Another movie year is done, and while many of us are happy to say goodbye to 2018, the year did deliver a selection of films worth watching, as well as a few duds to avoid. This year I managed to watch 52 new films, so these lists represent a somewhat limited view of movies released in 2018. I have likely missed a few quality ‘Best 5’ worthy films, and there are probably worst films released this year than the ones in my ‘Worst 5’ list.
| Best 5 | |
| 1: Mary Poppins Returns | |
 What can I say? I’m a sucker for a great musical! Mary Poppins Returns was everything I needed it to be at the moment I entered the theater. For a blissful two hours, I forgot about all the political turmoil going on in the world and had fun. Emily Blunt makes her mark on this iconic character with her wonderful performance, and the new songs were memorable too. |
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| 2: Searching | |
 Go see it! Go see it! Go see it! This was hands down the best movie I’d seen at the theater this year until Mary Poppins came along. Searching is a story told within the confines of apps, popup windows, video chats, and browsers. It sounds gimmicky, but trust me this works, and it never outstays its welcome. |
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| 3: Paddington 2 | |
 Paddington 2 is every bit as good as the first film (perhaps even a little better), and it is as sweet as a marmalade sandwich. This should entertain the open hearts of both adults and children, and its superbly crafted story leaves no loose ends unexplored. It would be fair to say some parts of this film are a little predictable, but always in line with your hopeful expectations. |
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| 4: First Man | |
 Performances all round are superb, especially from Ryan Gosling and the chameleon-like Claire Foy. The product design and sound design is also first-rate, and the score by Justin Hurwitz is worth owning on its own. You really got a sense of what it was like to be inside a capsule strapped to a rocket in this film. The claustrophobic environment, the sounds inside the capsule, it’s really intense! |
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| 5: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse | |
 Into the Spider-Verse is the Spider-Man movie I’ve been waiting to see. The beautifully rendered/drawn animation serves the story well. The action makes the building twisting parts of Dr. Strange seem as exciting as a kitchen remodel. When it’s time to slow things down, the quality of the performances come through to give parts of this film real emotional heft. This film did so many things right; I found it easy to overlook its minor shortcomings. |
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| Worst 5 | |
| 1: Mortal Engines (2018) | |
 Mortal Engines is the worst film I’ve seen this year. It’s a dumpster fire from beginning to end. A 100 million-dollar turd squeezed out into theaters. I’m still dumbfounded that Peter Jackson was involved with this, and that they let Christian Rivers helm such an ambitious project. This film was painful to watch. Stay away. Go see something—anything—else! |
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| 2: Death Wish | |
 So, this is basically red meat for the NRA gun nut crowd. Proof positive that everything they tell their members is true, and we should all buy as many guns as possible, because the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun, is a good… You know, that old chestnut. Disingenuous gun loving arguments aside, this just wasn’t all that interesting or memorable. |
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| 3: The Meg | |
 This wasn’t scary, and it wasn’t funny. The CGI was only slightly better than what you’d find in a Sharknado movie. The Meg is a film that wasn’t sure whether it wanted to be self-aware of its obvious silliness or play it serious. A film desperately trying to find its niche within the pantheon of fishy action thrillers, and finding there was no room for a prehistoric sixty-foot-long shark. |
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| 4: Tomb Raider | |
 To be honest, there were probably worse films releases in 2018, but I still didn’t enjoy this. Its failings stem from a thinly sketched protagonist and a dumb plot. |
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| 5: Hotel Artemis | |
 Again, I’m sure there were worse films released in 2018, but I still couldn’t recommend this. I found myself comparing it to John Wick, and it didn’t measure up. What John Wick does with a few lines of dialogue to establish The Continental its world of assassins, Hotel Artemis struggles to achieve over the entire length of the film. |
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These are my lists, and your lists will likely be different — each to their own as they say.
