My Favorite Films From Every Year (2018-1895)

(2018) Overlord

I loved it. I thought it would be a traditional zombie movie and the circumstances would be the twist but it was its own thing. It’s kind of difficult to describe but I think action-war-horror would be the closest thing I could pin it too.

Jovan Adepo was a great fucking lead. He has incredible screen presence and his performance wasn’t too overstated, as to not overshadow some great supporting actors.

Overall though, this movie is just a ton of fun.

8/10

(2019) Joker

I’m totally blown away, despite even expecting to be blown away by Joaquin’s performance as The Joker. It’s my favorite comic book origin story to date and just a remarkable achievement. To have a Batman-universe film stand out this much among all the others is incredible.

This film intentionally evokes almost every emotion until a raw, chilling finale. Gotham is unkempt, unstable and teetering.

I fucking love this movie.

9.5/10

(1998) Disturbing Behavior

This movie is so much fun, peak 90’s teen horror as far as I’m concerned. It runs in the same conversations of The Faculty and such.

Nick Stahl is fantastic, someone I became of a fan of after watching Bully. I love every performance though. Katie Holmes is cute as hell, peaking here as far as I’m concerned. Her performance is reserved to some degree but works in context of the film.

I think it pretty much accomplishes what it set out to and excels over other films of the same vein.

7.5/10

(2016) Are We Not Cats

This is a film that, at least for me, beckoned some further understanding or hidden meaning. Now that I sit with it though, I’ve very satisfied with the experience. It felt desolate yet intimate, gross, strange and helpless.

I feel like it’s a fantastic project about acceptance, hardship and empathy. It seems like it was comprised with all amateur actors and filmmakers but I’m impressed with every aspect of the film.

I should stress that this film offers little cathartic release. It’s as depressing as depressing gets and leaves you somewhat empty.

8/10

 

(2002) The Ring

This was one of the scariest fucking movies I saw as a kid and it still is to this day. It also happens to be, what I consider, one of the few powerful uses of grey-scale film in existence. It’s bleak, expertly paced and really just pure tension from start to finish.

I love everything about this film. Gore did a fantastic job directing but I have a huge amount of respect for Ehren Kruger as well for the screenplay.

The original film is iconic but frankly, this is better.

9.5/10

(2019) Little Monsters

I was really not looking forward to this movie. I’ve always kind of felt like zombie films hit such a high point that I just got sick of them, good or bad. However, it really ended up being a total curveball of a film.

Lupita is absolutely exceptional. She blew me away in Us and she blew me away here. Her performance, character and delivery are so exceptionally genuine here. Really everyone is fantastic. Josh Gad and Alexander England are hilarious and deliver some really witty dialogue.

It’s just a surprisingly sweet and funny zombie movie. I loved it.

8/10

(2018) Lords of Chaos

I’ve been a black metal fan forever and this is a biography-ish (who knows what actually went down exactly) film about the band Mayhem. Man, some scenes are so brutal and dark but most importantly, I loved how it portrayed most of these dudes as neo-nazi incels. I still fucking love Burzum and Mayhem but I’m glad they got this one right. Rory Culkin is pretty fantastic in his role and I feel like the horror community should be interested in this.

It’s also shot incredibly well. I’m not sure who handled the films photography but there were so many gorgeous looking shots.

Also, it seems pointless to mention, since I never spoil anything here but there were two of three scenes that truly amazed me and that’s fucking rare dude. I watch a ton of movies and there were scenes here that will absolutely leave a lasting impression.

I wish they spent a bit more time on the character “Dead” but other than that, my hats off to the filmmakers and I love that the black metal community hates it.

8.5/10