Academy Fight Song

Academy Fight Song:

RAY's Top Ten Films of 2018

with desultory commentary

Wow, what an underwhelming year in film.

None of these films even approach my all time top film list

I saw a total of 11 films so fortunately

the embarrassingly schlocky The Meg didn't have to make this list.

It had a giant shark eat a whale but the greatest special effect

was the hero wearing only a towel in a contrived Chinese meet cute

So here they are not in any immutable order

but pretty much best to worst

 

 

 

Sicario

This was bad mojo but had edgy excitement I crave

Feeds the border security crisis myth but there is no doubting

the murderous excesses of both Mexico and of law enforcement

 

 

Mary Poppins
 

A great new portrayal of Mary by Emily

less impressed by Lin-Manuel Miranda

stagey acting with the high eyebrow eye rolls

A few clunky scenes such as acrobatic bikes

or a hoary music hall bombast

but some genuine elation and stoniness

to suit my stonedness

 

 

 

Mission Impossible: Freefall

 

Nobody has less interest in Tom Cruise than myself

and it's somewhat piteous to see someone of his age

acting the human super hero but between his cool nemesis

and the breathtaking cinematic effects it is a hellish fun ride

The helicopter take-over scene is pure adrenaline

 

 

 

 

 

VICE

 

I have to applaud anything that calls attention

to war and torture criminal Dick Cheney

authoritarian surveillance traitor

 Bale's impersonation actually lacked Cheney's angry

spleenful contempt for the disenfranchised collateral damage

Some egregiously poor taste at times as well

 

 

 

First Man

 

Shake and bake astronauts led a grueling life

rather dull a lot of the time the family

neglect point made again and again

I didn't dig his smarmy best friends acting

but Ryan does fairly well if too introspective

for verisimilitude but after a lot of grim

realistic hardware filming the actual

moonwalk IMAX kicked in like acid

over hashish...per force the climax

was brief but highly rewarding

 

 

 

Mandy
 

Druggy over the top splatter flick yet somehow

intriguing and disturbing in a good way

The Manson family cult leader, the psycho granny

and Mandy herself are all played by quality

English and Irish actors

and Cage is a wonder to behold

 

 

 

 

Green Book

 

It might have been daring in the 1960s

Amusing and not without kicks

 

 

 

Overlord

 

The taking of a death weapon experiment citadel
protected by Nazi zombies

The working title was Overkill

But I suppose it's what it takes to up

the shock and gore quotient

Sort of fun but not mentally  healthy

 

 

 

Black Panther

 

I found this so forgettable I forgot

it was a 2018 film

Last time I go to any Marvel etc

superhero movie whatsoever

As far as it's message I would say

it is escapism take to the level of pandering

Africans had all the wealth and technology all along

but they knew if they used it to help the diaspora

colonists would come and take it

 

 

 

 

BlacKKKlansman

 

Too bad a competent director didn't make this

story it had possibilities

Spike movies as hard as one wishes for him are generally
on the level of farce.
One could accept the cheesy cartoonish acting of his
early indie work but it's of a piece throughout his career.
All the opportunities for suspense or depth
are squandered to make simplistic jokey points

 The litany of what's wrong is topped by the ridiculous
Klan characters: never frightening although
one guy chews the scenery ineffectually acting psycho
while the other chubby one isn't sure if he's drunk or
retarded and is provided as a white Stepin Fetchit
It's an insult to the audience really
and the scene of the fat lady trying to plant a bomb
is so poorly filmed as to be incoherent
Not showing chaos being chaotic
as she dumbly tries again and again to shove it
through a too small mail slot
A mess from start to finish
Two good points: the scene with the black ideologue
giving a fiery speech was electrifying cinema
even as it made me squirm;
and the militant black girlfriend
was highly attractive, charming and sweet.
Like everyone else except for Adam Driver
she couldn't particularly act though

Now one hears Spike attack The Green Door
which certainly had thin sterotypes in the
the white Southerner scenes
But it also had some genuine film acting
and a palpable screenplay