The NSV Awards: The Best Films Of 2018

Apologies for this being up so late, but I kept forgetting to do it! Hope you find some of my choices enlightening or they help you discover something new!

Honourable Mentions: World Of Tomorrow Episode 2: The Burden Of Other People's Thoughts, Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War, Loveless, Foxtrot, Incredibles 2, Scary Mother, The Green Fog, That Summer, Cold War, Lu Over The Wall, The Great Buddha+, Knife + Heart, And Breathe Normally, Shirkers, Won't You Be My Neighbour?, Sorry To Bother You, Can You Ever Forgive Me?

25. Suspiria

Image via Empire

Overlong, yet holds a kind of eerie mesmeric power. It's rarely truly scary (only in the memorably gruesome bodily contortions) but it stays with you long after the credits roll. Maybe it's the visuals, cold and brutal, or the melancholy soundtrack. Like Argento's film in name only.

24. Wildlife
An understated, gently moving drama of urban angst. It works best when Carey Mulligan is a sad oversharing mother so desperate for attention that she'll open up to her son, a unique and real dynamic. The climax and ending is a small letdown, but never loses sight of the family's complex relations. The three main cast members are great, making for a film that doesn't break the mould but is quietly very effective.

23. McQueen
Exceptional fashion documentary about Alexander McQueen elevates the genre via detailed looks at his fashion and how it relates to his life all scored by exquisite Michael Nyman music.

22. Madeline's Madeline

Do you have the right to tell another person's story? Josephine Decker's entertaining, whipsmart films asks difficult questions aided by a game Miranda July and a star-making turn by Helena Howard.

21. Mandy

Image via Collider

Nic Cage goes full Nic Cage in this glorious balls-to-the-wall nutso thriller. Best watched in a massive group setting to get the full energy.

20. The King

Eugene Jarecki threads a delicate needle, arguing the rise and fall of Elvis Presley is analagous to the rise and fall of America itself. Some magnificently edited sequences, especially the final montage.

19. Hereditary

Image via Bloody Disgusting

Toni Collette should've been nominated for the Oscar for this perfectly orchestrated freak-out. Early scene is unforgettable in it's Psycho-like intensity and impact.

18. Jane Fonda In Five Acts
A celebrity doco that acts like a confession; honestly and openly examining Fonda's life and legacy in a devastating manner. Impeccably structured and powerful. Huge admiration for Fonda's clear eyed views of her failings and successes.

17. Annihilation
Science fiction as something eerie, alien and quiet. Left me haunted.

16. Call Me By Your Name
Guadagnino's already iconic queer romance is lovely and understated, with the best ending of the year. Even if I am annoyed there is a distinct lack of sex....

15. Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse

Image via CNet

A delightful surprise. Coming across as the Spidey version of the underrated LEGO Batman Movie (with fewer laughs but deeper themes), its reliance on and twisting of the old comics makes for entertaining, self-aware viewing. It's also an eye-popping visual treat with some of the trippiest visuals this side of Yellow Submarine (especially in the kinetic climax). Stay after the credits!

14. Burning
From my MIFF Notes: "[Burning] acts as much more than a mystery, painting a picture of youth alienation and loneliness. Every element of the film just works from the score to the cinematography and the performances. Steven Yeun in particular is brilliant, taking the easygoing charm of his The Walking Dead character and twisting into something menacing and unsettling. With the complexity, the strength of its themes and the skill of its actors, Burning stays with you long after the shocking final scene. It's a film to get lost in and to debate, and has been one of the festival's biggest hits. I can't wait to see it again."

13. Custody
One of the most distressing films I've ever seen. I left the cinema with shredded nerves and had a panic attack as I walked, remembering similar horrific incidents with my father. At the climax, I heard some people around me sobbing. This should come with a content warning. Well made and disturbingly effective, but I never want to see it again.

12. Island Of The Hungry Ghosts

Image via British Council Film

From my MIFF Notes: "Islands Of The Hungry Ghosts is an exceptional film, but will it reach a wider audience? In its poetry and lyrical beauty, its an easier film to watch than, say, Eva Orner's brutally sad (and utterly essential) Chasing Asylum, but that same stylised technique while also turn audiences away. The sad truth is the people who most need to see this and other films like it are the people who never will: members of the government like Peter Dutton who think it's ethically right to lock people up indefinitely for looking for a better life for their family. But for those of us willing, this is a poignant and deeply beautiful film that will stay with you for days."

11. Shoplifters
What starts out as a sweet family drama becomes a brutally sad examination of the way trauma, class differences and poverty make for a harrowing situation. I'm not sure that transition is entirely natural, especially when some particularly bigoted cops show up, but it is effective. A film about the beauty of found families and the pain of having them ripped apart.

10. The Night Is Short, Walk On Girl

Image via Film School Rejects

How is it that Masaaki Yuasa keeps making such great work? A quasi-sequel to the exceptional Tatami Galaxy, this is at least at the same level. At times farcical, lyrical but always visually kinetic and narratively complex (paying close attention is rewarding). One of the best cinematic experiences of the year.

9. A Simple Favor
I refer you to Allison Shoemaker's review for Consequence Of Sound, summing up my feelings better than I could ever do:

"Put it this way: A Simple Favor is likely to make viewers want to drink a gin martini and wear a pantsuit without a shirt on and maybe start a vlog on which they try to solve a mystery while making novelty baked goods. It’s not aspirational, because this is a bad situation. It just looks like so much fun that you immediately want to get started. It’s potent and chilly and warm, all at once. In that sense, maybe a negroni would have been a better cocktail choice: sweet, bitter, strong, and classic, beautiful to look at, and sure to get you drunk."

8. Climax

From my MIFF Notes: "Never before had I seen something that captures that feeling of losing yourself. Of that moment drunk fun turns into the utter terror of being out of your head and out of control. Of those paranoid seemingly never-ending nights where you writhe around on the floor, wondering why the fuck you did this to your body but still there is something thrilling about losing control in such a way. That feeling you chase next time you go drinking. In its impeccable camerawork and relentlessly kinetic energy, Gaspar Noe captures a unique personal terror and turns into a cinematic horror experience of the highest order. Utterly genius."

7. One Cut Of The Dead

Image via IndieWire

An incredible, unique piece of cinema that eviscerates both the zombie and meta film genres. It's 40 minute long take is legendary but the true significance, and genius, of that only becomes clear at the end. Beyond it's cleverness, though, this is also a screamingly funny, enjoyable time. You have to see this. POM!

6. The Wild Boys

Image via Crossing Europe

Rewatched on the big screen early in 2019. I love this. Perhaps less radical than I originally thought though. I sold the film to my partner as a genderfuck fantasia, but while it plays with gender, it sticks to established stereotypes. But I find myself look past that problem, to see the interplay with cinema history, to the way everything feels archetypal, and especially to its breathtaking visual rhapsody. Unique.

5. Roma
Utterly gorgeous. A story of beauty and tragedy and joy told through vast cinematic vistas. All of the individual scenes have something to treasure, but I'm especially fond of the naked boyfriend, the cot shopping, the birth and the beach. Watch it on the biggest screen you can find.

4. EX LIBRIS - The New York Public Library
From my MIFF Notes: "Life at the library, in all its infinite varieties, goes on. For all its length, I never wanted EX LIBRIS to end and craved more, yet felt completely satisfied. For library nerds, this is utterly essential, a goddamn masterpiece that is beautifully, deeply human."

3. Hard Paint

Image via BFI Flare

From my MIFF Notes: "What makes [Hard Paint] so memorable and touching is the insightful way it explains what it's like to live as a gay man in a homophobic society. Pedro can barely go outside for five minutes, so terrified is he of strangers staring at him and realising he's gay. That's a very relatable fear and it strikes a poignant cord, as does the moment Leo tells Pedro a story that takes a devastatingly personal turn. Hard Paint movingly examines what it is to be gay, the joys and the challenges, in a way that is visually stunning and emotionally true. I doubt I will have such a profoundly personal experience at the cinema this year. Films this rare and perfect (even in their imperfections) don't come around very often."
For Australian readers, this is now streaming on SBS On Demand. Do yourself a favour and watch it!!

2. TERROR_NULLIUS
Destroys Australian national and cinematic identity to find something new and exciting. Editing has rarely been used this cleverly or as politically. Must see this again.

1. The Favourite

Image via IndieWire

Yorgos Lanthimos' take on All About Eve is his most accessible film and one of his best. A comedy and a tragedy with nuanced characters (and career best performances from Olivia Colman, Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz) and hilarious, biting wit. It's such a fun time that one can barely notice that under all the sarcasm lies a complex mediation on power imbalances, love, sexuality and loyalty. And calling your loved one a badger. Brilliant.