Twenty Eighteen in Film

This is simply a list of the movies, flicks, films and what-have-yous released (or widely released, or finally released) during the calendar year. I don't have any hard and fast metric for how I order this list, it's some ephemeral combination of components. Overall quality (of course), rewatchability, originality, voice and novelty all factor in, combined with my personal interests and fetishes. Point is: this is my list. Don't like it? Make your own list. (And send me the link and I'll check it out)

Last year I watched 47 movies. I thought that was a lot (and it is) but I still wanted to break that record. This year I saw 68. Sixty-eight! Next year I hope to watch 69. (Nice.)

Anyway, see below for my list:

"Mary Poppins Returns (2018)"

Long-gap sequels, or "legacy sequels", are a tough nut to crack. Picking up an intellectual property from ten, twenty, thirty years or more ago, dusting it off and making something hopefully new and exciting out of it isn't as easy an undertaking as you might think. You have to draw enough from the original source material(s) to please older fans while remaining accessible to new audience members. I am immensely happy to say that Mary Poppins Returns is one of the best I've seen.

"Robin Hood (2018)"

Robin Hood is fun, in a big, silly, action movie way. Much more fun than I was expecting, honestly, but it wears its influences on its sleeve so earnestly that it got a little exasperating. As it is the Thanksgiving season (and I've been watching probably entirely too much Great British Baking Show), I'll use a cooking metaphor: Otto Bathurst's Robin Hood isn't a new recipe, but it adds new spices: war movies, Christopher Nolan Batman films & political protest imagery. I guess then, my biggest problem is that certain bites felt over-seasoned.

EVERYTHING OLD IS NEW AGAIN 6

Well this is it, gang. The final EOINA of the year. Jesum Crow, 2018 really feels like it's been a lot longer than standard year-length, doesn't it? I know it's been especially rough for some of us, but writing these columns for y'all is, honestly, a highlight for me. A somewhat stressful highlight, I won't lie, but a highlight just the same. So thank you, as ever, for reading.

"Halloween (2018)"

Is it weird to tell you I got emotional during Halloween 2018? Well I did. My eyes welled up during the finale, watching the culmination of a 40-year battle with evil reach its close. Seeing how the story of Laurie Strode and Michael Myers finally ends... for now. Because, let's be real: this won't be the last Halloween movie. By hook or by crook, there will be more but that knowledge shouldn't diminish your enjoyment of any of them.

As with all movies, the movie itself should be taken on its own merit as much as possible, and on its own merit, Halloween 2018 is a story about the cost of surviving.

EVERYTHING OLD IS NEW AGAIN 5

You ever get the feeling you've been working too hard? Overthinking something that should be simple? I've been feeling that way about this column. Not that it, or you reading this, aren't worth the effort, mind you. It's just that I was reminded of a quote by Schumacher (that's E.F., not Joel) who said "Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex. It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." So that's what I'm doing going forward with Everything Old Is New Again.

EOINA was never, itself overly complex; I watch trailers for the movies coming up that are based on some pre-existing concept and I weigh in on them. When I can, I contrast and compare them with their source materials, which isn't always possible. But instead of doing a bunch of digging to try and decode what's happening in the trailers, now I'll be taking them more at face value. These trailers are what they give us to go on, and while some flicks get multiple trailers to build anticipation, most only get one.

To remind you all: these are all based on some previously existing story; maybe they're a remake of an older or foreign language film, maybe they're adapted from a book or game or song, or maybe they're a soft reboot or relaunch of a franchise that might still be viable? Either way they're here, wringing every last drop of profitability from a concept, and I'm here to talk about them, so here we go:

"The Spy Who Dumped Me (2018)"

THE SPY WHO DUMPED ME, as you may be able to tell, is a spy action/comedy that is living its best life when leaning on what sets it apart from the spy action movies it is ostensibly lampooning. As a spy movie SWDM is only so-so, featuring the obligatory globe-hopping location changes, "trust no one" attitude and face/heel turns the genre has worn into the ground. On the other hand, as a buddy comedy with two female leads, it soars.