My favourite 10 films that were released in Melbourne, Australia, in 2018 (including films released directly to streaming services or home entertainment):
1. Leave No Trace (Debra Granik, 2018)
Released August
2. Custody (Jusqu’à la garde, Xavier Legrand, 2017)
Released September
3. BlacKkKlansman (Spike Lee, 2018)
Released August
4. Roma (Alfonso Cuarón, 2018)
Released December
5. Annihilation (Alex Garland, 2018)
Released March
6. Sweet Country (Warwick Thornton, 2017)
Released January
7. Isle of Dogs (Wes Anderson, 2018)
Released April
8. Lady Bird (Greta Gerwig, 2017)
Released February
9. I, Tonya (Craig Gillespie, 2017)
Released January
10. A Quiet Place (John Krasinski, 2018)
Released April
Honourable mentions
Twenty more films I loved this year, listed alphabetically:
Avengers: Infinity War (Anthony and Joe Russo, 2018)
Released April
Bad Times at the El Royale (Drew Goddard, 2018)
Released October
Brawl in Cell Block 99 (S Craig Zahler, 2017)
Released January
Can You Ever Forgive Me? (Marielle Heller, 2018)
Released December
Cargo (Ben Howling and Yolanda Ramke, 2017)
Released May
Climax (Gaspar Noé, 2018)
Released December
The Death of Stalin (Armando Iannucci, 2017)
Released March
Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot (Gus Van Sant, 2018)
Released September
A Fantastic Woman (Una mujer fantástica, Sebastián Lelio, 2017)
Released February
First Man (Damien Chazelle, 2018)
Released October
First Reformed (Paul Schrader, 2017)
Released December
Ghosthunter (Ben Lawrence, 2018)
Released September
Gurrumul (Paul Damien Williams, 2017)
Released April
I Kill Giants (Anders Walter, 2017)
Released May
The Old Man & the Gun (David Lowery, 2018)
Released November
Phantom Thread (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2017)
Released February
The Shape of Water (Guillermo del Toro, 2017)
Released January
Shoplifters (Manbiki kazoku, Hirokazu Koreeda, 2018)
Released November
A Star Is Born (Bradley Cooper, 2018)
Released October
You Were Never Really Here (Lynne Ramsay, 2017)
Released September
Favourite films not given a full release locally
Many of the films I saw this year that left a big impression on me are films that only screened to Melbourne audiences at various festivals. Some of those films have local distribution and will more than likely be released next year, so I’ll include them on my 2019 list, but the ones that don’t currently have local distribution (to the best of my knowledge) that I’d like to mention are the following:
Blaze (Ethan Hawke, 2018)
The Green Fog (Evan Johnson, Galen Johnson and Guy Maddin, 2017)
Holiday (Isabella Eklöf, 2018)
Pig (Khook, Mani Haghighi, 2018)
The Rape of Recy Taylor (Nancy Buirski, 2017)
Red Cow (Para Aduma, Tsivia Barkai Yacov, 2018)
Relaxer (Joel Potrykus, 2018)
Shock Waves: Diary of My Mind (Ondes de choc – Journal de ma tête, Ursula Meier, 2018)
Winter Brothers (Vinterbrødre, Hlynur Palmason, 2017)
Yours in Sisterhood (Irene Lusztig, 2018)
This list was compiled for the upcoming Senses of Cinema 2018 World Poll
Thank you to everybody who read my micro-reviews throughout 2018. Next year will be much the same as this year: I’ll continue to share my cinematic highlights here and on Facebook and Twitter, and hopefully I’ll continue to pop up on 3RRR 102.7FM and ABC Radio National whenever I can. I won’t pretend I’ll get around to giving this blog the long overdue redesign it desperately needs, but you never know.
Thomas Caldwell 2018
CINEMA AUTOPSY 