With the Oscars around the corner and us being in the middle of Award Season, I figured I'd put my hat in the ring and list the best movies I have seen over this past calendar year. These are movies that meet a couple of criteria: I have seen, were eligible for awards, and came out this past year. This list can change if I see other before the Oscars, but so far, these are all I've seen so this is my list as a result.
First my movies that missed the Top 10 cut:
19. Life of the Party: 31
This movie was not good.
18. The Kissing Booth: 66
It was cute and alright overall. If I was a teenage girl, I'd definitely love it.
17. To All The Boys I've Loved Before: 70
I liked it much more than The Kissing Booth, but it was boring in some parts and, besides the lead actress (Lana Condor), I didn't think anyone else was a great actor.
16. Bohemian Rhapsody: 75
This movie was a decent movie with really great music which is why so many people like it. I even liked it because of that! If you take away the Queen score and replace it with a generic movie one, I have a feeling this would be a really bad movie. Rami Malik is incredible though as the lead.
15. Game Night: 75
This was one of my favorite comedies of the year. The cast was a lot of fun and Jesse Plemons stole this show with his role as the creepy neighbor. Every person in the movie was enjoyable to watch and you rooted for them as they played the craziest game ever.
14. Mary Poppins Returns: 77
Emily Blount was the best part about this movie. She played an amazing Mary Poppins, but no one else was that good. The music was fun and really catchy. The movie was way too long, but overall enjoyable.
13. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs: 81
This movie has a good score because a couple of the short stories are really clever. The actors are good and there are some great framing shots. The sets were good, and, like most Cohen Brothers movie, the costumes were phenomenal. There's no way that "When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings" should have been nominated for best song though.
12. Ant-Man and the Wasp: 82
This was a little better than the original which is a good thing! It had more humor and Evangeline Lilly played a more prominent role in this one (which she should have last time). It also tied into Infinity War which was nice. It felt a little weird to watch this self contained movie after the consequences of Infinity War, but it was also strangely nice to have a small self contained story after the emotional rollercoaster a few months before.
11. Solo: A Star Wars Story: 83
I liked this movie more than most. It was a fun hour and a half action movie with some cool Star Wars references, cameos, and sequences. Not even close to the best Star Wars movie, but definitely doesn't deserve all the hate people seemed to give it when it first came out.
Now the Top 10:
10. Blockers: 84
This movie was my favorite pure comedy of the year. It had a great cast, a good plot, and a good message about empowering teens to make decisions for themselves and they become adults. It's also about how parents struggle to see their kids grow up and leave for college. I don't remember a that had a good message like this in a while. That's why this is number 10 for me.
9. Incredible 2: 87
This definitely wasn't as good as the original, but the sequel remained true to the characters of the original and it continued to focus on the family dynamic which is where The Incredibles is at its best. The animation was also gorgeous and the voice acting cast was among the best of the best.
8. Roma: 88
I feel like, despite how long this movie is, and how different it is than movies I typically like, I can't give this movie anything less than a great score. It has such a specific story it tries to tell and it develops characters in such a great way that you can't help but appreciate how great it is. It uses long tracking shots like movies of classic of old Hollywood while combining new film techniques. It truly is a masterpiece and something we will probably never see anytime soon. In addition, having it release on Netflix is a great factor because it makes the movie accessible to anyone with a Netflix account. You can watch it in the comfort of your own home anyway you'd like.
7. Dragon Ball Super: Broly: 90
I reviewed this movie in full recently so I'll be brief with my reasoning here. This movie is one of the two best Dragon Ball movies to date and it features the best: animation, voice acting, and sound effects to date. Overall, this movie is incredibly enjoyable for all types of Dragon Ball fans.
6. Black Panther: 91
This movie was really good for multiple reasons. One, it was a great story of the rise, fall, and rise again of a hero we can all root for in T'Challa. Secondly, it was a movie that was culturally significant because it featured the first black superhero (I'm not going to count Fantastic Four) on the movie screen in a time when it felt like we really needed one in America. Third, this movie has some awesome action sequences and does a great job of developing both the heroes and villains so that you can understand their motivations and commiserate with them. The only real critique I had was that the final big battle felt a lot like the final battle in the Phantom Menace. There was a ton happening and it was all CGI'd. The rest of the movie was incredible though and Killmonger is a top 3 Marvel villain for sure. The best villain will be coming up later on this list.
5. Mission Impossible: Fallout: 92
This movie was insane. There were mind-blowing action sequences that were shot masterfully and, on top of that, the movie had a great plot! This was overall a legitimately good movie which is why it is so high on my list. The only critique I have is that Henry Cavill was a little stiff in his acting (although he's stiff in most things). In addition, just read this article about everything Tom Cruise did in this movie. He did all of his own stunts and went to absurd lengths even to the point where he broke his own ankle filming.
I have a theory that Tom Cruise is secretly trying to kill himself and he won't be satisfied until he dies in one of his life threatening stunts. So until he does, I will keep watching these movies and enjoying them. In relation to the movie itself, what was so genius about how this movie was filmed, is how many wide shots were used and how little blurry motions were used to disguise complicated stunts and fight scenes. This really impressed me because that is so difficult to do. That is why I declare this movie my favorite action movie of all time.
4. Paddington 2: 93
Easily the most delightful movie of the year. Paddington 2 somehow surpasses the already great, original Paddington. I do not understand how this movie is not nominated for any awards at all. It is still at 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, so if there is one snub at the Oscars this year, it is Paddington.
3. Crazy Rich Asians: 95
This movie made me laugh, cry, and gasp (if you've seen it you know exactly which scene at the end I'm talking about). Like Black Panther this movie was so important because it was the first ever all Asian cast in a major American film. Although it was about a concept foreign to many movie goers, the characters all had relatable traits that we could see in family members that each of us interact with. So, in addition to the comedy and moving scenes, the story being centralized around the family of Nick Young and Rachel Chu's struggle to fit in is something everyone who has a significant other can relate to.
2. Infinity War: 95
*Plays Avengers theme* This movie had one of my favorite moments of all time, period. When Thor, Groot, and Rocket arrived in Wakanda just as all hope seemed lost, everyone in my theater cheered, cried, and even did a little of both. This movie felt like an event in way that rivaled only The Force Awakens. Infinity War perfectly weaved together every Marvel character from every movie and created a perfect climax as each of the pieces fell into place. However, the best part about the movie isn't that it combines every single major Marvel character. The best part is that the movie is about Thanos. Usually in superhero movies, the villain is just some generic baddy who gets very little screen time, or like in Spider Man 3, gets too much and as a result, the movie feels way too cramped. This is not the case. Because Marvel and the Russo Brothers had spent 10 years making movies about each of the superheroes in the movie, the movie was able to introduce us to Thanos in an effective way. This movie was so impactful that not a day goes by where I don't think about Avengers: Endgame. I cannot wait to see the conclusion in April.
1. Spider-Man into the Spider-verse: 99
There's not much I can say about this movie that hasn't already been said. This movie is ingenious in the way it introduces variations of Spider-Man. Each character feels unique and genuine. The movie masterfully blends humor with emotion as it made me cry and laugh. The movie takes big risks and swings often, hitting each risk it takes out of the park. Finally, this movie has a truly unique animation style that I know I have never seen before. If you haven't seen this movie then go see it now. It will combine everything you love about Spider-Man into one movie! It has homages and tributes to every Spider-Man, from Sam Rami's Spider-Man to the recent Spider-Man PS4 game. This movie isn't just the best animated movie of the year, it's the best movie of the year period.