There has been a lot of good films that have been released this year. Some of them have been great. It has been hard to not do as many JOINT PLACES as I did last year. There is somem but I promise. Not as much as last year…Maybe….OK THERE A LOT OF JOINT PLACES!
Firstly. Some honourable mentions that did not make my list, but were very, very good.
- A Quiet Place
- Roma
- Three Identical Strangers
- First Man
- A Star Is Born
- Bumblebee
- Support The Girls
- Columbus
- Game Night
- Incredibles 2
- Molly’s Game
- Maze Runner: The Death Cure
- I, Tonya
- The Shape Of Water
- Aquaman
- Ant-Man and The Wasp
- The Rider
- Ready Player One
- Annihilation
- Crazy Rich Asians
- Outlaw King
- To All The Boys I Loved Before
- Tag
- Bad Times At The El Royale
- Bird Box
10) – Upgrade
If there was any justice, Upgrade would have made Venom money, why compare it to Venom? It has a lot of similarities to Venom, but has a way better story, way better action and the directing by Leigh Whannell is superb. This underrated film is destined to be a Sci-Fi Classic.
10) – Minding The Gap
I didn’t watch many documentaries this year. I only watched it two. One made it into my honourable mentions and was spellbinding (Three Identical Strangers), but the second was one of the most intimate films I have ever seen. Bing Liu’s debut film is a 12-15 year chronicles Bing, Zack and Keire from childhood and young adulthood. I don’t want to talk too much about it, go into it cold, but I knew I loved this film FIVE MINIUTES IN. I saw it late and my list has changed it was as high as number 5, but got dropped, but it was always going to be in my top 10.
9) Love, Simon
I loved Love, Simon. It is a romantic comedy with a twist. The lead is Gay. Nick Robinson is utterly fantastic as Simon. The supporting cast are also fantastic as well, nailing comedy and pathos with charm and skill. It is a wonderful crowdpleaser that hits the heart Gay or Straight. It is brilliant. Greg Berlanti take a bow.
9) The Hate U Give
I watched this film the first time and I was impressed. I watched it the second time and I was floored. The subtlety on show here is fantastic and Amandla Stenberg is a star. One of the best lead performances of the year, in a film where Russell Hornsby is acting a storm every time he’s on screen, Stenberg dominates, she’s everything you want her to be, funny, angry, vulnerable, emotional and compelling. Audrey Wells (RIP) wrote a wonderful adaptation and George Tillman Jr directed his best film in years.
8) Eighth Grade
This FILM. I only watched today, but it went straight into the top 10. It is….amazing, Elsie Fisher (much like Amandla Stenberg) is a star, there is so much to unpack in this film, that I’m trying to comprehend what I watched. The key is that the film felt VERY REAL. It has moments of humour and horror (The Car Scene), but there is such a warmth and optimisum in this film. It floored me. Bo Burnham wrote and directed a classic. He’s got a big career ahead of him as does the incredible Elsie Fisher. What a performance….
8) Creed 2
The hardest trick in making a film, is making a good film. Now if you get a chance to make another with the same characters, if even harder, because it is always going to be compared to the first. When I came out of Creed 2 I was sure it was better than Creed. I thought it was, but when I sat down and thought about it honestly, The Ryan Coogler affect was too hard to ignore, but Creed 2 has so many thrills and spills, but all the heart and character from Creed maintained. Michael B Jordan, Slyvester Stallone, Tessa Thompson and would you believe it Dolph Lundgren are all great and bring so much to the table. I cried many man tears watching this so of course it was going to get in to my top 10. Also PLEASE MAKE THIS THE LAST ONE. The ending is PERFECT.
7) Blindspotting
This was a bolt out of the blue that only came out in the UK for ONE WEEK!!! I’d been following the films progress since word came out that this film was kind of special. Like with all the films on this list (all the one that make it anyway) I knew I loved it within the first five minutes. Daveed Diggs and Rafeal Casal (who, if there were any justice would have their tuxedos ready for the Oscars for their Screenplay) wrote a gem of a film, full of energy, colour, texture, worldbuilding (Oakland is a fully fledged character), heart, charm, humour and tension. The film’s final twenty minutes is a thing to behold. Plus Carlos López Estrada is a director to watch.
7) Black Panther
Ryan Coogler is a genius. Plain and simple. The world he and co-writer Joe Robert Cole have created in Wakanda is something, thrilling, special and eye opening. I could muse about Hannah Beachler’s production design, Ruth E Carter’s costume design, Rachel Morrison’s cinematography and Ludwig Goransson’s majestic score. Yet I want to talk about the cast…Everyone is amazing. The women steal scenes particularly Letita Wright and Danai Guirra, but the complexity shown and given by Chadwick Boseman and Michael B Jordan was STUNNING. It’s so good because it makes you think. Was Killmonger right? No….Did he have a point? YES. It’s that good. It’s great….
6) Searching
Searching over Black Panther? Really? YES REALLY. Now there’s a point where you know that this film excellent and unlike anything you’ve seen before. A lot of people say the first five minutes (and they are great), but it was the first twenty minutes I realised how amazing the film is. The film is densely plotted, yet face paced, it makes you to ask the same questions John Cho (Bravo John Cho WHAT A PERFORMANCE!) does. It’s audience participation at it’s finest. There’s so many twists and turns, that it’s just a marvel it all makes sense. Aneesh Chaganty and Sev Ohanian’s script is so AMAZING, it should be marvelled at and studied for years. It’s a cinematic pageturner and the fact it was filmed with a iphone, webcam and other techinques makes the inventiveness even more impressive. I LOVED THIS FILM and is even better the second time when you notice the things in the background…..
5) Avengers: Infinity War
The blockbuster to end all blockbusters. The near culmination of 20 films and ten years worth of material. The villian to end all heroes. Make no mistake; this is Josh Brolin’s film. Thanos appears in the first few minutes and makes no bones that he’s the lead in this film and the film is all the better for it. Honestly the genius of the film, is that it works, near enough all of it works. It’s near perfect and the execution of the massive attempt has to be admired. Yes only Thanos has a character arc and no else does, but Thanos is both the protagonist (his mission) and antagonist (he’s the villian) which gives this film a real special presence. The action directing by the Russos maybe the best they’ve ever done and Chris Hemsworth deserves special praise for his performance, but it is the last 10 minutes that resonate. Shocking. Devestating. Brilliant. Quite possibly the best cliffhanger of all time. Bring on Endgame.
4) Lady Bird
There is a corraltion between Lady Bird and Avengers. Their endings affected me so much. The difference is the ending of Lady Bird made me call my mother near in tears and tell her how much I loved her. That’s a fucking special film. You see Lady Bird, just by the pitch sounded like a film I would hate, a film I would not relate to and would get bored, so I watched it because so many other reviewers were talking about it and I thought “fuck it…let me watch it.” I watched it and….it floored me. Despite it being about Mothers and Daughters (the original title) I felt like I knew these people and even went through the same things or new people went went through the same things as Lady Bird. The skill that Greta Gerwig moves from comedy to drama is breathtaking. It’s a film that slowly hits you and when it does, you could barely understand how intially until you watch it again and again and then you get it. It’s a great story well told plus Saorsie Ronan and Laurie Metcalf….Amazing soulful performances in a beautiful film. I called my mother in tears of joy that I had her as a mother. That’s what that film made me feel. That’s why it is so high.
4) Paddington 2 (Including Paddington)
Ok, so it’s a cheat. Paddington 1 was released in 2014 and Paddington 2 was released in late 2017, but I only watched them this year. Back to back and well the director Paul King is a genius. I love both of these films and I actually think Paddington 2 is the better film. Hugh Grant is as good as he’s ever been and the Brown family are as adorable then ever, but Ben Whishaw as Paddington is tremendous. These films are so high because they are so funny, so thrilling and inventive, but they always make you care. There’s emotional moments in these films that hit you square in the heart and never let you go. It really doesn’t. There is a scene involving a pop up book with Paddington that so well shot and scored and makes your heart swell (if it doesn’t make your heart swell….well I’d say DAMN….). Like every SINGLE film in this list I loved this film from the very first minutes. It hooked me and never let me go. Plus the smile I had across my face when each film finished….That’s special. They are wonderful films and I’ll say it again Paul King is a genius. Maybe it’s my age….but I’m falling for these films more and more….
3) Black Klansman
Any other year, THIS WOULD BE MY NUMBER ONE. The balancing act this film pulls of should by all accounts get Spike Lee his first Academy Award, because no film has so much on it’s plate and gets the whole fucking meal in.
In one of those too good to be true, but it’s actually true so that’s why it’s so good, the pitch, maybe the purest Hollywood High Concept pitch of all time “Black man infiltrates the Ku Klux Klan” is the stuff of screenwriter’s dreams, so when I tell you that this did indeed happen to Ron Stallworth in Colorado Springs in the seventies you’ll be like….WHAT? But it did. The film which Ron in the spur of the moment contacts David Duke (the grand wizard of the KKK) and convinces him that A) he’s not a cop and B) he’s white is a glorious, riotous scene, what follows is the best buddy cop comedy film in ages and also one the best modern thrillers with real stakes horrors that really resonate in the ending (probably the best of the year for being straight to the point and not afraid of hiding it’s stance).
More then Denzel’s son; John David Washington gives the type of star making performamnce we look back to thirty years and go “that’s where it began” . Washington is magentic, funny, compelling and has charm that exudes off the screen. Quite simply (like his father) you can’t take your eyes off him. That he is pushed all the way by the ever dependable, always great Adam Driver as the partner who has to be the “white Ron Stallworth” for the actual meetings with the KKK, Driver is understated, but emotions are brimming under the surface as he has to come to terms with his place in the world.
This is Spike Lee’s best film since….Inside Man. No other film can make you spit your drink out by laughing so hard at a well told joke or set piece, but also recoil in horror due to idicocy and burning non-rational personalities of white supremacy. He deserves all the awards.
2) Spider-Man: Into The Spider Verse
From the top:
- The Best Animated film of the year
- Best Superhero film of the year
When the reviews came in for this film I had to see it. Yet prior to it, I was muted to this film. I heard that Phil Lord and Chris Miller (21/22 Jump Street, Lego Movie) were involved and that piqued my interest, but it was those REVIEWS….I couldn’t resist. Then I saw the film.
Let’s also get this off the top: You will know if you will like the film in the first five minutes, not that the film is predictable, but the animation style. Some will like it. Some will not. Some, like me, WILL LOVE. It is one of the best animated films I have ever seen. The mix of 2-D and 3-D animation takes a while to get used to (the first five minutes) but once you do, it is vital, thrilling and eye-opening. Quite simply the script by Phil Lord and Rodney Rothman is a miracle in screenwriting. THEY FIT SO MUCH INTO 117 MINUTES!!!! (which is long for animated film and never feels long), There is five Spider-people in the film and they all get their time to shine, but it is Miles Morales (with a world class assist by Jake Johnson’s Peter B Parker) who shines the brightest.
Shameik Moore, who voices Miles, gives one of the best performances of the year. Miles (who’s 13/14) in the film has (for me) the best character arc of the year, it’s the modernising of the classic hero story and we see Miles fail and fail throughout the film until well that would be telling, but his journey is something special.
There is sequence called the Leap Of Faith sequence. This was the moment Miles and the film hit that sweet, mesmeric spot where you know the film has transcended into something that ellicits pure joy. It the absolute perfect realisation of a character BECOMING A HERO ever put on film. Also the animation is AMAZING as is the song “What’s Up Danger!” The action sequences in the film are so good….
The reason why it is the best? Because Spider-Man Into The Spider Verse takes it time. The script and the direction are so on point that when the emotional beats hit you, they really resonate, it is a film for everyone. The cast from Haliee Steinfeld, Nicholas Cage, Mahershala Ali, Brian Tyree Henry and the now irreplacable Jake Johnson….I have to talk about Peter Parker (this version anyway) which may throw people off. He’s older. He’s out of shape. He’s suffered and maybe suffering depression, that he goes through such an arc in this film and still….well WATCH IT, makes his character have more depth and layers for a animated film is remarkable. This wouldn’t feel out of place in Nolan film.
This is a film for the ages. One of the very best. Literally had a fighting chance for number one, it was close, but I am happy to put this at number two. It is STUNNING ENTERTAINMENT and one of the very best of the year. Fingers crossed for next feb and the Academy Awards….
1) Mission Impossible: Fallout
I can’t help it. I’m a fan.
The first film I truly loved was an action film. In fact for most of number one films, they have always been action films. Skyfall, Man Of Steel, The Nice Guys have all had action. Nothing…Nothing though is as pure hardcore action. Pure old school action as the magnifcent Mission Impossible: Fallout….
Where to begin?
The reason I love the Mission Impossible films is that they are not an episodic like Marvel, they can be watched out of order, there’s no overarching story linking all six films, they are just individual adventures involving Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his team. So when I watched this film and well before that knew of the plotline – that Fallout would tie into the previous film Rogue Nation I was really intrigued because that shook the apple cart and even though the formula remains the same in each film, there was some backstory for the fans to finally bite into.
Yes, somehow Paramount made one of the best decisions in film history by bringing back Christopher McQuarrie to direct another one and in turn gave him carte blanche to do whatever the hell he wanted….(Props to Paramount). So in return he gave us one of the most densely plotted Mission Impossible films that within in twisty, spy vs spy plot line with heavy, heavy action beats, McQuarrie managed to do the impossible. He gave us a character story about Ethan Hunt.
I could muse about the action and I will, but this is the film that actually asks why does Ethan Hunt put his life on the line each and every time? Is he an adrenalin junkie? A suicidal danger to himself and anyone he cares about?
Well the answer actually is very simple. Ethan Hunt does it because he can save people and thus has a responsibility to act. Now the genius of the script is that we don’t get any monologues, no flashbacks. Nothing. The revelations are done by quick conversations before, during and after the amazing action sequences specifically layered throughout the film. Tom Cruise is such a good actor, that even when things go right or wrong his face is actually telling another story. Sometimes it’s relief, sometimes it’s heartbreak and sometimes it’s just plan exhaustion. His team (VIng Rhames, Simon Pegg and later on the wonderful Rebecca Ferguson) give us a window into Ethan’s soul, just by simple interactions. The camaraderie of each success and near death experience of possible faliures and betrayals are there for all to see.
Special shout out to Henry Cavill, who reboots his own career when he reloads his arms in one of the films standout scenes.
Mission Impossible: Fallout is more then action film, but it’s action sequences are impossible to ignore. Quite simply, the way McQuarrie and his team shoot, score, frame, edit the action sequences….they are the very best versions (thanks Chris Stuckmann) of a car chase, a motorcycle chase, a halo jump, a foot chase, helicopter chase…..That the action sequences have MEANING and are integral to the plot and not just action for action’s sake makes them even more impressive.
There is a shot where Tom Cruise is running along the roof of Blackfriars station (my favourite shot of the year) that is so beautiful and yet also so exhilerating, that it took my breath away and that kind of sums up Mission Impossible: Fallout. It’s beautiful in its own way (Cinematographer Rob Hardy take a bow), it’s exciting (helped by Lorne Balfe’s exciting, seat of your pants and yet emotive score) and yet anchored by the best action star in the world – Tom Cruise (after this film, you cannot deny it) who wants to entertain us so much that he wants to die on camera (it seems due to insane stunts he does) and Christopher McQuarrie who’s masterful use of plotting, set up and execution of his story is just a wonder to behold.
Spider-Man got real close, but I’ve seen this film SIX TIMES.
Of course it was going to be my number one.
There’s a few other films that I’m going to watch that will hit my honorable mentions list…I doubt they will hit the top ten placings, but thanks for reading….
Next the top ten shows of the year…..
Eternal Distance Of The Passionate Mind 