BEST OF THE DECADE 2018-2019

2018

HOLY CRAP WHAT AN AMAZING YEAR. So many things happened oh my god. Disney bought Fox and blew every comic-book lovers’ mind with Avengers Infinity War. Hollywood got its act together regarding representation in film. From Black Panther and Blackkklansman to The Favourite and Annihilation, diversity was everywhere!! Wahoo!! There are a slew of great films that came out this year including A Quiet Place, Hereditary, Eighth Grade, Shoplifters and Spiderman- Into the Spiderverse. Another trend of the year was actors turned directors including John Krasinski with A Quiet Place, Bradley Cooper with A Star is Born, Bo Burnham with Eighth Grade and Jonah Hill with Mid 90s. Some were great and some were just okay. Find a great list of 2018 films below:

Jacob Bews - Crash/Cut Editor

Roma
A knife-sharpener’s whistle amongst clay urban life. A housekeeper finds love, but he runs, leaving her with a child he refuses responsibility for. Waves of soap ebbing across a tiled garage. Cleo searches for her family, first in him, then closer to home. The posters for the PRI shouting their authority from every wall. Baby incubators guarding from the stones of an earthquake. Rich drunks firing pistols into the woods. A bear singing opera amongst a burning forest. Cleo, embraced by her children and their mother on a beach. Waves ebbing. Dedicated to Cuaron’s own nanny, and to the act of watching movies.

Jocelyn Illing - President

Sorry to Bother You (Boots Riley, USA)
​Another one of the most original films of the decade. This film was bananas. Riley takes one of the most mundane professions, telemarketing, and uses it as a platform to talk about racism and capitalism in the United States and to casually make your brain explode. Watching this film was definitely an experience, one that was made extra special by the accompaniment of a friend who endured all of its twists and turns with me. 

Elias Stang - Poster Designer

Roma
 
This film is too beautiful to describe in words. That’s it. Check it out, it’s on Netflix.
 
When I was older…

Anton Carpentier - Cinema Politica Coordinator

​SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE
 
With all these dumb self-indulgent debates around superhero movies, it’s a breath of fresh air to see a film that transcends its genre and craft. The film is unabashedly a comic book film, worrying not about proving itself as a film but rather a continuation of a beloved character and an expansion of the medium. Mind blowing visuals accompany a poignant story that’s timeless and universal. It is perhaps, the greatest animated movie of the decade. Although, some other part of me really hopes someone picked Eight Grade for this year.

Nicole Betts -  Crash/Cut Editor

Annihilation (Alex Garland, USA)
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This was an unreal year for horror, and I had such a hard time picking which film to be crowned my favourite for 2018, but I have to give it to Annihilation. That movie stuck with me, I loved the themes and ideas it explored, the way genetics can be played with and what happens when that occurs, and that I was not given a straight answer. So many questions were raised, and so few answers were willingly given, leading to second and third viewings to spot the subtle hints to the truth. Not to mention, I already feared bears and this movie just slammed that fear home in the best possible way. This movie messed with my mind, scared the crap out of me, and made me think about it for weeks afterwards.
Honourable mentions include A Quiet Place and Hereditary.

2019

​In 2019, Avengers Endgame became the fifth film to gross $2 billion worldwide, and is the highest grossing film of all time, making Zoe Saldana the second highest-grossing film actress of all time, her films collectively grossing more the $11 billion worldwide. Joker became the first R-rated film in history to surpass $1 billion. On March 20th, The Walt Disney Company completed its acquisition of the assets of 21st Century Fox, which includes 20th Century Fox and its subsidiaries. In world news, as of January 1st, 2019, all works published in 1923, except sound recordings, enter the public domain in the United States, the first to do so since the passage of the 1998 Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act. Same sex marriage became legal Austria, and the Chinese probe Chang’e became the first human-made object to land on the far side of the Moon. Britain left the EU, and Donald Trump suggested that the solution to hurricanes is to drop a nuke in the eye of the storm to disrupt it. The Mueller investigation concluded this year, finding that Donald Trump and his campaign did not collude with Russia…until the redacted Mueller report was released to the public. It reported several contacts between Trump campaign advisors and Russian individuals with government connections.

Elias Stang - Poster Designer

Waves (Trey Edward Shults, USA)
 
A tragedy and a love story in two parts, Waves is no doubt an A24 film. Waves first follows a high school student named Tyler and his seemingly perfect life. An injury takes Tyler spiraling into a series of intense self-destructive events led by pride and shame and numbed by a high dependency on painkillers. This self-destructive behaviour culminates in a climactic and devastating incident which will impact not only him but each member of his family and the reality they now live. The second part takes a considerably lighter tone. Though the events of the first still permeate the air of this story and the motivations of its characters, the second half of Waves presents a sense of optimism through Emily, Tyler’s younger sister. We follow Emily as she and her family attempt to process the events of the first half of the film and as she begins a new relationship with an endearing young man played by A24’s golden boy Lucas Hedges. The first half an analysis of family life and the destructive impact of toxic masculinity still pervasive in today’s world, the second half a love story breathed out of tragedy and the journey of reconciliation, Waves is a strong entry into the A24 catalogue. Waves is not only narratively powerful but formally beautiful as well, holding an aesthetic similar to a previous entry, Moonlight, a musical selection that will appeal to its audience, and a collection of potent and intimate shots. Waves is a film which embraces its title to full extent; a kinetic domino effect which builds momentum until finally it crashes and dissolves yet never really ending, leaving with it traces of memory as it ripples out into the ever-flowing and active sea, mingling with various other ripples forever, never resting still but letting go into stability.
 
The best place to cry is the ocean.

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Jacob Bews - Crash/Cut Editor

Parasite (Bong Joon Ho, South Korea)

A family of basement dwellers wait in a fog of pesticide. Instant noodles and tap water. Their parallel, a rich family in an impossible house. Rhymes to memorize a false past. Slowly, the penniless family integrate themselves amongst the wealthy strategically implicating former servants in firable offenses. A cuckoo family in another’s nest. Gourmet beef and instant noodles. The fateful campfire failure. Emotional labour. A father makes a choice. I can’t say anymore sorry you gotta see this one.

Jocelyn Illing - President

Waves (Trey Edward Shults, USA)
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Never have I had such an emotional experience whilst watching a film. When the lights came up in the theatre, I turned to my friend and we both at tears streaming down our faces. Shults’ heartbreakingly real portrayal of adolescence hit me right in the GOD DAMN HEART. 

Anton Carpentier - Cinema Politica Coordinator

BOOKSMART (Olivia Wilde, USA)
 
This is a beautiful love story disguised as a comedy. Olivia Wilde has an insanely strong directorial debut with this film. I love a coming of age story, as my previous picks suggest, but this film is undoubtably the funniest. Booksmart proves that comedies can be just as powerful as their well lauded dramatic counterparts. It’s a movie that reinvigorates my love of movies.

Nicole Betts - Crash/Cut Editor

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (Quentin Tarantino, USA)

When I first heard Tarantino was taking on the Manson murders, I was terrified because I know his violent and bloody film-style, and I did not need a spectacular re-creation of the senseless slaughter that occurred that night. I am well acquainted with the events, and they are not something that needs to be fleshed out and shown in bloody detail. I was so, so relieved this did not occur (though there was plenty of blood, not to worry there) and instead the story was told from a different perspective. The acting was spectacular, Margot Robbie perfectly captured the bright eyed and beautiful soul of Sharon Tate. As well, Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio gave spectacular performances themselves, and the story of the Manson family and the subsequent violence was told in a unique and careful way. I was very impressed with the tact and respect Mr. Tarantino displayed with this film.