THE BEST AND WORST OF 2018: AND NOW OUR WATCH IS ENDED

“I will, first and always, try to entertain.  I will judge film both as Art and as Craft.”
-- Harlan Ellison, Harlan Ellison’s Watching

Harlan Ellison wrote those words in 1984 as part of his “Declaration of Principles” as a film critic.  Harlan Ellison died last year.  He was best known as a prolific writer of speculative fiction, mainly short stories.  Fans of Star Trek would know him as the guy who wrote “The City on the Edge of Forever.” He also wrote movie reviews and commentary for Los Angeles weeklies for a time.  He wrote a lot.  He was a writer.  A helluva writer.  He’d tell you that himself if he were still alive, but he’s not.  And the world feels a little emptier this year because of it. Rest in peace, Mr. Ellison.

This comes to you later than usual.  Travel and work sidetracked me.  The Oscars® have come and gone.  So why am I writing this now?  Habit?  Obligation?  Compulsion?  Who knows.  Who cares.

GREEN BOOK won Best Picture and, while I can’t say I’m surprised, I am disappointed.  The movie was designed to make its audience feel good.  Now, I know there’s nothing wrong with that, but it still feels dishonest.  Especially as it’s about race relations in the 1960s.  For a movie that will make you feel (mostly) good but doesn’t feel dishonest try IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK.  Or even BLACKkKLANSMAN.  Don’t try SORRY TO BOTHER YOU, because that one will make you feel uncomfortable.  But see it anyway.  It’s a furious, unforgiving satire about the modern class struggle in corporatized America.

I guess that’s why I’m writing this.  I don’t want the Oscars® to be the final word (though Olivia Colman winning for THE FAVOURITE made my year).  I want to encourage you to seek out films you may have never heard of. Or may have never considered watching. I want to challenge you to try something new.  And since I write about movies instead of, say, food or audio-visual equipment, this is my forum.  So that’s why I’m writing this now.  As a public service of sorts.  Also, if you’ve never read Harlan Ellison I encourage you to pick up one of his short story collections (my first was Strange Wine and it’s as good an introduction as any) or the book from which the above quote comes.  You will not regret it.

My sincerest thanks to everyone who reads these pages every year, to everyone who challenges my opinions or, especially, those of you who agree with me without reservation (wherever and whoever you may be). Thanks to my friends and family. I couldn’t do this without you.

And now, without further ado, my favorite films of 2018.  I hope you will accept my challenge.

Brian Pope

March 10, 2019

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THE BEST OF 2018

THE TOP TEN
(in alphabetical order)

BLACKkKLANSMAN  Spike Lee’s urgent and engaging new film walks a fine line between polemic and popular entertainment.  Clearly reveling in the absurdity of this loosely recounted true story, Lee keeps the pace quick and the performances lively without undercutting the deadly serious subject matter.

CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME? Melissa McCarthy (her best performance yet) plays a misanthropic writer with a talent for forging dead writers who, with the help of a marvelous Richard E. Grant, turns a tidy profit. Funny, acerbic and unexpectedly touching.  Marielle Heller directs the Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty script.

THE DEATH OF STALIN This comic book adaptation by director/co-writer Armando Iannucci is the perfect political tonic for our time. Pitch black and brutally hilarious, the film follows the power struggles after, well, see the title.  Steve Buscemi and Jason Isaacs are standouts in a stellar cast of brilliant comic actors.

EIGHTH GRADE  The awkward transition from junior high to high school is the subject of writer/director Bo Burnham’s painfully funny and profoundly compassionate film that perfectly captures the dread and glory of being a teen. Elsie Fisher is nothing short of revelatory in the year’s most fearless performance.  Gucci!

THE FAVOURITE  Director Yorgos Lanthimos takes the staid historical costume picture and turns it on its head.  A vulgar, profane, and ribald film about the struggle for political influence in the court of Queen Anne.  Olivia Colman, Rachel Weisz, and Emma Stone are cinematic nirvana and a pitch perfect triumvirate.

FIRST REFORMED  Paul Schrader’s big ideas movie is both expansive and personal.  Ethan Hawke gives a career best performance as a priest who counsels a troubled young environmentalist and his concerned wife only to find himself questioning his own faith and his faith in a world seemingly determined to destroy itself.

IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK This gorgeous, romantic adaptation of the James Baldwin novel follows a young newlywed black couple who find their life plans disrupted by a false criminal accusation.  Writer/director Barry Jenkins focuses on perseverance rather than despair in dramatizing the black experience in America.

LEAVE NO TRACE  Ben Foster and Thomasin McKenzie (both marvelous) star as a troubled military veteran and his teenage daughter living outside of society until chance brings society unwanted to them. Director/co-writer Debra Granik tells this subtle story of a young girl’s awaking to the world with sensitivity and insight.

THE OLD MAN & THE GUN Director David Lowery has written a love letter to Robert Redford and the films of the 1970s.  Based on a New Yorker article, the film follows aging thief Redford as he robs banks, woos Sissy Spacek, and stays one step ahead of the law (Casey Affleck).  Old fashioned in the best sense.

ON THE BASIS OF SEX Felicity Jones stars as Ruth Bader Ginsburg in this tightly structured, deftly written biopic that focuses on a groundbreaking sex discrimination case the future Supreme Court justice argued and won before a hostile Court of Appeals.  Armie Hammer co-stars.  Mimi Leder directs Daniel Stiepleman’s script.  

Runners-Up of 2018

(in alphabetical order)

BLACK PANTHER

RALPH BREAKS THE INTERNET

ROMA

SORRY TO BOTHER YOU

THREE IDENTICAL STRANGERS

Honorable Mentions: THE BALLAD OF BUSTER SCRUGGS; GHOST STORIES; THE HATE U GIVE; INCREDIBLES 2; ISLE OF DOGS; MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE -- FALLOUT; A QUIET PLACE; PADDINGTON 2; REVENGE; WIDOWS

THE WORST of 2018

(in alphabetical order)

BAD TIMES AT THE EL ROYALE Writer/director Drew Goddard channels Quentin Tarantino, but this turgid film lacks momentum, likable characters or quotable dialogue.

MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS  A ponderous historical film that manages to be lifeless and passionless despite the presence of Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie.  

OVERLORD A horror movie set during World War II should have a relatively low bar of plausibility. This one manages to go under the bar like a wasted limbo dancer -- and with all the grace and wit you’d expect.