Tag: Woman at War

The Best Movies of 2018

“A Star is Born,” “Black Panther,” “First Reformed” and “Cold War” are all among Brian’s best movies of 2018

The films released in 2018 are all firmly in the Trump era. If the best movies of last year were the ones that were either shockingly relevant to the times (“Get Out”) or were enough pure adrenaline escapism (“Baby Driver”) to provide a distraction from the barrage of noise and conflict going on in the real world, then the most effective movies of this year were the ones that managed to do both. They’re timely and don’t ignore the world around them but also were wildly entertaining and richly cinematic.

Films as diverse as Spike Lee’s hyper-political genre film “BlacKkKlansman,” the tear jerking documentary “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?,” Marvel’s racially-charged superhero epic “Black Panther” and the delightful fable “Paddington 2” were able to be in the same conversation as movies that say as much about life in 2018 as they are fun to watch. Though maybe that’s the key for any year and not just years in which every push notification and tweet brings an absurd amount of anxiety. The best movies are ones that have something to say, that make you think and that you want to watch again.

These were the 10 (okay, 11) movies that did all of the above this year: Continue reading “The Best Movies of 2018”

November Review Recaps: ‘The Grinch,’ ‘Bohemian Rhapsody,’ ‘Creed II’ and More

So this is what it feels like to actually be a film reporter. Multiple screenings every week, eating poorly, losing out on sleep, barely wanting to do any writing beyond what’s required of me.

Or maybe that’s just November in Hollywood. It is awards season after all.

Still, putting this out is better late than never, and it’s a great time to catch up on both good stuff and bad. And for the record, while I’ll have some December reviews as well, I’m targeting the week of December 17 for my annual Best Movies of the Year list. And I should have my Best Albums of the Year list in the coming days. So stay tuned. Continue reading “November Review Recaps: ‘The Grinch,’ ‘Bohemian Rhapsody,’ ‘Creed II’ and More”