Your Favourite Films of 2018

[Small Man Big Horse]

We're almost at the end of the year now so I feel it's time.

10) Eighth Grade
9)Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse
8) Mary And The Witches Flower
7) Blackkklansman
6) Possum
5) The Breaker Upperers
4) Heavy Trip
3) Avengers: Infinity War
2) Sorry To Bother You
1) Isle Of Dogs

I struggled a bit to come up with 10 to be honest, I missed a lot of films but it's not been a stellar year for me at least.

Worst Movies

5) A Quiet Place
4) Mute
3) The Shape Of Water
2) Hereditary
1) Bird Box

Mainly as I've avoided watching shit new films this year, I even liked some things about A Quiet Place and Mute, though they were messy and overrated. Bird Box was an easy choice for the worst film though, it's a load of fucking bollocks.

Best Old Films I Saw This Year

10) The Suicide Shop
9) Antiporno
8) Jesus Christ Superstar
7) Billy The Kid Vs. The Green Baize Vampire
6) Citizen Dog
5) Mind Game
4) Lemonade Joe
3) Love & Peace
2) Paddington 2
1) November

This was only difficult as there were so many films I loved which didn't make the list, I saw some fantastic older films this year, I could easily have included three more from Sion Sono alone.

[zomgmouse]

I'm just playing a bit of 2018 catch-up at the moment so will likely post my favourites in about a week's time. I keep being certain of my picks but then something else comes along to blow it out of the water. Stay tuned...

[chveik]

yeah, a pretty dull/shit year cinema wise. there have been a few good (or at least enjoyable) films though:

The Cleaners
Mission Impossible: Fallout
Possum
The Death of Stalin
Thunder Road
Under the Silver Lake
Mandy

[Ja'moke]

I'm just playing a bit of 2018 catch-up at the moment so will likely post my favourites in about a week's time. I keep being certain of my picks but then something else comes along to blow it out of the water. Stay tuned...

I'm also playing the catch-up game. I've hardly seen any new films this year, so I've been on a download-spree this past couple of weeks. So far I've watched Sorry To Bother You (really liked it, great performances, Michel Gondry/Charlie Kaufman vibe that I love), Support The Girls (a great portrayal of the customer service industry, again, solid performances), I Think We're Alone Now (decent, but kinda dull), Nancy (decent, creepy tone, but felt like it could have been more), What Keeps You Alive (hated it at first, but I persisted and ended up really enjoying it), Bodied (really liked this one, racial issues mixed with fun battle raps).

Please let me know what else from this year I should check out! I have Eighth Grade downloaded and might watch that later.

[Moribunderast]

I'm also playing the catch-up game. I've hardly seen any new films this year, so I've been on a download-spree this past couple of weeks. So far I've watched Sorry To Bother You (really liked it, great performances, Michel Gondry/Charlie Kaufman vibe that I love), Support The Girls (a great portrayal of the customer service industry, again, solid performances), I Think We're Alone Now (decent, but kinda dull), Nancy (decent, creepy tone, but felt like it could have been more), What Keeps You Alive (hated it at first, but I persisted and ended up really enjoying it), Bodied (really liked this one, racial issues mixed with fun battle raps).

Please let me know what else from this year I should check out! I have Eighth Grade downloaded and might watch that later.

I'm also doing the catch-up. Standouts you may want to look into for your own catch-up: Leave No Trace (by Debra Granik, who made Winter's Bone, similar in tone and setting) Thunder Road (see my thread on it for description) and Mandy (nutso psychedelic horror with Nicholas Cage), Behind The Curve (if you're a fan of docos like King Of Kong, this is that but about Flat Earthers) and Possum by Matthew Holness of Garth Merenghi fame.

Going over my list of films watched this year, some say it's been lean but I can count over 20 films I gave 4/5 or higher to in my little OCD nerd-book of grades. And I don't think I'm an easy marker. This also appears to have been the longest year in history because I can't believe films like Three Billboards and I, Tonya and Isle Of Dogs were in the cinema in 2018 but they indeed were.

[billyandthecloneasaurus]

NEW

8.  First Man
7.  The Old Man and the Gun
6.  Cold War
5.  Green Book
4.  Sorry to Bother you
3.  Wildlife
2.  Shoplifters
1.  A Star is Born



OLD

7.  Last Holiday
6.  In a Lonely Place
5.  Rocky
4.  Breaking Away
3.  Spotlight
2.  All the President's Men
1.  The Station Agent

That is ALL the films I saw this year.  A very solid year, but I basically watched about 5 films for the last 5 years, and got back into cinema around September, and I watched all of those since then.  Naturally I've mainly gone for PRESTIGE films. 

[Small Man Big Horse]

This also appears to have been the longest year in history because I can't believe films like Three Billboards and I, Tonya and Isle Of Dogs were in the cinema in 2018 but they indeed were.

Blimey, I thought I, Tonya and Three Billboards were definitely 2017 but a quick google tells me my memory is faulty. Hmmm, might have to adjust my list as I did like them a fair bit.

NEW

8.  First Man
7.  The Old Man and the Gun
6.  Cold War
5.  Green Book
4.  Sorry to Bother you
3.  Wildlife
2.  Shoplifters
1.  A Star is Born

I've been tempted to watch A Star Is Born but them my other half accidentally spoilt the ending for me and I'm not sure I can be arsed now. But as it's your No.1 choice I may have to give it a shot.

[hummingofevil]

I haven't seen 10 new films this year but of the two I can definitely remember watching Cold War was easily the best film of 2018 (aesthetically stunning though I'm not entirely convinced by aspects of the central relationship) and Sorry To Bother You was the worst (a try-hard mess of a movie that I hate more and more the more I think about it).

Best new old movie was Of Gods And Men and I did really love watching My Neighbour Totoro last night.

Best old, old movie is still The Princess Bride.

Édit: I just remembered i watched a box set of classic Film Noirs in September. Did one a night.. i think The Glass Key was my favourite.

[wooders1978]

I haven't done that well for watching new films this year but it feels like a weak one but here goes

Deadpool 2
Isle of dogs
You were never really here

Honourable mentions to Revenge & super bad times (though that is 2017 movie but I only saw it in 2018) for the fantastic cinematography

[Sin Agog]

I haven't seen 10 new films this year but of the two I can definitely remember watching Cold War was easily the best film of 2018 (aesthetically stunning though I'm not entirely convinced by aspects of the central relationship) and Sorry To Bother You was the worst (a try-hard mess of a movie that I hate more and more the more I think about it).

Best new old movie was Of Gods And Men and I did really love watching My Neighbour Totoro last night.

Best old, old movie is still The Princess Bride.

Édit: I just remembered i watched a box set of classic Film Noirs in September. Did one a night.. i think The Glass Key was my favourite.

Is that the boxset in the shape of a giant cigarette box?  If so, I was scatting about that in Non-New Films a few weeks ago.  Such a good set of films.

As to the topic, I let my Cineworld card expire around August so not as many as previous years.  Will have a look at what came out this year and put something together.  It suddenly feels like a really fucking long year.

[Small Man Big Horse]

As to the topic, I let my Cineworld card expire around August so not as many as previous years.  Will have a look at what came out this year and put something together.  It suddenly feels like a really fucking long year.

My Odeon card expired in September and I've never been happier, I really regret getting it in the first place as it meant going to the cinema to watch average fare just to feel like I was getting good value for money, I thought the number of arthouse films they'd show would be higher but once they refurbished the Odeon Panton Street and made it fairly mainstream in general the choice was pretty weak.

[hummingofevil]

Is that the boxset in the shape of a giant cigarette box?  If so, I was scatting about that in Non-New Films a few weeks ago.  Such a good set of films.

Yes. Got it for £12 in Vinyl Exchange. Probably only bargain they've ever sold.

[Dex Sawash]

Has anyone said The Favourite?

[Small Man Big Horse]

Has anyone said The Favourite?

Not yet, and I do want to see it but it's only in previews right now with the official release being January the 1st in the UK.

[Custard]

One's list with pics etc 'ere - https://wp.me/pBTha-1bP

The Bros film just missed out. Gutted.

[monolith]

I feel ashamed that it's taken me so long to finally watch it but:

The Thing

Is far and away the best film I've seen this year, instantly one of my favourites. I haven't watched it again because I want some time to elapse so that I can't remember what happens.

Haven't been to the cinema much so the only two that stand out are:

BlackKklansman
Avengers: Infinity War

[Shit Good Nose]

I won't bother with mentioning the older films I've seen, and as far as the recent films actually released in 2018 go there weren't really any that stuck in the mind with the exception of Mandy, which is good.

But film of the year is piss easy - I, Tonya.  As I mentioned in another thread, it's the best new film I've seen for a long time.  Had me properly laughing hard like a loon, and the performances are brilliant all around.  A strong 8/9 out of 10.

[Funcrusher]

I've seen next to nothing new this year, due to life events, being skint and not having easy access to decent cinemas, unlike past years where I could easily do a top 20. Caught up with a few 2018 releases in the last couple of weeks with the intention of filling out a bit of a list and was distinctly unimpressed – the end of year Sight and Sound was calling this a great year for cinema but from where I'm standing some big hitting directors have put out really poor films. My 'not the best films of the year' list is:

Dark River  (Clio Barnard) Just a bit of a conventional, worthy British independent film and fairly unmemorable and disappointing after The Arbor and The Selfish Giant
Let The Sunshine In (Claire Denis) In the present state of things French bourgeois types sitting in restaurants bemoaning the emptiness of their elegant lives just feels very played out. Her films with starry French lead actresses never seem to work well. Just a bit average
You Were Never Really Here (Lynne Ramsay) Utterly fucking awful. Grim dark comic book violence, a ridiculous script and terrible hammy central performance. Total rubbish, I don't know why this wasn't completely savaged by reviewers.
First Reformed (Paul Schrader) I don't really get all the talk about this being Schrader doing slow cinema, it's quite wordy and not really that slow paced, or why it got such good notices. It starts as a well written and performed take on a priest struggling with faith in a harsh world, but once it starts becoming Travis Bickle: parish priest it totally lost me.

I haven't been able to see various other 2018 releases yet which may have been better – I particularly want to see Shoplifters and Cold War which both look great, so my top 4 of films I saw this year that I actually enjoyed is:

1) Zama (Lucretia Martel) Head and shoulders the best film I saw this year. A really distinctive period drama about mundane politicking in an Argentine colonial outpost and issues of race and class that takes a strange psychedelic turn at the end. I liked her previous two films but this is a real step up.

2) Faces Places (Agnes Varda) A road movie/ art project where Varda and a young hipster photographer travel around France taking pictures of ordinary folk which the hipster guy turns into huge outdoor murals. Just really charming and engaging.

3) First Man (Damien Chazelle) I'm no huge fan of Whiplash or La La Land so wasn't expecting much from this but I think it's pretty impressive. It seems quite timely in the MAGA era and when sci-fi seems to be all over cinema to offer what's probably the first really honest depiction of the supposed great leap for mankind – some guys are shot into space in a barely functional primitive tin can of a vehicle for the greater glory of the USA and are lucky to make it. Half of the men who start the programme are dead by the launch day and Armstrong is powerfully depicted by Gosling as a man barely holding it together and burying his emotions under an enforced stoicism.

4) The Other Side of The Wind – certainly interesting as a historical document but ultimately a bit disappointing. I was fine with the chaotic mix of styles and voices and whatnot, but the endlessly cynical view of the film biz just starts to feel a bit browbeating and one note, the actual plot when it arrives is a bit lame and the Freudian elements feel pretty dated.

[Brundle-Fly]

Honourable mentions to Revenge & super bad times (though that is 2017 movie but I only saw it in 2018) for the fantastic cinematography

Watched Revenge last night. Loved it.

[zomgmouse]

A few releases passed me by but mainly pretty pleased with my roundup. Here is my top 20:

[5 stars]
1. First Reformed
2. The Favourite
3. Climax
[4.5 stars]
4. Roma
5. Sweet Country
6. Shoplifters
7. Zama
8. Madeline's Madeline
9. You Were Never Really Here
10. The Shape of Water
11. The House That Jack Built
[4 stars]
12. Possum
13. Lady Bird
14. Nancy
15. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
16. Isle of Dogs
17. BlacKkKlansman
18. Duck Butter
19. Luz
20. Donbass

Others I enjoyed, in an order of sorts: Sorry to Bother You, Reflections in the Dust, Strange Colours, The Most Assassinated Woman in the World, Unsane, Ghost Stories, The Sisters Brothers, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, Widows, Apostle, Upgrade, The Dark, Mandy, CAM, The Breaker-Upperers, Keep an Eye Out.

Favourite Non-New Films of 2018: https://boxd.it/2jHXs
(Top 10 were The Young Girls of Rochefort, The entire Three Colours Trilogy, Peeping Tom, Pigs and Battleships, A Brighter Summer Day, Sins of the Fleshapoids, The Beaches of Agnès and Repo Man)

[Head Gardener]

a smashing seven up

Mandy
2:0
Mission Impossible - Fall Out
Blackkklansman
Annihilation
Assassination Nation
Avengers - Infinity War

and I'm sure The Favourite is gonna be good judging by the trailer

[Small Man Big Horse]

Here's my slightly revised list after discovering certain films were released this year not in 2017.

10) Coco
9)  The Endless
8) I, Tonya
7) Blackkklansman
6) Possum
5) The Breaker Upperers
4) Heavy Trip
3) Avengers: Infinity War
2) Sorry To Bother You
1) Isle Of Dogs

I'm enjoying reading everyone else's lists and have added many a film to my imdb watchlist, so thanks for these.

[notjosh]

Going by original release dates (some of the films mentioned were 2017 in the US) the only films I particularly rated this year were Mission Impossible: Fallout, Game Night and Set It Up (best rom com in years). But I don't go to the cinema much so hopefully I'll catch a few I missed out on in the next couple of years. Avengers: Endless Fighting and its ilk can get to fuck though.

[lipsink]

No love for Tully? Think I was probably the only person who saw it.

Also:

Roma
Black Panther
Avengers: Infinity War
Sorry To Bother You
Mandy
The Favourite
Isle of Dogs
Coco
The Wife
Mission Impossible: Fallout
Widows
A Star Is Born
Leave No Trace
Phantom Thread
Lean On Pete
You Were Never Really There
Don't Worry He Won't Get Far On Foot
I, Tonya
They Shall Not Grow Old