Great News, Everyone!
It’s time for my annual year wrap-up more-detailed-than-necessary list
of the movies the Academy Awards think you should see, with a follow up of what
I think you should see, followed by the list of movies I personally did not
like from last year. Because, let’s face
it, sometimes it’s more fun to talk about the movies you didn’t like!
Here are the top twenty from the Academy – again, pulled
from who got the most nominations, thank goodness for Excel Pivot Tables. Blurbs are from IMDB. Currently, I have seen
7 of these 20, with plans to see at least three or four more, which will bring
my total over 50%, which is pretty impressive for me! As per usual, I've included the Honest Trailer from Screen Junkies when available - do yourself a favor and subscribe to their hilarity.
1.
Roma
– 9 nominations – “A year in the life of
a middle-class family’s maid in Mexico City in the early 1970s.” Directed
by Alfonso Cuaron. I know this is on
Netflix, and I have no excuse for not having watched it yet, but I haven’t been
particularly motivated to see it. I know that it being in black and white is
not enough of a reason to hold off, but I’m also still holding a grudge against
Cuaron for how much I hated Children of Men, even if Prisoner of Azkaban was
great. He’s my nemesis on my list of
nemeses who have no idea they are my nemeses.
2.
The
Favourite – 9 Nominations – “In early
18th century England, a frail Queen Anne occupies the throne and her
close friend, Lady Sarah, governs the country in her stead. When a new servant,
Abigail, arrives, her charm endears her to Sarah.” Director Yorgos
Lanthimos. I saw this, and I did not
care for it. A lot was made of the fact
that it stars three female leads, impressive for any film, and especially
impressive in awards-season fare. However, each of them are such terrible,
evil, self-involved characters that it’s tough to care about the story. I mean, the two ladies are literally at war
for the Queen’s attention. I also did
not care for the cinematography or the score.
I will say that Oliva Coleman’s performance was pretty incredible. Not
my cup of tea, and that’s okay – because according to this movie that cup of
tea is poisoned, resulting in a fall off a horse and a week in a brothel.
3.
A Star Is
Born – 8 nominations – “A musician
helps a young singer find fame, even as age and alcoholism send his own career
into a downward spiral.” Directed by Bradley Cooper. I will probably watch this at some point, but this is the fifth cinematic version of the story. Lady Gaga is great, and really talented, so it’s nice to
see that acknowledged. We’ll see what the
academy thinks of the rest. Cooper is
also on my list of nemeses, not for any good reason - after all, he was on Alias. I
think I have started to suffer from BCoops over-exposure, and that’s not his
fault, but that doesn’t mean I won’t blame him for it. Shallow is a great song, but I found myself preferring the performance of it from the Grammys last week - sans Cooper.
4.
Vice
– 8 nominations – “The story of Dick
Cheney, an unassuming bureaucratic Washington insider, who quietly wielded
immense power as Vice President to George W. Bush, reshaping the country and
the globe in ways that we still feel today.” Directed by Adam McKay. I found Vice to be very similar to McKay’s
Big Short. It is extremely interesting
and gives some insight behind the scenes of stories and scenarios that you are
already aware of. Fantastic performances along with a chilling story. Essentially
Cheney Palpatined most of that administration.
5.
Black
Panther – 6 nominations – “T’Challa,
heir to the hidden but advanced kingdom of Wakanda, must step forward to lead
his people into a new future and must confront a challenger from his country’s
past.” Directed by Ryan Coogler. In
any other year, this would have been my favorite movie, but it just happened to
come out the same year as Infinity War.
It’s exceptional from top to bottom. The story, the acting, the action,
the costumes, the score, the songs, the entirety of the execution, it’s all
amazing. Chadwick Boseman is great as
T’Challa, but he is outshined (outshone?) by the surrounding characters,
especially all the exceptional ladies of Wakanda. I believe it’s better crafted than any of the
other best pic noms, and I want it to win – but in this particular situation,
it really is an honor to be nominated. Maybe the stiffs in the academy are
finally starting to see that big-budget superhero movies can also be quality
films? I won’t hold my breath on that
one.
6.
BlacKkKlansman
– 5 nominations – “Ron Stallworth, an
African American police officer from Colorado Springs, CO, successfully manages
to infiltrate the local Ku Klux Klan branch with the help of a Jewish surrogate
who eventually becomes its leader. Based on actual events.” Directed by
Spike Lee. This is the first time Spike Lee has been nominated as director,
which seems insane. Moving from his
former muse Denzel to Denzel’s son, this movie is different, upsetting, and stylized.
7.
Bohemian
Rhapsody – 5 nominations – “The story
of the legendary rock band Queen and lead singer Freddie Mercury, leading up to
their famous performance at Live Aid.” Directed by…well… it’s awkward. It
was directed by Bryan Singer until he got into some fights with star Rami Malek
as well as having some attendance issues during work days. He was asked to not
return and the movie was finished by Dexter Fletcher. Honestly, it’s been said
it’s too ‘sanitized’ and ‘movie-fied’ a version of the Freddie Mercury and
Queen story. I went in knowing it would
not be accurate, and I enjoyed it. But I
can honestly say it’s not a better movie than most of the other nominees. However, Malek’s performance was fantastic.
8.
Green
Book – 5 nominations – “A
working-class Italian-American bouncer becomes the driver of an
African-American classical pianist on a tour of venues through the 1960s
American South.” Directed by Peter Farrelly, yes, one of the Farrelly
brothers. Loosely based on a true story, and taking its name from the Green
Book, a travel guide that was made for African-American travelers in the 50s
and 60s so they would know safe places to stay where they would not be attacked
or killed – my great grandmother’s house is listed as a place to stay in
Marion, Indiana. Mahershala Ali
continues to be amazing, but the movie is not a comedy, so please stop lying to
us about that.
9.
First Man
– 4 nominations – “A look at the life of
the astronaut, Neil Armstrong, and the legendary space mission that led him to
become the first man to walk on the Moon on July 20, 1969.” Directed by
Damien Chazelle. I haven’t seen this
because it sounded incredibly boring to me. Ryan Gosling plays Neil Armstrong
during the lead-up to his famous moonwalk. Is it really that good, or is
Chazelle still riding his La La Land favoritism?
10.
Can You
Ever Forgive Me? – 3 nominations – “When
author Lee Israel falls out of step with current tastes, she turns her art form
to deception.” Directed by Marielle Heller. The movie tells the story of
how desperate people can be to attain and maintain success. With quietly powerful performances from
Melissa McCarthy and Richard E. Grant.
11.
Cold War
– 3 nominations – “In the 1950s, a music
director falls in love with a singer and tries to persuade her to flee
communist Poland for France.” Directed by Pawel Pawlikowski. This is up for
best foreign movie out of Poland as well as regular best picture. Another black
and white entry telling a story I have little to no interest in.
12.
If Beale
Street Could Talk – 3 nominations – “A
woman in Harlem embraces her pregnancy while she and her family struggle to
prove her fiancé innocent of a crime.” Directed by Barry Jenkins. Jenkins follows up Moonlight with this
interpretation of the James Baldwin story detailing young love in the face of
prejudice and false imprisonment. I haven’t seen this yet, mainly because it
just seems so incredibly heavy – it will take some doing to be in the right
mindset.
13.
Mary
Poppins Returns – 3 nominations – “Decades
after her original visit, the magical nanny returns to help the Banks siblings
and Michael’s children through a difficult time in their lives.” Directed
by Rob Marshall. I did not care for the
original Mary Poppins (yes, I know, blasphemy), so I had no interest in seeing
this one. Can Disney come up with some new stories? No? They’re just going to
keep revisiting everything they’ve already done, whether through live-action
remakes of their animated stories or with unnecessary sequels? Okay, fine.
14.
Isle of
Dogs – 2 nominations – “Set in Japan,
Isle of Dogs follows a boy’s odyssey in search of his lost dog.” Directed
by Wes Anderson. My guess is if you like
Wes Anderson’s movies, you’ll like this one too. A little different in that it is stop-motion,
and not one of his standard looks-like-a-play movies, but still very much a Wes
Anderson movie. Also, why is it set in
Japan?
15.
Never
Look Away – 2 nominations – “German
artist Kurt Barnert has escaped East Germany and now lives in West Germany, but
is tormented by his childhood under the Nazis and the GDR-regime.” Directed
by Florian Henckle von Donnersmarck. Another foreign movie, this sounds super
difficult and I will not be seeing it.
16.
RBG –
2 nominations – “The exceptional life and
career of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who has developed a
breathtaking legal legacy while becoming an unexpected pop culture icon.”
Directed by Julie Cohen, Betsy West. This is the documentary, not the movie
called “On the Basis of Sex”, which was recently released. Odd how sometimes
the documentary and fictionalized docu-drama come out the same time. I caught
part of this on CNN the other night, and man, RBG is a hell of a lady. Also –
the song, written by Diane Warren and performed by Jennifer Hudson is pretty
great.
17.
Ready
Player One – 2 nominations – “When
the creator of a virtual reality world called the OASIS dies, he releases a
video in which he challenges all OASIS users to find his Easter Egg, which will
give the finder his fortune.” Directed by Steven Spielberg. I read the book
prior to seeing the movie, which was a mistake, because I was then very
disappointed by the movie. The look was very slick, the pop culture references
abound, and the action is good, but the story is choppy and loosely connected
to the source material.
18.
The
Ballad of Buster Scruggs – 2 nominations – “Six tales of life and violence in the Old West, following a singing
gunslinger, a bank robber, a traveling impresario, an elderly prospector, a
wagon train, and a perverse pair of bounty hunters.” Directed by the Coen
brothers. I have no opinion here as I am still on my
not-watching-anything-by-the-Coens-ever kick, so I don’t care what this is
about. They are definitely on my list of nemeses.
19.
A Quiet
Place – 1 nominations – “In a
post-apocalyptic world, a family is forced to live in silence while hiding from
monsters with ultra-sensitive hearing.” Directed by John Krasinski. An unlikely success on several levels, I
haven’t seen it yet because I was worried about being too scared, but I will
definitely check it out. Are we ready for a Fantastic Four reboot with
Krasinski and Blunt yet?
20.
Avengers:
Infinity War – 1 nomination – “The
Avengers and their allies must be willing to sacrifice all in an attempt to
defeat the powerful Thanos before his blitz of devastation and ruin puts an end
to the universe.” Directed by the Russo Brothers. Somehow, the Russos managed to take a villain
hinted at for the last 10 years and make him the center ‘hero’ of this story.
Brolin’s performance and the exceptional effects make Thanos a compelling
villain with a motivation you can almost understand. Almost…
There you have it, that’s what the Academy of Motion Picture
Arts and Sciences thinks are the best films from 2018. I agree with a couple,
but again, I mostly prefer ‘movies’ to their ‘films’. Here are my personal top flicks – not the
best quality (definitely not the best quality!), but the ones I enjoyed the
most from 2018:
1.
Avengers:
Infinity War – Again, let the Russos direct everything. I loved how this
movie wasted no time. It started immediately at the end of the previous movie
in the MCU and was completely made for fans. If you had invested the time to
see every one of the preceding 18 movies, this was incredibly rewarding.
However, if you hadn’t, you could still enjoy this adventure. The action was exceptional, the comic moments
fantastic (I could watch other heroes meet the Guardians over and over) the
emotional weight was real, and the end is the first time I have ‘heard’ that
level of silence during the credits of an MCU movie. I cannot wait for Endgame,
and though I know we’re going to lose some who have been with us since the
beginning, it’s going to usher in the next set of chapters in a bold and
beautiful way. Captain Marvel is out
March 7th.
2.
Black
Panther – Not just a great superhero movie, not just a great MCU movie, but
a great movie. And, while it is all
those things, not enough can be said about the representation and how much it
matters. Yes, there have been black
superheroes before, but this movie was filled with black heroes, heroines, and
villains, and young black kids can finally see themselves in all the roles on
the poster. Yes, that does matter, and yes, it is an important layer that just
continues to add to the excellence of this movie.
3.
Ant Man
and the Wasp - “As Scott Lang
balances being both a Super Hero and a father, Hope van Dyne and Dr. Hank Pym
present an urgent new mission that finds the Ant-Man fighting alongside The
Wasp to uncover secrets from their past.” Directed by Peyton Reed. Thanos may have been epically tearing through
the majority of the universe on side of globe, but on the other, Scott Lang is
just trying to be a good dad. A simple
tight story, introducing the Wasp and letting Evangeline Lilly kick some ass
was just fantastic, and really hilarious.
4.
Spider-Man:
Into the SpiderVerse - “Teen Miles
Morales becomes Spider-Man of his reality, crossing his path with five
counterparts from other dimensions to stop a threat for all realities.” Directed
by Bob Persichetti and Peter Ramsey. I’m not sure I can remember the last time
I had an animated movie on my ‘best of’ list, but this movie is
exceptional! Miles is the perfect
representation of a kid with sudden powers who wants to do what he can to help,
but doesn’t know how. Guidance from
multiple Spider-People from multiple ‘verses helps him along. Nicholas Cage as
Spider-Man Noir was perfect casting, and the Stan Lee cameo made me weep. Charming, sweet, touching, and action-packed,
the movie is just fantastic. And yes, I'm aware that makes the top four movies on my list Marvel flicks.
5.
Crazy
Rich Asians. “The contemporary
romantic comedy, based on a global bestseller, follows native New Yorker Rachel
Chu to Singapore to meet her boyfriend’s family.” Directed by Jon M. Chu. In the same way that Black Panther was
incredibly important for representation, so was this movie. On top of that, it’s hilarious and sweet. Plus,
the sets and fashion is outstanding! We
all want to walk down flooded aisles during our wedding ceremonies now.
6.
A Simple
Favor. “Stephanie is a single mother
with a parenting vlog who befriends Emily, a secretive upper-class woman who
has a child at the same elementary school.
When Emily goes missing, Stephanie takes it upon herself to
investigate.” Directed by Paul Feig. Difficult to describe and strangely
compelling, this movie was a surprise for me. Anna Kendrick is charming as a
woman searching for his missing friend, and between this and Crazy Rich Asians,
Henry Golding should be the next James Bond.
The style, the music, and the fashion add to this crazy story to make a
really interesting movie.
7.
Mission:
Impossible Fallout. “Ethan Hunt and
his IMF team, along with some familiar allies, race against time after a
mission gone wrong.” Directed by Christopher McQuarrie. Tom Cruise continues to give everything he
has to these movies. Honestly, I can’t even begin to tell you the plot, and I’m
not sure the story was that great, but man, the action was exceptional, and
finally we seem to have found a good spot for Henry Cavill. He should play a villain more often!
8.
Bumblebee.
“On the run in the year 1987, Bumblebee
finds refuge in a junkyard in a small Californian beach town. Charlie, on the
cusp of turning 18 and trying to find her place in the world, discovers
Bumblebee, battle-scarred and broken.” Directed by Travis Knight. In case like me, you gave up on the
Transformers franchise just before the last movie, go ahead and get back into
it with this fantastic flick. I loved
the 80s soundtrack, and Bumblebee as he fights to get his memory back and
protect his new friend. Also – I loved when he tried not to destroy things in
the house, but did anyway. Why is he so damn cute? That’s rhetorical, because the answer is
ILM.
9.
Creed II.
“Under the tutelage of Rocky Balboa,
heavyweight contender Adonis Creed faces off against Viktor Drago, son of Ivan
Drago.” Directed by Steven Caple Jr.
Rocky IV was my favorite of the Rockys, so I was thrilled that this brought
back Drago and introduced son of Drago.
Dolph Lundgren has a quiet, haunted vibe in this that makes you wonder
what happened to his character after Rocky beat him years ago. Michael B. Jordan continues to give Adonis
Creed likeability even when he’s making poor decisions, like running into
fights he’s not ready for. Rocky told you you’re not ready – listen to
him! Also, did we ever learn if Rocky
got the city to come fix that streetlight?
10.
Solo: A
Star Wars Story. “During an adventure
into the criminal underworld, Han Solo meets his future co-pilot Chewbacca and
encounters Lando Calrissian years before joining the rebellion.” Directed
by Ron Howard. I loved parts of this movie, and hated some other bits. The parts I loved were the parts with Han and
Chewie, and the introduction to Lando (Gambino Lando was damn near flawless),
and Lando’s cape closet. CAPE CLOSET!
Plus the reintroduction of Maul to the cinematic Star Wars universe. Please,
let Dave Filoni direct a sequel that brings together all the scoundrels and
bounty hunters we know as Jabba sends everyone after some sort of macguffin.
11.
Widows.
“Set in contemporary Chicago, amid a time
of turmoil, four women with nothing in common except a debt left behind by
their dead husbands’ criminal activities, take fate into their own hands, and
conspire to forge a future on their own terms.” Directed by Steve McQueen. Initially, I was a little disappointed by
this move, as I went in expecting an action movie, and it is definitely a
drama. Viola Davis is fantastic as a
woman who will do what is necessary. Colin Farrell is the perfect slimy
politician. I wanted a little more for
Michelle Rodriguez to do, and it’s tough to not be swayed by the latest Liam
Neeson nonsense, but overall, it’s very interesting and well crafted.
12.
Game
Night. “A group of friends who meet
regularly for game nights find themselves entangled in a real-life mystery when
the shady brother of tone of them is seemingly kidnapped by dangerous
gangsters.” Directed by John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein. Expecting nothing from this movie really
helped. Jason Bateman is always great,
and the idea that game-night attendees mistake a real kidnapping for a fake
kidnapping does result in hilarity. And,
it features the same dog actor as number 11, Widows.
13.
Deadpool
2. “Foul-mouthed mutant mercenary
Wade Wilson (aka Deadpool), brings together a team of fellow mutant rogues to
protect a young boy with supernatural abilities from the brutal, time-traveling
cyborg, Cable.” Directed by David Leitch.
Not as good as the first one, but still pretty damn great, this movie is
directed by the stunt master behind the John wick movies. Watching Wade attempt to assemble his own
team is great, and Brolin adds another Marvel baddie to his list.
14.
Venom.
“A failed reporter is bonded to an alien
entity, one of many entities who have invaded Earth. But the entity takes a
liking to Earth and decides to protect it.” Directed by Ruben Fleischer. Listen, I know this wasn’t great, and you
have to get past the fact that the origin is all wrong, and the giant CGI mess
of a battle at the end. But, once you
are past all that, it’s pretty entertaining. Tom Hardy is a great choice as
Brock, the back and forth between he and the symbiote are fun, and the scenes
of Venom just Venoming around the city are fantastic.
15.
Peppermint.
“Five years after her husband and
daughter are killed in a senseless act of violence, a woman comes back from
self-imposed exile to seek revenge against those responsible and the system
that let them go free.” Directed by Pierre Morel. This movie is very simple, very
straightforward. Woman seeks vengeance
for her murdered family. Period. It’s
like one of those 80s action movies. Nothing fancy, but you never get enough of
seeing the bad guys get it.
16.
The Meg.
“After escaping an attack by what he
claims was a 70-foot shark, Jonas Taylor must confront his fears to save those
trapped in a sunken submersible.” Directed by Jon Turteltaub. I have read two books in the Meg series (yes,
it’s a series of books), and I was looking forward to seeing Jason Statham
battle the giant prehistoric shark. It is absolute nonsense, and could have
actually been even sillier, but still – everyone in the cast is well aware what
they are making, and Statham is having a blast putting some of that
Olympic-level diving skill to use.
17.
Rampage.
“When three different animals become
infected with a dangerous pathogen, a primatologist and a geneticist team up to
stop them from destroying Chicago.” Directed by Brad Peyton. Really, this should be tied for 16 with The
Meg, as it’s a very similar deal. I can
never argue with a movie that does not lie to you about what it is. This movie is the Rock versus giant mutated
animals who want to destroy Chicago. It’s terrible, it knows it’s terrible, but
hey, it’s entertaining while it is happening.
A pretty strong list, if I do say so myself. Any one of
those would provide an entertaining popcorn filled afternoon. Shifting gears, here is the list of the
movies I did not like. Hated is a strong word, but I hated these.
1.
Jurassic
World Fallen Kingdom. “When the
island’s dominate volcano begins roaring to life, Owen and Claire mount a
campaign to rescue the remaining dinosaurs from this extinction-level event.”
Directed by J. A. Bayona. Holy shit,
this was a steaming piling of crap. Why
did we fall in love with the original Jurassic Park? The dinosaurs, and the
magic of seeing them on their island. The first sequence of this movie sets
fire to the island, causing many of the dinosaurs to die in horrific terrible
ways. It was so incredibly traumatizing, I really could not get into the rest
of the movie – which then involved bringing some captured dinosaurs to a
mansion where they were auctioned off to criminals and warlords as weapons. The
hell with this. After Jurassic World,
which I enjoyed – I wanted a sequel with no people as Blue negotiated her way
around the island, just dinosaur action. Blue makes it through this movie, and
seems to rule over a small desert town at the end, so who knows what is going
to come next. At least the dinosaurs
still look amazing.
2.
Robin
Hood. “A war-hardened Crusader and
his Moorish commander mount an audacious revolt against the corrupt English crown
in a thrilling action-adventure packed with gritty battlefield exploits,
mind-blowing fight choreography, and a timeless romance.” Directed by Otto
Bathurst. Okay, IMDB is lying to you
with that blurb. The fight choreography was far from mind-blowing, and the
romance was not timeless as the two seemed to have no chemistry and felt like
they could barely stand one another. No
one was asking for another Robin Hood movie, and while Taron Egerton and Jaime
Foxx are great, they are not great in this.
The story was nonsense, the action poor, and the set pieces confusing.
There’s a mine, with miners. When has
there ever been a mine in any Robin Hood story?
It’s all just so unnecessary.
Also, Alan Rickman set the bar completely out of reach with his Sheriff
of Nottingham, and while Kevin Costner’s accent is…let’s just say curious…that
movie was almost flawless. Stop trying
to make another Robin Hood movie.
3.
The
Happytime Murders. “When the puppet
cast of a 90s children’s TV show begin to get murdered one by one, a disgraced
LAPD detective-turned-private eye puppet takes on the case.” Directed by
Brian Henson. I feel like this one had
the potential to be really funny, but felt like it wanted to earn that R rating
and so sacrificed some of the comedy to the dirty-ness. I appreciated the fact that there were
outtakes over the end credits that showed that the muppeteers were having a
blast making this, so good for them. Also, the sequence where Melissa McCarthy
gets high on maple syrup and then gets in a fight with some muppet gangsters
was hilarious, but that was the only part I found really funny. The rest
wandered from awkward to gross.
4.
Fantastic
Beasts: Crimes of Grindelwald. “The
second installment on the Fantastic Beasts series featuring the adventures of
Magizoologist Newt Scamander.”
Directed by David Yates. Listen,
I was a casual fan of the Harry Potter movies, and the first Fantastic Beasts
was good. But this just felt like a mess
that tries to incorporate a whole lot of backstory about characters who were
either not mentioned before or were connected from the other series. I kept
feeling like I should have read the book first so I knew who all these people
were, but there was no book for this one.
The creatures were lovely, and they looked amazing, but the rest of it
was just too much. And can we all just collectively agree we are over Johnny
Depp at this point? He’s definitely on my list of nemeses.
5.
Spy Who
Dumped Me. “Audrey and Morgan are
best friends who unwittingly become entangled in an international conspiracy
when one of the women discovers the boyfriend who dumped her was actually a
spy.” Directed by Susanna Fogel. This
is one that is on my worst list due to wasted potential. The idea could have
been funnier than it was, and I feel like it was perhaps a little
over-scripted. Hire more comedians, and let them improv a little more. Kate McKinnon is funny, Mila Kunis is funny,
and together they were funny, but the movie still fell a little flat.
That’s it, an exhaustive summary of last year in my opinion
(just my opinion – certainly not stating any of this as facts!). Did I miss anything? We will see what the
Academy thinks on Sunday, February 24th. It will be tough, there’s no host, and they
keep saying they are not going to televise some of the major categories, so who
knows what is going to happen!
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