Oscar season this year was a lot of fun, because the reactions to some of the nominees were so divided. Going down the list of Best Picture contenders, I have no particular hard feelings toward "Green Book" or "Bohemian Rhapsody," which I thought were just fine for what they were, if a little old fashioned in a comfort food kind of way. Apparently, I like them better than most. "A Star is Born" was lovely, and the right movie for the right moment in time. It wasn't, however, a version of the story that connected with me, especially as I have very fond memories of the Judy Garland and James Mason musical version. "Black Panther" is an indisputable cultural milestone for doing some important things really, really well. However, I also found it too deficient in other areas to call it exceptional as a whole. Oh, and "Vice" was pretty awful.
More interesting are the films that attracted a lot of attention because they were snubbed. This includes "If Beale Street Could Talk," "First Reformed," "Eighth Grade" "Hereditary," and "First Man." Now "Beale Street" is a gorgeous piece of filmmaking, but the impeccable style can't make up for the sparseness of the content. I spent so much of the movie wishing it were about everyone around the central couple instead of the couple themselves. "First Reformed" completely lost me with its ending, though I appreciate its aims. "Eighth Grade" is such a perfect little slice of teenage misery and topical in a way that not enough films are. It was just so slight, it left me frustrated. "Hereditary" was good fun as a visceral experience, but I found it more disgusting than scary or disturbing. As for "First Man," the technical quality is first rate, but there's no mystery why such a cold, somber take on the space race didn't catch on with audiences.
Smaller films that had a lot of heat behind them included "Blindspotting," "The Rider" and several documentaries. I really enjoyed "Blindspotting," especially alongside "Sorry to Bother You," but it was a year of lots of good films about Oakland and the African-American experience, and "Blindspotting" just didn't make the cut. "The Rider," frankly, is a film which I don't understand the appeal of. I'm sympathetic toward the protagonist, but I don't feel that having Brady Jandreau essentially play himself adds much to the experience. And while I grew up with Fred Rogers and adore his work as much as anyone, "Won't You Be My Neighbor" strikes me as having been so successful due to the nostalgia of its audience. It's a nice walk down memory lane, but that's all it is. "Three Identical Strangers" and "Free Solo" have far more interesting subject matter, and are explored in welcome depth. Didn't crack my top twenty, but they're up there.
Popular hits that I feel deserve a mention include "Game Night" and "Blockers," which were both enjoyably adult comedies without being too immature about it. "Ready Player One" was a technical marvel even if there was a lot wrongheaded about it. I thoroughly enjoyed "Infinity War" as stupidly outsized spectacle, and "Crazy Rich Asians" made me very happy and almost made thirty-plus years of Asian solidarity watching worth it. Finally, "Black Mirror: Bandersnatch" was certainly an interesting experiment, even if nothing ultimately comes of it.
Alas, I didn't watch enough foreign films to be able to include a section for them this year. Films that just missed spots on the honorable mentions roll include "Revenge," "Isle of Dogs," "The Tale," and Asghar Farhadi's "Everybody Knows."
And that's my 2018 in film. See you next time.
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