My top ten cinema releases of 2018
I posted up my last review of 2018 yesterday (it was Bumblebee by the way) and so that means it is time for me to reflect on the cinema releases I’ve reviewed throughout the year and bring you my top 10.
I’m confident in my top 10 but the order of it keeps changing a fair bit so it is subject to tweaks! These are for U.K. cinema releases only – so some things I saw at festivals this year do not count, and some things I saw in advance in 2017 do. Enjoy!
I had heard great things about this but it was EXCELLENT. People have said in recent years that romcoms have been dying out but 2018 marked the comeback of the good romcom after a run of terrible ones. Crazy Rich Asians starred Constance Wu as a Chinese-American who is made to feel like she’s worthless when she joins her super-wealthy fiance (Henry Golding) at a wedding in China. Heartwarming, hilarious and seriously uplifting.
If you haven’t yet seen BlackKklansman, do yourself a favour and check it out. It is unbelievably based on a true story. John David Washington is an African-American police detective who manages to infiltrate his local chapter of the KKK with the help of Adam Driver. It is fun, completely ridiculous but extremely poignant at the same time.
8. Lady Bird
I have so much love for Lady Bird. The film didn’t have the biggest plot – it basically just followed the life of Saoirse Ronan‘s title character but it is just bloody lovely. Greta Gerwig‘s script was a joy and the supporting cast – including Timothee Chalamet (my fave) and Lucas Hedges – were on top form too.
7. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
This film came up a lot during the awards season earlier this year but it was warranted – it is very smart, very funny (in a dark way) and Frances McDormand gives a sharp, spot-on (Oscar-winning) performance as a mother who rents out three billboards to chastise the local police for failing to find the person responsible for her daughter’s murder.
It is rare for me to love a film adapted from a novel I really enjoyed, but this manages to be just as good as Angie Thomas’ book. That is impressive in itself. Amandla Stenberg is Starr Carter, who is the only witness to a white police officer fatally shooting her childhood friend during a routine traffic stop. This is powerful stuff. I defy you not to cry.
5. Love, Simon
Whenever I think about this film my heart just swells. I have requested it on DVD for Christmas! It just so heart-warming, uplifting etc. It stars Nick Robinson as Simon, a closeted gay teenager whose secret is revealed when he starts an anonymous online conversation with another gay at his high school. More proof that the romcom is well and truly back!
I’m not the biggest horror fan so I would never have predicted one to be on here but A Quiet Place is just next level. It is a horror, but it’s also a family drama starring real-life couple John Krasinski and Emily Blunt as the parents of two children, and they have to stay quiet all the time otherwise they will be hunted by nasty creatures. I was tense the entire time.
I haven’t deliberately steered away from the big blockbuster films on this list, it has just happened that way because there were so many other better films. However, Avengers: Infinity War deserves its place here because it was just absolutely epic. It was an event. How the Russo brothers managed to fit all those characters into one movie is mind-boggling. I cannot wait for Endgame next year but I’m also scared to find out how it all ends!
I have raved about American Animals to a lot of people. It frustrates me that it didn’t get a wide cinema release over here because it should have been seen by more people. Don’t sleep on this folks, check it out if you can! My extremely gushing review will explain more but it basically stars Barry Keoghan and Evan Peters as students who try to pull off a heist and they haven’t a clue what they are doing. I was GRIPPED.
It feels weird to put this as my number one of 2018 when I saw it in October 2017 but there is a reason this won the Best Picture Oscar. I loved it so much. It’s so weird but so brilliant. Sally Hawkins stars as a deaf woman who falls in love with an amphibian creature. She has top support from some of my faves – Michael Shannon, Richard Jenkins and Michael Stuhlbarg. If you haven’t seen it yet, where the heck have you been?!
Honourable mentions – Halloween and Set It Up.
Please let me know what your favourites have been this year in the comments below.