Film year’s big finish
With so many quality entries already released, the best may be yet to come
Assummer draws to a close, it’s equal parts thrilling and shocking to look back on the year’s movie output so far and have no problem at all in crafting a credible and powerful top 10 list for 2018. Or top 20. Or even more.
From “Black Panther” to “Blackkklansman,” from “A Quiet Place” to “Leave No Trace,” from “First Reformed” to “Eighth Grade.” Even some sequels aimed higher over the past eight months; “Incredibles 2” and “Mission: Impossible — Fallout” matched or bested previous entries in their series, critically and financially.
These films would stand out in any year, at any time. Seriously, what’s in the water this year? It’s still August! And that would all be fine enough, but box office has been pretty solid in 2018, especially following a dismal summer 2017.
While all that’s bouncing around in your head, remember then that the true fall/holiday/oscar bait season hasn’t even begun. Some of this year’s January through August offerings will likely get cast aside — except for those lucky enough to make it into the Motion Picture Academy’s wildly unpopular new “popular film” category on nomination day — and replaced by the studios’ (both big and small) more traditional and obvious award-worthy fare.
And that scenario is probable, what with scores of movies set to be released in the next four months. The thing is: the rest of the year looks amazing! Chances are I would say that even if November wasn’t bringing us Orson Welles’ final, unfinished and legendary film, “The Other Side of the Wind.” But let me repeat
that — Orson Welles’ last film as director and co-writer, shot between 1970 and 1976, is finally being seen. (I don’t care if Netflix releases it theatrically or only on its streaming service, this counts as huge.)
So as I do every year, I’ve compiled a list, not of everything coming out in theaters, but just the ones I most want to see. More manageable and realistic, right? Maybe not so much when my must-watch collection numbers more than 75. OK, if it’s not something in the water we can at least all agree there’s some black magictype stuff going on here, can’t we?
The complete gallery available on the Times Union Movie Blog is alphabetical and contains merely those movies that give me an extra charge, sometimes inexplicably, and often based on nothing more than a one-line synopsis or the fact that it stars a favorite actor or is an adaptation of a beloved book. They range from “All About Nina” to “Wildlife,” but thematically they run the gamut from historical dramas (“Mary Queen of Scots,” “Outlaw King”) to ridiculous comedies (“The Oath,” “Holmes and Watson”).
There’s also buzzy foreign films (“Roma,” “Cold War”), documentaries (“Fahrenheit 11/9,” “Quincy”), biopics (“Bohemian Rhapsody,” “On the Basis of Sex”), sequels both new and longawaited (“Creed II,” “Mary Poppins Returns”) and more.
At the same time, you can buy a ticket to Robert Redford’s supposed acting swan song (“The Old Man & the Gun”), a stellar-looking (at least from the trailer) fourth version of “A Star Is Born,” and — why not? — “Halloween.”
OK, I could list all the 75-plus movies, but the gallery is much more efficient. I’ve included release dates for each. In many cases, those are limited-release dates or film festival debuts; we’ll get them here later, sometimes not before next year. Or studios and/or distributors could simply move around their schedules, as is their whim.
The usual caveats apply, too. By the time several of these features approach their due dates, word will get out that what looked good on paper (or online or in a commercial) is a hot mess on screen. Don’t judge me. Likewise, as filled-tobursting as this lineup is it can’t account for those gems that appear out of nowhere with little advance fanfare.
Finally, my inner movie geek compels me to figure out who my fall 2018 VIPS are. These actors appear in more movies over the next four months than anyone else, and this time it’s a six-way tie.
The following performers have three credits each: Steve Carell (“Backseat,” “Beautiful Boy,” “Welcome to Marwen”); Lucas Hedges (“Ben Is Back,” “Boy Erased,” “Mid90s”); newcomer Cailee Spaeny (“Backseat,” “Bad Times at the El Royale,” “On the Basis of Sex”); “Atlanta” standout Brian Tyree Henry (“If Beale Street Could Talk,” “White Boy Rick,” “Widows”); character actor Toby Huss (“Destroyer,” “The Front Runner,” “Halloween”); and Elvis’ granddaughter, Riley Keough (“Hold the Dark,” “The House That Jack Built,” “Under the Silver Lake”).
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