These are my top 10 favorite movies of 2018. These aren't necessarily the movies that I think are the best, and I also did not get a chance to see all the movies I wanted to that were released this year, but I did see most. Starting at number 10...
10. Isle of Dogs
I adored this movie. It was warm, funny, charming, with a peculiar premise that was such a treat to watch. Wes Anderson pays so much attention to detail and the way he does it in clay animation makes it even exciting. I don't have all that much to say about this movie other than I just loved it.
9. A Simple Favor
I have always loved Anna Kendrick, and I think for a while many of roles she played involved her having to be "adorkable" all the time, and I really enjoyed watching her play someone who takes that idea and flips it upside down. Blake Lively, on the other hand, was essentially off my radar until this movie and what a travesty that is. She was hilarious, scary, interesting, and always dressed incredibly. I hope she only wears those suits from now on. Both of these leading ladies were complicated, funny, and just charming enough that you could never be 100% sure of their motives. I will say, I thought the ending was a bit too long and too much information had to be given in the big reveal to explain the backstory of Blake Lively's character, but it was still very exciting and there were moments where I genuinely gasped out loud.
8. The Hate U Give
Much like my number one pick for this year, I thought this film explained and worked through code switching really well. Amandla Stenberg gave a great performance along with the rest of a great cast. It also showed how difficult it is when something so personal becomes a public political tragedy and how a community goes through grief. I felt anger, sadness, and ultimately some hope and motivation at the end. There are some moments in the movie that are a little too neat but are used for the sake of narrative that I could have done without. Overall, though, I think this is a must see.
7. Hereditary
Hereditary smacks you in the face right off the bat with an unshakable dread that you have to hold for the rest of the movie, which makes every moment following even more sickening. I had to look away a few times because of how repulsive some of the images were, but I loved it. I loved that it didn't hold back. Horror movies sometimes sacrifice character depth and focus most of their attention on plot, but Hereditary is so invested in the desires, details, and backstories of most of its characters which makes it all the more engaging. I really enjoyed the use of the mother's dioramas at each beat of the movie to separate it into sections and give us a completed image of each stage of the film. I slept with the lights on for about a week after.
6. The Favourite
I'm deeply bored of Oscar-bait period pieces that come out every year around this time, so I assumed I would not like this movie. Everything I expected about The Favourite was completely wrong. It was hilarious, bizarre, beautiful, complicated, surprising, dirty, and exciting in the best ways. Sex has always been a tool to attain power, but watching two women use it for the favor of another woman was so refreshingly absent of gender roles. Not only were the men absent from this tricky triangle, but the men who were in the movie were delightfully stupid. I was so perplexed by yet sympathetic to the three women and their blurry motives. I can't say that I understood everything about it. There were some camera movements that I couldn't stop paying attention to but also could not figure out. If this wins best picture I will not be upset at all.
5. Love, Simon
I saw this movie in theaters 3 times. I have never been so filled with glee than I was at the end of this movie. Tony Hale as the vice principal made me laugh as soon as he was on screen every single time. I have been aching for a good queer romantic teen movie for forever. Obviously I cried during Jennifer Garner's monologue. Something that was so important that this movie got right was that it's not helpful to say things like "I don't see you any differently" or things like that because you should see them differently--you've been given new information about them. In her monologue, the mother says that she has known he has been hiding something for so long and finally he gets to exhale and be himself. PERFECT. Watching a group of teenagers cheer on two boys kissing on top of a Ferris wheel isn't something I could have ever imagined as a kid in high school, and I'm beyond elated that young queer kids got to see that kind of teen romantic fantasy. I will be watching this movie many more times.
4. Hearts Beat Loud
I wish more people had seen this movie. It was so warm, honest, and joyful that it felt magical to watch. It was such a sweet, simple story about a dad and a daughter making music together the summer before she goes off the college. Not to mention, the music they make is actually good! So many movies about music have songs that are really just... fine (Begin Again, Pitch Perfect 2). There is also a cute queer B plot of the daughter meeting a girl at an art museum who she dates for the summer. I could not have loved this movie more. It's simple, small, but spellbinding.
3. Annihilation
Normally, I don't love movies with screen-caps like this with guns, weapons, and other violent things. This movie has a totally different approach to violence. There is so much to say about why I loved this movie that it will take too long, so I will try to condense it into a list; the difference between self-destruction and suicidal behavior, the visual effects, the weirdness of being mirrored by a lifelike version of yourself, DNA reflecting and refracting on itself until everything is a weird moldy mesh, how beautiful all the plants were, the idea that alien lifeforms don't necessarily want anything from us and that they just are, a diverse cast of women with clear motivations and fleshed out backstories, the soundtrack, and the idea of monster. There are so many awards that this movie should win. I saw it twice in theaters and I will definitely be watching it again.
2. Crazy Rich Asians
I chose this picture because this scene BROKE ME. I never cry at romantic comedies, and I definitely don't have any strong feelings about marriage or weddings, but when the water starts coming down the aisle and everyone gets out their light up butterflies I actually wept. I don't think I have ever seen something more stunning. I saw this movie twice and cried even harder the second time. I loved how much style this movie had. It leaned so hard into romantic comedy tropes where a lot of other romantic comedies try unsuccessfully to subvert them. This movie was so funny, so cute, and I was rooting for Rachel the whole time. This was one of those movies that had such a gooey-sweet ending that I didn't just love it but I loved it from my soul.
1. Sorry to Bother You
Sorry to Bother You is the movie I have been aching for for the longest time. A movie that is risky, challenging, funny, original, strange, pretty, and thrilling. I can honestly say I have no complaints or critiques other than I can't find the earrings Tessa Thompson wore at a cheap enough price. I have heard a lot of people say that the movie lost them at the third act when the twist comes, but that was where the movie grabbed me the most. This was also such a fun way to talk about code-switching. I will watch this movie so many more times. It absolutely blew me away.
That's my list! I hope to make myself write more in-depth on the movies I see in the new year. Thanks for reading!
