The Best Movies of 2018

It's just been one of those years for me. I find myself with less free time and so I am getting this list up very late, with only a few hours before the Oscars begin. Therefore, this year will be much more of a lightning round, with less time spent on each category, but I will still make sure to point out my favorite aspects of each film that I award. As always, I have a TL;DR at the end of this blog that is essentially a ranked list of my favorite movies from this year.

DISCLAIMER: I have not seen every film made in 2018 and so some great films will surely be left out from this list. However, I am happy to state that I have watched all of the Best Picture nominees even before they were nominated, so that felt pretty good. Like usual, I will make Best Picture predictions for every category, including those that I do not award myself. Let us begin with the honorable mentions!


Movies That Were Unworthy

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
Black Panther (great neo-Africanism but a boring protagonist and story)
Leave No Trace
Mary Poppins Returns (another light remake/sequel from Disney)
A Quiet Place
Widows


Movies That Would Have Been Worthy

Apostle
Bohemian Rhapsody (first half is a terrible concert film, second half is a fantastic biopic drama)
Crazy Rich Asians
The Favourite
Green Book
The Incredibles 2
Overlord (loved this action-horror film, especially Wyatt Russell)
Ralph Breaks the Internet
A Star Is Born
Tully
Vice
Won't You Be My Neighbor?


Movies That I Just Did Not See

Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Cold War
Mary Queen of Scots
Ready Player One
The Wife


And now here it is, the Best Movies of 2018 according to Robert.



Oscar Predictions for Unrepresented Categories

Costume Design - Black Panther
Documentary (Short Subject) - No clue, haven't seen any of them.
Film Editing - The Favourite
Makeup and Hairstyling - Vice (because Christian Bale LOOKS like Cheney)
Production Design - Black Panther
Short Film (Animated) - Bao
Short Film (Live Action) - See Documentary (Short Subject) above.



Best Cinematic Song: The Power of Poetry (Blindspotting)

You know a movie is truly unique when its climax comes in the form of an ad-libbed rap delivered by the protagonist to the antagonist. The far more impressive feat is that this moment works and perfectly encapsulates the entire film. All I can say is "Bravo!" to writer-actors Daveed Diggs and Rafael Casal for creating such an amazing final scene. And yes, rapping can be both poetry and music.


Honorable Mentions: Singing Bohemian Rhapsody at the Live Aid concert (Bohemian Rhapsody); and Shallow (A Star Is Born).

OSCAR PREDICTION: Shallow (A Star Is Born)



Best Stuntwork Performance: Tom Cruise (Mission: Impossible - Fallout)

I think that there is not much more that I can say about Tom Cruise's magnificent work in the Mission: Impossible series, but I will say that he outdoes himself in this excellent action film. The helicopter chase in particular is both terrifying and terrific, just one of many excellent set pieces in one of the best practical effects action films made since Mad Max: Fury Road. I created this award just for you, Cruise, so enjoy!




Honorable Mentions: Yalitza Aparicio (Roma) for an oceanside rescue when she did not know how to swim and has Thalassophobia; and Jovan Adepo (Overlord) for a thrilling one-shot escape from an exploding military base.



Best Animated Film: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Not only does this film have a great and creative story, but its animation style is a wonder to behold. Both Shameik Moore and Jake Johnson have a wonderful chemistry as Miles Morales and Peter B. Parker, respectively, and the rest of the voice cast is just as wonderful. If you have not yet seen this beautiful film, go see it in 3D in theaters; it will absolutely be worth it!





Honorable Mention: Isle of Dogs (which lost by a hair).

OSCAR PREDICTION: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse



Best Music: Geoff Barrow and Ben Salisbury (Annihilation)



There is a sequence that happens at the end of Annihilation that perfectly demonstrates the astounding aural artistry that Barrow and Salisbury give us in this film. I have been completely hypnotized by the scene for minutes on end, and the sinister, warbling music in this scene is a big reason for why. Well done, lads; you should have been nominated for an Oscar!

Honorable Mentions: Alexandre Desplat (Isle of Dogs); and Justin Hurwitz (First Man).

OSCAR PREDICTION: Alexandre Desplat (Isle of Dogs)



Best Performance-Capture Actor: Josh Brolin (Avengers: Infinity War)

Andy Serkis has truly pioneered the area of performance-capture acting; so much so that I decided to create a category in his honor. However, Josh Brolin easily deserves this new award this year for his outstanding performance as Thanos. He somehow looks very real while also balancing a menacing villain with the suffering of a foster-father. For once in a Marvel film, the villain stole the show for me (with respect to Michael B. Jordan's great work in Black Panther).



Best Sound Effects: First Man

This is the first space(ish) film that truly made me frightened during a launch scene. Unlike other films, director Damien Chazelle chose to film every launch from inside the rocket from start to finish, putting emphasis on the rattling of bolts and unsteadiness of the machinery surrounding these pioneers. It is truly awe-inspiring to imagine these brave men designing, building, then piloting these glorified buckets of metal before shooting off into space. In addition, the scene on the Sea of Tranquility makes me break out in tears every time. This film is a true masterpiece for any parent to experience.

Honorable Mentions: Annihilation; and They Shall Not Grow Old (remastering film footage without audio).

OSCAR PREDICTION: Sound Editing - A Quiet Place
OSCAR PREDICTION: Sound Mixing - First Man



Best Ensemble Cast: BlacKkKlansman

Spike Lee has outdone himself with this excellent biopic, which has the power to inspire, humor, and scare its viewers. This is made especially stronger by terrific performances from John David Washington (who may be a better actor than his old man, in my opinion), Adam Driver, Topher Grace, and many others. The ending of this film is also a stark slap-in-the-face for many easygoing moderates, and although Lee takes creative freedom with some aspects of this story, it is still very powerful and very well made.

Honorable Mentions: If Beale Street Could Talk; and First Man.



Best Foreign Language Film: Roma

Alfonso Cuarón has made yet another masterpiece with Roma, and two of my favorite aspects of it are that it is almost entirely in Spanish and was filmed in black and white. Much like my favorite film of all time, Schindler's List, the effect of filming a modern film in black and white has an ageless effect on the film that makes its time period feel even more real. This is a devastating and beautiful film that features even more of Cuarón's amazing one-shot scenes that he has pioneered in Children of Men and Gravity, including a birthing scene that will be stuck in my head for years to come.

OSCAR PREDICTION: Roma



Best Screenplay: Rafael Casal and Daveed Diggs (Blindspotting)

I already extolled the genius of Diggs and Casal for using an impromptu rap as the crescendo of their film, but there are many other areas in which their writing made me fall in love with Blindspotting. There is plenty of humorous moments that show The Grapes of Wrath kind of growing anger that residents of Oakland feel towards the increasing gentrification of their city due to spillover from San Francisco. There is also an important message to be told about police racism, as well as the perception of convicts. This was easily the most well-written and unique story to be told in cinema this year, and I thank this duo for having the courage to go out and make it.

Honorable Mentions: Searching (especially with its great use of technology in a film); and Annihilation.

OSCAR PREDICTION: Adapted Screenplay - Spike Lee, David Rabinowitz, Charlie Wachtel & Kevin Willmott (BlacKkKlansman)
OSCAR PREDICTION: Original Screenplay - Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara (The Favourite)



Best Voice Actor: Bryan Cranston (Isle of Dogs)

I absolutely adore both Fantastic Mr. Fox and Japanese culture, and so having the two meet in Wes Anderson's latest movie was a dream come true for me. The dialogue is snappy and hilarious, like most Anderson films, and Bryan Cranston plays his part as protagonist Chief, a stray who embraces his place in society but also has a heart of gold that shines through by the end of the film. A big part of selling this transformation comes from Cranston's excellent

performance, making this an easy award to give.

Honorable Mentions: Shameik Moore (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse); and really all of the other Spider-People voice actors, especially Nicolas Cage as the hilarious Spider-Man Noir ("Sometimes, I let matches burn down to my fingertips just to feel something.").



Best Visual Effects: Annihilation

To say that the visual effects in Annihilation are entrancing would be an understatement. There are so many moments of beauty combined with an eldritch terror, much like a Lovecraftian take on the classic story of Heart of Darkness. The bear, in particular, stood out to me as one of the most terrifying combinations of practical effects and CGI. I must also applaud the Creation-esque scene towards the end of the film for its creative appearance. Alex Garland knows how to make enthralling visual spectacles between Annihilation and Ex Machina.

Honorable Mentions: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse; and First Man (mainly for its practical effects).

OSCAR PREDICTION: Avengers: Infinity War



Best Mystery Thriller: Searching

The last mystery film that I remember keeping me as gripped to my seat as this one would probably be Prisoners, although I may be missing a few more recent films. Sicario is another film that comes to mind with its nerve-wracking tension, and Searching also channels this intense feeling. The most impressive thing about all of these traits is that it is done entirely through the screens of phones, tablets, and computers. John Cho gives an outstanding performance as a father desperately trying to find his missing teenage daughter, and the story not only delivers on the thrills and twists of a mystery, but gives us some really heartfelt messages that every parent and child could learn from in this modern age.

Honorable Mentions: Overlord; and Widows (despite its trashy content due to Gillian Flynn's involvement).



Best Director: Barry Jenkins (If Beale Street Could Talk)



After creating the masterpiece that is Moonlight, Barry Jenkins has once again crafted a gorgeous piece of cinema that continues to focus very personally on its characters. Jenkins gives us so many close-up soft-focus shots of his characters' faces, which creates such a feeling of intimacy that we grow very quickly to love each and every one of them. Although I consider the pacing of this film a bit slower than I would like, it still has many great moments and shots that made it very simple for me when selecting a winner for this category. I eagerly await for more films from Jenkins!

Honorable Mentions: Alfonso Cuarón (Roma); and Alex Garland (Annihilation).

OSCAR PREDICTION: Spike Lee (BlacKkKlansman, as a lifetime achievement for his first nomination)



Best Actor: Yalitza Aparicio (Roma)



I decided this year that it feels a little silly to separate actors into categories based on their gender, and so I instead made one category for both leading and supporting roles, then made two additional categories for other kinds of acting, as shown with the Performance-Capture Actor and Voice Actor awards. As such, Yalitza Aparicio made this a no-contest award this year with her stellar role in Roma that seemingly came out of nowhere. She plays a meek, loving housemaid with such verisimilitude that you honestly believe that she is Cleo, her character. The range of emotions portrayed by Aparicio shows what an incredible actor she is, highlighted by that same birthing scene that I mentioned before. She will absolutely break your heart and steal it at the same time.

Honorable Mentions: Daveed Diggs (Blindspotting); and Ryan Gosling (First Man).

OSCAR PREDICTION: Actor in a Leading Role - Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody)
OSCAR PREDICTION: Actress in a Leading Role - Glenn Close (The Wife)



Best Documentary: They Shall Not Grow Old

I was not sure what to expect when I went to one of the very few showings for this documentary, and what I got was one of the best documentaries ever crafted. Peter Jackson has shown his skill in nonfiction cinema with this film, taking 100 year old film footage and remastering it for the big screen, including an outstanding 3D format that makes it feel incredibly real. The added voicework and sound effects, as well as recordings of interviews with World War I veterans, makes the horrors of war more real than you will care for at times. This is without a doubt the best documentary that I have seen in many years.

Honorable Mention: Won't You Be My Neighbor?

OSCAR PREDICTION: RBG



Best Cinematography: Rob Hardy (Annihilation)

In case you could not tell, I really loved this film. Its story features an all-female cast underscored by a handful of male actors, proving that you can make female-led films without resorting to ripping off male-led originals (ahem, Ghostbusters and Ocean's 8). The camerawork done here by Rob Hardy is something to behold, including that final sequence along with an intense standoff with a bear and a found-footage clip of the dissection of a human being. Hardy and writer-director Alex Garland switch between moments of beauty and moments of horror so perfectly that you are never once visually bored. This was truly one of my favorite science fiction films in recent memory (although not quite above Arrival) and worthy of this award.

Honorable Mentions: Alfonso Cuarón (Roma); and James Laxton (If Beale Street Could Talk).

OSCAR PREDICTION: Alfonso Cuarón (Roma)



Best Supporting Actor: Rafael Casal (Blindspotting)

The character of Miles in Blindspotting is one of the most interesting aspects of a phenomenal film, one of my absolute favorites of the year. Rafael Casal portrays Miles completely naturally, showing a white man who grew up in Oakland culture in such a way that his best friend, Collin (acted perfectly by fellow writer Daveed Diggs), yells at him during an argument that "you're even more of a n***a than I am!" However, other African Americans in Oakland see him as another culture-appropriating yuppie, mistaking him for one of the many new arrivals who are gentrifying their city. This leads to a complex internal clash for Miles that is wholly unique from any story that I have ever read, and I absolutely love the boldness of Casal and Diggs to make this one of their themes in Blindspotting. Casal absolutely deserves this award, and Blindspotting should have gained far more recognition for its brilliance than it has.

Honorable Mentions: Rachel Weisz (The Favourite); and Adam Driver (BlacKkKlansman).

OSCAR PREDICTION: Actor in a Supporting Role - Mahershala Ali (Green Book)
OSCAR PREDICTION: Actress in a Supporting Role - Regina King (If Beale Street Could Talk)



Best Film: Roma



This will be the first time that I have given Alfonso Cuarón an award for Best Film, despite him being one of my favorite directors of the last decade. This film follows Cleo, a handmaid for an upper class family in Mexico City, and is loosely based on Cuarón's own childhood. That personal attachment is present throughout the movie, filmed in black and white and shot in such a way that makes it feel almost like a documentary at times. Cleo's struggles with relationships, motherhood, and her own connections to the children that she attends to give us almost a Cinderella-esque story without the magic of a fairy godmother to rescue her. Watching her relationship change with both her household's matriarch (played by Marina de Tavira) and the children from formal interactions to true familial love is wonderful to behold, leaving us with a happy ending after an absolutely devastating scene.

I am trying my best to avoid spoilers, but the scene that I keep referring to throughout this blog in Roma was the single best scene in cinema since the conversation between Chiron and Mahershala Ali's Juan at the end of the first act of Moonlight. It is a gorgeous, excruciatingly long one-shot that is amazing if only for its practical effects. However, the emotional force of the scene is absolutely brutal, especially since I can relate pretty heavily to certain aspects of it. I would compare the difficulty of watching it with Schindler's List, which you should now know, is incredibly high praise coming from me. I absolutely loved this film and would watch it again, even if it can be hard for me to get through. And so, without a doubt in my mind, Roma is my best film of 2018.

Honorable Mentions: Both Annihilation and Blindspotting were at the top of my list for some time throughout the year, making the top 3 of my list this year very difficult to decide between. But in the end, Roma was definitively the best film.

OSCAR PREDICTION: Green Book (and I'm not happy about it)



TL;DR

1. Roma (Best Film, Best Actor, Best Foreign Language Film)
2. Blindspotting (Best Supporting Actor, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematic Song)
3. Annihilation (Best Cinematography, Best Music, Best Visual Effects)
4. First Man (Best Sound Effects)
5. BlacKkKlansman (Best Ensemble Cast)
6. Searching (Best Mystery Thriller)
7. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (Best Animated Film)
8. If Beale Street Could Talk (Best Director)
9. Isle of Dogs (Best Voice Actor)
10. They Shall Not Grow Old (Best Documentary)
11. Avengers: Infinity War (Best Performance-Capture Actor)
12. Mission: Impossible - Fallout (Best Stuntwork Performance)


Thank you for enjoying my personal film awards again this year, despite the more shortened format. I love writing these and love getting your feedback, so please leave comments with your own opinions!