Best Performances of 2018

In an age of special effects and ever expanding budgets, solid performances are what sets many movies apart. They carry the emotional weight of a movie and have the ability to make you laugh or cry or cry from laughing. These are the very best actors and actresses from this past year.

This year had some familiar faces in new territory. Daniel Kaluuya broke out last year in the hit Get Out, and his resume continues to grow with a villain turn in Widows. Ethan Hawke plays a somber priest who begins to spiral out of control when confronting some of the evils of the world in First Reformed. Another Get Out alum in Lakeith Stanfield got a star turning role in Sorry to Bother You, as a telemarketer who begins to see through the facade of the corporate world. Michael B. Jordan brought some heart to an other despicable Kilmonger in Black Panther.

But the best performance of the year comes in the form of Christian Bale playing Dick Cheney in Vice. Bale again had a dramatic weight gain and the results were stunning. Initially, I was unsure how Bale could ever look like Cheney, but the two become almost indistinguishable. But the similarities did not stop at the looks. Bale nailed the diction of the former Vice President, and gave him some heart that the man himself might not even deserve.

The ladies had some A-plus performances as well. Stephanie Germanotta (aka Lady Gaga) delivered a powerful first performance in A Star is Born, as a struggling artist looking for her big break. Claire Foy, star of Unsane, plays a woman who may or may not be suffering from a mental break, and shows all the anxiety and fear that such a situation would bring. Emma Stone plays a servant looking to expand her role within Queen Anne's court in The Favourite. And Elsie Fisher breaks out in Eighth Grade, a harrowing look into the terrors of middle school in this decade.

Toni Collette is my female performance of the year for her role in Hereditary. Starring as the mother of a family of four, Collette begins the movie grieving over the death of her own mother, and could be described as in various states of depression throughout the film. Without going into spoilers, the last 30 minutes of the movie have some of the best and most terrifying images from the year, with Collette providing many of the scares herself. If you missed Hereditary, I would definitely recommend checking it out if you can handle horror movies.

Top 5 Action Movies 2018

Action movies thrill, excite, and get your adrenaline pumping. Some are award worthy, others are filled with cheesy one liners, and some are the perfect mix of both.

Honorable Mentions:

5. Den of Thieves

The most macho movie on the list, Den of Thieves is by no means a great movie, but it has some solid set pieces and a classic hard broiled cop in Gerard Butler. The story follows a group of criminals as they attempt to rob the United States treasury. It goes to some obvious places but still has some tense scenes. Currently on demand.

4. The Night Comes for Us

The most blood soaked entry on the list, this movie follows a gangland enforcer who refuses to kill a child who witnesses one of his gang’s crimes. The gang decides to send its members after the enforcer, leading to some of the greatest action scenes since The Raid. The pure insanity on display with the hand-to-hand combat looks stunning and the choreography is incredibly precise. Currently streaming on Netflix.

3. Sicario: Day of the Soldado

Not as good a movie as the original but might be a better action movie than its predecessors. Day of the Soldado follows Josh Brolin and Benicio Del Toro as they continue to work around the US/Mexico border. Gone is the broodiness of the predecessor and it is replaced with guns, gore, and explosions. Currently streaming on major platforms.

2. Avengers: Infinity War

The beginning of the conclusion for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Infinity War features team ups and beat downs previously only seen in comic books and imaginations. While some of the storylines don’t pan out, the sheer spectacle of watching the mightiest heroes take on Thanos as he swiftly defeats them in Wakanda is worth the price of admission alone. Currently streaming on Netflix.

1. Mission Impossible: Fallout

After Tom Cruise hung off the side of an airplane in Rogue Nation, many people wondered how he would top it. He responded by doing a halo jump and learning to fly a helicopter in order to have a dogfight over the mountains. Cruise continues to show why he is the top action actor of our time. And I haven’t even touched on Henry Cavil’s glorious mustache. Currently streaming on major platforms.

Top 5 Horror Movies 2018

Some horror movies make you jump in your seat. Others haunt your dreams for a few nights after viewing. But the very best have the ability to stick with you for years to come and make you rethink parts of your everyday life. These are the very best horror movies that came out in 2018.

Honorable Mentions:

5. Summer of ‘84

We are living in the peak time of nostalgia for the 1980s. From Stranger Things to It, the pop culture lexicon is filled with movies and TV shows attempting to recreate the feel of that era. Summer of ’84 was a criminally underseen movie from this past year that does a great job of mimicking the feel of the ‘80s, as well as create tension for the protagonist, who is convinced his cop next door neighbor is a serial killer. Currently streaming on Shudder.

4. Mandy

In terms of insanity, Mandy ranks top of the list. If Nicolas Cage fighting ghouls with a medieval battle ax doesn’t get you excited, I am not quite sure what will. Cage seeks revenge against a cult who attacks him and his wife. This movie is pretty far out there, so a casual film fan may not go for it, but genre fans will definitely find something to seek their teeth into with this one. Currently streaming on Shudder.

3. Overlord

Inglorious Basterds meets Edge of Tomorrow, this schlocky good time provides just the right amount of horror and action. A group of allied soldiers dropped deep in Nazi territory have one mission: destroy a radio tower within a church. But what awaits them behind the steeple doors is a lot scarier than they initially expected. Loads of blood and gore ensue. Currently in a limited number of theaters.

2. Hereditary

A24 knocks it out of the park again with a familial drama that quickly descends into darkness. After losing her mother, a woman learns terrifying secrets about her past that will change her family line forever. First time director Ari Aster knocks it out of the park by providing scares that do not necessarily make you jump in your seat but will stick in your mind for a long time. Currently available to purchase on all major platforms.

1. Unsane

Steven Soderberg and Claire Foy teamed up to create one of the most personal horror experiences of the year. Unsettling and unnerving, Unsane was shot entirely on iPhone, leading the viewer feeling trapped along with Foy’s character. In the movie, a woman is attempting to escape and overcome her stalker, but ends up accidently checking into a mental institution, which her stalker may or may not have infilitrated.

Aquaman

     Aquaman is directed by James Wan and stars Jason Momoa, Amber Heard, and Patrick Wilson. It tells the story of Arthur Curry, a half-man and half-Atlantean hybrid who seeks to bring peace between his two worlds before the surface world is destroyed.

     The DCEU has had its fair share of misses without a critical hit. While Justice League is one of the most misguided entries into its filmography, Aquaman stood as one of the highlights in an otherwise terrible movie. So, the prospect of a solo film gave me some hope for the future of the extended universe, if it only be brief glimpse of it.

     The biggest compliment that I could give Aquaman is that it is the most like a Marvel movie that DC has made. From bright and vibrant colors to familial politics, Aquaman feels like a distant relative of Justice League in its color palette and that is for the best. Many of the action scenes are well lit and the camera fluidly moves throughout the space, rather than quickly cutting from one shot to the next. But even these action scenes rely on quite a bit of CGI, rather than stunt choreography. 

     Momoa brings grit and hardness to a character that had often been the punchline of jokes prior to this iteration of Aquaman. I believed he could take on any of the various villains he is put up against. But even the toughness of Momoa cannot cut through the absurdity and cringe of the dialogue in the script. I found myself laughing during some of the more serious moments of the movie because of the ridiculous nature of the lines. One example involves a particular character demanding to be called “Ocean Master” rather than king. While I understand the writers presumably wanted to distance themselves from the ultra-serious tones of Batman v Superman, Man of Steel, and Justice League, perhaps a slightly less campy take would have done the script some good.

     This movie has no business being almost two and a half hours long. Some films justify their length, but Aquaman begins to drag quite a bit. And some of the scenes and characters would be better suited for a sequel (looking at you Black Mantis). A tighter and slightly more serious runtime and script would have done this movie quite a bit of good.

     At the end of the day, Aquaman is far from the worse entry into the DCEU do to its visuals and Jason Momoa’s portrayal of the titular character. I never actively hated what I was watching but I did not quite love anything either. Aquaman is a campy and, ultimately, a forgettable entry into the DCEU.

When should you watch it?

Redbox