Best Film of 2018 – #10-01

Here at the Workhorse, we love film. We love the quirky ones, the odd ball ones and the ones that are a bit messed up. Here are some of the films we loved this year.

10. American Animals – “It’s a film that asks questions both big and small, and one that will certainly leave you with a smile on your face.”

9. Isle of Dogs – “ It really is Anderson’s attention to detail that impresses, so many small delights to capture the imagination”.

8. Tully – “A mother of three hires a night nanny to help with her newborn. ” – This is such a simple idea but the style of the film carries it through, along with Charlize Theron’s performance.

7. Columbus – “While the story line is slight enough Kogonada has created a film of substantial authority with the glories of the architecture of Columbus combining with the outstanding cinematography of Christian to create a contemplative calmness of great substance. The power which Columbus generates is the sheer beauty it displays”.

6. BlacKKKlansman – “The mistaken identity enables the story to be infused with a great deal of humour. But that humour does not disguise the seriousness and importance of its message to the United States of America today when ugly and nasty supremacist deeds are ostentatiously afoot”.

5. The Shape of Water – “The film is set in the 60s and the costumes along with the lush greens and blues of the cinematography give the film a dreamy visual style, harking back to another era. It’s a film that people will fall in love with”. 

4. Loveless – “Loveless has that independent/foreign film characteristic of observing people in their day to day lives at a slow pace. So if you are instead looking for intelligent representation of real life and real, multi-dimensional humans then this is the film for you”.

3. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri – “Harrelson’s gentle, moving performance is perfectly judged but the star of this film must be Martin McDonagh whose unsettling comic script and flawless direction make it a totally memorable experience”.

2. Cold War – “A passionate love story between two people of different backgrounds and temperaments, who are fatefully mismatched and yet condemned to each other. Set against the background of the Cold War in the 1950s in Poland, Berlin, Yugoslavia and Paris, the film depicts an impossible love story in impossible times”. Ok, there wasn’t that much plot, but there was just so much style in this one.

1. The Rider – “Zhao has created a magnificent film. It is a machismo film of the West created by a woman whose cultural roots are in the East. Maybe it is this juxtaposition which enabled Zhao to avoid clichés”.