Cinema Scope: Top Ten Films of 2018

[see also 2017, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011]

Special Mentions

• Asako I & II — Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
• Ash is Purest White — Jia Zhang-ke
• The Grand Bizarre — Jodie Mack
• In My Room — Ulrich Köhler
• L. Cohen — James Benning

1. An Elephant Sitting Still — Hu Bo
2. The Image Book — Jean-Luc Godard
3. La Flor — Mariano Llinás
4. Transit — Christian Petzold
5. What You Gonna Do When the World's on Fire? — Roberto Minervini
6. Long Day's Journey Into Night — Bi Gan
7. Happy as Lazzaro — Alice Rohrwacher
8. Burning — Lee Chang-dong
9. The Other Side of the Wind — Orson Welles
10. High Life — Claire Denis

Pazz & Jop: Top 100 Albums of 2018 (an annual poll of hundreds of critics, published, perhaps for the last time, by The Village Voice)

[see also 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011]

1. Kacey Musgraves — Golden Hour
2. Janelle Monáe — Dirty Computer
3. Cardi B — Invasion of Privacy
3. Mitski — Be the Cowboy
5. Robyn — Honey
6. Pusha T — Daytona
7. Noname — Room 25
8. Low — Double Negative
9. Parquet Courts — Wide Awake!
10. Lucy Dacus — Historian
11. Superchunk — What a Time to Be Alive
12. Neko Case — Hell-On
13. Soccer Mommy — Clean
14. The 1975 — A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships
15. Pistol Annies — Interstate Gospel
16. Courtney Barnett — Tell Me How You Really Feel
17. Rosalía — El Mal Querer
18. John Prine — The Tree of Forgiveness
19. Christine and the Queens — Chris
19. Snail Mail — Lush
21. Kamasi Washington — Heaven and Earth
22. Makaya McCraven — Universal Beings
23. The Beths — Future Me Hates Me
23. Kali Uchis — Isolation
25. U.S. Girls — In a Poem Unlimited
26. boygenius — boygenius
27. Kendrick Lamar, The Weeknd, SZA — Black Panther The Album Music From And Inspired By
28. Beach House — 7
29. Tierra Whack — Whack World
30. Tracey Thorn — Record
31. Ariana Grande — Sweetener
32. Earl Sweatshirt — Some Rap Songs
33. Brandi Carlile — By The Way, I Forgive You
33. Sophie — Oil of Every Pearl’s Un-Insides
35. Idles — Joy as an Act of Resistance
36. Sons of Kemet — Your Queen Is a Reptile
37. Meshell Ndegeocello — Ventriloquism
38. DJ Koze — Knock Knock
39. Khruangbin — Con Todo El Mundo
40. Father John Misty — God’s Favorite Customer
41. Travis Scott — ASTROWORLD
42. Sleep — The Sciences
43. Arctic Monkeys — Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino
44. Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever — Hope Downs
45. Elvis Costello & The Imposters — Look Now
46. Amen Dunes — Freedom
47. Kurt Vile — Bottle It In
48. Julia Holter — Aviary
49. Yves Tumor — Safe in the Hands of Love
50. Blood Orange — Negro Swan
50. cupcakKe — Ephorize
50. Bettye LaVette — Things Have Changed
53. Against All Logic — 2012-2017
53. Yo La Tengo — There’s a Riot Going On
55. Saba — Care for Me
56. Hop Along — Bark Your Head Off, Dog
57. Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks — Sparkle Hard
57. Caroline Rose — LONER
59. Deafheaven — Ordinary Corrupt Human Love
60. The Internet — Hive Mind
61. Harriet Tubman — The Terror End of Beauty
62. Ashley McBryde — Girl Going Nowhere
62. Superorganism — Superorganism
64. Foxing — Nearer My God
65. Spiritualized — And Nothing Hurt
66. Jon Hopkins — Singularity
66. Young Fathers — Cocoa Sugar
68. Oneohtrix Point Never — Age Of
69. David Byrne — American Utopia
69. Flasher — Constant Image
71. Neneh Cherry — Broken Politics
72. Courtney Marie Andrews — May Your Kindness Remain
72. Chvrches — Love Is Dead
72. Kids See Ghosts — Kids See Ghosts
75. Car Seat Headrest — Twin Fantasy
75. Marianne Faithfull — Negative Capability
75. Natalie Prass — The Future and the Past
75. Shame — Songs of Praise
79. Amy Rigby — The Old Guys
80. Jeff Rosenstock — Post-
81. Damien Jurado — The Horizon Just Laughed
82. Drake — Scorpion
83. Mount Eerie — Now Only
84. Jeff Tweedy — WARM
85. Mariah Carey — Caution
86. Let’s Eat Grandma — I’m All Ears
87. Jeremy Dutcher — Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa
87. Wayne Shorter — Emanon
89. Amanda Shires — To the Sunset
89. Vince Staples — FM!
91. BTS — Love Yourself 轉 'Tear'
91. Cat Power — Wanderer
91. John Coltrane — Both Directions at Once: The Lost Album
91. Eleanor Friedberger — Rebound
95. Mary Gauthier — Rifles and Rosary Beads
95. serpentwithfeet — soil
95. Jack White — Boarding House Reach
98. Jorja Smith — Lost & Found
99. Camp Cope — How to Socialise & Make Friends
99. Ghost — Prequelle
99. Tune-Yards — I can feel you creep into my private life

Brian Darr: Top Ten Films of 2018, limited to US commercial releases, as submitted to the annual Senses of Cinema World Poll

[see also 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013]

• The Other Side of the Wind — Orson Welles
• Shirkers — Sandi Tan
• I Am Not a Witch — Rungano Nyoni
• Zama — Lucrecia Martel
• First Reformed — Paul Schrader
• Black Panther — Ryan Coogler
• Burning — Lee Chang-dong
• Bisbee '17 — Robert Greene
• Can You Ever Forgive Me? — Marielle Heller
• Mrs. Hyde — Serge Bozon

Plus one more commercial release that didn’t screen in San Francisco until 2018

• Phantom Thread — Paul Thomas Anderson

Robert Christgau: Dean's List 2018

[see also 2017, 2012]

1. Noname — Room 25
2. Mas-T — Thelonious Sphere Monk
3. Bettye LaVette — Things Have Changed
4. Parquet Courts — Wide Awake!
5. Pistol Annies — Interstate Gospel
6. Rich Krueger — Life Ain't That Long
7. Hamell On Trial — The Night Guy at the Apocalypse Profiles of a Rushing Midnight
8. Kendrick Lamar, The Weeknd, SZA — Black Panther The Album Music From And Inspired By
9. Tierra Whack — Whack World
10. Cardi B — Invasion of Privacy
11. Mount Eerie — Now Only
12. Superchunk — What a Time to Be Alive
13. Pusha T — Daytona
14. Rich Krueger — Nowthen
15. The Paranoid Style — Rock and Roll Just Can't Recall + 3
16. Maria Muldaur — Don't You Feel My Leg (The Naughty Bawdy Blues of Blue Lu Barker)
17. Willie Nelson — Last Man Standing
18. Riton & Kah-Lo — Foreign Ororo
19. Ezra Furman — Transangelic Exodus
20. Wussy — Getting Better
21. Janelle Monáe — Dirty Computer
22. Elza Soares — Deus É Mulher
23. Amy Rigby — The Old Guys
24. The Mekons 77 — It Is Twice Blessed
25. Amanda Shires — To the Sunset
26. Tune-Yards — I can feel you creep into my private life
27. Wussy — What Heaven is Like
28. No Age — Snares Like a Haircut
29. Hinds — I Don't Run
30. Sophie — Oil of Every Pearl’s Un-Insides
31. John Kruth & La Società dei Musici — Forever Ago
32. Youssou N'Dour — Raxas Bercy 2017
33. Mary Gauthier — Rifles and Rosary Beads
34. Sons of Kemet — Your Queen Is a Reptile
35. Tyler Childers — Purgatory
36. Superorganism — Superorganism
37. Bali Baby — Baylor Swift
38. John Prine — The Tree of Forgiveness
39. The Rolling Stones — On Air
40. Diali Cissokho & Kaira Ba — Routes
41. Ry Cooder — The Prodigal Son
42. L7 — Fast & Frightening
43. Soccer Mommy — Clean
44. Mitski — Be the Cowboy
45. Methodist Hospital — Giants
46. The Goon Sax — We’re Not Talking
47. Wynton Marsalis Septet — United We Swing: Best of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Galas
48. Lupe Fiasco — Drogas Wave
49. Speedy Ortiz — Twerp Verse
50. Jon Hassell — Listening To Pictures (Pentimento, Vol. One)
51. Homeboy Sandman & Edan — Humble Pi
52. Becky Warren — Undesirable
53. Tracey Thorn — Record
54. cupcakKe — Ephorize
55. The Internet — Hive Mind
56. Doctor Nativo — Guatemaya
57. Imarhan — Temet
58. The Coup — Sorry to Bother You
59. Chicago Farmer — Quarter Past Tonight
60. Perfume Genius — No Shape
61. Tal National — Tantabara
62. Lyrics Born — Quite a Life
63. Rapsody — Laila’s Wisdom
64. various artists — I'm Not Here To Hunt Rabbits
65. Blue Lu Barker — Remastered Collection
66. Idles — Joy as an Act of Resistance
67. Frankie Cosmos — Vessel
68. Mandy Barnett — Strange Conversation
69. Paul Simon — In the Blue Light
70. Open Mike Eagle — What Happens When I Try to Relax
71. Yo La Tengo — There’s a Riot Going On
72. Beats Antique — Shadowbox
73. Leikeli47 — Acrylic
74. Tropical Fuck Storm — A Laughing Death in Meatspace
75. Fever Ray — Plunge
76. Jinx lennon — Grow a Pair!!!
77. Wreckless Eric — Construction Time & Demolition
78. Courtney Barnett — Tell Me How You Really Feel
79. Thelonious Monk — Les liaisons dangereuses 1960
80. Car Seat Headrest — Twin Fantasy
81. AD the Voice — Maxi-Single
82. Kids See Ghosts — Kids See Ghosts
83. Shopping — The Official Body

Steven D. Greydanus: Top Films of 2018, as published by The National Catholic Register

[see also 2012]

1. The Rider — Chloé Zhao
2. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse — Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, and Rodney Rothman
3. I Am Not a Witch — Rungano Nyoni
4. The Guardians — Xavier Beauvois
5. Lean On Pete — Andrew Haigh
6. Paddington 2 — Paul King
7. Leave No Trace — Debra Granik
8. Won’t You Be My Neighbor? — Morgan Neville
9. Mission: Impossible – Fallout — Christopher McQuarrie
10. 22 July — Paul Greengrass

10 Honorable Mentions

• Blindspotting — Carlos López Estrada
• Custody — Xavier Legrand
• The Death of Stalin — Armando Iannucci
• First Man — Damien Chazelle
• Free Solo — Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin
• Incredibles 2 — Brad Bird
• Puzzle — Marc Turtletaub
• Science Fair — Cristina Costantini and Darren Foster
• Shirkers — Sandi Tan
• Sweet Country — Warwick Thornton

10 Runners-Up (unranked)

• Black Panther — Ryan Coogler
• Chosen: Custody of the Eyes — Abbie Reese
• Eighth Grade — Bo Burnham
• First Reformed — Paul Schrader
• Hale County This Morning, This Evening — RaMell Ross
• Jeannette: The Childhood of Joan of Arc — Bruno Dumont
• Minding the Gap — Bing Liu
• A Quiet Place — John Krasinski
• Ralph Breaks the Internet — Rich Moore and Phil Johnston
• Roma — Alfonso Cuaron

Reverse Shot: Best Films of 2018

[see also 2017, 2016, 2015, 2012, 2011]

1. Zama — Lucrecia Martel
2. Let the Sunshine In — Claire Denis
3. If Beale Street Could Talk — Barry Jenkins
4. Burning — Lee Chang-dong
5. Happy as Lazzaro — Alice Rohrwacher
6. First Reformed — Paul Schrader
7. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs — Joel & Ethan Coen
8. Western — Valeska Grisebach
9. Roma — Alfonso Cuaron
10. Hale County This Morning, This Evening — RaMell Ross

Pretty Much Amazing: Best Albums of 2018

[see also 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011]

1. Pusha T — Daytona
2. Robyn — Honey
3. Against All Logic — 2012-2017
4. Kali Uchis — Isolation
5. Beach House — 7
6. Rosalía — El Mal Querer
7. DJ Koze — Knock Knock
8. Christine and the Queens — Chris
9. Car Seat Headrest — Twin Fantasy
10. Hop Along — Bark Your Head Off, Dog
11. Janelle Monáe — Dirty Computer
12. Snail Mail — Lush
13. Willie Nelson — Last Man Standing
14. Kids See Ghosts — Kids See Ghosts
15. Jon Hopkins — Singularity
16. The Aces — When My Heart Felt Volcanic
17. Earl Sweatshirt — Some Rap Songs
18. Kacey Musgraves — Golden Hour
19. The Voidz — Virtue
20. Young Fathers — Cocoa Sugar
21. Cardi B — Invasion of Privacy
22. Mid-Air Thief — Crumbling
23. Mitski — Be the Cowboy
24. Bob Dylan — More Blood, More Tracks: The Bootleg Series Vol. 14
25. Angèle — Brol

Alicia Malone: Favorite Films of 2018, as posted to Letterboxd

[see also 2017]

• Roma — Alfonso Cuaron
• Cold War — Pawel Pawlikowski
• Burning — Lee Chang-dong
• The Favourite — Yorgos Lanthimos
• Shoplifters — Hirokazu Kore-eda
• The Rider — Chloé Zhao
• Happy as Lazzaro — Alice Rohrwacher
• Shirkers — Sandi Tan
• You Were Never Really Here — Lynne Ramsay
• Eighth Grade — Bo Burnham
• The Death of Stalin — Armando Iannucci
• Wildlife — Paul Dano
• First Reformed — Paul Schrader
• Sorry to Bother You — Boots Riley
• Suspiria — Luca Guadagnino
• Mandy — Panos Cosmatos
• Private Life — Tamara Jenkins
• Border — Ali Abbasi
• Destroyer — Karyn Kusama
• If Beale Street Could Talk — Barry Jenkins

Scout Tafoya: Favourite Films of 2018

[see also 2017]

1. Black Mother — Khalik Allah
2. Personal Problems — Bill Gunn
2. Something Good - Negro Kiss
3. Piu Piu — Naima Ramos-Chapman
4. If Beale Street Could Talk — Barry Jenkins
5. Widows — Steve McQueen
6. 24 Frames — Abbas Kiarostami
7. Barbara — Mathieu Amalric
8. High Life — Claire Denis
9. Scarred Hearts — Radu Jude
10. First Reformed — Paul Schrader
10. Dark — Paul Schrader
11. Shoplifters — Hirokazu Kore-eda
11. The Third Murder — Hirokazu Kore-eda
12. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs — Joel & Ethan Coen
13. Leave No Trace — Debra Granik
14. You Were Never Really Here — Lynne Ramsay
15. Sweet Country — Warwick Thornton
16. The Guardians — Xavier Beauvois
17. Your Face — Tsai Ming-liang
18. BlacKkKlansman — Spike Lee
18. Pass Over — Spike Lee
19. The Other Side of the Wind — Orson Welles
20. Sorry Angel — Christophe Honoré
21. Mosaic — Steven Soderbergh
22. Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda — Stephen Nomura Schible
23. Creed II — Steven Caple Jr.
24. All Square — John Hyams
25. The Mule — Clint Eastwood
26. The Image Book — Jean-Luc Godard
27. The Land of Steady Habits — Nicole Holofcener
28. Mr. SOUL! — Melissa Haizlip & Sam Pollard
29. Blockers — Kay Cannon
30. Music When the Lights Go Out — Ismael Caneppele
31. Dovlatov — Aleksey German
32. A Family Tour — Ying Liang
33. Support the Girls — Andrew Bujalski
34. Janelle Monáe: Dirty Computer — various artists
35. Hale County This Morning, This Evening — RaMell Ross
36. Happy as Lazzaro — Alice Rohrwacher
37. Diane — Kent Jones
38. Bisbee '17 — Robert Greene
39. Monrovia, Indiana — Frederick Wiseman
40. The Miseducation of Cameron Post — Desiree Akhavan
41. The Green Fog — Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, and Galen Johnson
42. The Endless — Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead
43. Annihilation — Alex Garland
44. Private Life — Tamara Jenkins
45. The House That Jack Built — Lars von Trier
46. Early Man — Nick Park
47. The Favourite — Yorgos Lanthimos
48. Illang: The Wolf Brigade — Kim Jee-Woon
49. The First Purge — Gerard McMurray
50. Sorry to Bother You — Boots Riley
51. Searching for Ingmar Bergman — Margarethe von Trotta
52. Where Is Kyra? — Andrew Dosunmu
52. Nancy — Christina Choe
53. The Death of Stalin — Armando Iannucci
54. Ray Meets Helen — Alan Rudolph
55. Shadow — Zhang Yimou
56. The Predator — Shane Black
57. The Little Drummer Girl — Park Chan-wook
58. The Wild Pear Tree — Nuri Bilge Ceylan
59. Dark River — Clio Barnard
60. Game Night — John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein
61. Waiting for the Barbarians — Eugène Green
62. Manhunt — John Woo
63. Isle of Dogs — Wes Anderson
64. Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot — Gus Van Sant
65. Incident in a Ghostland — Pascal Laugier
66. Laplace's Witch — Takashi Miike
66. JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Diamond Is Unbreakable — Takashi Miike
67. Unrest — Philippe Grandrieux
68. The 15:17 to Paris — Clint Eastwood
69. Disobedience — Sebastián Lelio
70. Crazy Rich Asians — Jon M. Chu
71. Unsane — Steven Soderbergh
72. Cruise — Robert Siegel
73. Paddington 2 — Paul King
74. Hotel by the River — Hong Sang-soo
75. Between Worlds — Maria Pulera
76. Cold Skin — Xavier Gens
77. A Bread Factory — Patrick Wang
78. Transit — Christian Petzold
79. Classical Period — Ted Fendt
80. In My Room — Ulrich Köhler
81. They Shall Not Grow Old — Peter Jackson
82. Las Sandinistas! — Jenny Murray
83. Upgrade — Leigh Whannell
84. Ash is Purest White — Jia Zhang-ke
85. 3 Faces — Jafar Panahi
86. The Captain — Robert Schwentke
87. A Very English Scandal
88. Sol Alegria — Tavinho Teixeira
89. The Glass Note — Mary Helena Clark
90. Outrage Coda — Takeshi Kitano
91. A Gentle Creature — Sergei Loznitsa
92. Halloween — David Gordon Green
92. Mission: Impossible – Fallout — Christopher McQuarrie
93. Outlaw King — David Mackenzie
93. Apostle — Gareth Evans
94. Thunder Road — Jim Cummings
95. Mom and Dad — Brian Taylor
96. The Inhabitant — Guillermo Amoedo
96. The Witch in the Window — Andy Mitton
97. The Misandrists — Bruce La Bruce
98. Winchester — Michael and Peter Spierig
99. Marfa Girl 2 — Larry Clark
100. Gemini — Aaron Katz

David Sterritt: Ten Best Films of 2018, as aired on Films in Focus

1. BlacKkKlansman — Spike Lee
2. Roma — Alfonso Cuaron
3. Suspiria — Luca Guadagnino
4. Capernaum — Nadine Labaki
5. Hereditary — Ari Aster
6. Border — Ali Abbasi
7. Three Identical Strangers — Tim Wardle
8. First Reformed — Paul Schrader
9. Nico, 1988 — Susanna Nicchiarelli
10. Lean On Pete — Andrew Haigh