I get it; there are a lot of movies that come out throughout the year. You can’t be expected to see all of them, but with 2018 came an entire lineup of great movies that seemingly got passed over, which is unacceptable.
Eighth Grade
(image: A24)
It’s now getting recognition during awards season, but prior to the end of the year, not that many people were really bringing up Eighth Grade that frequently. Following Kayla as she navigates with eighth grade and what it means to be a teenager in this world, it’s a wonderful coming of age tale about a young girl, rather than a boy—something we still see more often than any story about any woman.
As someone who had a very similar eighth grade life to Kayla’s, Eighth Grade was easily one of my favorite movies in 2018, and it should have been something we all tried to see while it was in theaters. So what’s your excuse now?
Blindspotting
(image: Lionsgate)
The greatest thing everyone slept on? Maybe? With a strong message, a clever screenplay, and the talents of Daveed Diggs and Rafael Casal, Blindspotting rightfully earned its spot on Barack Obama’s favorite movie list. An ode to their home of Oakland, Colin (Diggs) and Miles (Casal) work together through Colin’s last few days on parole, but Colin, with two days left on parole, watches as a police officer kills a black man in the street.
Fighting against Miles and his determination to put himself out there as a man from Oakland (despite what it could do to Colin or his own son), the movie is exactly what we need in 2018.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
(image: Sony)
WHY ARE YOU ALL SLEEPING ON THIS MOVIE? How is even this year’s Grinch remake ahead of this movie at the box office? It’s still out in the theaters and is the greatest superhero movie ever made, and no one is going on about it as much as they should be, so please, go and see Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse now, and then four more times so we can all talk about it.
When Kingpin wants to get his wife and son back, he ends up opening up different universes and, as a result, brings all different Spider-people into his world. Together, they must all teach Miles Morales what it means to wear the mask, while finding themselves along the way.
Destroyer
(image: image: Annapurna Pictures)
I’ll give you all the benefit of the doubt: This movie only came out in Los Angeles and New York City on Christmas day. However, critics are currently not talking about it enough, so that’s why I’ll complain. Directed by the amazing Karyn Kusama, Destroyer gives us a gritty Nicole Kidman front and center in a detective story.
Here’s the thing about the movie: It is every kind of detective story I’ve ever loved, but finally with a female lead. Dark, twisty, and with a turn no one could see coming, Destroyer is one that I hope leads Nicole Kidman to another Academy Award.
Bad Times at the El Royale
(image: 20th Century Fox)
Look, there’s no excuse. Chris Hemsworth was dancing with his shirt unbottoned, Cynthia Erivo was so good that Drew Goddard had to tell her to make some mistakes singing, Jeff Bridges gave the performance of a lifetime, and we just all let it pass us by? Unacceptable. Bad Times At The El Royale may have been in my top three of the year. It was just a wonderful time with so many twists and turns that it was a wonderful exploration of a time in our history, as well as how we still are as a society.
Also, it’s just a fun time with wonderful music and costumes and sets, and please, by all that is holy, go watch this masterpiece.
Sorry to Bother You
(image: Annapurna Pictures)
Armie Hammer as, essentially, Chris Pine? Performance artist Tessa Thompson with amazing earrings and words of wisdom? Lakeith Stanfield in cute sweaters trying to save his uncle’s home and climb the ladder? Why, exactly, are we not talking about Sorry to Bother You all day, every day?
Truly about the state of our world and our ideas of “saving” society while diminishing those around us, Sorry to Bother You is an out-there look at where our society is and where we are all heading as a culture. Honestly, I want everyone to see it so we can talk about it and analyze it.
I, Tonya
(image: Neon)
Is my running bit going to be including I, Tonya on every best-of-year list? Maybe! And no one can stop me! It’s perfect, it’s wonderful, and it’s easily one of my favorite movies of all time. I’m counting it as a 2018 movie because that’s when most everyone saw it, but also, I will always include I, Tonya.
Tonya Harding was one of the most promising figure skaters of her time, but because of her financial situation, most judges wouldn’t give her the time of day, and it resulted in her going to extreme measures to “play along” with the idea of what figure skating wanted. Please watch for rabbit fur jackets, Sebastian Stan in a mustache, and one of the greatest soundtracks to ever have existed.
These are just a few of the movies we should have talked about more in 2018, and hopefully we keep talking about them in 2019!
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