What a great year for the movies! No, really, it was a terrific year. I thought I'd come up with the usual top ten plus ten additional titles, but even a top twenty looked like an injustice. Let's get one thing straight: This is not about the best of Filipino filmmaking. I'll leave that to the Imperial Manila-based cinephiles, with their access to film festivals and exclusive screenings. I can decry the state of film distribution in this country and defend the piracy of non-Filipino films, but I'm not going to do that here. Instead, I'ma talk about the 2017 and 2018 movies that touched me, moved me, stayed with me and made me want more. And if you're wondering about that timeline overlap: watching everything on time? In this country?
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1. Happy as Lazzaro (dir. Alice Rohrwacher)
Starts out as neorealism, then morphs into something between magic and myth. An utterly beguiling gift.
2. Lady Bird (dir. Greta Gerwig)
Love takes limitless form--for parent, lover, friend, place, time--in this perfect reinvention of the American bildungsroman.
3. Three Identical Strangers (dir. Tim Wardle)
Documentary as thriller? Why the hell not.
4. Roma (dir. Alfonso Cuarón)
What should feel small on paper becomes an absorbing, monumental experience onscreen--and yes, this should be seen on the biggest screen possible.
5. Phantom Thread (dir. Paul Thomas Anderson)
Venomous tea featuring catty Daniel Day-Lewis and cattier Lesley Manville should have snagged every screenplay prize last year.
6. Gusto Kita with All My Hypothalamus (dir. Dwein Baltazar)
The best Filipino film I saw in 2018 tickled my mind to no end, then tickled it some more.
7. Call Me by Your Name (dir. Luca Guadagnino)
Can I just be a (vaguely) well-off academic with a villa in the Italian countryside and all the time in the world to just bike around town and swim in rivers and read tons of books?
8. The Death of Stalin (dir. Armando Iannucci)
Cold, nasty, British deadpan satire perfectly executed.
9. Hereditary (dir. Ari Aster)
A first-rate nightmare I so wish I could have written.
10. Private Life (dir. Tamara Jenkins)
A.O. Scott for The New York Times: "A comedy that is sharp but not cruel, a drama that is poignant but not sentimental,... a wonder cabinet of incisive, unshowy performances..."
This is where the photo collage above ends. But like I said, 2018's movie cup runneth over and made an ocean. Here are my next ten:
11. Paki (dir. Giancarlo Abrahan)
Richard Bolisay for CNN Philippines: "...[When] Tolstoy wrote, 'every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way,' he actually meant: 'fucking deal with it.'"
12. Minding the Gap (dir. Bing Liu)
How Liu subtly shifts the conversation from man-boys trying to find themselves to a tale of familial violence is this film's crowning triumph.
13. Signal Rock (dir. Chito S. Roño)
This gem of a small-town story gave us one of the year's funniest--and saddest--lines: "Good morning, Embassy."
14. First Reformed (dir. Paul Schrader)
Natural disaster and spiritual loneliness colliding in Ethan Hawke's career-best work.
15. 22 July (dir. Paul Greengrass)
Mark Harris on Twitter: "I don't know if I can recommend that people see this--it is that harrowing--but I do know it is the work of a deeply moral and searching filmmaker who does nothing thoughtlessly."
16. Leave No Trace (dir. Debra Granik)
Chief among this film's many pleasures is the breakout performance of one Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie.
17. Never Not Love You (dir. Antoinette Jadaone)
Jadine as a mood, mumblecore as Filipino.
18. The Shape of Water (dir. Guillermo del Toro)
This fairy tale had me swooning endlessly.
19. A Private War (dir. Matthew Heineman)
An imperfect, but nevertheless important, piece on why this self-destructing world needs more defenders of truth like the peerless Marie Colvin.
20. First Man (dir. Damien Chazelle)
The universe rendered intimate--and sad, and tangibly frightening--through Ryan Gosling's eyes.
Wait--there's more! In alphabetical order, 19 more titles worth checking out or re-watching: BlacKkKlansman (dir. Spike Lee); Burning (dir. Lee Chang-dong); Changing Partners (dir. Dan Villegas); Ang Dalawang Mrs. Reyes (dir. Jun Robles Lana); Detroit (dir. Kathryn Bigelow); Eighth Grade (dir. Bo Burnham); Exes Baggage (dir. Dan Villegas); Goyo: Ang Batang Heneral (dir. Jerrold Tarog); In the Fade (dir. Fatih Akin); Lean on Pete (dir. Andrew Haigh); Logan (dir. James Mangold); Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (dir. Ol Parker); Meet Me in St. Gallen (dir. Irene Villamor); Mr. and Mrs. Cruz (dir. Sigrid Andrea Bernardo); The Post (dir. Steven Spielberg); Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (dirs. Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey & Rodney Rothman); Support the Girls (dir. Andrew Bujalski); Wind River (dir. Taylor Sheridan); Won't You Be My Neighbor? (dir. Morgan Neville).
As for my favorite non-2017/2018 title that I saw for the first time in 2018, it's a no-brainer: the 1954 Elia Kazan masterpiece "On the Waterfront."
Starts out as neorealism, then morphs into something between magic and myth. An utterly beguiling gift.
2. Lady Bird (dir. Greta Gerwig)
Love takes limitless form--for parent, lover, friend, place, time--in this perfect reinvention of the American bildungsroman.
3. Three Identical Strangers (dir. Tim Wardle)
Documentary as thriller? Why the hell not.
4. Roma (dir. Alfonso Cuarón)
What should feel small on paper becomes an absorbing, monumental experience onscreen--and yes, this should be seen on the biggest screen possible.
5. Phantom Thread (dir. Paul Thomas Anderson)
Venomous tea featuring catty Daniel Day-Lewis and cattier Lesley Manville should have snagged every screenplay prize last year.
6. Gusto Kita with All My Hypothalamus (dir. Dwein Baltazar)
The best Filipino film I saw in 2018 tickled my mind to no end, then tickled it some more.
7. Call Me by Your Name (dir. Luca Guadagnino)
Can I just be a (vaguely) well-off academic with a villa in the Italian countryside and all the time in the world to just bike around town and swim in rivers and read tons of books?
8. The Death of Stalin (dir. Armando Iannucci)
Cold, nasty, British deadpan satire perfectly executed.
9. Hereditary (dir. Ari Aster)
A first-rate nightmare I so wish I could have written.
10. Private Life (dir. Tamara Jenkins)
A.O. Scott for The New York Times: "A comedy that is sharp but not cruel, a drama that is poignant but not sentimental,... a wonder cabinet of incisive, unshowy performances..."
This is where the photo collage above ends. But like I said, 2018's movie cup runneth over and made an ocean. Here are my next ten:
11. Paki (dir. Giancarlo Abrahan)
Richard Bolisay for CNN Philippines: "...[When] Tolstoy wrote, 'every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way,' he actually meant: 'fucking deal with it.'"
12. Minding the Gap (dir. Bing Liu)
How Liu subtly shifts the conversation from man-boys trying to find themselves to a tale of familial violence is this film's crowning triumph.
13. Signal Rock (dir. Chito S. Roño)
This gem of a small-town story gave us one of the year's funniest--and saddest--lines: "Good morning, Embassy."
14. First Reformed (dir. Paul Schrader)
Natural disaster and spiritual loneliness colliding in Ethan Hawke's career-best work.
15. 22 July (dir. Paul Greengrass)
Mark Harris on Twitter: "I don't know if I can recommend that people see this--it is that harrowing--but I do know it is the work of a deeply moral and searching filmmaker who does nothing thoughtlessly."
16. Leave No Trace (dir. Debra Granik)
Chief among this film's many pleasures is the breakout performance of one Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie.
17. Never Not Love You (dir. Antoinette Jadaone)
Jadine as a mood, mumblecore as Filipino.
18. The Shape of Water (dir. Guillermo del Toro)
This fairy tale had me swooning endlessly.
19. A Private War (dir. Matthew Heineman)
An imperfect, but nevertheless important, piece on why this self-destructing world needs more defenders of truth like the peerless Marie Colvin.
20. First Man (dir. Damien Chazelle)
The universe rendered intimate--and sad, and tangibly frightening--through Ryan Gosling's eyes.
Wait--there's more! In alphabetical order, 19 more titles worth checking out or re-watching: BlacKkKlansman (dir. Spike Lee); Burning (dir. Lee Chang-dong); Changing Partners (dir. Dan Villegas); Ang Dalawang Mrs. Reyes (dir. Jun Robles Lana); Detroit (dir. Kathryn Bigelow); Eighth Grade (dir. Bo Burnham); Exes Baggage (dir. Dan Villegas); Goyo: Ang Batang Heneral (dir. Jerrold Tarog); In the Fade (dir. Fatih Akin); Lean on Pete (dir. Andrew Haigh); Logan (dir. James Mangold); Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (dir. Ol Parker); Meet Me in St. Gallen (dir. Irene Villamor); Mr. and Mrs. Cruz (dir. Sigrid Andrea Bernardo); The Post (dir. Steven Spielberg); Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (dirs. Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey & Rodney Rothman); Support the Girls (dir. Andrew Bujalski); Wind River (dir. Taylor Sheridan); Won't You Be My Neighbor? (dir. Morgan Neville).
As for my favorite non-2017/2018 title that I saw for the first time in 2018, it's a no-brainer: the 1954 Elia Kazan masterpiece "On the Waterfront."
* * * * *
My favorite performances of the year are of two mothers in two horror films: EMILY BLUNT in "A Quiet Place" & TONI COLLETTE in "Hereditary." It doesn't look like it's happening anymore, but imagine the two of them as Oscar nominees. What a concept, right? Here are eighteen more individuals that truly made the past year in the movies a wonder, with two of them turning in more than one stellar work:
- Mackenzie Davis (Tully)
- Elsie Fisher (Eighth Grade)
- James Franco (The Disaster Artist)
- Ryan Gosling (First Man)
- Danai Gurira (Black Panther)
- Kathryn Hahn (Private Life)
- Anne Hathaway (Ocean's 8)
- Ethan Hawke (First Reformed)
- Lily James (Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again)
- Blake Lively (A Simple Favor)
- Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie (Leave No Trace)
- Harry Melling (The Ballad of Buster Scruggs)
- Bela Padilla (Meet Me in St. Gallen)
- Angelica Panganiban (Exes Baggage; Ang Dalawang Mrs. Reyes)
- Haley Lu Richardson (Columbus; Support the Girls)
- Margot Robbie (I, Tonya)
- JC Santos (Mr. and Mrs. Cruz)
- Meryl Streep (The Post)
- Timothée Chalamet & Michael Stuhlbarg (Call Me by Your Name)
- Daniel Day-Lewis & Lesley Manville (Phantom Thread)
- Sally Hawkins & Richard Jenkins (The Shape of Water)
- Julia Roberts & Lucas Hedges (Ben Is Back)
- Saoirse Ronan & Laurie Metcalf (Lady Bird)
- The climactic battle sequence in "Goyo: Ang Batang Heneral" giving "Saving Private Ryan" a run for its money.
- Publio Briones III as quintessential vessel for the dry, Bisaya humor of "A Short History of a Few Bad Things" ("Do not Tagalog me!").
- National treasure Angeli Bayani physically and verbally assaulting Nova Villa in "Miss Granny."
- Rose Byrne as impromptu medic in "Game Night."
- Zazie Beetz as the luckiest person in the world--literally--during that hilarious landing sequence in "Deadpool 2."
As for television, well, it's an impossible, titanic job, really, which is why I'm perpetually in awe of how my Inquirer-Theater co-reviewer Emil Hofileña does it.
But: The best TV I saw in 2018 was, hands down, the abso-fucking-lutely brilliant second season of "Atlanta," subtitled "Robbin' Season." Not a second wasted in this genius season. Did it win the Emmy? No. Why? Because the Emmys are shit.
If my boat had room for only one more name, I would, without a doubt, give it to the pilot season of HBO's "Succession"--brutal comedy masquerading as brutal family-under-fire drama.
But: The best TV I saw in 2018 was, hands down, the abso-fucking-lutely brilliant second season of "Atlanta," subtitled "Robbin' Season." Not a second wasted in this genius season. Did it win the Emmy? No. Why? Because the Emmys are shit.
If my boat had room for only one more name, I would, without a doubt, give it to the pilot season of HBO's "Succession"--brutal comedy masquerading as brutal family-under-fire drama.
Other notables: "Fresh Off the Boat" Season 3 (one twenty-minute, LOL episode after another); "American Vandal" Season 2 (not as brilliant as the first season, but still brilliant); "Mozart in the Jungle" Season 4 (psychedelic show achieving peak form in a Japanese-themed, dream-sequence episode titled "Ichi Go Ichi E"); every time Billy Porter and/or Indya Moore and/or Evan Peters were onscreen in the premiere season of "Pose"; the "Two Storms" episode of "The Haunting of Hill House"; "The Crown" Season 2, but especially the Margaret-centric episode "Beryl," where Vanessa Kirby just smoldered until the credits started rolling; "Big Little Lies" Season 1 (I was fashionably late to the party, I know); "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" Season 1 (fun, fun, fun, even though Emily Nussbaum says it's grossly anachronistic).
* * * * *
SEE ALSO:
The Year in Film (2014)
PLUS: My 2018 Screen Log, which I discontinued sometime in August.
Log 1 // Log 2 // Log 3 // Log 4 // Log 5 // Log 6 // Log 7 // Log 8 // Log 9
Log 10 // Log 11 // Log 12 // Log 13 // Log 14 // Log 15 // Log 16 // Log 17
Log 18 // Log 19 // Log 20 // If I Had a Vote at the 2018 Academy Awards
PLUS: My 2018 Screen Log, which I discontinued sometime in August.
Log 1 // Log 2 // Log 3 // Log 4 // Log 5 // Log 6 // Log 7 // Log 8 // Log 9
Log 10 // Log 11 // Log 12 // Log 13 // Log 14 // Log 15 // Log 16 // Log 17
Log 18 // Log 19 // Log 20 // If I Had a Vote at the 2018 Academy Awards
