Final Oscar Predictions/The Anti-Oscars

If you're like me, you might be feeling the teeniest bit blogged out, given the punishing swarm of posts I've unleashed in the past few days--and my past few days have been *busy,* so this clearly must be a labor of love. And it is, really. For all the futility of trying to empirically categorize subjective opinions about a medium with an impossible-to-keep-up-with output, for all the silly pageantry and melodrama of the Oscars, writing these things up has been a massive and vital part of my life in one form or another for almost fifteen years now. Right around the time Brokeback Mountain was gaining steam, I discovered that an entire community of online Oscar bloggers exists year round, and everyone in that community was as head-over-heels in love with the movies and the pageantry as I was--and that was a game-changer. Every year I set by watch by the Oscar clock, and its silly cycles give me something concrete  to latch onto, regardless of what's happening or where I am. And that's something. So really, these blog posts are mostly for me: a few well-earned moments of yearly catharsis in which I get to think about the movies I loved and the places I've been in the last year. And hey, if someone else reads a few of these and gets some kind of enjoyment out of them, it's even better.

Now we get to celebrate all of that by making ridiculous Oscar-themed foods and making fun of dresses and howling at the moon when Bohemian Rhapsody wins three Oscars! Oh happy day! Bear in mind that when I predict, I'm doing it more for fun than accuracy. There are plenty of hyperrealistic Oscar pools online that strive to get every category right, but I have a lot more fun trying to guess where the unexpected silliness might come from.

Best Picture

The nominees:

BlacKkKlansman

Black Panther

Bohemian Rhapsody

The Favourite

Green Book

Roma

A Star is Born

Vice

A fascinating year, in that almost every single one of these nominees has no chance, statistically speaking.There's a whole gamut of precursor awards and nomination stats to which a movie needs to adhere in order to win--and the only movie on this list to do that has been BlacKkKlansman, and it's won absolutely nothing (no golden globe, no SAG award, no British Academy Awards, etc.). So which statistic is going to get broken? Movies without a corresponding best director nomination have only won twice since 1940, but A Star is Born, Green Book, and (why, why, WHY) Bohemian Rhapsody all seem to have a shot anyhow. Only five movies have won best picture without a corresponding editing nomination since 1950, but Roma and The Favourite each seem well-positioned for a win. Heck, even Black Panther, which violates every major statistics rule there is (no directing, acting, screenplay, or editing nods) seems like it's got a shot. And Roma, the perceived frontrunner, would be the first foreign-language film of all time to win--plus it debuted on Netflix.

So what wins? Remember that the Academy uses a preferential balloting system, which means that #1 votes/passionate fans are important, but it's even more important (particularly this year) to be well liked: to have lots of voters who would rank a movie as #2 or #3, if not their very favorite. And based solely on that metric, I'm going to pick the movie that I think has made the fewest people hate it.

Will Win: Roma

Could Win: The Favourite (This totally isn't happening, what am I doing)

Should Win: The Favourite

Should Have Been Here: Suspiria

A warning: Green Book has significant support (and has a not insignificant number of people predicting it), and the eldritch horror that is the Bohemian Rhapsody train has yet to lose any steam, so be prepared to claw your eyes out in a moment of uncomprehending horror at the world.

Director

The nominees:

Alfonso Cuaron-Roma

Yorgos Lanthimos-The Favourite

Spike Lee-BlacKkKlansman

Adam McKay-Vice

Pawel Pawelikowski-Cold War

A much easier call here. There have been rumblings of a Spike Lee upset (the narrative's there--honoring a massive and important career with his first nomination), but I think Cuaron's flashier work will carry the day.

Will Win: Alfonso Cuaron-Roma

Could Win: Spike Lee-BlacKkKlansman

Should Win: Alfonso Cuaron-Roma

Should Have Been Here: Luca Guadagnino-Suspiria

Actress

The nominees:

Yalitza Aparicia-Roma

Glenn Close-The Wife

Olivia Colman-The Favourite

Lady Gaga-A Star is Born

Melissa McCarthy-Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Close looks poised to finally get her Oscar in a career victory lap for a stellar performance in an execrable movie. Could she be derailed by Olivia Colman's virtuoso work? Depends on how much you think the Academy loves The Favourite.

Will Win: Glenn Close-The Wife

Could Win: Olivia Colman-The Favourite

Should Win: Olivia Colman-The Favourite

Should Have Been Here: Toni Colette-Hereditary

Actor

The nominees:

Christian Bale-Vice

Bradley Cooper-A Star is Born

Willem Dafoe-At Eternity's Gate

Viggo Mortensen-Green Book

Rami Malek-Bohemian Rhapsody

Because we live in the darkest and most horrific timeline, this is slugging fest between Bale and Malek, with Malek seemingly emerging at the top. How did it come to this? Against which ancient and furious gods have we transgressed?

Will Win: Rami Malek-Bohemian Rhapsody (whoo boy did I hate typing that)

Could Win: Christian Bale-Vice

Should Win: Bradley Cooper-A Star is Born*

Should Have Been Here: Ethan Hawke-First Reformed

*I haven't seen At Eternity's Gate

Supporting Actress

The nominees:

Amy Adams-Vice

Marina de Tavira-Roma

Regina King-If Beale Street Could Talk

Emma Stone-The Favourite

Rachel Weisz-The Favourite

Is this category primed for chaos? King took the majority of the precursors and seems, on paper, to be primed for a win, but Beale Street's less than stellar performance on nomination puts this in doubt, and Rachel Weisz has been gaining steam. Or, alternately, does the fight between these two open the door for the 'Amy Adams has six nominations and no wins' narrative, even if her work in Vice is miles from her best? Or does something truly shocking happen, like a de Tavira win? I'm confident that Emma Stone's got no chance (nothing against the performance, which is arguably her best, but she won two years ago and doesn't have the momentum), but *anything* else could happen.

Will Win: Rachel Weisz-The Favourite

Could Win: Regina King-If Beale Street Could Talk

Should Win: Rachel Weisz-The Favourite

Should Have Been Here: Jong-Seo Jun-Burning

Supporting Actor

The nominees:

Mahershala Ali-Green Book

Adam Driver-BlacKkKlansman

Sam Elliot-A Star is Born

Richard E. Grant-Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Sam Rockwell-Vice

For some inexplicable reason (see above, re: darkest timeline), Ali's sailing to victory for a much less compelling performance then the Oscar-winning one he gave in Moonlight. I'd love to see Grant upset, but the writing's just not on the wall.

Will Win: Mahershala Ali-Green Book

Could Win: Richard E. Grant-Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Should Win: Richard E. Grant-Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Should Have Been Here: Steven Yeun-Burning

Original Screenplay

The nominees:

The Favourite

First Reformed

Green Book

Roma

Vice

Am I crazy--or just hopeful--in thinking that The Favourite has this in the bag? I can't imagine how anyone could look at any of the other nominees and vote for them (except First Reformed, which would be a very cool upset, if The Favourite has to lose to someone) (but seriously, if The Favourite loses to Nick Vallelonga and Green Book, I might just have to cut the Oscars out of my life).

Will Win: The Favourite

Could Win: Green Book

Should Win: The Favourite

Should Have Been Here: Eighth Grade

Adapted Screenplay

The Nominees:

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

 BlacKkKlansman

Can You Ever Forgive Me?

If Beale Street Could Talk

A Star is Born

Here's where BlacKkKlansman will probably pick up its "sorry you won't win best picture" consolation award, though Can You Ever Forgive Me? has been coming on strong lately. Still, I think Klansman's draw is too strong to pass up.

Will Win: BlacKkKlansman

Could Win: Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Should Win: Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Should Have Been Here: Suspiria

Production Design

The nominees:

Black Panther

The Favourite

First Man

Mary Poppins Returns

Roma

The narrative here is the same as costume design: a Black Panther/Favourite smackdown of showy fantasy vs. showy period dress. Both are worthy winners, but keep an eye on these two categories, as they've somehow become Black Panther's only good shot at winning an Oscar. If Roma wins here, look for it to sweep the whole night.

Will Win: Black Panther

Could Win: The Favourite

Should Win: Black Panther

Should Have Been Here: Suspiria (boy, how many times will I write that in this post?)

Costume Design

The nominees:

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

Black Panther

The Favourite

Mary Poppins Returns

Mary Queen of Scots

See the argument above--panthers and favourites. Slight chance that Mary Poppins makes a showing, but I wouldn't bet on it.

Will Win: The Favourite

Could Win: Black Panther

Should Win: Black Panther

Should Have Been Here: Crazy Rich Asians

Visual Effects

The nominees:

Avengers: Infinity War

Christopher Robin

First Man

Ready Player One

Solo

Might this be the Marvel cinematic universe's first Oscar win? It could be, but it's worth remembering that only two superhero movies have ever won this category (the original Superman and Spider-Man 2) and both wins came before our current era of super franchise saturation. That said, does First Man or Ready Player One have the juice to muscle it out of the way? 

Will Win: First Man

Could Win: Avengers: Infinity War

Should Win: Avengers: Infinity War

Should Have Been Here: Ant-Man and the Wasp

Makeup and Hairstyling

The nominees:

Border

Mary Queen of Scots

Vice

What's that, you say? A best picture nominee that relies on prosthetics to make an acclaimed performance resemble a real-life person? Done and done.

Will Win: Vice

Could Win: Border

Should Win: Mary Queen of Scots*

Should Have Been Here: Suspiria

* I haven't seen Border

Film Editing

The nominees:

BlacKkKlansman

Bohemian Rhapsody

The Favourite

Green Book

Vice

This is probably a competition between the movies with the 'most' aka flashiest/most obvious editing, aka Bohemian Rhapsody and Vice. If either of them wins, this category has no effect on the rest of the night. If any of the other three win, watch for them to make a serious best picture play.

Will Win: Bohemian Rhapsody

Could Win: BlacKkKlansman

Should Win: BlacKkKlansman

Should Have Been Here: A Star is Born

Cinematography

The nominees:

Cold War

The Favourite

Never Look Away

Roma

A Star is Born

It would be profoundly shocking if anything other than Roma walked away with this--and if Roma *does* lose this, then you can count it dead in all the other races.

Will Win: Roma

Could Win: Cold War

Should Win: Roma

Should Have Been Here: First Man

Original Score

The nominees:

BlacKkKlansman

Black Panther

If Beale Street Could Talk

Isle of Dogs

Mary Poppins Returns

A dead heat between BlacKkKlansman, Black Panther, and Beale Street. Any of those three could end on top, so flip a coin (...with three sides, I guess?).

Will Win: BlacKkKlansman

Could Win: If Beale Street Could Talk

Should Win: Black Panther

Should Have Been Here: Eighth Grade

Sound Mixing

The nominees:

Black Panther

Bohemian Rhapsody

First Man

Roma

A Star is Born

Somehow this has become a showdown between musicals (with Bohemian Rhapsody with the upper hand) and space movies (hi, First Man). Again, if Roma wins here, expect a Roma sweep, and if A Star is Born triumphs, keep your fingers extra crossed for B-Coops and Lady Gaga.

Will Win: Bohemian Rhapsody

Could Win: A Star is Born

Should Win: First Man

Should Have Been Here: Eighth Grade

Sound Editing

The nominees:

Black Panther

Bohemian Rhapsody

First Man

Roma

A Quiet Place

Exact same argument as above. Maybe Black Panther can find more traction here? If Bohemian Rhapsody wins this one I will legit throw my shoe at the tv.

Will Win: First Man

Could Win: Bohemian Rhapsody

Should Win: First Man

Should Have Been Here: Avengers: Infinity War

Original Song

The nominees: 

"All the Stars"-Black Panther

"I'll Fight"-RBG

"The Place Where Lost Things Go"-Mary Poppins Returns

"Shallow"-A Star is Born

"When A Cowboy Trades His Spurs For Wings"-The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

"Shallow" wins in the easiest call of the night.

Will Win: "Shallow"-A Star is Born

Could Win: "All the Stars"-Black Panther

Should Win: "Shallow"-A Star is Born

Should Have Been Here: "Suspirium"-Suspiria

Animated Film

The nominees:

Incredibles 2

Isle of Dogs

Mirai

Ralph Breaks the Internet

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Spider-Man is the heavy critical favorite, and it's walked away with the lion's share of prizes this year, but a part of me definitely worries that the Academy isn't quite cool enough to give this scrappy and wild little movie an Oscar, and might opt for Pixar polish instead. (Incidentally, if Spider-Man wins, it will become only the third movie to beat a nominated Pixar film in this category, after Shrek beat Monsters, Inc. and Cars lost to Happy Feet.)

Will Win: Spider-Man: Into the Spider Verse (though this is veeeeeery tentative)

Could Win: Incredibles 2

Should Win: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse*

*I haven't seen Mirai or Ralph Breaks the Internet

Foreign Language Film

The nominees:

Capernaum-Lebanon

Cold War-Poland

Never Look Away-Germany

Roma-Mexico

Shoplifters-Japan

Whenever a movie in this category is also nominated for best picture, it always wins.

Will Win: Roma

Could Win: Cold War

Should Win: abstain (I've only seen Roma and Cold War)

Documentary Feature

The nominees:

Free Solo

Hale County This Morning, This Evening

Minding the Gap

Of Fathers and Sons

RBG

Too close to call? Free Solo and RBG were two of the year's biggest documentary hits (though Free Solo was more critically acclaimed than the other), Minding the Gap and Hale County both carry the field in terms of acclaim and emotion, and Of Fathers and Sons is a K.O. as far as immediacy and film-making bravery is concerned. So how to choose? I've legitimately no idea. I'm just going to write to the end of this paragraph and see what my fingers come up with.

Will Win: Minding the Gap (screw it--the heart wants what the heart wants)

Could Win: Free Solo

Should Win: Minding the Gap*

*I haven't seen Hale County This Morning, This Evening

And there's that! I've got Roma being the big winner of the night with 4 Oscars (picture, director, Cinematography, Foreign Language Film), but I've also got Bohemian Rhapsody winning three to remind us that the world is awful and we are all of us hanging off the edge of a precipice. Hooray! We'll see how it shakes out--in roughly six hours all of these predictions will be rendered moot.

Aaaaaaaaand now for something completely different! Note: feel free to check out here. As a nice summary of the year, and as a reminder that, despite my preoccupation with them, the Oscars aren't the be-all end-all of the cinematic year. Underneath, you'll find my anti-Oscar ballot. The only rule: I can't nominate anything that was nominated for an Oscar. What you'll find is that the cinematic talent displayed this year runs deep, and even if the Academy made some good choices, there is still a massive pool of accomplished artists who aren't getting the attention they deserve.

So here we go! No commentary, no rankings--just alphabetical nominees, with winners in bold.

The Anti-Oscars

Best Picture

Burning

Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Cold War

Eighth Grade

First Reformed

Hereditary

Minding the Gap

Suspiria

Director

Ari Aster-Hereditary

Bo Burnham-Eighth Grade

Chang-Dong Lee-Burning

Ryan Coogler-Black Panther

Luca Guadagnino-Suspiria

Actress

Toni Colette-Hereditary

Viola Davis-Widows

Regina Hall-Support the Girls

Carey Mulligan-Wildlife

Julia Roberts-Ben is Back

Actor

Ah-In Yoo-Burning

Ryan Gosling-First Man

Ethan Hawke-First Reformed

Lucas Hedges-Ben is Back

Tomasz Kot-Cold War

Supporting Actress

Elizabeth Debicki-Widows

Cynthia Erivo-Bad Times at the El Royale

Jong-Seo Jun-Burning

Dolly Wells-Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Michelle Yeoh-Crazy Rich Asians

Supporting Actor

Timothée Chalamet-Beautiful Boy

Josh Hamilton-Eighth Grade

Michael B. Jordan-Black Panther

Nicholas Hoult-The Favourite

Steven Yeun-Burning

Original Screenplay

Cold War

Eighth Grade

Hereditary

Sorry to Bother You

Support the Girls

Adapted Screenplay

Black Panther

Burning

A Simple Favor

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Suspiria

Production Design

Aquaman

Crazy Rich Asians

First Reformed

Mortal Engines

Suspiria

Costume Design

Crazy Rich Asians

A Simple Favor

Sorry to Bother You

Suspiria

Wildlife

Visual Effects

Ant-Man and the Wasp

Mary Poppins Returns

Mission: Impossible - Fallout

Mortal Engines

Paddington 2

Makeup and Hairstyling

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

Black Panther

Suspiria

Film Editing

Burning

Cold War

Minding the Gap

A Star is Born

Widows

Cinematography

Burning

First Man

If Beale Street Could Talk

Suspiria

We the Animals

Original Score

Annihilation

Eighth Grade

Suspiria

Vice

Paddington 2

Sound Mixing

Eighth Grade

Mission: Impossible - Fallout

A Quiet Place

Ready Player One

Solo

Sound Editing

Annihilation

Aquaman

Avengers: Infinity War

Incredibles 1

Solo

Original Song

"Ashes"-Deadpool 2

"Nowhere to Go but Up"-Mary Poppins Returns

"Pray for Me"-Black Panther

"Suspirium"-Suspiria

"Unmade"-Suspiria

Best of 2018, part 3: craft categories

If, like I claimed (and proved!) yesterday, I'm terrible at expressing what I like about movies' marquee selling points--the glamour, the witty dialogue, the, uh, well choreographed but subtle directorial flourishes--then the opposite is also true: I can talk for decades about how much I enjoy all the less frequently celebrated aspects of film-making. Want to get really excited about the earrings in Sorry to Bother You? You're in the right place! Want to talk to someone about the delightful yarbling bear noises in Annihilation? Way ahead of you. Are you barely able to contain your gushing enthusiasm for Margot Robbie's weepy pustule makeup in Mary Queen of Scots? GET IN LINE. Today's all about honoring the people who might never get mobbed on the red carpet or get to be a spokesperson for L'oreal (because you're worth it) (...is that l'oreal? Someone spokesperson me), but they are the reason all of your favorite movies exist like they do, and I am flat-out thrilled to get to chat about it for a bit.

In interest of putting a face on some of these things, I've added some visuals to the lists. They should enlarge when you click on them, but I make no promises, as my technical skills are less than garbage.

Note: I didn't include pictures or videos for film editing or the sound categories, because I don't really know how to capture film editing compellingly in a way that didn't waste either my or your time, and I didn't have the resources to make audio clips for the sound categories (which I would still love to do some year).

Note Note: I've included a brief description of some categories, in case you need a couple signposts for what I'm talking about.


Production Design
(designing, creating, and building the world of the movie--sets, props, art direction, etc.)

5. Crazy Rich Asians-The draw is right there in the title, and the film delivers, providing set-piece after set-piece of Dionysian excess that throws itself at you like a candy-striped privilege parade.

4. The Favourite-Rabbit hutch palatial fantasies, all oppressive tapestries and lye-soaked floors and eternal ramrod halls with no seeming end or beginning.

3. First Reformed-Am I totally bonkers for putting this exercise in absolute minimalism so high--are all those empty rooms that impressive? First Reformed needs to feel like the book of Revelations come to plague yellow life, and that would have been impossible without the festering wounds its characters are forced to inhabit.

2. Suspiria-A haunted kaleidoscope house of horrors--how can floors look this malevolent? Restaurants, cottages, walls lost in time, drifting helplessly from one supernova to another.

1. Black Panther-a dizzying and joyous anti-history whose technocratic window dressing never strays from the rigorous research the team did in designing a world based on actual sub-Saharan cultures.

Honorable mention: what's that on the horizon? It's THE ENTIRE CITY OF LONDON ON WHEELS in Mortal Engines

Costume Design
5. Mary Poppins Returns-like 70% of this nomination is for those jaw-dropping expressionist drawn costumes in the china bowl scene, but the rest of the costumes--all primary colors and sharp lines--are no slouch either.

4. Suspiria-Delicious ugliness for an ugly world: Tilda's bedsheet monochromatic smocks, the coven's Hanna Schygulla knock-offs, and that mind-boggling and perfect pelvis-bedecked dress Susie wears to the last dinner scene (pictured below).

3. A Simple Favor-Tearaway suits! Glass Shard Business Casual! Dorky mom vlogger skirts! Every outfit here is perfect.

2. Crazy Rich Asians-more oozing decadence, this time in fabrics that smell like cocoa butter and cash. And there's such a streak of casual wackiness here--everything Awkwafina and her on-screen family wears is totally nuts, and I'm here for it.

1. Black Panther-I'm sorry, is there any other right answer here? (Spoiler alert--no.) Costumes as electric and overflowing with creativity as they are essential to signaling the characters inside them--and all while pointing everyone's attention back to the cultures that inspired them. This is top tier legend stuff.

Honorable mention: I *hated* leaving The Favourite's architectural and sarcastic finery out of this category, but that's the way it shook out.

Visual Effects

(Both practical effects--e.g. things created in-camera--and CGI (animating, compositing, modeling, etc.)

5. Ready Player One-sure, I'm not always convinced by some of the more gumby-esque character moments, but the pristine created environments warrant mention (like the Shining scene below, which was done entirely in computer). ...That said, it's not necessarily a banner year in this category when this movie makes the top 5 (from what I've seen, at least).

4. Mission: Impossible - Fallout-for its completely unhinged commitment to practical effects: crashing helicopters, drowning villains, nauseous wire work, and everything in between.

3. Mary Poppins Returns-Like in costumes, this makes it in almost entirely due to that absolutely ravishing china bowl sequence, but who can deny the mid-air joyous singalong at the end either?

2. Ant-Man and the Wasp-thank goodness for Marvel movies with humor! Much of Ant-Man's success comes from its reality-breaking visuals that toggle effortlessly between the giant and the microscopic without upstaging the actors or plot.

1. Avengers: Infinity War-I may hate this movie, but I can recognize game. Thanos is a singular accomplishment, and the rest of meticulously rendered maelstrom ain't bad either.

Honorable mention: big ol' cities in Mortal Engines

Makeup and Hairstyling

3. Mary Queen of Scots-who doesn't love Margot Robbie fully poxed and powdered, or Saoirse Ronan with a period-inappropriate updo?

2. Black Panther-Killmonger's body testimonies, ceremonial war paints, little character details--all great work here.

1. Suspiria-Most of the press has been for turning Tilda Swinton into an old man (pictured below), and that's definitely great, but I'm much more excited by the world-ending horror gore (Olga's death scene! Viscera! Dislocating jaws! The stuff of nightmares) and the equally apocalyptic stage makeup (any given dancer from the 'Volk' number would be anyone's worst nightmare if encountered in a back alley).

Honorable mention: period western grossness in The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

Film Editing

(Cutting--generally responsible for a film's pace, continuity, keeping the audience focused on the right details, and keeping a consistent emotional and visual tone.)

5. Widows-knife-edge tension and relentless pacing that knows just when to pause for breath, and just when to grind its knuckles a little deeper beneath your ribs.

4. Cold War-a quietly unsettling tempo that never allows you to settle comfortably into one timeline--note how scenes begin and end abruptly and unexpectedly, as even the sound struggles to track where (and when) it should be, and the little slivers of blackness that punctuate the entire affair.

3. Minding the Gap-decades of archival footage forged into a canny narrative that toys with audience expectations--the film's narrative arc refuses to reveal itself until the audience's tether to the movie they thought they were seeing has been well and truly severed.

2. BlacKkKlansman-a propulsive film that never struggles to juggle genres or tones, skipping lightly from comedy to horror without leaving its audience behind. Extra points for its casual violation of chronologies, in which 100 years of footage and history (Birth of a Nation to 2017) are skillfully interwoven.

1. A Star is Born-The kind of cutting that should guide a film about music (*cough*, Bohemian Rhapsody is an atrocity, *cough*), guiding our eyes without pulling them out, keeping the music engaging without letting it overwhelm the movie, and keeping an arguably overstuffed narrative as light on its feet as could be.

Honorable mention: The Favorite makes us fear confusion and accidents

Cinematography

(Essentially how pretty a movie is. Lighting, composition, camera choreography, etc.)

5. Suspiria-a movie that totally internalized the New German Cinema aesthetic and then vomited it out onto a pile of dirty needles.

4. First Man-equal parts grandeur and rattling intimacy, First Man captures the broad strokes of the impossible scope required to send a man to the moon, as well as the cover-your-eyes immediacy inherent to locking yourself into a rocket-propelled capsule.

3. A Star is Born-the loveliest lighting of the year? Floods of blues and purples and reds that write emotion in color.

2. Cold War-super tempting to put this one in the #1 slot, as its stark compositions that isolate its characters in various prisons are some of the most arresting images of the year...

1. Roma--..but it was ultimately impossible to deny Roma's sheer audacity and overwhelming beauty. Just look at this movie! What a crime that it was hardly released in movie theaters.

Honorable mention: once again, The Favourite is on the outside looking in, this time with its candlelit depravity and fish-eye observations

Original Score

5. Vice-While I mega-loathe this movie, Nicholas Britell's oppressive and damaged score is the only part of the whole affair that understands what it needs to be doing. It's queasy, unsettling music that keeps shifting under the movie's feet like rotten garbage, which is exactly the tone the movie needs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hv26u-0r4dM

4. Black Panther-a raucous mix of tribal drums, chanting, hip hop beats, and traditional string accompaniment, Ludwig Göransson's music works as emotional through-line, as killer hype music, and as the inspirational anthem every good hero needs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tm9F9SY2-D8 

3. If Beale Street Could Talk-Oh look, Nicholas Britell's back on the list! This time, its with a movie that wears its score like a winter coat--amplifying and intensifying what's there, but with a gentle warmth.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmK71ZfaZO4

2. Suspiria-I'm sure you're getting sick of hearing about how great Suspiria is by now, so suffice to say that the music crawls under your skin and dies there--and is lovely while doing it.

(Note: for some reason, this soundtrack refuses to show up on Youtube, but this one piece still gives you a great taste of what you're in for: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpULWBT1WEg)

1. Eighth Grade-I am beyond thrilled that a score as confrontational and over the top and out-and-out bonkers as this one made it into the movies in 2019--and in a movie about kids, no less! This music is a statement: on the ups and downs of adolescence, on the everyday apocalypses fought inside your head, and on the inherent ridiculousness on devaluing narratives about youth.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmbQT0mqn9I

Honorable mention: the shrill and desperate cries of Annihilation (another really painful exclusion in a year full of great scores)

Sound Mixing

(Blending the four elements of movie sound--dialogue, ambient noise, sound effects, music--into one cohesive and compelling track.)

5. Roma-the Big World--everything you can't touch--and the Little World--everything you can--join hands and walk across a desert. In the distance, screams, but they don't mind, because they can't.

4. Ready Player One-I am now and have always been a sucker for well-choreographed aural chaos, and what was more chaotic this year than Ready Player One? That initial car chase sequence alone (the first trial) presents enough drum-banging insanity to get me through any given week.

3. A Quiet Place-In space, no one can hear you scream, but on Earth everything can, and every note you sing is a deadly crescendoing symphony of noise preparing to rip through the atmosphere.

2. Eighth Grade-This movie is like the inside of an eighth grader's head: it is LOUD. Levels cranked to punish your innermost self as the world imposes its own draconian order on the way you try to navigate the world.

1. First Man-Speaking of draconian symphonies--First Man conducts its own cacophonous miasma of shivering plates, yowling flames, and chattering teeth. Totally transporting work.

Honorable mention: the wonderfully thumpy fisticuffs in Mission: Impossible - Fallout

Sound Editing

(Creating the sound effects for a film--all the things that need to be added in post-production.)

5. Solo-Honestly, I'm just a serial nominator of Star Wars movies in this category, and as always, I can't turn down the beeping and the buzzing and all the other little flourishes needed to create distant galaxies.

4. Incredibles 2-it's a bit of an underwhelming movie, but the zip-bang Saturday Morning Cartooniness of it all is fed by all its sounds--think back to the malevolent hypnotic screens or Elastigirl's chipper separating motorcycle.

3. Annihilation-if the only sound in the entire movie were the sound the freaky mutant bear makes, then Annihilation would still deserve a spot here, but it also gets credit for the melancholic warbles of the alien world--all muted howls trying to impose themselves where they don't belong.

2. Avengers: Infinity War-the whispering hiss of Thanos' illusions, the pop rock incantations of Iron Man's vast menagerie of exploding toys, and the not insignificant joys attached to listening to Thanos rip apart an entire moon with his bare hand.

1. First Man-Copy and paste what I said above--all the details knit together to create such an immersive aural environment are completely staggering.

Honorable mention: underwater silliness in Aquaman

Original Song

5. "Ashes"-Deadpool 2-Yeah, like I was gonna pass up a massive and sweeping Celine Dion power ballad, even if the movie tries to ironically? Joke's on you, Deadpool, Celine is beyond irony.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CX11yw6YL1w

4. "All the Stars"-Black Panther-an appropriately two-handed credits anthem from Pulitzer winner Kendrick Lamar--both ebullient and conflicted, questioning the idea of celebration on the heels of a seemingly triumphant narrative.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQbjS0_ZfJ0

3. "Unmade"-Suspiria-Oh, you thought you were done with Suspiria? Well strap in, because here's another nomination for the uexpectedly elegiac and weeping piano setup for one of the film's most violent moments.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27c3JaZq4_c

2. "Suspirium"-Suspiria-MORE SUSPIRIA. You will never escape. While "Unmade" is maybe more necessary to the narrative, how do I turn down this absolutely gorgeous ballad that sets the scene for the whole movie? (Real talk, why am I not re-watching this movie right this very instant.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTZl9KMjbrU

1. "Shallow"-A Star is Born-No surprises here. All of our lives our now forever divided into before-Shallow and after-Shallow, and before-Shallow has no meaning. Now everyone join me in yawping along with Gaga one more time before the oscars!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bo_efYhYU2A

As an aside, how absolutely fantastic is this category? Each of these five is a totally essential part of your existence, even if you don't know it.

Honorable mention: grandiose and silly cowboy ruminations with "When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings" in The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

Well, that's the last of the lists for the year, if you can believe it (and I don't know about you, but I can definitely believe it). Sometime tomorrow (in the morning, I assume), I'll rush out some final Oscar predictions, but this here is our farewell to the 2018 cinematic year! Tomorrow night is Oscars New Years Eve, and come Monday we (...or just I) can finally look toward all the movie gifts that 2019 has in store for us.

For those playing along at home, here are the movies that showed up most frequently in these lists:

Suspiria-10

The Favourite-8

Black Panther-8

Roma-6

Can You Ever Forgive Me?-5

Eight Grade-5

A Star is Born-5

As for most wins, Suspiria walked away with four (Picture, Director, Adapted Screenplay, Makeup), while The Favourite, Black Panther, First Man, and A Star is Born each claimed two apiece. 

And there we have it! Here's to a wonderful year at the movies (and the chance to get to see them all)!

Best of 2018, part 2: acting, directing, screenplays

It is by now a well-established fact that, for some reason, I am garbage when it comes to writing in interesting ways about the big and fancy elements of film-making that everyone pays attention to and loves (aka acting, writing, and directing). Would you like to read 500 words on why the ambient sound in Eighth Grade is a vital and unmissable contribution to the narrative of human progress? Great, because that's totally what I'm going to post after today's post. For whatever reason, I can wax rhapsodic for decades about the below-the-line filmic craft, but, if pressed to say nice things about actors, I come up inevitably wanting. So, in order to save us all time (it's absolutely punishing and ridiculous how much I have to put off just to grab an hour to write this, and I imagine it's even worse for those of you who take time out of your busy lives to pass your eyes over these silly little scribbles), I'm going to just go ahead and not try to be compelling about these categories. Rather than writing a few thousand words, I'll just present my top 5 in each category, followed by some brief comments on the whole field. I tried this format out last year, and I think it went fairly well, so I'm primed trot it out again.

So here we go: I've queued up the Greatest Showman soundtrack for the 50th time (why is this my go-to movie-writing music), I've made some lists, and I'm ready for love.
(Of course Zac Efron chimed in on the soundtrack once I wrote that. Take me Zac! Take me away from this place!).

Best Actress
5. Melissa McCarthy-Can You Ever Forgive Me
4. Emma Stone-The Favourite
3. Olivia Colman-The Favourite
2. Carey Mulligan-Wildlife
1. Toni Colette-Hereditary

Honorable mention: Regina Hall-Support the Girls

What a spectacular category--and the next five in my list would have been just as great (sorry ____ Julia Roberts, Viola Davis, Elsie Fisher, Constance Wu et al). Special kudos should be given to the raucous and fleet-footed duets in The Favourite, as well as McCarthy proving (again) how talented she is, and depths from which she can pull. But this category belongs to the top two women (both of whom I had listed as #1 in the course of the year). Carey Mulligan is arguably one of the most underrated young actresses working, and her mid-life crisis mother in Wildlife is a singular and vivid construction. But I have to give Colette the slight edge--maybe for her dinner monologue, maybe for convincingly working through, around, and without her grief while making ghoulish miniatures, and definitely for the way her faces changes in one pivotal ending scene.

Actor
5. Tomasz Kot-Cold War
4. Lucas Hedges-Ben is Back
3. Ryan Gosling-First Man
2. Bradley Cooper-A Star is Born
1. Ethan Hawke-First Reformed

Honorable mention: Ah-In Yoo-Burning

I'll admit that this category has some of the less interesting offerings of the year (a fact no doubt compounded by how many movies from this year I've yet to see), so it was the easiest thing in the world to give the gold to Hawke's genius unhinged man of the cloth--a performance massive and undeniable enough to win any competition in most years (except, apparently, the Oscars, who would rather give their award to a pair of semi-sentient prosthetic teeth). Still, I appreciated both Gosling and Cooper playing with (and denying) their own star images in their respective films, as well as Hedges for finding a real person amid the sillier aspects of the script he worked with.

Supporting Actress
5. Dolly Wells-Can You Ever Forgive Me?
4. Elizabeth Debicki-Widows
3. Regina King-If Beale Street Could Talk
2. Jong-Seo Jun-Burning
1. Rachel Weisz-The Favorite

Honorable mention: Michelle Yeoh-Crazy Rich Asians

What an unbelievably difficult category to narrow down! There are a good 15 women that I considered here, and the top 8 were nigh-impossible to rank against each other (sorry, Cynthia Erivo and Blake Lively--your time is coming!). That said, the top two were miles away from the others. Jong-Seo Jun's debut performance is a legitimately haunting and constantly surprising tangle of pyschosexual tensions, bold lies, and some truly, mind-bogglingly insane choices. It was awfully tempting to put this in the top spot, but ultimately, I couldn't deny Weisz her crown--how long has it been since we've seen a director and performer as totally in sync with each other's deranged visions as Weisz and Lanthimos. She knows the exact robot affections and breakneck, playful deadness that the material requires, and she imbues the proceedings with her own hidden warmth. How often do we get a performance so dead-eyed and bold, so tongue-in-cheek and emotionally raw? How many actresses could make 18th century hip-hop dancing convincing as a wild expression of joy, a demonstration of power, and, bizarrely, an act of love? This might be the performance of the year.

Supporting Actor
5. Michael B. Jordan-Black Panther
4. Timothée Chalamet-Beautiful Boy
3. Nicholas Hoult-The Favourite
2. Richard E. Grant-Can You Ever Forgive Me?
1. Steven Yeun-Burning

Honorable mention: Josh Hamilton-Eighth Grade

Lots of great work here--points to Jordan for making the first emotionally compelling villain in Marvel history, and Timmy for winning the 'best performance in a movie I hate with every fiber of my being' award. Special points here for poor Nicholas Hoult: I absolutely love this new phase of his career (from bland pretty young thing to totally unhinged character actor), but, after this and Mad Max, what is he going to have to do to get the world at large to take him seriously as an actor? Grant's irascibly bitchy work in Can You... is fantastic, but I've got to give the laurels to Steven Yeun for his study in charismatic coiled panther deadness.

Director
5. Ryan Coogler-Black Panther
4. Bo Burnham-Eighth Grade
3. Yorgos Lanthimos-The Favourite
2. Alfonso Cuaron-Roma
1. Luca Guadagnino-Suspiria

Honorable mention: Pawel Pawlikowski-Cold War

The fifth spot was a toss-up between Coogler, Pawlikowski, and Chang-Dong Lee for Burning, but I ended up leaning toward Coogler, as it must have been a brutal and unholy fight to be allowed to inscribe that much personality, intelligence, and conflict into the tried-and-tested Marvel format. Burnham should also be getting showered in prizes for the deranged, horror-movie aesthetic he brings to a movie about middle schoolers. The top three are each towering achievements in their own right, and I almost went with Cuaron for degree of difficulty alone, but the heart wants what it wants, and what my heart apparently wants is ballerina witches killing each other in dusty basements.

Original Screenplay
5. Roma
4. Hereditary
3. Eighth Grade
2. First Reformed
1. The Favourite

Fun mix of genres and ideas here--from Roma's deeply personal story given epic scale to Hereditary's exploration of grief as a festering illness decorated with severed heads and Eighth Grade staging the War of the Roses on Instagram. It's tempting to let First Reformed's bleary doomsday calls walk away with the win here (if only to make Paul Schrader smile, as he clearly needs it), but how could anyone pick anything other than the wit, wackiness, and alien affections of The Favourite?

Adapted Screenplay
5. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
4. Burning
3. Black Panther
2. Can You Ever Forgive Me?
1. Suspiria

I admire so much about everything here: Spider-Man's go-for-broke reinterpretation is a pretty staggering achievement, as is Black Panther's herculean wrangling of a creatively exhausted story structure, or Can You...'s brittle and warm fascination with friendship in the face of oblivion. But I've already spent too many words gushing over Suspiria's endlessly complex and challenging insights, so I'll just say that any movie that grants us a line as iconic as "my daughter is the shame I smeared on the world" is never going to struggle to earn my giddy devotion.


And that's that for today! Tomorrow (or Saturday? My schedule tomorrow is ridiculous) I'll jump into the crafts categories, and that'll be (almost) it for the 2018 cinematic year! (Of course I'll still find a moment to pop by with some final Oscar predictions, because it's what I do, and I have an illness.)

Best of 2018, part 1: Top 20

So I've discovered a fun pattern. When, in my first year of grad school, I sat down to write up my best of the year posts, I was confronted with the ugly reality that my movie enthusiasm had fallen by the wayside--call it a lack of time (which it certainly was), call it mental exhaustion in the free time that I did have (which it also certainly was), or maybe just call me lazy. At any rate, after that first year, I resolved to fix my free time movie problems: to recommit myself to movies. And (shockingly) it worked! The next year saw my end-of-year list returning to a healthy pre-grad school count. Which, of course, means that I assumed I'd solved the problem forever and never thought of it again--and when the next year rolled around, I found myself back to square one.

For the past half a decade (how have I been in grad school for half a decade and am now only maybe halfway done?), I've been careening through a cycle of 'oh no! Where did movies go?' to 'ALL the movies will be in my eyes THIS INSTANT' to 'Hooray! The world is fixed forever!' and back again--and this year just happens to be an 'I assumed I had no problem but now I'm here and I haven't seen much' year. So what do I do? Do I do the re-commitment dance anew and patch things up for another year? What can I do that'll make it stick? I wrote at some length last year about grad school tends to colonize every facet of your life, pushing the things you love out onto the street where you belong. And that hasn't changed in the interspersing 12 months, nor will it change in the next 4-5 years that I'm in school (or, spoiler alert, for the next 2-until I'm dead years after I graduate).

So here's my new little reconsecration speech--you can throw it back at me next year when I'm treading these same paths (or, if the pattern is to be believed, the year after). But for now: I am not recommitting to movies. I'm not promising to watch a movie every night, even if it kills me. I'm not going to scamper off to the theater after every class, just to make sure my numbers keep bumping up.

I am going to commit to learning how to use my damn time. There are only so many hours in the day, and no number of cannily deployed aphorisms or dizzy daydreams will add more, and this will be true for the rest of my life. So, I can be upset that I've got no time or energy for movies, or I can address the root of the problem and tackle the grumpy little puzzle box that is work/school/life management in academia. And we'll see how that goes! Watch this space.

And why, they ask, is he leading with this weepy monologue? Maybe he only saw Bohemian Rhapsody and that new Transformers movie (you know, the one with the bee) and it wasn't enough? Here's the part where I reveal that my sarcophagus reveries stem from the fact that I saw a dirty 66 movies from this calendar year. (66! they all scream, that's a neutron star of movies! That's the number of movies that killed all the Jedi!, making little Michael Bay-shaped crucifixes with their fingers as they flee.) Well, it is, as they say, my party, which means that I get to complain about whatever I want. Just as a comparison, though: 2013, my last pre-grad school year, had me clocking 92 movies at this same time.

And what about the movies themselves? While I won't pretend that this year is quite up to last year's standards, which saw me adding two movies to my top 30-40 all time (still love both of you 4ever, Lady Bird and Call Me By Your Name), as well as a veritable flotilla of high quality content to fill out the top 20. And while there are certainly riches to be had here--the top two are miles above everything else, both from this year and most others, and the top 10 itself is a writhing panoply of earthly delights. That said, this may be the first year since I began writing these (in 2007, because I am ancient and so are my fingers and opinions) that I can't scrape together a top 20 about which I am uncomplicatedly ebullient. Don't get me wrong--I'm still inflicting a top 20 (and honorable mentions!) on you, but it's not until movie #15-ish that I can really start getting 2 fast 2 enthusiastic without reservation.

If you're new here (which seems tenuous to me, but hey, maybe my loyal Eastern European fanbase are sharing me around?), here's how the format works. I'll rattle off my top 20, as mentioned above, trying to keep a weather eye cast toward brevity (more in interest of killing it horribly dead than in trying to abide by its rules). As always, I've got a self-imposed two sentence limit for each movie, but, uh, we'll see. After that, if you're still looking for ways to flagellate your sinful eyes and thoughts, I'll throw up a list of the best scenes of the year, as well as the worst movies. And then here's a departure: normally (i.e. every year other than last year) I'd put together a list of silly nominations and categories for your enjoyment, but I can tell im voraus that I'm not going to have that in me by the end of this creeping, oozing monstrosity I'm suturing together. So here's the deal: let's tentatively plan on me doing an extra categories/silly awards post after the other two I've planned. Won't that be nice?

In interest of transparency, here's a list of all the movies I've seen. Like I mentioned, I am woefully lacking in screen experiences this year, so if something you loved isn't mentioned, chances are I just took a nap or cried into my pillow instead of going to the movies that day. As always, I'm also woefully lacking in international films and documentaries. It doesn't help that the local artsy theater tends to dump many of the most acclaimed foreign-language films of the year into 2-3 day engagements during finals week. Every year it happens, and every year I brush a tear away as I wave to Border and Shoplifters and Burning as they drift by like highbrow manatees. I also haven't seen things like Capernaum, Leave No Trace, Zama, Disobedience, You Were Never Really Here, Madeline's Madeline, and other works that are available now online (or otherwise), but I just haven't made the time to catch them.

Alex Strangelove, Annihilation, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Aquaman, Avengers: Infinity War, Bad Times at the El Royale, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, Beautiful Boy, Ben is Back, BlacKkKlansman, Black Panther, Bohemian Rhapsody, Boy Erased, Burning, Can You Ever Forgive Me?, Cold War, Crazy Rich Asians, Deadpool 2, Eighth Grade, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, The Favorite, First Man, First Reformed, Free Solo, Game Night, Green Book, Halloween, Hereditary, I Am Not a Witch, If Beale Street Could Talk, Incredibles 2, Isle of Dogs, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Love, Simon, Mary Poppins Returns, Mary Queen of Scots, Minding the Gap, Mission: Impossible -- Ghost Protocol, Mortal Engines, Of Fathers and Sons, Overlord, Pacific Rim: Uprising, Paddington 2, A Quiet Place, Ready Player One, Red Sparrow, The Rider, The Ritual, Roma, Set It Up, A Simple Favor, Solo, Sorry to Bother You, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, A Star is Born, Support the Girls, Suspiria, Three Identical Strangers, Tully, Venom, Vice, We the Animals, Widows, The Wife, Wildlife, Won't You Be My Neighbor?


Alright, without further ado (as there's been much too much ado already), let's jump in!


Honorable mentions: though they didn't make the top 20, I'm grateful for the painterly and deliberate rythyms of If Beale Street Could Talk, the heart-in-throat reportage of Of Fathers and Sons, and the stellar performances trapped in a shaky script with Ben is Back.

20. A Star is Born (dir. Bradley Cooper)
Sure, the first half is stronger than the back half, and I'm admittedly not sold on two of the three key performances in the way that most are, but who am I to resist Lady Gaga's world-ending apocryphal Shallow yowls? Beautifully crafted, fiercely sung slice of all-caps STARDOM--the ups, the downs, and the lack of anything in between.

19. A Simple Favor (dir. Paul Feig)
The movie this year most likely to make unsuspecting audiences question their own concept of reality this year, A Simple Favor skips lightly from mystery thriller to buddy comedy to winky satire to, uh, incest chronicle--and it does it all in the space of one perfectly outfitted breath. Not all of Favor's moving parts move with the same precision, and the film doesn't fly as high as it could because of this, but I'm also not going to look a gift horse wearing a tearaway business suit in the mouth.

18. Paddington 2 (dir. Paul King)
Chicken Soup for the 2018 soul--a movie that vehemently asserts the values of warmth and kindness in a world increasingly unconvinced by secret sunshines. Gorgeous design, a perfectly hammy Hugh Grant flouncing around in a nun's habit, and the happiest prison this side of The Producers--what's not to like?

17. The Rider (dir. Chloe Zhao)
I'll admit that this one was a little further up the list, but, while trying to firm up my rankings, I watched this movie's last scene and it made me tear up right then and there, so I had to push The Rider up the list. While neither the beats it hits or the way it hits them are necessarily unexpected, this quiet narrative of a rodeo cowboy fighting his own post-injury body hits hard--and is all the more fascinating for being performed entirely by the Lakota cowboys and their families upon whom the movie is based.

16. Sorry to Bother You (dir. Boots Riley)
There's plenty of debate about this movie's third-act bonkers plot twist's virtues (or lack thereof), but Sorry to Bother You has enough creativity and see-sawing zaniness and ugliness to redeem itself (though I'll admit I don't hate the ending). And sidebar--I was shocked and tickled when Boots Riley (the lead vocalist of Street Sweeper Social Club, the rock/rap group of my early college years) turned up and started making movies as playful and furious as his music.

15. Widows (dir. Steve McQueen)
The best ensemble of the year (fight me) working in a trapped and brittle heist thriller in which the real thrillers were inside us all along (wherein 'real thrills' means 'the way Elizabeth Debicki side-eyes Cynthia Erivo). The villain(s)' angle is perhaps too pat (and too convoluted), but I could watch these women alternate between crying into their mirrors and running kick-ass crime schemes for the rest of my life and never get bored.

14. BlacKkKlansman (dir. Spike Lee)
It's tough to braid comedy and real world atrocity together in any kind of compelling way, but Klansman manages to both laugh at its subjects without obscuring how profoundly ugly their souls are--an incredibly difficult balancing act of mocking your racist cake without making it seem harmless. Extra points for knowing when to understate (Adam Drivers' arc, for instance) and when to overstate (that piercing Harry Belafonte monologue/Birth of a Nation montage, that beautiful final tracking shot, leading us, dead-eyed, into the screaming present).

13. Support the Girls (dir. Andrew Bujalski)
Takes a potentially toxic and ridiculous premise (day in the life at a Hooters-style restaurant) and elevates it with real humor and compassion. Support the Girls bleeds empathy--it secretly suspects everyone of being better than they think they are, even when (or especially when) they aren't acting like it.

12. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (dir. Bob Perschetti, Peter Ramsey)
Maybe the most surprising movie of the year--a no-holds-barred whirlwind firestorm, saturated with wit and humanity, and casually peacocking enough visual invention for ten lesser movies. Spider-Man realizes (perhaps for the first time in the filmic history of this character?) the wild and keening joys and pains of being a kid with a secret--how someone who doesn't fit in draws both their power and their trauma from the thing that wedges itself between them and the ones they love.

11. Black Panther (dir. Ryan Coogler)
I'm late enough to the party on discussing this one that it seems almost silly to add to the discourse, but for what it's worth: Black Panther is one of the only Marvel movies to have a notion of its own artistic sensibility, deploying some mind-bogglingly fantastic crafts in the service of creating an alternate reality that still feels like the only Marvel movie to take place in our world. It's beautifully made, compelling, shockingly aggressive in its politics (for a Disney movie contractually obligated to make billions of dollars), and it's just a blast--a consummate Marvel package by which all of the next Marvel movies will need to measure themselves.

10. Burning (dir. Lee Chang-dong)
An exercise in slowly boiling the audience alive: we know we're hurting, but we don't know why until its too late to do anything but step quietly out of our skin. Anchored by a trio of spectacular performances (one of which is a debut, no less!), Burning assembles a calculated mosaic of yawns, glances, morning jogs, and some weepy topless dancing thrown in for good measure, creating a tempered beast crawling toward some inevitable world.

9. Cold War (dir. Pawel Pawlikowski)
An east/west narrative that deftly unsettles of the notion of objective historical narratives--both west as freedom and east as imprisonment, and west as decadency, east as revolution, all seen and rebuked. Beautiful performances, cinematography, and music, all in service of showing both real and imagined easts and wests as nothing but a series of ugly compromises.
(note: I shamelessly stole this from my letterboxd review. Go follow me on letterboxd and be subjected to my movie ramblings all the time!)

8. Hereditary (dir. Ari Aster)
What's to be said about this devil's haberdashery of wackiness and evil, in which tongues click, heads fly, people scamper across the ceiling, and Toni Colette gives the best horror performance in decades? Gleefully hideous study of family gone awry--all the pain and secrets and ugliness we try to hide at the dinner table, everything that looks and smells like broken candles and bastard sage and the things you yell to whatever pagan god you assume can lift you out of yourself.

7. Can You Ever Forgive Me? (dir. Marielle Heller)
What a sneaking, perfect little time bomb this is--a tetchy and note-perfect construction whose vast emotional weight only becomes evident once its far too late to put your guard up. Such a beautiful story of broken self-worth in a world of rain--Can You Ever is hilarious and painful and (a rarity!) a story driven by queer friendship that's unafraid to show the bile on its tentacles.

6. Roma (dir. Alfonso Cuaron)
I freely admit that I need to watch this again (about 40 minutes into the film, I got hit with the worst food poisoning I've had in years, and spent the rest of the film nauseously peeking through my fingers), and as such struggled to find the right position for it here--how do I reconcile its towering reputation, its technical acumen, and my own (mostly) positive thoughts with the vaguely negative (and admittedly vomit-drenched) haze that surround my own memories? No idea (other than to watch it again, but who has time?), so for now I'll say that Cuaron's technique is staggering, the moments he catches and choreographs are both precise and expansive, achingly specific but somehow universal, and his commitment to telling this unexpected and unsung story--to position a woman overlooked in her life as the halcyon reference point in the grandiose maelstrom around her--is deeply felt. You wouldn't be wrong to claim that the beauty and scope keeps the audience an arm's length away from the characters (note the insistence on few closeups--or none at all for anyone other than the main character), but I suppose that's the nature of memory itself--drifting further and further away, except for the few key moments that can still cut like glass.

(That broke my two sentence rule, but I had to explain the circumstances. Besides, I've never gotten this far before! Quick, congratulate me before I ruin it!)

5. Eighth Grade (dir. Bo Burnham)
Scarily relateable, unforgivingly detailed look at adolescence, and at cultivating a sense of being under the microscope of constant public scrutiny on social media--takes on being young and unsure what to do about it that are this warm and concise are few and far between. And it's worth noting that this is a movie: how many school movies are this aggressively shot and styled? Burnham directs like his young heroine is going to war--and she is.

4. Minding the Gap (dir. Bing Liu)
Absolutely the surprise of the year--I expected nothing much from a movie that advertised itself as a documentary about skateboarding kids, but what I got was a writhing and palimpsestic examination of violence communal ugliness that re-writes itself on the fly, morphing from a 'kids in their free time' doc to a wounded attempt to expose all the little hurts that perpetuate the myth of the American dream. A profoundly moving documentary, a consistently surprising experimentation with the narrative arcs we've come to expect, and a legitimately uplifting look at the ways in which people can lift each other up. If you haven't seen this, go watch it right now (it's streaming on Hulu).

3. First Reformed (dir. Paul Schrader)
I can't help but feel like ugliness unifies more than a few of the movies on the list: all the ways to cinematically approach the fact that the world we have isn't necessarily the one any of us would have wished for or imagined. The gap between what Ethan Hawke's falling pastor can imagine and what the world can create becomes wider and wider, with no consolation other than a pepto-whiskey cocktail and some good old-fashioned levitation and self-flagellating. If it sounds miserable, it's only because it is--this is an Apocalypse, and it is unstoppable. "Somebody's got to do something!" he yells as worlds both large (the seemingly unstoppable course toward destruction we've charted with climate change) and microscopic (his own body) fall apart. But...why? First Reformed is quick to show us its despair, but is uninterested in providing any answers: partly because there might not be any, and partly because we don't deserve them.

2. The Favourite (dir. Yorgos Lanthimos)
Every single element of this wild-eyed period piece is essential work. Part (very) black comedy, part shockingly moving study of love, illness, and devotion in all its forms, and part documentary made by alien baby with no interest in realistic human behavior (duck races! Naked fruit throwing! The things Nicholas Hoult does to his cane!), and every part as vital and organic as the next. I'll save my accolades for the performances until that post (as well as its filmmaking craft), but there are entire years that don't have performances as good as any given four in this movie. Any movie that be this funny, strange, and beautiful all at once deserves every prize and accolade it gets.

1. Suspiria (dir. Luca Guadagnino)
This may be a controversial choice--and I acknowledge that a two and a half hour long, profoundly brutal, deliberately paced movie about experimental dance, the Holocaust, and witches isn't everyone's cup of tea--but I'm confident that all the people who hate this movie are wrong, and that critical opinion about this movie will turn in the right direction as time passes and people forget what they wanted Suspiria to be and watch what it is. And what is it, exactly? It's not the horror film people wanted. First, Suspiria is an examination of history--it immerses itself in the German Autumn of '77 more than any movie I've seen since Fassbinder, taking the unrest, the fury that spilled into the streets, and the  certainty that evil things lurk beneath every surface, and creating a film whose own specificity qualifies it to speak to other periods (some far too close for comfort) in which all the systems we put in place to stop horrors from being perpetuated are the ones that will eventually sink hooks into our bodies. But that's just the scaffolding for a story about guilt and shame, both culturally and historically (aka Germany's relationship with its own past), one that seems to allege that only when all memory has passed will we even begin to feel absolved of our own sins--and even then, the things that can't be undone will still be written on the walls. Oh, and if that wasn't enough, Suspiria is also a dance film--maybe one of the only movies I've ever seen to really get underneath a dancer's skin, to try and viscerally evoke the spiritual and physical punishments people inflict to write with their bodies--all while asking about how to ethically create art in a world shorn of beauty. It's also a quiet take on feminine power and different kinds of motherhood. And, yes, it's a horror movie, full of some of the most brutal and upsetting imagery I've ever seen. Long story short, Suspiria is a nesting doll of discourses, theses, and arguments, and it's also an exquisitely crafted, moving film that I felt crawl across my skin. And all in service of one question: why is everyone so ready to think the worst is over?



Look at me go! I didn't really horrifically destroy brevity until the end. I expect at least some kind of trophy from everyone who reads this (as if everyone abasing themselves to plod this far isn't a trophy enough).

If you've still got more in you (and if you do, you poor thing, know that it's ok to stop, why do you do this to yourself?), then let's jump into the best scenes of the year! I'll link to them on youtube when I can, but no promises.


10. You Get To Exhale-Love, Simon
Sure, maybe it's the Kidzbop version of Mr. Perlman's Call Me By Your Name speech from last year, but I just can't turn down a watery-eyed Jennifer Garner speaking some truths my teenage self would have killed to hear.
(As an aside, I probably need to love on this movie more than I have. It's faaaaaar from perfect, but hooo boy it would have been a fundamentally life-changing experience for a teenage me, and I'm still dazzled and in love with the fact that something like a mainstream big studio gay teen romcom gets to exist)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mDsxTt6SDE


9. The Popping Book-Paddington 2
Ugh, this scene is just so sweet and lovely and warm. It's like getting hugged by the concept of happiness.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xd82DD4aO9w

8. Hooray for Pool Parties!-Eighth Grade
The pre-teen Hieronymus Bosch bacchanalia of all of our nightmares! Scenes like this show why Eighth Grade would be totally at home on the shelf next to the horror movies. Extra points for the perfectly bonkers and punishing score.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nSxQdQ7U-U


7. Twilight Dance-Burning
Such a strange and lovely moment--and from a woman in her first on-screen performance!!!-as Jong-Seo Jun recreates the 'Big Hunger' dance (aka the dance of existential questioning) as the sun sets.
(Note: this clip contains a topless woman, so I'll label it NSFW)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuY9oVXCH4E

6. Mahjong Game-Crazy Rich Asians
What a beautifully written scene acted between two luminous women at the heights of their powers. If Constance Wu doesn't become a superstar after this movie, I'm going to throw my computer out the window.
(Note: this scene contains significant spoilers for this movie)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wh_oOd5JGpU

5. Family Dinner-Hereditary
Is this the most unpleasant dinner in the history of cinema? Maybe, as all of the pain and resentment in one household comes crashing down over some limp broccoli. Remind me why Toni Colette hasn't won an Oscar yet?
(Some spoilers for Hereditary in this clip)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uWQVdNKUrk

4. Olga's Dance-Suspiria
Look, I just... This is probably top three most brutal and horrific movie deaths I've ever seen. Part of why I haven't re-watched Suspiria (for a third time) is that I'm just not sure I want to watch this again (not yet). Simply put--a woman loses control of her body and is contorted beyond all recognition. I was begging for her to die halfway through--and then it kept going. Which, I suppose, is part of the point: brutality never has enough. It goes and it goes and it perpetuates itself until there's nothing left to devour.

3. Wacky Party Times-The Favourite
Lots of parties and dancing on this list, but this one takes the cake. So weird (the anachronistic choreography is everything, and then some), and with such an undercurrent of sadness (poor Queen Anne's new stockings that never get the debut they want). Everything good about The Favourite can be found in this little dance-y microcosm. I've no idea why everyone with dialogue in this scene isn't guaranteed an Oscar come Sunday.
(Note: the quality of this clip is atrocious, which is a shame, as you can't see the details in the performances, which are quite important, but for what it's worth...)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euyDSzCCkOM

2. Ending Montage-BlacKkKlansman
Normally it's against my rule to include ending scenes here, but if you're alive in 2019, you probably don't need a spoiler warning before learning that racism wasn't solved forever in the 70s. Spike Lee pairs the ending of his narrative with the Charlottesville violence in a horrific and upsetting way, and the message is clear--continuity is continuity. There is no stepping away from or ignoring the violent and oppressive narratives of the past, because they never went away.
(tw: this clip contains footage of the Charlottesville conflicts, which include violence and a man ramming his car into a crowd and murdering a woman)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_QccgBBEHc&t=100s

1. Tell Me Something, Boy...-A Star is Born
Like I'm strong enough to not put this here? I'm not A Star is Born's biggest fan, but this song and this scene feels like it was carved into my bones the moment I was born. There is no pre-Shallow or post-Shallow. There is only During Shallow as Lady Gaga's Aaaa--eee--aaaa--aaa-aaaaahhh echoes into eternity.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNxCz-Iyu0g


And finally...the worst movies of the year! I suppose i ought to relabel this, as one of the perks of watching movies for fun rather than as a job is that I don't have to see anything I don't want to, which means that I get to avoid all the *really* terrible movies. That said, I still willingly put myself in the line of fire for some grade-A disappointments. In fact, maybe we ought to call these the biggest let-downs, as every movie on this list was a highly anticipated/prestige pic. How many Oscar nominations do the following five movies have? More than my top five movies of the year! Because, as Nietzsche said, God is dead, we killed him. (...I find myself quoting Nietzsche too much this Oscar season. This is truly the darkest timeline.)

5. Beautiful Boy
Sure, addiction is a horrible and arduous process, but does watching a movie about it have to be this...repetitive? Unpleasant? Weirdly unbalanced in its power relations? Full of screaming Steve Carell (boy do I wish he would try his hand at comedy again)? Full of flashbacks within flashbacks? Points for Timothée Chalamet, who would be compelling to watch just reading the newspaper, and Maura Tierney as his step-mom--why can't we get a movie about these two? Why do we have to have this story mediated through the tired old white guy who feels personally victimized by his son's choices?

4. Bohemian Rhapsody
I know, I know, how is this not the very worst? Well, despite its absolutely regressive and upsetting politics that make me furious (and even more furious that most of the straight people who see this movie just don't care too much that the queer community is demonized and Freddie Mercury, one of the queer icons, is represented as a sad, self-hating queen who just wants a wife), and despite its hacksaw editing and its terrible performances, and just....everything about this movie that's awful, which is everything (wait, am I talking myself into putting this at #1?). Despite all that, Queen's music is kinetic and transportative enough that there's some vague fun to be had in hearing that music in surround sound.

3. Vice
It's like they say--I don't need my movies to try and humanize our war criminals until after they've been tried at The Hague. And yet here we have this ham-handed, everything-but-the-kitchen-sink Dick Cheney biopic that both wants us to laugh at this man while being afraid of him, to appreciate his humanity while casually suggesting that he's responsible for literally all of the world's political evils (which itself is a pretty presumptuous claim that demonstrates that even 'woke' liberals still inherently accept American exceptionalism as being objectively true). And the last shot--in which Cheney turns to the camera and tells us all that he did it because safety requires compromises--totally rewrites the entire film, asking us to question how necessary the Bush administration's policies were to protect our children. Fuuuuuuuuuuuck this movie.

2. Avengers: Infinity War
Oh hey, do you enjoy superhero movies? Do you like Marvel movies? Well MARVEL HOPES YOU AND YOUR WHOLE FAMILY DIE. This movie is so needlessly ugly, so full of torture and close-ups of weeping faces--it wants you to suffer for having the audacity to pay money to be entertained. What's more--where's the character development? The narrative arcs? Anything? What a small, small movie this is, one that assumes that the explosions will keep you from realizing there is nothing here. I want to like Marvel, and goodness knows I'm the first in line for every movie they release, but...Not like this.

1. The Wife
Maybe a controversial choice, given the utter trash that came before it, but no movie this year made me more embarrassed on behalf of the concept of filmmaking than The Wife--a sloppily made production of a breathtakingly pretentious and idiotic script (and I know a lot about pretension and idiocy). Some of the choices made here are among some of the most inexplicable and terrible I've ever seen in a movie. What's more, these choices totally undermine the movie's thesis. For a movie about a woman artist who has been consistently passed over in favor of her less talented husband, The Wife is sure eager to step away from Glenn Close at every opportunity to gawk at the utterly laughable performances given by the other men onscreen (seriously, Jonathan Pryce's shrieky scenery chewing had me laughing out loud). Don't get me wrong--Glenn Close is absolutely fantastic in this movie. Is that enough to salvage a movie with at least three of the worst performances of the year, one of the worst scripts, and a directorial sensibility that constantly undermines itself and Close's performance? Nope. Nope nope nope nope nope.


So there we have it! Every year I convince myself to be more brief next year, and every year I LIE TO MYSELF. Hooray! Thanks for sticking around to the end (if there are any of you left)!

I can't promise the next list (acting/directing/screenplays) tomorrow, as Wednesdays are my super long days, but I'll post on Thursday.

In the meantime, sound off! What did I do right? Wrong? Come fight with me!