Ronin’s Top 13 Best Movies of 2018
I gotta be honest, I’m not thrilled with this list, mainly because I feel it’s too short. Seeing too many good movies can lead to some painful cuts, but the opposite means putting some entries on the list proper that I normally would stick on the Honorable Mentions. It’s not for lack of trying — I certainly wanted to see Wreck-It Ralph 2, On the Basis of Sex, Annihilation, and surprisingly even Bumblebee! But at the same time, I don’t want to drag my feet on this list anymore because I want to get back on track for seeing more movies. You know the rules, so let’s get to the countdown!
Right, okay. Allow me to vent for a moment.
Last year when I said that the Star Wars fanbase had barely missed winning “Worst Fanbase of 2017,” that was not meant to be taken as a challenge. But jeez, with the debacle of bullying Kelly Marie Tran off the Internet, among many other things, I guess you really wanted the honors, huh? Take your award. Now all you toxic fans go off to live on a deserted island and start your own Jonestown-esque ascension cult.
Sorry… sorry… that got away from me. I love Star Wars and I despise having to wade through the worst of the fandom whenever it gets brought up.
So Deadpool’s been passed out drunk since his movie did so well, which should color my perceptions of it, but that’s just not possible. Even if it wasn’t as quotable as its predecessor, it was still outrageously funny. I also have to give it credit for having the best stinger of any Marvel movie thus far, particularly his going back in time to shoot the poor imitation of him in X-Men Origins: Wolverine and his own freaking actor before he could say yes to the Green Lantern movie. It’s that kind of irreverence that makes it a winner in my book. Isn’t that right, Deadpool?
Mmuuurrrrrhh… put the hay in the apple and eat the candle… graaaawwww…
Yeah, that sounds about right.
Is it bad that it took me way longer than I should have to realize that the title is a pun of “I love dogs?” Well, it’s still all of what I love in Wes Anderson films bundled up into one movie, so I’m comfortable missing such an obvious one.
There’s a bit of coincidence here because some months after the long awaited release of The Incredibles 2, another Disney property, the video game Kingdom Hearts, released its latest entry, Kingdom Hearts III, and both sequels had been awaited for 14 years. Now I haven’t played Kingdom Hearts III yet, but I’m told that quite a few people were disappointed with it, whereas The Incredibles 2 was able to recapture the magic of the original, update it with the times, and give us quite a few endearing new characters to enjoy. While I may think the twist villain was a little weak, it was still… incredible.
Boy, did this year have a lot of romances and this isn’t going to be the last one on this list. But yeah, this is was a huge step for progressive filmmaking, showing that gays can be anything — even complete jerkwads. For real, though, I loved how out there and creative this script got, proving that there’s a lot of good content on Netflix to balance out the junk.
#8: To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before
In the grand rush of straight-to-Netflix romance movies, this beautiful beast brought home the gold medal. Out of all of them, there was something very genuine and relatable about this movie, owing in no small part to a great performance by the star, Lana Condor. By the way, I didn’t have a chance to mention this in the review, but Lana was actually in X-Men: Apocalypse as Jubilee and judging by her performance here, she got shafted big time when her role got cut down there. Seeing as this movie’s getting a sequel sometime soon, I hope there’s more great things in her future.
Never let it be said that I have a bias against DC Comics. I’ve called them out quite a few times in the past, whether for some really terrible movies or ethically questionable decisions, but when they get it right, it’s freaking beautiful. Such was the case with The Death of Superman, one of the best animated movies they’ve put out thus far. I might even say that it ties or comes close to the quality of Batman: Under the Red Hood and that one nearly brought me to tears. Plus, it has one of the funniest revelations of Clark’s secret that I’ve ever seen. Long live Superman.
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before reigned as the champion of Netflix romances. But if we’re talking about a romance movie with an Asian lead, move over because this is taking home the grand prize. I’ll admit that I’m judging this more on the impact it had more that the overall quality (which, don’t get me wrong, is still amazing), but that’s because I can recognize when something isn’t aimed directly at me. Multitudes of Asians on social media have sung its praise on how it nails their culture, which tells me that the movie nailed what it was setting out to do. It’s a giant middle finger to the prejudice against Asians in Hollywood highlighted by the movie Slanted Screen and I love it for that. So much. Onward goes the march of progress.
I can’t lie, the Hollywooded-up script and the change from Freddie being bisexual to just gay gets under my skin quite a bit. Despite this, I was enraptured by this movie and I still find myself reliving parts in my head. Plus, I simply cannot undersell Rami Malik’s portrayal of Freddie Mercury, which is stellar. Not much to say except… EEEEEEEEEEEY-OH!
#4: The MCU Films
As if the late, great Stan Lee wouldn’t make some kind of impact on this list. I’m sad that the MCU movies of last year got shunted to the Honorable Mentions because I resolved that year to group all MCU movies of a year together just so that the lists would be more fair. Still, it was nigh impossible to say which of these were better than the others, so let’s look at them in alphabetical order.
Ant-Man and the Wasp – While not nearly as quotable as the others, this was still boatloads of fun and quality writing.
Black Panther – Wow… seven Oscar nominations, including Best Picture. While I doubt it’s going to win that particular nugget, this film really is that good. This would probably be higher on my list than the others, but not by much.
Avengers: Infinity War – Guess the whole alphabetical thing kinda crumbles with this one, huh? A mosaic built from ten years of movies that snapped its way into popular consciousness. It performed so well and had such a lasting impact that it even made Star Wars of all things start saying, “Mr. Walt, I don’t feel so good…”
Or as I like to call it, Anxiety: The Movie. Seriously, when you’ve built such a good atmosphere that theater-goers are scared to chew their popcorn, lest the creatures hear them, you know you’ve got something amazing. I’m on the fence about wanting a sequel because while I’d love to see more, I don’t want them to Cloverfield it or have a Star Wars prequel on their hands. I still maintain that this will be taught in film classes for years to come, as it should be.
#2: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Yeah… okay… it’s the greatest Spider-Man film ever made. I concede, though not with shame. This movie is so groundbreaking that it’s destined to become a classic and I hope it goes on to make Miles Morales a household name. I’ve watched the scene where Miles takes his leap of faith several times over and it still gives me chills. It barely missed out being number one on my list… but I think you’ll all be okay with that.
And before we see what kept the Spider-Folk from taking the top spot, here are some gems that didn’t quite make the cut.
Honorable Mentions
What can I say? It was a cool movie and hopefully it’ll help erase the stigma of Aquaman’s status as a joke hero. God, the Superfriends cartoon had a bad impact on the world…
Ah, yes… please excuse me while I cry into a pile of stuffed animals forever.
Oh, those wacky Russian dictators. I can’t wait until a similar movie about Trump and Putin gets made. Would that be a sequel or a spiritual successor?
Hey… it’s cute.
While the whole catfishing angle is really reprehensible, I give this a spot because of the strength of its dialogue and onscreen chemistry. Also, that English teacher.
And for one last stop, let’s check out that special interest category I’ll be doing from now on.
Retroactive Recognition Award
I’m bummed that I missed this movie when it came out because it would have definitely made last year’s list (or at least the honorable mentions). Still, best give it credit now for being a funny, charming, and smart flick about the Antichrist’s family issues.
Yeah, I know, the Honorable Mentions weren’t as bulky this year. See what I mean by not being thrilled with this list? Well, don’t take that to mean that the entries are weak because there were some amazing movies this year and this one will always hold a place in my heart.
You can go ahead and say this one’s too Hollywood or doesn’t push enough boundaries, but I stand by this pick because of both the quality of the movie and of the impact it had on the world at large. It’s progressive stance is admirable, but more so the fact that the studio put as much effort, heart, and talent into a gay romance movie that they would a straight romance movie, especially with how amazing it turned out. I’ve had a hard time crying at movies in previous years (I was like a rock at the beginning of Up), but the two times I’ve seen this movie, I’ve teared up without fail at the ending.
This is a movie that I have absolutely no complaints about. The characters (save for Martin, the slimeball), events, and interactions are full of charm and true electricity while the story itself was one that people of all orientations could relate to. However, the real magic came from seeing this in the theater and witnessing people, especially youngsters that will grow to be the ruling generation one day, erupt into applause multiple times when Simon [SPOILERS] gets his big kiss at the end. [WE’RE PAST THE SPOILERS] Heck, there were even testimonials online of parents coming to understand and accept their queer kids by watching this movie. In fact, the movie was so powerful, it helped one of the key characters to publicly come out!
While it’s easy to claim that a movie will be influential, we’re seeing those effects right now. This year was full of LGBT heroes finding their voice and leading the charge in the mainstream light was Simon Spier, telling a wide audience that every orientation deserves their love story. The year Twenty-Gayteen was here and queer and I couldn’t be more grateful.
***
As always, if there were any I missed or entries you disagreed with, feel free to sound off in the comments and remember, keep it civil. Here’s hoping that this next year will bring us even more amazing film gems.
Goto Home Page
Posted under