Black Ribbon's Best Films of 2018: Part Two

Best Films of 2018: 10-1

With murderous extraterrestrials, art-house horror remakes and purple megalomaniacal super villains, 2018 has indeed been an eclectic mix of cinematic pleasures, and with independant, low-key and low budget releases once again toeing the line with the biggest of Hollywood blockbusters, the boldest and best from the past twelve months is finally put into the most definitive list you'll see this year, at least on this website. With 20-11 of the best in film from the past twelve months already revealed, please take the time to admire the top ten cinematic releases of the year below according to Black Ribbon, a blog, which of course, is always the best place to come for movie reviews. On we go...

10. Mission:Impossible - Fallout

With the Mission: Impossible franchise one of those rare cases where each subsequent release seems to be better than its' predecessor, aside from John Woo's attempt perhaps, Fallout pushed the series to levels of excellence many couldn't believe was possible, and with the stunts more extreme, the screenplay increasingly barmy and Henry Cavill doing that muscle pump thing during one of the most impressive set pieces of the year, the sixth installment in the ongoing Cruise-led franchise was the summer action movie to end all summer action movies. With an almost two and a half hour runtime, subsequent viewings failed to reduce the enjoyment factor of a film which more than anything bloated out loud, "hey, Mr. Bond. Think you can beat me?" Good luck. 

9. BlackKklansman

Whilst renowned for his skill as a politically savvy and outspoken filmmaker, Spike Lee seemed to have disappeared into the ether of the unknown after the release of Inside Man back in 2006, but with BlackKklansman, the American undoubtedly returned to the top of his game. Based upon the memoir of the same name by Ron Stallworth, Lee's scorchingly entertaining crime drama managed to embed the familiar outspoken cries of injustice within one of the best screenplays of the year, and with the likes of Adam Driver, Laura Harrier and John David Washington all deserving of rapturous plaudits in an acting sense, BlackKklansman proves that when given the opportunity to be at his best, Spike Lee continues to be a valuable asset to the world of cinema. 

8. Avengers: Infinity War

With ten years of buildup behind it, Avengers: Infinity War undoubtedly had a planet's worth of anticipation and hype surrounding its' release, but thanks to the keen eye and skill of the Russo brothers, what a delirious and devastating blockbuster Infinity War ultimately was. Featuring a galaxy of well developed superheroes, a central genocidal and conflicted purple villain and one of the most iconic final acts in the history of comic based cinema, the biggest MCU movie so far was also the darkest and most complex, a cinematic landmark which featured a genuine case of expert fan service where although many were fully aware of the final endgame (massive pun intended), the ride in getting there was simply spectacular to behold. The question now remains whether the second half next year can continue the incredibly high bar set. We await anxiously... 

7. You Were Never Really Here

Scottish director, Lynne Ramsay, doesn't exactly pop films out as often as many would like, but each and every time she does, they seem to be absolute stone cold classics. Following on from the brutal desperation of We Need To Talk About Kevin, You Were Never Really Here, based on Jonathan Ames' novel of the same name, was a movie of equal toughness and intrigue, a Taxi Driver esque vision of one man plagued with inner turmoil and regret and set all amidst the backdrop of a narrative seething with notions of revenge and redemption. With Joaquin Phoenix bringing home one of the most powerhouse leading performances of the year and featuring a riveting synthesiser-heavy musical score from Jonny Greenwood, Ramsay's latest superbly blended style with substance for a movie which demanded eyes were not taken off it at any time. 

6. Suspiria

Whilst it was inevitable that anyone who attempted to re-imagine and dissect the ancient texts of Dario Argento's 1977 classic, Suspiria, were always going to be the subject of much heated discussion,  Luca Guadagnino's complete turnover of one of horror cinema's most iconic pictures was ironically in some ways much more intriguing and art-house in its' creation than the Argento original. Whilst a fan of the original Suspiria, it was never a movie which managed to embrace me in ways which many horror fans claim it could do, yet with the 2018 version, Guadagnino's vision was everything I hoped it would be, a dark, twisted, hallucinatory nightmare with some superb central performances and an absolutely brilliant debut score from Thom Yorke. Suspiria is undoubtedly not for everyone, but for me, it really, really worked.  

5. Phantom Thread

Reuniting with Paul Thomas Anderson for his self-proclaimed final on-screen role, Daniel Day-Lewis picked one of the strangest and most richly intriguing characters in his entire career to potentially bow out on within Phantom Thread, a gloriously oddball period drama with a touch of Hitchcock, a major slice of Daphne du Maurier and featuring a duo of excellent supporting performances from Vicky Krieps and Lesley Manville. Boasting the second Jonny Greenwood led score in the top ten alone, Anderson's movie may not have been as splashy and exuberant as There Will Be Blood or have the dramatic epic sweep of Magnolia, but like any naturally talented filmmaker, Phantom Thread, was undoubtedly a movie in which Anderson made sure breathed a life of its' own, resulting in one of the most expertly articulated movies of the decade, let alone the past year. 

4. A Quiet Place

Just wait a second, that curly haired chap from The Office has managed to do what? That's right you self-righteous cynics, John Krasinski beefed up, grew a beard and married Emily Blunt in order to make A Quiet Place, and whilst the latter of those statements might not exactly be one hundred percent true, the American's third directorial feature was without question a real pleasant surprise, a fist-pumping, riotously entertaining creature feature with scares aplenty and the most impressive runtime I can remember in recent history. With Krasinski teaming up with life partner, Mary Poppins, for their first live action movie as a married couple, A Quiet Place managed to succeed in completing one of the hardest challenges in modern society by keeping its' audience absolutely stone cold silent from beginning to end, and with a screenplay riddled with tension and genuine threat, it's not really that hard to see why.  

3. Hereditary

Coined by one critic as the "this generation's The Exorcist", Ari Aster's directorial debut burst onto the cinema screen with a rather sizeable horror hype train behind it, and even with the most open of minds heading in, nobody in the world could have prepared me for one of the most terrifying and genuinely unnerving cinematic experiences I have ever had the pleasure to sit through thanks to the groundbreaking brilliance of Hereditary. With startling twists, a ominous and lingering sense of dread throughout and one of the most impressive horror genre lead performances in recent history from a radically different Toni Collette, Aster's movie balanced genre literary homage with his own wicked, nightmarish touch which even on repeat viewings manages to successfully leave you hoping the days take a little while longer to end before disappearing into the darkness of night. The ultimate Christmas movie. Sort of.   

2. Lady Bird

With Lady Bird, Greta Gerwig used her own personal experiences of growing up within the culturally radical confines of Sacramento, California as the basis for a simply perfect coming-of-age comedic drama featuring the rather brilliant Saoirse Ronan as the titular troubled angst-fuelled teen. With a short and sweet ninety minute runtime, Gerwig successfully managed to bring to life a depiction of a family in crisis which reeked with authenticity, and by blending in a rafter of themes and genuine moments of laugh out loud comedy and romance, Lady Bird is one of the most impressive John Hughes inspired portraits of youth in recent history which sets Gerwig off to her directorial career with a real corker.  

1. A Star Is Born

For a film which acts the third remake of one of the most well worn, age-old tales in Hollywood, A Star is Born, the directorial debut of the annoyingly talented, Bradley Cooper, just happened to be a full blown cinematic masterpiece, an emotionally draining and expertly devised portrayal of one of the most convincing on-screen romances of the 21st century which deservedly is already being touted as the big hitter heading into next year's Academy Awards. With Cooper and the completely unrecognisable Lady Gaga offering outstanding central performances, every element of A Star is Born was made with absolute perfection, ranging from the smokey, sweaty cinematography to the absolutely brilliant soundtrack, and with a heartbreaking conclusion which made even the sternest of audience members wipe a tear from their eye, Cooper's opening account into his filmmaking career is undoubtedly Black Ribbon's film of the year.

Next Time: Looking Forward to 2019 in Film

Film Review: A Star Is Born

"Almost Every Single Person Has Told Me They Like The Way I Sounded But Not The Way I Look..."

Synchronising spectacularly with the transformation of cinema across both the twentieth and twenty first century, A Star Is Born, the fourth adaptation of the well versed tale first brought to the screen by William A. Wellman in 1937, sees Bradley Cooper both star and take the director's seat for the very first time for a contemporary adaptation of the source material which follows Cooper's (Silver Linings Playbook) alcohol and drug dependant rock and roll star, Jackson Maine, and his discovery of Lady Gaga's (American Horror Story) equally talented Ally, a live-at-home dreamer whose musical career consists of drag bar shows and refusals from music executives who see her solely from the surface without understanding her true potential. Whilst one familial generation may fondly remember the 1976 version of A Star Is Born starring Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson, another generation may go even further and recall the 1954 remake starring the one and only Judy Garland, and whilst it can be easy to dismiss remakes of classic Hollywood pictures before they even arrive onto the big screen, the fact remains that when done right, contemporary adaptations can explore fresh new ideas and offer the chance for younger audiences to experience a tale that they may have never witnessed before. 

In the case of Cooper's vision of A Star Is Born, the American's directorial debut is a modern musical masterpiece, a deeply emotional and thoroughly engaging piece of cinema which revels in the passion of the film's central relationship between a desperate, troubled musical star and the doe-eyed freshness of another who swiftly begins her journey into fame and fortune under the watchful eye of her mentor and lover who soon realises she may just outpace his own success with relative ease. With the first quarter of the movie primarily focusing on Cooper's Jackson, his constant alcohol abuse and apparent mental health issues caused by a fractured family upbringing results in laboured live performances and the constant need and support from his older brother and father figure, Bobby Maine, as played by the ever magnanimous Sam Elliott (The Big Lebowski). As soon as Jackson drunkenly stumbles across the enviable talents of Gaga's Ally however, the narrative becomes obsessed with portraying the most believable and stunningly acted on-screen romance since Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling in La La Land, and with Cooper managing to brilliantly balance directing with acting duties, A Star Is Born is the American's finest on-screen role to date, a performance riddled with inner turmoil and self-loathing which is perfectly balanced by the equally stellar Gaga, who although is not exactly new to the world of acting, with credits most famously on the likes of American Horror Story, gives it her absolute all to a character in which she obviously relates to on a human level, resulting in a performance which is expressed on-screen in, let's face it, award winning pedigree. 

Blending raw, hotly charged emotion with brilliant realism, Cooper's movie isn't just happy with portraying the central couple alone, with deep thematic contemplations on the effect of mental health and substance abuse threatening to suffocate both Jackson and Ally as the latter attempts to build her own career out of Jackson's spotlight, and with a superb level of pacing which lets the characterisation flow and expand freely, Cooper's understanding of when and where to guide the narrative's path is truly remarkable for a debutante director. Add into the mix a simply wondrous and immediately catchy soundtrack, with each track seemingly performed fully from the depths of our stars' heart and soul, the music is enhanced by the insistence from the cast that the tracks be performed live, and with the added brilliance of cinematography from frequent Darren Aronofsky collaborator, Matthew Libatique, the audience becomes transfixed on both the audio and visual splendour as we follow our leading duo travel across the world, from America to the immediately recognisable flag-filled horizon of the Glastonbury crowd, with each performance bearing the same riveting energy which made Straight Outta Compton so gloriously entertaining. With a sombre, heartbreaking conclusion which will result in even the toughest audience member reaching for the nearest pile of tissues, A Star Is Born is everything a remake should be, fresh, invigorating and contemporary, and whilst award buzz is inevitable for everyone involved, Oscar's are only the start to appreciating how good A Star Is Born really is. Cooper, you've done good. 

Overall Score: 10/10