QR Film: The Best Movies of 2018 (so far)

We are just over half way through 2018, and what a year it has been, with a catalogue of great movies already released. Movies for the general public, cinephile and critic alike, from amazing animation to brilliant action to heart-warming human propaganda pieces. With no particular order, let's have a look at some of the best the year has had to offer so far.

A Quiet Place

It was hard to know what to expect when it came to the quality of A Quiet Place, which presented a unique premise for horror. in brief, the world of the film has been invaded by extra-terrestrials that are unable to see, but can hunt using an incredible sense of hearing. This world stems from the mind of John Krasinski, a director whose most famous work is from the latter seasons of the US version of The Office. However, just as Jordan Peele’s Get Out surprised and delighted audiences worldwide, so has this tense, terrifying masterpiece.

Emily Blunt stands out in possibly her best performance yet as she struggles with keeping her family safe, along side her husband (John Krasinski). The best part definitely comes from the immense tension placed upon the audience during the 90-minute runtime, with remarkable stories of entire cinemas falling absolutely dead silent, fearing, alongside the characters on screen, that the smallest sound would cause their untimely demise. A Quiet Place will be remembered as a unique horror-thriller that is definitely unmissable.

Ready Player One

Huge releases from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the undeniable popularity of Netflix series, Stranger Things, has allowed both 80s and 'nerd' culture to culminate in legendary director, Stephen Spielberg’s Ready Player One, a celebration of digital, board game and everything in between.

Following a simple plot, akin to those of classic arcade and early console titles, Ready Player One shines and delights as a visual spectacle with at least a reference to some series or film that you love mixed in there somewhere. It is fair to say the story does take a backseat to this marvel, but even then, the young and digitised cast do stand very well to bring this joy ride out of the realm of just pure fan service and into the light as an all-around enjoyable blockbuster.

Calibre

When Netflix announced its plans to release over 100 original movies over the course of 2018, sceptics, critics and fans alike all wondered about how the streaming service could release such a huge number of movies in such a short space and yet still provide variety and quality to their audience. Whilst there are definitely some misfires, such as Tau and The Kissing Booth, there are some of notable quality, namely a simple but still very fun and remarkable rom-com in Set It Up and the thriller, Calibre.

Calibre follows two friends who journey to an isolated Scottish Highlands village for a weekend hunting trip that quickly goes very wrong as they try and make sure of their escape and survival. Built on a solid and simple premise, the tension of this film keeps the viewer hooked throughout as you grow to both like and hate the two central members and the world of isolation yet familial relations around them. 

Annihilation

Alex Garland is well-noted for his screen-writing, having penned such greats as 28 Days Later and Dredd. In 2014, he took a foray into directing, with the incredible 2014 sci-fi flick Ex Machina. For his second feature, Garland wrote an adaptation of the Jeff VanderMeer novel Annihilation, which follows an expedition of five female scientists into a mysterious zone, labelled as 'The Shimmer' by most of the movie's cast, where the rules of nature do not apply.

Natalie Portman and the cast alike have been praised for their work in this film that is, at times, difficult to understand due to it's abstractness and with the ideas and philosophies it attempts to present. However, none of that takes away from the beautiful, mesmerising and disturbing imagery presented throughout this strange film that is still, fundamentally, entertaining. It should be able to elicit an emotional response from you.

Love, Simon

Even if Love, Simon didn’t end up being a good film or even one of the worst ever made, the teenage romance picture would still be one thing: culturally significant. Thankfully Love, Simon proved itself to not only be significant for that reason alone and stands on its own among the best of the genre.

Nick Robinson should be praised as an outstanding lead. Every character in this film is played to pretty much perfection in an emotional rollercoaster, which will have you laughing and cheering for Simon one moment, cringing the next, and then crying, either with joy or sadness the next. Many of the members of the LGBTQ+ society have praised the movie as realistic to their own struggles with coming out and raising awareness of issues within the community. Love, Simon is a tour de force in both quality and pioneering forward.

Isle of Dogs

Visionary director Wes Anderson is known for his unique style and quirkiness in all the pictures he has produced from the mad The Grand Budapest Hotel, to the quality adaptation of Roald Dahl’s Fantastic Mr. Fox. His latest feature is his second foray into stop-motion animation with the lovable Isle of Dogs.

Isle of Dogs is in every sense a beautiful film. It is beautifully shot, beautifully created and has one of the most beautiful stories. The movie follows Akira as he searches for his beloved helper dog, Spots, after all dogs are banished from Japan following a mysterious canine flu which has swept across the country.

The main cast is full of stellar voice performances from very familiar actors such as Edward Norton, Bill Murray and an incredible lead by Brian Cranston. The film is basically a moving painting as the cinematography of this film is truly stunning, so much so that every frame looks it could be hung up in a gallery. Isle of Dogs works both as a visual spectacle and a brilliant movie for all the family and film lovers to enjoy.

Game Night

It sometimes feels as though the modern movie industry lacks good, simple comedy flics, which is why Game Night feels so fresh and welcome. The movie follows a group of friends who meet regularly for game nights who find themselves entangled in a real-life mystery when one of their brothers is kidnapped during a game night.

While the movie does take some time to get going, the comedic charm to this film can be seen throughout most of the movie, with great small gags and some absolutely brilliant sequences. Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams make great leads as genuinely likeable and relatable goofballs, while the supporting cast get their time to shine in multiple hilarious side-plots. If you’re looking for a brilliantly funny movie that is not massively vulgar and is a lot of fun, then you'll surely not want to miss Game Night.

Black Panther

In 2018, Marvel has released their 18th, 19th and 20th movies in their combined cinematic universe. It would be fair to expect with the high volume of superhero films, with a total of six major pictures and quite a few indie films in 2017 alone that the superhero genre would start to feel stagnant as writers run out of ideas and general interest in the franchises to diminish. Thankfully, for Marvel and fans alike, this has not happened, as Black Panther presents one of the most fresh, innovative and important superhero films of all time.

Black Panther was very different in its methods, inviting us to the fantastic environment of Wakanda, the country itself almost acting as a central character with amazing development and detail. Chadwick Boseman is fantastic as the central lead, and yet he gets almost completely overshadowed by his supporting cast, mainly the woman of Wakanda in Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira and the breakout success of Letitia Wright as Shuri. This is all not mentioning the fantastic story and moral dilemmas brought by the central villain, Erik Killmonger, played fantastically by Michael B. Jordan. The intelligent design of almost every aspect of this movie, along side all the fresh, new ideas and the massive cultural impact, makes it in my opinion the best movie of the year so far.

Avengers: Infinity War

While Black Panther in itself is very significant for its cultural impact and freshness upon the superhero genre, its hard to argue that any film this year was more hyped up than Avengers: Infinity War, and amazingly, it managed not only to meet expectations of fans and critics alike, but also exceed them. The 19th film in Marvel’s cinematic franchise shattered box office records and is possibly en route to becoming the highest grossing film of all time.

While fans may have only went to see their favourite superheroes, what they were met with was some of the best story, action scenes and new characters to the cinematic universe. Particularly, Josh Brolin’s turn as the mad titan Thanos, who actually came to be a sympathetic and thought-provoking villain and probably the best part of this film. 

Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again

When the original Mamma Mia entered cinemas ten years ago, it was quite the odd occurrence, because while on paper and in action a lot the movie shouldn’t and didn’t work, yet mostly everyone, from the common cinema-goer to the admired and well-respected film critic found enjoyment and fun in the movie, leading to it breaking a lot of UK box office records. When the sequel was announced, most feared the second movie would be unable to capture the same fun and magic as the first one, and yet, upon arrival, it turned out to still be there.

Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again brings back pretty much every beloved character and idea from the first film, and is built upon as we see Amanda Seyfried’s Sophie deal with her own pregnancy and new issues, alongside returning to 1979 to see a younger portrayal of her mother, Donna, by Lily James as we see her story of she came to be the much-loved hotel manager on the Greek Island. The catchy Abba soundtrack makes a few great returns and a lot of great additions also, especially those of ‘Angel Eyes’ and ‘My Love, My Life’. At the time of writing this film is still in cinemas nationwide and I implore you to see it if you haven’t.

By Lee Smallwood