Top Ten Movies of 2018

Another year of watching movies have come and gone, with this year amounting to me having seen 88 different movies in theaters. While I definitely saw some real stinkers (The Commuter, Annihilation, The Darkest Minds, A Wrinkle in Time, Fantastic Beasts: the Crimes of Grindelward), there were a number of great movies I saw. Here are my top 10 favorite movies that I saw in 2018. Number 10, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse: I remember groaning when I learned we were going to get another Spider-Man movie. Boy was I wrong. It was fantastic with a great story and unique animation. While I’ll admit I wasn’t familiar with some of the alternate versions of Spider-Man (Spider-Man Noir and Peni Parker) I enjoyed the various takes of the character within the story and how they all interacted together, along with just the entire take on the whole Spider-Man mythos. Number 9, Bohemian Rhapsody: While I’m aware the screenplay made several alterations regarding the actual history of the band (which my friend Maggie passionately stated), nevertheless it was still a very enjoyable movie. Rami Malek was mesmerizing as Freddie Mercury and the Live Aid concert scene was truly a sight to behold (In retrospect I regret not seeing the movie in IMAX just for that scene alone.) Number 8, Crazy Rich Asians: This was a movie I unexpectedly enjoyed a great deal. The two leads were both likable and compelling, and I especially liked that the ‘villain’ of the movie was not really a villain at all, at least not in the ways you’d expect. Number 7, Won’t You Be My Neighbor: A fascinating documentary about a man many of us grew up with, but didn’t know his full story. He really changed the thought process on how television can be used to educate and help others. What struck me the most was to learn how insecure and doubtful Mr. Rogers was about the work he was doing. We’re often told we’re our own harshest critic, and that’s never more prevalent here. I’d highly recommend others to watch this. Number 6, Anna and the Apocalypse: If Shaun of the Dead was set in high school and filled with songs, it would probably look like this delightful romp. Silly, joyful, heartbreaking and full of delightfully dry humor, it has it all. And the songs are fantastically catchy and wonderful. While they all are great, my favorites were ‘It’s That Time of Year’ (the most inappropriate Christmas song ever) and ‘Turning My Life Around’ (I seriously had to restrain myself from dancing in the theater during this one.) Number 5, Game Night: A hilarious movie where things go from bad to oh so inappropriately worse. There are so many laugh out loud ridiculous moments I lost count. While I was aware that Rachel McAdams could do comedy from Mean Girls, I wasn’t expecting her to be so lovely adorable (she probably had the greatest reaction to seeing someone be brutally murdered ever.) Number 4, DeadPool 2: This movie takes everything from the first one and cranks it up several notches. Ryan Reynolds continues to showcase why Deadpool is one of the best characters’ to hit cinemas. It’s full of even more meta jokes then the first one, and actually managed to have some real heartfelt moments in it. Plus the mid-credits scene alone makes it worth watching. Number 3, Ready Player One: A fantastic journey that showcases more geeky Easter eggs then could ever be found in a single viewing. This movie shows how great it is to be able to escape our lives at time, while also showing the dangers of relying solely on escapism to improve one’s life. Number 2, Avengers: Infinity War: This movie was ten years in the making, and well worth the wait. What made it especially enjoyable for me was how unpredictable it ended up being. Several theories I formed before seeing this movie (the location of the Soul Stone and how finding it will play out, which major characters’ will die and which ones will survive) turned out to be completely wrong, making for a truly unexpected viewing experience. I can’t wait to see how it all concludes with Avengers: Endgame next year. Number 1, Love, Simon: It’s hard for me to truly express how deeply this movie affected me. While it’s not unheard of for me to get emotional during movies, and even at times shed a tear or two, I’ve never been this emotionally affected from a movie before. There were several moments that had me full on crying, with one scene in particular between the main character and his mother that went into full on ugly crying (with me not the only one in the theater affected that hard.) The movie was poignant, heartfelt, funny, heartbreaking, thought provoking and untimely truly uplifting. It will truly touch you. And now for some honorable mentions, that either just missed making the top ten cut, or made the list before being usurped by one of the above mentioned titles: Black Panther (was on the list right up until I saw Spiderverse.) A Simple Favor A Star Is Born Tag I, Tonya Ralph Breaks the Internet Aquaman