MY TOP 5 FILMS OF 2018!

2018 was indicative of many things: the biggest being departure. I said goodbye to the comforts of college back in May, where I was working on my own script called "Black Chicken." I told myself that's why I wasn't working on this blog, because all of my creative attention was being poured into my senior project. But honestly, seven months after I graduated, I realized I had lost the lust for this little website. Why review superhero movies when everyone's already going to see them? I thought. The act of critiquing or lauding someone's art has left me. Nothing I wrote last year came close to the buzz of creating, of sculpting a character's jokes or figuring out where to put my B plot. I hope this is temporary, as movie reviewing is what's kept me active here on Blogspot. But for now, it might be for a while, as I hope to turn to making art instead of just writing about how bad I want to be these actors, these directors, these storytellers.

That aside, I will always, forever be willing to conjure up a top movies of the year list, as my brain refuses to quiet itself unless every movie-going experience has been categorized, recorded and listed. A collection of political farces, broken families and stunning cinematography can be found here. I hope you see one of your favo(u)rites on here, or are inspired to watch something from my descriptions!

5. VICE
I know the essentials about Dick Cheney:

• the only notable man from Wyoming
• shot a guy in the face
• gay daughter

and that was about it going into Vice. As of the publication of this post, it doesn't seem like America is flocking to see the story of one its most controversial Vice Presidents (it debuted at an underwhelming #6). I don't know why: by the time the opening credits rolled I was enthralled and eager to see how Party Boy Cheney turned to Rumsfeld Aid Cheney to his final form of Basically-the-POTUS-but-not-really Cheney. Writer/director Adam McKay baffled me three years ago by how fascinating he made the Great Recession in The Big Short, and through text interjection and freeze frames he almost pulls off the same trick in Vice, featuring an all-time best performance by Bale in a remarkably non-movie star role. The monotone, rotund Cheney is fascinating to watch because of his rise to power, certainly not because the man himself is portrayed as anything close to charismatic. There's a howlingly funny scene with an Alfred Molina waiter cameo that best describes what I wanted the tone of Vice to be; some scenes are straight out of an Oscar drama, some like this contain McKay's signature, vinegary comedic bite. But even with those tonal issues Vice was still one of my favorite movie experiences: a political movie that doesn't get lost in the politics. 

4. SEARCHING
While Crazy Rich Asians reaped deservedly large praise for its Asian representation in a Hollywood feature, I'm afraid everyone forgets about Aneesh Chaganty's Searching. David Kim's (John Cho) daughter has gone missing, and through obsessively using his computer as a means for amateur sleuthing, along with collaboration from sympathetic cop Vick (a glammed-down Debra Messing). The gimmick of only using technology to convey the story seems like it would get old, but Searching's brisk pace and twisty turns made this one of 2018's more rewardable chances to take in the theaters. Now watch Hollywood try and duplicate its formula to death a la Blair Witch Project.

3. ROMA
Favoring the true-blue description of film as sound and images, Alfonso Cuarón eschews a plot-heavy narrative to focus on bowling the viewer over with gorgeous Mexican imagery. There's rarely a quiet moment in the city where Cleo (astounding actress rookie Yalitza Aparicio) works, essentially a live-in nanny to a woman whose husband is not around and whose four bratty children keep her busy. Parades come by, protestors riot in upheaval, weddings roar on as marriages come to a close. The plight of Cleo's pregnancy is what ties everything in Roma together, but getting to soak in Cuarón's (and yes, truly his because he also served as cinematographer!) wide master shots and choosing what new chaos to look at was truly the delight. No excuses not to see this one: it's streaming on Netflix!

2. THE FAVOURITE
A gloriously sacrilegious period piece that puts three strong woman front and center, Yorgos Lanthimos' film was the antithesis of Mary Queen of Scots, an example of what happens when you inject no life into a costume drama. Employing plentiful use of fish-eye lens and silver-tongued profanity, The Favourite popped with freshness despite its early 18th-century setting. Emma Stone snapped up the year's best character in Abigail, a quietly conniving succubus to the weak-minded Queen Anne (a nearly great Olivia Colman). By honing in on the relationship between those fierce ladies and the queen's right-hand-woman played by Rachel Weisz, Lanthimos avoids getting lost in the actual politics of the story, which are mentioned but not distractingly so. While there is more vomiting and rabbits (never at the same time) than other royal tales, don't let that scare you away from seeing cinema's smartest movie of 2018.

1. HEREDITARY

An enigmatic image from  Heredtiary's finale 

As you can see, there are a few polarizing films that landed themselves on my year's top five. Rotten Tomatoes reports only 63% of their polled audience enjoyed it. What was it that drew me to Ari Aster's psychological nightmare of a film? A trio of strong performances by Toni Collette (is it too ambitious to want an Oscar nomination for her?), Milly Shapiro as the creepiest horror kid since Courtney Gains' Malachai, and Alex Wolff's buggy-eyed turn as growingly disturbed Peter. A refusal to rely on jump cuts. An insistence in showing things that were deeply disturbing, skin-crawling. A completely out-of-the-blue ending that cemented whether the viewer was a fan or a detractor. Miniature houses. Satanic cults. Hereditary was Aster's statement on how truly broken a family can become after tragedy, and its visceral, bold decisions left me no choice but to reward it the top spot. Now will I ever be able to watch it again is a whole other question...
My picks for films that didn't quite make the cut, and those that I'd love to clear history on, in alphabetical order.

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

• BlacKkKlansman. Though I do think Spike Lee flashes his neon billboard of a middle finger to Trump a little too often (let the viewers make those parallels, Spike!), the true story was just a perfect translation to screen. A bizarre tale that reveled in its own absurdity with an ultimately solid message.
• Three Identical Strangers.  If this story was turned into a fictional film, the contrivances and coincidences of separated at birth triplets would be dismissed as impossible. Tim Wardle's accessible, fascinating documentary also struggles with the eternal nature vs. nurture debate, never giving a clear answer, but giving us a story for the ages. 
• Tully. If Jason Reitman's projects had swapped release dates and Tully had come out last month and The Front Runner had come out in April, all we'd be talking about right now is Charlize Theron's performance. Reitman is at his best when collaborating with screenwriter Diablo Cody, cranking out little feminist gems, and Mackenzie Davis' titular Tully is the sweetest being you'll watch all year. 

DISHONORABLE MENTIONS:

• Mary Queen of Scots. The first half of this film was so excruciatingly boring I envied Mary in the opening shot of this film (she was about to be decapitated). Though once Mary's child is born the drama picks up, and the duo of Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie is hard to resist, Josie Rourke's period piece is a royal slog.
• Solo: A Star Wars Story. Perhaps the most influential film of the year: the mediocre Star Wars chapter that finally told Disney that we only need one installment every few years, not every other month. Plagued with massive reshoots, this completely-in-the-middle-sci-fi-western was doomed from the start, despite director Ron Howard and the game cast's best intentions.