2018's Ten Best!

Yes folks, its time for you to know what I liked the best this year of the dozens of movies I saw! 

10 - "Black Panther":  A great film with a great story line and visuals.  Very well done.

9 - "First Man":  A well done, if a bit slow paced, tale of the first man to walk on the moon.  Gives us a look at our hero as the distant, kind of obnoxious man he was as opposed to the rose colored ideal.

8 - "Support The Girls":  A day in the life of a dedicated manager at a Hooters style restaurant and the girls she manages.  Brilliant character study.

7 - "Deadpool 2":  Hysterical, off color and almost as good as the original. 

6 - "22 July":  Harrowing Netflix released film about the 2011 attacks on a government building and a youth camp in Norway.  Far better than a "direct to streaming" release has any business being.

5 - "Halloween":  Yet another in the series, and it maintains the 10 year cycle of each 10th year movie being the only ones worth watching.  Respectful of the source and a great watch.

4 - "Bohemian Rhapsody":  Compressed timeline will annoy long time fans, but theres no doubt that Remi Malek deserves a best actor nod for his almost perfect transformation into the legendary Freddie Mercury.

3 - "Avengers: Infinity War":  Magnificent lead in to what may be the end of the current run of films and sets up the next run with excitement and thrills.  The Marvel machine rolls on!!

2 - "Revenge":  A beautiful young woman goes off with her rich married boyfriend to a hunting retreat.  While there, his friends arrive early and things get out of hand.  Following her rape by one of his friends, her boyfriend pushes her from a cliff to her presumed death to protect his marriage.  She didn't die...and she's out for vengeance.  From the first frame, the film pulls you in and has you rooting for her to get the justice she deserves. 

1 - "Eighth Grade":  Kayla is almost done with 8th grade.  Next year, off to high school and a fresh start for this introverted, shy and nearly friendless young girl.  However, in the last week of school, Kayla will learn a lot about life, friendships, mean girls and herself.  The hands down best film of the year, something we can all relate to.  You'll ache and cheer for Kayla as she handles the ups and downs of almost high school.  Brilliant and should be far more viewed than it has been.

10 Worst of 2018

Here are the 10 worst movies that I saw in 2018.  And away we go.............

10.  "I Kill Giants":  From an acclaimed graphic novel comes this steaming pile of crap.

9.  "The Strangers: Prey at Night".  Came too far behind the original and wasn't an eighth as clever or scary.

8.  "Venom":  Now fanboys can argue over who was worse, Topher Grace or Tom Hardy.

7.   "1517 to Paris":  True story of American servicemen who stopped a terror attack on a French train while on vacation, and starring them?  Fun idea but clearly Clint's eyes are already out if he thought those screen tests were acceptable.

6.  "A Simple Favor":  No real friend would ask you to sit through this.

5.  "Pacific Rim: Uprising":  One would think giant robots fighting monsters would at least be fun, mind numbing entertainment, but this film will prove you wrong!

4.  "Red Sparrow":  The only thing that could make a naked Jennifer Lawrence unbearable is having to see it in this film.

3.  "Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom":  You know its bad when Jeff Goldblum is the highlight of the film.

2.  "Assassination Nation":  A small town wants to kill a clique of high school girls after a hacker unleashes the towns secrets.  We'd have been better off just nuking the town, the actors and the filmmakers.

1.  "  Best F(r)iends: Vol. 1"  After the "so bad its good" of "The Room", I had similar hopes for the filmmakers second outing together.  Nope, this one was so bad it wasnt even watchable.

Oscars 2018!!

Here is our final list of picks for this years Oscars.  Our picks are in italics.

Best Picture:

“Call Me by Your Name”

“Darkest Hour”

“Dunkirk”

“Get Out”

“Lady Bird”

“Phantom Thread”

“The Post”

“The Shape of Water”

“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”

Lead Actor:

Timothée Chalamet, “Call Me by Your Name”

Daniel Day-Lewis, “Phantom Thread”

Daniel Kaluuya, “Get Out”

Gary Oldman, “Darkest Hour”

Denzel Washington, “Roman J. Israel, Esq.”

Lead Actress:

Sally Hawkins, “The Shape of Water”

Frances McDormand, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”

Margot Robbie, “I, Tonya”

Saoirse Ronan, “Lady Bird”

Meryl Streep, “The Post”

Supporting Actor:

Willem Dafoe, “The Florida Project”

Woody Harrelson, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”

Richard Jenkins, “The Shape of Water”

Christopher Plummer, “All the Money in the World”

Sam Rockwell, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”

Supporting Actress:

Mary J. Blige, “Mudbound”

Allison Janney, “I, Tonya”

Lesley Manville, “Phantom Thread”

Laurie Metcalf, “Lady Bird”

Octavia Spencer, “The Shape of Water”

Director:

“Dunkirk,” Christopher Nolan

“Get Out,” Jordan Peele

“Lady Bird,” Greta Gerwig

“Phantom Thread,” Paul Thomas Anderson

“The Shape of Water,” Guillermo del Toro

Animated Feature:

“The Boss Baby,” Tom McGrath, Ramsey Ann Naito

“The Breadwinner,” Nora Twomey, Anthony Leo

“Coco,” Lee Unkrich, Darla K. Anderson

“Ferdinand,” Carlos Saldanha

“Loving Vincent,” Dorota Kobiela, Hugh Welchman, Sean Bobbitt, Ivan Mactaggart, Hugh Welchman

Animated Short:

“Dear Basketball,” Glen Keane, Kobe Bryant

“Garden Party,” Victor Caire, Gabriel Grapperon

“Lou,” Dave Mullins, Dana Murray

“Negative Space,” Max Porter, Ru Kuwahata

“Revolting Rhymes,” Jakob Schuh, Jan Lachauer

Adapted Screenplay:

“Call Me by Your Name,” James Ivory

“The Disaster Artist,” Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber

“Logan,” Scott Frank & James Mangold and Michael Green

“Molly’s Game,” Aaron Sorkin

“Mudbound,” Virgil Williams and Dee Rees

Original Screenplay:

“The Big Sick,” Emily V. Gordon & Kumail Nanjiani

“Get Out,” Jordan Peele

“Lady Bird,” Greta Gerwig

“The Shape of Water,” Guillermo del Toro, Vanessa Taylor

“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” Martin McDonagh

Cinematography:

“Blade Runner 2049,” Roger Deakins

“Darkest Hour,” Bruno Delbonnel

“Dunkirk,” Hoyte van Hoytema

“Mudbound,” Rachel Morrison

“The Shape of Water,” Dan Laustsen

Best Documentary Feature:

“Abacus: Small Enough to Jail,” Steve James, Mark Mitten, Julie Goldman

“Faces Places,” JR, Agnès Varda, Rosalie Varda

“Icarus,” Bryan Fogel, Dan Cogan

“Last Men in Aleppo,” Feras Fayyad, Kareem Abeed, Soren Steen Jepersen

“Strong Island,” Yance Ford, Joslyn Barnes

Best Documentary Short Subject:

“Edith+Eddie,” Laura Checkoway, Thomas Lee Wright

“Heaven is a Traffic Jam on the 405,” Frank Stiefel

“Heroin(e),” Elaine McMillion Sheldon, Kerrin Sheldon

“Knife Skills,” Thomas Lennon

“Traffic Stop,” Kate Davis, David Heilbroner

Best Live Action Short Film:

“DeKalb Elementary,” Reed Van Dyk

“The Eleven O’Clock,” Derin Seale, Josh Lawson

“My Nephew Emmett,” Kevin Wilson, Jr.

“The Silent Child,” Chris Overton, Rachel Shenton

“Watu Wote/All of Us,” Katja Benrath, Tobias Rosen

Best Foreign Language Film:

“A Fantastic Woman” (Chile)

“The Insult” (Lebanon)

“Loveless” (Russia)

“On Body and Soul (Hungary)

“The Square” (Sweden)

Film Editing:

“Baby Driver,” Jonathan Amos, Paul Machliss

“Dunkirk,” Lee Smith

“I, Tonya,” Tatiana S. Riegel

“The Shape of Water,” Sidney Wolinsky

“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” Jon Gregory

Sound Editing:

“Baby Driver,” Julian Slater

“Blade Runner 2049,” Mark Mangini, Theo Green

“Dunkirk,” Alex Gibson, Richard King

“The Shape of Water,” Nathan Robitaille, Nelson Ferreira

“Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” Ren Klyce, Matthew Wood

Sound Mixing:

“Baby Driver,” Mary H. Ellis, Julian Slater, Tim Cavagin

“Blade Runner 2049,” Mac Ruth, Ron Bartlett, Doug Hephill

“Dunkirk,” Mark Weingarten, Gregg Landaker, Gary A. Rizzo

“The Shape of Water,” Glen Gauthier, Christian Cooke, Brad Zoern

“Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” Stuart Wilson, Ren Klyce, David Parker, Michael Semanick

Production Design:

“Beauty and the Beast,” Sarah Greenwood; Katie Spencer

“Blade Runner 2049,” Dennis Gassner, Alessandra Querzola

“Darkest Hour,” Sarah Greenwood, Katie Spencer

“Dunkirk,” Nathan Crowley, Gary Fettis

“The Shape of Water,” Paul D. Austerberry, Jeffrey A. Melvin, Shane Vieau

Original Score:

“Dunkirk,” Hans Zimmer

“Phantom Thread,” Jonny Greenwood

“The Shape of Water,” Alexandre Desplat

“Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” John Williams

“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” Carter Burwell

Original Song:

“Mighty River” from “Mudbound,” Mary J. Blige

“Mystery of Love” from “Call Me by Your Name,” Sufjan Stevens

“Remember Me” from “Coco,” Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Robert Lopez

“Stand Up for Something” from “Marshall,” Diane Warren, Common

“This Is Me” from “The Greatest Showman,” Benj Pasek, Justin Paul

Makeup and Hair:

“Darkest Hour,” Kazuhiro Tsuji, David Malinowski, Lucy Sibbick

“Victoria and Abdul,” Daniel Phillips and Lou Sheppard

“Wonder,” Arjen Tuiten

Costume Design:

“Beauty and the Beast,” Jacqueline Durran

“Darkest Hour,” Jacqueline Durran

“Phantom Thread,” Mark Bridges

“The Shape of Water,” Luis Sequeira

“Victoria and Abdul,” Consolata Boyle

Visual Effects:

“Blade Runner 2049,” John Nelson, Paul Lambert, Richard R. Hoover, Gerd Nefzer

“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2,” Christopher Townsend, Guy Williams, Jonathan Fawkner, Dan Sudick

“Kong: Skull Island,” Stephen Rosenbaum, Jeff White, Scott Benza, Mike Meinardus

“Star Wars: The Last Jedi,”  Ben Morris, Mike Mulholland, Chris Corbould, Neal Scanlan

“War for the Planet of the Apes,” Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, Daniel Barrett, Joel Whist