By Emilio Frenk.
2018 has recently concluded and it was a year that it started slow on film but in the second semester it started to take some form with interesting films and surprising directorial debuts. Without further a due here are the Top 10 Films of the year that just ended:
10. The Incredibles 2
Every year we see an animated feature film that captivates us and “The Incredibles 2” wasn´t the exception. Brad Bird, who wrote and directed the first “Incredibles” film back in 2004 crafted a brilliant film with entertaining characters and an interesting villain. The only thing that could have make this film better was if it wasn´t that long. Still the movie delivered the goods and it was entertaining from beginning to end.
9. Hereditary.
By Far this is the best horror/thriller film of 2018 and what a debut from filmmaker Ari Aster. This film kept me on the edge of my seat and the performance by Toni Collette, who might score an Academy Award Nomination for Best Actress was fantastic. This movie has a lot of similarities with Stanley Kubrick´s “The Shining” due to fact that deals with the supernatural, isolation and insanity. This was a huge surprise and I´m happy for a young director like Aster, who wants to revive a genre that is trying to get back on track. I´m looking forward to see Ari Aster´s next project and for horror film fans this is a must see.
8. Bohemian Rhapsody.
Without a doubt this is one of the best biographical films of the year and I´m sure that Queen fans who not only waited a long time for a film about their band but I´m sure they were not disappointed. Although Bryan Singer kept the directing credit for the film, Dexter Fletcher did a fantastic job on telling a story from Freddie Mercury´s point of view. Not only the facts of the film were accurate but Rami Malek delivered the best performance of his young career and it won´t be a surprise if we see him score an Academy Award Nomination this year for portraying one of the greatest masterminds of Rock and Roll to this day.
7. First Reformed
Paul Schrader´s film deals with a man who has a lack of faith is a must see for film lovers and for followers of Independent Film. Both Ethan Hawke and Amanda Seyfried deliver fantastic performances and the chemistry between them was essential. Schrader once again goes deep into the inner conflict of the main character and also showed us the most vulnerable side of human beings. This can be a surprise film for this upcoming Awards season and I will be very pleased if it gets some recognition.
6. The Favourite
Greek Filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos brings “The Favourite” his most ambitious film to this date. This film has a similar narrative structure to his previous films “The Lobster” and “The Killing of Sacred Deer” since this one is also very theatrical. Lanthimos once again goes deep in the character´s madness and shows us how far someone can go in order to achieve their goals.
“The Favourite” not only it´s dark but has a lot of humor and of course fantastic performances by Olivia Colman, Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz who are big contenders to score Academy Award Nominations in this Awards Seasons.
5. You Were Never Really Here
When this film was released in April it started to be my number one and writer/director Lynne Ramsay crafted a film that not only is intense, but it keeps you on the edge of your seat. Joaquin Phoenix´s performance as Joe is one of the best of this year and he shows how intense he can go. For this performance Phoenix won the Palm D´Or in the 2017 Cannes Film Festival and he recently scored an Film Independent Spirit Award Nomination for Best Actor. Like in “We Need to Talk About Kevin” Ramsay explored the most vulnerable side of each and one of his characters. This film is compared to Martin Scorsese´s “Taxi Driver” due to the themes that are similar and for Film Lovers this is another film that you have to have on your watchlist.
4. Roma
Academy Award Winner Alfonso Cuarón made by far his most personal film with “Roma”. This is a throw back to the late 1960´s and Cuarón illustrated this like it has never been seen in film. With a breakthrough performance by Yalitza Aparicio, “Roma” is a film that is sure going to land an Academy Award Nomination for Best Foreign Film and it won´t be a surprise that we see Cuarón land a Nomination for Best Director. Cuarón proves to be one of the best, if not the best filmmaker that Mexico has ever delivered and again directed a masterpiece.
3. Blackkklansman
Filmmaker Spike Lee is back on track after failures like “Old Boy” and “Chi-Raq”. Based on the memoirs by Ron Stallworth, Lee crafted a brilliant film with excellent performances by John David Washington and Adam Driver who were convincing in this film.
Like most of Spike Lee´s films, this movie was controversial due to it´s political meaning but it was released in the best moment in America. “Blackkklansman” is a film that mocks the actual administration and the ending of the film is one of those that people are going to be talking for many years.
2. A Star is Born.
This is one of the biggest surprises of this year and Bradley Cooper´s directorial debut couldn´t have started better. Originally this film was going to be directed by Clint Eastwood and Cooper ended up taking the reigns of the project. I admire Cooper´s bravery on directing such an ambitious project but he delivered and hopefully his career as a director can blossom even more. The chemistry between Cooper and Lady Gaga was amazing and both of them delivered memorable performances and the score of this film is also a masterpiece. Another performance and I hope that he lands a nomination is Sam Elliott who as always was phenomenal and plays a key part in this film. This film really had a huge impact on me since I didn´t know what to expect from it but it was fantastic and it´s one of the reasons why it is on this list.
Honorable Mentions:
“A Quiet Place,” “The Sisters Brothers”, “Don´t Worry, He Won´t Get Far on Foot”, “Boy Erased”, “Beautiful Boy”, “Vice”, “Eighth Grade”, “Annihilation”, “Ralph Breaks the Internet” and “The Mule”.
1. Green Book
By far my favorite film from 2018. This movie not only was funny and a feel good film but it´s touching and has a powerful message. Peter Farrelly, who directed films like “Dumb and Dumber”, “Kingpin” and “There´s Something About Mary” crafted a film that is about true friendship. Not only his timing for comedy was brilliant but the use of drama played a big role. Both Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali delivered convincing performances and the chemistry between them is what really defined this film. I was very pleased to see this movie that brought tears to my eyes and I highly recommend it.
If you have any suggestions of films that did not enter this list please feel free to comment. Stay tunned for more reviews to come.