As 2018 comes to an end, what has cinema taught us this year? Superhero franchises are unstoppable, it seems, but there has been a comeback for smaller, more eclectic dramas on Netflix and Amazon which provide more brainfood than the multiplex. There finally seems to have been an upswing in diversity too both in the land of the superhero and in gripping dramas. There have been plenty of gems this year, so here in no specific order are my top 10 – disagree or agree at will. And a Merry Christmas!
A QUIET PLACE – The John Krasinski/Emily Blunt nailbiter must be experienced in the cinema, the silence both tense and golden in a thriller that gripped throughout and kept character at its forefront. Shhh, everyone.
ANNIHILATION – A superb thinker of a science-fiction film that deserved a cinema release but found itself on Netflix. Alex Garland directs Natalie Portman and Oscar Isaac with aplomb in an intellectual, trippy and creepy film as they deal with an alien invasion like no other.
MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: FALLOUT – Simply an excellent spy blockbuster. Tom Cruise and returning franchise director Christopher McQuarrie stage manage some stunning set pieces amidst the espionage.
SEARCHING – Low budget Hitchcockian thriller that takes place on computer screens but still grips as John Cho searches for his missing daughter. Tricksy but believable.
THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI – Frances McDormand was a worthy Oscar winner in this drama about a grieving vengeful mother that constantly surprised with its textured characters. Woody Harrelson and Sam Rockwell equally excellent as cops with secrets.
LADYBIRD – Greta Gerwig’s coming of age story hit many telling grace notes, brilliantly observed and acted by Saoirse Ronan.
FIRST MAN – Damien Chazelle puts Ryan Gosling on the moon after making him sing and dance in this immersive drama about astronaut Neil Armstrong.
HEREDITARY – Slow-burn creepy stuff with Toni Collette brilliantly unhinged as a mother dealing with a family curse.
I, TONYA – An offbeat biopic with plenty of style and cheek anchored by Margot Robbie’s central performance as disgraced Olympian Tonya Harding.
FIFTY SHADES FREED – Only joking.
WIDOWS – Steve McQueen’s barnstorming female led heist thriller based on an 80s ITV series managed to thrill as well as make plenty of points about the disenfranchised in present-day Chicago.
2019 – COMING TO A CINEMA NEAR YOU
A new year calls us… but what will it show us on the silver screen? More superheroes, naturally. No doubt 2019 will be stuffed like a stuffed thing of wonders, but here in no specific order are some of the films I’m most looking forward to… and a Happy New Year!
THE AS YET UNTITLED NEW STAR WARS FILM – Completing the new trilogy with JJ Abrams back at the helm , this will hopefully deliver as Kylo Ren gets a comeuppance and Daisy Ridley goes full Force. Mark Hamill’s Luke Skywalker returns… probably all ghosty.
THE AS YET UNTITLED NEW AVENGERS FILM – After the people-turning-to-ash cliffhanger, which wasn’t much of one as some characters already have sequels on the go, this wraps up the Thanos story. Expect some dimension shifting as the world’s largest cast of heroes reassembles!
ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD – Quentin Tarantino returns with this Hollywood drama set around the Manson murders. A massively starry cast, including Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie, look set to dish some dirt on Tinseltown.
GREEN BOOK – An antidote to Driving Miss Daisy as Italian-American bouncer Viggo Mortenson drives African-American pianist Mahershala Ali across 1960s racist America.
CAPTAIN MARVEL – The first Marvel superheroine to get her own movie, Brie Larson stars as Carol Danvers whose incredible powers will form a bridge to the latest {Avengers} movie.
THE SISTERS BROTHERS – Comedy Western with darkness at its heart, based on Patrick Dewitt’s superb book and starring Joaquin Phoenix and John C Reilly.
TOY STORY 4 – Although full of trepidation – how can Toy Story 3 be topped for emotional intensity? – curiosity still abounds about the further adventures of Woody and Buzz.
BOY ERASED – A blisteringly good gay conversion camp drama, with a stellar performance from Lucas Hedges as the young man forced by ignorant parents Russell Crowe and Nicole Kidman to change his ways.
JOKER – Joaquin Phoenix could bring some scary depth to this Batman supervillain, joining the likes of Jack Nicholson and Heath Ledger with this hopefully down and dirty telling of his tale.
THE KID WHO WOULD BE KING – A very British fantasy as Arthurian legend meets Grange Hill in writer/director Joe Cornish’s homage to epic quests and schoolboy humour.