A Quiet Place - Why are there so many movies about surviving the end of the world? Some might say it’s because of how good we feel when the movie is over and we’re not dead. I think it’s because the only way to improve at chess is to play opponents better than you, even if you lose. (This metaphor makes perfect sense to ME.) I found this film tense and compelling, and I loved the way it relied on image, expression, and direction to create a sense of dread—we’re used to films falling back on aural clues, and A Quiet Place leans into their absence to make us feel as stricken by loss as the family at this film’s center.
Mandy - No one who reads or writes for this website needs to be convinced that horror is a genre of possibility—and Mandy is the blacklight-poster-come-to-life proof. I don’t mean the Tolkien-y kind of black light poster with flowers and fairy maidens on it. I mean the kind that looks like the cover of a Nordic death metal album—the kind that would be hanging in the bedroom of your best friend’s older brother Kevin, and you’d sneak in just to gaze at its thrilling terror until Kevin came home and yelled “BEAT IT, TWERPS” while he hurled a wadded-up denim jacket at you. Mandy is also a thriller, a revenge film, a super-romantic love story, and maybe a space movie? There’s a lot of blood. It’s the Nic Cage of Nic Cage films.
The Favorite - Who says costume dramas need to be stuffy and dull and totally non-lesbian? I love this one for its historically accurate portrayal of duck racing. I also love how The Favorite pushes our expectations about the three women at its center—who they are, what they want, and what they are/are not willing to do to get it. It’s a movie about shifting alliances that subtly leads the viewer’s alliances to shift as well—very effective.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse - This one blew me away for sheer style and moxie. Adam Riske and I were talking about it recently and discovered we both had the same thought while watching this film—something that can best be summed up by asking “how did people even DO this movie?” It’s creative, energetic, and loads of fun, with animation that is appealing and kinetic. It’s got just enough “message” without being preachy, and I can see Miles Morales as one of those movie characters who comes to mean a lot personally to a lot of people. A cool concept that’s well executed, with none of the heavy sturm und drang that weighs down some other “comic book” movies.
If I missed one of your favorites of 2018, it may be that I just didn’t see it (I am only one Jan with access to a single Jan-verse.) Tell me about it in the comments!
If I missed one of your favorites of 2018, it may be that I just didn’t see it (I am only one Jan with access to a single Jan-verse.) Tell me about it in the comments!
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