Blankments' 118 Films of 2018: From the Worst To the Best

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82. The Cloverfield Paradox

 

 

Directed by Julius Onah.

Starring Daniel Bruhl, Elizabeth Debicki, Aksel Hennie, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Chris O’Dowd, John Ortiz, David Oyelowo and Zhang Ziyi.
Release date: February 4, 2018

Runtime: 102 minutes

 

 

Don’t let the low ranking fooled you, I liked this! Honestly, Venom was where we began movies I legitimately enjoyed watching, and this is no exception. It’s campy at points and downright moronic for a big chunk, but it’s a big budget b-movie that has enough tension to really work. I just wish they didn’t add the moronic Cloverfield connection subplot because everything else in this movie was really good; that ruined the tension and kinda made the other movies worse in retrospect. We don’t need an explanation for an anthology; come on J.J., that’s rule #1.

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81. Uncharted - Live Action Fan Film

 

 

Directed by Alan Ungar.

Starring Nathan Fillion, Stephen Lang, Geno Segers, Mircea Monroe and Ernie Reyes Jr.
Release date: July 16, 2018

Runtime: 14 minutes

 

 

Okay, this is mostly boring for most of the runtime and was highly overrated by the majority of the Internet… but the action scene in it is legitimately cool with an awesome gimmick that worked. Cool to see Fillion in the role too. Decent fun!!

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80. Ready Player One

 

 

Directed by Steven Spielberg.

Starring Tye Sheridan, Olivia Cooke, Ben Mendelsohn, T.J. Miller, Lena Waithe, Simon Pegg and Mark Rylance.
Release date: March 29, 2018

Runtime: 140 minutes

 

 

This is a mess of a film. Sure, Spielberg can do the action still and there’s fun moments here and there but overall, it just feels… disrespectful. Like yes, Spielberg can use all this stuff because he’s Spielberg, but do we need to see the Iron Giant flashing the T2 thumbs-up, or a screaming CG ogre running around The Shining? It’s a stupid film that feels harmful, even if it really isn’t that bad in the latter part. Some nice setpieces doesn’t make up for the boring story and overuse of references.

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79. A Quiet Place

 

 

Directed by John Krasinski.

Starring Emily Blunt and John Krasinski.
Release date: April 6, 2018

Runtime: 90 minutes

 

 

This is probably my first super controversial take. It’s fine! The first half is significantly better than the second, which falls into total moronic horror tropes and large leaps in logic and breaking of the film’s own rules. However, even the first half is marred by the poor dialogue, constant treating the audience like idiots, and just a dull main character. If this had been put on Netflix, it’d have the same meme-but-not-actual-good status as Bird Box. This is a better crafted film to be sure, but is it really good? Eh, it’s passable.

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78. Oh, It's Nothing

 

 

Directed by Tim Hautekiet.

Starring Dom Fera, Amber Grace, John Gonzales and Kim Bower.
Release date: August 31, 2018

Runtime: 3 minutes

 

Seeing that there are absolutely no images of this film online, be it poster or otherwise, I’ve linked it above. This is a cute short that doesn’t overstay its welcome but is also extremely evocative of student films I’ve seen at school time and time again. Still, it’s short enough that I was happy to see it in theaters in front another, much more high profile, movie.

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77. Hotel Artemis

 

 

Directed by Drew Pearce.

Starring Jodie Foster, Sterling K. Brown, Sofia Boutella, Jeff Goldblum, Brian Tyree Henry, Jenny Slate, Zachary Quinto, Charlie Day and Dave Bautista.
Release date: June 8, 2018

Runtime: 94 minutes

 

 

The script of this is average at best, and it’s rarely at its best. It also lacks a real sense of how to direct action. However, it’s almost all made up for in that the cast is clearly having a great time being able to actually establish characters with neat ticks and a strong sense of grounded campiness. Bautista and Boutella are the highlights but everyone in this does great with what they have to do. It’s a fun watch if not an entirely good one.

[Blankments]

76. The Wife

 

 

Directed by Bjorn Runge.

Starring Glenn Close, Jonathan Pryce, Christian Slater, Max Irons, Annie Starke, Harry Lloyd and Elizabeth McGovern.
Release date: August 17, 2018

Runtime: 100 minutes

 

 

Yeah, it’s boring. Yeah, it felt like a chore to get through. But there’s some interesting stuff here, mainly Close’s performance contradicting what seems to be the actual message of the movie. On that message: it’s remarkably muddled and honestly doesn’t make much sense. It’s a confusing movie that even after seeing it, I’m not entirely sure it exists. Solid performance piece though!!

[Blankments]

75. The First Purge

 

 

Directed by Gerald McMurray.

Starring Y’lan Noel, Lex Scott Davis, Joivan Wade and Steve Harris.
Release date: July 4, 2018

Runtime: 97 minutes

 

 

We are solidly into the 3/5s now. This was yet another Purge movie, probably the second best of the bunch. The action has never been better than this one, but it felt like it lacked focus and, like Election Year, struggled to come off as progressive when it’s still just an exploitation film. This is fine, but stop trying to convince me these are socially relevant. They’re fun popcorn movies; have fun!

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74. Aquaman

 

 

Directed by James Wan.

Starring Jason Momoa, Amber Heard, Willem Dafoe, Patrick Wilson, Dolph Lundgren, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Nicole Kidman.
Release date: December 21, 2018

Runtime: 143 minutes

 

 

Fucking stupid but enjoyable in that audacious nature. The effects are gorgeous and Wan knows how to direct an action scene. By the end though, I just felt exhausted from watching it; it’s simultaneously too long yet underdeveloped. This is the first movie I think I’ve ever seen where I actively felt superhero fatigue. It works for what it’s trying to be, but at this point, with ten superhero movies a year on the regular, I don’t know why I should have to settle for that. Honestly, a disappointment coming from James Wan.

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73. Pacific Rim: Uprising

 

 

Directed by Steven S. DeKnight.

Starring John Boyega, Scott Eastwood, Jing Tian, Cailee Spaeny, Rinko Kikuchi, Burn Gorman, Adria Arjona, Zhang Jin and Charlie Day.
Release date: March 23, 2018

Runtime: 111 minutes

 

 

Big, dumb, cheesy and joyously fun, this should be the perfect follow-up to the first film. However, little touches that Del Toro gave the first are missing here, and not even John Boyega’s charisma can make up for it. It ended up being massively forgettable which was the last thing anyone wanted from a Pacific Rim sequel. I’m looking forward to the Netflix anime but it’s sad that seemingly the live-action aspect of the franchise has to die already with such an average film.

[Blankments]

72. SuperFly

 

 

Directed by Director X.

Starring Trevor Jackson, Jason Mitchell, Michael K. Williams, Lex Scott Davis and Jennifer Morrison.
Release date: June 13, 2018

Runtime: 116 minutes

 

 

This was dope!! A blaxplotiation remake that actually felt timely and badass, this is one of the most underrated films of the year in that Trevor Jackson was on my Best Actor ballot for a decent chunk of the year. A smart re-imagining of the Superfly mythos, the only thing bringing it down was that the low-budget showed and not really in a fun way. It’s hard to rank a remake like this higher than #72, but rest-assured, if you haven’t seen this movie, I recommend it.

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71. Peter Rabbit

 

 

Directed by Will Gluck.

Starring Rose Byrne, Domhnall Gleeson, Sam Neill, Daisy Ridley, Elizabeth Debicki, Margot Robbie and James Corden.
Release date: February 9, 2018

Runtime: 95 minutes

 

 

A hilarious way to spend Oscar night, and honestly? A decent kids movie on its own. It’s got a strong slapstick sensibility and Gleeson gives the physical comedy more than it deserves. It’s psychotic at points but it’s remarkably fun and the runtime flies by. It falls under a brand of cinema I call postmodern obnoxious; something so obnoxious it circles back around to being clever. I eagerly await the sequel because this was very, very fun.

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70. Blockers

 

 

Directed by Kay Cannon.

Starring Leslie Mann, Ike Barinholtz and John Cena.
Release date: April 6, 2018

Runtime:  102 minutes

 

 

A very charming sex comedy. It’s not always funny but it’s got a big heart to it. Heck, Ike Barinholtz almost made me cry while watching it. The cast is fun, it’s got a very chill vibe to it. The biggest problem it has is that I really don’t remember much of it so many months later, which is something I can’t say about most 2018 comedies. Still, I really appreciate this film.

Edited February 10, 2019 by Blankments

[Blankments]

69. Uncle Drew

 

 

Directed by Charles Stone III.

Starring Kyrie Irving, Lil Rel Howery, Shaquille O’Neal, Chris Webber, Reggie Miller, Nate Robinson, Lisa Leslie, J. B. Smoove, Mike Epps, Tiffany Haddish and Nick Kroll.
Release date: June 29, 2018

Runtime: 103 minutes

 

 

UNCLE DREWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW. This is a silly comedy that weirdly goes dramatic at points but it works? Mainly because the premise is so out there. Most of the basketball players actually end up being pretty good actors; Kyrie Irving was in my top ten lead actor performances until about a month ago! The makeup is impressive and really, this is oddly sincere enough to work. A legitimate hidden gem of the year.

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68. Mid90s

 

 

Directed by Jonah Hill.

Starring Sunny Suljic, Lucas Hedges, Na-kel Smith, Olan Prenatt, Gio Galicia, Ryder McLaughlin, Alexa Demie and Katherine Waterston.
Release date: October 19, 2018

Runtime: 85 minutes

 

 

This one takes a turn that almost sours the whole experience for me, but really, this is good coming-of-age cinema. It’s not great; it never really grabbed me outside of one character and the ending is super abrupt. It works best as an exploration as how toxic masculinity gets embedded into kids at an early age. This isn’t entirely fun to watch though, and as such, it’s a bit lower than you might expect.

[Blankments]

67. Creed II

 

 

Directed by Stephen Caple Jr.

Starring Michael B. Jordan, Sylvester Stallone, Tessa Thompson, Wood Harris, Phylicia Rashad and Dolph Lundgren.
Release date: November 21, 2018

Runtime: 130 minutes

 

 

 

A huge step down from the first film, but it’s still a solid watch thanks to Tessa Thompson having a larger role and the Dragos’ story being legitimately very intriguing. The fights are dully shot, and Creed and Rocky’s arcs are both ill-defined and, in the case of the latter, indulge in too much adulation to make the underdog aspects ring true. The cast is still excellent though and that makes this a watchable time, but still a very disappointing follow-up to a masterpiece.

Edited February 10, 2019 by Blankments

[Plain Old Tele]

How many shorts do you have on here? 😒

[Blankments]

66. On the Basis of Sex

 

 

Directed by Mimi Leder.

Starring Felicity Jones, Armie Hammer, Justin Theroux, Sam Waterston and Kathy Bates.
Release date: December 25, 2018

Runtime: 120 minutes

 

 

A biopic that is subtly pretty good, this fails more because of a more comprehensive documentary that came out earlier in the year (and later on this list). I wasn’t really informed and at points, was bored having known where the story will go. Armie Hammer is great though as a supportive husband and the ending, which could’ve come off as super cheesy, is actually very touching. If this had come out in summer and the doc had come out in December, I would’ve enjoyed it more. Alas, it’s just redundant as is.

Edited February 10, 2019 by Blankments

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37 minutes ago, Telemachos said:

How many shorts do you have on here? 😒

there's only two left I believe, be happy i made this list before seeing the oscar shorts

Edited February 10, 2019 by Blankments

[Blankments]

speaking of which...

 

65. Team Darryl

 

 

Directed by Taika Waititi

Starring Jeff Goldblum and Daley Pearson.
Release date: February 20, 2018

Runtime: 6 minutes

 

 

A funny addition to the Team Thor shorts from last year. This isn’t as good as the first one but Jeff Goldblum makes it amusing as always. Waititi remains brilliant and I can’t wait for his next film.