Best Films Watched in 2018

Thanks to the irresistible temptations of Netflix and the unfortunate discovery of podcasts, I watched less than 100 movies in 2018, far below my usual tally.

Ah, but in my defense, the proportion of good movies to bad ones was better than average.

I finally got around to compiling a “Best of…” list featuring, as usual, films from just about every genre and era, with a marked preference for original, daring movies that push the envelope and challenge audiences, rather than catering to the lowest common denominator.

No comic book movies, rom-coms or steroid cases in tights. Great cinema is at a premium these days as Hollywood continues to dummy down its “product”; one has to seek further and further afield to discover innovative, artistic visionaries who reject formulas and stereotypes and instead present us with an entirely different perspective, worlds we never imagined before:

“Sorry to Bother You” (2018)  Directed by Boots Riley

“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” (2017)  Directed by Martin McDonagh

“You Were Never Really Here”  (2017)  Directed by Lynne Ramsey

“Killing of a Sacred Deer” (2017)  Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos

“Cash Only” (2015)  Directed by Malik Bader

“Kaleidoscope”  (2017)  Directed by Rupert Jones

“Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie”  (1972)  Directed by Luis Bunuel

“Viridiana” (1961)  Directed by Luis Bunuel

“Exterminating Angel”  (1962)  Directed by Luis Bunuel

“Good Time”  (2017)   Directed by Josh & Benny Safdie

“The Wife”  (2018)  Directed by Bjorn Runge

“Land of Mine” (2015)  Directed by Martin Zandvliet

“Mute”  (2018)  Directed by Duncan Jones

Honorable Mentions:

“In The Loop” (2009)  Directed by Armando Iannucci

“Death of Stalin” (2018)  Directed by Armando Iannucci

“Belle de Jour”  (1967)  Directed by Luis Bunuel

“The Milky Way”  (1969) Directed by Luis Bunuel

“Dunkirk” (2017)  Directed by Christopher Nolan

“Get Out” (2017)  Directed by Jordan Peele

“Night and the City”  (1950)  Directed by Jules Dassin

Best Documentaries:

“Icarus” (2017)  Directed by Bryan Fogel

“They’ll Love Me When I’m Dead” (2017)  Directed by Morgan Neville

“Going Clear”  (2015)  Directed by Alex Gibney

“United States of Amnesia”  (2013)  Directed by Nicholas Wrathall

“Film Worker”  (2017)  Directed by Tony Zierra