Superheroes. Superheroines. Stories inspired by true events and stories that have been told before. 2018 saw a barrage of movies, both familiar and unfamiliar, in their portrayal of human love and courage. From mediocre to amazing to outright terrible, Hollywood came through with both unforgettable movies and movies I wish to forget.
The nature of movie-watching continued to change, with streaming becoming more and more popular. Netflix may finally have a shot at an Oscar nomination at the 2019 Academy Awards, with famed director Alfonso Cuaron’s lauded film Roma showing up on the platform.
Netflix had several other successful streaming successes in 2018, such as the romantic comedy Set it Up and the teen comedy To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before. Perhaps less successful was teen romantic comedy Sierra Burgess is a Loser, which critics generally disliked. Finding a medium between the two was The Kissing Booth, which perplexingly boasts both a 13% Rotten Tomatoes score but a strong internet fanbase.
Despite claims that Netflix is killing movies at the box office, many movies thrived financially in theaters.
Superhero movies were some of these financial successes, Black Panther being a notable favorite. Besides grossing over a billion dollars, it has already been nominated for several awards (including Best Drama at the Golden Globes), and many experts predict it will yield the first major Oscar nomination for Marvel Studios. With Avengers: Infinity War making over $2 billion globally, Marvel continued its box office dominance.
Disney Studios, which acquired Marvel in 2009, will officially acquire much of 21st Century Fox in 2019. It’ll gain the Deadpool franchise (which raked in over $700 million in 2018 with Deadpool 2) and move closer towards solidifying its Hollywood monopoly.
However, not everything was a financial success for Disney in 2018. Solo: A Star Wars Story significantly underperformed at the box office compared to past Star Wars sequels such as Rogue One (2015), causing concern over the longevity of Star Wars spin-offs.
Solo: A Star Wars Story was an exception to the trend, as all ten of the top-grossing movies of 2018 were either sequels or remakes of established movies.
Perhaps the most famous of these remakes was Bradley Cooper’s A Star is Born, which recently secured five Golden Globe nominations. Cooper was praised for his strong direction of the movie (especially as a first-time director), and both he and his co-star Lady Gaga are favorites in the lead acting categories as we enter movie awards season.
Other financially strong sequels included Mission Impossible: Fall Out and Jurassic World. The downside of so many blockbuster sequels in the summer of 2018 were calls from some critics of movie fatigue.
However, the success of franchises did not stop independent movies from being critical darlings. Internet comedian Bo Burnham’s Eighth Grade boasts a 99% score on Rotten Tomatoes and a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for star Elsie Fisher. Burnham created an eloquent and heartbreaking portrayal of anxiety and the act of growing up; Eighth Grade is my favorite movie of the year.
My top five favorites: Eighth Grade, A Quiet Place, Boy Erased, A Star is Born and First Man.
Honorable mentions: The Favourite, Mid90s, Set it Up and The Hate U Give.
What to look forward to in 2019: If Beale Street Could Talk, Avengers: End Game, Captain Marvel, Aladdin and Toy Story 4.
