Every year I watch around 100 movies. That count includes all the movies I watch from beginning to end. There are dozens more that I watch just part of, usually as I’m channel surfing. I may hit a favorite or something I’ve never seen before. So I stop and watch for a while. So the total number of movies I watch, all or in part, is close to twice that number.
Not all of those movies are good. A few of them are awful. At the bottom of the 2018 movie list is Nightfall (1957). This is a movie that seems to have a lot going for it. An adaptation of one of the most revered science fiction short stories, written by Isaac Asimov, one of the greatest writers in that genre. And a personal favorite in both categories. This movie was awful. God awful. So hideously awful that it earned one of my very rare “0” ratings. On its own merits, it’s a terrible movie. To have started with such great source material and turn out this kind of garbage is unforgivable. Movie and science fiction fans should never watch this movie. Film students should watch it as a cautionary tale, the “bad example” that is educational.
So to wash the memory of that awfulness out of my mind, let’s turn to the movies I enjoyed the most. As always, I do not present this list as “the best” or “the greatest”. I don’t do those kinds of lists and don’t believe anyone outside of the academic film community should do them either. It is possible to watch a movie that others think is great and hate it. There is nothing wrong with that. It’s also possible to watch a movie that the cognoscenti hate and love it. Know why you feel the way you do, and own it. These are the movies that stuck with me long after viewing. So some of my five-star movies did not make this list, while some four-star ones did. Some movies are great but don’t leave me passionate about them. This is the list of movies that I was still talking about days later.
So without further ado, and in no particular order, here are my top 9 movies of 2018.
Let’s start off with a movie with a few flaws, but that I fell head over heels in movie love with, Pork Pie(2017). A low budget, indie film from New Zealand, it suffers from less than inspired writing and direction at times. But the characters and their interaction is so wonderful that I forgave it all its flaws. Basically, this is a “buddy” film but with a different group of buddies. Male and female, young and old. They think they know where they are trying to go, but it’s not where they will end up. (Four-star rating)
Two other four-star movies made the list.
Forbidden Planet (1956) is amazing in its visual quality and storytelling. Even I tend to think of 1950s science fiction movies as cheesy and cheap. Here is what could be done if a studio decided to spend some money on a science fiction movie. It is gorgeous and tells a solid story (it’s Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” for science fiction). Add in the unusual, all electronic score, and the debut of the iconic “Robby the Robot”!
Then there was The Law (1959). Gina Lollobrigida. I mean, seriously. Sex symbol is a term that gets thrown around with abandon these days. You want to see a SEX SYMBOL? Then watch Lollobrigida sizzle in every single scene. The movie is about a woman who takes control of her own sexuality in a time and place where she is expected to follow the men’s rules. The tight constraints that the local tradition known as the “Law” holds over these townspeople sucks the air out of your lungs in some scenes. This was a movie I was still talking about a month after I saw it. Oh, and GINA LOLLOBRIGIDA!
Speaking of movies with flaws, Primer (2004) fascinated me by what it achieved from so little. The budget for this science fiction indie was in the $7,000 range. The cast is made up of friends and family from producer/director/writer/star Shane Carruth. This is a challenging film to watch because he chooses an unusual storytelling technique. There are times when you have no idea what is going on, but the end result is a wonderful experience.
Most of the five-star movies that made the list this year were new to me. I knew all the names but had never seen them. I’ll split the two I knew, first and last.
Dog Day Afternoon (1975) one of the greatest movies of the 1970s, and it holds up well four decades later. Al Pacino and John Cazale play two losers involved in a complicated romantic relationship. Sal (Cazale) is a trans woman in an age when the concept was first being considered. The surgeries required are well beyond their financial means, so they decide to rob a bank. All of the personal shortcomings of the two will bring their plan to its knees. Based on a true story, this is the movie that made Pacino a star. The performance of Cazale tends to be overlooked because of Pacino’s work, but in his short career, this is a stunning and deeply human performance.
The Spy Who Came in From the Cold (1965) is one of the great Cold War spy stories. A John le Carré story with its twists, turns and gritty realism, Richard Burton, and the first screen appearance of the character George Smiley. For any fan of spy movies, especially Cold War-era stories, this is a must see. Burton is brilliant, as always, as a man falling apart.
The Sweet Smell of Success (1967) is dominated by two great actors that modern audiences may not know well – Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis. Here they are the powerful columnist at the top of the entertainment food chain and the bottom of the same chain press agent. They use each other, despise each other and are chained together. All of it surrounded by the incredible shots of late night, ‘50s New York City with an on-point Jazz soundtrack. There aren’t many movies like this one. Stunning.
Rebecca (1940) is what gothic horror looks like. Hitchcock directs Laurence Olivier and Joan Fontaine in the story of a man haunted by the memory of his first wife and the hellish life he creates for his young, second one. The movie received 11 Oscar nominations winning twice as Best Movie and for Cinematography. The movie strikes a strong chord given the issues of the #metoo movement. It has aged very well. I couldn’t take my eyes off the screen.
Moonstruck (1987) is last but not least. This is a movie with an all-star cast (Cher, Nicholas Cage, Olympia Dukakis, Vincent Gardenia, and Danny Aiello, among others), a great director (Norman Jewison) and a brilliant script. Best of all it is a movie that gets the best out of all those elements. I have mentioned before, if you ask me for movies that are “perfect”, where nothing is out of place, no note missed, every aspect done to its best, this will make the list. I seem to go several years between viewings and forget how much I love this movie. It’s about family, love and loss, life and death. Cher is wonderful as a woman caught between family expectations, the death of her husband and a new passion from an unexpected angle. Cage is brilliant as a man emotionally destroyed by an accident that maimed him. Olympia Dukakis and Vincent Gardenia take us into a relationship that has run for many years and now faces the questions of mortality, love and yes, sexual desire. It is such a joy to watch great artists at the top of their games.
So that’s my Top Nine for 2018. Movies that took me somewhere beyond the average viewing experience. Want to agree, disagree, or suggest another movie? Leave them in the comments. Time to start making up my list of movies for 2019!
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