Thanks to Moviepass, I was able to see quite a lot of movies in 2018. To be honest, I am definitely part of why Moviepass failed. But it was good while it lasted. Here are my favorite ten. As always, this is subjective.
10. Bumblebee
Here is an example of how almost any subject matter can become a good movie if everything is done well. The Transformers franchise is notorious for being full of explosions and frantic action that leaves you wondering what is happening. Bumblebee has the novel idea of doing none of that. What you get instead is a fun action movie with a good story, good acting, and clear action. There are probably plenty of movies that are better that did not make my list, but I wanted to draw some attention to a really fun action film.
9. Leave No Trace
Leave No Trace follows a teenage girl and her father as they live in the forest. Her dad, it becomes clear over the course of the film, has PTSD and needs space from society and people. Our society has a mold that it expects people to follow: live in a house, work, and buy things. The father can't follow that mold. Even though the girl is happy living off the land with her father at first, the government does not approve and is concerned that she is not being adequately cared for. As the movie progresses, she is forced to make a decision for herself about how she wants to live. Leave No Trace is a quiet coming of age movie that will expand your empathy.
8. Annihilation
This is a truly weird movie. While it occasionally veers into horror territory, for the most part Annihilation is solidly science fiction. In the world of Annihilation, an unknown phenomenon called the Shimmer is mutating everything inside it. Nobody seems to come back when recon teams are sent in and communications fail. My favorite scene comes towards the end of the movie. The team is being picked off one by one the closer they get to the center of the Shimmer. Suddenly, they come across a meadow where there are beautiful flowering bushes the exact shape and size of humans. The team quickly realizes that they are people who have somehow mutated into flower bushes. That moment captures everything that Annihilation is to me: gorgeous cinematography that blends horror and beauty together simultaneously.
7. Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse
I'll admit that I'm a sucker for good animation and for superhero movies. Into the Spiderverse checked both of those boxes for me. The animation style is so beautiful and so different. Plus, it manages not to rehash the same old Spider-man origin story that we've seen too many times. If you like animation (and who doesn't like animation), this is a much watch.
6. To All the Boys I've Loved Before
There's no reason that I like this movie as much as I do. But I've always enjoyed the romantic comedy genre and it seems to be dying out. This is one of the movies trying to revive the genre and I laughed a lot in this movie. Lara Jean is a teenage girl who, whenever she gets a strong crush on a boy, writes a love letter to him. Of course she never sends these letters but just keeps them in a shoebox in her room to read later (there's no way this could possibly go wrong). Thinking that Lara Jean needs some romance in her life, her little sister takes it upon herself to mail all these letters out and hilarity ensues. There's nothing really deep in this movie, but it's so fun.
5. Black Panther
A lot of people who are not me are starting to get superhero fatigue. Black Panther gave us something a little different. Black Panther got a lot of buzz for its nearly all-black cast, but the acting really is great. I do have to say that T'Challa himself is a little bit boring, but he is surrounded by so many interesting side characters that I can forgive that. And it looks great. I'm always into interesting and new aesthetics in science fiction. This was the film that introduced me to the Afro-Futurist aesthetic and I am left wanting more.
4. I Kill Giants
The trailer for I Kill Giants did this film a huge disservice. If you watched the trailer, you would expect that you would see a fantasy action thriller. That is definitely not what I Kill Giants is. Instead, it is a story that explores mental health, depression, and a child coming to terms with death. I went into this movie with no expectations and was very pleasantly surprised. It reminded me of A Monster Calls but is probably better.
3. Won't You Be My Neighbor
I don't think you can overestimate the influence that Fred Rogers had on millenials when they were growing up. This documentary tells the story of how he came to be in television and his philosophy. Mr. Rogers, an ordained Presbyterian, truly viewed his show as his ministry. We seem to be drowning in stories of celebrities and public figures involved in horrific scandals as their misdeeds are uncovered. Mr. Rogers seems to have been the real deal and I couldn't help thinking throughout the film that, while I may not agree with all of his theology, this is what the love of Christ looks like.
2. A Quiet Place
I can't believe it, but I have yet another horror movie on the list. A Quiet Place is really, really well done and keeps you on the edge of your seat at all times. But it is not just about monsters. At the heart of A Quiet Place is a strong value on the importance of family. It taps into the fear that parents have of not being able to protect their children. Also, it has one of the strongest pro-life moments in film in it. One of the main characters is pregnant and they have to figure out how to deliver the child without making noise that will attract the monsters. It would have been much easier to get an abortion, but it is clear that she and her husband do not consider this to be an option. I don't think this is an oversight at all. The director and lead actor, John Krasinski, is a devout Roman Catholic. It is clear through symbolism (there is not much dialogue in this movie) that the family in this video are Christian as well. But the pro-life message does not just touch on the birth itself, but extends throughout the film to the value of human life itself. One person they meet commits suicide by monster because of grief, but that doesn't seem to be an option to any of the main characters even though they too deal with great grief.
1. First Reformed
First Reformed is a hard movie to watch, but I haven't stopped thinking about it since I saw it in May. Ethan Hawke plays Ernst Toller, a pastor of a small Dutch Reformed church that is dying out. The only thing keeping the struggling church open is the financial gifts of a neighboring megachurch, which seems to keep First Reformed as a historical site more than a viable church. While trying to care for his paritioners, Toller is falling into greater despair and alcoholism that he can't pray himself out of. He comes across a couple who is having a marriage crisis because she is pregnant and her husband wants her to get an abortion because he is a radical environmentalist. The recurring question of First Reformed keeps asking is whether God can forgive us for what we have done to His Creation. I can't really do it justice right now, although I might do a review on it in the future. In the meanwhile, check out Brett McCracken's excellent analysis on The Gospel Coalition.
Honorable Mentions
There were a lot of good movies in 2018. Crazy Rich Asians was probably was my number 11 and definitely worth a watch. All the Marvel offerings were good this year, especially Infinity War. I wanted to highlight a couple other films that are probably lesser known. Hearts Beat Loud was a touching movie about a father coming to terms with his daughter growing up. Plus it had Nick Offerman from Parks and Recreation and involved songwriting, so it had a lot going for it. The Endless is an atmospheric science fiction horror movie that is more creepy than scary. You spend most of the movie wondering if anything really is happening at all,
I think that wraps it up. If you want to see the whole list of movies from 2018 that I saw, you can find me on Letterboxd.
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