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Je n'aime pas dans les vieux films américains quand les conducteurs ne regardent pas la route. Et de ratage en ratage, on s'habitue à ne jamais dépasser le stade du brouillon. La vie n'est que l'interminable répétition d'une représentation qui n'aura jamais lieu.

2019 EoY Retrospective: Best 2018 Films I Saw in 2019

Well, let’s continue my weirdly structured 2019 movie retrospective.  As a reminder, this is a retrospective dedicated to the movies I saw in 2019, not just the movies that came out in 2019, so next we’re looking at 2018 Movies I saw in 2019.  As we all know, so many of the best movies of the year come out right at the end of the year, so I didn’t get to a lot of the prestige 2018 movies until 2019 had begun.  And this is where we slow to a crawl because I’ll be looking at the top ten in three categories, Best Male Performances, Best Female Performances and Best Film, so we’ll take a post for each of those.  Next up:

2018 Movies I Saw in 2019

Top 10 Movies

The Biggest Little Farm

It’s absolutely delightful & wonderful.  It’s filled with some really magical & beautiful nature imagery, but it’s also often very funny, sometimes quite sad and, ultimately, surprisingly thoughtful.

Bumblebee

Bumblebee is a knockout, full stop, heartfelt and thrilling.  Heroic little Bumblebee has pulled off a magnificent feat and, when the others in the series have been forgotten, this little marvel will endure.

The Favourite

It’s kind of amazing just how breathlessly entertaining this is; it’s full of laughs, gasps, thrills and maybe even a couple of tears here and there.  The Favourite is grand entertainment.

Green Book

It’s the pure delight of this chemistry and a script that is surprisingly goofy at times, in a good way, I mean, that makes this movie just dash along at a nice fast pace.

If Beale Street Could Talk

The shots are carefully composed and beautiful, the lighting striking and the colors vivid.  This is filmmaking in a kind of classic style that really, really works.

Never Look Away

For all its length, it’s a riveting, compelling film that is ultimately both emotionally moving and intellectually thought-provoking. 

The Nightingale

It’s a deeply moving, harrowing, thought-provoking film that took some turns I didn’t entirely expect and as a second film, it’s kind of as amazing as The Babadook was for a first one, if that makes any sense.

Roma

The film is meandering and slowly paced, but I was able to slip into the film’s rhythm without much trouble and the cumulative emotional impact of the film is undeniable. 

Shoplifters

It’s a truly masterful film, filled with sorrow & pain, reaching a level of real emotional catharsis.  It’s not fun, it’s sometimes downright punishing, but it’s brilliant.

They Shall Not Grow Old

It’s compelling, entertaining, deeply disturbing, sometimes harrowing and, ultimately, humanizing.  It's a film of deep empathy. 

2019 End of the Year Retrospective!