Year-End Lists

Harper’s Bazaar: The 13 Best Books of 2018

[see also 2023 • 2020 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015]

1. Barracoon

   The Story of the Last “Black Cargo”
   Zora Neale Hurston
2. An American Marriage
   Tayari Jones
3. You Think It, I'll Say It
   Curtis Sittenfeld
4. The Pisces
   Melissa Broder
5. Florida
   Lauren Groff
6. Call Me Zebra
   Azareen Van der Vliet Oloomi
7. Heart Berries
   Terese Marie Mailhot
8. Bad Blood

   Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup
   John Carreyrou
9. If They Come for Us
   Fatimah Asghar
10. Educated
    Tara Westover
11. Circe
    Madeline Miller
12. The Friend
    Sigrid Nunez
13. Becoming
    Michelle Obama

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

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2020 • 2019 • 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

Nashville Scene: The 2018 Jim Ridley Film Poll. "Dedicated to late Scene editor and critic Jim Ridley, our poll asks critics, cinephiles and industry insiders about the year in film."

[see also 2020 • 2019 • 2017]

1. The Favourite
   Yorgos Lanthimos
2. Roma
   Alfonso Cuaron
3. Mandy
   Panos Cosmatos
4. You Were Never Really Here
   Lynne Ramsay
5. If Beale Street Could Talk
   Barry Jenkins
6. Hereditary
   Ari Aster
7. Suspiria
   Luca Guadagnino
8. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
   Joel & Ethan Coen
9. Annihilation
   Alex Garland
10. Happy as Lazzaro
    Alice Rohrwacher
11. First Reformed
    Paul Schrader
12. BlacKkKlansman
    Spike Lee
13. Blindspotting
    Carlos López Estrada
14. Leave No Trace
    Debra Granik
15. Madeline’s Madeline
    Josephine Decker
16. Minding the Gap
    Bing Liu
17. Sorry to Bother You
    Boots Riley
18. The Other Side of the Wind
    Orson Welles
19. Shoplifters
    Hirokazu Kore-eda
20. The Rider
    Chloé Zhao
21. Burning
    Lee Chang-dong
22. Eighth Grade
    Bo Burnham
23. Paddington 2
    Paul King
24. Shirkers
    Sandi Tan
25. Support the Girls
    Andrew Bujalski

Robert Christgau: Dean's List 2018

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2010s • 2019 • 2017 • 2012]

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

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

[see also 2019 • 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

Simran Hans: The Best Films of 2018, as submitted to the Sight & Sound Poll

[see also 2019]

• High Life
  Claire Denis
• Minding the Gap
  Bing Liu
• A Star Is Born
  Bradley Cooper
• Shirkers
  Sandi Tan
• The Rider
  Chloé Zhao

Special Mentions

• An Impossible Love
  Catherine Corsini
• Sorry to Bother You
  Boots Riley

This list contributes to:

• Sight & Sound Poll: Best Films of 2018

Erika Balsom: The Best Films of 2018, as submitted to the Sight & Sound Poll

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

• The Image Book
  Jean-Luc Godard
• L. Cohen
  James Benning
• Shakedown
  Leilah Weinraub
• First Reformed
  Paul Schrader
• Happy as Lazzaro
  Alice Rohrwacher

This list contributes to:

• Sight & Sound Poll: Best Films of 2018

Magnet Magazine: Top 25 Albums of 2018

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

1. We're Your Friends, Man
   The Bevis Frond
2. Future Me Hates Me
   The Beths
3. Joy as an Act of Resistance
   Idles
4. Hope Downs
   Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever
5. Record
   Tracey Thorn
6. Bark Your Head Off, Dog
   Hop Along
7. Tell Me How You Really Feel
   Courtney Barnett
8. Heaven and Earth
   Kamasi Washington
9. The Old Guys
   Amy Rigby
10. All At Once
    Screaming Females
11. Let Night Come On Bells End the Day
    Sarah Davachi
12. Space Gun
    Guided By Voices
13. Negro Swan
    Blood Orange
14. Honey
    Robyn
15. What a Time to Be Alive
    Superchunk
16. Cocoa Sugar
    Young Fathers
17. Dirty Computer
    Janelle Monáe
18. The Hex
    Richard Swift
19. Golden Hour
    Kacey Musgraves
20. Bottle It In
    Kurt Vile
21. Remain in Light
    Angélique Kidjo
22. Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino
    Arctic Monkeys
23. Ruins
    First Aid Kit
24. Loma
    Loma
25. Historian
    Lucy Dacus

Uproxx Music Critics Poll: Best Albums of 2018, a survey of nearly 200 music critics

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

1. Golden Hour
   Kacey Musgraves
2. Dirty Computer
   Janelle Monáe
3. Be the Cowboy
   Mitski
4. Daytona
   Pusha T
5. Invasion of Privacy
   Cardi B
6. Historian
   Lucy Dacus
7. Sweetener
   Ariana Grande
8. A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships
   The 1975
9. boygenius
   boygenius
10. Room 25
    Noname
11. ASTROWORLD
    Travis Scott
12. Lush
    Snail Mail
13. Bark Your Head Off, Dog
    Hop Along
14. Honey
    Robyn
15. 7
    Beach House
16. Nearer My God
    Foxing
17. Double Negative
    Low
18. Interstate Gospel
    Pistol Annies
19. Black Panther The Album Music From And Inspired By
    Kendrick Lamar, The Weeknd, SZA
20. Clean
    Soccer Mommy
21. Wide Awake!
    Parquet Courts
22. Isolation
    Kali Uchis
23. Heaven and Earth
    Kamasi Washington
24. Care for Me
    Saba
25. Some Rap Songs
    Earl Sweatshirt
26. Oil of Every Pearl’s Un-Insides
    Sophie
27. Knock Knock
    DJ Koze
28. Hell-On
    Neko Case
29. What a Time to Be Alive
    Superchunk
30. Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino
    Arctic Monkeys
31. Future Me Hates Me
    The Beths
32. In a Poem Unlimited
    U.S. Girls
33. God’s Favorite Customer
    Father John Misty
34. The Tree of Forgiveness
    John Prine
35. Everything Is Love
    The Carters
36. Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa
    Jeremy Dutcher
37. 2012-2017
    Against All Logic
38. Your Queen Is a Reptile
    Sons of Kemet
39. Tell Me How You Really Feel
    Courtney Barnett
40. Whack World
    Tierra Whack
41. soil
    serpentwithfeet
42. Safe in the Hands of Love
    Yves Tumor
43. Chris
    Christine and the Queens
44. Age Of
    Oneohtrix Point Never
45. To the Sunset
    Amanda Shires
46. Girl Going Nowhere
    Ashley McBryde
47. Ordinary Corrupt Human Love
    Deafheaven
48. Post-
    Jeff Rosenstock
49. Yolk in the Fur
    Wild Pink
50. Our Raw Heart
    YOB

Mallory Andrews: Best Films of 2018, as posted to Letterboxd

[see also 2019 • 2017]

1. First Reformed
   Paul Schrader
2. The House That Jack Built
   Lars von Trier
3. Minding the Gap
   Bing Liu
4. Burning
   Lee Chang-dong
5. Shoplifters
   Hirokazu Kore-eda
6. Mission: Impossible – Fallout
   Christopher McQuarrie
7. The Favourite
   Yorgos Lanthimos
8. Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
   Morgan Neville
9. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
   Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, and Rodney Rothman
10. If Beale Street Could Talk
    Barry Jenkins