premise might suggest.  It is a brutally honest film about the cycle\nof abuse in which Wood\u2019s character is as much the victim as she is the predator.  The terror she inflicts on others and the horror\nshe experiences while discovering this is painfully, nakedly depicted by the\nactress– who never ceases to amaze with what she is capable of achieving on\nfilm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In their writing and directorial debuts, Carlos Sanchez and\nJason Sanchez have delivered a film that is as unforgettable as it is\nuncompromising.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Nicolas Cage in Mandy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

5. Mandy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nicolas Cage\u2019s return to form (on the heels of his wonderfully twisted turn as a bloodthirsty parent in Mom and Dad<\/em>— also from this year) is every bit as trippy, twisted, and ethereally brutal as you\u2019ve most likely heard. It\u2019s a simple revenge story set in the eighties about a lumberjack (Cage) who loses his wife to an LSD-worshipping cult of freaks\u2014but it\u2019s told with such artistry and ingenuity that it somehow transcends any genre to become a new kind of horror show entirely from its own universe.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cowriter\/director Panos Cosmatos\u2019s unapologetically singular voice is a welcomed breath of fresh, bizarre air.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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KiKi Lane in If Beale Street Could Talk<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

6. If Beale Street\nCould Talk<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Barry Jenkins\u2019s follow-up to Moonlight<\/em> successfully tackles grand themes of racism, sexism, the\njustice system, religion, sexual assault, and poverty (just to name a\nfew)\u2014making it an unquestionably relevant important\ntopic <\/em>film.  What makes If Beale Street Could Talk<\/em> truly soar,\nhowever, is its ability to evoke empathy by portraying its characters with\nhumanity, heart, and frankness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The film,\nset in early-1970\u2019s Harlem, centers around a nineteen-year-old mother-to-be\n(played by newcomer KiKi Lane so naturalistically that she makes you forget\nyou’re watching a movie) named Tish. Aided by her endlessly devoted family,\nTish is also caught up in a legal battle against the incarceration of her\nunborn child’s unjustly accused father.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No other filmmaker working today knows how to communicate interior life quite like Jenkins. Through intimate and simple focus on his (and novelist James Baldwin\u2019s) characters, the film\u2019s larger themes come to life organically and without overt self-proclamation.\u00a0If Beale Street Could Talk\u00a0<\/em>manages to speak volumes with a carefully soft and beautifully graceful voice.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Charlize
Charlize Theron in Tully<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

7. (tie) Tully and The Front Runner<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jason Reitman has been on an artistic winning streak this past year\u2014it’s just too bad no one noticed. Tully<\/em>, the director\u2019s reunion with screenwriter Diablo Cody and actress Charlize Theron, is a rare look at motherhood, aging, and the lack of female identity within traditional family households. Theron plays a mother of three struggling with the concept of allowing a new nanny (played by the vivaciously engaging Mackenzie Davis) to aide in her exhaustive family responsibilities. Surprising, funny, and heartfelt, Tully <\/em>has so far been an unjustifiably ignored film that needs as many eyes on it as it can get.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Hugh Jackman in The Front Runner<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The same can be said for The Front Runner, <\/em>Reitman\u2019s examination of the 1988 Gary Hart presidential campaign. Directly told with an emphasis on character, the film examines tabloid journalism\u2019s entrance into politics and how it paved the way for the chaos representing our country today\u2014but it does so without the obnoxious grandiosity or know-it-all self-importance so many political films seem to favor. Hugh Jackman is as flawless as ever. Vera Farmiga is stellar as Hart\u2019s devoted but emotionally exhausted wife, Lee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Rachel Weisz in The Favourite<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

8. The Favourite<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yorgos Lanthimos continues his English-language hot streak with this darkly comedic 18th<\/sup> century period piece. Two women (Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone) are vying for the affections of a mentally ailing Queen Anne (Olivia Colman, in a performance that is equally tragic and hilarious) for their own self-gain. While one is, perhaps, looking out for her family and country, the other is simply climbing the social ladder with increasingly sociopathic ambition and no clear end in mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Weisz and Stone are both at their wicked best, competing with each other in a game of wits and seduction prowess.  Robbie Ryan\u2019s coldly observational but stunningly gorgeous cinematography compliments Lanthimos\u2019s skewed (sometimes verging on nightmarish) depiction of events. Not a typical period film by any means, The Favourite <\/em>is a strange and unforgettable take on history that cleverly examines the consequences of wholly selfish and utterly blind personal ambition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Ben Foster and Thomasin McKenzie in Leave No Trace<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

9. (tie) Leave No Trace and Galveston<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ben Foster is further proving himself to be one of the most committed and versatile actors working in Hollywood with both of these films. Leave No Trace<\/em>, co-written and directed by Winter\u2019s Bone<\/em>\u2019s Debra Granik, is a subdued and maturely-distanced character study about a man (Foster) who simply cannot fit into modern-day society\u2014in spite of repeated efforts to do so for the sake of his teenage daughter (played to perfection by Thomasin McKenzie). Moving, skillfully crafted, and dramatically satisfying without succumbing to obvious manipulation techniques, there\u2019s a reason Leave No Trace<\/em> is one of the best-reviewed films of the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Ben Foster and Elle Fanning in Galveston<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The same cannot be said, sadly, for Galveston<\/em>. Wholly underrated, director Melanie Laurent\u2019s adaptation of Nic Pizzolatto\u2019s novel is a unique blend of hardcore noir and an ethereal, almost Malick-like beauty that sheds light and decency on the darkness at the heart of its characters. This time around, Foster plays a terminally ill hitman who is forced to take a teenaged prostitute (played with naturalism and honesty by Elle Fanning) under his wing. The pacing is air-tight, Laurent\u2019s execution is something truly special, and the film\u2014a culmination of many enormous talents–is one of the most effective and hard-hitting of the year.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Odessa
Odessa Young in Assassination Nation<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

10. Assassination\nNation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It took me two viewings to completely comprehend and appreciate this exhaustively (sometimes teetering on obnoxious) hyper satire about four girls who bear the brunt of a small town\u2019s rage after their secrets are exposed by an online terrorist (I couldn\u2019t even grade it after my first viewing in our September\/October Review Roundup<\/a>). All I could say after seeing it once is that the film made me uncomfortable, angered me, annoyed me, made me feel guilty, and brought out many of my insecurities in a way most movies simply don\u2019t have the balls to, anymore–and it had fun<\/em> with itself while doing so. How dare it?!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Writer\/director Sam Levinson owes a significant debt to Asian exploitation, Tarantino, John Waters, Harmony Korine, Heathers, <\/em>and Natural Born Killers. <\/em>However,the film still manages to be a unique and astute (though often absurd) exploration of misogyny, mob mentality, homophobia, and the general chaos that results from a world that doesn\u2019t have secrets anymore.  <\/em>While it\u2019s calculatedly scattered heart is occasionally guilty of overkill, the film should still be celebrated for its ingenuity, bravery, honesty, and overall brutal wit.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s the movie we deserve to represent the insanity of our\ntimes.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Top Ten Movies That Were Very Painful to Leave Off of the Top Ten Movies<\/strong>: Upgrade, First Man, Roma, Zoe, mid90s, Eighth Grade, Three Identical Strangers, The House That Jack Built, Mom and Dad, Welcome to Marwen<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Honorable Mentions<\/strong>: Mission Impossible: Fallout, Green Book, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, Isle of Dogs, BlacKkKlansman, You Were Never Really Here, Avengers: Infinity War, Black Panther, Puppetmaster: The Littlest Reich, Hereditary, Chappaquiddick, Arizona, Won\u2019t You Be My Neighbor?, Suspiria, Blindspotting, Halloween, Thoroughbreds, Hotel Artemis<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

2018 saw a steady stream of original, daring, and adult-oriented movies released onto the marketplace. Many of its most touted releases turned out to be relative disappointments and many of its masterpieces were quiet surprises with short theatrical runs or straight-to-online-streaming releases\u2014but, hey, what else is new these days?    Time always tells what the masterworks […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1283,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-columns","category-feature"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/otherpeoplesmovies.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1281","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/otherpeoplesmovies.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/otherpeoplesmovies.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/otherpeoplesmovies.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/otherpeoplesmovies.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1281"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/otherpeoplesmovies.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1281\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1870,"href":"https:\/\/otherpeoplesmovies.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1281\/revisions\/1870"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/otherpeoplesmovies.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1283"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/otherpeoplesmovies.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1281"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/otherpeoplesmovies.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1281"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/otherpeoplesmovies.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}