Best Films of 2018

2018 turned out to be a somewhat mediocre year for films. Even if the attendance increased, most films that propelled those numbers were vastly mediocre or instantly forgettable (such as James Wan's "Aquaman" for instance). My ten best list, includes films released during 2018, though some were actually produced in 2017. Also should be noted, that two of those films came from streaming giant, Netflix. I also included two new TV shows that debuted in 2018, that are worth checking out.

Annihilation

Director: Alex Garland

Stars: Natalie Portman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tessa Thompson, Gina Rodriguez, Tuva Novotny, Oscar Isaac, David Gyasi, Benedict Wong

You Were Never Really Here

Director: Lynne Ramsey

Stars: Joaquin Phoenix, Judith Roberts, John Doman, Ekaterina Samsonov, Alessandro Nivola, Alex Manette, Dante Pereira-Olson, Scott Price

Hereditary

Director: Ari Aster

Stars: Toni Collette, Gabriel Byrne, Alex Wolff, Milly Shapiro, Ann Dowd, Mallory Betchel, Jarrod Phillips

Mission: Impossible - Fallout

Director: Christopher McQuarrie

Stars: Tom Cruise, Henry Cavill, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, Rebecca Ferguson, Michelle Monaghan, Alec Baldwin, Sean Harris, Angela Bassett, Vanessa Kirby, Wes Bentley, Kristoffer Joner

Suspiria

Director: Luca Guadagnino

Stars: Dakota Johnson, Tilda Swinton, Mia Goth, Chloe Grace Moretz, Ingrid Caven, Sylvie Testud, Malgorzata Bela, Angela Winkler, Alek Wek, Jessica Batut, Elena Fokina, Renee Soutendijk, Christine Leboute, Olivia Ancona, Majon Van der Schot, Doris Hick, Clementine Houdart, Vanda Capriolo

Roma

Director: Alfonso Cuaron

Stars: Yalitza Aparicio, Marina de Tavira, Diego Cortina Autrey, Carlos Peralta, Marco Graf, Daniela Demesa, Nancy Garcia Garcia, Veronica Garcia, Fernando Grediaga, Jorge Antonio Guerrero

The Favourite

Director: Yorgos Lanthimos

Stars: Olivia Colman, Emma Stone, Rachel Weisz, Nicholas Hoult, Joe Alwyn, Mark Gatiss, James Smith

Widows

Director: Steve McQueen

Stars: Viola Davis, Michelle Rodriguez, Elizabeth Debicki, Cynthia Erivo, Colin Farrell, Liam Neeson, Robert Duvall, Jacki Weaver, Carrie Coon, Garrett Dillahunt, Lukas Haas, Brian Tyree Henry, Daniel Kaluuya, Jon Bernthal, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Coburn  Goss, Molly Kunz, Adepero Oduye, Matt Walsh, Kevin J. O'Connor

Private Life

Director: Tamara Jenkins

Stars: Paul Giamatti, Kathryn Hahn, Molly Shannon, John Carroll Lynch, Denis O'Hare, Kayli Carter, Emily Robinson, Siobhan Fallon Hogan, Desmin Borges

Isle of Dogs

Director: Wes Anderson

Stars: Bryan Cranston, Edward Norton, Bob Balaban, Greta Gerwig, Scarlett Johansson, Frances McDormand, Bill Murray, Harvey Keitel, F. Murray Abraham, Jeff Goldblum

TV shows worth investigating include Mike Flanagan's The Haunting of Hill House and to a lesser extent, Laeta Kalogridis' "Altered Carbon".

Films that simply failed on multiple levels include Ava DuVernay's "A Wrinkle in Time", Brad Peyton's "Rampage", James Wan's "Aquaman", J.A. Bayona's "Jurassic World: Lost Kingdom", Shane Black's "The Predator" and Corin Hardy's "The Nun".