10 Best Movies of 2018
So I had planned to do a post on my favorite onscreen couples of 2018, like I did last year, but I was having trouble finding anything to say about some of them (heh ;)), so I figured that instead I'd recap the best movies I saw for the first time this year. The very very best new-to-me films are towards the end of the post. :)
✤ Incredibles 2 {2018} ✤
We had such a long wait for this, and for me at least, it delivered. Is it as good as the first one? Eh. I don't know. The first one has such nostalgia for everyone that I don't know if it's fair to compare them like that. Does it do its job as a sequel? Absolutely. (Again, in my opinion. ;))
✤ Won't You Be My Neighbor? {2018} ✤
It was good to learn about Mr. Rogers, since I only watched a little of the show as a wee one. This one made me cry a little, actually; and, as I said before, it made me feel like I found another kindred spirit. <3
✤ The Light Between Oceans {2016} ✤
This is an excellent adaptation of a gut-wrenching book. I was not disappointed. (Vikander and Fassbender are such good actors. Aaaaagh.)
✤ Room {2015} ✤
Again, a very solid adaptation of a good book. In fact . . . I may have actually liked the movie more than the book. (The movie made me cry; the book did not.) The only thing I don't like is that there were a few loose ends left at the end (more so than the book, I think).
✤ This Is Not What I Expected {2017} ✤
For someone who doesn't like to watch foreign language films, I sure fell in love with this one. THESE TWO ARE JUST THE CUTEST, FAM. *high-pitched, happy squeal*
✤ Big Fish {2003} ✤
This movie is Weird, and, as I've said before, it's also somehow My Aesthetic. I liked it very much. <3
✤ Thor: Ragnarok {2017} ✤
I watched this after watching Infinity War, so it was basically a therapeutic experience. It just makes me happy to see Thor and Loki running around teasing each other and trying to get out of difficult situations together. :)
✤ Quigley Down Under {1990} ✤
This movie is SO GOOD. Perfect balance of humor and depth. Outstanding Western. A+.
✤ The Greatest Showman {2017} ✤
I know this movie has gotten sooooo much hype that some people are probably starting to get tired of it, but truly, on its own, it's a very, very special film. Such a carefully produced experience with such dedicated acting and good pacing and music that has touched people for a reason and two of the best couples Hollywood has offered in recent years. It's truly wonderful.
✤ Goodbye Christopher Robin {2017} ✤
Just . . . everything. So masterfully done. I loved it.
✤ Incredibles 2 {2018} ✤
✤ Won't You Be My Neighbor? {2018} ✤
✤ The Light Between Oceans {2016} ✤
 |
| first of all, to clarify, I'm completely fine. totally over this story. 300% recovered. |
✤ Room {2015} ✤
 |
| these two were low-key stunning, especially Jacob Tremblay. i know Brie Larson got the Oscar, but man . . . |
✤ This Is Not What I Expected {2017} ✤
✤ Big Fish {2003} ✤
✤ Thor: Ragnarok {2017} ✤
✤ Quigley Down Under {1990} ✤
✤ The Greatest Showman {2017} ✤
I know this movie has gotten sooooo much hype that some people are probably starting to get tired of it, but truly, on its own, it's a very, very special film. Such a carefully produced experience with such dedicated acting and good pacing and music that has touched people for a reason and two of the best couples Hollywood has offered in recent years. It's truly wonderful.
✤ Goodbye Christopher Robin {2017} ✤
What are your favorite 2018 watches?
Yes, Incredibles 2 is so good! I actually liked it better then the first. And yes to The Greatest Showman!! It is so good!!
ReplyDeleteAll the others I really want to see, and the fact that they made it to your top ten... Ahhh! I can't wait!!!!,
It is!! I don't know which I like better, but I was very pleased with the second. :) TGS IS WONDERFUL AND BASICALLY ALMOST PERFECT THE END. <3
DeleteEeee, yay!! I hope you love them if/when you watch them. :D <3
Sorry for bothering, I just wanted to ask why did Naomi delete her blog? I asked Emma but she didn't want to talk about it. :'(
ReplyDeleteI actually don't know what went into Naomi's decision, so I can't help you there.
DeleteOk, I was just a bit worried. She sounded sad in some of her posts and she actually deleted those posts. Next thing I saw was that the whole blog was gone. Just hoping she's ok.
DeleteAww, that's kind of you!
DeleteI am definitely planning to read The Light Between Oceans in 2019 (I've had it on my bookshelf for *ahem* over a year...), and the movie looks so good! Yesss, Vikander & Fassbender are incredible actors!
ReplyDeleteI love The Greatest Showman SO much!!! Mostly for the music and Phineas + Charity! <3
I reallyyy want to see Goodbye, Christopher Robin!!! It seems beautiful but bittersweet, and just like my kind of movie!
I'd love to read a post about the best books that you read during 2018!!! Pretty please?! ;-)
~ Catie
Oh, and if you're comfortable sharing, I'd also love to hear what some of your plans/goals/dreams for 2019 are! :-)
DeleteAaashdgklafg *cries a little* It's SO good. I read it back in April or May, I believe, and it's stayed with me the whole year. (It does have a little content, though, just so you know--some fairly strong cursing/God's name in vain + some sexual content between a married couple.) The movie was an excellent adaptation. They're so good!
DeleteSaaaaaame <3 I love Phineas + Charity SO much.
It is DEFINITELY "beautiful but bittersweet." I highly recommend (just don't panic at any point in the movie and stop watching--you have to watch through to the end!!).
Haha! Well, it's your lucky day--I had already been planning one, and it just went up! ;D Thanks for your interest ;D
Aww, thanks! I don't know if I'm going to be doing a post about that or not, but I'll keep it in mind. :) Without going into detail, two of my goals for this new year are to both write and exercise more regularly! :) What about you?
Yes yes, thanks for the heads up! I am aware of that, which is part of the reason why I have yet to read it. :-P
DeleteAhhh, yes...those are excellent goals! I have many, but my *biggest* goal for this year is to finish writing my second historical novel, which I started last month! There are also several books that I have been meaning to read/re-read for quite a long while now, and I am determined to get to them soon!!!
Haha, I know how you feel. :-P
DeleteThank you! Ooh, ditto for you! That sounds great. Is that the one you mentioned about the higher-class lady (Anya?) and the lower-class man? Or is it a different one? Yay, reading! I'm also going to try to reread some books over the next few months rather than focusing only on new ones.
Oh wow, you remember that one?!?! That makes me so happy!
DeleteNo, I actually put that idea aside for now, because very shortly thereafter I felt the Lord leading me to write a story about a group of Christian young people working together in the Dutch Resistance during WWII--and I am so excited about it!!!
I've only barely begun the actual *writing*, but I spent a lot of time researching + then creating each of my characters, and I love them all SO much! I can't wait to see how this story turns out!!!
I do!! :D
DeleteOh, gotcha. That's great!! Wow, good for you with the researching. I don't think that many of my stories will require a TON of research, but I have had to do a little for the Susan Pevensie one, and will probably have to do more. And taking the time to work through each of your characters! That's awesome. It'll be great to see how it turns out, you're right!
I've only watched a few of these, I will have to look into the others. I've never been too into darker movies but this year especially, I've really gravitated towards lighter movies, especially classic comedies, and I watched Thor Ragnarok and Spiderman Homecoming three times each I think (although, I did watch one of the hardest movies I've ever watched this year, Testament of Youth)
ReplyDeleteDefinitely! Yeah, sometimes I go through phases where I just really need some light-filled movies more than heavier ones. Ooh, what are some of the best classic comedies you've watched this year? Eeek, I still need to see Spiderman Homecoming. It seems promising. :) Oh my word, you're a braver woman than me! I've kind of unofficially decided I won't watch Testament of Youth--I just feel like it'd be too much for me!! I know some of what happens and I can only handle so much tragedy, heh. *is nervous*
DeleteWell, I cried a lot during Testament of Youth (I don't cry for movies, I might tear up occasionally, but I was home alone and more emotional I guess, but yeah, really crying, so if you already cry in movies . . . yeah, it's SO well-done, so REAL).
DeleteLet me check Letterboxd (it's like Goodreads for movies, I even just got a year in review for it which makes be so happy) on the movies.
The ones I loved: Bringing Up Baby, Monkey Business
Ones I liked: How to Marry a Millionaire, Designing Woman (thanks to Hamlette's review, which got me at "Gregory Peck")
Ones with reservations or I didn't love as expected or to meet the hype: Some Like it Hot (quite an uncomfortable brand of humor, but certainly funny, and I'm not sure I'd watch again, and definitely would only recommend if the person didn't mind that sort of humor), Philadelphia Story (didn't find this that funny or even funny at all, and I found some things, mainly her atrocious father, quite irritating), and Charade (this had really funny parts, but I wasn't crazy about the age difference plus most of the movie was quite boring, I might watch it again but skip some of the tedious parts?)
I don't know about re-watches, but I think we rewatched the Thin Man movies and How to Steal a Million (that one is GOLD for us).
Acckkkk, that's the idea I get from different people who've watched it. I think it'd make me Cry, and sometimes I don't want to Cry.
DeleteTHERE'S A MOVIE EQUIVALENT OF GOODREADS?!?!?! Oh my goodness, I've been thinking about how cool that would be for so long. Thanks so much for mentioning it! I looked into it and I don't know if I'll get an account myself, but it makes me happy that it's out there. :)
Ahh, I like Bringing Up Baby. It's SOOOO screwball, but funny. I love Cary Grant & Katherine Hepburn together.
Ooh, I want to see Designing Woman thanks to Hamlette's review, too.
Ahhh, I absolutely LOVE The Philadelphia Story, but I get why people don't like it. I wasn't crazy about Charade either?? I mean, that was probably mainly because I'm very easily spooked by things like that, but it also just didn't seem great. :-/
How to Steal a Million has been on my to-watch list for a while! I should put it on hold.
It's not near as well-designed as Goodreads, I've recently discovered that I had multiple duplicate entries because they don't track re-watches very well, also, its very hard to categorize movies. So, now I'm frustrated, I'm thinking I will use a mix of Letterboxd and Excel or maybe just Excel, and maybe they will get that fixed.
DeleteSame on Won't You Be My Neighbor, Ragnarok, Christopher Robin and The Greatest Showman. I also enjoyed Crazy Rich Asians, A Star is Born, Second Act, oh and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society!! I also got sucked in to the foreign series, Sophia and Morocco:Love in Times of War as well as Netflix The Hookup Plan.
ReplyDeleteI've heard that Crazy Rich Asians and A Star is Born are really good! Oh, I liked the Guernsey movie, too! I thought some of it was really well-cast. :) Ooh, I don't think I've heard of those--maybe I should look into them.
DeleteYay, The Greatest Showman! :) I'm glad I got to watch that one for the first time this year as well!
ReplyDeleteOne movie that comes to mind that I watched for the first time this year that I liked quite well was Ace Wonder. At first I thought it was going to be a rather cheesy, meh kind of movie, but it actually turned out to be a fun, interesting, and humorous watch. :)
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU, OLIVIA!!! I hope you and your family have a blessed 2019!! Love ya, girl! :) <3
Me too!! That was a fun movie night :D
DeleteOh, interesting! I don't think I've heard of that. *goes off to Google it*
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!! Same to you; you're a great friend. :) <3 Love ya!
Goodbye Christopher Robin broke me. I'm pretty sure I just sobbed through the whole film. I loved it.
ReplyDeleteSAME, GIRL. SAME. (I mean, I didn't sob, but I feel like it kind of broke me, too. IT IS SO GOOD. I love it, too. <3)
DeleteGreatest Showman is a truly special film. I just love it so much. (REWRITE THE STARS IS LIFE, FAM. It's so magical.)
ReplyDeleteI very much enjoyed Incredibles 2, actually much more so than Incredibles 1, because it just felt more joyful and more fun.
My favorite watches of this year were Christopher Robin (the Ewan MacGregor one) and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Especially the latter . . . it made me cry and I totally didn't expect that.
Exactly! I rewatched it for the first time in a while recently with one of my siblings who hadn't seen it before, and it just struck me again how special it is. (YESS. Phillip + Anne, though, amirite?!)
DeleteHuh, that's a good point--it does have a lighter feel to it.
Oh, really? Yeah, wow, I wouldn't have expected that of SITSV either. Cool!
I saw the Incredibles 2 with friends and I still haven't seen the first one! :P So it's good as stand-alone film too, in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteAlso, THE GREATEST SHOWMAN. Still not over it. ;)
I really do want to see/read The Light Between the Oceans... I'm just not sure if I'm emotionally ready for it, haha.
Ooh, neat!
DeleteSame, girl. I feel. ;)
Ohhh, I understand the feeling! It's . . . it's really good. But it's definitely a heartbreaker. (But such a GOOD heartbreaker. ;))