John's Top Ten Films Of 2018
It's that time of year again, where I come to write my much talked about (by me) top ten films of 2018 list. Much like Keith, I spent a considerable amount of time looking at prior year's lists and trying to remembering writing my own from previous years; likewise, I pondered what influenced Keith as he made his. The fact is Keith wrote something gold last year. It was a fact I was also aware of and often used to bemoan it's existence to those in my vicinity. I chose to briefly shy away from it in my post last year; however, it's now become undeniable. So, for those that are still reading know this: Keith Friesen IS A PROPHET!
The only stipulation on his gift of seeing is that he saw what you may not have considered quite yet. That the film industry is in a stage of evolution. To quote Keith "I watched the future of film, with the Netflix produced and released Bright over the holidays." It's all there fellas; The act of going to a physical location to view a film with two hundred strangers is a dying sacrament. It's much easier for the modern consumer to view a film six months after it's theatrical release on a subscription service they're already paying for. It's convenient and cost effective due to the sheer volume of CONTENT being released by media companies. Your niche tastes are your cloud-based provider of choice's command. It was inevitable really; I used to be pretty sad about it. Like I've stated in a lot of writing on this blog, I view the theater as an important avenue to have art transported into our culture. Perhaps I'm out of line suggesting, as a culture, I think we're all forgetting this. For instance, there used to be the "water cooler conversation" about a particular cultural touch point we had all watched the night before. Now it's a half a dozen failed "oh no, I'm not watching that" pandered musings during dinners with friends. I used to get kinda worked up about what I saw to be a collapsing system in the way we relate with one another through the lens of art. I feel like we are losing an important component in our society. One where inspiration and fellowship usually meet. Unfortunately, like most things these days, I've understood that it's the way things are; nothing I do will really have an effect on what the industry does. I haven't given up in my resolve; I've chosen to change the front I'll focus my efforts upon.
Last year I decided, "I believe a hill I'm willing to die on is for the freedom of film in this fear-inducing time... my responsibility to view all sorts of features that may not align with my worldview, in order to test and forge a stronger person". That was the goal for 2018. I think I've watched around eighty new movies released this year and I've tried to make sure I hear a range of new voices. I just got back from Moose Jaw and after visiting the used bookstore, I finally own a copy of Betty Friedan's "The Feminine Mystique". The store owner mentioned it was the copy owned by a recently deceased President of some poetry club in Saskatchewan. Why did I buy this? It's because I know that for some people, it's their The Sun Also Rises, The Road To Wigan Pier or Either/Or. I had to walk past a sparsely attended "Yellowjacket" protest on my way to the store. I'm not at all against what they believe they are standing up for, on the contrary, I wish more folks would create public disruptions with ideas they deem to be important. It just made me think about the spread of ideas in our culture nowadays. I realized I'm simply not at all fine with the feeling that the internet can put a seed in our heads with very little resistance. Then after the plant is half grown, malnourished from a lack of sun or water, we decide to claim that our plant is a virtue and one of ultimate truth. The next step is then to see that those opposed to our plant's virtue are devoid of any semblance of logic. Suddenly, a half-baked notion becomes a culture war. It's troubling to see this act occur more and the flames being fanned by shameful opportunists. What's wrong with making a buck on the backs of intellectual enslavement? I was reading The Great Gatsby the other day and, even in the roaring twenties, there are those people that are aware that, a lot of the time, a person's most close and firmly held thoughts are just those that they were convinced of by someone more boisterous. A seed of an idea inside you is a wonderful and powerful thing; It should be tended to intently and will bloom from the earnestness and hope it is given. I just feel that as a western culture we're settling for junk food, in all types of media.
This is a fantasy football blog for crying out loud, how many Adam Rank or Michael Fabiano articles did you take seriously this year? I assume none (you should consider this a point of excellence in your skill). It's the same reason that Clarke (much to my esteem) rails against Good Morning Football and why nobody cares what cable news has to say anymore. You see much like the niche CONTENT we're afforded on the cloud for our art, we can choose the individual voices we listen to for our information on any topic. This is actually quite a powerful and good thing.
This year I chose to, in good faith, give other people the power to change my mind by listening, reading and, of course, viewing.
Specifically, with film, I wanted people to show me that they cared as much about the theatrical experience as much as I did. That's it, my niche, I'd be theirs for the duration of their work. To bring it back to the start of my writing, I found I'm not really against what cloud-based CONTENT providers are trying to do on an idea level. They have the financial resources to give an artist's voice a chance to find an audience without any producer interference in how to make a film-market friendly (profitable).
Of the movies I had put on my top ten list consideration for this year, there were a few that were pushed to the mid-teens from streaming services and video on demand. Three of the ones that just missed the cut were actually from Netflix and one actually made my list. Remember, this was the year that a trailer for the new Cloverfield movie was released during the Super Bowl and showed up on Netflix directly after the game. That's kind of insane. We're now at a point in film history where once the accountants crunch the numbers and see that a film won't make it's money back in theaters, they can cut bait and sell it to a streaming service. They do this in order to save themselves from a potential business crippling box office bomb. One film that made my list is actually somewhat a product of this business practice. As for some of those streaming service honorable mentions, there was The Night Comes For Us, an Indonesian martial arts film which during my viewing I asked myself if I'd ever seen a movie as violent. Jeremy Saulnier's (his Green Room made the top five of 2016's list) Hold The Dark, a metaphysical experience that meditates on the nature of violence from a genetic standpoint and was filmed partially in majestic Alberta. Also, Gareth Evans [of The Raid and The Raid 2: Berendal] made Apostle, a Wicker Man film that becomes a visceral examination of the roots of belief and how we approach others with differing ones (with some wonderful bloody shock and awe thrown in).
By allowing to have my perspectives changed I saw that in this case, it was Internet companies that are the ones helping creators to do what they want. I was skeptical of this only because the format that I view it on will undeniably be sub-par to going to the theater. That's a point that can't be argued for me. But I had to decide would I rather view safe, tentpole releases from the older studio system in order to keep them in business to make another batch of safe, tentpole releases? Or, should I try to adapt and get more behind CONTENT provider's that put the artist's vision front and center?
This year I gave up the ghost. I realized that going to the cinema is something, most likely, that is going to cease during my lifetime. Honestly, that's something that really, really makes me sad inside. My confusion with how a younger generation will absorb art and culture is destined to change. I became ok with some of that this year. I've just chosen to enjoy the time I have with the cinematic medium. To be a zealous supporter for those that see the same thing I do and, despite that knowledge, continue to max out their credit cards, sell it at Sundance (or SXSW or TIFF) and break even in order to make their vision come to life. Those that love the theatrical experience. With all it's pomp and circumstance. With all its pain in the ass. With all its I have to leave my house that I pay a mortgage on from my nine to five. With all its some asshole is checking out their phone during. I'm choosing to support financially those whose voice, in my opinion, should be more widely heard. That's me evolving with the times. That's me attaching my Paypal to Patreon (although now that's a whole internet thing) and seeing First Man three times with a different viewing partner. If the times are destined to change, it is the individual voice that holds more power then ever before. I hope you all recognize the power of yours and how that affects the voices of others. Ideas need the sun and the rain, to be tested and to become true.
2018 was a wonderful year for film. At the Oscars, my number one movie of last year was given Best Picture. So, take my list with a grain of salt as I guess I'm now one of the establishment! There were some interesting trends that seemed to take hold, but two in particular that I wanted to highlight.
Perhaps the biggest example of one of these trends was highlighted with the release of Black Panther and what people have considered successful representation in film. Now I know representation can be a trigger word but stick with me here for a bit. I'm not on stage at an awards show, I just want to talk through something I've noticed actually producing a tangible result. Like I've already stated earlier in this post the theater industry has been on a downward decline for more than a decade and, since it is a profit based business it has to adapt to changing markets. I'd say it started in 2015 with a film like Straight Out Of Compton and cemented with last year's Get Out, the film industry was shown that they can market films starring and made by people whose voice may not always get an equal chance to make films for a wide audience and turn a huge profit. I think that point is pretty undeniable. It's not to say that the type of films that have been made for the last thirty years isn't worth still making, it's just that filmmakers from different backgrounds now have a large enough audience that wants to pay to see what they are creating. With a movie like Black Panther having black representation behind the writing and directing it made the film feel more distinct. Was it the best Marvel film of all time? I don't think so, but what Ryan Coogler showed with Fruitvale Station and Creed is that he has the technical skill behind the camera and he deserved the opportunity to make his vision for T'Challa come to life.
Crazy, Rich Asians grossed a huge amount of money and was an above-average romantic comedy, mostly due to the caliber of acting from the cast in my opinion. This year made me notice that it's good for the cinema in general to promote strong art made by an array of voices. If a movie or TV show comes across as too Woke it's obvious and the larger audience of people won't connect themselves to it.
I mean think of how many movies you saw in the theater this year and think about many of them you walked out thinking it was a good use of the money you spent, so much so you recommend it to others. I could be wrong, but I'm assuming it was not very many times. So when you see the box office revenue exploding for pictures from nontraditional voices, I think the money talks. It could be true that Wokeness could attract an army of Zombos to the cinema, but not in the amount it would take to make the box office gross films like these did, something else brought the general audiences into the fold.
It seemed to me that in 2018 what mattered more to people (perhaps only on a subconscious level) is not the ideologies film creators would put into their film, but rather the aesthetics they used which made them stand apart from the norm. Are the people behind the camera good writers and skillful directors? Are the actors believable in their parts? If the answer seems like yes before I go to see a movie then I will leave my expectations at the door. If their movie is not good, I won't have a problem calling it out either. A Wrinkle In Time was a terrible adaptation of a childhood favorite for me and I had more than a few issues with logical progressions in Boots Riley's Sorry to Bother You.
The other trend I noticed cropping up, again and again, were films that chose to embrace positivity completely. I'm sure this isn't just a reaction to how fractured the world can feel now, but it was interesting to see the caliber of film that was being produced from a hopeful mindset. There was an indie darling from Sundance called Heart Beats Loud, about a father and daughter starting a band before she leaves for university. It was so pure in its ambition to capture what it feels like to create art with your loved ones. An idea I'd never considered and really absorbed. The adversity that the characters faced was simply the changing of seasons and strong moments that are lost through the passage of time. It was a truly human slice of life and worth checking out.
There was the 100% Fresh rated Paddington 2 that seemed too good to be true. However, it was just as advertised in my opinion. From the sets, makeup and all the contributing acting talent it was a film that was bright and never cynical. It was a real anomaly. A Wes Anderson film without the existential angst and sardonic killing of animals. Hugh Grant gives a tour de force performance here that I will never forget.
Finally, there was the Fred Rogers documentary Won't You Be My Neighbour? It was an opportunity for me to reassess how I engage in the world. It helped me to realize that a person can truly make change occur in the world around them without sarcasm, debate and logical dismantling of other's ideas. "Love is at the root of everything. Love or the lack of it." -Fred Rogers.
I think often times filmmakers feel like they need to comment on how broken the world is, and I think that is necessary, but sometimes it's nice to see what it is that makes it worth the dangerous business of stepping out of your front door.
Now, on to the meat of the post, the actual list. Every year I tend to change the way I format and write about my picks and this year is no different. Since this is the list of my top ten films of 2018, it only makes sense that I write about why this film was special to me. Last year I was a little gun shy about unpacking each film as I believed it would give away spoilers and maybe cause the reader not to want to see a movie where they already know some of what happens. This year, to go along with my assessment of aesthetics over ideologies, I think it will be beneficial to get into some spoilers in order to showcase what I loved from certain films. So, read which portions of this blog you choose and don't feel the need to spoil a film you may not have caught up to yet for being a faithful reader of every word.
I'd also like to introduce an added segment to this year's festivities,
Before this movie came out all I remember reading in the marketing was that the talent behind the camera had a lot to do with Horrible Bosses and The Country Bears. That was a turnoff. It stars Jason Bateman, an actor who was perfect for his role in the first three seasons of Arrested Development, but a little one note in the range he shows in the films after that show ended (I haven't seen Ozark). It also stars Rachel McAdams, who, for me, never seems to dive completely into her characters and, as a result, I'm always aware that she is acting. So, considering the talent behind this film I inferred that this movie may not be one I'd enjoy and comedies are traditionally a genre I don't gravitate towards. The cherry on top of the cake of my assumptions was, I had also heard that it is this generation's Clue (the film adaptation of the board game), which is pretty lofty praise in my eyes.
However, this movie really floored me. The script is so well written and so often subverts the expectations of where it will go. Usually, in a movie, the characters will make decisions based on the action that is happening around them and it leads to a series of predictable moments all the way to an ending you expected. The characters in Game Night are written to be fully aware of what seems to be going on around them (not in an annoying meta level) and actively make decisions that outsmart the expectations your mind usually has during playful, adult comedies. In those films, I can't help but try to unpack what I think will happen rather than just sit back and be entertained; but during this one, I remember consciously handing over the decision making to the characters after about half an hour. They were making smart, unexpected decisions and were whip-smart in their commentary. Bateman and McAdams were so genuine in their portrayal of these characters that it was very easy to see a variation of Sara and myself in the way they acted like a couple.
From a technical standpoint, this film is tight in it's editing and never seems to drag. The way it is shot often times looks like a living board game which was an awesome stylistic choice. Action scenes in this movie are competently shot and I really enjoyed seeing the director flex his muscles three-quarters of the way through with an interesting scene made to look like a single take during a chase sequence. This isn't at all what you normally see in modern comedy films. It was really cool to see a film choosing to not cut corners behind the scenes and go for cheap laughs in front of the camera.
Sara and I re-watched this last night and it holds up. I still laughed during the whole movie and it never became boring. That's why I wanted to put it on the list because it seems to me that it's easier to make an affecting drama or genre film. But, making an all-time great comedy, like this film is, seems like a herculean task. It deserves to be recognized, so it's my top ranked honorable mention!
Without further ado, here are my Top Ten Films Of 2018!
(Please note that I wasn't able to see everything I wanted before I made this list most notably If Beale Street Could Talk, Suspiria, Cold War, Vox Lux, The Favourite, and Free Solo.)
10. First Man:
I can finally put another Damien Chazelle film on a top ten list! He graced us by releasing his latest in September, at the beginning of the awards season push (La La Land would have made my list for 2016 had I seen it before I compiled everything together). He's a director whose influences are very similar to own, however with this one he was intentionally trying to make a movie distinct from his three previous.
For a movie set during the time of Neil Armstrong and the space race, the scope is fairly small. While the tension in other films during this time often comes from the competition with the Communists, this is a plot point that is largely left unexplored. The Russians, the social unrest, the political pressure from the White House on NASA are discussed with broad strokes. The film is more concerned with what kind of people could do the work needed to put a man on the moon. Chazelle focuses on the men and their families involved with the Gemini and Apollo teams and what it would have felt like living in such a small community. One where every member of it was dedicated primarily to the cause of getting a man on the moon. I love that he chose to go this route with this story, it's made history more personal. He also felt like the emotional core of the story was The Armstrongs, their grief over the death of their daughter and how they, as a family, grapple with this in their own ways. For me, this story arc packed the wallop that he intended.
The film relies on close-ups during the flight and rocket scenes, this creates levels of claustrophobia and anxiety. One of the aspects of his work where Chazelle excels for me is his ability to effectively ratchet up the tension in his scenes. Whether it's through how he chooses to frame the shot or how he directs those acting in it, he is able to make me sweat if that's what he wants to do. I had forgotten about how good Chazelle is at creating that tension since La La Land was such a delight. While I was watching Gosling and the other astronauts (played by a real who's who of character actors) in the cockpit it was hard not to be reminded of the jazz finale in his second feature, Whiplash.
For most of the film the camera is used to help you feel like you are another member of the team, but there is a shot once they land on the lunar surface that was breathtaking. Chazelle is fairly outspoken in his love for musicals (his favorite film is my #20 on my all-time list) and he chooses at this point to make a nod to one, with a shot from the Wizard of Oz. Dorothy leaves her shattered Kansas farmhouse to set foot amongst the Munchkins as the Technicolor kicks in. In First Man the aspect ratio changed during a similar camera sweep and in my IMAX viewing the screen was filled. The quiet, emptiness of the moon was tangible.
This was one of two films I went back to the theater to see again, the lunar sequences just will not be same at home. Although it won't top my list of favorite Chazelle films (Whiplash still stands its ground there), I think this shows a definite progression in the skills he has to make thought-provoking films and I will look forward to what he does next.
This film on paper sounds like the ramblings of a madman. Take footage shot from hand-spun cameras during World War One and restore it for the modern audience. This means taking over four hundred hours of film and changing the frame rate so the movement looks normal. Then changing the aspect ratio and colorize each individual frame so that every uniform, meadow, and foxhole looks like it would during 1916. Let's get the sound design of loading artillery shells by using actual WW1 cannons, luckily the director just happened to have one in his collection. They would then try to get as close as possible to reconstructing of the sounds of that shell firing, whistling through the air and landing on the earth again using newer cannons. Now, just for fun, let's layer each frame to create an immersive 3d experience in order to immerse the audience in what a soldier in WW1 would have seen and heard. Finally, let's not have a regular documentary narrative throughout the film, let's use seven hundred hours of recorded interviews with British soldiers describe in their own words what it is we are seeing. This movie does everything it set out to do. They had the right man for the job, Peter Jackson.
Currently, there aren't a lot of directors that are concerned with progressing the technology used to make films. James Cameron, Alfonso Cuaron, and Alejandro Inarritu are some directors who enjoy finding innovative solutions to practical problems in making a film; the other at the forefront is Peter Jackson. Jackson's Grandfather fought in WW1 and so he's always had an interest in digging into what may have happened to someone he cared about during wartime. This was a passion project for him and the level of effort he put forth is admirable.
I, like a few of you, have undertaken the journey Dan Carlin takes the listener on during his epic six-part podcast series on World War 1 and this movie was a wonderful pairing with it. They Shall Not Grow Old places you, as much as theatrically possible, in what you may have been imagining in your head as Dan talks about the trenches in Belgium. What struck me in the film though, was the faces of the soldiers. Young men who left to do their perceived duty and possibly die in a country far from home. There were some truly haunting sequences where the brutality of that era of combat is on full display and it left me quite somber. It's very easy for me not to think about the sacrifice that thousands of people have made for me to enjoy the freedom I have. When those faces were shown to me, I felt like I needed to be living a life worth that sacrifice. The picture I chose to showcase above shows a battalion of men that, thirty minutes after this was shot, were sent into no man's land. The casualty rate for that battalion was almost all of them. It's very strange to see the faces of men in contemplation that this may be the last moments of their lives. I haven't been able to forget that scene, the images are burned in my memory.
I'm not sure what the home viewing of this film will be like, this experience felt like one the theater could only provide. For two hours I was a close as I'll ever be to the Belgian battlefield in 1916 and it was insightful into a part of history that has had such lasting consequences. Jackson created one of the best uses of the theater experience in 2018 for me.
The anticipation for this film was high for me. I'm a huge spy genre fan, whether that's watching a Bond movie to recover on my sick days or devouring the latest John Le Carre novel like my mother in law reads Janette Oke's romance books (that is to say at an insatiable rate). Multiple film critics I follow started to create a buzz around this film, saying it was the best action movie since Mad Max: Fury Road. As that was my tied for my favorite film of 2015 (along with Alex Garland's Ex Machina), I had my reservations that this could be possible.
Sara and I both love this franchise of films if I had to explain why it's primarily due to the characters. Obviously, Tom Cruise's Ethan Hunt is the star, but he has been surrounded by strong supporting characters since the first installment. That's why this film is the first Mission Impossible to ever make a top ten list for me, it takes the collection of characters its added to it's ranks over the past twenty years and creates a fulfilling story involving all of them. One, that yes, Cruise wows with his over the top stunts, but puts a real focus on the characters that have connected themselves to him.
The film has some of the most jaw-dropping action set pieces I've seen in several years. Inside helicopters, outside helicopters, motorcycling backward through Paris, a single take skydiving sequence. It's all here, Cruise continues to defy aging and wowed me with a lot of the stunts he performed on his own. The script is able to juggle story continuity, creates interesting stakes (will Ethan let one person die to save millions?) and even includes easter eggs that connect to every previous film for fans of the series. Some of my favorites were the addition of a certain black market broker from the original Mission Impossible's daughter. Also, the helicopter telling Ethan to "Pull up, Pull up", a simple nod to the passenger plane sequence in Mission Impossible 2.
A smile was plastered all over my face while watching this. Is it the height of storytelling? No, but this is film made sure that stunts, fight choreography (there's bathroom fight that is second only this year to a butcher shop scuffle in the above mentioned The Night Comes For Us), score and acting were a cut above all others this year in the action genre and that was worth all the excitement.
Steve McQueen decided to follow up his Oscar-winning 12 Years A Slave, with a pulpy heist film. I've considered McQueen's cinematic choices in style, from a color and composition standpoint, to be one of my favorites of the last decade. I had never thought about how closely his work felt connected in my mind to how I feel about Michael Mann's in the eighties and nineties until I saw this trailer for the first time, a tessellation ensued.
I was instantly on board, but what set my excitement to another level was that it would be using a screenplay written by Gone Girl's Gillian Flynn. I've enjoyed all three of Flynn's novels, but Gone Girl was the obvious standout in my mind. She has a talent for making character's that are realistic and relatable, while also balancing stories that could escalate to a level of camp in the writing of a less skilled author. She had decided to write her own script for Gone Girl and it was a fantastic adaptation. It's a shame Ben Affleck acted a fool on Real Time while promoting the film. All this is to say that when I envisioned these two artists working together it seemed like a match made in heaven to me.
So, I won't lie, walking into this movie I knew damn well it would make my top ten list. What I didn't expect to see was how hard McQueen leans into the Mann connection, and in my mind, he created a spiritual sequel to Mann's opus Heat. Just as in Heat, the focus is on examining the characters and understanding their motivations and the consequences of their decisions. After that, it is supported by the exciting heist scene with a couple visceral action set pieces that pack a punch. McQueen uses the camera so cleverly, one standout is a shot where he juxtaposes the economic disparity of a Chicago neighborhood using a single take where the camera is attached to the hood of a car. Daniel Kaluuya continues to stand out with a chilling performance as a gang leader, he became someone to watch for me after one of the stronger episodes of Black Mirror. But, it's the women that take center stage and they all give very strong performances. Viola Davis in particular balances an assertive leadership within the heist and emotional vulnerability in some powerful scenes of her alone in her home. The story is one that stayed ahead of me and had some surprises that I thought were done very well and will reward future viewings.
I walked out after the film content, this was a great piece of filmmaking!
6. Hereditary:
This movie was a darling at the Sundance film festival this year and the first-time director Ari Aster deserves all of that acclaim. The horror genre is, most likely, my favorite type of movie to watch. In horror and science fiction movies you are able to explore topics from the world, but you are able to use metaphor derived from memorable visuals. I think it allows myself, as an audience member, to have an entertaining experience in fantastical realms and also have my day to day perspective changed. The Exorcist, The Shining and Rosemary's Baby are some of the heavyweights within this genre for a large contingent of fans and Aster takes pieces from each of them in this film.
Hereditary is a film that is concerned with the family unit and how it interacts with grief, sometimes throughout several generations. Toni Collette gives her best performance ever in my opinion, as her character goes through several dramatic turns throughout the feature. But, what I liked best about this movie was the little things. Details that the director used to make small connections to my own family life growing up so that, when he wanted to go full tilt bonkers at the end of the film, I was pulled in entirely to the action. For instance, when the high school-aged son returns home from a house party the camera is focused on his trepidatious movements to get to his room without waking up his parents. But, the audio in this scene focuses us on his parent's conversation in their bedroom, where the mother says she's relieved that he is home. Walks like those, to avoid conversations like that was my late teenage years in a nutshell. It must have been for Aster as well.
Aster is masterful in his framing and lighting of shots each scene has an eye-popping visual flare. It's what he chooses not to show the audience though is what I truly loved. Using that technical prowess, he allows for a lot of still shots in the dark where you swear there is something in the shadows of that corner. It's not until later, that there is and it's pure nightmare fuel. I sweat through my shirt during my first viewing of this movie.
I mentioned the big three horror movies at the top because I think, given time, Hereditary will join that pantheon. It was the best film, in the horror genre, that I've seen since making these lists for the blog. If you only see one horror movie this decade make it Hereditary.
Here it is, the Netflix exclusive streaming title that makes my list for best of, it's a new dawn on this year-end tradition. Alfonso Cuaron is definitely in my top five favourite living film directors for me. My experiences of watching Children of Men and Gravity are some of my favorite times spent under the glow of the silver screen. Cuaron knows how to fill the frame of each shot, to create kinetic energy with whatever action is happening on screen and to use the camera in revolutionary ways to immerse the audience into what he is doing. He's kind of the king in my opinion. So when I had heard his next feature would follow the life experiences of his live-in nanny (maid, cook, etc) from his childhood I was a little taken aback, but very curious.
This a film helped me work through most of the mental and emotional gymnastics I went on for at length earlier in this blog post. Here is a feature by a true auteur of filmmaking that progresses the art of movie making with how shots are set up, the sheer volume of extras utilized to make the frame feel live in and showcasing the environment through, honestly, mind baffling "how did they capture that?" set pieces. Yet because of the subject matter, it's just not commercially viable. If it gets released in theaters it simply won't be a film that people will go to see. So you have one of the lushest film experiences to come out this year, but you're not projected to make money from a mainstream audience. But, on the other hand, Netflix allowed Cuaron to make his passion project. So, it exists.
I was able to convince the people whose home we attend on Fridays for a bible study to gift Sara and me with a screening of this movie in their projection room with surround sound. It truly was something to behold, but I cannot even imagine what theatergoers at the Cinerama in Seattle saw when it was presented in 4K laser projection with Dolby Atmos surround sound. This film is a masterful vision.
I could definitely see some people finding the movie a bit slow, as is focused on letting the audience get to know the characters through lengthy single take dialogue sequences. For me, though I loved the pace in which it seemed to show an objective perspective on parts of the life of this figure from Alfonso's childhood. It showcased Mexico authentically and approached the class divides that exist even in Latin culture with a truthfulness. This was something I was familiar with from my time in Guatemala.
What I think I liked most is that Cuaron completely puts you in the same place as this young woman to such an extent that you feel like you are a fly on the wall. With this level of immersion, he is able to show scenes other filmmakers wouldn't have the confidence to bring to an audience with a level of earnestness. Through this he does what he has always done, he creates a distinct work of art that is undeniable in its commitment to hope.
Famous last words. "I'm about seventy percent done writing my top ten list, but I should really watch this one before I publish it," I said to Sara before viewing Chloe Zhao's third feature. If I had seen it sooner, it might have had a chance at the top spot after I had fully unpacked it. So, this will be a stream of consciousness response to The Rider.
The movie starts with a rodeo bronco rider, that is fresh off of an injury which left him with a metal plate in his skull. Zhao chooses to not make a statement for or against the rodeo, she wants the audience to place themselves in this cowboy's boots. It then becomes a story about what a person does when the thing they find the most meaning and purpose from in life is torn away from them. It's a profound point to examine for me personally, while also seeing Brady do the same. This actor has a unique skill of displaying all the hurt, anger and bitterness he is feeling wordlessly on his face, while also showing kindness and love to his family and friends through his actions. He is so full of empathy for all life, he desires to create a bridge of understanding from his heart to those around him, even if it is rejected. This is a skill that comes in handy while training horses during his recovery time.
This is one of the most beautifully shot films I've ever seen. Zhao uses the campfire as the only source of light during a time of reflection amongst friends. She films a riding scene during the magic hour that legitimately caused me to lose my breath. There are also sustained long takes of Brady breaking wild horses to a point where they can be ridden, where the cameras vantage point is just outside the fence. It made me realize just how much I wanted to be watching what I was being shown, the camera was my eyes as it moved past fence posts and trembled slightly when Brady eventually gets on the horse's back.
What put's this film over the edge for me is it's essentially a new form of a film. You see, all of the actors in this story are from the area where this was filmed. The story of Brady falling off of his Bronco is true in real life. That's why he's able to make his performance believable. In fact, the actors that play his father, sister and friends are just that in his real life. When Brady visits his friend Lane, who has been injured by a bull during his own rodeo days, at his live-in care facility that is actually his friend Lane. His bull riding videos, before his accident, are all over Youtube. Given that a lot of this movie was shot as the actual Brady was recovering, it's almost impossible to tell what emotion the actors are adding to their performance and what is actually already there being processed in real time. Is this a narrative feature or a documentary? The answer is it's essentially a parallel, alternate dimension.
I can't really stop thinking about this film and I'm not sure I can fully understand all of this quite yet. But, I hope I've inspired you to check it out. It's a small film that needs to be seen by more people in my opinion.
This movie is a masterpiece.
Paul Schrader has been a voice in cinema that I've always looked up to. Like most every high school boy that saw Taxi Driver, I felt like Schrader was someone who saw the world for how terrible it can be and was grappling with how to deal with that. First Reformed has a lot of the character traits that made Schrader a distinct voice in the cinema while working with Martin Scorsese on Taxi Driver, Raging Bull and The Last Temptation Of Christ. He's become mature though. Rather than provoking the audience prematurely, here he slowly ratchets up the tension until it might explode.
It might be helpful to provide a little context on Schrader before moving on to First Reformed. His early life was filled with his family's place inside the Calvinist Reformed Church and I think that it's affected his art. Much like myself, he isn't for or against the Christian church. He wants to understand the nature of belief in others and himself. Through his films, I've seen a lot of the same struggle I feel in my own heart. So, I was confident that this film wouldn't be just a character assassination piece on where he sees a disconnect in the modern church and the response it has to man-made climate change.
The film is shot in 4:3 aspect ratio, shot relatively from one perspective with very little movement and the color palette is pretty much the opposite of vibrancy in The Rider. It creates an atmosphere of contemplation and melancholy effortlessly.
Ernst Toller (Ethan Hawke) is the minister of a mostly ceremonial First Reformed church. It's the oldest church on the east coast and is owned by the local megachurch as a historical site. Ernst's son followed in the family tradition of joining the military as a chaplain and was killed. That leads to the dissolving of his marriage and an existential crisis. What I really like in this movie is that while there are many Christians in this movie they are never generalized. Just as there are many different types of Christians that I see at church each week, there are distinct characters playing members of the congregation. The megachurch pastor who is just as focused on marketing as he is on the message. The choir leader whose mousiness and fervor are at odds in how she approaches a hidden relationship she is having with Ernst. There is a teenager at the youth group that is questioning God's will in the unemployment of her father, while another bemoans the socialism of the left. A wealthy businessman, who attends the megachurch wants to speak at an event the governor will be attending at the First Reformed church and, due to how much he tithes, he is granted that honor. Finally, there is Michael and Mary a couple who recently moved there after living with an eco-group in Canada.
Mary is with child and this is distressing for Michael. He doesn't think it's moral to bring a child into this world that is experiencing the level of toll he believes climate change causes. To be honest this is a fact I've considered, although a lot of my trepidation in having kids is based on my own relationships with my parents. So, I didn't feel Michael was out of line at all. Michael talks to Ernst for hours about the evidence that supports his views and at the end of it all, perhaps due to a shift in his own thinking, all Ernst can offer is "Who can know the mind of God?" I don't think I need to cover too much more of the plot in order to describe my feelings on the picture, I certainly think it's worth watching.
What Hawke and Schrader put together is a deep and moving portrait of what happens when a man is suddenly struck with an idea so undeniable. How he responds to it? The ending encapsulates for me what it feels like to wrestle with an idea. The struggle you have with others taking it as seriously as you do. You begin to understand that it can never be comprehended by others exactly as it is in your own mind and become self-destructive. Then you have to make a choice towards love or bitterness at the end of it all, in order to achieve peace with it.
This film spoke to me about how I can reconcile myself with the topics of belief, philosophy, and science. That they're not always at odds, but that honest reflection and hope is imperative to maintain one's sanity.
If you had told me that I would be putting an animated Spider-Man movie as my number two film of this year I'd probably have a smart Alec retort to return for you. But, it's easily the second best film I saw this year.
First off, this movie's art style is revolutionary. The animation team mixed traditional animation and computer-generated visuals to make a film I have to believe will be the catalyst for possibly the next decade of animated features. They left everything on the field by mixing so many different flourishes and by adding many small touches to the show me something I've never seen before; for instance, I loved noticing that they used ben-day dots on top of everything to create an old-school comic feel. There was supreme attention to detail when it came to making the story come to life. This is a movie where you can tell that this was a love letter to comic books.
I'm going to admit something to you guys. When I was rereading my top ten list from last year to Sara something I didn't expect happened. I was reading the part where I said "It's almost inevitable that the film industry is going to implode on itself for multiple reasons I don't feel like talking about at length here, but for the time being I am committed to viewing art as empathetic as possible. To laugh and cry alongside the true believers and creators. As divisive as the world is currently, the wrong reaction would be to shut down and become complacent." and I got quite emotional all of a sudden. It wasn't because I found my prose awe-inspiring, it was that I don't think I had fully come to grips with Stan Lee's passing until that moment.
I started remembering reading omnibuses in my early teens of old Steve Ditko drawn stories that Stan had explained to him while jumping off the couches at their Marvel office. I was remembering how happy and safe I felt while reading. Comics may not have become the mythological experience millions of people experience every second month if Stan had decided the industry wasn't for him. At that moment I felt very strongly that I'll really miss the way he loved to love things. I realized I had seen my last Stan Lee cameo in this movie and I was sad. I'd never met him, but his courage to make good art that connected with people has meant a lot to me and I'll try to continue to be a true believer at heart.
The script was able to talk about complex theoretical physics ideas while making me laugh a lot. This film introduces the theory of a multiverse in order to show the viewer that anyone can wear the mask. We meet a cast of Spider people from other parallel worlds and see what connects them in spirit. But, what I really loved about all this was that this is a comic book movie written to dismantle all that is getting stale in this genre of film and then to build up something new and fresh.
The "with great power" scene for Peter Parker takes up three seconds of screen time because the audience already knows this and the movie knows you know. One of my favorite comic book movies is Scott Pilgrim. It's one I often come back to because, stylistically, Edgar Wright chose to edit the film like a comic book and stage action like an eighties video game. It felt like a comic book come to life; however, the film at its heart seems to want to be ambivalent in its meta stage direction. Character's disaffection with whatever is happening on the screen are played for "aren't hipsters horrible?" laughs. It sometimes comes across as too self-aware. It's kind of a thin line to traverse, but in Spider-Man they choose to go this same route of meta text awareness; subsequently, at multiple points of this film, the writers chose not to become jaded. Which is a hard thing to do, comic book movies are more often than not CGI vomit on the screen. Those that aren't can choose to be "dark and gritty" to create a sense of realism and comment on our world with greater effectiveness. But, this may be the first comic book movie I've seen that the script and design of the film were more knowledgeable than any of the people in the audience about the character (including most geeks check this list of easter eggs out) and yet chose not to be a dick about it. Quite the opposite, they chose to make the audience feel safe and want to seek out more comics so that we can all enjoy these stories. It felt sincere that the movie wanted to talk about emotional and philosophical ideas, without preaching or lecturing the audience.
Miles' (I can't believe I'm five paragraphs in and this is the first time I talk about him) has both his parents in this movie and I don't think that is something that has been done before. Usually, hero's have troubled pasts with their folks, or a lot of times are orphaned. What makes this story so strong is the struggle Miles' has between achieving the goals his parents have for him (that he seems to also want), while he also explores what makes him a unique individual. He doesn't start as a damaged kid, he's loved by his family and has tons of friends. So, when he's bitten by the spider he doesn't really know how to become a Spider-man. What becomes his motivation is the responsibility (a tale as old as Spider-man), but how he gets there is brand new.
Here's the big thing I got out of Spider-Man, it's why it's so far up my list. It all happens during the climactic birth of a hero scene:
This is most likely my favorite complete scene in any film from all of 2018. The music they use (What's Up Danger) is the best use of a song in my opinion since "How Far I'll Go" in Moana (there's your Moana reference Aaron, now go show your kids great art). The visual style produces the still image I used in the header for this ranking (my favorite single shot of 2018), showing Miles ascending against all the troubles that will find him in this world. By showing it upside down it seems like he is rising to face adversity, not descending to be a savior for those below him. Lastly, they chose Kierkegaard as the "launching off point" of Miles' heroic journey. "Great responsibility" is implied, but "it's a leap of faith" (or a qualitative leap for the book snobs) that is used as Miles' catalyst. This is when Mile's jumps into Kierkegaard's third stage of life, from a heroic morality standpoint. Obviously, I'm putting a lot of outside things on to my interpretation of this scene, but it was a truly spiritual moment for me in the theater when I saw it. All the empathy I had for Miles was rewarded by sharing in his feeling of excitement as he embraced courage and selfless responsibility to help his friends. This is how potentially a younger generation will digest ideas Soren wrote about at length over two hundred years before. I was in love with that fact. I mean the book's better, but...
Like I've mentioned the style of this movie is leaps and bounds above any animated film I've ever seen. The creators of this story created a sincere and joyful dismantling of a tired genre. But, what I loved most is that you can learn the right lesson through this movie. That is ok to be yourself, to be compassionate and to be courageous. It may be too early to say, but this may be the best comic book movie I've ever seen. I'll have to re-watch it and let it breathe for a little while though.
For Andrew, if you look at the TV when Miles visits his Uncle Aaron you'll see Donald Glover getting out of bed in his Spidey underoos. This movie loves sharing references.
Well, folks, I'm sorry to be predictable, but Annihilation was thought to be my favourite film of this year on last year's list and it turned out that it was. I loved Jeff Vandermeer's book with all it's HP Lovecraft creepy crawlies and it's none too subtle Tarkovsky inspiration for the Area X (the shimmer). So, when I heard Alex Garland would be adapting it, fresh off of Ex Machina (my co-number 1 film of 2015), I knew without seeing a frame that this film would be made for me.
The book is focused on the main character's lack of interest in connecting with people, including her husband. There is a realization that she is the one that needs to change and begin to accept love from others. This was a concept I also needed to receive during the timeframe I read this book. Her time in Area X allows her to come to terms with that.
Alex Garland had read the book, but after he was brought on board to direct he decided not to re-read it and create a story using what he remembered from it. Since the book was deeply interested in exploring biological metamorphosis as an allegory, I liked the humor for Alex Garland to apply that focus as a tool for writing his screenplay. So, the film is quite different from the book and that was a really cool thing. I'd rather see Garland's vision than a slavish recreation of a story I've already read. Garland's vision for this picture took Lovecraft and Tarkovsky as inspiration also but added on layers from Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey and Paul W.S. Anderson's Event Horizon; two films I love.
What I responded to so much about Ex Machina, was that it was an examination of what makes a human being an individual person. It has a man administering a Turing test on an AI, but it is Garland grappling with what the nature of human consciousness is. In Annihilation, he also uses the film to act as philosophical conversation, in my opinion, he wants to explore the self-destruction we all have the potential for in our hearts. I've also heard other's believe he made a metaphor for a person going through a battle with a physical disease or mental illness. Others say it's a treatise on grief and the nature of suffering. I think that's the mark of a great piece of art, the audience is able to relate to it in their own way. So below is a mixture of plot elements and how I decoded the movie. The film itself leaves a lot to your own interpretation, so I'd love to hear other's, who have seen the film, analysis in the comments.
In this film, the five female leads enter into The Shimmer (an area that springs up due to an unexplained presence and is expanding), each of them battling with something within themselves. Through a series of event's they come to terms with the nature of how they are responding to the hurt that they carry and they are destroyed (Annihilated anyone?), only to be reborn in a manner of speaking. In the book, the author cribs off of John Wyndham's The Day of the Triffids using pod people as a way of describing this resurrection. Garland chose to use formless Aliens taking the shape of whatever character that finds them. Seeing this transformation take place, I believe the characters are forced to grapple with the notion that if it is so easy to create a clone of themselves, then is the destruction in their hearts really the only thing that makes them distinct? Is all that separates them from their alien doppelganger, the sum of all the emotional baggage we accumulate in life and then choose to hurt ourselves over? With this knowledge will we choose to succumb to our despair or to resolve it and be renewed? Like Pilgrim letting his burden fall off his back at the top of the hill. This was a fascinating batch of ideas to pick apart, as each character in the film has different ways of dealing with these thoughts. I loved being challenged to think like that.
Garland also creates some unique visuals that I will find hard to forget. His nightmare bear chilled me to the core and the plant people were an interesting way of showing acceptance based on grace and forgiveness. But, the coup de grace was his alien. On the big screen, this creation looked and sounded like nothing I've ever encountered before. It was this giant, formless shape that makes an otherworldly whale song.
So, with questions on the nature of human life, the aliens causing natural metamorphosis through refracting waves and a trippy end sequence reminiscent of the Stargate at the end of 2001, that is why it is my number one film of 2018. It checked all the boxes I want when I go to the movies and, rather than being drained of energy, this film charged me up. You could say it's the film (along with Roma) that contributed most to the change of heart I talked about in my introduction. It helped me to transform.
There you have it folks, my top ten of 2018. I had a great time putting this all together and I hope you enjoyed reading it. Please feel free to leave any favorite films you had in the comments of the blog or the Slack, it'd be cool to know what other people are enjoying these days.
Like I did last year (and since I nailed it) I'll call my shot for my favorite film of 2019 here. I'm not as confident as I was last time, but I have good feelings about the two movies I know I'll go see this year. The first is Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon A Time In Hollywood because I've always loved his films. But, the dark horse may be Jordan Peele's follow-up to Get Out called, simply, Us. This trailer hits all the buttons for me:
-The Commish
PS: As one last surprise I wanted to give you guys a Naughty Christmas Album for 2018 as well. It compiles some of my favorite albums in 2018.
Naughty Christmas 2018:
1. Tunnel Under The Tracks by Pig Destroyer
2. Army of Cops by Pig Destroyer
3. Sunflower by Post Malone
4. Heart Beats Loud by Keegan DeWitt
5. Prey by For I am King
6. Queendom by Aurora
7. Churchyard by Aurora
8. SAD! by XXXTENTACION
9. Floor 555 by XXXTENTACION
10. Ecclesia Diabolica Catholica by Behemoth
11. Like Orpheus by Orphaned Land
12. Back Of My Heart by The Beaches
13. T-Shirt by The Beaches
14. Self Care by Mac Miller
Bonus Track:
15. I Love It by Kanye West
Hopefully, it keeps up the tradition of catchy new artists you can check out. Happy listening!
Since Keith stole my former Power Powell Rankings for a blog piece, I'm choosing to steal his musical interludes from his Last Place Wisdom for you to play as you read. Please enjoy a few of my favourite Film Soundtrack Moments for 2018.
This is far and away the best rendition of the Mission Impossible theme. It demonstrates a melancholy, a trepidation and then a goddamn bombastic arrangement. I love this so much:
The only stipulation on his gift of seeing is that he saw what you may not have considered quite yet. That the film industry is in a stage of evolution. To quote Keith "I watched the future of film, with the Netflix produced and released Bright over the holidays." It's all there fellas; The act of going to a physical location to view a film with two hundred strangers is a dying sacrament. It's much easier for the modern consumer to view a film six months after it's theatrical release on a subscription service they're already paying for. It's convenient and cost effective due to the sheer volume of CONTENT being released by media companies. Your niche tastes are your cloud-based provider of choice's command. It was inevitable really; I used to be pretty sad about it. Like I've stated in a lot of writing on this blog, I view the theater as an important avenue to have art transported into our culture. Perhaps I'm out of line suggesting, as a culture, I think we're all forgetting this. For instance, there used to be the "water cooler conversation" about a particular cultural touch point we had all watched the night before. Now it's a half a dozen failed "oh no, I'm not watching that" pandered musings during dinners with friends. I used to get kinda worked up about what I saw to be a collapsing system in the way we relate with one another through the lens of art. I feel like we are losing an important component in our society. One where inspiration and fellowship usually meet. Unfortunately, like most things these days, I've understood that it's the way things are; nothing I do will really have an effect on what the industry does. I haven't given up in my resolve; I've chosen to change the front I'll focus my efforts upon.
Here's another goodie. I listen to this one often as I walk to or from work.
Last year I decided, "I believe a hill I'm willing to die on is for the freedom of film in this fear-inducing time... my responsibility to view all sorts of features that may not align with my worldview, in order to test and forge a stronger person". That was the goal for 2018. I think I've watched around eighty new movies released this year and I've tried to make sure I hear a range of new voices. I just got back from Moose Jaw and after visiting the used bookstore, I finally own a copy of Betty Friedan's "The Feminine Mystique". The store owner mentioned it was the copy owned by a recently deceased President of some poetry club in Saskatchewan. Why did I buy this? It's because I know that for some people, it's their The Sun Also Rises, The Road To Wigan Pier or Either/Or. I had to walk past a sparsely attended "Yellowjacket" protest on my way to the store. I'm not at all against what they believe they are standing up for, on the contrary, I wish more folks would create public disruptions with ideas they deem to be important. It just made me think about the spread of ideas in our culture nowadays. I realized I'm simply not at all fine with the feeling that the internet can put a seed in our heads with very little resistance. Then after the plant is half grown, malnourished from a lack of sun or water, we decide to claim that our plant is a virtue and one of ultimate truth. The next step is then to see that those opposed to our plant's virtue are devoid of any semblance of logic. Suddenly, a half-baked notion becomes a culture war. It's troubling to see this act occur more and the flames being fanned by shameful opportunists. What's wrong with making a buck on the backs of intellectual enslavement? I was reading The Great Gatsby the other day and, even in the roaring twenties, there are those people that are aware that, a lot of the time, a person's most close and firmly held thoughts are just those that they were convinced of by someone more boisterous. A seed of an idea inside you is a wonderful and powerful thing; It should be tended to intently and will bloom from the earnestness and hope it is given. I just feel that as a western culture we're settling for junk food, in all types of media.
This is a fantasy football blog for crying out loud, how many Adam Rank or Michael Fabiano articles did you take seriously this year? I assume none (you should consider this a point of excellence in your skill). It's the same reason that Clarke (much to my esteem) rails against Good Morning Football and why nobody cares what cable news has to say anymore. You see much like the niche CONTENT we're afforded on the cloud for our art, we can choose the individual voices we listen to for our information on any topic. This is actually quite a powerful and good thing.
This year I chose to, in good faith, give other people the power to change my mind by listening, reading and, of course, viewing.
Of the movies I had put on my top ten list consideration for this year, there were a few that were pushed to the mid-teens from streaming services and video on demand. Three of the ones that just missed the cut were actually from Netflix and one actually made my list. Remember, this was the year that a trailer for the new Cloverfield movie was released during the Super Bowl and showed up on Netflix directly after the game. That's kind of insane. We're now at a point in film history where once the accountants crunch the numbers and see that a film won't make it's money back in theaters, they can cut bait and sell it to a streaming service. They do this in order to save themselves from a potential business crippling box office bomb. One film that made my list is actually somewhat a product of this business practice. As for some of those streaming service honorable mentions, there was The Night Comes For Us, an Indonesian martial arts film which during my viewing I asked myself if I'd ever seen a movie as violent. Jeremy Saulnier's (his Green Room made the top five of 2016's list) Hold The Dark, a metaphysical experience that meditates on the nature of violence from a genetic standpoint and was filmed partially in majestic Alberta. Also, Gareth Evans [of The Raid and The Raid 2: Berendal] made Apostle, a Wicker Man film that becomes a visceral examination of the roots of belief and how we approach others with differing ones (with some wonderful bloody shock and awe thrown in).
By allowing to have my perspectives changed I saw that in this case, it was Internet companies that are the ones helping creators to do what they want. I was skeptical of this only because the format that I view it on will undeniably be sub-par to going to the theater. That's a point that can't be argued for me. But I had to decide would I rather view safe, tentpole releases from the older studio system in order to keep them in business to make another batch of safe, tentpole releases? Or, should I try to adapt and get more behind CONTENT provider's that put the artist's vision front and center?
This year I gave up the ghost. I realized that going to the cinema is something, most likely, that is going to cease during my lifetime. Honestly, that's something that really, really makes me sad inside. My confusion with how a younger generation will absorb art and culture is destined to change. I became ok with some of that this year. I've just chosen to enjoy the time I have with the cinematic medium. To be a zealous supporter for those that see the same thing I do and, despite that knowledge, continue to max out their credit cards, sell it at Sundance (or SXSW or TIFF) and break even in order to make their vision come to life. Those that love the theatrical experience. With all it's pomp and circumstance. With all its pain in the ass. With all its I have to leave my house that I pay a mortgage on from my nine to five. With all its some asshole is checking out their phone during. I'm choosing to support financially those whose voice, in my opinion, should be more widely heard. That's me evolving with the times. That's me attaching my Paypal to Patreon (although now that's a whole internet thing) and seeing First Man three times with a different viewing partner. If the times are destined to change, it is the individual voice that holds more power then ever before. I hope you all recognize the power of yours and how that affects the voices of others. Ideas need the sun and the rain, to be tested and to become true.
I told Travis that if you get bit by the emotional point that echoes throughout this movie, then the Lunar sequence will hit you like a bomb. It did for me and this is the musical formation that Justin Hurwitz chose to be the musical reminder for this:
2018 was a wonderful year for film. At the Oscars, my number one movie of last year was given Best Picture. So, take my list with a grain of salt as I guess I'm now one of the establishment! There were some interesting trends that seemed to take hold, but two in particular that I wanted to highlight.
Perhaps the biggest example of one of these trends was highlighted with the release of Black Panther and what people have considered successful representation in film. Now I know representation can be a trigger word but stick with me here for a bit. I'm not on stage at an awards show, I just want to talk through something I've noticed actually producing a tangible result. Like I've already stated earlier in this post the theater industry has been on a downward decline for more than a decade and, since it is a profit based business it has to adapt to changing markets. I'd say it started in 2015 with a film like Straight Out Of Compton and cemented with last year's Get Out, the film industry was shown that they can market films starring and made by people whose voice may not always get an equal chance to make films for a wide audience and turn a huge profit. I think that point is pretty undeniable. It's not to say that the type of films that have been made for the last thirty years isn't worth still making, it's just that filmmakers from different backgrounds now have a large enough audience that wants to pay to see what they are creating. With a movie like Black Panther having black representation behind the writing and directing it made the film feel more distinct. Was it the best Marvel film of all time? I don't think so, but what Ryan Coogler showed with Fruitvale Station and Creed is that he has the technical skill behind the camera and he deserved the opportunity to make his vision for T'Challa come to life.
Crazy, Rich Asians grossed a huge amount of money and was an above-average romantic comedy, mostly due to the caliber of acting from the cast in my opinion. This year made me notice that it's good for the cinema in general to promote strong art made by an array of voices. If a movie or TV show comes across as too Woke it's obvious and the larger audience of people won't connect themselves to it.
I mean think of how many movies you saw in the theater this year and think about many of them you walked out thinking it was a good use of the money you spent, so much so you recommend it to others. I could be wrong, but I'm assuming it was not very many times. So when you see the box office revenue exploding for pictures from nontraditional voices, I think the money talks. It could be true that Wokeness could attract an army of Zombos to the cinema, but not in the amount it would take to make the box office gross films like these did, something else brought the general audiences into the fold.
It seemed to me that in 2018 what mattered more to people (perhaps only on a subconscious level) is not the ideologies film creators would put into their film, but rather the aesthetics they used which made them stand apart from the norm. Are the people behind the camera good writers and skillful directors? Are the actors believable in their parts? If the answer seems like yes before I go to see a movie then I will leave my expectations at the door. If their movie is not good, I won't have a problem calling it out either. A Wrinkle In Time was a terrible adaptation of a childhood favorite for me and I had more than a few issues with logical progressions in Boots Riley's Sorry to Bother You.
The other trend I noticed cropping up, again and again, were films that chose to embrace positivity completely. I'm sure this isn't just a reaction to how fractured the world can feel now, but it was interesting to see the caliber of film that was being produced from a hopeful mindset. There was an indie darling from Sundance called Heart Beats Loud, about a father and daughter starting a band before she leaves for university. It was so pure in its ambition to capture what it feels like to create art with your loved ones. An idea I'd never considered and really absorbed. The adversity that the characters faced was simply the changing of seasons and strong moments that are lost through the passage of time. It was a truly human slice of life and worth checking out.
There was the 100% Fresh rated Paddington 2 that seemed too good to be true. However, it was just as advertised in my opinion. From the sets, makeup and all the contributing acting talent it was a film that was bright and never cynical. It was a real anomaly. A Wes Anderson film without the existential angst and sardonic killing of animals. Hugh Grant gives a tour de force performance here that I will never forget.
Finally, there was the Fred Rogers documentary Won't You Be My Neighbour? It was an opportunity for me to reassess how I engage in the world. It helped me to realize that a person can truly make change occur in the world around them without sarcasm, debate and logical dismantling of other's ideas. "Love is at the root of everything. Love or the lack of it." -Fred Rogers.
I think often times filmmakers feel like they need to comment on how broken the world is, and I think that is necessary, but sometimes it's nice to see what it is that makes it worth the dangerous business of stepping out of your front door.
Now, on to the meat of the post, the actual list. Every year I tend to change the way I format and write about my picks and this year is no different. Since this is the list of my top ten films of 2018, it only makes sense that I write about why this film was special to me. Last year I was a little gun shy about unpacking each film as I believed it would give away spoilers and maybe cause the reader not to want to see a movie where they already know some of what happens. This year, to go along with my assessment of aesthetics over ideologies, I think it will be beneficial to get into some spoilers in order to showcase what I loved from certain films. So, read which portions of this blog you choose and don't feel the need to spoil a film you may not have caught up to yet for being a faithful reader of every word.
I'd also like to introduce an added segment to this year's festivities,
My 2018 Highest Possible Honorable Mention: Game Night
Before this movie came out all I remember reading in the marketing was that the talent behind the camera had a lot to do with Horrible Bosses and The Country Bears. That was a turnoff. It stars Jason Bateman, an actor who was perfect for his role in the first three seasons of Arrested Development, but a little one note in the range he shows in the films after that show ended (I haven't seen Ozark). It also stars Rachel McAdams, who, for me, never seems to dive completely into her characters and, as a result, I'm always aware that she is acting. So, considering the talent behind this film I inferred that this movie may not be one I'd enjoy and comedies are traditionally a genre I don't gravitate towards. The cherry on top of the cake of my assumptions was, I had also heard that it is this generation's Clue (the film adaptation of the board game), which is pretty lofty praise in my eyes.
However, this movie really floored me. The script is so well written and so often subverts the expectations of where it will go. Usually, in a movie, the characters will make decisions based on the action that is happening around them and it leads to a series of predictable moments all the way to an ending you expected. The characters in Game Night are written to be fully aware of what seems to be going on around them (not in an annoying meta level) and actively make decisions that outsmart the expectations your mind usually has during playful, adult comedies. In those films, I can't help but try to unpack what I think will happen rather than just sit back and be entertained; but during this one, I remember consciously handing over the decision making to the characters after about half an hour. They were making smart, unexpected decisions and were whip-smart in their commentary. Bateman and McAdams were so genuine in their portrayal of these characters that it was very easy to see a variation of Sara and myself in the way they acted like a couple.
From a technical standpoint, this film is tight in it's editing and never seems to drag. The way it is shot often times looks like a living board game which was an awesome stylistic choice. Action scenes in this movie are competently shot and I really enjoyed seeing the director flex his muscles three-quarters of the way through with an interesting scene made to look like a single take during a chase sequence. This isn't at all what you normally see in modern comedy films. It was really cool to see a film choosing to not cut corners behind the scenes and go for cheap laughs in front of the camera.
Sara and I re-watched this last night and it holds up. I still laughed during the whole movie and it never became boring. That's why I wanted to put it on the list because it seems to me that it's easier to make an affecting drama or genre film. But, making an all-time great comedy, like this film is, seems like a herculean task. It deserves to be recognized, so it's my top ranked honorable mention!
Without further ado, here are my Top Ten Films Of 2018!
(Please note that I wasn't able to see everything I wanted before I made this list most notably If Beale Street Could Talk, Suspiria, Cold War, Vox Lux, The Favourite, and Free Solo.)
10. First Man:
I can finally put another Damien Chazelle film on a top ten list! He graced us by releasing his latest in September, at the beginning of the awards season push (La La Land would have made my list for 2016 had I seen it before I compiled everything together). He's a director whose influences are very similar to own, however with this one he was intentionally trying to make a movie distinct from his three previous.
For a movie set during the time of Neil Armstrong and the space race, the scope is fairly small. While the tension in other films during this time often comes from the competition with the Communists, this is a plot point that is largely left unexplored. The Russians, the social unrest, the political pressure from the White House on NASA are discussed with broad strokes. The film is more concerned with what kind of people could do the work needed to put a man on the moon. Chazelle focuses on the men and their families involved with the Gemini and Apollo teams and what it would have felt like living in such a small community. One where every member of it was dedicated primarily to the cause of getting a man on the moon. I love that he chose to go this route with this story, it's made history more personal. He also felt like the emotional core of the story was The Armstrongs, their grief over the death of their daughter and how they, as a family, grapple with this in their own ways. For me, this story arc packed the wallop that he intended.
The film relies on close-ups during the flight and rocket scenes, this creates levels of claustrophobia and anxiety. One of the aspects of his work where Chazelle excels for me is his ability to effectively ratchet up the tension in his scenes. Whether it's through how he chooses to frame the shot or how he directs those acting in it, he is able to make me sweat if that's what he wants to do. I had forgotten about how good Chazelle is at creating that tension since La La Land was such a delight. While I was watching Gosling and the other astronauts (played by a real who's who of character actors) in the cockpit it was hard not to be reminded of the jazz finale in his second feature, Whiplash.
For most of the film the camera is used to help you feel like you are another member of the team, but there is a shot once they land on the lunar surface that was breathtaking. Chazelle is fairly outspoken in his love for musicals (his favorite film is my #20 on my all-time list) and he chooses at this point to make a nod to one, with a shot from the Wizard of Oz. Dorothy leaves her shattered Kansas farmhouse to set foot amongst the Munchkins as the Technicolor kicks in. In First Man the aspect ratio changed during a similar camera sweep and in my IMAX viewing the screen was filled. The quiet, emptiness of the moon was tangible.
This was one of two films I went back to the theater to see again, the lunar sequences just will not be same at home. Although it won't top my list of favorite Chazelle films (Whiplash still stands its ground there), I think this shows a definite progression in the skills he has to make thought-provoking films and I will look forward to what he does next.
9. They Shall Not Grow Old:
This film on paper sounds like the ramblings of a madman. Take footage shot from hand-spun cameras during World War One and restore it for the modern audience. This means taking over four hundred hours of film and changing the frame rate so the movement looks normal. Then changing the aspect ratio and colorize each individual frame so that every uniform, meadow, and foxhole looks like it would during 1916. Let's get the sound design of loading artillery shells by using actual WW1 cannons, luckily the director just happened to have one in his collection. They would then try to get as close as possible to reconstructing of the sounds of that shell firing, whistling through the air and landing on the earth again using newer cannons. Now, just for fun, let's layer each frame to create an immersive 3d experience in order to immerse the audience in what a soldier in WW1 would have seen and heard. Finally, let's not have a regular documentary narrative throughout the film, let's use seven hundred hours of recorded interviews with British soldiers describe in their own words what it is we are seeing. This movie does everything it set out to do. They had the right man for the job, Peter Jackson.
Currently, there aren't a lot of directors that are concerned with progressing the technology used to make films. James Cameron, Alfonso Cuaron, and Alejandro Inarritu are some directors who enjoy finding innovative solutions to practical problems in making a film; the other at the forefront is Peter Jackson. Jackson's Grandfather fought in WW1 and so he's always had an interest in digging into what may have happened to someone he cared about during wartime. This was a passion project for him and the level of effort he put forth is admirable.
I, like a few of you, have undertaken the journey Dan Carlin takes the listener on during his epic six-part podcast series on World War 1 and this movie was a wonderful pairing with it. They Shall Not Grow Old places you, as much as theatrically possible, in what you may have been imagining in your head as Dan talks about the trenches in Belgium. What struck me in the film though, was the faces of the soldiers. Young men who left to do their perceived duty and possibly die in a country far from home. There were some truly haunting sequences where the brutality of that era of combat is on full display and it left me quite somber. It's very easy for me not to think about the sacrifice that thousands of people have made for me to enjoy the freedom I have. When those faces were shown to me, I felt like I needed to be living a life worth that sacrifice. The picture I chose to showcase above shows a battalion of men that, thirty minutes after this was shot, were sent into no man's land. The casualty rate for that battalion was almost all of them. It's very strange to see the faces of men in contemplation that this may be the last moments of their lives. I haven't been able to forget that scene, the images are burned in my memory.
I'm not sure what the home viewing of this film will be like, this experience felt like one the theater could only provide. For two hours I was a close as I'll ever be to the Belgian battlefield in 1916 and it was insightful into a part of history that has had such lasting consequences. Jackson created one of the best uses of the theater experience in 2018 for me.
8. Mission Impossible: Fallout
The anticipation for this film was high for me. I'm a huge spy genre fan, whether that's watching a Bond movie to recover on my sick days or devouring the latest John Le Carre novel like my mother in law reads Janette Oke's romance books (that is to say at an insatiable rate). Multiple film critics I follow started to create a buzz around this film, saying it was the best action movie since Mad Max: Fury Road. As that was my tied for my favorite film of 2015 (along with Alex Garland's Ex Machina), I had my reservations that this could be possible.
Sara and I both love this franchise of films if I had to explain why it's primarily due to the characters. Obviously, Tom Cruise's Ethan Hunt is the star, but he has been surrounded by strong supporting characters since the first installment. That's why this film is the first Mission Impossible to ever make a top ten list for me, it takes the collection of characters its added to it's ranks over the past twenty years and creates a fulfilling story involving all of them. One, that yes, Cruise wows with his over the top stunts, but puts a real focus on the characters that have connected themselves to him.
The film has some of the most jaw-dropping action set pieces I've seen in several years. Inside helicopters, outside helicopters, motorcycling backward through Paris, a single take skydiving sequence. It's all here, Cruise continues to defy aging and wowed me with a lot of the stunts he performed on his own. The script is able to juggle story continuity, creates interesting stakes (will Ethan let one person die to save millions?) and even includes easter eggs that connect to every previous film for fans of the series. Some of my favorites were the addition of a certain black market broker from the original Mission Impossible's daughter. Also, the helicopter telling Ethan to "Pull up, Pull up", a simple nod to the passenger plane sequence in Mission Impossible 2.
A smile was plastered all over my face while watching this. Is it the height of storytelling? No, but this is film made sure that stunts, fight choreography (there's bathroom fight that is second only this year to a butcher shop scuffle in the above mentioned The Night Comes For Us), score and acting were a cut above all others this year in the action genre and that was worth all the excitement.
7. Widows:
I was instantly on board, but what set my excitement to another level was that it would be using a screenplay written by Gone Girl's Gillian Flynn. I've enjoyed all three of Flynn's novels, but Gone Girl was the obvious standout in my mind. She has a talent for making character's that are realistic and relatable, while also balancing stories that could escalate to a level of camp in the writing of a less skilled author. She had decided to write her own script for Gone Girl and it was a fantastic adaptation. It's a shame Ben Affleck acted a fool on Real Time while promoting the film. All this is to say that when I envisioned these two artists working together it seemed like a match made in heaven to me.
So, I won't lie, walking into this movie I knew damn well it would make my top ten list. What I didn't expect to see was how hard McQueen leans into the Mann connection, and in my mind, he created a spiritual sequel to Mann's opus Heat. Just as in Heat, the focus is on examining the characters and understanding their motivations and the consequences of their decisions. After that, it is supported by the exciting heist scene with a couple visceral action set pieces that pack a punch. McQueen uses the camera so cleverly, one standout is a shot where he juxtaposes the economic disparity of a Chicago neighborhood using a single take where the camera is attached to the hood of a car. Daniel Kaluuya continues to stand out with a chilling performance as a gang leader, he became someone to watch for me after one of the stronger episodes of Black Mirror. But, it's the women that take center stage and they all give very strong performances. Viola Davis in particular balances an assertive leadership within the heist and emotional vulnerability in some powerful scenes of her alone in her home. The story is one that stayed ahead of me and had some surprises that I thought were done very well and will reward future viewings.
I walked out after the film content, this was a great piece of filmmaking!
6. Hereditary:
Hereditary is a film that is concerned with the family unit and how it interacts with grief, sometimes throughout several generations. Toni Collette gives her best performance ever in my opinion, as her character goes through several dramatic turns throughout the feature. But, what I liked best about this movie was the little things. Details that the director used to make small connections to my own family life growing up so that, when he wanted to go full tilt bonkers at the end of the film, I was pulled in entirely to the action. For instance, when the high school-aged son returns home from a house party the camera is focused on his trepidatious movements to get to his room without waking up his parents. But, the audio in this scene focuses us on his parent's conversation in their bedroom, where the mother says she's relieved that he is home. Walks like those, to avoid conversations like that was my late teenage years in a nutshell. It must have been for Aster as well.
Aster is masterful in his framing and lighting of shots each scene has an eye-popping visual flare. It's what he chooses not to show the audience though is what I truly loved. Using that technical prowess, he allows for a lot of still shots in the dark where you swear there is something in the shadows of that corner. It's not until later, that there is and it's pure nightmare fuel. I sweat through my shirt during my first viewing of this movie.
I mentioned the big three horror movies at the top because I think, given time, Hereditary will join that pantheon. It was the best film, in the horror genre, that I've seen since making these lists for the blog. If you only see one horror movie this decade make it Hereditary.
5. Roma:
Here it is, the Netflix exclusive streaming title that makes my list for best of, it's a new dawn on this year-end tradition. Alfonso Cuaron is definitely in my top five favourite living film directors for me. My experiences of watching Children of Men and Gravity are some of my favorite times spent under the glow of the silver screen. Cuaron knows how to fill the frame of each shot, to create kinetic energy with whatever action is happening on screen and to use the camera in revolutionary ways to immerse the audience into what he is doing. He's kind of the king in my opinion. So when I had heard his next feature would follow the life experiences of his live-in nanny (maid, cook, etc) from his childhood I was a little taken aback, but very curious.
This a film helped me work through most of the mental and emotional gymnastics I went on for at length earlier in this blog post. Here is a feature by a true auteur of filmmaking that progresses the art of movie making with how shots are set up, the sheer volume of extras utilized to make the frame feel live in and showcasing the environment through, honestly, mind baffling "how did they capture that?" set pieces. Yet because of the subject matter, it's just not commercially viable. If it gets released in theaters it simply won't be a film that people will go to see. So you have one of the lushest film experiences to come out this year, but you're not projected to make money from a mainstream audience. But, on the other hand, Netflix allowed Cuaron to make his passion project. So, it exists.
I was able to convince the people whose home we attend on Fridays for a bible study to gift Sara and me with a screening of this movie in their projection room with surround sound. It truly was something to behold, but I cannot even imagine what theatergoers at the Cinerama in Seattle saw when it was presented in 4K laser projection with Dolby Atmos surround sound. This film is a masterful vision.
I could definitely see some people finding the movie a bit slow, as is focused on letting the audience get to know the characters through lengthy single take dialogue sequences. For me, though I loved the pace in which it seemed to show an objective perspective on parts of the life of this figure from Alfonso's childhood. It showcased Mexico authentically and approached the class divides that exist even in Latin culture with a truthfulness. This was something I was familiar with from my time in Guatemala.
What I think I liked most is that Cuaron completely puts you in the same place as this young woman to such an extent that you feel like you are a fly on the wall. With this level of immersion, he is able to show scenes other filmmakers wouldn't have the confidence to bring to an audience with a level of earnestness. Through this he does what he has always done, he creates a distinct work of art that is undeniable in its commitment to hope.
4. The Rider:
Famous last words. "I'm about seventy percent done writing my top ten list, but I should really watch this one before I publish it," I said to Sara before viewing Chloe Zhao's third feature. If I had seen it sooner, it might have had a chance at the top spot after I had fully unpacked it. So, this will be a stream of consciousness response to The Rider.
The movie starts with a rodeo bronco rider, that is fresh off of an injury which left him with a metal plate in his skull. Zhao chooses to not make a statement for or against the rodeo, she wants the audience to place themselves in this cowboy's boots. It then becomes a story about what a person does when the thing they find the most meaning and purpose from in life is torn away from them. It's a profound point to examine for me personally, while also seeing Brady do the same. This actor has a unique skill of displaying all the hurt, anger and bitterness he is feeling wordlessly on his face, while also showing kindness and love to his family and friends through his actions. He is so full of empathy for all life, he desires to create a bridge of understanding from his heart to those around him, even if it is rejected. This is a skill that comes in handy while training horses during his recovery time.
This is one of the most beautifully shot films I've ever seen. Zhao uses the campfire as the only source of light during a time of reflection amongst friends. She films a riding scene during the magic hour that legitimately caused me to lose my breath. There are also sustained long takes of Brady breaking wild horses to a point where they can be ridden, where the cameras vantage point is just outside the fence. It made me realize just how much I wanted to be watching what I was being shown, the camera was my eyes as it moved past fence posts and trembled slightly when Brady eventually gets on the horse's back.
What put's this film over the edge for me is it's essentially a new form of a film. You see, all of the actors in this story are from the area where this was filmed. The story of Brady falling off of his Bronco is true in real life. That's why he's able to make his performance believable. In fact, the actors that play his father, sister and friends are just that in his real life. When Brady visits his friend Lane, who has been injured by a bull during his own rodeo days, at his live-in care facility that is actually his friend Lane. His bull riding videos, before his accident, are all over Youtube. Given that a lot of this movie was shot as the actual Brady was recovering, it's almost impossible to tell what emotion the actors are adding to their performance and what is actually already there being processed in real time. Is this a narrative feature or a documentary? The answer is it's essentially a parallel, alternate dimension.
I can't really stop thinking about this film and I'm not sure I can fully understand all of this quite yet. But, I hope I've inspired you to check it out. It's a small film that needs to be seen by more people in my opinion.
This movie is a masterpiece.
3. First Reformed:
Paul Schrader has been a voice in cinema that I've always looked up to. Like most every high school boy that saw Taxi Driver, I felt like Schrader was someone who saw the world for how terrible it can be and was grappling with how to deal with that. First Reformed has a lot of the character traits that made Schrader a distinct voice in the cinema while working with Martin Scorsese on Taxi Driver, Raging Bull and The Last Temptation Of Christ. He's become mature though. Rather than provoking the audience prematurely, here he slowly ratchets up the tension until it might explode.
It might be helpful to provide a little context on Schrader before moving on to First Reformed. His early life was filled with his family's place inside the Calvinist Reformed Church and I think that it's affected his art. Much like myself, he isn't for or against the Christian church. He wants to understand the nature of belief in others and himself. Through his films, I've seen a lot of the same struggle I feel in my own heart. So, I was confident that this film wouldn't be just a character assassination piece on where he sees a disconnect in the modern church and the response it has to man-made climate change.
The film is shot in 4:3 aspect ratio, shot relatively from one perspective with very little movement and the color palette is pretty much the opposite of vibrancy in The Rider. It creates an atmosphere of contemplation and melancholy effortlessly.
Ernst Toller (Ethan Hawke) is the minister of a mostly ceremonial First Reformed church. It's the oldest church on the east coast and is owned by the local megachurch as a historical site. Ernst's son followed in the family tradition of joining the military as a chaplain and was killed. That leads to the dissolving of his marriage and an existential crisis. What I really like in this movie is that while there are many Christians in this movie they are never generalized. Just as there are many different types of Christians that I see at church each week, there are distinct characters playing members of the congregation. The megachurch pastor who is just as focused on marketing as he is on the message. The choir leader whose mousiness and fervor are at odds in how she approaches a hidden relationship she is having with Ernst. There is a teenager at the youth group that is questioning God's will in the unemployment of her father, while another bemoans the socialism of the left. A wealthy businessman, who attends the megachurch wants to speak at an event the governor will be attending at the First Reformed church and, due to how much he tithes, he is granted that honor. Finally, there is Michael and Mary a couple who recently moved there after living with an eco-group in Canada.
Mary is with child and this is distressing for Michael. He doesn't think it's moral to bring a child into this world that is experiencing the level of toll he believes climate change causes. To be honest this is a fact I've considered, although a lot of my trepidation in having kids is based on my own relationships with my parents. So, I didn't feel Michael was out of line at all. Michael talks to Ernst for hours about the evidence that supports his views and at the end of it all, perhaps due to a shift in his own thinking, all Ernst can offer is "Who can know the mind of God?" I don't think I need to cover too much more of the plot in order to describe my feelings on the picture, I certainly think it's worth watching.
What Hawke and Schrader put together is a deep and moving portrait of what happens when a man is suddenly struck with an idea so undeniable. How he responds to it? The ending encapsulates for me what it feels like to wrestle with an idea. The struggle you have with others taking it as seriously as you do. You begin to understand that it can never be comprehended by others exactly as it is in your own mind and become self-destructive. Then you have to make a choice towards love or bitterness at the end of it all, in order to achieve peace with it.
This film spoke to me about how I can reconcile myself with the topics of belief, philosophy, and science. That they're not always at odds, but that honest reflection and hope is imperative to maintain one's sanity.
2. Spider-Man Into The Spider-verse:
If you had told me that I would be putting an animated Spider-Man movie as my number two film of this year I'd probably have a smart Alec retort to return for you. But, it's easily the second best film I saw this year.
First off, this movie's art style is revolutionary. The animation team mixed traditional animation and computer-generated visuals to make a film I have to believe will be the catalyst for possibly the next decade of animated features. They left everything on the field by mixing so many different flourishes and by adding many small touches to the show me something I've never seen before; for instance, I loved noticing that they used ben-day dots on top of everything to create an old-school comic feel. There was supreme attention to detail when it came to making the story come to life. This is a movie where you can tell that this was a love letter to comic books.
I'm going to admit something to you guys. When I was rereading my top ten list from last year to Sara something I didn't expect happened. I was reading the part where I said "It's almost inevitable that the film industry is going to implode on itself for multiple reasons I don't feel like talking about at length here, but for the time being I am committed to viewing art as empathetic as possible. To laugh and cry alongside the true believers and creators. As divisive as the world is currently, the wrong reaction would be to shut down and become complacent." and I got quite emotional all of a sudden. It wasn't because I found my prose awe-inspiring, it was that I don't think I had fully come to grips with Stan Lee's passing until that moment.
I started remembering reading omnibuses in my early teens of old Steve Ditko drawn stories that Stan had explained to him while jumping off the couches at their Marvel office. I was remembering how happy and safe I felt while reading. Comics may not have become the mythological experience millions of people experience every second month if Stan had decided the industry wasn't for him. At that moment I felt very strongly that I'll really miss the way he loved to love things. I realized I had seen my last Stan Lee cameo in this movie and I was sad. I'd never met him, but his courage to make good art that connected with people has meant a lot to me and I'll try to continue to be a true believer at heart.
The script was able to talk about complex theoretical physics ideas while making me laugh a lot. This film introduces the theory of a multiverse in order to show the viewer that anyone can wear the mask. We meet a cast of Spider people from other parallel worlds and see what connects them in spirit. But, what I really loved about all this was that this is a comic book movie written to dismantle all that is getting stale in this genre of film and then to build up something new and fresh.
The "with great power" scene for Peter Parker takes up three seconds of screen time because the audience already knows this and the movie knows you know. One of my favorite comic book movies is Scott Pilgrim. It's one I often come back to because, stylistically, Edgar Wright chose to edit the film like a comic book and stage action like an eighties video game. It felt like a comic book come to life; however, the film at its heart seems to want to be ambivalent in its meta stage direction. Character's disaffection with whatever is happening on the screen are played for "aren't hipsters horrible?" laughs. It sometimes comes across as too self-aware. It's kind of a thin line to traverse, but in Spider-Man they choose to go this same route of meta text awareness; subsequently, at multiple points of this film, the writers chose not to become jaded. Which is a hard thing to do, comic book movies are more often than not CGI vomit on the screen. Those that aren't can choose to be "dark and gritty" to create a sense of realism and comment on our world with greater effectiveness. But, this may be the first comic book movie I've seen that the script and design of the film were more knowledgeable than any of the people in the audience about the character (including most geeks check this list of easter eggs out) and yet chose not to be a dick about it. Quite the opposite, they chose to make the audience feel safe and want to seek out more comics so that we can all enjoy these stories. It felt sincere that the movie wanted to talk about emotional and philosophical ideas, without preaching or lecturing the audience.
Miles' (I can't believe I'm five paragraphs in and this is the first time I talk about him) has both his parents in this movie and I don't think that is something that has been done before. Usually, hero's have troubled pasts with their folks, or a lot of times are orphaned. What makes this story so strong is the struggle Miles' has between achieving the goals his parents have for him (that he seems to also want), while he also explores what makes him a unique individual. He doesn't start as a damaged kid, he's loved by his family and has tons of friends. So, when he's bitten by the spider he doesn't really know how to become a Spider-man. What becomes his motivation is the responsibility (a tale as old as Spider-man), but how he gets there is brand new.
Here's the big thing I got out of Spider-Man, it's why it's so far up my list. It all happens during the climactic birth of a hero scene:
This is most likely my favorite complete scene in any film from all of 2018. The music they use (What's Up Danger) is the best use of a song in my opinion since "How Far I'll Go" in Moana (there's your Moana reference Aaron, now go show your kids great art). The visual style produces the still image I used in the header for this ranking (my favorite single shot of 2018), showing Miles ascending against all the troubles that will find him in this world. By showing it upside down it seems like he is rising to face adversity, not descending to be a savior for those below him. Lastly, they chose Kierkegaard as the "launching off point" of Miles' heroic journey. "Great responsibility" is implied, but "it's a leap of faith" (or a qualitative leap for the book snobs) that is used as Miles' catalyst. This is when Mile's jumps into Kierkegaard's third stage of life, from a heroic morality standpoint. Obviously, I'm putting a lot of outside things on to my interpretation of this scene, but it was a truly spiritual moment for me in the theater when I saw it. All the empathy I had for Miles was rewarded by sharing in his feeling of excitement as he embraced courage and selfless responsibility to help his friends. This is how potentially a younger generation will digest ideas Soren wrote about at length over two hundred years before. I was in love with that fact. I mean the book's better, but...
Like I've mentioned the style of this movie is leaps and bounds above any animated film I've ever seen. The creators of this story created a sincere and joyful dismantling of a tired genre. But, what I loved most is that you can learn the right lesson through this movie. That is ok to be yourself, to be compassionate and to be courageous. It may be too early to say, but this may be the best comic book movie I've ever seen. I'll have to re-watch it and let it breathe for a little while though.
For Andrew, if you look at the TV when Miles visits his Uncle Aaron you'll see Donald Glover getting out of bed in his Spidey underoos. This movie loves sharing references.
1. Annihilation:
Well, folks, I'm sorry to be predictable, but Annihilation was thought to be my favourite film of this year on last year's list and it turned out that it was. I loved Jeff Vandermeer's book with all it's HP Lovecraft creepy crawlies and it's none too subtle Tarkovsky inspiration for the Area X (the shimmer). So, when I heard Alex Garland would be adapting it, fresh off of Ex Machina (my co-number 1 film of 2015), I knew without seeing a frame that this film would be made for me.
The book is focused on the main character's lack of interest in connecting with people, including her husband. There is a realization that she is the one that needs to change and begin to accept love from others. This was a concept I also needed to receive during the timeframe I read this book. Her time in Area X allows her to come to terms with that.
Alex Garland had read the book, but after he was brought on board to direct he decided not to re-read it and create a story using what he remembered from it. Since the book was deeply interested in exploring biological metamorphosis as an allegory, I liked the humor for Alex Garland to apply that focus as a tool for writing his screenplay. So, the film is quite different from the book and that was a really cool thing. I'd rather see Garland's vision than a slavish recreation of a story I've already read. Garland's vision for this picture took Lovecraft and Tarkovsky as inspiration also but added on layers from Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey and Paul W.S. Anderson's Event Horizon; two films I love.
What I responded to so much about Ex Machina, was that it was an examination of what makes a human being an individual person. It has a man administering a Turing test on an AI, but it is Garland grappling with what the nature of human consciousness is. In Annihilation, he also uses the film to act as philosophical conversation, in my opinion, he wants to explore the self-destruction we all have the potential for in our hearts. I've also heard other's believe he made a metaphor for a person going through a battle with a physical disease or mental illness. Others say it's a treatise on grief and the nature of suffering. I think that's the mark of a great piece of art, the audience is able to relate to it in their own way. So below is a mixture of plot elements and how I decoded the movie. The film itself leaves a lot to your own interpretation, so I'd love to hear other's, who have seen the film, analysis in the comments.
In this film, the five female leads enter into The Shimmer (an area that springs up due to an unexplained presence and is expanding), each of them battling with something within themselves. Through a series of event's they come to terms with the nature of how they are responding to the hurt that they carry and they are destroyed (Annihilated anyone?), only to be reborn in a manner of speaking. In the book, the author cribs off of John Wyndham's The Day of the Triffids using pod people as a way of describing this resurrection. Garland chose to use formless Aliens taking the shape of whatever character that finds them. Seeing this transformation take place, I believe the characters are forced to grapple with the notion that if it is so easy to create a clone of themselves, then is the destruction in their hearts really the only thing that makes them distinct? Is all that separates them from their alien doppelganger, the sum of all the emotional baggage we accumulate in life and then choose to hurt ourselves over? With this knowledge will we choose to succumb to our despair or to resolve it and be renewed? Like Pilgrim letting his burden fall off his back at the top of the hill. This was a fascinating batch of ideas to pick apart, as each character in the film has different ways of dealing with these thoughts. I loved being challenged to think like that.
Garland also creates some unique visuals that I will find hard to forget. His nightmare bear chilled me to the core and the plant people were an interesting way of showing acceptance based on grace and forgiveness. But, the coup de grace was his alien. On the big screen, this creation looked and sounded like nothing I've ever encountered before. It was this giant, formless shape that makes an otherworldly whale song.
So, with questions on the nature of human life, the aliens causing natural metamorphosis through refracting waves and a trippy end sequence reminiscent of the Stargate at the end of 2001, that is why it is my number one film of 2018. It checked all the boxes I want when I go to the movies and, rather than being drained of energy, this film charged me up. You could say it's the film (along with Roma) that contributed most to the change of heart I talked about in my introduction. It helped me to transform.
There you have it folks, my top ten of 2018. I had a great time putting this all together and I hope you enjoyed reading it. Please feel free to leave any favorite films you had in the comments of the blog or the Slack, it'd be cool to know what other people are enjoying these days.
Like I did last year (and since I nailed it) I'll call my shot for my favorite film of 2019 here. I'm not as confident as I was last time, but I have good feelings about the two movies I know I'll go see this year. The first is Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon A Time In Hollywood because I've always loved his films. But, the dark horse may be Jordan Peele's follow-up to Get Out called, simply, Us. This trailer hits all the buttons for me:
-The Commish
PS: As one last surprise I wanted to give you guys a Naughty Christmas Album for 2018 as well. It compiles some of my favorite albums in 2018.
Naughty Christmas 2018:
1. Tunnel Under The Tracks by Pig Destroyer
2. Army of Cops by Pig Destroyer
3. Sunflower by Post Malone
4. Heart Beats Loud by Keegan DeWitt
5. Prey by For I am King
6. Queendom by Aurora
7. Churchyard by Aurora
8. SAD! by XXXTENTACION
9. Floor 555 by XXXTENTACION
10. Ecclesia Diabolica Catholica by Behemoth
11. Like Orpheus by Orphaned Land
12. Back Of My Heart by The Beaches
13. T-Shirt by The Beaches
14. Self Care by Mac Miller
Bonus Track:
15. I Love It by Kanye West
Hopefully, it keeps up the tradition of catchy new artists you can check out. Happy listening!
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