It's that time of the year! 2019 is upon us, but for now, let's take a moment to look back at the year of 2018 in movies, and reflect on why it was once again a great year in the cinema. Obviously, I have my personal Top 10 list, but here are the five movies that just miss out on that list. If 2018 had ended somewhere in October or November, some of these movies would have easily been in my Top 10. Since 2018 ends in December, and I've seen a lot of movies in that month as well, they got unfortunately bumped out. But still, I implore you to check these movies out. See it for the first time if you haven't seen them before or if you have seen them, rewatch them. And if you have some honorable mentions, please do write on the comment below! Also, there are some on this list that I didn't have the chance to review on this website, but for the ones that I've got the chance to review in-depth, there's a link underneath. In alphabetical order, here we go:
Avengers: Infinity War
A culmination of the MCU's 10 year run, Infinity War is the rare superhero blockbuster that capably straddles its high-stakes premise with tiny character
moments of drama and humor. The gravity of the superheroes' stakes are
deeply felt, and at the center of the nightmare is this year's most
badass, tragic villain Thanos. Beyond just end-to-end superhero fights, Infinity War also offers an emotional journey that's punctuated by a cliffhanger ending that will forever linger in its audience's mind.
Crazy Rich Asians
There is a reason why people call Crazy Rich Asians a "cultural phenomenon". Genre-wise, it's classified as a romantic comedy, but thematically, it's first and foremost a movie about the Asian experience. Constance Wu and Henry Golding are sweet and witty as a romantic couple, but the movie understands that the most intriguing conflict in the story isn't the romance. It's the cultural clash between the rich and the poor, the privileged and the underprivileged amongst Asians that ranks it above generic rom-com flicks. Not to mention the lavish production design and Kina Grannis' stunning cover of Elvis Presley's "Can't Help Falling in Love" which makes the experience all the more cinematic.
First Man
On a technical standpoint, the moon landing sequence in the finale alone is worth the admission fee. But the thing that differentiates Damien Chazelle's First Man with other space exploration biopics is the personal focus. It is a film
that allows its audience to inhabit the mind and family life of Neil
Armstrong and go deep behind the helmet at his struggle with grief as
well as struggle to connect with people on a human level, that's powerfully acted by Ryan Gosling in the lead role and Claire Foy as Neil's wife Janet (the latter is nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the Golden Globes).
Isle of Dogs
Wes Anderson picks up from where he left off in Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) with the stop-motion animated wonder Isle of Dogs. Anderson's knack for symmetrical shots, miniature settings and offbeat humor feels so at home with his rough-around-the-edges, yet fantastical vision of dystopian Japan that's beautifully rendered in such a poetic and slapsticky way (it even had mushroom clouds to depict dogs fighting). Visuals aside, Anderson also has a lot to say story-wise, particularly with the movie's many Holocaust allusions. He uses the man v. dog conflict to address timely issues like immigration, deportation to race equality.
Upgrade
Good news: we actually have a good Venom movie this year. Bad news: it's not Tom Hardy's Venom. With a meager budget of only $3-5 million, James Wan's frequent collaborator Leigh Whannell inadvertently educates Sony-Marvel on how to do Venom's body horror concept properly in Upgrade, a bonkers, R-rated techno thriller that deftly balances dark comedy, balls-to-the-walls action and bone-crunching gore.
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