A Belated Top 10 List
It's that time again. The festive fun has drawn to a close, we've said goodbye to 2018 and new years resolutions are already being broken around the country. But before we look to the future (it's only just begun after all) it's time for me to pitch my hat into the cineastes favourite, annual ring. It's time for me to give my top favourite 10 films of 2018.
Make no mistake, these aren't what I consider to be the 10 best films of the year. You could argue they aren't necessarily the best made films of 2018 and that's absolutely fine, but they happen to be my personal favourite. Our obsession as cinema lovers with listing things comes in part, I think, with our reactions to them. We love to debate and pick apart each others rankings of movies, simply because I feel so many of us fail to distinguish between objectivity and subjectivity. We get angry when someone says Entourage is their favourite film because we think they're claiming it is the best made movie of all time. Although if that really does sit at your number one spot then maybe anger is the appropriate response for a whole host of other reasons, but that's a story for another time …
I thought long and hard as to whether or not I should even bother to make a post about my favourite films at all. Are all lists inherently foolish? Have I seen enough films to justify a one? Will anyone care? Well, maybe the answer to the last question is no, but I think the first issue can be resolved. For me, one of the problems with 'Top 10 lists' is that they're always subject to change - no list is ever definitive or complete, but an ongoing process of interaction with film. But as long as those making the lists acknowledge this inherent flaw then the issue ceases to exist. In answer to the second question, the answer is also no. But that's fine. I'm not a film critic, and have never claimed to be. I'm a student who loves film and likes to write about them. I'm never going to see every film which came out this year and I've missed a hell of a lot, but that shouldn't stop me from giving my list for my favourite films of those which I have seen. It's a free country people. I also think lists are part of who we are as cinephiles. We love to put things in boxes and rank and order and state that our opinions are worth sharing, worth discussing, worth being part of a wider dialogue between creator and consumer, between art and art lover. Plus, I had no other ideas for an end of year blog post, so here we are …
So, with the preface that this list is nothing but my personal opinion, which is subject to change and is based only on the films I have watched released in the UK in 2018, here is my top 10 favourite films of the year.
10. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
A new Coen Brothers film is always a treat; the fact that I'm a huge fan of the western makes this one even sweeter. It's not very often you fall in love with a film within the first few seconds, but that was the case for me as soon as I heard the yodelling drawl of Marty Robbins as sang by the fantastic Tim Blake Nelson in this. Right from those first few lyrics the Coen's establish exactly what their new film is: a devout love letter to the western, a genre which is already so dear to my own heart. Within the first few minutes we have as many western clichés as you could count (lone strangers - check, pistols at dawn - check, a pianist stopping in awe as an outlaw strolls into a bar - double check) and these clichés are sported with a love in their heart and a smile on their face. It's no coincidence either that Cool Water is the song Buster Scruggs opens with - itself taken from an album which was an homage to gunfighters, shootouts and the mythos of the old west. But The Ballad of Buster Scruggs is more than mere glib genre fan service, it has the confidence and the skill not only to nod and wink at but to deconstruct the western, as it goes from Dime Novel frivolity to Eastwood-esque grit. As expected, not all of the stories in this anthology piece are as good as each other (the last vignette is easily the worst, whilst Tom Waits' tale still remains my favourite) but I think this is a truly special film, a delight to watch, and if this is an indication of the quality of future Netflix releases, then we're in for an exciting cinematic ride in the future! Yeehaw!
9. Love, Simon
Queer cinema has been dealing with the issues present in this charming teen rom-com for a while now, but its mainstream, big box office figures is the point to emphasis and celebrate. Its central theme of sexuality and coming out is so sensitively handled, and its filled with such a love of its central characters and the gay community that it had me blubbing away on more than a few occasions. Even the general theme of isolation or bullying amidst the waves of high school angst will resonate on a universal scale. Yet even with all this to say it never feels portentous or brooding, but skips along at the pace of any standard teen drama. It's certainly flawed, and is just as melodramatic and cliched as you'd expect from something of this genre, but those minor issues melt away as the film captures you with its warm glow and good-natured charm. If you haven't seen it already I'd really recommend checking out Love, Simon - for its timely importance but also for the fact that its just a sweet, tender and entertaining watch.
8. A Quiet Place
Much like Jordan Peele before him, John Krasinski has seemingly made the shift from laugh out loud comedy to fright fest look like a piece of cake. Both have given us stunning directorial debuts in years which otherwise contain overwhelmingly mediocre horror offerings, and both are directors to look for in the future. Everybody has been raving about the virtues of Hereditary (a film which I definitely need to revisit and reassess) as well as Bird Box (a film which I won't be going anywhere near again unless I need a good sedative) but for me, A Quiet Place remains the most consistently scary and well constructed horror of the year. It's a brilliant central premise, which like many high concept features an inevitable 'the more you think about it the less it makes sense' complex, but switch your brain off and this becomes one of the most chilling and tense films of the year. I saw this at the cinema and what was shaping up to be a typically poorly behaved audience (rustling snacks, phones on, talking) soon morphed into the worlds most code compliant, albeit terrified, group of people I'd ever encountered at my local multiplex. That alone is a testament to the film, and made it a real cinematic experience. In a perverse fourth wall break - we the audience became complicit in the horror onscreen as nobody dare make a single crunch of popcorn be audible, perhaps afraid that the monsters onscreen would come for us next. I'm yet to see this on my own, but for this sheer command over cinema audiences alone, A Quiet Place deserves a spot on this list.
7. Coco + Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse
Okay, you got me. I cheated here. It's technically a top 11 favourite films of the year list, but not one of these two gorgeous animations could be sacrificed, and both would make a stunning double bill. Animation is, for my money, going through a bountiful and golden age at the moment, with stunning titles released year after year. These two films prove that this trend was alive and well in 2018, as both sport jaw dropping visuals, and balance incredibly complex themes for both children and adults alike. Whether its the tear-jerking meditation on grief, memory and family that is Coco, or the joyous champion of diversity and inclusivity that is Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse, there's no shortage of intelligent ideas at play. They both contain pitch perfect soundtracks, are incredible technical achievements and are suitable for all ages. Both are undeniable treats, great movies in their own right, real pieces of art which are ever bit as cinematic as a live action feature.
6. Isle of Dogs
I think there is always some degree of predetermined, perhaps even premeditated bias when approaching a film from one of your favourite directors. To some extent, those filmmakers you revere the most must surely receive even some degree of sympathy over and above others, and as long as that is recognised I see no real issue. That is certainly the case for me and Wes Anderson, an auteur whose work I always greatly anticipate. Isle of Dogs was no exception. It was also a film which, despite all my investment in all things Anderson, holds up as just a fun, twee and whacky adventure. It's meticulously crafted with cinematography which should be praised to no end, with a spectacular soundtrack from Alexandre Desplat. Its scrappy, scruffy and stylish, complete with a voice cast to die for. Read it as an environmentally conscious and scathing critique of authoritarianism or simply a 'boy and his dog' story, either way, Wes Anderson's latest cinematic outing is one I'll be coming back to to enjoy for years to come.
5. BlacKkKlansman
One of the angriest films of the year, and for all the right reasons, Spike Lee's latest film is his best work in years. It offers no room for shying away or turning a blind eye, taking on its political targets head on, with all the gusto of a freight train. It's terrifying and heart wrenching in equal measure, combating a burning racism which still runs through society today (as its final scenes painfully acknowledge) but still manages to have humour and dance and love. I was amazed by how Spike Lee makes even the small moments, like sitting in a room and listening to a speech, a profoundly cinematic experience, one which had me in tears for all its contemporary resonance. It's also a film steeped in a love of cinema, as it muses about the best blaxploitation films, or as it references Birth of a Nation. This was such an important film, one which needs to be appreciated in a cinema, but one which I have no doubt will survive long outside it.
4. The Shape of Water
Into the top 4 now, and what can be said about Guillermo Del Toro's Oscar winning masterpiece that hasn't been said already? I can only echo what others before me have said, praising its genuine performances, its terrific score and set design, its genre-melding mad beauty, its reverence for a cinematic history which it openly celebrates, its messages of diversity and inclusion so needed in cinema, its quite frankly bizarre central premise which absolutely works and its timeless quality, which will resonate and impact audiences for years to come. This is a near perfect film, a work of art, which rightly won Del Toro awards and is indicative of the level of quality of cinema this year that it only sits at number 4. If you haven't seen it already, please do, because I fear that no words I write will capture the serene and pure beauty of the Shape of Water.
3. You Were Never Really Here
This is an example of three titans of cinema working at the very top of their game: Jonny Greenwood, Joaquin Phoenix and Lyne Ramsay. As we follow the PTSD inflicted hulking and bearded figure of Joe, brutal hitman with suicidal thoughts but a love for his mother and a good heart, we are reminded not of Taxi Driver (which this film has often erroneously been compared to by other critics) but Ramsay's back catalogue of superb films because, after all, she is utterly unique, working in a league of her own. Only comparisons to films like We Need To Talk About Kevin will do here, a film which is just as stylised and fabulously edited, which deals with equally complex and difficult films, and which provoke career defining performances from their lead actors. You Were Never Really here is most certainly dark and brutal, like its central character, but it is also a celebration of life and a dissection of death and the fragility of the human experience, seen through a glass darkly by its troubled protagonist. It's also one hell of an entertaining romp, soaring along as a no nonsense pace, with a lean 95 minute running time. Its raw and gritty but is never interested in glorifying violence, knowing just when to cut away or distance the camera from the crime. For every squirm inducing hammer blow there is a tender moment of childlike reflection, which secures this as my third favourite film of the year - and only emphasises my desire to catch up with the rest of Ramsay's work.
2. A Fantastic Woman
A faultless film which exposes you to the harsh and painful realities of the trans experience without ever losing site of its love for the trans community, A Fantastic Woman was another example of the Oscars getting it right. With an electric and tragic central performance by Daniele Vega which binds the emotional core of the film together, this is a truly transformational cinematic experience, and I don't say that lightly. It really changed my view of what a perfect film could be, pushing the boundaries of what cinema could and should do. I saw it at the Prince Charles Cinema on a boiling hot day, when I went in I was in a foul mood, so not ideal conditions for watching a challenging foreign language movie. Yet despite this, for a film that could have easily made me even more upset and distraught, A Fantastic Woman uplifted my spirits and took my breath away (literally at times) and really resorted by faith in the power of cinema. The more I think about it, the more I love it. I love its ambition, the sensible and honest way it approaches its subject matter, and its confidence to burst out into surrealist Lynchian visions. I'm so glad this movie exists; it would have been my favourite of the year, had it not been for the next entry …
1. Phantom Thread
Make no mistake, these aren't what I consider to be the 10 best films of the year. You could argue they aren't necessarily the best made films of 2018 and that's absolutely fine, but they happen to be my personal favourite. Our obsession as cinema lovers with listing things comes in part, I think, with our reactions to them. We love to debate and pick apart each others rankings of movies, simply because I feel so many of us fail to distinguish between objectivity and subjectivity. We get angry when someone says Entourage is their favourite film because we think they're claiming it is the best made movie of all time. Although if that really does sit at your number one spot then maybe anger is the appropriate response for a whole host of other reasons, but that's a story for another time …
I thought long and hard as to whether or not I should even bother to make a post about my favourite films at all. Are all lists inherently foolish? Have I seen enough films to justify a one? Will anyone care? Well, maybe the answer to the last question is no, but I think the first issue can be resolved. For me, one of the problems with 'Top 10 lists' is that they're always subject to change - no list is ever definitive or complete, but an ongoing process of interaction with film. But as long as those making the lists acknowledge this inherent flaw then the issue ceases to exist. In answer to the second question, the answer is also no. But that's fine. I'm not a film critic, and have never claimed to be. I'm a student who loves film and likes to write about them. I'm never going to see every film which came out this year and I've missed a hell of a lot, but that shouldn't stop me from giving my list for my favourite films of those which I have seen. It's a free country people. I also think lists are part of who we are as cinephiles. We love to put things in boxes and rank and order and state that our opinions are worth sharing, worth discussing, worth being part of a wider dialogue between creator and consumer, between art and art lover. Plus, I had no other ideas for an end of year blog post, so here we are …
So, with the preface that this list is nothing but my personal opinion, which is subject to change and is based only on the films I have watched released in the UK in 2018, here is my top 10 favourite films of the year.
10. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
A new Coen Brothers film is always a treat; the fact that I'm a huge fan of the western makes this one even sweeter. It's not very often you fall in love with a film within the first few seconds, but that was the case for me as soon as I heard the yodelling drawl of Marty Robbins as sang by the fantastic Tim Blake Nelson in this. Right from those first few lyrics the Coen's establish exactly what their new film is: a devout love letter to the western, a genre which is already so dear to my own heart. Within the first few minutes we have as many western clichés as you could count (lone strangers - check, pistols at dawn - check, a pianist stopping in awe as an outlaw strolls into a bar - double check) and these clichés are sported with a love in their heart and a smile on their face. It's no coincidence either that Cool Water is the song Buster Scruggs opens with - itself taken from an album which was an homage to gunfighters, shootouts and the mythos of the old west. But The Ballad of Buster Scruggs is more than mere glib genre fan service, it has the confidence and the skill not only to nod and wink at but to deconstruct the western, as it goes from Dime Novel frivolity to Eastwood-esque grit. As expected, not all of the stories in this anthology piece are as good as each other (the last vignette is easily the worst, whilst Tom Waits' tale still remains my favourite) but I think this is a truly special film, a delight to watch, and if this is an indication of the quality of future Netflix releases, then we're in for an exciting cinematic ride in the future! Yeehaw!
9. Love, Simon
8. A Quiet Place
Much like Jordan Peele before him, John Krasinski has seemingly made the shift from laugh out loud comedy to fright fest look like a piece of cake. Both have given us stunning directorial debuts in years which otherwise contain overwhelmingly mediocre horror offerings, and both are directors to look for in the future. Everybody has been raving about the virtues of Hereditary (a film which I definitely need to revisit and reassess) as well as Bird Box (a film which I won't be going anywhere near again unless I need a good sedative) but for me, A Quiet Place remains the most consistently scary and well constructed horror of the year. It's a brilliant central premise, which like many high concept features an inevitable 'the more you think about it the less it makes sense' complex, but switch your brain off and this becomes one of the most chilling and tense films of the year. I saw this at the cinema and what was shaping up to be a typically poorly behaved audience (rustling snacks, phones on, talking) soon morphed into the worlds most code compliant, albeit terrified, group of people I'd ever encountered at my local multiplex. That alone is a testament to the film, and made it a real cinematic experience. In a perverse fourth wall break - we the audience became complicit in the horror onscreen as nobody dare make a single crunch of popcorn be audible, perhaps afraid that the monsters onscreen would come for us next. I'm yet to see this on my own, but for this sheer command over cinema audiences alone, A Quiet Place deserves a spot on this list.
7. Coco + Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse
Okay, you got me. I cheated here. It's technically a top 11 favourite films of the year list, but not one of these two gorgeous animations could be sacrificed, and both would make a stunning double bill. Animation is, for my money, going through a bountiful and golden age at the moment, with stunning titles released year after year. These two films prove that this trend was alive and well in 2018, as both sport jaw dropping visuals, and balance incredibly complex themes for both children and adults alike. Whether its the tear-jerking meditation on grief, memory and family that is Coco, or the joyous champion of diversity and inclusivity that is Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse, there's no shortage of intelligent ideas at play. They both contain pitch perfect soundtracks, are incredible technical achievements and are suitable for all ages. Both are undeniable treats, great movies in their own right, real pieces of art which are ever bit as cinematic as a live action feature.
6. Isle of Dogs
I think there is always some degree of predetermined, perhaps even premeditated bias when approaching a film from one of your favourite directors. To some extent, those filmmakers you revere the most must surely receive even some degree of sympathy over and above others, and as long as that is recognised I see no real issue. That is certainly the case for me and Wes Anderson, an auteur whose work I always greatly anticipate. Isle of Dogs was no exception. It was also a film which, despite all my investment in all things Anderson, holds up as just a fun, twee and whacky adventure. It's meticulously crafted with cinematography which should be praised to no end, with a spectacular soundtrack from Alexandre Desplat. Its scrappy, scruffy and stylish, complete with a voice cast to die for. Read it as an environmentally conscious and scathing critique of authoritarianism or simply a 'boy and his dog' story, either way, Wes Anderson's latest cinematic outing is one I'll be coming back to to enjoy for years to come.
5. BlacKkKlansman
One of the angriest films of the year, and for all the right reasons, Spike Lee's latest film is his best work in years. It offers no room for shying away or turning a blind eye, taking on its political targets head on, with all the gusto of a freight train. It's terrifying and heart wrenching in equal measure, combating a burning racism which still runs through society today (as its final scenes painfully acknowledge) but still manages to have humour and dance and love. I was amazed by how Spike Lee makes even the small moments, like sitting in a room and listening to a speech, a profoundly cinematic experience, one which had me in tears for all its contemporary resonance. It's also a film steeped in a love of cinema, as it muses about the best blaxploitation films, or as it references Birth of a Nation. This was such an important film, one which needs to be appreciated in a cinema, but one which I have no doubt will survive long outside it.
4. The Shape of Water
Into the top 4 now, and what can be said about Guillermo Del Toro's Oscar winning masterpiece that hasn't been said already? I can only echo what others before me have said, praising its genuine performances, its terrific score and set design, its genre-melding mad beauty, its reverence for a cinematic history which it openly celebrates, its messages of diversity and inclusion so needed in cinema, its quite frankly bizarre central premise which absolutely works and its timeless quality, which will resonate and impact audiences for years to come. This is a near perfect film, a work of art, which rightly won Del Toro awards and is indicative of the level of quality of cinema this year that it only sits at number 4. If you haven't seen it already, please do, because I fear that no words I write will capture the serene and pure beauty of the Shape of Water.
3. You Were Never Really Here
This is an example of three titans of cinema working at the very top of their game: Jonny Greenwood, Joaquin Phoenix and Lyne Ramsay. As we follow the PTSD inflicted hulking and bearded figure of Joe, brutal hitman with suicidal thoughts but a love for his mother and a good heart, we are reminded not of Taxi Driver (which this film has often erroneously been compared to by other critics) but Ramsay's back catalogue of superb films because, after all, she is utterly unique, working in a league of her own. Only comparisons to films like We Need To Talk About Kevin will do here, a film which is just as stylised and fabulously edited, which deals with equally complex and difficult films, and which provoke career defining performances from their lead actors. You Were Never Really here is most certainly dark and brutal, like its central character, but it is also a celebration of life and a dissection of death and the fragility of the human experience, seen through a glass darkly by its troubled protagonist. It's also one hell of an entertaining romp, soaring along as a no nonsense pace, with a lean 95 minute running time. Its raw and gritty but is never interested in glorifying violence, knowing just when to cut away or distance the camera from the crime. For every squirm inducing hammer blow there is a tender moment of childlike reflection, which secures this as my third favourite film of the year - and only emphasises my desire to catch up with the rest of Ramsay's work.
2. A Fantastic Woman
A faultless film which exposes you to the harsh and painful realities of the trans experience without ever losing site of its love for the trans community, A Fantastic Woman was another example of the Oscars getting it right. With an electric and tragic central performance by Daniele Vega which binds the emotional core of the film together, this is a truly transformational cinematic experience, and I don't say that lightly. It really changed my view of what a perfect film could be, pushing the boundaries of what cinema could and should do. I saw it at the Prince Charles Cinema on a boiling hot day, when I went in I was in a foul mood, so not ideal conditions for watching a challenging foreign language movie. Yet despite this, for a film that could have easily made me even more upset and distraught, A Fantastic Woman uplifted my spirits and took my breath away (literally at times) and really resorted by faith in the power of cinema. The more I think about it, the more I love it. I love its ambition, the sensible and honest way it approaches its subject matter, and its confidence to burst out into surrealist Lynchian visions. I'm so glad this movie exists; it would have been my favourite of the year, had it not been for the next entry …
1. Phantom Thread
“I cannot begin my
day with a confrontation, please. I’m delivering the dress today and I can’t
take up space with a confrontation. I simply don’t have time for
confrontations.”
What an eqsuisite film this is. I went into it cautiously
optimistic, since the last time P.T. Anderson, Daniel Day Lewis and Jonny
Greenwood got together, my favourite film of all time was created. This is the
closest thing I’ve watched which has had a chance of topping that. Everything about this is perfect in my eyes. It’s a layered,
rich and melodramatic story. Like all great P.T Anderson movies, it has so much
hidden meaning, allegory and subtle subtext to delve into if you want, but if
not it still works as a gorgeous gothic romance. There are some very nice
allusions to Shakespeare, Sophocles - even Neitsche if you want to go far
enough down Anderson’s dark, mushroom ridden rabbit hole. Echoes of Hitchcock
are everpresent and obvious, but Phantom Thread also alludes to Nosferatu, and
even A Field in England (although I’m sure that last one wasn’t intentional). The cinematography is stunning - for a period piece which
could easily be drab - we are given lots to feast our hungry eyes on. There are
some individual shots which really stand out, from the piercing gaze of Day
Lewis to Kubrickian car sequences. The performances naturally are inspired. Lesley Mansvile in
particular steals every scene she’s in - and Vicky Krieps is one of the few
people who can draw your attention away from Daniel Fay Lewis and onto her. All of this is underpinned by the best cinematic score I
have ever heard. Jonny Greenwood was robbed of the Oscar for There Will Be
Blood on the most technical of technicalities, but how he didn’t win for this
(despite being up against some tough competition) is criminal. In short, Phantom Thread is perfect in every aspect of its
construction. I’ve only seen it two times, but I should imagine over time it’ll
be remembered by me as one of the greatest cinematic experiences I’ve ever had.
So there we have it - what a year! I'm looking over the list of the films I've seen with a smile on my face. Cinema is not dead and we have not killed it. Whether they be Netflix releases or those seen in theatres, its clear that film is alive and well - and being produced at a quality higher than I could hope for. The reason I got to see so many films is in the hope that I might find my next favourite film of all time, and this year, with Phantom Thread, I think I may be onto a winner, given time. But there were so many films I wish I could have included on the list, and even those that weren't even anywhere near the top 10 I'm still incredibly fond of. Its a testament that even the flawed, middle ranking films of this year (Ghost Stories, Suspiria, Black Panther) are still films which I enjoyed immensely, a testament to the quality of cinema currently. I can't wait to see what 2019 brings - hopefully, in a years time I'll be looking at a list even more exciting and interesting as this one! We can only hope …
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