Best of 2018
These are my picks for the best films of 2018, with some absences for films I haven't yet seen. Those do not include Green Book or Bohemian Rhapsody, two awful films that do not deserve to be on any of these lists. Some of these movies are displayed as 2017, but I am judging by american release.
In terms of individual achievement:
Best Directing: Suspiria
Honorable mentions: Cam, Annihilation, and Buster Scruggs
Best Cinematography: Hold the Dark
Honorable mentions: Mandy, Annihilation, Suspiria
Best Acting: Hereditary
Honorable mentions: Cam, Stalin, Mandy
Best Set Design: Suspiria
Honorable mentions: Annihilation, Buster Scruggs, Overlord
Best Editing: Overlord
Honorable mentions: Cam, The Night Comes For Us, Spiderverse
Best Screenplay: Lowlife
Honorable mentions: Hereditary, Suspiria, Stalin
Best Horror Sequence: Hereditary; decapitation
Honorable mention: Terrified; Cop Car
Best Action Sequence: The Night Comes for Us; Meat Shop
Honorable mention: Overlord; Opening
Best Drama Sequence: Hereditary; Dinner
Honorable mention: Lowlife; Suicide
Best Comedy Sequence: The Death of Stalin; Stalin is dead! I think?
Honorable mention: Tragedy Girls; Meta Banter
In terms of individual achievement:
Best Directing: Suspiria
Honorable mentions: Cam, Annihilation, and Buster Scruggs
Best Cinematography: Hold the Dark
Honorable mentions: Mandy, Annihilation, Suspiria
Best Acting: Hereditary
Honorable mentions: Cam, Stalin, Mandy
Best Set Design: Suspiria
Honorable mentions: Annihilation, Buster Scruggs, Overlord
Best Editing: Overlord
Honorable mentions: Cam, The Night Comes For Us, Spiderverse
Best Screenplay: Lowlife
Honorable mentions: Hereditary, Suspiria, Stalin
Best Horror Sequence: Hereditary; decapitation
Honorable mention: Terrified; Cop Car
Best Action Sequence: The Night Comes for Us; Meat Shop
Honorable mention: Overlord; Opening
Best Drama Sequence: Hereditary; Dinner
Honorable mention: Lowlife; Suicide
Best Comedy Sequence: The Death of Stalin; Stalin is dead! I think?
Honorable mention: Tragedy Girls; Meta Banter
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- DirectorAri AsterStarsToni ColletteMilly ShapiroGabriel ByrneA grieving family is haunted by tragic and disturbing occurrences.Best film of the year, and one of the best films of all time in any genre.
- DirectorAlex GarlandStarsNatalie PortmanJennifer Jason LeighTessa ThompsonA biologist signs up for a dangerous, secret expedition into a mysterious zone where the laws of nature don't apply.The script is a little odd at times but otherwise a perfect sci-fi film.
- DirectorRyan ProwsStarsNicki MicheauxMark BurnhamJon OswaldThe sordid lives of an addict, an ex-con, and a luchador collide when an organ harvesting caper goes very, very wrong.Underappreciated dark comedy gem. Like Pulp Fiction plus Trainspotting.
- DirectorDaniel GoldhaberStarsMadeline BrewerPatch DarraghMelora WaltersAlice, an ambitious camgirl, wakes up one day to discover she's been replaced on her show with an exact replica of herself.Great Twilight Zone-esque horror. Its well acted and tight, with well done creepy moments and good atmosphere.
- DirectorLuca GuadagninoStarsChloë Grace MoretzTilda SwintonDoris HickA darkness swirls at the center of a world-renowned dance company, one that will engulf the artistic director, an ambitious young dancer, and a grieving psychotherapist. Some will succumb to the nightmare. Others will finally wake up.Great slow-burn horror with a very original take on the 70's giallo film. I'd say that this one is better.
- DirectorEthan CoenJoel CoenStarsTim Blake NelsonWillie WatsonClancy BrownSix tales of life and violence in the Old West, following a singing gunslinger, a bank robber, a traveling impresario, an elderly prospector, a wagon train, and a perverse pair of bounty hunters.The first two segments blow the other 4 out of the water, but they all have things to like for the most part. Those first two are hilarious.
- DirectorJulius AveryStarsJovan AdepoWyatt RussellMathilde OllivierA small group of American soldiers find horror behind enemy lines on the eve of D-Day.The most fun I had at the movies all year, just a pure action-horror joyride. Its rare we get this sort of high-budget originality, so it sucks that it bombed at the box office.
- DirectorDavid Gordon GreenStarsJamie Lee CurtisJudy GreerAndi MatichakLaurie Strode confronts her long-time foe, Michael Myers, the masked figure who has haunted her since she narrowly escaped his killing spree on Halloween night four decades ago.Surprisingly well done, it was tense and enjoyable.
- DirectorArmando IannucciStarsSteve BuscemiSimon Russell BealeJeffrey TamborMoscow, 1953. After being in power for nearly 30 years, Soviet dictator, Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin, takes ill and quickly dies. Now the members of the Council of Ministers scramble for power.An amazing and hilarious political satire.
- DirectorJeremy DysonAndy NymanStarsSamuel BottomleyDeborah WastellAmy DoyleAfter receiving a file with details of three unexplained cases of apparitions, skeptical professor Phillip Goodman embarks on a terrifying trip.An atmospheric and overall well done horror, though its message is a little muddled.
- DirectorBob PersichettiPeter RamseyRodney RothmanStarsShameik MooreJake JohnsonHailee SteinfeldTeen Miles Morales becomes the Spider-Man of his universe and must join with five spider-powered individuals from other dimensions to stop a threat for all realities.Considering I don't usually enjoy animated movies, this was well done and very entertaining.
- DirectorDemián RugnaStarsMaximiliano GhioneNorberto GonzaloElvira OnettoWhen strange events occur in a neighborhood in Buenos Aires, a doctor specializing in the paranormal, her colleague, and an ex police officer decide to investigate further.The scariest film of the year, and very well shot. Its a tight ghost story that is worth watching.
- DirectorJeremy SaulnierStarsJeffrey WrightAlexander SkarsgårdJames Badge DaleAfter the deaths of three children suspected to be killed by wolves, writer Russell Core is hired by the mother of a missing six-year-old boy to track down and locate her son in the Alaskan wilderness.Very slow paced and anticlimactic at times, but it has some great moments and spectacular cinematography, some of the best of the decade.
- DirectorFrançois SimardAnouk WhissellYoann-Karl WhissellStarsGraham VerchereJudah LewisCaleb EmeryAfter suspecting that their police officer neighbor is a serial killer, a group of teenage friends spend their summer spying on him and gathering evidence, but as they get closer to discovering the truth, things get dangerous.Though it rides the 80's nostalgia wave hard, it was very well made and the kids had good chemistry, plus that ending was one of the most incredible endings of the year. Its very well written.
- DirectorJustin BensonAaron MoorheadStarsAaron MoorheadJustin BensonCallie HernandezAs kids, they escaped a UFO death cult. Now, two adult brothers seek answers after an old videotape surfaces and brings them back to where they began.A rare well-done slow burn Lovecraftian horror, with two likable leads.
- DirectorTimo TjahjantoStarsIko UwaisJoe TaslimJulie EstelleIto, a gangland enforcer, is caught amidst a treacherous and violent insurrection within his Triad crime family upon his return home from a stint abroad.These indonesian action movies are just so far ahead of every other country. From The Raid 1-2 to Headshot to this, they are just on a roll over there.
- DirectorPanos CosmatosStarsNicolas CageAndrea RiseboroughLinus RoacheThe enchanted lives of a couple in a secluded forest are brutally shattered by a nightmarish hippie cult and their demon-biker henchmen, propelling a man into a spiraling, surreal rampage of vengeance.The first hour is very slow, but once it gets going Nic Cage just goes at it. Its surreal and interesting, with a crazy color scheme.
- DirectorCoralie FargeatStarsMatilda Anna Ingrid LutzKevin JanssensVincent ColombeNever take your mistress on an annual guys' getaway, especially one devoted to hunting - a violent lesson for three wealthy married men.A tight and well done revenge movie, with good acting and great gore. Its a little excessive at times but that's part of the style.
- DirectorTyler MacIntyreStarsBrianna HildebrandAlexandra ShippJack QuaidA twist on the slasher genre, following two death-obsessed teenage girls who use their online show about real-life tragedies to send their small mid-western town into a frenzy, and cement their legacy as modern horror legends.Its a good modern scream, though some of it is a little too unbelievable. The two leads have great chemistry though and the filmmakers clearly do know and love the genre.
- DirectorAdam GreenStarsParry ShenKane HodderLaura OrtizTen years after the events of the original movie, Victor Crowley is mistakenly resurrected and proceeds to kill once more.Short and sweet at 84 minutes including credits, this was a fun pure comedy with horror elements. As they have proven with the first 3, the hatchet series is great for subverting expectations while paying homage to 80's campy slashers.
- DirectorLeigh WhannellStarsLogan Marshall-GreenMelanie VallejoSteve DanielsenSet in the near-future, technology controls nearly all aspects of life. But when the world of Grey, a self-labeled technophobe, is turned upside down, his only hope for revenge is an experimental computer chip implant.I expected it to be a little more engaging but it was well paced with good lines and an interesting concept, plus it had really good gore and a cool plot.
- DirectorGareth EvansStarsDan StevensRichard ElfynPaul HigginsIn 1905, a drifter on a dangerous mission to rescue his kidnapped sister tangles with a sinister religious cult on an isolated island.Gareth Evans is much better at action than horror, because the first two acts are just alright at slow burn horror while the last act is awesome action-horror.
- DirectorAdam MacDonaldStarsLaurie HoldenNicole MuñozChloe RoseA frustrated, angst-ridden teenage girl awakens something in the woods when she naively performs an occult ritual to evoke a witch to kill her mother.Great acting and a tight story, but a little anti-climactic and not a lot happens.
- DirectorPascal LaugierStarsCrystal ReedMylène FarmerAnastasia PhillipsA mother of two who inherits a house is confronted with murderous intruders on the first night in their new home and fights for her daughters' lives. Sixteen years later when the daughters reunite at the house, things get really strange.While nowhere near the masterpiece Martyrs was, it was a good brutal survival film with some interesting plot twists.
- DirectorBrandon ChristensenStarsChristie BurkeJesse MossRebecca OlsonMary, a new mother, gives birth to twins, but only one of them is alive. While taking care of her living child, Adam, she suspects that something, a supernatural entity, has chosen him and will stop at nothing to take him from her.It comes off as a very typical supernatural horror, but it has some good scares and a great ending, with some great WTF moments.
- DirectorDavid LeitchStarsRyan ReynoldsJosh BrolinMorena BaccarinFoul-mouthed mutant mercenary Wade Wilson (a.k.a. Deadpool) assembles a team of fellow mutant rogues to protect a young boy with abilities from the brutal, time-traveling cyborg Cable.Just as funny as the first, with better camerawork.
- DirectorYorgos LanthimosStarsOlivia ColmanEmma StoneRachel WeiszIn early 18th-century England, the status quo at the court is upset when a new servant arrives and endears herself to a frail Queen Anne.Very weird, but in a good way.
- DirectorPaul Urkijo AlijoStarsKandido UrangaUma BracagliaEneko SagardoyA quiet village is thrown into turmoil upon disturbing a reclusive and feared blacksmith rumored to be in league with the devil.A very unique movie, and while it's no Pan's Labyrinth it was cool to see a period fantasy-horror.
- DirectorStefan RuzowitzkyStarsVioletta SchurawlowTobias MorettiSammy SheikA vicious serial killer is targeting prostitutes in Vienna, Austria. A tough young woman from Turkey who works as a taxi driver witnesses one of the murders and becomes a target. The police are of no help, so she must stop him herself.It was a little cliche and predictable at times, but it had a great protagonist and some interesting action.
- DirectorBrett SimmonsStarsFran KranzAlyson HanniganBrittany S. HallA camp counselor suffering from blackouts finds himself surrounded by murder victims. He turns to his horror movie enthusiast friend for advice, and to contend with the idea he may be the killer.Fran Kranz remains my favorite stoner, and while the comedy here isn't perfect it lands more often than not, with some fun kills.