Because I watched a fair amount of new TV (on bootlegged DVDs--catching up with the world can only
be done in micro-steps with me) this year, I thought for sure I had seen fewer new films than normal.
It felt like I’d sometimes go weeks without getting out to the movies. Evidently not--saw the same
40 or so I see every year.
I counted anything as new that a) had an official release date of no earlier than October 2017 on
IMDB, and b) where I was pretty sure that it didn’t show up in Toronto until 2018 (TIFF screenings
aside, because who cares?).
My Top 10:
1. Barbara Rubin and the Exploding NY Underground
2. Design Canada
3. The King
4. Mid90s
5. United Skates
6. If Beale Street Could Talk
7. First Reformed
8. BlacKkKlansman
9. Studio 54
10. Battle of the Sexes/Vice
Not a great year. Past the top two or three, I’m not sure if anything there would make my list in
a good year--I liked them all to one degree or another, but often it’s a film that either falls in-
to the fine-but-somewhat-overrated category (First Reformed) or gets a low-expectations/not-bad-at-
all bump (the tie at #10 especially). The only thing that actually caught me by surprise--although
the title certainly caught my attention--was Jonah Hill’s Mid90s. I quite liked it; many wouldn’t.
I still haven’t seen Roma. Finding out that it’s set in the early ‘70s (which I much preferred to
the mid-‘90s, even though I was pretty happy then, too) guarantees that I will. And yes, I realize
Badfinger and Todd Rundgren won’t be on the soundtrack.
Some rough groupings for the rest (based on memory, because it’s too much work to check my ILX
ratings):
Okay documentaries: The Fourth Estate, Mr. Fish: Cartooning from Deep End, Here to Be Heard: The
Story of the Slits, The Beatles, Hippies and Hells Angels: Inside the Crazy World Of Apple, RBG,
Filmworker, Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, My Generation, Matangi/Maya/M.I.A., Divide and Conquer:
The Story of Roger Ailes, Maria by Callas*
Okay Not-Documentaries: Unsane, Paterno, A Quiet Place, Eighth Grade (didn’t like it nearly as
much as everyone else), Shock and Awe, A Simple Favor, Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Not-Okay Documentary: Fahrenheit 11/9 (embarrassing in a couple of places, even for Moore)
A Documentary Would Have Been Better: Borg Vs. McEnroe, Nico, 1988
Fashion (I Want to Understand...): The Gospel According to Andre, McQueen, Always at the Carlyle
(sort of counts--rich people dressed in expensive clothes)
What the Fuck Did I Just See?: You Were Never Really Here, Sorry to Bother You (both worth puz-
zling over)
Rogue Politicians: Chappaquiddick, The Front Runner (the better of the two)
Diverting Junk: Red Sparrow
Waste of Time: Ocean’s Eight, White Boy Rick, The Girl in the Spider’s Web
Drawing a Blank: Flower
I just found out today (after googling the title + Toronto) that the film I most wanted to see
this year, Frederick Wiseman’s Monrovia, Indiana, screened for three nights at the Bloor just
before Halloween. I can’t believe I missed that--I keep close tabs on the Bloor schedule. The
only explanation I can come up with is that I didn’t know about the film yet and the nondescript
title slipped by me. I’m a little heartsick about this, knowing how iffy a second chance will
be.
*Saw this very late in the year; I didn't post about it in ILX's "last (x) movies" thread, so I
missed it here, too. Could probably have included it my Top 10.
Because I watched a fair amount of new TV (on bootlegged DVDs--catching up with the world can only
be done in micro-steps with me) this year, I thought for sure I had seen fewer new films than normal.
It felt like I’d sometimes go weeks without getting out to the movies. Evidently not--saw the same
40 or so I see every year.
I counted anything as new that a) had an official release date of no earlier than October 2017 on
IMDB, and b) where I was pretty sure that it didn’t show up in Toronto until 2018 (TIFF screenings
aside, because who cares?).
My Top 10:
1. Barbara Rubin and the Exploding NY Underground
2. Design Canada
3. The King
4. Mid90s
5. United Skates
6. If Beale Street Could Talk
7. First Reformed
8. BlacKkKlansman
9. Studio 54
10. Battle of the Sexes/Vice
Not a great year. Past the top two or three, I’m not sure if anything there would make my list in
a good year--I liked them all to one degree or another, but often it’s a film that either falls in-
to the fine-but-somewhat-overrated category (First Reformed) or gets a low-expectations/not-bad-at-
all bump (the tie at #10 especially). The only thing that actually caught me by surprise--although
the title certainly caught my attention--was Jonah Hill’s Mid90s. I quite liked it; many wouldn’t.
I still haven’t seen Roma. Finding out that it’s set in the early ‘70s (which I much preferred to
the mid-‘90s, even though I was pretty happy then, too) guarantees that I will. And yes, I realize
Badfinger and Todd Rundgren won’t be on the soundtrack.
Some rough groupings for the rest (based on memory, because it’s too much work to check my ILX
ratings):
Okay documentaries: The Fourth Estate, Mr. Fish: Cartooning from Deep End, Here to Be Heard: The
Story of the Slits, The Beatles, Hippies and Hells Angels: Inside the Crazy World Of Apple, RBG,
Filmworker, Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, My Generation, Matangi/Maya/M.I.A., Divide and Conquer:
The Story of Roger Ailes, Maria by Callas*
Okay Not-Documentaries: Unsane, Paterno, A Quiet Place, Eighth Grade (didn’t like it nearly as
much as everyone else), Shock and Awe, A Simple Favor, Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Not-Okay Documentary: Fahrenheit 11/9 (embarrassing in a couple of places, even for Moore)
A Documentary Would Have Been Better: Borg Vs. McEnroe, Nico, 1988
Fashion (I Want to Understand...): The Gospel According to Andre, McQueen, Always at the Carlyle
(sort of counts--rich people dressed in expensive clothes)
What the Fuck Did I Just See?: You Were Never Really Here, Sorry to Bother You (both worth puz-
zling over)
Rogue Politicians: Chappaquiddick, The Front Runner (the better of the two)
Diverting Junk: Red Sparrow
Waste of Time: Ocean’s Eight, White Boy Rick, The Girl in the Spider’s Web
Drawing a Blank: Flower
I just found out today (after googling the title + Toronto) that the film I most wanted to see
this year, Frederick Wiseman’s Monrovia, Indiana, screened for three nights at the Bloor just
before Halloween. I can’t believe I missed that--I keep close tabs on the Bloor schedule. The
only explanation I can come up with is that I didn’t know about the film yet and the nondescript
title slipped by me. I’m a little heartsick about this, knowing how iffy a second chance will
be.
*Saw this very late in the year; I didn't post about it in ILX's "last (x) movies" thread, so I
missed it here, too. Could probably have included it my Top 10.