Perhaps the most pleasant surprise of all 2018 movies was Dan Fogelman’s (Danny Collins) little-seen gutwrenching Life Itself. Not to be confused with the Roger Ebert documentary of the same name, this chapter-style movie is best viewed if you know as little about it as possible going in. I read this in the first paragraph of a review site I respect, and it was enough to get me to stop reading the review. I didn’t research anything more until I finished watching the movie and was completely shocked to see that it had just a 13% fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes (78% fresh with audiences based on 981 ratings at the time of this review). While the drama was thick and all of the tie-ins between the stories a little too coincidental and convenient to believe that all of the connections truly happened by chance, I was able to suspend that portion of the movie because A) I didn’t see everything coming ahead of time (naively perhaps) and B) because the raw emotions of this film felt so thick and real to me that I couldn’t help but be wrapped in the folds of each character.
Category Archives: Hidden Gems
Bird Box (2018)
A Quiet Place meets The Mist meets The Happening meets The Road meets I Am Legend (specifically with one of the alternating endings). That’s a quick and easy way to describe the effective Netflix release Bird Box. Many people will compare A Quiet Place to this film because of its proximity to release dates. I would have been upset if this was a cheap rip-off of, perhaps, the biggest surprise hit of 2018, replacing not making noise with being unable to see the change. But Bird Box is based on a 2014 debut novel of the same name by Josh Malerman, years before previews of A Quiet Place were even created. This makes the movie even more enjoyable. You get to wonder about Malerman’s inspirations rather than assuming that it was the novel he was trying to emulate.
Overlord (2018)
Any great movie year needs a variety of different types of movies:
- You have to have massive heavyweights during Oscar season.
- You need to exclude a handful of movies from contention simply because there isn’t enough room. These would be movies that, during a normal, might not just be considered for a nomination but might win some. These are movies that, when you look at your Top 10 list at the end of the year and don’t see that film’s title, make you scratch your head until you see the list of titles there instead, and then you say to yourself, “Okay, that makes sense.”
- A great movie year needs to have at least one memorable comedy and one memorable horror.
Mid90s (2018)
Before reading this review on Jonah Hill’s (True Story, War Dogs) directorial debut effort Mid90s, I ask that you watch this quick 90-second video that someone compiled about him and put on YouTube. It is heartbreaking and hopefully will change your impression of this living legend of an actor. Perceived for many years as being Hollywood’s next fat man, perhaps in the same mold as the gone-too-early Jim Belushi, John Candy, Chris Farley, Hill broke into Hollywood with roles in iconic comedies like Superbad, Funny People, Get Him to the Greek, Cyrus, This Is the End, 21 Jump Street, 22 Jump Street, Hail, Caesar, Knocked Up; movies that in one way or another accentuated his overweight character. And if you, like me, laughed at the jokes aimed at his weight in any of these movies and are feeling guilty after watching this clip, first of all, relax; you were supposed to. Secondly, reevaluate. It doesn’t take a genius to see that Hill has battled his weight throughout his career (he has numerous roles interspersed in his career in which he is thin).
Into the Forest (2016)
Movies that make you think long after they are over are among the best movies. Movies that make you feel present in the moment, or movies that bring out whatever type of emotion they were designed to bring out, are, of course, strong contenders to the effectiveness of a movie as well. But when you are still thinking about something you’ve seen, months or even years after it is over, and feeling the need to watch it again (even if you didn’t love it) is one of the biggest compliments you can give a movie. I’m saying that Patricia Rozema’s (Mansfield Park) Into the Forest is Platoon or E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial. Still, it is a movie that will keep you involved and have you think about it after viewing.