The Best Films of 2018: ‘Black Panther’; ‘Hereditary’; ‘Eighth Grade’; and More

Black Panther

In what might be Marvel’s biggest year in the now decade plus life of the MCU, only one movie stood ahead of the pack. Black Panther brought some much needed reinvigoration into the cinematic comic book world, reminding us that blockbuster popcorn flicks need not forget about the basics of narrative, filmmaking, and acting. Director Ryan Coogler managed to create a film that stands as well on its own in addition to bolstering the roster of heroes already in the Marvel stable, giving us a Shakespearean drama that outclassed nearly every other MCU movie ever made. Black Panther set a new standard for what superhero dramas can achieve and what they should strive for, and well be remembered for its nuance handling of the form.

Read our original review here.

Eighth Grade

Comedian Bo Burnham has always had a way with words, but it was still something of a shock that he could create so poignant and meaningful a film—and on his first outing, no less. Burnham’s coming of age dramedy is an emotional stunner that feels as raw and real as junior high. In part due to the knockout performance of its young star, Elsie Fisher, Eighth Grade is a rare coming of age film that refuses to talk down to its subject or audience. As a result, it not only serves as an important work for teens and tweens to watch with their parents, but it remains equally important for adults as a reminder of the pain and toils and that awkward period.

Read our original review here.

Read an adolescent’s take here.

The Favourite

Period pieces are usually over-stuffed works of pomposity that serve only to check a list of preformed boxes in the hopes of earning awards acclaim for their respective studio and producers. So rarely do they get the chance to breathe like they do in director Yorgos Lanthimos’s mind-boggling take on the form. A trio of top notch performances from Olivia Colman, Rachel Weisz, and Emma Stone elevate the hilarious script from Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara into an instant classic, which tells the story of Queen Anne and the attempts of two rival courtesans to earn favor. Chock full of memorable moments and quotable lines, The Favourite is a film worth revisiting time and time again.

Read our original review here.

Hereditary

Horror has gotten so stale and formulaic over the last decade or so that anything that even remotely breaks with the formula feels fresh and new. Hereditary, however, is the genuine article. The first feature film from director Ari Aster, Hereditary envisions a horror that’s subtle and meaningful. Telling a tale of abuse and grief is never easy, but Aster manages to mine those themes to create the boldest, most innovative horror film in years. Backed by a stellar performance from actress Toni Collette, it serves as a horrifying statement of intent from a director who isn’t here to make you comfortable. There are scenes and moments in the film that will stick with you for years, burrowing their way into your psyche and popping up when you want them to the least.

Read our original review here.

If Beale Street Could Talk

Barry Jenkins proved himself a filmmaker of immense skill with 2016’s Moonlight, but even that skill was put to the test when he announced that his next project would be an adaptation of this James Baldwin classic. Any doubts anyone might have had about his abilities were quickly put to rest, as Jenkins not only made a fantastic film, he did it while managing to keep Baldwin’s singular voice to create one of the most powerfully human films of the decade. Held up by the intensity of stars KiKi Layne and Stephan James, If Beale Street Could Talk is a raw, hard look at life, love, and loss that ascends to the heights of magic thanks to the delicate touch of Jenkins.

Read our original review here.

Leave No Trace

Low key films often pack the biggest punch, and this one came out of nowhere. Director Debra Granik, adapting Peter Rock’s novel My Abandonment alongside co-screenwriter Anne Rosellini, crafted a quiet, beautiful film with the emotional weight of a fully loaded Mack Truck going 90. Leave No Trace follows the lives of a single father with PTSD (Ben Foster) trying to raise his daughter (Thomasin McKenzie) while being willfully unhoused. The emotional resonance of the film is matched by the sheer beauty of its cinematography (from Michael McDonough) while Foster and McKenzie each turn in performances that will melt even the hardest of hearts. It came and went without much acclaim, but that doesn’t make it any less amazing.

Read our original review here.

The Rider

There’s more country authenticity and realness in this film from writer/director Chloe Zhao than there has been from over two decades of watered-down pop from Nashville. The Rider tells the loosely-fictionalized story of Brady Jandreau (Brady Blackburn, whose story Zhao heard while developing Songs My Brother Taught Me, and decided to turn into a film), an up and coming rodeo star who has to find a way to go on after an accident strips him of his dreams. It’s a work of cinematic poetry that a times feels more like a verité documentary than a fictional story, owing to Zhao’s use of untrained actors and delicate camera work from cinematographer Joshua James Richards. Stunning doesn’t do it justice.

Read our original review here.

Vice

One of the most divisive movies of the year, and not along the lines you might think. Adam McKay’s irreverent look at Vice President Dick Cheney shockingly divided critics even on the left, with many bemoaning McKay’s style—which earned him acclaim in 2016’s The Big Short—as distracting and unnecessary. I disagree. McKay has the unique ability of taking complex subject matters and making them understandable to laypeople without losing any of the nuance or meaning. Vice is a powerful work of filmmaking that deftly bends genres and themes while also being informative. On top of that, it’s full of some of the year’s best performances, with Christian Bale transforming into Cheney and Amy Adams killing it as his wife Lynne. Though clearly biased, McKay also manages to display a kind of awe at his subject, making it clear that while he wholeheartedly disagrees with the man and his policies he also, in his own way, kind of respects him—at least for his chutzpah, if nothing else. Vice is another political knockout from McKay.

Read our original review here.

The Wife

Though originally premiering at film festivals throughout 2017, the wide release of The Wife was held for a year, supposedly to give star Glenn Close a better chance at an Oscar. She certainly deserves it. At 70 years old, the legendary actress turned in the performance of her career—which is truly saying something—as Joan Castleman, wife to author Joe Castleman (Jonathan Pryce) who’s been carrying the secret behind his career, and newly awarded Noble Prize, for decades. Director Bjorn L. Runge has crafted a film that pierces the heart of what we do for love and family, and how both can come crashing down by years of steady chipping. It is a superb, quiet little film that never pulls its punches and always pulls the heart.

Read our original review here.

Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

Arriving at a time when we arguably needed his voice more than ever, Won’t You Be My Neighbor? was a beautiful reminder of the light Fred Rogers brought to the world and an ode the lessons he taught us. No matter who you were, Mr. Rogers believed in you and wanted nothing but the best for you and your life. It was hard not to watch this film without the veil of tears; as loving a portrait as it is, it’s also just so good to hear his voice and his wisdom again. It touches us all in our most secret, personal, and sacred of spaces: our childhoods. Seeing this film is a lot like watching the old home videos of a beloved uncle who passed on so many years ago, but the magic it works is deeper than even that.

Read our original review here.

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