Geekery: The Best, the Worst, and the Okay Movies of 2018

The year is quickly coming to a close – let’s take a look back at what the studios dished up for us this year, in handy list form.

• 1,153 titles were released this year
• There were 160 wide releases in the states. Of those…
  • 50 were originals
  • 42 were sequels/reboots/franchise films
  • 33 were based on books/games
  • 32 were based on real life
  • 10 were animated
  • 3 were documentaries
• The top grossing movie was Black Panther, which brought in $700,059,566
• The biggest financial flop was Mortal Engines, which cost $150 million and brought in $14.7 million
• Gotti was the worst reviewed movie this year
• Netflix released about 700 original TV shows and movies on the service worldwide
• Of Those Bird Box broke a streaming record for the company – 45 million views in 7 days
• 2018 brought the 10 year anniversary of Marvel Studios, and the and the death of one of its champions – Stan Lee

We saw a lot of great trailers…

• Sorry to Bother You – Boots Riley’s first movie packs a social commentary punch with amazing absurdist humor and great production design.
• Infinity War
• Annihilation – Alex Garland’s horrifying sci-fi looks at multiple forms of destruction; and is as difficult, profound, and visually striking as 2001: A Space Odyssey.
• Black Panther
• Mandy – This acid trip of a movie has a little bit of everything: humor, death, a cult, chainsaw fights, gimps on motorcycles, and really bad folk music. Panos Cosmatos has created a cult classic that will be debated for years.
• Hereditary – Psychological horror is my favorite category of horror. This unsettling tale of motherhood, loss, and guilt is perfectly woven by Ari Aster; and Toni Collette’s performance is masterful.
• Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
• Mission Impossible: Fall Out
• Roma – This beautiful, joyous, and heartbreaking film from Alfonso Cuarón has some of the best cinematography I’ve seen in a long time. It’s true cinema.
• Paddington 2 – Best  – and most adorable – movie set in a prison to come out this year.

• Mute – This is the most disappointing piece of garbage I saw the entire year.
• Terminal
• Tau – Even Gary Oldman’s yelling does not redeem this one.
• The Haunting of Hill House – The novel by Shirley Jackson was chilling and the 1963 film adaptation is a classic for good reason. This was a 10 hour long Hallmark movie and I hated it.

What are your favorite movies and shows of the year?

Author: Mars Garrett

Pop culture writer and news editor that has been on the BoLS team since 2010. Contributor on the One of Us podcast. Marvel, Vertigo, Batman, and dystopian sci-fi fan. Enjoys bad movies, amazing stunt performances, and the internet. Hates rom-coms. (she/they)