Though it is not one of the ten BEST movies of 2018 (it is just on the outside looking in), there is a place for a movie like John Krasinski’s A Quiet Place because of its originality, creepiness, and ability to keep you on the edge of your seat for its fast-flying 90 minutes. In a time when Hollywood struggles with original storylines, we find a first-time director and still novice movie star in Krasinski (NBC’s The Office, Promised Land) delivering a downright knockout punch in his debut effort. I love gritty movies. I love movies that are rich in their characters. I love movies where the tone doesn’t change from opening credits to ending credits. A Quiet Place had all of this and more, and thus, it has found a spot in my Top Ten Movies of the Year for 2018 over other movies that might have been less flawed but were also far less original.
Category Archives: Top 10 Movie of 2018
Ben is Back (2018)
Lucas Hedges (Lady Bird, Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri) had much early Oscar buzz surrounding his name for his work in Boy Erased. I was as hyped as anyone for that movie and that performance. As I mentioned in my review, Boy Erased was based on a book I had read before, and I knew there was a movie to be made on it (which rarely happens). I liked the book and appreciated its adaptation into a film. It deals with a controversial issue that I have strong thoughts on, and I wanted to see how it played out on film. And with a cast of Hedges, Nicole Kidman, Joel Edgerton, and Russell Crowe, I thought it would definitely be a Top 10 contender. However, it completely underwhelmed, and Hedges’ performance in the film was not as great as I expected. I did not expect Hedges to dominate every screen he was in during two other 2018 performances after the release of that October. However, he was fantastic as the bully of an older brother in the handful of scenes he was in Mid90s (a film that had no other name actors besides him. He set the screen on fire, matching Hollywood’s finest actress over the last 25 years, Julia Roberts (August Osage County, Erin Brokovich), in the under-the-radar, poignant Ben is Back.
Green Book (2018)
The race for the five Best Actor nominations might be the Academy Awards’ toughest race. Bradley Cooper (A Star Is Born) is a lock. There has been some significant buzz for movies that have run in limited release only (Ethan Hawke – First Reformed) and Willem Dafoe (At Eternity’s Gate). Ryan Gosling had a considerable push heading into First Man, but the movie was a miss with critics and audiences. His outstanding performance could be a casualty in this tight year. A new crop of contenders could swoop in for a spot or two (Rami Malek –Bohemian Rhapsody), John David Washington (BlacKkKlansman), Lucas Hedges (Boy Erased). And then there are a couple of oldtimers who turned in a couple of possible final career performances (Clint Eastwood – The Mule) and Robert Redford (The Old Man & the Gun). But I will state, for the record, that one of the men listed above, not named Bradley Cooper, will be knocked out for the career-defining role of Viggo Mortensen (Appaloosa, A History of Violence) in Green Book.
Widows (2018)
After watching Widows, I can very confidently say that if you team up director Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave, Shame) and writer Gillian Flynn (Gone Girl, HBO’s Sharp Objects), I’m going to have my butt in a theater opening weekend. I’ve heard about Widows for months and saw the trailer the day before I saw the movie. And I still haven’t seen the whole trailer. I only needed to watch the first half of it to know that it was a movie I wanted to see immediately. McQueen, who was narrowly beaten out for Best Director (Alfonso Cuarón – Gravity), hardly seemed upset when, half an hour later, his 12 Years a Slave won topped Gravity (and others) for Best Picture of 2013. He’s been off the grid for the last five years (save for a few shorts), but he is back with a movie that might be better than any of his previous three masterpieces (12 Years a Slave, Shame, Hunger Strike). The only thing missing is an appearance by Michael Fassbender, but you won’t even notice.
Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)
As is the case with many biopics (since being hosed over by what I believed to be a movie based entirely on a true story in Remember the Titans), I like to read about what parts of the movie were factual and which were fictional to tell a better story. A good biopic often becomes great when you learn that what you saw on screen happened in real life. A good movie that bases its claim on being a true story or inspired by actual events but one that you later find out has been predominantly fictionalized loses much of its original appeal. And, honestly, there is no devastating dagger to a movie that I love when I learn that what I thought was a true story is not nearly as much as I thought.