Top Ten (maybe 11) of Kimber's Favorite Movies of 2018
The year is half over already and summer is in full swing. Almost all the summer blockbusters have been released already (with a few exceptions of course). So let’s talk about my favorite movies of 2018 so far. I go to the movies a lot. A lot. I mean, when AMC came out with their new monthly membership plan, I laughed, thinking they’ll lose money on me! Haha. With the new membership, I can see three movies per week for a cost of $19.95 a month. And I will see three movies a week. It’ll happen. So let’s chat about my top ten/eleven faves for this year so far! In no particular order, here they are!
1. Incredibles 2. If you loved the first one, you’ll love this one. In fact, I’d say it’s better! It’s got family humor, superhero hi-jinks, an evil anti hero. All the basics of a good superhero story. Plus it’s been 14 years in the making and you can tell. They did a great job with the story and the characters. It’s INCREDIBLE! Hahaha. I crack myself up!
2. The Greatest Showman. I saw this one this year and loved every minute. The music, the choreography, the characters, the acting. While the story may stray from the facts of P.T.’s life, this movie was made to entertain (not inform) and it truly lives up to that purpose! I’ve seen it too many tines to say. It’s really that good.
3. Ready Player One. If you love nostalgia and love a nice feel good fantasy/sci-fi that will get you dancing and singing, this is your movie. The decades of nostalgia vary from late 70s to early 2000s. It will find a spot in your heart that matches your generation. It’ll also have you rooting for the underdogs and hoping they’ll take down the man! It’s fun, it’s action packed, and it’s my favorite of this year so far!
4. Upgrade. This one is hard to put in one little box. It could be classified as science fiction or as horror or a thriller or even an almost superhero type of movie. And it would fit in all those classifications. This movie has an underlying revenge theme, with secrecy, specialized surgery, and newfound powers that our hero cannot share with anyone. I thought this movie was the right amount of gory, and right amount of violence, with the right amount of self-reflection. It’s a movie I’ll watch again if it pops up on one of my streaming devices. It’s a fun revenge flick. And everyone likes those!
5. Game Night. This was really funny, super action packed, and just a nice relief from all the super serious movies I usually see. It was a ridiculous plot, but pretty darn funny and I’d watch it again in a heartbeat. It’s about some friends who get together for game nights and they decide to up the ante and play a (very real) murder mystery. And then they find out it was never a game. The funny parts do not involve the plot but things that happen along the way and the sight gags. It’s one of those belly laugh kind of movies.
6. Jurassic Word: Fallen Kingdom. This movie is good for a few reasons. It follows up the story line of the Jurassic movies but does so in the first original plot in one of these movies since the 90s. It does not involve saving the island and opening it again. Whew. I don’t think I would have enjoyed that at all. There’s no need to think saving the island will involve anything good. We’ve seen that all before. Instead, this involves taking the dinosaurs off the island and trying to preserve them. Of course you have the typical nefarious types who have other ideas, and then you get some real plot twists (that most of us saw coming at some point). This movie is a good one, though. The effects are good and the acting is believable (as believable as dinaosaurs running around the U.S. can be). Stay until after the credits if you can!
7. Tag. This one is iffy. I wasn’t going to include it. Mainly because there was some acting that was not up to par and some directing that I wasn’t super fond of. However, it’s a very funny true story and it deserves a watch at some point. It’s a true story of some childhood friends who stay in touch by spending the month of May playing tag. It sounds far fetched, but I’ve read the true story of these friends and the movie barely scrapes of the surface of all the weird places where they tagged each other. It’s funny and sad and bittersweet. Pretty much the same formula as all comedies these days, but it is also a lot of fun! Stay until after the credits to see the real people and their tag videos!
8. I , Tonya. This might be a 2017 movie but it’s so good, and I saw it this year, so it’s making the list! This movie is really well done and it shows a side of the story we don’t often hear. The Tonya side of the story. It’s a sad story of an overbearing mother who abuses her daughter to try to make her the best skater ever. Tonya goes from one abusive situation to another- from mom to husband. She cannot seem to catch a break in anything she does except her skating. She’s an amazing skater. But is it enough to simply be good? Or must she be the best? Is she the reason for Nancy Kerrigan’s woes? Or was Tonya a victim of other people’s decisions, just as Nancy was? I definitely recommend this one!
9. Hereditary or The Quiet Place. Need a thriller in your life? Either one of these should do the trick. They’re very different, though. Quiet Place is more of a monster movie in which you must remain silent to avoid the aliens who have invaded. It’s a family’s attempt to simply survive. And it’s a very quiet movie. So make sure you watch it without any chatty family members. Talking would ruin the mood. Hereditary is probably the better of the two movies. It’s a creepy tale of a family who has some pretty awful genetic issues. Mental illness is rampant in the family and it’s kind of hard to watch some of it. I liked the unfolding of the story, although parts seemed so far fetched, but I had to remember that everyone grieves differently and everyone handles tragedy differently. Until the end, I was engaged. Once it got to the last ten minutes, I felt like it could have easily ended and been a good ending....why did they feel the need to spell every last thing out at the end? I don’t know. It’s possible test audiences needed closure. They may have made changes after that? I’m not sure. But to me, it would have been better if they left us wondering about at least some things.
10. Equalizer II. This one isn’t out yet, so I cannot actually review it yet. But I’m so excited for this one!!! I loved the first one and have seen this trailer more than a few times and it looks amazing. Denzel Washington stars as the title character (an equalizer of sorts), a man who drives a Lyft and helps his clients out when they are in trouble. He uses force to be a vigilante for good, even while he appears all meek and mild in his day to day interactions. I’ll tell you what I think when I’ve seen it! And you let me know what you think when you’ve seen it.
That about does it for this time! I’ve shared 10 movies I’ve seen this year and one I’m excited about! What have been your favorite movies of 2018?
Join me next week for some book recommendations! I’ve been reading like crazy this summer and want to share a few faves! Tata for now!
