Brian’s Top 10 “Brian” Films of 2018!

Every year this Top 10 movie list gets harder and harder to write.  As the years go by I get the chance to see fewer and fewer movies theatrically.  Because of work, life and other commitments I feel like I’m constantly trying to play catch up and/or seeing most films some 3-4 months after they left the theater in my home.  It just is what it is and I’m doing my best to accept it as the norm growing up becoming a responsible adult.  I’m not trying to make excuses for any poor selections below, but instead instead I’m level setting expectations here and now.  I’m telling you all of this so you’re not expecting the usual Top 10 list of films that most critical reviewers will pump out this year.  The list as it reads below is a very unorthodox view of theatrical features culled from my simple mind, which were all released in the U.S. within the calendar year of 2018.

Truth be told I saw a film this past April for the first time ever on the 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray format.  This particular movie came out in theaters the previous December so unfortunately I cannot list it below.  However, it was one of the “greatest” films I have seen in the past decade.  Honest to God it took me by surprise too.  I’m known for my love of horror, gore and hard rated-R action or as Aaron Neuwirth lovably calls it a “Brian Film.”  Therefore, imagine my shock when I exclaim here and now that I was smitten by a flick that carries a mere PG-rating.  The majestic opus I speak of is the musical The Greatest Showman or as I adoringly call it “The Greatest Film of the Decade.”  While there are some great 4 and 4.5/5-star movies released this year none of them touched me (appropriately) the way The Greatest Showman did.  It kind of benchmarked things for me this year, but I digress.

I mentioned up above that my list below is a little unorthodox out of me and I didn’t fib.  For some reason or another movies that feature just blood, guts and gore aren’t completely doing it for me anymore.  I need a little more.  While I was completely satisfied with the likes of Overlord for example I was severely let down by the abomination of the senses I call Mandy, which everyone seems to praise as the third complementary condiment to peanut butter and jelly.  I don’t get it, but what I do know without a shadow a doubt is that no way should the sequels of the original Halloween franchise have been ignored for the slightly above average film that we were delivered this year.  Furthermore, my beloved DCEU was completely absent for the first 11 months of the year with the exception of a sole entry, Aquaman, in December.  We can’t say the same though for the MCU with three flicks in 2019.  And then there’s the usual crowd pleasers like the Mission Impossible’s, which let’s be honest with ourselves.  How could one ever hate?

With all of that off my proverbial, but finely chiseled pecs I now ask you to please take a few moments to reminisce with me down below as I look back at my 10 Most Favorite “Brian Films” of 2019.  This is just me being me, having fun with the movies I loved in 2018 and accepting what is.  Maybe Aaron has a point that I have been missing all along.  I have been wracking my bean year after year trying to figure out how I’m going to cram all of these Oscar nom viewings in, which I’ll probably won’t like much anyway.  Why not just accept what makes Brian happy?  He seems to know me better than I know myself when it comes to my taste in film.  Instead of taking life too damn seriously like I always find myself doing he gave me the courage and voice to proudly produce and stand behind my choices below.  So thank you Aaron and everyone else for your hospitality.  Please remember that the following views and thoughts are of mine only.  They in no way represent the general populous out there.  Enjoy!

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# 10

A QUIET PLACE

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Truth be told it was between this one or Terminal for final position on my list.  In a nutshell A Quiet Place is a post apocalyptic exercise much like I Am Legend was.  They both are very quiet and bleak films for a reason, but A Quiet Place in my opinion has a leg up the competition.  It’s a very simple story, but an effective and well executed one under the love and care of John Krasinski and his co-stars (including wifey Emily Blunt).  Like what Jordan Peele did last year in horror with Get Out John does here in the monster genre.  He doesn’t reinvent the game by any means, but his attention to detail, love for the art and perfection of the craft is second to none here.  The film not only whets your appetite for what a sequel may look like in this horrific, alter Earth universe, but also what John Krasinski might cook up next.  He definitely has come a long way since playing Jim on NBC’s The Office and Hollywood is paying very close attention to him nowadays.  If you haven’t done so already, you can check out my thoughts on the film found with my 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Review of it HERE.

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#9

FIRST MAN

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There’s a lot of folks out there I know personally that tell me First Man is the most boring movie they saw all year.  Granted it does have some lulls and pacing issues here and there, but during the action sequences I was literally on the edge of my theater seat my first viewing.  I feel bad for the patrons sitting by me as my hands were literally gripping the armrests in anxiety watching astronaut Neil Armstrong (Ryan Gosling) trying to dock or escape death experiences above our Earth’s atmosphere.  Even the training, experimental and crash landing sequences were flawlessly executed and delivered on the intensity.  I also loved all the little tidbits of information I learned about the historic astronaut and pieces of his personal life, which I really had no idea of.  For those reasons and more I for one cannot wait to re-live First Man on the 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray format this coming calendar year.  If I only had one complaint about this production, it would be that they took the lazy way out of the Third Act.  Although one could argue it would have just inflated the film’s bloated runtime.  For a complete analysis of my thoughts on First Man make sure you check out my film review HERE.

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#8

BlacKkKlansman

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I think Gerard Iribe said it best HERE on his Top 10 list when talks about how Spike Lee’s movies aren’t really that mainstream.  That’s not to say his films are not relevant or masterful, but to the lay person in Texas I doubt many of them are Lee fans.  However, 2018 is the year for Spike Lee with a hit mainstream film here complete with an equally outstanding cast.  Despite the movie’s subject matter, which embarrasses me because of my race, the movie clicks and fires on all cylinders.  It’s one of those rare flicks that once you get past the hour and half mark you know that it’s going to have to end, but you just want to stay with this likable cast and dark story as long as humanly possible.  For me BlacKkKlansman would have finished much higher on my list had it not been for what Spike Lee decided to do after the main story was over.  I won’t spoil it here and his point was not lost on me (I studied the footage many times), but to me it just felt like it slightly deflated the narrative masterpiece that just came before.  The subject matter the film portrays warrants enough attention to the state of our nation both then and now.  Whether valid or false I didn’t need that ending making any connections of the two for me.  Viewers should be smart enough to make their own minds up.  However, I get what he was going for and if you want to anger a certain political party then well done.  I do have more things to say on the topic, but I try to never talk politics or religion.  That’s how wars are started.  So instead check out what Brandon Peters has to say about it all in his 5-star 4K review of the release HERE.

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#7

A Simple Favor

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A Simple Favor is a very late add to my Top 10 list here.  Truth be told I never remembered this even being in the theaters.  Maybe it’s an Austin, TX thing, but I digress.  All I know is that as soon as I saw the 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray advertised with Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively on the slipcover it was hook, line and sinker.  I was instantly sold on it.  Director Paul Feig was just the proverbial icing on the cake.  So I did what I do best.  I blind bought the Lionsgate 4K disc.  I remember Jordan Grout asking me what if I don’t like it.  I confidently said I will.  Much to my surprise my favorite actor from Showtime’s Homeland, Rupert Friend, is in this too!  Couple that with the irresistible, but awkward charm of Kendrick, the confident poker face of Lively and a thriller story with a Desperate Housewives vibe to it and I was smitten from the moment I hit play.  It’s not the greatest film of the year, but the overall quirkiness of it and the twists and turns kept me invested and intrigued in the Gone Girl aspect of it all.  Good times!

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#6

Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again

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This one is all Brandon Peters fault.  He texted me one morning on my way into the office and gloated about the cheap price he got on eBay for the first Mamma Mia film on 4K disc.  He blamed his daughter’s love of the music for the purchase.  Right!  Ha ha.  Well anyway back in the day when I was getting started out in the reviewing business Mamma Mia was one of the first universal Blu-ray Discs I tackled.  Like Brandon I remembered also secretly liking it and so I thought what the heck.  I decided to give the sequel that no one ever thought would or should get made a try.  Wow!  The moment Lily James belted her first tune I was under her spell.  She illuminates the screen like a heavenly angel throughout this film, but that doesn’t mean the rest of the cast sucks.  No way!  Everyone and everything about this Abba infused musical is spot on spectacular!  Our four-pound chihuahua and I watched this musical adventure three times back-to-back the morning I decided to give it a try.  If I had to sum it up for any cinephile to understand, I would simply say this.  Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again is The Godfather II of the franchise.  You’ll have to watch it to understand that comparison, but it should be instantly recognizable by what I mean.  For more on this sixth selection of mine make sure you check Brandon Peters’ 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Review of it all HERE.

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#5

A Star Is Born

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I remember growing up my mom was/still is a huge Barbara Streisand fan.  The image of the album cover where Streisand dons the Superman shirt is permanently engraved in my mind.  While I have never seen it her favorite movie of all time is the Streisand version of A Star Is Born.  So much so that when she visited Austin, TX this past October I could not even get her to give the Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper version a shot.  And that sucks too as there’s nothing else to do down here.  I guess now you know where I get my self righteous stubbornness from, huh?  Since I have always been a fan of Gaga’s music, songwriting and even her acting on American Horror Story this one was a no-brainer for me.  It was never a question of if I was going to see it.  It was only a question of when.  Um…how about opening weekend?  Bam!  While I don’t particularly like the dark place this story ultimately went to I can’t dispute how outstanding both Cooper and Gaga were in it.  Their musical performances and acting chops were awe-inspiring and incredible.  I also concur with both Aaron Neuwirth and Gregg Senko.  Don’t even think about it.  Just hand Cooper those two awards next year!

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#4

Hereditary

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Regrettably Hereditary is a film that took me forever to watch this year.  I thought the trailer looked boring and someone made the mistake of telling me it was this year’s Witch.  I hated that movie!  Watching paint dry is more entertaining, but I digress.  So one weekend my fiancee was in the magical land of Vegas and I was at home in Austin, TX with the dogs.  Since there’s nothing to do here I needed something new to watch to kill the time.  Target agreed to a price match and I became the proud owner of Hereditary on 4K disc.  For some reason I waited til late at night to turn it on.  I remember because the house was completely dark and the “clucking” noise from the movie haunted my rear channels behind me.  I was blown away by what I watched.  It’s been a long time since a horror film got under my skin and gave me goosebumps the way Hereditary did.  I instantly had to turn every light on in the house.  I have since watched the film three more times as it’s my favorite piece of 4K horror from 2018 to introduce house guests to.  Before I move on here I do want to say this.  Tony Collette is my actress of the year.  The dinner scene between her onscreen character and son felt so real, raw and unrehearsed.  It’s one of my favorite movie moments of the year.  Just saying!

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#3

Annihilation

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Alex Garland first whet every science fiction moviegoer’s appetite with the wonderful Ex Machina.   Annihilation marks the man’s second directorial outing, but he has deeper roots in the industry with all the famous bodies of works he has penned.  He returns to science fiction world here with an even deeper tale to tell.  However, let me just make this perfectly clear that this is NOT a film for everyone.  Heck it was even released free on Netflix outside the United States.  Thankfully I was able to catch a screening of it theatrically.  While I can’t say I was a huge fan of it my first time I can say it left me with a lot of burning questions.  I think Brandon Peters says it best in his 4K review of it HERE.  “I’m deeply fascinated and taken with it, seeing as there is so much learn, discover and ponder from it.  It’s one that still has things to tell me, wants me to see it in a different way and overall may have a few more secrets to unlock.”  That’s exactly how I felt after tackling this one at home a second time and taking in all the supplemental features to unlock points of view I didn’t even catch or put two-and-two together during my first couple of viewings.  So yes…it’s one of those films.  It’s a thinking man’s film with elements of horror and mystery, but so much deeper in meaning than what’s evidently apparent on the surface.  That’s all I’ll say about it other than that score.  Oh wow!

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#2

Creed II

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I really shouldn’t even have to justify or explain why this one is on my list here.  Creed II could have just simply been three boxing matches in length and as long as there was a Sylvester Stallone infused training montage I would have loved it.  Thankfully there’s much more to this second entry in the Creed universe than just boxing.  There’s family, heart and hard, painful lessons to be learned.  Truth be told though the Rocky franchise means the world to me.  Every time I work out I train like Rocky himself is pushing me.  He’s the perfect role model for me or anybody in life really.  While I admittedly feel that Creed II was not as good as its predecessor I was impressed by the depth they gave his opponents here (his opponent actually had a chest too).   It kind of has an Iron Man 2 kind of thing going on, but ultimately really feels like a throwback sequel to Rocky IV (for obvious reasons I hope).  I’m hoping Stallone’s character returns one last time for a third entry, but I won’t hold my breath (Internet rumors say he’s done).  Instead I’ll just be happy with what I have here.  Speaking of “here” you can read all about Creed II and my thoughts in my theatrical movie review found HERE.

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#1

Mission: Impossible Fallout

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IF EVER there was a Brian Film this year, THIS IS IT!  Having revisited the Mission: Impossible franchise this summer on the 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray format (our reviews in order HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE and this one HERE) I was pumped to theatrically take in the sixth one dubbed Fallout.  My giddy excitement for this sixth installment was further fueled by early reports of reviewer peers that hailed it as one of the best action films of all-time.  Well that’s up for the debate, but there’s one thing for sure.  Fallout is one of the biggest action flicks of the year and for me The Dark Knight of the franchise.  That’s a big statement to make I know, but study the screenplays.  I did the math and the formulas work!  There’s even a Two-Face in it!  It really doesn’t get any better than this.  You have action, real stunts, IMAX sequences, love interests, teamwork, double-crossing, spies, Rebecca Ferguson, a bathroom fight and so much more.  Tom Cruise even breaks his ankle for real filming this as they keep on rolling and even keep the take in the movie.  Do I even need to go on or can I stop right there?  I may be alone in this train of thought, but I really hope this sixth installment was them just saving the absolute best for last.  I say that because I don’t need nor want another one.  I have everything I could ever ask for here and if you ask me, this one ended perfectly tying up all loose ends in Ethan Hunt’s life.

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Well another calendar year over!  Did y’all notice not a single superhero movie on my list?  That has to be a first for me, but I digress for the final time in 2018.  I want to thank everyone that read through my entire list up above and whether you agree or not, I’d love to hear any of your thoughts below in the comments.  I also want to take a quick moment to thank all the press and studio representatives in the Austin, TX area that have made it possible for me to attend every screening I could in addition to my hard working crew here on the site (you all know who you are).  Have a Happy and Safe New Year!

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