Frank Avella's Best Films of 2018

It's been a bizarre year in cinema, boasting a few truly great films and a slew of excellent gems. I've felt out of sync with critical and general consensus this year–which is fine, since it offers me an opportunity to champion worthy movies that have egregiously fallen through the cracks.

The following are my favorites of 2018 in order:

1. The Favourite

By far, the best of 2018 is "The Favourite." No other film comes close, simply because no other film is as bracingly audacious, risky, and ambitious. Yorgos Lanthimos ("The Lobster") has created an instant classic. When was the last time you saw a movie with three brilliantly-acted (and written) female leads? ("9 to 5," perhaps, in 1980?) Olivia Colman, Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz master a dangerous game of relationship rivalry roulette in this nasty and dark tale of jealousy and power set against the historical backdrop of the reign of Brit sovereign Queen Anne. But who was the real power behind the throne (to borrow a slogan from "9 to 5")? "The Favourite" features a queer storyline that is fascinating and wicked. See it at least twice, as there are many layers of subtext to discover.

2. Vice

There's a moment about 45 minutes into Adam McKay's searingly satiric new film, "Vice," that had me laughing so hard my side began to hurt–only to be jarred back into the reality of the frighteningly real story unfolding before my eyes. The dark comedy depicts a post-Watergate political world that continued Nixon's abuses of power, taking them to a totalitarian level (thanks in large part to its subject, Dick Cheney), and how the groundwork was set for a dictator-wannabe like Trump to sit in the Oval Office. McKay's cinematic gambles pay off spectacularly. Christian Bale embodies the dastardly Cheney fully, while Amy Adams delights as his Lady Macbeth-esque wife.

3. If Beale Street Could Talk

Barry Jenkins' follow up to "Moonlight" is an even better film– absorbing, intense and heartbreaking. "If Beale Street Could Talk" boasts a remarkable ensemble led by the amazing Regina King as the sympathetic and fiercely protective mother of a pregnant girl whose husband has been accused of rape. The film is a meditation on race and just how much a human being can take and still stay strong. "Beale Street" is an important reminder of the injustices in the world, especially towards African-American men and their families. It's also stellar filmmaking.

4. Sorry to Bother You

An original, outrageous, and deeply political (and socially relevant) film that reflects our time but also feels scarily prescient, "Sorry to Bother You" is that spectacularly surreal surprise, a jubilant cinematic experience that will have you laughing one moment and bamboozled the next. First-time writer-director Boots Riley continuously ups the lunacy ante. The less you know going in the better. Just sit back and... allow the sublime madness to suck you in.

5. Who We Are Now

Julianne Nicholson is one of those truly gifted actors who has been flying under the radar for years, delivering extraordinary work that too often goes unnoticed ("August: Osage County," "Novitiate," "I, Tonya"). In Matthew Newton's riveting gem "Who We Are Now," she is a force to be reckoned with as an ex-con trying to get custody of her daughter. Emma Roberts excels as a paralegal whose life will intersect with Nicholson's character. Newton's film is an anxiety-ridden joy to watch throughout and features great work from Zachary Quinto, Jimmy Smits and Jess Weixler. This astonishing tale of redemption deserves to be seen and appreciated.

6. Happy as Lazzaro (Lazzaro Felice)

Italian helmer Alice Rohrwacher weaves a wondrous tale that blends gritty neo-neo-realism with the magical and spiritual–and is, gobsmackingly, based on a true story! "Happy as Lazzaro" is an enigmatic fable in which the first half, set in a remote Italian village, introduces us to it's citizens, who are working as sharecroppers (an outlawed practice) under the rule of the Marchesa (Nicoletta Braschi), a terrible tobacco tyrant. Are the villagers idiots? And who exactly is that odd, seemingly addled boy named Lazzaro (a remarkable Adriano Tardiolo)? Why does everyone mistreat him? And what is his relationship with the Marchesa's son (Luca Chikovani)? The second half of the film takes an otherworldly turn, and... revealing any more would ruin the many delights this beguiling and stunning film has to offer.

7. Green Book

Yes, Peter Farrelly's "Green Book" is old fashioned, in both its filmmaking style and its story. But the film is also smashingly good, and contains two of the best acting performances of 2018, Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali. Sure, I was annoyed that they didn't bother casting an Italian-American in the role of Tony Lip, but Mortensen is so believable that I almost forgot and forgave. (Almost.) Based on the true story of a prejudiced mob thug who, in need of money, agrees to drive an eccentric black pianist through the Deep South in 1962, this funny and affectionate portrait of race relations plays like an Odd Couple road movie, in the best possible sense. "Green Book" is an admirable plea for understanding and acceptance. And it's damn funny, too.

8. The Children Act

This emotionally gut-wrenching story of a rigid judge who must decide the fate of a Jehovah Witness teen dying of leukemia veers off in unexpected directions, and etches a portrait of a middle aged woman reawakening to feelings she had long repressed. The film, directed by Richard Eyre ("Notes on a Scandal") and based on the novel by Ian McEwan, is filled with heartbreaking 'what if' questions. Why the masterful Emma Thompson has not been a part of awards chatter is beyond me. Her complicated and nuanced performance is one of the best of 2018. And Fionn Whitehead ("Dunkirk") delivers a poignant and profound portrayal of a boy desperately needing to find meaning in a life that is seemingly meaningless.

9. Lean on Pete

No other film I saw this year captured the ethical and moral divide of a U.S. on the edge more than Andrew Haigh's "Lean on Pete." Based on the novel by Willy Vlautin, "Lean on Pete" focuses on Charley (Charlie Plummer), and his incredulous odyssey after a family tragedy as he grows close to an aging Quarter Horse named Lean on Pete who is in danger of being sold for slaughter. Haigh's focus is keenly on Charley as he is forced to travel through the underbelly of America in order to survive, and Plummer, a spellbinding young talent, allows us just enough access to his inner struggles for us to empathize with him.

10. Disobedience

Sebasti�n Lelio's "Disobedience" is about a photographer who returns to the North London Orthodox Jewish community where she grew up, when her estranged father dies. The protagonist scandalizes the community by rekindling a lesbian affair with an old friend who is now married. Lelio (who won an Oscar for "A Fantastic Woman") has fashioned a daring, mesmerizing film with truly extraordinary performances by Rachel Weisz, Alessandro Nivola and an unrecognizable Rachel McAdams. The film asks a number of truly important questions and gives us real human beings struggling with love and faith.

11. Widows

What happens when a group of thieves are horrifically murdered during a robbery gone wrong and there is still money owed to other criminals? You force the wives to find the stolen money. And what happens when you put Steve McQueen ("12 Years a Slave," "Shame") at the helm or a heist movie/revenge tale? You get an entrancing work of art that refuses genre classification altogether. Of course, it's helpful to have a cast of amazing thesps led by the captivating Viola Davis, along with the brilliant, scene-stealing Elizabeth Debicki.

12. Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Melissa McCarthy gets her misanthrope on and gives the best performances of her career as real life author and letter forger Lee Israel, in Marielle Heller's superb and subversive "Can You Ever Forgive Me?" Every frame of this film is rendered with care as Lee's incredible story unfolds. Richard E. Grant is on hand, killing it as her mess of a friend. So much has been written about how unlikeable these characters are; I just found them to be profoundly human. After life and people take repeated and relentless craps on you, wouldn't your walls go up? Wouldn't you stop having faith in humanity? And who can't relate to that?

13. Black Panther

Ryan Coogler has made an uber-political superhero film that captures the zeitgeist (pretentious, but appropriate). With terrific performances (especially Michael B. Jordan as the complex villain Killmonger), exciting (without being irritatingly never-ending) action sequences, and an actually intelligent script, "Black Panther" reigns supreme and raises the Marvel bar higher than anyone expected.

Runner-up: "A Star is Born"

A star is, indeed, born and that star is... Bradley Cooper as triple-threat director, co-writer and the real "star" of "A Star is Born." Yes, Lady Gaga rocks her role, but it's Cooper who grounds the film and then gives it wings. This fourth telling of a too-paint-by-numbers tale has brought out the Streisand haters, but the truth is Cooper's version owes a great debt to that misunderstood, albeit, messy movie. I only wish Cooper had the courage to pivot and give us a more worthy ending.

Plus...

Honorable Mentions
(alphabetically)

"The Ballad of Buster Scruggs," "Ben is Back," "Blackkklansman," "Border," "Burning," "Cold War," "First Man," "First Reformed," "The Happy Prince," "The House That Jack Built," "Jane Fonda in Five Acts," "1985," "The Party," "Roma," "The Rider," "Shoplifters," "Three Identical Strangers," "Tully," "22 July," "Vox Lux," "You Were Never Really Here."

Best Film Not Yet Released: "Making Montgomery Clift"

Most Astounding Sequence in a Film: the last 20 minutes of "Free Solo."

Outstanding Lead Actress:

1. Julianne Nicholson in "Who We Are Now"
2. Emma Thompson in "The Children Act"
3. Olivia Colman in "The Favourite"
4. Julia Roberts in "Ben is Back"
5. Melissa McCarthy in "Can You Ever Forgive Me?"

Outstanding Supporting Actress:

1. Rachel Weisz in "The Favourite"
2. Regina King in "If Beale Street Could Talk"
3. Emma Stone in "The Favourite"
4. Elizabeth Debicki in "Widows"
5. Rachel McAdams in "Disobedience" and Claire Foy in "First Man" and Michelle Yeoh in "Crazy Rich Asians" and Amy Adams in "Vice"

Outstanding Lead Actor:

1. Bradley Cooper in "A Star is Born"
2. Christian Bale in "Vice"
3. Ethan Hawke in "First Reformed"
4. Rupert Everett in "The Happy Prince"
5. Viggo Mortensen in "Green Book"

Outstanding Supporting Actor:

1. Fionn Whitehead in "The Children Act"
2. Alessandro Nivola in "Disobedience"
3. Mahershala Ali in "Green Book"
4. Richard E. Grant in "Can You Ever Forgive Me?"
5. Michael B. Jordan in "Black Panther"

Outstanding Director:

1. Yorgos Lanthimos for "The Favorite"
2. Adam McKay for "Vice"
3. Barry Jenkins for "If Beale Street Could Talk"
4. Alice Rohrwacher for "Happy as Lazzaro"
5. Boots Riley for "Sorry to Bother You"