Year-End Lists

A hand-curated, browsable index of notable year-end lists. Follow the link for each list to see essential commentary from its author, at the source.
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Highlights

2018
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Chicago Tribune: Michael Phillips: 10 Best Movies of 2018

14 December 2018

The Rider - Chloé Zhao

Michael Phillips: 10 Best Movies of 2018, as published by The Chicago Tribune

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011]

  1. The Rider
    Chloé Zhao
  2. Roma
    Alfonso Cuaron
  3. Can You Ever Forgive Me?
    Marielle Heller
  4. The Favourite
    Yorgos Lanthimos
  5. Minding the Gap
    Bing Liu
  6. Widows
    Steve McQueen
  7. First Reformed
    Paul Schrader
  8. Sorry to Bother You
    Boots Riley
  9. Zama
    Lucrecia Martel
  10. Black Panther
    Ryan Coogler

Runners-up, 11-30, alphabetical

RogerEbert.com: Brian Tallerico: Top Ten Films of 2018

13 December 2018

Roma - Alfonso Cuaron

Brian Tallerico: Top Ten Films of 2018, as published by RogerEbert.com

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2017 • 2016]

  1. Roma
    Alfonso Cuaron
  2. If Beale Street Could Talk
    Barry Jenkins
  3. Leave No Trace
    Debra Granik
  4. Burning
    Lee Chang-dong
  5. Widows
    Steve McQueen
  6. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
    Joel & Ethan Coen
  7. Annihilation
    Alex Garland
  8. Shoplifters
    Hirokazu Kore-eda
  9. You Were Never Really Here
    Lynne Ramsay
  10. Sorry to Bother You
    Boots Riley

Runner-ups

This list contributes to:

Keith Uhlich: Top 10 Films of 2018

13 December 2018

24 Frames - Abbas Kiarostami

Keith Uhlich: Top 10 Films of 2018

[see also 2019 • 2017 • 2016 • 2012 • 2011]

Do Something New

  1. 24 Frames
    Abbas Kiarostami
  2. Ready Player One
    Steven Spielberg

Size Does Matter?

  1. The X-Files
  2. La Flor
    Mariano Llinás

This Is Existentialism 101

  1. The Terror
  2. The Green Fog
    Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, and Galen Johnson

…And This Is Love

  1. If Beale Street Could Talk
    Barry Jenkins
  2. Sense8: Episode "Amor Vincit Omnia"
    Lana Wachowski
  3. Suspiria
    Luca Guadagnino

Dea(d)r White People

  1. Monrovia, Indiana
    Frederick Wiseman
  2. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
    Joel & Ethan Coen

Hollywood Reporter: Todd McCarthy: Best Films of 2018

13 December 2018

If Beale Street Could Talk - Barry Jenkins

Todd McCarthy: Best Films of 2018, as published by The Hollywood Reporter

[see also 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2017 • 2016]

Honorable Mentions

  1. Vice
    Adam McKay
  2. Roma
    Alfonso Cuaron
  3. Can You Ever Forgive Me?
    Marielle Heller
  4. Cold War
    Pawel Pawlikowski
  5. Free Solo
    Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin
  6. Burning
    Lee Chang-dong
  7. Eighth Grade
    Bo Burnham
  8. The Rider
    Chloé Zhao
  9. Shoplifters
    Hirokazu Kore-eda
  10. The Other Side of the Wind
    Orson Welles

Sight & Sound Poll: Best Films of 2018

13 December 2018

Sight & Sound Poll: Best Films of 2018 (a poll of 164 critics and curators published by Sight & Sound Magazine)

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011]

  1. Roma
    Alfonso Cuaron
  2. Phantom Thread
    Paul Thomas Anderson
  3. Burning
    Lee Chang-dong
  4. Cold War
    Pawel Pawlikowski
  5. First Reformed
    Paul Schrader
  6. Leave No Trace
    Debra Granik
  7. The Favourite
    Yorgos Lanthimos
  8. You Were Never Really Here
    Lynne Ramsay
  9. Happy as Lazzaro
    Alice Rohrwacher
  10. Zama
    Lucrecia Martel
  11. The Image Book
    Jean-Luc Godard
  12. If Beale Street Could Talk
    Barry Jenkins
  13. BlacKkKlansman
    Spike Lee
  14. The Other Side of the Wind
    Orson Welles
  15. Shirkers
    Sandi Tan
  16. Shoplifters
    Hirokazu Kore-eda
  17. Sorry to Bother You
    Boots Riley
  18. Faces Places
    Agnès Varda and JR
  19. The Rider
    Chloé Zhao
  20. Western
    Valeska Grisebach

This list summarizes other lists, including these:

Los Angeles Times: Justin Chang: Best Movies of 2018

13 December 2018

Justin Chang: Best Movies of 2018, as published by The Los Angeles Times

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2017 • 2016]

  1. Burning
    Lee Chang-dong
  2. First Reformed
    Paul Schrader
  3. Zama
    Lucrecia Martel
  4. Black Panther
    Ryan Coogler
  5. Private Life
    Tamara Jenkins
  6. If Beale Street Could Talk
    Barry Jenkins
  7. The Rider
    Chloé Zhao
  8. Western
    Valeska Grisebach
  9. Shoplifters
    Hirokazu Kore-eda
  10. Happy as Lazzaro
    Alice Rohrwacher
  11. The Favourite
    Yorgos Lanthimos
  12. Madeline’s Madeline
    Josephine Decker
  13. Support the Girls
    Andrew Bujalski
  14. Widows
    Steve McQueen
  15. Hereditary
    Ari Aster
  16. Eighth Grade
    Bo Burnham
  17. Shirkers
    Sandi Tan
  18. Amazing Grace
    Sydney Pollack
  19. Vox Lux
    Brady Corbet
  20. Annihilation
    Alex Garland

20 honorable mentions

BuzzFeed: Alison Willmore: 11 Best Movies Of 2018

12 December 2018

The Rider - Chloé Zhao

Alison Willmore: 11 Best Movies Of 2018, as published by BuzzFeed

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2012 • 2011]

  1. The Rider
    Chloé Zhao
  2. The Favourite
    Yorgos Lanthimos
  3. A Star Is Born
    Bradley Cooper
  4. Minding the Gap
    Bing Liu
  5. Madeline’s Madeline
    Josephine Decker
  6. The Death of Stalin
    Armando Iannucci
  7. You Were Never Really Here
    Lynne Ramsay
  8. Burning
    Lee Chang-dong
  9. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
    Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, and Rodney Rothman
  10. Support the Girls
    Andrew Bujalski
  11. Hereditary
    Ari Aster

Girish Shambu: Favorite Films of 2018

12 December 2018

The Rider - Chloé Zhao

Girish Shambu: Favorite Films of 2018, as posted to Twitter, limited to US releases

[see also 2021 • 2017]

Vogue: John Powers: 2018's 12 Best Movies

12 December 2018

Burning - Lee Chang-dong

John Powers: 2018's 12 Best Movies, as published by Vogue

[see also 2017 • 2015]

  1. Burning
    Lee Chang-dong
  2. Roma
    Alfonso Cuaron
  3. Shoplifters
    Hirokazu Kore-eda
  4. Zama
    Lucrecia Martel
  5. Happy as Lazzaro
    Alice Rohrwacher
  6. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
    Joel & Ethan Coen
  7. The Favourite
    Yorgos Lanthimos
  8. Lean On Pete
    Andrew Haigh
  9. Leave No Trace
    Debra Granik
  10. Blindspotting
    Carlos López Estrada
  11. Can You Ever Forgive Me?
    Marielle Heller
  12. Paddington 2
    Paul King

Honorable Mentions (alphabetical order)

Film Comment Poll: Best Films of 2018

12 December 2018

Film Comment: Best Films of 2018, a poll of the magazine's contributors and editors

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2019 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011]

  1. Zama
    Lucrecia Martel
  2. Burning
    Lee Chang-dong
  3. First Reformed
    Paul Schrader
  4. Roma
    Alfonso Cuaron
  5. Western
    Valeska Grisebach
  6. Shoplifters
    Hirokazu Kore-eda
  7. Let the Sunshine In
    Claire Denis
  8. The Other Side of the Wind
    Orson Welles
  9. Happy as Lazzaro
    Alice Rohrwacher
  10. Hale County This Morning, This Evening
    RaMell Ross
  11. Sorry to Bother You
    Boots Riley
  12. If Beale Street Could Talk
    Barry Jenkins
  13. The Rider
    Chloé Zhao
  14. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
    Joel & Ethan Coen
  15. Support the Girls
    Andrew Bujalski
  16. You Were Never Really Here
    Lynne Ramsay
  17. Monrovia, Indiana
    Frederick Wiseman
  18. Personal Problems
    Bill Gunn
  19. The Favourite
    Yorgos Lanthimos
  20. BlacKkKlansman
    Spike Lee

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Year-end lists are fingerprints; aggregate statistics are smudges. Therefore, I make no tallies.