The 10 Best Movies Of 2018

Okay, it’s that time of year again, the time of year I swear I’m not going to make a best-of list, only to cave and ultimately do just that. At this point, you’re probably sick of hearing me rant about how I hate ranking movies, pitting them against one another, and stating that one is objectively better than another. I don’t believe that’s true. What I put stock in is personal preference. And that’s what this list is. It’s not a “ten best movies” list, that should be readily apparent, it’s a “my ten (or whatever number) favorite movies list.” 

2018 SFCS Awards: How I Voted

Yesterday, the Seattle Film Critics Society announced their 2018 film awards. I’m fortunate enough to be a member of that group and as such, was compelled to vote. Because I said I would, I decided to share my initial nomination ballot.

2018 Seattle Film Critics Society Award Winners

If you read this site on any regular basis, you’ve likely encountered me ranting about ranking movies, grading movies, and basically comparing works of art to one another as if there’s even a grain of objective truth to be found. I dislike it, quite a bit. But that’s a conversation for another time and place, and because of the whims and wills of writing on the internet, it’s never stopped me from assigning scores to a movie, writing “best of” lists, and all the rest. Nor has it stopped me from voting for end-of-year awards for a number of critics groups I belong to. One of these, the Seattle Film Critics Society, solicited input from our members and just revealed the 2018 Seattle Film Critics Society Awards.

Panos Cosmatos's 'Mandy 2' Idea Won't Happen But Is Still Bonkers Rad

Just to get this out of the way: I love Mandy, it’s going to land very high on my end-of-year best-of list. It wraps up in a satisfying manner and I don’t think it needs or even should receive a sequel. That said, if it does get a follow up, which it won’t, it should definitely follow director Panos Cosmatos’ sequel idea, because hot damn, it’s a doozy.

'Mandy' (2018) Movie Review

There’s a scene in Panos Cosmatos’ new mind-fuck revenge horror film, Mandy, where a character dips his gloveless hands into a cistern of pure liquid LSD in the most casual manner imaginable. The more I think about it, the more that single moment perfectly represents this bug-nuts crazy, drug-addled, apocalyptic-doomsday-cult-fueled, chainsaw-fighting, demon-biker-having madness and mania. Sure, dip your bare hands into this powerful hallucinogen and see what the hell happens. And it’s glorious.

This 'Mandy' Trailer Has Nicolas Cage Fighting An Evil Cult, Is Everything I've Ever Wanted In A Movie

If Panos Cosmatos’ Nic-Cage-starring cult thriller Mandy wasn’t already at the top of your 2018 must-see list, it should be now. And if it’s not after watching this trailer, I can’t even imagine why you’re here reading this website, because this is 100% what we’re all about. Damn, just damn.

Nic Cage's Crazy Demon Cult Film 'Mandy' Is Headed To Theaters, Rejoice!

This year, the main reason I was bummed to miss Sundance was I missed the bonkers-sounding, Nic Cage-starring madness that is Mandy. It’s one of those movies that, after it premiered, it kept sounding crazier and crazier, and more and more perfect every time. Now there’s good news, as it’s been picked up for distribution and we’ll be able to mainline it into our eyeballs this summer.

The 50 Most Anticipated Movies Of 2018

It’s that time of year again. 2017 recedes in the rearview mirror and the promise of 2018 comes at us in the form of questionable January fare, continuing Awards season rollouts, and movies the studios botched and have no idea what else to do with but push into the theaters and hope to recoup as much of their investment as possible. (I, for one, am super into a bunch of the trash coming in the next few weeks.)