Year-End Lists

Caitlin Quinlan: Top 10 Films of 2018, as published by Little White Lies

[see also 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019]

1. Happy as Lazzaro
   Alice Rohrwacher
2. Roma
   Alfonso Cuaron
3. A Star Is Born
   Bradley Cooper
4. Shoplifters
   Hirokazu Kore-eda
5. The Old Man & the Gun
   David Lowery
6. Columbus
   Kogonada
7. If Beale Street Could Talk
   Barry Jenkins
8. Eighth Grade
   Bo Burnham
9. Widows
   Steve McQueen
10. Cold War
    Pawel Pawlikowski

This list contributes to:

• Little White Lies: 30 Best Films of 2018

Erin Trahan: Best Movies of 2018, as published by WBUR’s The ARTery

[see also 2017]

Special mention to three locally-made documentaries

• Black Memorabilia
  Chico Colvard
• Dawnland
  Adam Mazo and Ben Pender-Cudlip
• Blindsided
  Lisa Olivieri

• I Am Not a Witch
  Rungano Nyoni
• Leave No Trace
  Debra Granik
• My Brilliant Friend
• Hannah Gadsby: Nanette
• RBG
  Betsy West and Julie Cohen
• The Judge
  Erika Cohn
• On Her Shoulders
  Alexandria Bombach
• Private Life
  Tamara Jenkins
• The Americans
• Black Panther
  Ryan Coogler
• Shirkers
  Sandi Tan

Adam Kempenaar: Top 10 Films of 2018, as discussed on Filmspotting

[see also 2022]

1. If Beale Street Could Talk
   Barry Jenkins
2. Minding the Gap
   Bing Liu
3. The Rider
   Chloé Zhao
4. First Reformed
   Paul Schrader
5. Roma
   Alfonso Cuaron
6. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
   Joel & Ethan Coen
7. BlacKkKlansman
   Spike Lee
8. Isle of Dogs
   Wes Anderson
9. Can You Ever Forgive Me?
   Marielle Heller
10. The Death of Stalin
    Armando Iannucci

Terence Cawley: Best Albums of 2018, as published by The Boston Globe

• Sweetener
  Ariana Grande
• TA13OO
  Denzel Curry
• Nearer My God
  Foxing
• Golden Hour
  Kacey Musgraves
• Isolation
  Kali Uchis
• Double Negative
  Low
• Now Only
  Mount Eerie
• Care for Me
  Saba
• What a Time to Be Alive
  Superchunk
• K.T.S.E.
  Teyana Taylor

Ben Sachs: Top Movies of 2018, as published by The Chicago Reader

[see also 2010s • 2019 • 2017 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011]

1. L’enfant secret
   Philippe Garrel
2. Zama
   Lucrecia Martel
3. Ash is Purest White
   Jia Zhang-ke
3. Bitter Money
   Wang Bing
4. 24 Frames
   Abbas Kiarostami
4. The Arboretum Cycle
   Nathaniel Dorsky
5. Good Manners
   Marco Dutra and Juliana Rojas
6. Roma
   Alfonso Cuaron
7. Eight Hours Don’t Make a Day
   Rainer Werner Fassbinder
8. The Commuter
   Jaume Collet-Serra
8. The Hate U Give
   George Tillman Jr.
9. The Third Murder
   Hirokazu Kore-eda
10. Rainbow: A Private Affair
    Paolo and Vittorio Taviani

Runners-up (in order of preference)

• Bisbee '17
  Robert Greene
• Araby
  João Dumans and Affonso Uchôa
• Personal Problems
  Bill Gunn
• Non-Fiction
  Olivier Assayas
• The Woman Who Left
  Lav Diaz
• Diane
  Kent Jones
• Minding the Gap
  Bing Liu
• Scarred Hearts
  Radu Jude
• Sorry to Bother You
  Boots Riley
• Support the Girls
  Andrew Bujalski
• The Mule
  Clint Eastwood
• Rodin
  Jacques Doillon
• Good Luck
  Ben Russell
• Claire’s Camera
  Hong Sang-soo
• The Day After
  Hong Sang-soo
• Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot
  Gus Van Sant
• Jeannette: The Childhood of Joan of Arc
  Bruno Dumont

Glenn Kenny: Best Films of 2018

[see also 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2010s • 2019 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2013 • 2012]

The first ten in vigorous preferential order

• Zama
  Lucrecia Martel
• The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
  Joel & Ethan Coen
• The Other Side of the Wind
  Orson Welles
• Mandy
  Panos Cosmatos
• Hale County This Morning, This Evening
  RaMell Ross
• Shirkers
  Sandi Tan
• Madeline’s Madeline
  Josephine Decker
• Skate Kitchen
  Crystal Moselle
• Support the Girls
  Andrew Bujalski
• Sorry to Bother You
  Boots Riley

The second twenty in looser preferential order

• Jeannette: The Childhood of Joan of Arc
  Bruno Dumont
• Milford Graves Full Mantis
  Jake Meginsky and Neil Young
• Personal Problems
  Bill Gunn
• Let the Sunshine In
  Claire Denis
• Unsane
  Steven Soderbergh
• Burning
  Lee Chang-dong
• Roma
  Alfonso Cuaron
• Shoplifters
  Hirokazu Kore-eda
• Angels Wear White
  Vivian Qu
• Vox Lux
  Brady Corbet
• Wildlife
  Paul Dano
• The Mule
  Clint Eastwood
• Ismael’s Ghosts
  Arnaud Desplechin
• You Were Never Really Here
  Lynne Ramsay
• Isle of Dogs
  Wes Anderson
• Gemini
  Aaron Katz
• The Endless
  Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead
• First Reformed
  Paul Schrader
• Leave No Trace
  Debra Granik
• Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
  Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, and Rodney Rothman

The next batch in looser still preferential order

• The 15:17 to Paris
  Clint Eastwood
• Happy as Lazzaro
  Alice Rohrwacher
• Black Panther
  Ryan Coogler
• Ready Player One
  Steven Spielberg
• Double Lover
  François Ozon
• If Beale Street Could Talk
  Barry Jenkins
• Sollers Point
  Matthew Porterfield
• Monrovia, Indiana
  Frederick Wiseman
• Barbara
  Mathieu Amalric
• Private Life
  Tamara Jenkins
• Can You Ever Forgive Me?
  Marielle Heller
• At Eternity’s Gate
  Julian Schnabel
• Rendezvous in July
  Jacques Becker
• BlacKkKlansman
  Spike Lee
• The 317th Platoon
  Pierre Schoendoerffer
• PROTOTYPE
  Blake Williams
• Claire’s Camera
  Hong Sang-soo
• Infinite Football
  Corneliu Porumboiu
• Ghostbox Cowboy
  John Maringouin

And so on

• The Young Karl Marx
  Raoul Peck
• Annihilation
  Alex Garland
• Mrs. Hyde
  Serge Bozon
• Rogers Park
  Kyle Henry
• The Death of Stalin
  Armando Iannucci
• Who We Are Now
  Matthew Newton
• Nancy
  Christina Choe
• The World Before Your Feet
  Jeremy Workman
• A Prayer Before Dawn
  Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire
• The Rider
  Chloé Zhao
• Mission: Impossible – Fallout
  Christopher McQuarrie
• Ralph Breaks the Internet
  Rich Moore and Phil Johnston
• Electro-Pythagorus: A Portrait of Martin Bartlett
  Luke Fowler
• The Cured
  David Freyne

Vikram Murthi: Top 15 Films of 2018, as published by The A.V. Club

[see also 2021 • 2020 • 2019]

1. First Reformed
   Paul Schrader
2. Support the Girls
   Andrew Bujalski
3. The Other Side of the Wind
   Orson Welles
4. Burning
   Lee Chang-dong
5. Private Life
   Tamara Jenkins
6. Shirkers
   Sandi Tan
7. Amazing Grace
   Sydney Pollack
8. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
   Joel & Ethan Coen
9. Cold War
   Pawel Pawlikowski
10. Can You Ever Forgive Me?
    Marielle Heller
11. Isle of Dogs
    Wes Anderson
12. Minding the Gap
    Bing Liu
13. Thoroughbreds
    Cory Finley
14. Blaze
    Ethan Hawke
15. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
    Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, and Rodney Rothman

This list contributes to:

• A.V. Club: Best 25 Films of 2018

Christina Newland: Top 10 Films of 2018, as published by Little White Lies

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

1. You Were Never Really Here
   Lynne Ramsay
2. If Beale Street Could Talk
   Barry Jenkins
3. First Reformed
   Paul Schrader
4. Cold War
   Pawel Pawlikowski
5. A Star Is Born
   Bradley Cooper
6. Leave No Trace
   Debra Granik
7. The Other Side of the Wind
   Orson Welles
8. High Life
   Claire Denis
9. The Sisters Brothers
   Jacques Audiard
10. Sorry to Bother You
    Boots Riley

The Guardian: 50 Best Albums of 2018

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

1. Chris
   Christine and the Queens
2. Honey
   Robyn
3. Dirty Computer
   Janelle Monáe
4. Invasion of Privacy
   Cardi B
5. Be the Cowboy
   Mitski
6. Joy as an Act of Resistance
   Idles
7. Heaven and Earth
   Kamasi Washington
8. Golden Hour
   Kacey Musgraves
9. Double Negative
   Low
10. Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino
    Arctic Monkeys
11. Oil of Every Pearl’s Un-Insides
    Sophie
12. Your Queen Is a Reptile
    Sons of Kemet
13. Hive Mind
    The Internet
14. Room 25
    Noname
15. The Future and the Past
    Natalie Prass
16. Cocoa Sugar
    Young Fathers
17. Daytona
    Pusha T
18. I’m All Ears
    Let’s Eat Grandma
19. Aviary
    Julia Holter
20. Sweetener
    Ariana Grande
21. Isolation
    Kali Uchis
22. Safe in the Hands of Love
    Yves Tumor
23. Wide Awake!
    Parquet Courts
24. Songs of Praise
    Shame
25. Ecstatic Arrow
    Virginia Wing
26. Saturn
    Nao
27. Tell Me How You Really Feel
    Courtney Barnett
28. ASTROWORLD
    Travis Scott
29. Negro Swan
    Blood Orange
30. Hope Downs
    Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever
31. El Mal Querer
    Rosalía
32. Confident Music For Confident People
    Confidence Man
33. Devotion
    Tirzah
34. A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships
    The 1975
35. MITH
    Lonnie Holley
36. Lush
    Snail Mail
37. Bloom
    Troye Sivan
38. In a Poem Unlimited
    U.S. Girls
39. Le Kov
    Gwenno
40. No Shame
    Lily Allen
41. Ordinary Corrupt Human Love
    Deafheaven
42. Compro
    Skee Mask
43. May Your Kindness Remain
    Courtney Marie Andrews
44. Broken Politics
    Neneh Cherry
45. soil
    serpentwithfeet
46. Record
    Tracey Thorn
47. Con Todo El Mundo
    Khruangbin
48. Wanderer
    Cat Power
49. Singularity
    Jon Hopkins
50. Goat Girl
    Goat Girl

Brooklyn Vegan: Top 50 Albums of 2018

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

1. How to Socialise & Make Friends
   Camp Cope
2. Double Negative
   Low
3. In a Poem Unlimited
   U.S. Girls
4. Be the Cowboy
   Mitski
5. Nearer My God
   Foxing
6. Invasion of Privacy
   Cardi B
7. Daytona
   Pusha T
8. Time & Space
   Turnstile
9. Honey
   Robyn
10. Hope Downs
    Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever
11. Room 25
    Noname
12. Down Below
    Tribulation
13. I’m All Ears
    Let’s Eat Grandma
14. Bark Your Head Off, Dog
    Hop Along
15. Magus
    Thou
16. Golden Hour
    Kacey Musgraves
17. Knock Knock
    DJ Koze
18. Some Rap Songs
    Earl Sweatshirt
19. El Mal Querer
    Rosalía
20. boygenius
    boygenius
21. Clean
    Soccer Mommy
22. Tell Me How You Really Feel
    Courtney Barnett
23. Capture the Flag
    War on Women
24. Post-
    Jeff Rosenstock
25. TA13OO
    Denzel Curry
26. FM!
    Vince Staples
27. Historian
    Lucy Dacus
28. You Won't Get What You Want
    Daughters
29. iridescence
    BROCKHAMPTON
30. Everything Is Love
    The Carters
31. Freedom
    Amen Dunes
32. Nasty
    Rico Nasty
33. Head Cage
    Pig Destroyer
34. Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino
    Arctic Monkeys
35. For My Crimes
    Marissa Nadler
36. Safe in the Hands of Love
    Yves Tumor
37. Ephorize
    cupcakKe
37. Eden
    cupcakKe
38. Eternal Return
    Windhand
39. soil
    serpentwithfeet
40. Future Me Hates Me
    The Beths
41. Dirty Computer
    Janelle Monáe
42. To the Sunset
    Amanda Shires
43. Wanderer
    Cat Power
44. [Untitled]
    mewithoutYou
45. Quarterthing
    Joey Purp
46. Dead Magic
    Anna von Hausswolff
47. A Laughing Death in Meatspace
    Tropical Fuck Storm
48. Vide Noir
    Lord Huron
49. A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships
    The 1975
50. Now! (In a Minute)
    Audiobooks