It used to be really easy to narrow down what I liked in a given year to the arbitrary number of restrictions I made for myself when I started doing this in 2011. Even 15 seemed like a stretch. But the truth for 2018 is that there was a multitude of memorable material, so there has to be a little extra mention of a handful of things:
- The performances in
the second season of HBO's The Deuce create the most lived-in characters on TV,
and watching this season was one of the richest television experiences of 2018.
- A Neil Armstrong
biopic may be a difficult thing to get excited about, as box office numbers
reflect, but First Man has some of the most thrilling sequences of any movie in
years. It's a restrained, expertly directed and enthralling drama that wisely
refrains from genre cliches, like a training montage set to "Spirit in the
Sky".
- The Favourite may be the funniest movie of the year. The three leads kill, and Yorgos Lanthimos is one of the five most fascinating filmmakers in existence, but there was a serious missed opportunity in getting Nicholas Hoult some awards recognition. I will probably soon regret not putting this in the actual list.
- When it comes to TV casts, it doesn't get much better than the gang in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, but Tony Shalhoub is on another level. An absolute veteran, Shalhoub looks like he's having the time of his life and is giving one of the best performances on TV today.
Now, then. To the lists.
I think Hereditary ruined my life.
By various points in life, you think you know your threshold for certain things. You know what foods you ought to avoid, when weather is too extreme, and generally what bothers you. I'm 29 years old. I thought I had most of those things figured out. We have the world in our pockets. We're exposed to more information on a daily basis than any group of humans that came before us, and desensitization has become a grave concern. Fortunately, or unfortunately, I learned last summer that the ability to have the very fabric of my existence be utterly decimated is something that can still happen.
Perhaps this is not the first time you've read something about Hereditary being the most deeply unsettling experience someone ever had watching a horror movie. If it is, well there you go. It seems that at least once a year, we get bombarded with reviews of some indie horror flick that's a game-changer, and because I've always been someone who seeks to figure out if there's anything that is really going to disturb me, I fall for it every time. Every one of them falls apart somewhere. It Follows is deeply creepy, until it isn't. It Comes at Night is never scary once. The Witch is about as close as we've come lately, but even it is an attention challenge for the most ardent moviegoer. But not Hereditary. I cannot emphasize what this movie can do to you. You must decide for yourself if it is a road you want to go down, because that bridge is getting burnt behind you as soon as you begin. Most disturbing is that maybe I don't know myself as well as I think I do. In the end, maybe such a test is worth taking, for the sake of one's character. For that, I have the utmost respect for this movie. Well played, Hereditary. You got me.
- The Favourite may be the funniest movie of the year. The three leads kill, and Yorgos Lanthimos is one of the five most fascinating filmmakers in existence, but there was a serious missed opportunity in getting Nicholas Hoult some awards recognition. I will probably soon regret not putting this in the actual list.
- When it comes to TV casts, it doesn't get much better than the gang in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, but Tony Shalhoub is on another level. An absolute veteran, Shalhoub looks like he's having the time of his life and is giving one of the best performances on TV today.
Now, then. To the lists.
Singular Experience of 2018
Hereditary
I think Hereditary ruined my life.
By various points in life, you think you know your threshold for certain things. You know what foods you ought to avoid, when weather is too extreme, and generally what bothers you. I'm 29 years old. I thought I had most of those things figured out. We have the world in our pockets. We're exposed to more information on a daily basis than any group of humans that came before us, and desensitization has become a grave concern. Fortunately, or unfortunately, I learned last summer that the ability to have the very fabric of my existence be utterly decimated is something that can still happen.
Perhaps this is not the first time you've read something about Hereditary being the most deeply unsettling experience someone ever had watching a horror movie. If it is, well there you go. It seems that at least once a year, we get bombarded with reviews of some indie horror flick that's a game-changer, and because I've always been someone who seeks to figure out if there's anything that is really going to disturb me, I fall for it every time. Every one of them falls apart somewhere. It Follows is deeply creepy, until it isn't. It Comes at Night is never scary once. The Witch is about as close as we've come lately, but even it is an attention challenge for the most ardent moviegoer. But not Hereditary. I cannot emphasize what this movie can do to you. You must decide for yourself if it is a road you want to go down, because that bridge is getting burnt behind you as soon as you begin. Most disturbing is that maybe I don't know myself as well as I think I do. In the end, maybe such a test is worth taking, for the sake of one's character. For that, I have the utmost respect for this movie. Well played, Hereditary. You got me.
The Pretty Damn Goods of 2018
The quest for the second key in Ready Player One
The source material for Ready Player One is divisive to say the least. Its heart and ideas are there, but the execution leaves a bit to be desired. The Spielberg adaptation is somewhat of a redirect, but not necessarily toward the best result. However, there is a significant plot change regarding the middle portion of the book where the protagonists use their virtual reality avatars to enter the world of Stanley Kubrick's The Shining. It's less than 10 minutes of the movie, but an entirely new creation. It clearly exists only to service Spielberg himself. He is a well-documented Kubrick fanatic and was a personal friend of Kubrick in his lifetime. It's a diversion that comes entirely out of the blue to those who read the book, and it's one hell of a head trip for fans of Kubrick and The Shining. The in-theater experience gave me goosebumps and it's something I'll cherish forever.
The birth sequence in A Quiet Place
Almost every minute of A Quiet Place is masterfully directed and acted. Despite my expectations of a dialogue-less mainstream thriller being a miserable theater experience in regard to the audience, seeing this with a late-night crowd was one of the more memorable times in recent years. When a thriller is engaging enough to distract moviegoers from talking to one another, it creates for a unique shared experience in which you become one unit simultaneously reacting to the scares and suspense of what you came to see. The iconic moment that will no doubt live in decades of notoriety is the nearly unbearable birth sequence. Through Emily Blunt's incredible range of emotions and pain, the buildup becomes almost more than any viewer can stand. When she finally lets out her howl of pain, the fireworks go off, and Krasinski hauls ass out of the barn, I got goosebumps the likes of which I'd never gotten from a thriller.
Killing Eve
It wasn't until the Killing Eve mania last spring that I even realized I had access to BBC America. I then watched the first four episodes of Killing Eve in one morning. That isolated viewing experience is in my top five of the year. It is an absolute gas pedal-slamming thrill ride. Jodie Comer's Villanelle performance is pure psychotic joy. It really is bizarre that Sandra Oh got all the awards season spotlight and Comer got virtually shut out in all contests. Villanelle is an incredible, ahem, villain, and she objectively seemed like the full-on standout. There is a question of how Killing Eve can sustain its breakneck pace in future seasons, but this show as it is is certainly worthy of the praise it has received.
"Chapter Seven: Loud, Fast, and Keep Going"
Episode Seven of Season One of Barry
Barry is a solid example of something I hoped might be one of the next great shows exceeding those expectations. It deftly navigates the tricky balance of tones set up by its general premise: Barry, an ex-soldier turned hitman, takes a mark who is an acting student in Los Angeles, and Barry becomes immersed in that scene in the hopes of moving on from his life of violence. Real stakes are established quickly, but the humor of the show kind of softens a lot of those blows. Episode seven, though, is when the gravity of Barry's situation really shows its face. Speaking of faces, Bill Hader's facial expressions are really the star of this show. His ability to convey nervousness, terror and despair are unmatched in the industry. Episode seven has the best acting Bill Hader has ever done, and it's one of the best episodes of television in 2018.
Season Two of GLOW
One of the underappreciated aspects in the current deluge of television shows is a show whose characters you're happy to spend some time with. There are plenty of heavy-hitting shows that are fulfilling, but they can be emotionally exhausting. GLOW is certainly not one of those shows. Most every one of the ladies and two gentlemen of GLOW has plenty of hardship to overcome in their respective storylines, but the balance of heartwarming humor and human drama on the show are what sets it apart from not only other Netflix shows, but the medium altogether. The scene with Alison Brie and Betty Gilpin in the hospital is as visceral an acting moment as anything else this year. The cast of this show, with the exception of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, is the best in the business.
Favorites of 2018
10. The Haunting of Hill House
A movie about a priest whose life is culminating in moral and existential crises does not sound like anyone's idea of a good time. Material such as this is almost never presented in any way other than beating you over the head with cliches. Honestly, First Reformed is kind of a tough hang, but Paul Schrader presents a drama that deftly addresses the grave concerns about what world we will reap and the levels of existential complicity we have as its inhabitants. Here we have characters who toil over these conflicts in a manner we rarely see in cinema. The obsessive despair is reminiscent of John B. McLemore from S Town podcast infamy. What one does when faced with the seeming inevitability that the planet is irreversibly shuffling its feet toward the end of the world is something humanity has not faced with any proximate likelihood until now. We watch the character of Reverend Toller face that test to unforgettable conclusion.
Ethan Hawke's performance is a subtle masterpiece of the art of acting. His performance was the most lopsidedly awarded in any category for the 2018 awards season, and his shutout of the Academy Awards is true robbery. This is one of those movies we'll look back on as a diamond in the rough of its time; it didn't have the style to grab everyone's attention, but it will prove to be a standout of this year, and surely the decade.
At this point, fawning any more over the unexpected greatness of the fourth iteration of A Star is Born is most assuredly dead horse-beating territory. Oh well.
By the very nature of its existence, ASIB owes much of its effectiveness to the decades of its forbears, but nothing can be taken away from what Bradley Cooper and Gaga bring out of this age-old tale. Their chemistry is the triumph of the project. It's full of iconic moments that will live in Hollywood lore forevermore. The slow reveal of the title credits, "La Vie en Rose" in a drag bar, the nose tracing, running on a private plane with your best friend toward a life-changing show, Sam Elliott backing out of the driveway... The moments are endless. The memes have proven that. But this is the Titanic of this generation. Jackson and Ally are Jack and Rose. They are the new star-crossed lovers we'll either be referencing with sincerity or lampooning with ridicule for decades to come.
It's no surprise how good the cast is. What's most disarming is how great Bradley Cooper's directorial eye is. The frame-ups, the editing choices, the immersion of the live music scenes, the intimacy of private moments. The movie can be overwhelming at times, and the very end of it is as blindsiding as any moment in movie history, but there can be no doubt that the 2018 version of A Star is Born is a tale that's built to last.
When I first saw the poster for Escape at Dannemora last fall with the names Patricia Arquette, Benicio Del Toro and Paul Dano headlining the top and “directed by Ben Stiller” below the title, my brain ceased its ability process information. I could not compute that three of the best actors in the business were starring in a show about the New York prison break and that Derek Zoolander was going to helm the entire thing. It was one of the most anticipated TV events of the year, and it delivered in ways that I could never have expected.
Ben Stiller basically directed a character piece that stands alongside the great gritty crime dramas of the 1970s. He immerses you in the everyday, the minutiae of a handful of blue collar lives in northern New York. He gives you a sense of what life is like for residents of the area, for people who go to work and interact and coexist with killers. Patricia Arquette’s disappearance into Joyce Mitchell is a wonder to behold, one that we’ll continue to look back on as one of the great screen performances of all time. In her trip around the awards circuit this year, Arquette continually says she had her mind blown by Benicio Del Toro’s acting choices. One in particular is as wild as I’ve ever seen. You expect Del Toro to be great in everything, but there are layers to his greatness, and this show unearthed one such layer that’d we’d never seen. Swole Paul Dano is frankly outclassed, but he has plenty of moments to shine, such as being the main workhorse of the escape itself. The shock of the show is how incredible Eric Lange is as Joyce’s husband Lyle. He’s so convincing in the performance that I questioned if this person actually had a legitimate handicap, only to find out he’s “that guy” you’ve seen in tons of things, specifically as a Dharma douche in Lost.
It's a great moment when you confirm that the most acclaimed movie of the year is actually the best movie of the year. For a filmmaker whose calling card has become executing large-scale choreographed scenes, Roma is as intimate as anything Alfonso Cuaron could possibly make while still maintaining those grand elements. It's an intimate and personal, yet sweeping and epic ride through a year in the life of a Mexican maid and the family she serves, all conducted by an absolute master at the peak of his powers. It's one of those movies that looks so beautiful at most points that you could pause it, print out that still and hang it as a portrait on your wall. It's full of moments that, even if I never watched it again, I'll remember for the rest of my life.
As Roma was a Netflix release for the majority of the viewing public, I was fortunate enough to have watched it on a decent arrangement. I implore anyone who has yet to see it to not watch it on something like a laptop or, god forbid, a phone. How one watches Roma means as much as anything. It's filmed in crisp, clean, glorious black and white. It bursts with the sounds of everything from bustling city centers to the natural noise of the untamed countryside. Not much more can be said about the greatness of Roma that hasn't already been said. On Oscar night, it could become the first foreign language film to win Best Picture. In recent years, where which movie wins Best Picture weirdly doesn't matter much anymore, the Academy has a chance to get that decision definitively correct. I hope they do.
If you were online at all in 2018, it was impossible to ignore the (sometimes excessive) global conversation around RDR2. I'm not really a gamer. I was raised on SEGA Genesis, N64 and the first two eras of PlayStation, but I lost general interest after high school. That is, until I learned they'd made Grand Theft Auto in the old west. After I completed Red Dead Redemption in 2010, I played exactly two games: FIFA 15 and Red Dead Redemption again. The experience of playing RDR1 was the greatest of my life to that point. When the day finally arrived for its sequel, it immediately proved to be a game for the ages.
Knowing full well how many millions of people have played or are playing the same game across the globe, the journey feels like a extraordinarily personal experience. The outcomes are set, but the journey differs for everyone. John Marston in RDR1 is my favorite video game protagonist of all time. That voice is truly iconic, and I'll always have his various inflections in my head. I never thought another character would ever come compare to him, but Arthur Morgan is pretty damn close.
RDR2's greatness cannot be overstated. It is an unimpeachable masterpiece. The scope of the world itself is clearly groundbreaking in the medium altogether. It's a world full of endless discoveries and one we'll all relish in for years to come.
For the sake of spoilers, this may be the shortest number one blurb I've done. But this episode felt straightaway like one of the best television episodes of all time. I immediately watched it again. I went to sleep and watched it again the next morning. It's sensational. It's unlike any episode of Atlanta that came before it, and unlike anything I've ever seen. Before Atlanta ever aired, the word was that the show was going to be "Twin Peaks with rappers." We certainly get scattered moments of that in season one, but season two is full-on Lynch Land, part dream and part nightmare. "Teddy Perkins" falls squarely in the latter.
Grief is a tricky thing to devote an entire series to. If there's a false note in any of the cast's performances, the entire thing falls apart. Few things are as insufferable as contrived performances and emotions that spiral into the realm of afternoon soaps. Luckily, the cast compiled to bring life to the writing and characters of The Haunting of Hill House succeed in every aspect. An estranged family airing out lifelong grievances and breaking down fences mid-mend is certainly well-trod territory in storytelling. But through the exceptionally talented crew who, from lighting and sound to the cinematographers and set designers, kept the tone thoroughly consistent, this show threw me for a loop in its ability to elicit overwhelming amounts of empathy.
I can't recall any horror movie or show whose primary objective in its use of ghosts wasn't to scare you. There are plenty of jump scares to be sure, but by the time we get to episodes five and six ("The Bent-Neck Lady" and "Two Storms") the presence of one ghost in particular becomes one of the most effective devices of eliciting despair and outright sadness toward a tortured soul that I've ever seen. In these moments specifically, and over the course of the entire show altogether, the juxtaposition of what everyone went through in the past laying over what's going on in the present, and vice versa, is truly masterful. The ride of this show is certainly not built for everyone, but I imagine many of the people who went on it, like me, are grateful.
9. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
The Coen brothers are my all-timers. Their body of work is singular in global film. The brilliance of a given film is not always evident at the first watch. Inside Llewyn Davis in 2013 is one such example. I was underwhelmed, disappointed and depressed at the outset, and when I watched it again a couple years later I thought, "Oh, this is actually a masterpiece." Hail, Caesar! in 2016 proved to be another experience that was initially difficult to enjoy. On a rewatch soon after, though, that opinion unfortunately held up. That's the thing about every single Coen brothers movie: they demand multiple viewings.
The Coens and Netfilx is a marriage I never thought we'd see. Netflix's original film catalog is of unusually low quality, so the worries were significant that Buster Scruggs would be a bust. Very soon into the film, you realize that will not be the case. While the bulk of the contents of The Ballad of Buster Scruggs are unusually dour, the trademark Coen tone of voice is as masterful as ever. From the homicidal thesaurus that is the eponymous Buster Scruggs in the opening vignette to the existential final stagecoach ride, this collection of short films stands among the best work they've done. The discussion of "Which one was your favorite?" has been a fulfilling and enlightening conversation across the internet, and a rare experience altogether. True to Coen form, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs provides for a decidedly unusual experience, but it wouldn't feel right if it wasn't.
The Coens and Netfilx is a marriage I never thought we'd see. Netflix's original film catalog is of unusually low quality, so the worries were significant that Buster Scruggs would be a bust. Very soon into the film, you realize that will not be the case. While the bulk of the contents of The Ballad of Buster Scruggs are unusually dour, the trademark Coen tone of voice is as masterful as ever. From the homicidal thesaurus that is the eponymous Buster Scruggs in the opening vignette to the existential final stagecoach ride, this collection of short films stands among the best work they've done. The discussion of "Which one was your favorite?" has been a fulfilling and enlightening conversation across the internet, and a rare experience altogether. True to Coen form, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs provides for a decidedly unusual experience, but it wouldn't feel right if it wasn't.
8. The music video for
"This is America" - Childish Gambino
In the mid-2000s, when the "back when MTV still played music videos" conversation was still pretty fresh, we had no idea that we were still actually being flooded with videos on the music channels of the day. Looking back, it's bizarre how quickly YouTube and its easy accessibility negated the very existence of a music channel. Music videos, prevalent as they still are, were a different animal in the pre-YouTube world. In those days it seemed that the music always came into the world first, and the video was the great exercise of the artist's visual interpretation of said song. Today, a major artist's song release is whenever the video that has already been filmed drops on YouTube, as was the case with Childish Gambino's "This is America".
The release of this video was like both of those music video cultures coalescing. I don't remember a time in my life where a music video was the focal point of the cultural conversation for multiple weeks. The video's foreground is so visually arresting that it took me upward of 20 views to see what all is going on in the background, like people swan diving off catwalks. Credit goes out to Donald Glover's perpetual shooting partner Hiro Murai for a great deal of this triumphant work. The unimpeachable greatness of the video is also a distraction from the fact that the song itself is (hot take?) actually pretty boring. Nevertheless, the period of time where we lived in the immediate wake of this video's release is one I'll remember for the rest of my life. It felt great to have the power of a music video mainlined back into our cultural veins.
I guess at some point Tom Cruise decided he had no more time for dramatic acting and would fully commit life and limb to being the world's greatest action star. Since Ghost Protocol, we have come to expect the M:I movies to have these "what in the hell will he put himself through now?" stunt centerpieces. In this sixth, and best, iteration of the Ethan Hunt saga, there are multitudes. It really is astounding what Cruise continues to put himself through for the entertainment of the masses. Knowing what we know about his history as a person, I guess it's easy to say his mind isn't like everyone else's.
The execution of the movie itself makes for the best action movie this side of Christopher Nolan or Mad Max: Fury Road. The IMAX cinematography in the giant action scenes is incredible. While there is a James Bond-ish element to these movies, in that you always expect the hero to save the day, the Mission: Impossible series quietly makes the case for the best action film series of all time. What Cruise has done as Hunt, not only at his age, but over twenty years time is the most consistent run of an action character we've ever had. Whenever his vessel tires out, we may never see his like again. Relish it.
7. Mission: Impossible - Fallout
I guess at some point Tom Cruise decided he had no more time for dramatic acting and would fully commit life and limb to being the world's greatest action star. Since Ghost Protocol, we have come to expect the M:I movies to have these "what in the hell will he put himself through now?" stunt centerpieces. In this sixth, and best, iteration of the Ethan Hunt saga, there are multitudes. It really is astounding what Cruise continues to put himself through for the entertainment of the masses. Knowing what we know about his history as a person, I guess it's easy to say his mind isn't like everyone else's.
The execution of the movie itself makes for the best action movie this side of Christopher Nolan or Mad Max: Fury Road. The IMAX cinematography in the giant action scenes is incredible. While there is a James Bond-ish element to these movies, in that you always expect the hero to save the day, the Mission: Impossible series quietly makes the case for the best action film series of all time. What Cruise has done as Hunt, not only at his age, but over twenty years time is the most consistent run of an action character we've ever had. Whenever his vessel tires out, we may never see his like again. Relish it.
6. First Reformed
A movie about a priest whose life is culminating in moral and existential crises does not sound like anyone's idea of a good time. Material such as this is almost never presented in any way other than beating you over the head with cliches. Honestly, First Reformed is kind of a tough hang, but Paul Schrader presents a drama that deftly addresses the grave concerns about what world we will reap and the levels of existential complicity we have as its inhabitants. Here we have characters who toil over these conflicts in a manner we rarely see in cinema. The obsessive despair is reminiscent of John B. McLemore from S Town podcast infamy. What one does when faced with the seeming inevitability that the planet is irreversibly shuffling its feet toward the end of the world is something humanity has not faced with any proximate likelihood until now. We watch the character of Reverend Toller face that test to unforgettable conclusion.
Ethan Hawke's performance is a subtle masterpiece of the art of acting. His performance was the most lopsidedly awarded in any category for the 2018 awards season, and his shutout of the Academy Awards is true robbery. This is one of those movies we'll look back on as a diamond in the rough of its time; it didn't have the style to grab everyone's attention, but it will prove to be a standout of this year, and surely the decade.
5. A Star is Born
At this point, fawning any more over the unexpected greatness of the fourth iteration of A Star is Born is most assuredly dead horse-beating territory. Oh well.
By the very nature of its existence, ASIB owes much of its effectiveness to the decades of its forbears, but nothing can be taken away from what Bradley Cooper and Gaga bring out of this age-old tale. Their chemistry is the triumph of the project. It's full of iconic moments that will live in Hollywood lore forevermore. The slow reveal of the title credits, "La Vie en Rose" in a drag bar, the nose tracing, running on a private plane with your best friend toward a life-changing show, Sam Elliott backing out of the driveway... The moments are endless. The memes have proven that. But this is the Titanic of this generation. Jackson and Ally are Jack and Rose. They are the new star-crossed lovers we'll either be referencing with sincerity or lampooning with ridicule for decades to come.
It's no surprise how good the cast is. What's most disarming is how great Bradley Cooper's directorial eye is. The frame-ups, the editing choices, the immersion of the live music scenes, the intimacy of private moments. The movie can be overwhelming at times, and the very end of it is as blindsiding as any moment in movie history, but there can be no doubt that the 2018 version of A Star is Born is a tale that's built to last.
4. Escape at Dannemora
When I first saw the poster for Escape at Dannemora last fall with the names Patricia Arquette, Benicio Del Toro and Paul Dano headlining the top and “directed by Ben Stiller” below the title, my brain ceased its ability process information. I could not compute that three of the best actors in the business were starring in a show about the New York prison break and that Derek Zoolander was going to helm the entire thing. It was one of the most anticipated TV events of the year, and it delivered in ways that I could never have expected.
Ben Stiller basically directed a character piece that stands alongside the great gritty crime dramas of the 1970s. He immerses you in the everyday, the minutiae of a handful of blue collar lives in northern New York. He gives you a sense of what life is like for residents of the area, for people who go to work and interact and coexist with killers. Patricia Arquette’s disappearance into Joyce Mitchell is a wonder to behold, one that we’ll continue to look back on as one of the great screen performances of all time. In her trip around the awards circuit this year, Arquette continually says she had her mind blown by Benicio Del Toro’s acting choices. One in particular is as wild as I’ve ever seen. You expect Del Toro to be great in everything, but there are layers to his greatness, and this show unearthed one such layer that’d we’d never seen. Swole Paul Dano is frankly outclassed, but he has plenty of moments to shine, such as being the main workhorse of the escape itself. The shock of the show is how incredible Eric Lange is as Joyce’s husband Lyle. He’s so convincing in the performance that I questioned if this person actually had a legitimate handicap, only to find out he’s “that guy” you’ve seen in tons of things, specifically as a Dharma douche in Lost.
Though the prison break is the show’s
raison d’etre, it occurred to me in the days after I completed the series that,
as terrible as some of her actions and decisions are, the show is as much about
Joyce’s personal escape as Matt and Sweat’s physical escape. It’s a taxing
journey that doesn’t end well for anyone involved, but it’s a thoroughly
satisfying one for the viewer.
3. Roma
It's a great moment when you confirm that the most acclaimed movie of the year is actually the best movie of the year. For a filmmaker whose calling card has become executing large-scale choreographed scenes, Roma is as intimate as anything Alfonso Cuaron could possibly make while still maintaining those grand elements. It's an intimate and personal, yet sweeping and epic ride through a year in the life of a Mexican maid and the family she serves, all conducted by an absolute master at the peak of his powers. It's one of those movies that looks so beautiful at most points that you could pause it, print out that still and hang it as a portrait on your wall. It's full of moments that, even if I never watched it again, I'll remember for the rest of my life.
As Roma was a Netflix release for the majority of the viewing public, I was fortunate enough to have watched it on a decent arrangement. I implore anyone who has yet to see it to not watch it on something like a laptop or, god forbid, a phone. How one watches Roma means as much as anything. It's filmed in crisp, clean, glorious black and white. It bursts with the sounds of everything from bustling city centers to the natural noise of the untamed countryside. Not much more can be said about the greatness of Roma that hasn't already been said. On Oscar night, it could become the first foreign language film to win Best Picture. In recent years, where which movie wins Best Picture weirdly doesn't matter much anymore, the Academy has a chance to get that decision definitively correct. I hope they do.
2. Red Dead Redemption 2
If you were online at all in 2018, it was impossible to ignore the (sometimes excessive) global conversation around RDR2. I'm not really a gamer. I was raised on SEGA Genesis, N64 and the first two eras of PlayStation, but I lost general interest after high school. That is, until I learned they'd made Grand Theft Auto in the old west. After I completed Red Dead Redemption in 2010, I played exactly two games: FIFA 15 and Red Dead Redemption again. The experience of playing RDR1 was the greatest of my life to that point. When the day finally arrived for its sequel, it immediately proved to be a game for the ages.
Knowing full well how many millions of people have played or are playing the same game across the globe, the journey feels like a extraordinarily personal experience. The outcomes are set, but the journey differs for everyone. John Marston in RDR1 is my favorite video game protagonist of all time. That voice is truly iconic, and I'll always have his various inflections in my head. I never thought another character would ever come compare to him, but Arthur Morgan is pretty damn close.
RDR2's greatness cannot be overstated. It is an unimpeachable masterpiece. The scope of the world itself is clearly groundbreaking in the medium altogether. It's a world full of endless discoveries and one we'll all relish in for years to come.
1. "Teddy Perkins"
Episode Six of Season Two of Atlanta
For the sake of spoilers, this may be the shortest number one blurb I've done. But this episode felt straightaway like one of the best television episodes of all time. I immediately watched it again. I went to sleep and watched it again the next morning. It's sensational. It's unlike any episode of Atlanta that came before it, and unlike anything I've ever seen. Before Atlanta ever aired, the word was that the show was going to be "Twin Peaks with rappers." We certainly get scattered moments of that in season one, but season two is full-on Lynch Land, part dream and part nightmare. "Teddy Perkins" falls squarely in the latter.
