Topic: 2018 in review

Another year done. We did it! So, here's a thread to talk about the year in movies, or our years in general. Whatever, go nuts!

Movies
2017 was maybe the best year for film this decade. 2018 was . . . weirdly anticlimactic, but there was still some fantastic stuff. MVP for me is obviously Phantom Thread, which I went on about at length in the "Last movie you watched" thread the other day. Most of my other favorites were also indie flicks, but we also got Mission Impossible: Fallout, one of the greatest action movies of this century, and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, which is easily my favorite superhero movie ever and one that I desperately hope will be a bigger influence on the otherwise stale genre. Netflix also managed to do some great stuff despite itself, including releasing Orson goddamn Welles' final film forty years after photography wrapped.

I did some capsule reviews of my favorite movies, books, TV, music, and video games first encountered this year in a blog post here (also visible to family and such, so it's under my old name), but for this thread I'll just post a ranked list of the 2018-released movies I watched this year. I've listed the streaming platforms where each is available for free where possible.

SPOILER Show
THE GREAT
1. Phantom Thread [HBO]
2. The Favourite
3. The Other Side of the Wind [Netflix]
4. Shoplifters
5. Mission: Impossible - Fallout
6. Blindspotting
7. The Death of Stalin
8. The Miseducation of Cameron Post
9. First Reformed [Amazon Prime]
10. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
11. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs [Netflix]

THE VERY GOOD
12. Hereditary [Amazon Prime]
13. If Beale Street Could Talk
14. Lean on Pete [Amazon Prime]
15. Blackkklansman
16. Widows
17. Unsane [Amazon Prime]
18. Madeline's Madeline [Amazon Prime]
19. Mandy [Shudder]
20. The Commuter
21. Leave No Trace

THE GOOD
22. Roma [Netflix]
23. You Were Never Really Here [Amazon Prime]
24. Disobedience [Amazon Prime]
25. Thoroughbreds
26. The Tale [HBO]
27. They'll Love Me When I'm Dead [Netflix]
28. Won't You Be My Neighbor?
29. Eighth Grade [Amazon Prime]
30. Sorry to Bother You
31. Paddington 2 [HBO]
32. Annihilation
33. Searching
34. Bad Times at the El Royale
35. Overlord
36. A Star Is Born

THE MIXED
37. Vox Lux
38. The Post
39. Mom and Dad [Hulu]
40. Black Panther
41. Dirty Computer [YouTube]
42. The First Purge
43. Halloween
44. Game Night
45. First Man
46. Support the Girls
47. Wildlife
48. Mid90s
49. A Quiet Place
50. At Eternity's Gate
51. Operation Finale
52. The Sisters Brothers

THE POOR
53. Ocean's 8
54. A Wrinkle in Time
55. Tully
56. Isle of Dogs

THE TERRIBLE
57. Pacific Rim: Uprising
58. Solo: A Star Wars Story
59. On Chesil Beach
60. Suspiria
61. The Cloverfield Paradox
62. Bohemian Rhapsody
63. The Seagull
64. Proud Mary
65. Gotti

Life
Of all the years I've lived through, 2018 has certainly been the most recent.

Work has been a consistent nightmare for the last several months—the publisher I work for is in an awkward phase where business is getting better and better but there are only two of us for the entire production team, so I've had to pull stuff like proofreading 160,000 words within 48 hours and figuring out how to get books printed and shipped within four business days. It's basically been a year of trying to keep my head above water. The continued political armageddon that is American politics hasn't exactly helped the feeling.

That said, good things have happened too! There's been art I've loved, and experiences worth remembering. I'm coming to terms with gender identity stuff that's been brewing for a longass time. I got to record a podcast with Teague motherfucking Chrystie. And as always, the awesome people around here have been a pleasure to hang with, whether that means arguing about Christmas music for two hours straight or ranting about movies or listening to The Hyacinth Disaster again.

Here's to a 2019 full of friends in our heads!

Last edited by Abbie (2019-01-01 22:02:39)

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Re: 2018 in review

I only went to the cinema a handful of times this year and twice of those were for Marvel. I get everyones points about Marvel not really having consequences but then Benedict Wong says something about Doctor Stranges favourite take away and I realise I'm really enjoying myself.

We watched MI: Fallout a second time on Blu-Ray the other night and that totally holds up.

I've not had a chance to see Spiderverse yet but I'll probably catch it when it comes out on disc.

I took the piss on twitter over your including Death Of Stalin, which is a great film and more people need to watch it because we often do not get Oscar nominated films released until after the awards have come and gone and many times I have been told that my best of the year choices were invalid because a film had been released somewhere else in a different year.

Glad to hear your work is picking up, I know that isn't the case for all publishers, but I hope it allows you to take on a bigger team so there is not as much pressure on yourself.

Extended Edition - 146 - The Rise Of Skywalker
VFX Reel | Twitter | IMDB | Blog

Re: 2018 in review

Faldor wrote:

I only went to the cinema a handful of times this year and twice of those were for Marvel. I get everyones points about Marvel not really having consequences but then Benedict Wong says something about Doctor Stranges favourite take away and I realise I'm really enjoying myself.

Yeah, I love the Marvel movies for the most part because I have fun with them. I like other films too, of course (M:I-Fallout is probably my favourite flick of 2018) but I'm thoroughly enjoying the MCU output.

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Re: 2018 in review

The MCU has been a mixed bag for me; the good thing about it is that if you didn't like the last one, there's gonna be another one in a few months. I know some people are tired of that, but let's face it: more ambitious fare tends to bomb (Blade Runner 2049 etc.), so the next "thinking man's sci-fi" script won't get an MCU-level budget; we'll probably be stuck with comic book blockbusters until the bubble bursts.

Thanks to the serialized nature of the MCU, Infinity War became a great adaptation of the "crisis crossover" concept from comic books. It wouldn't have worked if we didn't know these characters from previous movies, so I'm happy that the MCU exists. Ant-Man And The Wasp was a letdown after Infinity War, but the character will have his chance to shine in Endgame.

So honor the valiant who die 'neath your sword
But pity the warrior who slays all his foes...

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Re: 2018 in review

Personally, I thought Ant-Man and the Wasp was a lot of fun and had a great chase scene towards the end. It was lighter after the finale of Infinity War, which was needed. I think Infinity War is the superior film, though.

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Re: 2018 in review

MartyJ wrote:

Ant-Man And The Wasp was a letdown after Infinity War

Probably just me, but I actually enjoyed it more.


Bigger isn't always better!

Extended Edition - 146 - The Rise Of Skywalker
VFX Reel | Twitter | IMDB | Blog

Re: 2018 in review

I want to contribute to this thread, but essentially nothing happened to me in 2018. My whole year was dedicated to one long, lonely project that I still can't talk about, and most conversations were dedicated to one disgraceful president I still can't come to terms with, so... this'll just be one of those years that gets lost to time, I guess.

(Like 2014 — what the fuck happened in 2014? Or 2006, for that matter? Or 2000?)

Anyway. I hung out with Cloe. I learned some valuable personal lessons, and made headway in the project of becoming myself. I laid the groundwork for a new chapter, which I may or may not be proud of later. I read a lot of books; I didn't write as much as I wanted to. (I wrote a lot, but.)

Life felt paused.

Teague Chrystie

I have a tendency to fix your typos.

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