Ohmigawd, ohmigawd, OHMIGAWWWWDDD! The first Lego Movie did a lot of things right – it was creative, and different, and self-referential, but most of all it was FUN. And while the sequel could never have the same level of “Wow, what the #@$^ was that?” to it, they perfectly captured the most important part – the fun. This is a classic “turn your brain off and enjoy” movie.
As for things like plot….look, if you’re watching something called Lego Movie 2 then you just shouldn’t be focused on whether or not the plot actually, you know, makes sense. Instead, enjoy Chris Pratt making fun of himself and the endless parade of side-swipe jokes. Special mention to whomever was in charge of the soundtrack, which is one of the best collections of songs from a movie in a long time. And, of course, don’t miss the credits.
I Would Recommend This Movie To: People who like fun. Duh.
So, I thought I’d try a thing. Title explains it all. If I actually keep doing this instead of the usual dropping it after a couple weeks I may even take requests. (This intro does not count as one of the paragraphs.)
I Trapped the Devil has a great idea at its center – has this seemingly nutso guy actually trapped *The Devil* in his basement, or is he just a nut who has some poor guy stick behind a door. Of course, it should be a good premise, as it’s <ahem> borrowed from a great twilight zone episode. But providence aside, there is a lot to work with here. Suspense, interpersonal drama between the trapper and the interopers (in this case his semi-estranged brother and sister-in-law), plenty of opportunity for the audience to be drawn in and try to figure it out on their own, etc.
As you’ve likely guessed already, I don’t think this movie capitalized on it. It becomes very clear quite early about whether or not the guy in the basement is The Devil, which takes most of the stress out of things. And the way that the movie is shot kept me from being invested in the relationships between the three main characters – most of their scenes are extremely short (and choppily edited) and things jump around more than makes sense – a tense confrontation is immediately followed by…nap time? Most of the spooky images aren’t even followed up on and/or were shot too dark to see well enough to actually be spooky.
I Would Recommend This Movie To: Someone who likes horror movies and wants some background noise while doing something else. Maybe to a playwright looking for source material to adapt to the stage.
2018 was a mighty fine year for movies. Miiiiighty fine. My top two from this year are honest candidates for my all-time Top 10, and #s 3-7 would all be perfectly acceptable #1s for me most years. 2018 was a garbage fire of a year but the movies were great.
A disclaimer: As always, there was only so much time for movie-watching in the year and I didn’t get to some stuff that I suspect I would really like. Obviously this is even more extreme for films that couldn’t be streamed before year-end due to release schedule. Thus, no: Burning, First Man, Widows, A Star Is Born, Suspiria, Halloween, First Reformed, or Eighth Grade.
Finally, while sometimes I struggle to round out my top 10, I really struggled about some I left off this year. My #10 finally edged out Blindspotting and Bird Box, but I’m not sure I would say the same thing tomorrow. (For that matter I’m not sure I would keep my 1/2 ranking in that order if I did this list over right now).
10. Black Panther
A fantastic morality play / superhero movie that I thought might be my favorite film of the year when I saw it, but ultimately barely made the list. Michael B. Jordan was incredibly compelling and very refreshing as a “bad guy” who had motivations that weren’t “he’s the bad guy.” Makes for a much better story when the villain thinks he’s the hero.
9. Mandy
There is a plot to Mandy, but I’m honestly not sure why they bothered. Nic Cage at his most flamboyantly insane and yet the movie is still kind of something of a tone poem….just one where the tone can shift very quickly from pastoral to 70s comix psychadelia to blood-spattered madness. Thought it was a bit of a trifle when I first saw it but my mind kept coming back to it.
8. Game Night
I can be a sucker for a well-crafted silly romp of a movie, but what really elevated Game Night for me was the performances of McAdams and Bateman. The movie didn’t inherently require them to work too hard but they picked up on the bits of personality in the script and really worked with it to make fun, interesting people. You can feel why Jesse Plemons desperately wants to be their friend.
7. Annihilation
Thank goodness that the filmmakers didn’t stay too true to the book, which I found too smart by half and lacking any characterization that could draw me in. There are deep themes here about identity and change as well as pretty terrific visuals and….well….a demon bear-thing.
6. The Favourite
I’m a sucker for Emma Stone (who is only getting better, by the way), but Olivia Coleman’s utterly vanity-free performance as the vapid power-center around which Stone and Weisz revolve and scheme may be my (ahem) favorite of the year.
5. Mission Impossible: Fallout
One has to wonder how many more years we have of Tom Cruise (56 years old now!) putting his body at risk doing ridiculous things for our entertainment. Who would’ve thought that it would be Mission Impossible that finally updated the James Bond formula and became the best action spy franchise?
4. Minding the Gap
My heart broke. While you obviously end up rooting so hard for Keire, Bing, and Nina, it was the final long interview with Zack that did me in…especially because he’s not wrong about his self-assessment. I hope that all these kids can escape their traps, external or internal, imposed or self-made.
3. Isle of Dogs
I’m sure it’s been pointed out before that Wes Anderson’s stop-motion pictures are his most humanistic. This is a story about love, loss, and life told through a frankly ridiculous medium, and it was an absolute blast to watch.
2. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
I have not laughed harder than I did upon the introduction of Peni Parker in….ever? It is possible that I died at that point and everything thereafter has been a hallucination. I mocked those who told me this was the best Spider-Man movie ever, as I completely adore Homecoming, but yes this is the platonic ideal of a superhero movie, and I honestly feel bad about not having it ranked at the top. I wanted to watch this again the moment we left the theatre and I want to watch it again right now.
Hereditary
OMFG. Movies that don’t follow the formula are some of my favorites and at 40 minutes in I knew I was watching something where I had ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA what was going to happen next. It takes a certain kind of person to appreciate this and I’m still not sure that I was old enough to see this movie, but it really broke me and I couldn’t tear my eyes away even when I desperately wanted to. I watched the entire credits just because I couldn’t move. I think I stared at a blank tv screen for a while too.
