My Year in Movies 2018
MoviePass and Peeing
(I don’t mean to be too self-confessional here (well, actually, I do), so like those recipes on the internet that have one-too-many pages of personal life details before the actual recipe, I’d recommend scrolling down to my movie selection to save yourself of any overindulgence in my life. But I like to think “MoviePass and Peeing” is a good hook.)
Yes, movies again played a big role in my life over the past year. I went to the movies 82 times. Sure, that sounds like a lot, but it was actually a 38 percent decrease from 2017. I often find going to movies as escapism and a temporary outlet for channeling my own disappointment or sadness in life. But to be honest, 2018 wasn’t too bad of a year (sorry to all those 2018 doomsayers, here’s hoping 2019 really tears society and me to shreds).
Looking back over the year, there were two prominent themes to my movie-going experience. The first was economical. I usually spend well over $1,000 a year at the movies. But then I got MoviePass. I felt like I was in the Wild West in the 19th century or Wall Street in the 1980s, there were few rules and little concern for one’s actions. I knew paying $9 a month for a movie each day was too good to be true and that there were some suckers at the other end of the deal (MoviePass shareholders), but I didn’t care. Still, my actions did have consequences. I am only slightly exaggerating when I say I single-handedly brought down MoviePass with my profligate and unchained movie going. Alas, MoviePass started putting restrictions on the quantity and types of movies, and eventually, my subscription expired and was not able to renew (for reasons I’m still unclear about). But boy was early 2018 a great time to be a movie goer!
Yet my MoviePass extravagance was tempered a bit by my temperamental bladder. Getting older is not my favorite pastime. I’ve been able to keep the 2 in my age steady for some time but the other number in my age is getting annoyingly higher. Probably the biggest negative for my movie-going experience was physical, perhaps an act of getting older — an overactive bladder. I had to go see a urologist. A urologist! I know I’m getting older when the phrase “my urologist” enters my lexicon. But when it came to movies, sitting still for 90 to *gasp* 195 minutes (Schindler’s List) was a challenge for my bladder. I hate missing parts of movies, so getting up was verboten. That meant having to writhe or cross my legs, which detracted from fully immersing myself in a movie. It also meant less consumption of the scrumptious popcorn and the necessary beverage to wash down those pesky kernels stuck in my gums. So when it came to deciding whether or not to go see a movie, the bar was set higher on what I would tolerate seeing (sorry Green Book).
Nevertheless, going to the movies sans MoviePass and with an overeager bladder will not detract from me being a cinephile moving forward. But I do think my movie consumption will not reach the +100 level for some time. I think that is a positive development. Not that +100 movies a year is bad per se, but that there are other areas of my life I began developing and want to focus more on furthering. In the last year, I was volunteering at a cat shelter, I was learning to fly, I was training for a half-marathon. I still experience ennui, depression, loneliness, and all the self-critical doubts in my life that make movies an appealing outlet. But I think I’m going to diversify my outlets a bit while still appreciating why I love movies so much.
Without further ado, here are the movies from the last year…
List of Movies I saw in Theaters in 2018
New Releases: The Final Year; Black Panther; Borg vs. McEnroe; Game Night; Foxtrot; Thoroughbreds; Itzhak; Bye Bye Germany; The Death of Stalin (x4); Isle of Dogs (x2); You Were Never Really Here; Lean on Pete; Beirut; The Rider; Disobedience; Tully; Three Identical Strangers; Blockers; First Reformed; American Animals; Oh Lucy!; Won’t You Be My Neighbor? (x2); Hearts Beat Loud; Summer 1993; Beast; Sicario: Day of the Soldado; Journey’s End; The Captain; Leave No Trace; Support the Girls; Zama; Sorry to Bother You; Eighth Grade; Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot; Blindspotting; Mission: Impossible — Fallout; Puzzle; The Miseducation of Cameron Post; The Meg; BlacKkKlansman (x3); Pick of the Litter; Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood; We the Animals; The Sisters Brothers; Damsel; Tea with the Dames; Blaze; The Old Man & the Gun; Private Life; A Star is Born; First Man; Can You Ever Forgive Me?; A Private War; The Ballad of Buster Scruggs; Widows; The Favourite; Roma; Free Solo; Shoplifters; Vice; Mary Poppins Returns; If Beale Street Could Talk; Bohemian Rhapsody; Cold War; Minding the Gap
Classic Rescreenings: Rashomon (1950); Vertigo (1958); Grease (1978); Sunset Boulevard (1950); West Side Story (1961); Rebel Without a Cause (1955); Bullitt (1968); The Big Lebowski (1998); Schindler’s List (1993)
Favorite Rescreening
The Big Lebowski is my favorite movie of all time. Well, maybe not my “favorite” but it is the movie I’ve watched the most. Seeing it on the big screen for the first time did not disappoint. But it was Schindler’s List that really struck a chord. I’ve seen the movie at home several times, but on the big screen, it’s different and unforgettable (even with my bladder issues). I can now truly understand the Seinfeld joke (I went to the movie stag, just to be clear). Also, Liam Neeson as Oskar Schindler > Liam Neeson as the dude in Widows.
Movie Theme of the Year
It was clear the movies this year sought to discuss race in a way that has not been as prolific in the past. Previous years have seen some great additions to this genre of film, like Moonlight, Get Out, Fences, and Detroit, to name a few. I must admit that it’s not a theme that captures my attention as others do, but it was here and worth exploring. There were several worthy movies within this genre that I did not see (e.g., The Hate U Give, Green Book, Monsters and Men, Hale County This Morning, This Evening). However, I did see quite a few. Black Panther (did not like, I just can’t do superhero movies), Sorry to Bother You (liked), BlacKkKlansman, Blindspotting, and If Beale Street Could Talk (really liked). And it’s hard to say all the movies are the same because they focus on race — that seems like such a disingenuous commentary on my part. What I think was a common theme was pushing back against and surviving oppression while also living a life with a cavalcade of responsibilities and problems that are universal.
Best Acting Performances
- Olivia Colman — The Favourite
- Ben Dickey — Blaze
- Charlize Theron — Tully
- Melissa McCarthy — Can You Ever Forgive Me?
- Elsie Fisher — Eighth Grade
- Ben Foster — Leave No Trace
- Thomasin McKenzie — Leave No Trace
- Brady Jandreau — The Rider
- Charlie Plummer — Lean on Pete
The Kids Are Alright
Since I’ve been compiling the movies I watch over the past few years, I’ve gotten a better idea of my own personal tastes and motifs. One that has struck me is how much I appreciate good acting from kids. Being able to capture the raw emotions of childhood and young adulthood on the big screen really does it for me. This year, there were several performances from the iGen that were sublime and captured the agony and ecstasy of being young. Charlie Plummer, who you just know within 10 years is going to be one of those big Hollywood stars with a transformation a la Ryan Gosling, gave one of my favorite performances from the iGen in Lean on Pete. Elsie Fisher was amazing in Eighth Grade, inducing those cringe-worthy moments of being a young teenager so eager for peer affirmation and yet so self-conscious. Thomasin McKenzie in Leave No Trace and Brady Jandreau in The Rider are two performances that should not be missed.
Best Movies of 2018
Honorable Mentions: Lean on Pete, The Rider, Disobedience, Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, Summer 1993, The Old Man and the Gun, Support the Girls, Eighth Grade, Free Solo, Shoplifters, If Beale Street Could Talk, Leave No Trace
Top 10
10. Blindspotting
A cool movie with a rhythm and wit about it to describe how off tempo surviving life as a young black convict can be.
9. Roma
By far the most beautiful film of the year. I saw it in theaters — I refuse to submit to the Netflix-at-home life! There are particular moments in this movie where my heart melted (e.g., the beach scene).
8. BlacKkKlansman
This is not a dating advice column, but BlacKkKlansman is the ideal movie to go with a date if you’re looking to impress with your movie taste as interesting, sophisticated, and edgy (which clearly I have!). I saw the movie three times, twice on separate dates.
7. Minding the Gap
This felt like a real-life Boyhood, a soulful and heart-wrenching documentary that chronicled the trials and tribulations of growing up in Rockford, Illinois.
6. Three Identical Strangers
A documentary that focuses heavily on Judaism and depression is intrinsically going to be high on my list. But this shocker of a doc goes a step further raising questions about nature vs. nurture.
5. The Favourite
Definitely the best movie corollary for the Trump administration in 2018. A leader without a firm grasp of the machinations of power, concerned about her own optics, and is easily swayed by sycophantic advisors ruthlessly competing for influence. Sound familiar??? There is a long list of worthy directors who could credibly lay claim to spearheading the inevitable Trump biopic. Yorgos Lanthimos, as well as the director of my favorite film in 2018, should be at the top of that list.
4. Blaze
Ethan Hawke is one of my favorite actors. He is getting much attention for his performance in First Reformed, which honestly, I didn’t like. But it was his turn behind the camera directing the movie Blaze that was a real standout. Sorry A Star is Born, but Ben Dickey outshines Bradley Cooper this year in the tragic male singer role.
3. Tully
Whenever Jason Reitman, Cody Diablo, and Charlize Theron come together to work on a movie, you know it’s going to be good. This was a real movie about motherhood (or at least I think it seemed real coming from the perspective of a non-mother and a new uncle!). Plus, this had the best twist ending of the year.
2. Can You Ever Forgive Me?
My favorite movie genre is the dark humor from the trope of a schlubby middle-aged man (see Alexander Payne movies). But I’m going to expand that to the schlubby middle-aged woman after seeing this movie and Melissa McCarthy’s outstanding performance.
- The Death of Stalin
Armando Iannucci is arguably the greatest political satirist around. The man gave us Malcolm Tucker (The Thick of It and In the Loop) and Selina Meyer (Veep)! Iannucci’s penchant for a crackling dialogue in temporary politics was brought to the Soviet Central Committee in 1953. The Death of Stalin is a diabolical and brilliant movie with the best ensemble performance of the year that I saw four times in theaters and once at home (that wouldn’t surprise you if I told you how many times I’ve watched The Thick of It). Each character was wonderfully unlovable in his and her own way. My favorite was Georgy Malenkov (played by Jeffrey Tambor), who had a striking resemblance to the great Hank Kingsley (RIP Garry Shandling). Bravo, Iannucci!
