Morgan's Top 10 of 2018

Here it is! The end of the year and the most difficult list of films I've ever written to date. After tallying them up, I watched 175 movies this year that I've never seen this year (give or take a few). I didn't stay exact and true to my resolution I made just under a year ago but I digress. The experience and challenge to watch new content every day lingered in my mind every day. My passions in film making are with writing, directing and editing and watching all of these films help me grow exponentially in those areas.

Before I get into my list, here are my criteria for how I chose these ten films:

- Overall Quality: was the movie, like...even good?

- Personal Influence: how the movie impacted me, and if it changed my creative decision making when it comes to my own work.

- Directing Style: did the director make a creative decision with his blocking/camera work that I really liked?

- Editing Style: did the editor enhance and further the quality of the film with his/her decisions?

- Writing Style: did the story flow as well on the page as it did on screen?

- Lighting and Camera Work: did the Cinematographer go above and beyond to make this film truly stellar and cinematic?

- Acting: did an actor (or actors) give an incredible and unforgettable performance?

- Story and Plot: was the story meaningful, coherent, impactful or relevant in any way? And how so?

Without further ado, here are the Top Ten best film I watched for the first time this year:

#10: First Reformed (2017)

Written and Directed by Paul Schrader

Starring the wonderfully talented Ethan Hawke and Amanda Seyfried, First Reformed tells the story of Father Toller and his journey through a spiritual and physical awakening. The initial ambiguity of the movie's premise had me curious from its announcement. I was raised Lutheran, so movies like this one and Martin Scorsese's recent Silence carry special intrigue for me. If you haven't seen this movie, I don't want to spoil what it's actually about but I highly encourage you watch it. It's an incredibly powerful film with strong themes, symbolism and a gut-wrenching message that will leave your jaw dropped at the end.

#9: The Wrestler (2008)

Directed by Darren Aronofsky

When it comes to "sports films", the last thing I would've expected was for a movie about wrestling to impress me. But is Darren Aronofsky's film The Wrestler really about wrestling? Starring Mickey Rourke, this movie tells the story of a retired wrestler on a search for a new meaning in life. The character of Randy "The Ram" is almost Christ-like in the death of his career and his rebirth. The search to reconnect with his daughter (Evan Rachel-Wood) after years of being separated is no new struggle for any exiled father, and is a story line that I'm sure several people can identify with. His search for love in all the wrong places with Marisa Tomei's character Cassidy is touching and heartbreaking (literally). With this film, Darren adds to his portfolio a truly fantastic work and one I'll never forget.

#8: Babel (2006)

Directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu

This film stayed in my mind and dwelled with me for a long time. With Birdman, 21 Grams and The Revenant, Iñárritu remains one of my favorite directors of all time. Of his works, however, I believe that Babel is the most complex and most compelling. It tells the story of three families in different parts of the world struggling to communicate and share their lives with each other. In the end their stories collide together subtlety and the result is a beautiful, almost symphonic, marriage of message and emotion. Iñárritu's films have a tendency to be more painful than anything and Babel is no exception. The inciting incident hits you like a bullet and lingers inside you throughout the entire run time. A truly wonderful film and a masterpiece of storytelling.

#7: Roma (2018)

Written, Directed and Produced by Alfonso Cuarón

The most recent release on my list is also, perhaps, the most unique of these top ten. Roma is about a Mexican family and their nanny struggling to stay together through one of Mexico's most turbulent political periods. This film is the literal brain-child of Alfonso Cuarón, taking credits for directing, producing, writing, editing and cinematographer. It's an incredible story with incredible shots, performances, and sound design. The sheer amount of symbolism and nuances in this movie is immense and it will probably take me multiple viewings to fully understand it. By far Cuarón's most stand-out film and a true achievement for him and Netflix.

#6: Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)

Written and Directed by Martin McDonagh

With an all-star cast including Frances McDormand, Caleb Landry Jones, Sam Rockwell, Woody Harrelson, Peter Dinklage and Lucas Hedges, Three Billboards is the movie on this list that doesn't just kick you in the nuts; it grips your balls and smashes them repeatedly with a tenderizer. The film tells a story of a mother's fury in the wake of her daughter's rape and murder. It's Mildred versus the world; her husband, her son, the local police, the town she lives in and almost everyone in it. McDonagh's commentary of grief, racism, justice and revenge is captivating and really quite a hilarious spectacle. The performances from McDormand and Rockwell earned them Oscars for best lead and supporting cast, and rightfully so! Their acting alone is enough reason to watch the film, let alone its captivating story and incredible resilience from the character of Mildred.

#5: Caché (2005)

Written and Directed by Michael Haneke

Caché was my first exposure to the cinema of Michael Haneke, and I was so incredibly fortunate to have this movie be the first. Caché tells the story of a married couple and their son being watched and stalked by a person unknown to them. Through a series of flashbacks, video tapes, candid cameras and painfully silent long moments, Haneke takes you into the world of a couple on the verge of minor insanity. What puzzled me the most about this film wasn't the plot or the unconventional camera work, but its theme and the deeper message under the picture. Caché comes off as a drama-mystery of sorts, but turns into a captivating commentary on family, honesty, class and paranoia. It's also one of the few films I've seen with no music, diegetic or non-diegetic, that actually works and pulls it off well.

#4: The Florida Project (2017)

Written and Directed by Sean Baker

Probably the most deceiving film on my list today is The Florida Project from auteur Sean Baker. It tells the story of a mother and daughter living in a hotel just a few blocks away from Walt Disney World. Using mostly unknown actors (with the exception of Willem Dafoe) and telling the story from an interesting perspective, The Florida Project is the most wholly new and unique film I saw this whole year. I'm a sucker for unreliable narrators and main characters, but what is most captivating about Moonee is that it's not her fault that she's oblivious to the world around her. This film captures childlike innocence beautifully and, if you're watching closely, is also incredibly dark and haunting. And real.

#3: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

Directed by Michel Gondry

This was my first experience with a Charlie Kaufman film. Now that I've seen Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, it's nearly impossible not to spot a Kaufman story when you're watching one. Joel and Clementine, played by Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet, are two lovers whose breakup wasn't exactly the cleanest separation of all time. Distraught, they decide to erase each other from their memories by intentionally damaging their brains. The result is a masterpiece of editing, storytelling and performance. Eternal Sunshine blends genres together beautifully; the drama of an emotional break-up, the romance of that same relationship fading away and the science-fiction behind the wonderful memory erasing company that Tom Wilkinson's character runs. With an amazing supporting cast of Elijah Wood, Mark Ruffalo, Kirsten Dunst, Jane Adams and David Cross, Eternal Sunshine will leave you laughing, crying, confused and oddly satisfied...all at the same time.

#2: The Tree of Life (2011)

Written and Directed by Terrence Malick

Similarly to Haneke, The Tree of Life was my first exposure to the wonderful filmography of Terrence Malick. What transpired was a cinematic experience unlike any other I have had previously. This movie changed the way I look at movies; film, when used truly as a visual medium for creative storytelling, is unlike any other artistic device. The Tree of Life gives me, as a filmmaker, a strange yearning for more. To push the boundaries of my medium and to release my soul into my art. This invigorating feeling that I get when I watch this film is what, I think, Malick was trying to achieve with his audience. To give them new "life" in a sense. Starring Jessica Chastain, Brad Pitt and Sean Penn, The Tree of Life is about...well...life! The way of nature and the way of grace. Combined with the incredible visual style of Emmanuel Lubezki and Malick's own unique form, this movie is one for the ages and I will always remember. It is only surpassed this year by one film...

#1: Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

Directed by Stanley Kubrick

It's only fitting that the very first film I watched for my resolution this past year is also the best. I told myself I wouldn't be biased when I made this list, but who can't help but be captivated by the work of Stanley Kubrick? Barry Lyndon, 2001, A Clockwork Orange, The Shining, Full Metal Jacket, Spartacus. His incredible filmography, the impeccable craft of his work, the intensity of his stories and style...it's all here in his final work Eyes Wide Shut starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. Cruise plays a doctor, whose sexual frustration with his wife leads him down an otherworldly path of temptation, seduction, death and morality. What impresses me the most about this film, and the reason it's number one on my list, is the incredible attention to detail from Kubrick. The lighting, the camera work, the colors, the performances, the dialogue...it's flawless. The cherry on top is Cruise and Kidman at the height of their careers with great on-screen chemistry. It's this film, and every other one of Kubrick's movies, that will hold a special place in my heart and never leave.

This concludes my blog for 2018. It's been a wild year, and if you've been reading for this long I want to say with deep sincerity and honesty: thank you. I can't say that I will try and undertake the same resolution in 2019, but this certainly isn't the end of my blog. Bless you all and I will see you all in the new year!

Some honorable mentions for this list include, but are not limited to: Moonlight, The Insider, Steve Jobs, The Thin Red Line, Shutter Island and Ivan's Childhood.

- morgan