6. Black Panther
In a year that saw dozens of heroes uniting to stop a
universe-spanning calamity, “Black Panther” still became not
just the best MCU movie of the year, but the best film Marvel
Studios has put out to date. At its best, Coogler’s latest plays
like a Shakespearean epic crossed with the visual panache of
“The Matrix” with a little bit of James Bond thrown in for
good measure. That’s a diverse set of influences for anyone to
wrangle together, yet Coogler still molds them into something
that feels wholly original from top to bottom. The action is
crisp, the cinematography and production design is beautiful;
it’s nothing short of a triumph of worldbuilding, art direction
and storytelling. Everybody on both sides of the camera gives
it their all with each scene.
It’s hard to pick a true stand-out from the cast, as Chadwick
Boseman absolutely nails the balance between relatability and
regality in the title role while Letitia Wright, Danai Gurira
and Winston Duke round out one of the best supporting casts
of the year (M’Baku laughing at his own joke might be the
single most endearing moment in 2018 entertainment). Yet the
undeniable scene stealer is Michael B. Jordan as Killmonger in
what might be the MCU’s first Oscar-nominated performance.
In a film all about what it means to have power, Jordan
portrays just the opposite: a man inundated with feelings
of powerlessness and driven by a sense of righteous fury,
grounding the performance in a humanity that many other
MCU villains sorely lack. It’s Ryan Coogler’s world, we’re just
living in it.
– Jeremiah Vanderhelm, Daily Arts Writer
7. Avengers: Infinity War
Although heralded as the biggest crossover of all time and
the culmination of the ten year Marvel Superhero Saga, this
bursting at the seams adventure epic is merely the prologue
to an even bigger conclusion coming this spring. But while
the marketing may have been misleading, the film itself is
the ultimate realization of what the Marvel universe can be
when maximized to its full potential: a comic book brought
to life. No movie has ever felt more like a comic book than
“Infinity War” in the way it weaves between storylines and
the sheer number of characters and locations it throws at the
audience. In the case of “Infinity War,” bigger is better, it’s
hard to imagine a film that is larger in scale. Is it totally and
completely satisfying? Not really. But in channeling the spirit
of other fantasy and sc-fi epics like “Lord of the Rings” and
“Star Wars,” it becomes the first Marvel movie to tap into
the inner power of epic mythology and present itself not just
as an event film but as the event itself. To quote Nick Fury
in Joss Whedon’s original “Avengers,” what “Infinity War”
represents isn’t a Marvel movie with stakes, but a promise
of a Marvel universe with the one thing it’s been missing:
catharsis. Come this May, audiences around the world will
have the opportunity to see if it was worth it.
– Ian Harris, Daily Arts Writer
8. Eighth Grade
I saw “Eighth Grade” at the Nantucket Film Festival this
summer and the whole time I couldn’t help thinking, is that
Mike Birbiglia sitting two rows in front of me? So I spent the
entirety of the film looking at Mike Birbiglia, monitoring
his every reaction in time with my own. Was Mike Birbiglia
laughing? I shall laugh. Was Mike Birbiglia crying? Here come
the tears. Was Mike Birbiglia
trying to get a popcorn kernel
out of his rearmost molar? The
entire audience felt swarmed
with
the
awkward
energy
emanating from Bo Burnham’s
cringe-fest of a coming-of-age
film. We squirmed in unison as
Kayla (a brilliant performance
from newcomer Elsie Fisher)
comments, selfies and DMs
her way through the horrific
awkwardness of middle school
social
situations.
“Eighth
Grade” is the coming-of-age
film of today. It’s “Pretty in
Pink”
plus
Instagram
and
minus racism. The millennial
comedian’s
writing
and
directing debut is nothing
short of genius. John Hughes
would be proud.
– Becky Portman, Daily
Arts Writer
9. Mission: Impossible — Fallout
In a year saturated with franchise blockbusters, “Mission:
Impossible — Fallout” managed to both dominate the mid-
summer box office and raise the bar for future action movies.
“Fallout” arrived with an energy and dedication to meticulous
stunt work that immediately lent the film comparisons to
2015’s “Mad Max: Fury Road.” The comparisons are more than
valid: “Fallout” is and should be the new standard against
which action set pieces are held.
The sixth installment of the “Mission: Impossible” series
could only be built upon a collective awareness of Tom Cruise as
the actor who constantly challenges his physical capabilities.
That’s why the narrative of “Fallout” doesn’t matter as much
as most movies. The intricacies of the backroom espionage are
not the reason the film captivates so many.
The action set pieces in “Fallout” are comfortably some of
the strongest in the franchise and arguably some of the most
jaw-dropping ever made. It’s hard to recall a moment in film
from 2018 as thrilling as the one-take HALO skydive near the
beginning of “Fallout.” Of course it is equally impossible to
forget an uncommonly jarring bathroom fight scene or Cruise
leaping from building to building (and actually breaking his
ankle in a shot that made the film’s final cut). Above all,
“Fallout” serves as a reminder for why we go to the movies in
the first place. It is an unrelentingly tense yet undemanding
joyride of an action blockbuster that is as adrenaline-fueled as
it is intelligent and boundary-pushing.
– Anish Tamhaney, Daily Arts Writer
10. Incredibles 2
The release of the much-anticipated sequel to “The
Incredibles” showcases our generation’s desperate need
for a feel-good, nostalgic movie — something to bring back
the carefree energy of our childhood — and “Incredibles 2”
does not disappoint. Set immediately after the ending of the
original movie, “Incredibles 2” follows the Parr family as they
try to navigate a new environment where the family’s powers
are on full display in a world where “supers” are still illegal.
Like all Disney-Pixar movies, “Incredibles 2” develops
important social commentary under the sophisticated guise
of a kids’ movie. The primary storyline, in which Helen
is the main super of the household, represents a shift in
expectations for women and how our society handles this
change. In a year marked by prominent feminist messages and
female empowerment, “Incredibles 2” addresses the complex
relationship that grows from a woman returning to work while
her husband stays home to take care of the family.
“Incredibles 2” is every bit as super as its lead family and
then some. The movie brought back a franchise most of us
thought long-gone and proved that sentimentality can be every
bit as successful as a steroid-driven action movie. Nominated
for a Golden Globe, “Incredibles 2” finds its way into all of our
hearts and will stay there for years to come.
– Emma Chang, Senior Arts Editor
WARNER BROTHERS
A24
Our favorite films from this past year, continued
The swankiest directorial debuts of last year
Bo Burnham, “Eighth Grade”
Maybe Bo Burnham was exactly the right person to tackle
adolescence on the internet. Bo Burnham got his start on
YouTube making nonsensical music, eventually moving to
six-second video platform Vine and scoring his own stand-up
specials on Netflix. Yet his success never gave him an inflated
sense of self-importance — if anything, the sweet neuroticism
that defined his bedroom YouTube videos only grew stronger.
In an interview with The Daily over the summer, Burnham said
“I just wanted to do an intense movie about being this person,
not what it means to be a kid always throughout all of time. I was
feeling very nervous and panicked and anxious on the internet,
and I was looking at the internet and meeting people, and I saw
all these people also feeling very nervous and panicked in their
lives too.” Burnham channels these common, but culturally new
feelings through Kayla (Elsie Fisher, “Despicable Me 2”), whose
generation, by circumstance, has had unparalleled access to the
internet. Most 20-somethings and young adults are familiar with
ways the internet can interfere with how you express yourself.
Anxieties about a crush turn into vague AIM status messages
or logging in and out to generate notifications. Arguments and
confrontations reach nebulous ends, as “leaving somebody on
read” or “ghosting” become increasingly common terminology.
And yet, despite their ubiquity, the effects of the internet on our
most core selves have never been depicted as accurately as they
have in “Eighth Grade.” Burnham’s directorial debut marks a
watershed as an unflinching yet warm portrayal of being young
online.
— Jack Brandon, Managing Arts Editor
Boots Riley, “Sorry to Bother You”
Rarely is a directorial debut from an absolute-unknown;
especially one as fresh and surprising as Boots Riley’s “Sorry
to Bother You.” It’s a fantastical satire about telemarketers
and (not so subtly) ultimately the sociopolitical relationship
between corporations and the workforce. It’s not surprising,
then, that the road to get “Sorry” onto the big-screen was a
long and winding one, with Riley fighting through a decade of
production deliberations and setbacks to finally see his vision
realized on screen. And “Sorry” could only really be his vision.
No one else could have cooked up the type of fever-dream,
fever-pitch whirlwind we end up with. Thank goodness he stuck
with it to the end.
Not to give too much away, “Sorry to Bother You” is a film
that always seems to have one more surprise up its sleeve. Riley
is seemingly determined to never stop throwing wrenches
and humanitarian crises at his audience. No-name directorial
debuts tend toward the safe side, often resulting in callow
pictures with little scripts that aim for a “less-is-more” mis en
scene. “Sorry to Bother You” spits in the face of anybody telling
it that it can’t shoot for the moon, with Riley biting off more
than anyone can chew in the best possible way.
— Stephen Satarino, Film Editor
Ari Aster, “Hereditary”
Horror movies are often treated with a sense of escapism.
They allow viewers to feel scared for a contained period and
continue on with their lives without a second thought. In sharp
contrast, the reason that “Heredity” is so claustrophobically
terrifying and one of the year’s best films is that it never truly
leaves you after the credits roll.
Ari Aster’s feature-length debut functions in many ways
like a drama rather than a scary movie, centering around how
tragedy deteriorates the livelihood of the Graham family. By
constructing the film like a family drama, Aster avoids tiresome
horror cliches. There is no killer. There are few jump scares.
There is no easy escape from the danger. The true demons of
“Hereditary” are just ordinary people. This is what makes the
film one of the most original and unforgettable of the year.
As important as it is to discuss Aster’s creativity, it’s just
as important as the technical means by which that creativity
manifests on screen. The lighting is often dim and somber,
allowing a viewer to see the defining features of an performer’s
visage but nothing more. The walls of the Graham house
eventually feel like they are caving in like an abyss. Another
ingenious method of Aster’s is to hold a shot for longer than
expected on a painful or unsettling image, forcing viewers to
powerlessly stew in grim discomfort.
“Hereditary” is a truly special horror movie. It enshrines
Aster as an important name in the future of the genre and as
a filmmaker whose future works will surely be too frightening
to miss.
— Anish Tamhaney, Daily Arts Writer
Bradley Cooper, “A Star is Born”
You might know him as Phil, the dentist from “The Hangover,”
or Ben, Amy Poehler’s partner in musical theater crime in
“Wet Hot American Summer” or as David O. Russell’s favorite
leading man. However you recognize the versatile actor with
those piercing blue eyes. He is now officially a director. As a
filmmaker,
Bradley
Cooper
(“Burnt”) crafted the fourth
re-make of “A Star is Born”
with immense care, ensuring
its
predecessors
were
not
overlooked while keeping a
fierce eye at the future. The
first-time director managed
to add significant depth and
raw emotion to a tale often
wrought with conventionality
and sappiness. The film is a
stunning
manifestation
of
the filmmaker’s vision and
knowledge
of
filmmaking,
incorporating strong editing
choices,
sophisticated
camerawork
and
an
ear
for
music
emphasized
by
his co-star’s (Lady Gaga as
“Ally”) talent. I have a feeling
Cooper’s directing days are
long from over; rather, he’s
just getting started.
— Becky Portman, Daily Arts Writer
Peter Ramsey, Robert Persichetti
Jr. and Rodney Rothman, “Spider-
Man: Into the Spiderverse”
Calling “Into the Spiderverse” a directorial debut is
something of a misnomer given that Peter Ramsey, one of the
three directors, had previously helmed “Rise of the Guardians”
in 2012, but being as his two co-directors Bob Persichetti and
Rodney Rothman were both newcomers to the director’s chair,
I’ll say two out of three isn’t bad. Frankly, I’ll take any chance I
can get to praise this movie.
If the job of a director is to take the various elements of
filmmaking and storytelling and make them work together
toward a singular purpose, then “Into the Spiderverse” is one of
the best directed films of the year. From beginning to end, it’s
a psychedelic, hyper-kinetic ride that boasts groundbreaking
animation and a slew of pop culture references, yet everything
always comes back to the characters and their arcs. The color
scheme, the “Scott Pilgrim”-esque insertions of comic book
imagery, the score, everything. At the center of “Into the
Spiderverse” is Miles Morales and everything else exists in his
orbit.
That isn’t to say that the rest of the movie is underdeveloped in
any way. Each of the supporting characters is made memorable in
their own way — from Hailee Steinfeld’s (“Bumblebee”) Spider-
Gwen to Nic Cage’s (“Mandy”) hysterical Spider-Man Noir
— and are made even more so by the careful attention paid to
what makes them Spider-Man. It’s the ethos of the film: Anyone
can be a hero, anyone can be Spider-Man, and by forefronting
this spirit through such a diverse set of characters in terms
of personality and animation style, Ramsey, Persichetti and
Rothman ensure their film enters into the realm of the greats.
— Jeremiah Vanderhelm, Daily Arts Writer
6B — Thursday, January 10, 2019
Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com