As always, it takes us an extra month to put together an informed list of the best films of the past year, and after a flurry of last-minute viewings this past weekend, here we are.
It was a quiet year, and we have no profound insights to bring. "The Rider" and "Foxtrot" were released early in 2018, and no movie really came close to the powerful storytelling of those two deeply moving films. "Shoplifters" was in the ballpark. After our top five, there's a noticeable drop-off.
Documentaries made a strong showing, with three in our top ten and a particularly strong crop represented below under More Top Docs.
We're not diving as deep into these movie reviews since the start of last year, but we're seeing nearly as many movies. By our count we reviewed 66 2018 releases in the past year and about as many older releases. We are still in the same slump we were in last year as far as our enthusiasm for movies in general and our view of the industry. Weeks would pass when there was no new release worth paying for. But there still is fun to be had at the cineplex and the art house.
If you're picky, you can still appreciate the genre. Pick through the following lists and see what you find.
THE TOP FILMS
1. The Rider - A heart-wrenching look at a real family, their life dramatized by this bold, poignant film.
2. Foxtrot - An ingenious story, told with grit and whimsy. From Israel, this had the year's BEST SCREENPLAY.
3. Matangi/Maya/M.I.A. - A fastidiously curated presentation of the video life of the rapper M.I.A. It pulses with life.
4. The King - Eugene Jarecki continues his examination of the soul of America, creatively riffing on the life and legacy of Elvis Presley.
5. Shoplifters - A script as precise as a Swiss watch, and a searing tale about a broken family.
6. En El Septimo Dia - A feel-good movie about a working-class immigrant who just wants to play soccer on Sunday.
7. Outside In - Edie Falco and Jay Duplass plumb depths of sorrow and missed chances in this quiet character study.
8. Let the Sunshine In - Juliette Binoche is impeccable in this tale of middle-aged love and ennui.
9. Won't You Be My Neighbor - What a joy to spend time with Fred Rogers and daydream about a gentler culture.
10. The Endless - The best time-twisting sci-fi thinker since "Primer."
11. Private Life - Kathryn Hahn and Paul Giamatti sink their teeth into a juicy New York story from Tamara Jenkins.
12. Dark River - This overwhelming slog from Clio Barnard is difficult to avert your eyes from and hard to shake after seeing it.
13. A Star Is Born - Hooray for Hollywood. Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper grab this one with gusto and put on a hell of a show. Highly entertaining.
14. Izzy Gets the Fuck Across Town - Mackenzie Davis romps through this day-in-the-life LA story of a spurned lover on a slovenly mission.
BONUS TRACKS
We got to a few leftovers from 2017, too late to make last year's list. A few that stood out:
The visually stunning magical realism of Viktoria; Annette Bening giving it her all as a fading diva in "Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool"; and Cullen Hoback, whom we met years ago at the Santa Fe film festival, offering a strong polemic, "What Lies Upstream."
JUST MISSED THE LIST
(Honorables mentioned)
- Burning
- The street-punk sagas Skate Kitchen and Minding the Gap
- Mr. Roosevelt
- The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling
- Fahrenheit 11/9
- Cold War (including BEST DIRECTOR, Pawel Pawlikowski)
MORE TOP DOCS
- Dark Money
- Three Identical Strangers
- They'll Love Me When I'm Dead
- Escapes
- The Rape of Recy Taylor
- They Shall Not Grow Old
GUILTY PLEASURES
- Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood
- The Week Of (yes, an Adam Sandler comedy)
- De Palma
- The mindless summer fun of "Deadpool 2" and "Ocean's 8"
TOP PERFORMANCES
- Olivia Colman and Emma Stone in the slightly disappointing farce "The Favourite."
- Kathryn Hahn and Paul Giamatti in "Private Life."
- Juliette Binoche in "Let the Sunshine In."
- Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper in "A Star Is Born."
- Young Jyo Kairi in "Shoplifters."
- Julianne Nicholson in "Who We Are Now."
IT'S NOT YOU, IT'S ME
(Some of our favorite directors didn't thrill us this time around)
- Wes Anderson's direction was meticulous and loving in the stop-action "Isle of Dogs," but we struggled to care about the story.
- Lynne Ramsay went super-dark down a Joaquin Phoenix rabbit-hole in the squalid but off-putting "You Were Never Really Here."
- Andrew Bujalski never put it all together while delivering a solid effort, "Support the Girls."
- Spike Lee had a golden opportunity with "BlacKKKlansman," and he under-performed.
- The Coen brothers entertained but didn't wow with the inessential "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs."
- Alfonso Cuaron couldn't draw me in to his visually riveting "Roma."
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Diablo Cody ("Juno") and Jason Reitman ("Up in the Air") dropped a dud with "Tully."
COMING ATTRACTIONS
(Haven't caught these yet)
- Golden Exits
- Bisbee '17
- Monrovia, Indiana
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