There’s an unwritten rule come Oscar season, one that crushes the award’s populist clout.
Blockbuster movies can’t be Oscar bait.
This wasn’t always the case. Just think back to 1991’s “The Silence of the Lambs.” That shocker scared up seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actress (Jodie Foster) and Best Actor (Anthony Hopkins).
Today, even critically hailed popcorn fare like “Wonder Woman” and “The Dark Knight” struggle to earn Oscar attention.
Assessing the best movies of 2018 so far offers no such debate. Some of the most entertaining films we’ve seen this year have had “blockbuster” written all over them.
They’re great all the same. The only question remaining? How many films on this Best Movies of 2018 list will remain by year’s end? The following are in no particular order but are all highly recommended.
The horror genre loves its tropes. The Final Girl. Imaginative kills. The monster who refuses to die. They’re all well and good, but isn’t it time for fresh blood? “Hereditary” delivers just that. First-time writer/director Ari Aster concocts one of the creepier tales in recent memory.
We’re in familiar territory … on the surface. Toni Collette stars as a woman whose family may have secrets best left buried. It’s how Aster crafts the story that matters. The film offers an early jolt, one you won’t see coming and can’t get out of your head.
The film’s final moments aren’t perfect, and we may need a few more viewings to fully process them. They simply may not hold up to scrutiny. Beyond that? We’re looking at a starkly original shocker as good as any this year.
Remember all the bad buzz surrounding 2015’s “Ant Man?” The actual film chased it all away. Now here comes the sequel, as giddy a film experience as you could demand.
Paul Rudd, doing double duty as a co-screenwriter, is so charming here you wish his Scott Lang could skip the whole shrinking business and just make us laugh for two hours. There’s heroism on his plate all the same. Evangeline Lilly’s Wasp proves a potent tag team partner. And in case you didn’t get enough laughs Michael Pena returns to steal even more scenes.
Can we watch it again?
Sometimes audiences just flat out get it wrong. The original “Paddington” is a first-rate charmer, a kid’s film parents can snuggle up to as happily as their children do. The sequel is superior, powered by a delectively droll turn by Hugh Grant. Yet it belly flopped at the U.S. box office.
What a shame.
Our Paddington (Ben Whishaw) finds himself in the hoosegow, but that can’t dampen his spirit. What could? The same can be said of the film, brimming with wonder and laughs. The CGI animation is low key and spectacular, letting us believe a bear can walk and laugh among us. Wouldn’t that be nice?
The hype. Oh, the hype. This was the big one, the culimination of everything in the celebrated MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe).
They were right. And then some.
The first of a two-part saga has it all: breathless action, dramatic flourishes and humor. Yes, humor, heaping helpings of laughter as the universe comes under attack.
How this blockbuster manages that feat is worthy of some sort of award. That’s not important for now. Suffice to say “Infinity War” is everything Comic Con nation craved, a dazzling sequel with a villain for the ages (Josh Brolin’s magnificent Thanos).
It’s been a grand year for genre entertainment, hasn’t it? “Hereditary” took horror in bold new directions while this box office disappointment did the same for science fiction.
Natalie Portman leads an all-female group attempting to suss out a creeping presence in their midst. The journey is never less than fascinating, with bona fide surprises lurking at every step.
Fine performances, credible revelations and a finale that makes you think and squirm. This is first-rate sci-fi all but demanding a sequel. Too bad market forces may stop that from happening given the tepid box office tally – $32 million.
This film project asked the toughest film question in years. How would liberal Hollywood treat the a Democratic scandal so toxic there’s no conceivable way of spinning it?
Answer? Just the facts, ma’am. And boy does “Chappaquiddick” line them up in deadly fashion.
The Kennedy mystique gets a long overdue shiv courtesy of Jason Clarke’s Ted Kennedy. It’s a masterful turn, both tragic and worthy of our pity. This isn’t Soapbox Storytelling, mind you. The filmmakers stick to the narrative, showing how a masssive scandal could be massaged away with all the right moves.
That makes it even more chilling.
You won’t find a more subservive documentary this year, or maybe the next five.
Eli Steele takes on Identity Politics without fury and fulmination in “How Jack Became Black.” He uses his own life story as a starting point, a multi-racial saga that increasingly defines 21s century America.
Other filmmakers would have leaned hard on the partisan storytelling. “Black” avoids that approach, offering an olive branch to viewers not yet convinced how identity politics hurts us. It’s hard to imagine progressive viewers clinging to their beliefs by the film’s end credits.
The post The Very Best Movies of 2018 (So Far) appeared first on Hollywood in Toto.
A picture of Salman Khan clicked with a fan on the sets of 'Bharat' is making rounds in the media...
Recently, during the promotions of 'Fanney Khan', Anil Kapoor revealed the real reason why he signed 'Race 3'.
After a romantic number ‘Halka Halka’, a quirky song ‘Acche Din’ and a dance number ‘Mohabbat’, the makers have released an emotional number that strikes the right chord among the audience.
Recently the teaser of the film was released and it looked like a complete fun ride.
Reportedly the makers of the film are finding it difficult to get any takers for the drama.
The veteran lyricist revealed that Salman is not upset with Priyanka for leaving the project.
Veteran actor Jackie Shroff has been roped in for the film and he is touted to play Salman’s father in the film.
Now, according to recent reports, the actress has been approached for a role in the sequel to 'Happy Bhag Jayegi'.
Sonam Kapoor and Anand Ahuja are undoubtedly one of the stylish couples of Bollywood. The newly-married duo was recently snapped by the shutterbugs at the airport.
As the news of Priyanka's engagement is spreading like wildfire, her close B-town friend Kangana Ranaut doesn’t seem to be too happy about it.
Director Tigmanshu Dhulia who is receiving positive reviews for his film 'Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster 3' has said that he had great experience working in filmmaker Aanand L. Rai's forthcoming film 'Zero' along with superstar Shah Rukh Khan.
According to the reports, Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas actually got engaged over a week ago, on the actress’ birthday.
Priyanka Chopra has taken an exit from the Salman Khan -starrer ‘Bharat’.
While the much-awaited film was slated to hit the theatres on September 14, this year has now shifted its release date a week prior.
The actress' choice of walking out of Bharat has sparked off rumours of her wedding in October. Apparently, she's still a part of another project, which goes on floors in August
Priyanka Chopra shocked everyone when she walked out of Salman Khan’s 'Bharat'. Filmmaker Ali Abbas Zafar also confirmed the big news on his Twitter handle and even hinted at PeeCee and Nick Jonas’ engagement.
For nearly two hours “Mission: Impossible – Fallout” is a solid entry in a franchise with surprising legs.
“Fallout’s” final act? Buckle in and get plenty of oxygen in your system. You’ll need it.
The sixth film in the series opens with so much exposition you’ll think Tom Cruise’s stand-in wrote it on his iPad.
A terrorist group dubbed The Apostles crave uranium to blast the world’s most vital religious sites to smithereens.
Why?
Shake the planet like an Etch-a-Sketch and start all over again. And a baddie from the last “M:I” outing, Solomon Kane (Sean Harris), is helping make this nightmare a reality.
Enter the IMF team – Ethan Hunt (Cruise), Luther (Ving Rhames), Benji (Simon Pegg) and their crusty boss (Alec Baldwin). They nearly grab a passel of uranium only to be thwarted at the last second.
Now, the race is on to retrieve it before those Apostles rewrite history – and kill millions in the process.
An early sequence shows just how crafty Hunt’s team can be. That’s part of the mystique, the Bond-like tricks that keep the franchise humming.
We soon meet old friends and new, from a towering fellow agent (Henry Cavill) to Hunt’s frenemy from “Rogue Nation,” Rebecca Ferguson’s Elsa.
Her unexplained connection to the uranium chase is just one of several puzzles waiting to be solved.
This is standard spy movie material, delivered with a high sheen thanks to writer/director Christopher McQuarrie. He’s in full charge of the franchise at this point, and his resources are limitless.
Cruise’s Hunt is ageless, much like the 56-year-old actor in question. Cruise’s easy bond with his co-horts slices some of the simmering tension. It’s almost medicinal given the stakes in play.
It’s all building toward the finale, set pieces that reveal movie magic at its finest. Sure, Cruise suffered a broken ankle doing some of his own stunts. That still can’t explain how his character dangles from helicopters, mountain sides and more.
You’ll watch, and blink your eyes and swear it’s Cruise doing all of the above. Modern FX are staggering in their authenticity. “Fallout” may be the finest example of just how far studios have come in this regard.
How do they do it/ Who cares? Sit back and enjoy the visceral excitment.
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Yes, the action sequences almost always border on the improbable, if not outright insane. We hang on every stunt all the same. Why? The film shrewdly balances those heroic moments with the oops factor. A foot planted the wrong way. A grappling hook giving out at the worst possible moment.
That balance is essential to the thrills on display.
Cavill is no one’s idea of an Oscar winning actor. Still, his stoic nature is a snug fit in the franchise. And while no one is thinking the latest “M:I” affair is Oscar bait, the screenplay squeezes in enough dramatic elements to make us wholly invested in that runaway finale.
Resistance is more than futile. It’s absurd when the thrills are so perfectly executed.
HiT or Miss: “Mission: Impossible – Fallout” – can we have some more, please?
TEEN TITANS GO! TO THE MOVIES
Today’s kiddie films require a PhD in pop culture. Remember all the in-jokes embedded in “The LEGO Movie?”
“Teen Titans GO! To the Movies” offers more of the same. Joke after joke after joke, a good two-thirds requiring audiences grasp geek culture with both hands.
If you’re on Team Nerd you’ll be in Nirvana for much of the film’s running time. Only by the third act will you exhale and wish the story had its screws tightened a few turns.
Robin is green with envy, not a good luck for a young crime fighter. He wants to be the star of his own blockbuster film like Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman.
Heck, he and his fellow Teen Titans are just as charming as those comic book mainstays. So where’s the love?
Robin’s chase for big screen fame lights the fuse for a furious array of gags, big and tiny. Most land squarely, assuming you spent your teen years watching movies over and again instead of double dating.
Fans of the Cartoon Network series won’t be shocked by anything on the screen. The animation is similar enough to be familiar. The yuks come at us with that winning, wink-wink formula. And the inside jokes are lethal in their precision – perhaps mostly for the adults in the crowd.
Just look who they hired to voice Superman. ‘Nuff said.
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And yes, it’s a bit exhausting all the same. The script hits variations on the same themes in the third act. We won’t spoil them here, but it’s hardly earth-shattering material. It’s clear the modest running time could have used a trim or two.
Still, this is big, joyous storytelling for those longing to be 10 years old again, lost in the pages of their favorite funny books.
HiT or Miss: “Teen Titans GO!” To the Movies” demands a full working knowledge of pop culture lore. You’ll miss some pretty sweet jokes otherwise.
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