Baumer's 36 best films of 2018 (top 3 has been revealed)

[baumer]

#15

Rampage

Box office:  428 million

The Rock, Malin Ackerman, Naomi Harris

 

The first two thirds of the movie were probably the best part of the movie.  The exposition about the experiments was excellent.  And we do need to know about it or else it's just another action movie with cool CGI.  The backstory gives us a villain to hate.  Then you add the stuff about animal poaching and it elevates the film from an action movie about giant animals rampaging through Chicago to a movie about a man who cares about George and will do anything he can to bring him home.  The backstory with Davis and his desire to save animals and eradicate poaching from the world was one of the best things about the movie.  Without these plot pieces, the rest of the movie doesn't have the emotional gravitas it does.

 

And of course, when you see a movie called Rampage, you want to see the giant ape destroy cities.  And we were not disappointed.  The destruction of the city is quite a sight.  George and the other giant animals run amok in the city and leave it in ruins.  CGI was excellent.

 

I loved this movie.  Jeffrey Dean Morgan was basically playing Negan in this and it worked beautifully.  He's a worthy adversary and then ally to Dwayne.  He has just as much charisma as DJ and putting them on screen together was a stroke of genius.

 

Rampage shocked me.  I went in expecting to be mildly entertained and came away with a movie that had a lot to say about playing God, animal protection and it had anti-poaching theme as well.  The action and destruction was terrific and it even added some good comedic bit.   We need more movies like this.

 

 

@RandomCat  I enjoyed the movie. Not as goofy as I was expecting. Still plenty goofy at parts. But the word I'd use is grizzly. Violent deaths, bloody. But the emotional weight of Johnson and George work pretty well. 

 

[baumer]

#14

Vice

Box office:  30 million and counting

Christian Bale, Steve Carrel, Amy Adams, Naomi Watts....Produced by Brad Pitt and Will Ferrell 

 

This might as well be Adam McKay's JFK.  While not as scathing and accusatory as Oliver Stone's 1991 Oscar nominated film, it still has it's opinions and makes some subtle but bold statements.  This might be the first main stream film that suggests, very tacitly mind you, but suggests nonetheless that 9/11 was an inside job. I'll leave it at that because I know how angry it gets people when I bring stuff like this up.

 

Adam McKay's follow up to his Academy Award winning, The Big Short is just as good, or maybe even better in my opinion that it's predecessor and again in sharp and attacking form with a good dose of comedy as well as material that will make you think and even unsettle you, it definitely is a film that is bound to be debated, discussed and the topic of water cooler conversations for anyone living in America, or who has even the tiniest bit of interest in political activities. Last time, McKay tackled the crash of the stock market along with the housing bubble and decline that is just over ten years ago that these events happened and with The Big Short, McKay took a subject matter that to many people would work better than a warm glass of milk at bedtime to put you asleep and instead totally energized the topic by making it understandable as well as also funny and entertaining in what was a marvellously edited and written film that made for good comedy as well as giving insight to one of the most polarizing news items of the last couple of decades. Here again, McKay takes on another topic and figure in American news that is at times funny, full of great editing, but also to anyone not normally engaged into the poltical world, he takes the persona of Vice President Dick Cheney and gives what is anything, but typical biography as well as doing it's own finger wagging at some of the morals and ethics behind some of his biggest decisions while in power.

 

McKay uses a lot of unique ways to tell a story.  Some of them can be very jarring and take you right out of the film.  Others are so in your face, so obvious and yet so vitriolic that you can't help but love it.  My favourite one in this film is when Cheney and his cronies are at a restaurant and Alfred Molina, as the waiter, reads off their illegal agenda (start a war, frame someone for it etc) as if he was reading off the chef's specials.  

 

Vice is ambitious, trailblazing and ballsy.

 

@YLF    The stylistic choices the director makes in terms of the editing make this a subpar movie.The acting is phenomenal though, and I would recommend seeing it just because of that. The movie would have an engaging scene that would quickly transition into satirical picture/meme/music/madness lol. If the movie did not include that element I would've rated it higher. Those parts really took me out of the film, and for such a serious topic was not needed.

 

[baumer]

#13

A Simple Favor

Box office:  94.8 million

Anna Kendrick, Blake Lively

 

This is not your ordinary film. It is comedic. It is dark, but it is not a dark comedy. It manages to remain light-hearted throughout. This, combined with its excellent acting performances, earns its place in my top fifteen of the year. It also has a plot full of twists. "A Simple Favor" is a joy to watch.

Anna Kendrick plays the main role of Stephanie Smothers. Blake Lively plays Emily Nelson, her counterweight. Anna is a combination of Martha Stewart and the Country Mouse. She hosts a daily vlog about homemaking and how to dedicate oneself to the joys of being a perfect mother. She is naïve and conservative and seemingly self-satisfied. Or is she? She meets Emily, a seemingly sophisticated City Mouse whose fashion sense is Dior-meets-Zoolander. She is always ready to reveal something shocking, always ready for the next vermouth-starved martini.

Somehow these two become best friends. Or do they? The film keeps the viewer guessing as to character motivations and what one is actually seeing. And it is very confident in its tone and structure, which makes the viewing experience quite enjoyable.

My favorite thing about this film is Anna Kendrick's ability to juggle competing personality aspects of her character, to show real growth of her character, and to make it look totally organic, not a conscious effort.  It's not a bad thing either seeing two incredibly beautiful women take verbal jabs at one another.

 

@Nova  Blake Lively in suits is an automatic A 

 

 

 

[Ethan Hunt]

I don't think we've been on the same page this year B

[baumer]

#12

Ready Player One

Box office:  582.8 mill WW

Tye Sherida, Ben Mendelsohn, Directed by Steven Spielberg

 

The Shining stuff was awesome.  I laughed and gasped when the music came on.  When the twins tell him to come and play and when he encounters the old woman in 237, I thought I could die at that moment and life would end on a perfect note.

 

I thought Sho (the 11 year old) was an homage to Short Round from Temple of Doom

 

I thought Ryalance's interpretation of Halliday was an homage to Crispin Glover in Back to the Future.

 

I got a huge kick out of the Zemekis Cube.

 

I gasped when Kong first shows up.

 

The Batmobile, the old one, was awesome.

 

Lara Croft shows up a few times.

 

Beetlejuice does as well.

 

Same with the Delorean.

 

Did anyone else catch the quick nod to Terminator 2?  When Iron Giant is sent to his death, in the lava, he gives the thumbs up as he is going down.  Loved that part.

 

The orb (I think that's what it's called) was in a Gremlins box....awesome.

 

There were tiny interludes of other famous movie music....one was the BTTF theme.

 

I almost stood up and cheered when Chucky came on screen.

 

I think I saw Harley Quinn in one of the dance scenes.

 

Loved it when Samantha scares him with one of the facehuggers from Aliens.  

 

And of course Freddy and Jason are seen as Avatars in the final battle.

 

The Saturday Night Fever dance scene was cool too.

 

Of course the mentioning of John Hughes, Shermer high school, Ridgemont High school, Ferber High....all cool little mentions.

 

i don't recall any Star Wars characters, although people tell me they are in there, but there is a scene where Wade has a lightsabre.  

 

So many cool references in the film.  I need to see it again for sure.

 

Probably the biggest geek out movie of all time, for me.

 

@That One Guy “IT’S FUCKING CHUCKY” might be the greatest line ever

 

@IronJimbo  

Good film, very enjoyable!

 

References were cool, for the Jim gang, we had the T2 thumbs up and the pulse rifle and Sulaco miniture.

 

[baumer]

3 hours ago, Ethan Hunt said:

I don't think we've been on the same page this year B

 

That's okay.  We're more than 20 years apart in age.  

[Ethan Hunt]

5 minutes ago, Christmas baumer said:

#12

Ready Player One

Box office:  582.8 mill WW

Tye Sherida, Ben Mendelsohn, Directed by Steven Spielberg

 

The Shining stuff was awesome.  I laughed and gasped when the music came on.  When the twins tell him to come and play and when he encounters the old woman in 237, I thought I could die at that moment and life would end on a perfect note.

 

I thought Sho (the 11 year old) was an homage to Short Round from Temple of Doom

 

I thought Ryalance's interpretation of Halliday was an homage to Crispin Glover in Back to the Future.

 

I got a huge kick out of the Zemekis Cube.

 

I gasped when Kong first shows up.

 

The Batmobile, the old one, was awesome.

 

Lara Croft shows up a few times.

 

Beetlejuice does as well.

 

Same with the Delorean.

 

Did anyone else catch the quick nod to Terminator 2?  When Iron Giant is sent to his death, in the lava, he gives the thumbs up as he is going down.  Loved that part.

 

The orb (I think that's what it's called) was in a Gremlins box....awesome.

 

There were tiny interludes of other famous movie music....one was the BTTF theme.

 

I almost stood up and cheered when Chucky came on screen.

 

I think I saw Harley Quinn in one of the dance scenes.

 

Loved it when Samantha scares him with one of the facehuggers from Aliens.  

 

And of course Freddy and Jason are seen as Avatars in the final battle.

 

The Saturday Night Fever dance scene was cool too.

 

Of course the mentioning of John Hughes, Shermer high school, Ridgemont High school, Ferber High....all cool little mentions.

 

i don't recall any Star Wars characters, although people tell me they are in there, but there is a scene where Wade has a lightsabre.  

 

So many cool references in the film.  I need to see it again for sure.

 

Probably the biggest geek out movie of all time, for me.

 

@That One Guy “IT’S FUCKING CHUCKY” might be the greatest line ever

 

@IronJimbo  

Good film, very enjoyable!

 

References were cool, for the Jim gang, we had the T2 thumbs up and the pulse rifle and Sulaco miniture.

 

oh god we definitely weren't on the same page 

[baumer]

One more before the top ten.  I'll get to it after work.

 

Here's a hint for number:

 

10:  My choice for best actress of the year

9:  The Canadian pizza film with a terrific cast

4:  A film that shows how far we have not come

2) Sack Lodge and Virg Earp sure can act

[baumer]

3 hours ago, Ethan Hunt said:

oh god we definitely weren't on the same page 

 

Ready Player One is a film that is made for my generation.  You either don't get or just don't care about most of the references.  Doesn't surprise me that you didn't care for it.

[Ethan Hunt]

I think Ready Player One is a really hateful toxic movie 

[narniadis]

B, def an age thing. We finally watched RP1 this past week and it was a blast. Book Club is still also in my top of the year. 

 

Great list so far.

[narniadis]

1 hour ago, Ethan Hunt said:

I think Ready Player One is a really hateful toxic movie 

How? Why?? Wtf?? 

 

*obligatory "Ethan shut up" here. 

[Ms Lady Hawk]

In addition to many on your list, I also really liked: 

 

Ocean’s 8

Peppermint

Upgrade

Skyscraper

 

I know that you stated that you had not seen The Hate U Give. It is really good. Looking forward to the remainder of your list. 

[IronJimbo]

My favourite film I saw in Cinema was MI6:Fallout and at home it's MANDY

[LonePirate]

Glad to see A Simple Favor made the list. The movie is far more entertaining than I was expecting given how its plot summary seems like it was lifted from a made for cable television movie. It’s definitely in my Top 10 for the year. Lively is simply fantastic in it. If there is an Ocean’s 9 movie, she needs to be cast in it.

[Ethan Hunt]

35 minutes ago, narniadis said:

How? Why?? Wtf?? 

 

*obligatory "Ethan shut up" here. 

the film is clearly in favor of toxic fanboy culture and gross over idolization of source material 

[AndyLL]

21 minutes ago, Ethan Hunt said:

the film is clearly in favor of toxic fanboy culture and gross over idolization of source material 

[Plain Old Tele]

Oh no.

[The Panda]

2 hours ago, Ethan Hunt said:

the film is clearly in favor of toxic fanboy culture and gross over idolization of source material 

Didn’t really like RPO all to much, but also don’t get this take

[Ethan Hunt]

1 minute ago, The Panda said:

Didn’t really like RPO all to much, but also don’t get this take

At one point the lead character exclaims "this isn't like the movie!" It's essentially a movie for the anti-TLJ crowd