150 Movies Watched in 2018!

[Soubhagya]

I started a list. The first films....



Movie #1/ New Movie #2/ 1970s Movie #1: Shampoo
I've had a bit of a*The Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon with this film, hearing about it in different ways: as a breakout for star Warren Beatty, as a comedy set during a presidential election, as a standout for director Hal Ashby, as a showcase for an Oscar winning performance by Lee Grant, and as the debut of Carrie Fisher. It's a solid kinda dry comedy about a lunk who is irresistible to women, elevated by a hell of a supporting cast (Goldie Hawn and Julie Christie are two of his girlfriends; Jack Warden got an Oscar nomination as a philandering cuckold) which initially meanders around, but does have some payoff at the end as he faces a reckoning.
8/10

Movie #2/ New Movie #2/ 2017 Movie #1:*I, Tonya
It's a darkly funny film that looks at a typical triumphant sports biopic that gets derailed just as the flawed heroine is about to do her comeback. Margot Robbie and Alison Janney are sensational as the daughter and mother. I do like how the film acknowledges the unreliable narrators, and the media criticism. There are some striking omissions (a supporting character gets a job as a bodyguard for Harding in between scenes, she has four older half-siblings who are never mentioned, encounters with Nancy Kerrigan are referred to but never shown, etc.)
8/10

Movie #3/ New Movie #3/ 2017 Movie #2:*Molly's Game
It's not a shocker that Sorkin's directorial debut has a very witty script, as he tells a labyrinthine tale of a woman's rise and fall in an unconventional business, building effectively to realizations about her past that have affected her behavior going forward. Strong central performance by Jessica Chastain.
9/10

Movie #4/ New Movie #4/ 1980s Movie #1: Working Girl
Decent comedy about a secretary who pretends to be someone at the top of her company, even if some of the Oscar nominations are undeserved (Joan Cusack is a good example of someone who is good in a film, but definitely not one of the five best of the year.)
8/10

Movie #5/ New Movie #5/ 1970s Movie #2: A Touch of Class
This movie has the second of Glenda Jackson's Academy Award winning performances (out of four nominations) and I hadn't seen any of her work, which shows how much of a blind spot this type of film is for me (English film during the New Hollywood era.) It's a decent comedy about two likable people who find an affair isn't as simple as they assumed; first because of various complications, and then because of what it means. Ebert suggested the ending wasn't earned, but it was definitely set-up.
8/10

Movie #6/ 2010s Movie #1: Captain America: The Winter Soldier
The first Captain America sequel might just be the best Marvel Cinematic Universe film and the top competitors are the others in the series. It's a compelling spy drama, elevating supporting characters from earlier films, with new additions who have some tremendous staying power. Looking at it again, I really like the twists and turns with Robert Redford's character (the casting being a nod to 1970s thrillers, which showcases the MCU's strength) and the plan of the bad guys, which is a scarily logical way to rule the world.
10/10

Movie #7/ New Movie #6/ 2017 Movie #3: Kingsmen- The Golden Circle
This Kingmen sequel goes on a bit long, and kills off characters in ways that aren't quite earned, although I do like the set-up to the Statesmen and the return of Colin Firth's Galahad, which makes for some decent complications. It's a step down from the original, but still fun.
6/10



Movie #8/ 2000s Movie #1: Children of Men
This is a sci-fi film that has held up well, with excellent worldbuilding and cinematography, establishing a hopeless new world and then introducing something to shake it up. The two long takes are spectacular.
10/10

Movie #9/ New Movie #7/ 2017 Movie #4: The Greatest Showman
It's a flawed but decent musical. The songs are catchy, and often quite moving (the opening montage is a highlight, and "Never Enough" is powerful on several levels). It does sometimes feel like several different films put together (Hugh Jackman's ambitious showman realizing the importance of family, an interracial love story pre-Civil War, "freaks" coming to acceptance) sometimes in a messy manner.
7/10

Movie #10/ 2010s Movie #2: Star Wars- The Force Awakens
Watching it again, I get a sense of just how well it combined excellent new characters with a very traditional Star Wars story, simultaneously showing what's great about the series, and saying something new about the legacy, especially with the villain being a Darth Vader fanboy.
9/10

A "new" film just means I haven't seen it.

There's more, but I'm too lazy to write it up.

I'm setting up some sub-challenges for myself: 10 films from the silent era, 10 films from the 1930s, 10 films from the 1940s, 10 films from the 1950s, 10 films from the 1960s, 10 films from the 1970s, 10 films from the 1980s, 10 films from the 1990s, 10 films from the 2000s, 10 films from 2010-2016, 17 films from 2017, and 18 films from 2018.

I did meet similar challenges last year.

Those sub challenges look cool. It can bring a lot of variety too while being able to appreciate films in different eras. I like your write ups. I may watch a few of them.

I hope you guys recommend the best horror movies, english please or with english sub is ok too.

Too bad i don't watch a lot of horror films. But you will get a few when i watch them.