2018 Movie Year in Review
I only saw 39 movies in the theater in 2018, which is a staggering 30 less than 2017. A quick internet search tells me that the average American saw 5 movies in the theater last year, si it's clear that "only" means "by my standards", and indeed in my summaries since 2003 39 is the lowest yearly total, 5 less than 2015. My lists go all the way back to May 1998, and 39 is easily my lowest post-college total.
The trend was clear as early as the end of Q1, and as I mentioned in my book total, I don't particularly mind having seen so many fewer movies in favor of the books. I've been slowly losing interest in mainstream movies, and even mainstream art house films. If I lived closer to the Cinematheque or the Cedar Lee, I might make more of an effort, but they are far enough away to that it I have to really care to make the effort, and more and more I just don't care. On the plus side, it does mean that I got this summary up far sooner than usual!
As with previous years, I'm going to call out a few movies I particularly enjoyed here. I already covered the five Marvel movies I saw in 2018 (13% of the total!), so I won't recap those again.
- I, Tonya is surely the most unusual biographical film I've seen yet. As they say right in the movie, "this is based on wildly contradictory stories". Unless you're Nancy Kerrigan, you would probably enjoy this, even if it's in the sense of "enjoying a train wreck."
- Loving Vincent would be a not particularly great biography of Vincent Van Gogh, but it is redeemed because it is animated in the style of Van Gogh's paintings. It's a heck of an interesting visual experiment, and worth seeing for those who love his art.
- Of the movies M and I saw together in 2018, The Shape of Water may be the one we mutually enjoyed the most. M made her mother watch it too, and she also liked it. On the face of it, the story about a woman falling in love with a fish monster seems ridiculous, but execution is everything, and it is ultimately very moving. Just don't think about the physics of the love scene too much, and I mean the "water in a second story room part", not the "human / fish monster anatomy" part.
- It took me three attempts to see Jumani: Welcome to the Jungle. The first time it was sold out, and the second time I went to the wrong theater (oops). It was worth the effort though, because The Rock and company made a really fun movie that did a better job of bringing the characters inside a video game than any other film of the year (sorry Ready Player One). Casting and chemistry really can matter more than special effects.
- Fail State - America tells everyone to get an education to get ahead. If you're poor/ignorant, for profit colleges target you. This documentary should make everyone very, very angry.
- Won't You Be My Neighbor? is the hearwarming true story of Fred Rogers. Thankfully to M and everyone else who loved Mr. Rogers, in real life he was exactly like he was on TV.
- Strangers on the Earth - It's not for everyone, but I personally found this documentary about a cellist walking the Camino very compelling. Of course, I want to do it myself at some point.
- Sorcerer is a remake of The Wages of Fear, where in four desperate men haul unstable explosives across a dangerous road in South America so they can get enough money to resume their lives. I loved the original, but I have to admit that the remake may be more beautifully shot and I think it had a better ending. True story: when I was a kid I read the novelization of this and it's stuck in my mind ever since, so even absent the original I would have gone to this.
- It's always a pleasure when a classic film turns out to be just as good as its reputation. I thought On the Waterfront did that handily.
- I haven't yet seen all of George A. Romero's zombie films, but of the ones I have seen Dawn of the Dead is the best, which may make it the best zombie film of all time.
- Bohemian Rhapsody gets 1/10 for historical accuracy and 17/10 for the soundtrack full of Queen hits. Also 10/10 for a really spot on "blink and you may miss it" cameo.
- To quote my original summary of Free Solo, "It's a weird combination of sports movie, reality TV and a really good Werner Herzog documentary about an obsessed person. It's also one of the very best films that I have seen this year." I'd only change one bit of that: it was the best new film I saw this year.
And now the full list. Italics indicate a movie I particularly enjoyed or found memorable, most of which I describe above. Since I have the Last Weekend capsule for many of these films, I link those as available.
Parks Adventure - GLSC, S 1/06
I, Tonya - RR, R 1/18
Loving Vincent - CMA, W 1/24
Lady Bird - CL, F 1/26
Blade of the Immortal - CN, S 1/27
Black Panther - RR, S 2/24
The Shape of Water - RR, S 3/10
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle - WL, S 3/24
Pacific Rim Uprising - RR, Su 3/25
42nd Cleveland International Film Festival - Tower City Cinemas - 4 films
The King - S 4/07
Fail State - S 4/07
Five Fingers of Marseille - W 4/11
Won't You Be My Neighbor - S 4/14
Antonio Gaudi - CN, S 4/14
Ready Player One - RR, W 4/18
Isle of Dogs - RR, S 4/21
Avengers: Infinity War - RR W 5/09
Phantom Thread - CN, S 5/12
Deadpool 2 - Ridge, R 5/24
Solo - RR, W 6/13
Incredibles 2 - RR, Su 6/17
Strangers on the Earth (with Dane Johansen in person) - CMA Gartner, F 6/29
Antman and the Wasp - Mountain View, R 7/12
The Spy Who Dumped Me - RR, F 8/03
Sorcerer - CN, R 8/09
Mission: Impossible - Fallout - RR - F 09/07
On the Waterfront - CN, S 9/08
Kusama - Infinity - CMA Gartner - S 9/22
First Man - RR - F 10/12
The Evil Dead - CN, S 10/27
Evil Dead 2 - CN, S 10/27
Dawn of the Dead (3d) - CPT, Su 10/28
Cielo - CMA, F 11/16
Bohemian Rhapsody - CPT, S 11/24
The Lady From Shanghai - CN, Su 11/25
Free Solo - CPT, S 12/01
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse - RR, S 12/22
Mortal Engines - Ridge, M 12/24
Mary Poppins Returns - RH, T 12/25
Movies 2018 = 39 = 35 + 4
January - 5
February - 1
March - 3
April - 3 + 4
May - 3
June - 3
July - 1
August - 2
September - 3
October - 4
November - 3
December - 4
By Theater
RR - Rocky River AMC - 13
CN - Cinematheque (New) - 8
TCC - Tower City Cinemas - 4
CPT - Capitol Theater - 3
CMA - Cleveland Museum of Art (standard room) - 2
CMA Gardner - Cleveland Museum of Art (Gartner) - 2
Ridge - Ridge Park AMC - 2
Cedar Lee - 1
Westlake Regal - 1
Richmond Heights Regal - 1
Great Lakes Science Center - 1
Out of Town (Mountain View) - 1
The trend was clear as early as the end of Q1, and as I mentioned in my book total, I don't particularly mind having seen so many fewer movies in favor of the books. I've been slowly losing interest in mainstream movies, and even mainstream art house films. If I lived closer to the Cinematheque or the Cedar Lee, I might make more of an effort, but they are far enough away to that it I have to really care to make the effort, and more and more I just don't care. On the plus side, it does mean that I got this summary up far sooner than usual!
As with previous years, I'm going to call out a few movies I particularly enjoyed here. I already covered the five Marvel movies I saw in 2018 (13% of the total!), so I won't recap those again.
- I, Tonya is surely the most unusual biographical film I've seen yet. As they say right in the movie, "this is based on wildly contradictory stories". Unless you're Nancy Kerrigan, you would probably enjoy this, even if it's in the sense of "enjoying a train wreck."
- Loving Vincent would be a not particularly great biography of Vincent Van Gogh, but it is redeemed because it is animated in the style of Van Gogh's paintings. It's a heck of an interesting visual experiment, and worth seeing for those who love his art.
- Of the movies M and I saw together in 2018, The Shape of Water may be the one we mutually enjoyed the most. M made her mother watch it too, and she also liked it. On the face of it, the story about a woman falling in love with a fish monster seems ridiculous, but execution is everything, and it is ultimately very moving. Just don't think about the physics of the love scene too much, and I mean the "water in a second story room part", not the "human / fish monster anatomy" part.
- It took me three attempts to see Jumani: Welcome to the Jungle. The first time it was sold out, and the second time I went to the wrong theater (oops). It was worth the effort though, because The Rock and company made a really fun movie that did a better job of bringing the characters inside a video game than any other film of the year (sorry Ready Player One). Casting and chemistry really can matter more than special effects.
- Fail State - America tells everyone to get an education to get ahead. If you're poor/ignorant, for profit colleges target you. This documentary should make everyone very, very angry.
- Won't You Be My Neighbor? is the hearwarming true story of Fred Rogers. Thankfully to M and everyone else who loved Mr. Rogers, in real life he was exactly like he was on TV.
- Strangers on the Earth - It's not for everyone, but I personally found this documentary about a cellist walking the Camino very compelling. Of course, I want to do it myself at some point.
- Sorcerer is a remake of The Wages of Fear, where in four desperate men haul unstable explosives across a dangerous road in South America so they can get enough money to resume their lives. I loved the original, but I have to admit that the remake may be more beautifully shot and I think it had a better ending. True story: when I was a kid I read the novelization of this and it's stuck in my mind ever since, so even absent the original I would have gone to this.
- It's always a pleasure when a classic film turns out to be just as good as its reputation. I thought On the Waterfront did that handily.
- I haven't yet seen all of George A. Romero's zombie films, but of the ones I have seen Dawn of the Dead is the best, which may make it the best zombie film of all time.
- Bohemian Rhapsody gets 1/10 for historical accuracy and 17/10 for the soundtrack full of Queen hits. Also 10/10 for a really spot on "blink and you may miss it" cameo.
- To quote my original summary of Free Solo, "It's a weird combination of sports movie, reality TV and a really good Werner Herzog documentary about an obsessed person. It's also one of the very best films that I have seen this year." I'd only change one bit of that: it was the best new film I saw this year.
And now the full list. Italics indicate a movie I particularly enjoyed or found memorable, most of which I describe above. Since I have the Last Weekend capsule for many of these films, I link those as available.
Parks Adventure - GLSC, S 1/06
I, Tonya - RR, R 1/18
Loving Vincent - CMA, W 1/24
Lady Bird - CL, F 1/26
Blade of the Immortal - CN, S 1/27
Black Panther - RR, S 2/24
The Shape of Water - RR, S 3/10
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle - WL, S 3/24
Pacific Rim Uprising - RR, Su 3/25
42nd Cleveland International Film Festival - Tower City Cinemas - 4 films
The King - S 4/07
Fail State - S 4/07
Five Fingers of Marseille - W 4/11
Won't You Be My Neighbor - S 4/14
Antonio Gaudi - CN, S 4/14
Ready Player One - RR, W 4/18
Isle of Dogs - RR, S 4/21
Avengers: Infinity War - RR W 5/09
Phantom Thread - CN, S 5/12
Deadpool 2 - Ridge, R 5/24
Solo - RR, W 6/13
Incredibles 2 - RR, Su 6/17
Strangers on the Earth (with Dane Johansen in person) - CMA Gartner, F 6/29
Antman and the Wasp - Mountain View, R 7/12
The Spy Who Dumped Me - RR, F 8/03
Sorcerer - CN, R 8/09
Mission: Impossible - Fallout - RR - F 09/07
On the Waterfront - CN, S 9/08
Kusama - Infinity - CMA Gartner - S 9/22
First Man - RR - F 10/12
The Evil Dead - CN, S 10/27
Evil Dead 2 - CN, S 10/27
Dawn of the Dead (3d) - CPT, Su 10/28
Cielo - CMA, F 11/16
Bohemian Rhapsody - CPT, S 11/24
The Lady From Shanghai - CN, Su 11/25
Free Solo - CPT, S 12/01
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse - RR, S 12/22
Mortal Engines - Ridge, M 12/24
Mary Poppins Returns - RH, T 12/25
Movies 2018 = 39 = 35 + 4
January - 5
February - 1
March - 3
April - 3 + 4
May - 3
June - 3
July - 1
August - 2
September - 3
October - 4
November - 3
December - 4
By Theater
RR - Rocky River AMC - 13
CN - Cinematheque (New) - 8
TCC - Tower City Cinemas - 4
CPT - Capitol Theater - 3
CMA - Cleveland Museum of Art (standard room) - 2
CMA Gardner - Cleveland Museum of Art (Gartner) - 2
Ridge - Ridge Park AMC - 2
Cedar Lee - 1
Westlake Regal - 1
Richmond Heights Regal - 1
Great Lakes Science Center - 1
Out of Town (Mountain View) - 1