February 23, 2018 -- Here is my list of the best and worst films, best actors, etc. from the year of 2018.

Below this list of top films, are honorable mentions, followed by lists of my picks for top director, top actor, top foreign film, etc. Those lists are followed by lists of the worst films, overrated films, funniest, saddest, most romantic, etc. I've included a Dubious Distinction award for a film of “bad faith.” My top 10 lists include more comedy and films starring black actors, two varieties of movies absent from most top 10 lists. Drama is easy, but comedy is tough to get right.

Page navigation: Commercial Links,  Honorable mention,  Best of by category,  Funniest movies,   Best Love Stories  Saddest movies,  Scariest villain ,  Overrated movies,   Best movies you haven't heard of,   Most disappointing movies,   Dubious Distinction.

1. Green Book There is an old saying that drama is easy and comedy is hard. This film gets both just right, and that is truly rare, making this a movie to treasure. Two very different men take a strange journey through the Deep South in the 1960, overcome their differences and become friends.
2. Paddington 2 This is the perfect antidote to the cynicism, selfishness, xenophobia and hatred of the times we live in. This is a light, touching, magical film with imaginative visuals, interesting characters and an uplifting message. This was originally in my 2017 list of best films, but for some reason, I had to move it to the 2018 list.
3. The China HustleThis documentary is a wake-up call for investors. It uncovers some shocking facts about investments, and how few protections there are for investors victimized by the kinds of scams shown in this film. It also warns about efforts within the Federal Government to further reduce regulatory protections for investors.
4. Roma Roma is full of incredible images and memorable characters. It is a story of life and love — ordinary, down to earth people in extraordinary circumstances.
5. BlacKkKlansman In you hadn't noticed the rise of white supremacists in the U.S. in recent years, Spike Lee reminds us often of it in this film. Lee uses this based-on-fact movie about an amazing investigation into the Ku Klux Klan 40 years ago as a platform to show us the terrible costs of racism, past and present.
6. Tie: Won't You Be My Neighbor? and Three Identical Strangers

Won't You Be My Neighbor? — The fact that Mr. Rogers was a complicated man, with troubling things in his background that contributed to the man he became, takes nothing at all away from the fact that he was wonderful — a gift to the world. This is a wonderful documentary about a wonderful man.

Three Identical Strangers — Twins, separated at birth, somehow find each other. That is an incredible true story in itself, but then it turns out to be triplets, an even better story. That is just the beginning of this amazing documentary film about identical triplets, their families, an adoption agency, and scientists carrying out a secret experiment.

7. The Hate U Give This movie is as moving as anything I've seen this year. It packs a very strong emotional punch, by putting the viewer into a world which is way outside the comfort zone of most white people. It is one thing to intellectually grasp the facts of life for people who live under the constant threat of violence from gangs, police, or federal agents, but it is quite another to enter that world in a film like this.
8. Destroyer In a story about a world weary detective, played brilliantly by Nicole Kidman, the story bounces back and forth in time, revealing more and more about her soul, as each new layer of truth is revealed. We've seen this character before, usually played by a man, but seldom has there been so many character layers revealed in such a dramatic way.
9. Blindspotting This is a powerful, well-acted film with memorable characters. It has a fair amount of humor in it, as well as some poetry, in the form of rap. Director Carlos López Estrada makes good use of imagery, poetry, drama and humor to illustrate what it is like to live as a troubled black man in a racially divided city.
10. First Man The special effects depicting space travel in this movie are loud, violent and claustrophobic, making the dangers of space travel seem more personal. Most movies about space travel show rocket launches, dockings and landings from a distance, making it all seem larger than life, majestic, elegant, controlled — high adventure. This movie makes it seem more like the dangerous, desperate voyages of the ancient explorers, setting off for new worlds across vast and dangerous spaces in flimsy vessels.

Bohemian Rhapsody Hands down, the best music in any movie this year, and the best musical performances as well. Also the best lead actor performance, according to most awards shows anyway, by Rami Malek, who plays lead singer Freddy Mercury in this biopic about Mercury and the rock band Queen.
Sorry to Bother You This is a highly original movie that is very funny, but there is also some serious social commentary in it. The acting is effective and the story moves right along. Director and writer Boots Riley has produced a wonderful screenplay and an extremely impressive debut film.
Can You Ever Forgive Me? Lee Israel and Jack Hock come across as low-rent, marginal scoundrels that we have some sympathy for. They are crooks, but their victims are, for the most part, not entirely innocent either. This film walks that narrow path between these sympathies very adroitly.
Black Panther Black Panther, the most anticipated movie of the year, preceded with as much hype as anticipation, doesn't disappoint despite all that. It lives up to expectations. It is black pride on full display. This is something so rare in American films that it seemed like I was watching a foreign film, made in Wakanda, rather than Hollywood.
Colette This film has a similar story line to that of another 2018 award-winning film, “The Wife,” but “Colette” is based on fact, and the other one is based on fiction. Since this film is based on fact, it has the advantage of being far less predictable.
A Wrinkle in Time This loving adaptation of Madeleine L'Engle's beloved novel is an emotional, visual feast, much needed in these times of division, anger, cynicism and mistrust. It is a tribute to the power of love in a cold, indifferent universe. This movie looks great in 3D. The tragedy is that Disney chose not to release the blu-ray in the 3D format.
They Shall Not Grow Old Rather than trying to do an all-inclusive documentary, Jackson, wisely I think, chose to focus on one aspect of World War One, that is the personal experiences of average British infantrymen fighting the Germans on the Western Front. It is all about life in the trenches as well as deadly machine guns, artillery and poison gas.
Spider-Man into the Spider-Verse This is very fast-paced, smart and high energy story telling. It has some drama, and a lot of comedy. The characters are interesting, and it all looks great. It's fast, it's funny, and it is stylish.

Links to reviews of all the films on this page are indexed in the following web pages:

A through B   C through D   E through G   H through L
M through Q   R through S   T through Z

All of these films have won awards or have been highly rated by some critics groups, or have won praise at some film festivals, or are just rated higher than they ought to be. These are listed alphabetically. Mission: Impossible – Fallout
A Star is Born
Avengers: Infinity War
If Beale Street Could Talk
The Favourite
A Quiet Place
Vice

The China HustleThis informative, scary documentary about the pitfalls of investing in China, opened in only 20 theaters, and it is not available on DVD or blu-ray. The only place I found it for sale or rent is at Amazon.com. No wonder so few have heard of it.
They Shall Not Grow Old This excellent documentary about World War One got a very limited release in some U.S. theaters through Fathom Events on December 17 and 27, 2018. I missed those dates, but luckily, it returned to Laramie the following month, by popular demand. It looks great in 3D, so I hope it will be released as a 3D blu ray. Because of the timing of it's release, it is totally ineligible for the 2018 or 2019 Academy Awards.
Colette This would normally be a French language film, since it is a biopic about a famous French writer, but it is an English language film, with a British star, Keira Knightley, playing the French writer Colette. What is it's market? It had limited distribution in the U.S.
Destroyer Nicole Kidman's brilliant performance as a world-weary detective got some notice, but not enough to raise the profile of this excellent film. Released on Christmas Day, 2018, it played in only 235 U.S. theaters.
Ben is BackJulia Roberts and Lucas Hedges give great performances in this harrowing tale of the costs of drug addiction. Another limited release.
Divide and Conquer: The Story of Roger AilesA movie about the history of Fox News and the man who created it, the late Roger Ailes. People who actually believe Fox News is fair and balanced ought to see this, but probably won't. Another limited release documentary.
Love, GildaIf you have fond memories of watching the late Gilda Radner on Saturday Night Live, or in other venues, you will probably enjoy this wistful documentary about the brilliant, accessible, vulnerable, smart, funny, beautiful Gilda Radner. Another limited release documentary.
The WifeGlenn Close won every acting award, except the Academy Award, for her brilliant performance as the long suffering wife of a famous writer. This fictional story is very similar to that of the true story of the famous French writer, Colette. Another limited release movie.

While I saw most of the best films 2018, I purposefully missed nearly all of the reportedly bad films, including Gotti – The Happytime Murders – Winchester – Holmes & Watson – Robin Hood – Sherlock Gnomes – Death Wish – Slender Man – Death of a Nation – Fifty Shades Freed – Show Dogs – The Possession of Hannah Grace – Nobody's Fool – A-X-L – Breaking In – Peppermint – Midnight Son and Johnny English Strikes Again, among many others. I also missed most of the bad limited release bad films, among many others, so this is not in any way a list of the worst of the worst films, just the worst of the films I saw. I did see The Darkest Minds, Venom, and Mortal Engines, and while they were disappointing, it did not make my “worst of” list, because I went into them with low expectations. I saw Mile 22 and A Wrinkle in Time and liked them far more than most critics did.

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of GrindelwaldI liked the Harry Potter movies and the first Fantastic Beasts movie, but this sequel was a huge letdown to me. Sequels are usually inferior, but this was especially so.
Mary Poppins Returns Based on the reviews of other critics, I was expecting a better movie than this turned out to be. It is not bad, but it falls far short of the 1964 original film in every way it can fall short.
Tomb RaiderI liked the original Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001) but this reboot was a disappointment. It is all cliffhangers with no character development. Some say it is the best video game movie adaptation ever made. If that was true, which it is not, they might just as well give up.

The Bad Faith Award this year goes to Michael Moore's

Fahrenheit 11/9Michael Moore seems to have lost his sense of humor (his saving grace) in this gloom and doom polemic about the shortcomings of politics in America. Moore does a good job documenting the Flint, Michigan water crisis, but then his documentary goes off the rails.

His postmortem of the 2016 Presidential Election, is misleading and off target, way off to the left. His depiction of America as being far more liberal than it really is, also seems misleading. His depiction of President Donald Trump as a Nazi is over the top. Those seeing this film just prior to the November 6, 2018 elections might have been astonished at the election results, which seemed to be just the opposite of the America depicted in this film.

I expect reality-based documentary films from Moore. He is capable of so much more than merely being the Dinesh D'Souza of the left. He's better than this. He is certainly capable of funny films that still carry a strong message. He's done it before. I hope he does it again.

Links to all my reviews are indexed below:

A through B   C through D   E through G   H through I
J through L   M through N   O through Q   R through S   T through Z

Page navigation: Commercial Links,    Honorable mention,  Best of by category,  Funniest movie,   Best Love Stories  Saddest movie,  Scariest villain ,  Overrated movies,   Best movies you haven't heard of,   Most disappointing movies,   Dubious Distinctions.

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