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AUSTIN ABRAMS in BRAD'S STATUS (2017)

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Mid-Point: My Top 10 Films of 2018...So Far

1. Phantom Thread

Frustrating to have to succumb to Paul Thomas Anderson once again, but no film so far has been as well-crafted as Phantom Thread. I will also push for the fact that, if indeed he has chosen to retire this time, this is Daniel Day-Lewis’ best performance. Or, more accurately, I find this one to be his most satisfying. Beyond Phantom Thread’s nuances, it is a film which dexterously explores passion, vexations, and the sublime environment.

2. Zama

The top three films share a common hypnotic vision, which are highly inclusive to the audience. Director Lucrecia Martel creates a trapped and feverish atmosphere where llamas stalk the background and the soundscape pierces the mind like a parasite digging away. At the centre is corregidor who cannot slip the clutches of a Spanish Empire who wants him to remain stagnant. Zama is leisurely, but it deftly crawls underneath your skin.

3. You Were Never Really Here

With a glut of vigilante and gun-for-hire films which look for a blaze of glory and cheer, You Were Never Really Here opts for devastation and trauma. All of which is anchored by an earth-shattering performance by Joaquin Phoenix. Lynne Ramsay has an eye (Ratcatcher, Gas Man, Morvern Caller) for images which capture disorientation and a blurred sense of loss for what has gone before. Broken worlds don’t come harsher than this.

4. 120 Beats Per Minute

Winning the coveted Grand Prix at Cannes last year, 120 Beats Per Minute is not so much about HIV and AIDs as it is also about movements. How protests are clearly thought and approached against their anarchic sensibilities. Interspersed are exhilarating nightclub sequences, personal affections, and anger. Most of all, it expresses a sense of community.

5. Brad’s Status

Ben Stiller has chosen some incredibly well-suited films over this decade (While We’re Young, Greenberg, The Meyerowitz Stories), but Brad’s Status moved me a little bit more. Maybe it is the enduring and excruciating way that white middle-age angst is portrayed, or that it ends on a note which provides much sweet optimism in a way which wasn’t too hoary. Better yet, it confronts a lot of our fears about comparing our everyday lives with others.

6. Loveless

Director Andrey Zvyagintsev doesn’t give us any more reasons to be cheerful. Loveless is full of people devoid of happiness or joyful union. Instead that union only comes together at a tragic price: a boy running away from his home and into the wilderness to get away from his parents’ brutal separation. Whether you take that as a testament to a fractured society is up to you, but the gut-punch stays for a while.

7. Black Panther

The timely cultural aspect of Black Panther can be put aside for the moment, but out of all the Marvel films this ranks near the top. And it takes the bloated and over-stuffed Avengers Infinity War to realise that Black Panther was remarkably un-Marvel like. Strong villain, strong morals and traditions, and scenes which provided more vim than many blockbusters at the moment.

8. Tully

It’s a crying shame that not enough was being said about Young Adult back in 2011. With Diablo Cody, Charlize Theron, and Jason Reitman re-united, it seems like Tully will pass by in similar fashion. This time, Theron plays a mother struggling from the over-exhaustion of having to tend to three children. Well-written and performed, Tully is funny and candid about maternal panic.

9. A Quiet Place

Between the horror breakouts of A Quiet Place and Hereditary, I found the former slightly more consistent in its effectiveness. Given, it is an effective tool used confidently: no noise must be made, that’s how they find you. A Quiet Place knows how to taunt your sensitivity to sound, and it’s not above making sudden jolts of noise. However, it’s hard to deny the value of those scares.

10. Ready Player One

Two Spielberg films were released this year: the newspaper drama The Post and game-fantasy extravaganza Ready Player One. The first film had more prestige, whereas the latter was criticised for being long and indulgent. But you know what? I’d rather have fun and be dazzled by Ready Player One with all its length issues and contrivances, than having to watch a respectable but slightly unremarkable Oscar-nominated drama.