Our top picks in one place. Lists on lists on lists on lists.
It’s the end of the year, so an inevitable flood of top ten lists has begun; even our former (and sorely missed) POTUS got in on the act this week. Critics often can’t help but rank things, share opinions, or hope to champion a film others may have missed. Rather than push out multiple articles, we canvassed the team, and those willing threw their personal top 10 lists into this piece. Reviews are linked where relevant (as well as links to writer profiles and Twitter accounts), but think of this as a snapshot as to the myriad tastes that make up the Cinapse team. We’ll be back around Oscars time with our Annual Cinapse awards, which pools all our picks into final rankings for the year, but for now, enjoy our selections of what stayed with us from 2018.
Dan Tabor: @danthefan
- Suspiria
- You Were Never Really Here
- Tully
- Hereditary
- Climax
- Sorry to Bother You
- Vox Lux
- First Reformed
- The House that Jack Built
- Annihilation
Ed Travis: @Ed_Travis
- If Beale Street Could Talk
- The Night Comes for Us
- Mission Impossible Fallout
- Bodied
- Lowlife
- Leave No Trace
- Widows
- Blindspotting
- Creed II
- You Were Never Really Here
Honorable mentions: Black Panther, A Quiet Place, Aquaman, Shoplifters, Spider-man: Into the Spider-verse.
Elizabeth Stoddard: @elizs
- Roma
- Paddington 2
- Shoplifters
- Shirkers
- The Tale
- Leave No Trace
- The Rider
- Happy as Lazzaro
- Can You Ever Forgive Me?
- Crazy Rich Asians
Frank Calvillo: @frankfilmgeek
- Roma
- The Other Side of the Wind
- Can You Ever Forgive Me?
- The Old Man and the Gun
- Boy Erased
- If Beale Street Could Talk
- First Reformed
- The Favourite
- Vox Lux
- A Quiet Place
Justin Harlan: @thepaintedman
- Annihilation
- Assassination Nation
- The Endless
- Sorry to Bother You
- Lowlife
- Hereditary
- Upgrade
- Bomb City
- BlacKkKlansman
- Bodied
Rod Machen: @rodmachen
- If Beale Street Could Talk
- Eighth Grade
- Blindspotting
- Thunder Road
- A Star is Born
- Leave No Trace
- First Reformed
- Roma
- A Simple Favor
- Support the Girls
Jon Partridge: @Texas_Jon
- Suspiria
- Paddington 2
- Annihilation
- The Favourite
- Widows
- If Beale Street Could Talk
- Eighth Grade
- The Death of Stalin
- Burning
- Roma
Honorable mentions: Blindspotting, First Reformed, Hereditary, Leave No Trace, Mandy, Mission Impossible Fallout,Thunder Road, Tully
Sharon Mineo: @salsalisentio
DISCLAIMER: I don’t usually bother with these lists since I don’t usually see the prestige pics/Oscar bait until after the new year, if at all. But this year for the hell of it I put together a list ranking all the movies I DID see in the theater this year. — S
- Spider-man: Into the Spider-Verse
- The Favourite
- Black Panther
- Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
- Deadpool 2
- The Incredibles 2
- MARVEL TIE: Ant-Man & the Wasp & Avengers: Infinity War
- UNRELATED IN ANY WAY TIE: Sorry to Bother You & Mission: Impossible — Fallout
- BlacKkKlansman
- Widows
Honorable mention for exceeding my abysmally low expectations: Aquaman & Solo: A Star Wars Story
Honorable mention for failing to meet my non-unrealistic-based-on-the-first-one high expectations: Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald
Honorable mention for use of Awkwafina and over the top opulence: Crazy Rich Asians
Honorable mention for bedazzling Oprah and appreciated effort despite disappointing lack of Aunt Beast and other weird plot changes from the book: A Wrinkle in Time
Honorable mention because it looks awesome and I definitely plan to see it soon: If Beale Street Could Talk
Honorable mention because I will probably watch them at some point in the next year but I’m not in a huge rush or anything: Annihilation, Support the Girls, Suspiria
Justin Jones: @justjustin42
1. Annihilation
2. If Beale Street Could Talk
3. Revenge
4. Paddington 2
5. First Man
6. Widows
7. Avengers: Infinity War
8. Destroyer
9. Burning
10. BlacKkKlansman
Honorable mentions: The Favourite, Roma, Spider-man: Into the Spider-Verse, Blindspotting, First Reformed, Mission: Impossible — Fallout
Best mustache: Henry Cavill, Mission: Impossible — Fallout
