Favorite movies of 2018

This year started off with one of the goofiest movies I’d see all year: Murder on the Orient Express. I watched it with my friend Magda in Osaka right after the new year, in my “watch bad movies in Japan” tradition. Luckily, I also saw some amazing films:

Hunt for the Wilderpeople

This was the first great movie I saw in 2018—everyone was giving their all, and it was a delight. Family, rebellion, loss… ugh, I want to rewatch this right now.

Black Panther

Can you believe this came out in 2018? I got to see it in Oakland, and the crowd was dressed to the nines, and stoked AF about it. I saw Black Panther twice, and it’s the first super hero film in a while that made me smile and cheer throughout.

Annihilation

I loved this movie, for all that it didn’t hew to the book, and was bizarre. I’d loved the trilogy when I read it, but also enjoy Alex Garland’s films generally. I can’t say why I love this movie, but I do, and I saw it more than once.

Sorry to Bother You

I can’t say much about this indictment of capitalism and the gig-economy without spoiling it, but it’s excellent and you should go see it.

Widows

This movie felt like a dunk on the lackluster Oceans 8, and had everything I could want. The stakes were high, and even if it wasn’t the best at sustaining mystery, every woman in this film was outstanding.

The Favourite

Outstanding lesbian film. The humor in this movie was truly strange, and joyful. I feel like The Favourite came out of nowhere and blew me away, and except for a minor amount of rabbit-based fear, I was all the way here for it.