I guess if one were really on the ball, this should be done at precisely the halfway mark of the year, say June 30. (Editor's note: Like when I ran my similar piece on June 15.)
But, first of all, my summer has been pretty notably disrupted this year; and secondly, the studios all backload so much of their premium material for awards season -- and the major festivals that precipitate it -- it's something of a random assemblage, anyway.
Still, there have been some remarkably good films in 2018 -- albeit nothing yet I've seen that I could confidently call a top-three lock -- some of which still haven't been released since their premiere at Sundance, Cannes and Berlin. To play fair, here is a Top 10 list of films that have already been released, along with a quick shout-out to films I got to see at a festival that are due later in the year (dates included when available).
10. Isle of Dogs: Wes Anderson keeps churning out his brand of singular-vision movies, be they animated or live-action, such that his energetic fan base tends to love the hell out of everything he does, regardless, while for everyone else it can be a good deal more hit and miss. Personally, I've enjoyed the vast majority of his films more or less equally: I don't deify Rushmore, and I don't condemn The Life Aquatic. For this animated piece, involving a trash island off the coast of Japan that holds all the dogs in the area, banished by a nefarious plot we are led to assume was formulated by the mostly silent cats of the city, Anderson's twee sensibilities and attention to detail serve him well, even if the film's clumsy racial politics -- one of the film's wise heroines is a white exchange student (Greta Gerwig) -- left some viewers disappointed.
9. You Were Never Really Here: Joaquin Phoenix plays Joe, a successful hired assassin, whose favorite method of execution involves a standard carpentry hammer. Despite the bloody entreaties that might suggest, the film is actually about the immediate post-violent moments after Joe has, er, struck, than a Scorsese-like affinity for highlighting the brutish moments unto themselves. In Lynne Ramsay's capable hands, the impact comes not from the sight of shattered bone and spurting blood, but the psychological impact of filling in the empty spaces in our own minds, which makes the audience far more complicit in the filmmaking process.
8. The Tale: Currently playing on HBO, Jennifer Fox's partially fictionalized memoir about the sexual abuse she suffered as a young teenager working at a blue-blood horse farm run by the enigmatic Mrs. G (Elizabeth Debicki) concerns the idea of memory, and how our brains are constantly reimagining our experiences to better fit with our conception of ourselves. Laura Dern is fabulous as the adult Jennifer, and Debicki is nothing less than bewitching as the predator, who along with her boyfriend Bill (Jason Ritter), creates an atmosphere of transgressive permission that haunts the director to this day.
7. Three Identical Strangers: Tim Wardle's documentary, about a trio of New York-based identical triplets who were miraculously reunited by chance in the early '80s, begins as a lighthearted yarn filled with good cheer, before veering down some very dark and unexpected passageways. It's a fascinating examination of familial bonds, innocence lost, and another disturbing chapter in the nature/nurture debate.
6. The Death of Stalin: What better time to evoke the clandestine, intensely ridiculous machinations among the surviving members of Russia's inner circle in the wake of its authoritarian dictator's passing? And what better filmmaker to evoke the sublimely ludicrous spectacle when all these would-be power brokers try to outfox each other and finagle their way into becoming the next Soviet leader, than Armando Iannucci, whose deep understanding of the petty, vindictively insecure character of the ruling class is without peer. Of course the creator of Veep would make a hilarious film given this backdrop -- watching Steve Buscemi's Khrushchev testing his joke-story material on his wife before trying it in front of his steely commander is worth the price of admission alone -- but you never can forget how closely this improbable narrative hews to the true and bloody account of this period of history. Laugh or cry, at your discretion.
5. Hereditary: A stately horror film from a young director, Ari Aster, who has clearly studied in frame-by-frame detail Kubrickian technique. Not everything works to perfection in this spooky, haunted family tragedy -- for one thing the ending gives us just a little too much unnecessary explanation -- but it's made so meticulously, with off-kilter beats that challenge your remove, it becomes captivating. Once you see it, you'll never hear someone utilize a tongue-cluck again without jumping out of your socks.
4. A Quiet Place: The second scary film on this list in what has so far been a strong year for the horror/thriller genre. John Krasinski's film, which he directed, co-wrote, and stars in takes the idea of silence and weaponizes it in a way that's absolutely thrilling, especially if you see it in a packed movie theater. Set in the near future, where aliens have landed in the form of giant, lightning quick insectoids, whose hearing is super-acute, Krasinski stars as the patriarch of a small family, who have learned to live as quietly as possible in order to survive. Such is the nature of the viewing experience, that any crinkle of a popcorn bag is enough to trigger an anxiety rush.
3. Sorry to Bother You: It would seem as if the yearning demand for politicized satire is best being filled by black directors at this particular moment in time: Consider a few of the heralded and politically scalding films of the last year and a half -- think Jordan Peele's Get Out, Carlos Lopez Estrada's current Blindspotting, and BlacKkKlansman from Spike Lee. Boots Riley's bug-nuts comedy is about a young black man (Lakeith Stanfield) who learns to utilize "white voice" as a telemarketer, and reaps the enormous financial rewards, even at the cost of his soul. Politically minded filmmakers should be taking advantage of this insane environment (whichever side of the great divide you find yourself), and it would appear that at least one ethnic group has more than heeded the call.
2. Black Panther: Marvel has done many things with its heralded universe over the years, but this film by the skilled Ryan Coogler surpassed many of its other, more overreaching and extroverted fare, by focusing more on character and thematic storyline than trying to overwhelm our senses with CGI bombast. It's not perfect -- for many people, including this critic, they actually made the villain, played sagely by Michael B. Jordan, more intriguing and charismatic than the protagonist (Chadwick Boseman), which caused them to have to tweak the character midstream -- but considering the film's treatment of racial politics (progressive!), and its ability to serve sensibly as both a political allegory and a straight-ahead superhero action film, it is remarkably effective.
1. Eighth Grade: Bo Burnham's film could be considered a comedy of sorts, there certainly are funny bits, and well-drawn moments of farce, but it never strays too far from its realistic protagonist, the quiet-but-striving Kayla (Elise Fisher), who makes shaky video entries about staying true to yourself, and being a good friend, and sticks Post-it notes on her mirror about practicing small talk. Rather than mock her intentions, or putting her in constantly humiliating situations in order to make with the funny, Burnham respects his characters and never sells them out for the sake of a laugh. As a result, the film is emotionally powerful without ever seeming strident. Rated 'R' primarily for language -- which in some ways is unfortunate, because its target audience can't go and see it unattended -- the movie is respectful of its teenage subjects, even as it adroitly depicts them at this most awful and awkward in-between stage in their lives.
Top Five Yet to Come:
5. Nancy (unknown)
4. Bisbee '17 (Sept. 5)
3. Private Life (unknown)
2. Makala (Aug. 24)
1. Hale County, This Morning, This Evening (unknown)
MovieStyle on 08/17/2018