This is the 15th year I’ve done this. As always, it might only matter to me and will not be on the midterm.
MOVIES
I watched 381 movies in 2018. It could have been a lot more — there were 105 days on which I watched no movies. The point is, there are too many movies. Here are the ones I watched.
2018 releases (208):
12 Strong
7 Days in Entebbe
A.X.L
Acrimony
Action Point
Adrift
Alpha
American Animals
Annihilation
Ant-Man and the Wasp
Aquaman
Arizona
Assassination Nation
At Eternity’s Gate
Avengers: Infinity War
Bad Times at the El Royale
Ballad of Buster Scruggs, The
Beast
Beautiful Boy
Beirut
Ben Is Back
Black Panther
BlackKklansman
Bleach
Blindspotting
Blockers
Bodied
Bohemian Rhapsody
Book Club
Border
Boy Erased
Breaking In
Bumblebee
Burning
Cam
Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Catcher Was a Spy, The
Chappaquiddick
Christopher Robin
Clara’s Ghost
Cold Skin
Commuter, The
Cop Chronicles: Loose Cannons: The Legend of Haj Mirage
Crazy Rich Asians
Creed II
Darkest Minds, The
Deadpool 2
Death of Stalin, The
Death Wish
Den of Thieves
Destroyer
Dog Days
Early Man
Eighth Grade
Endless, The
Equalizer 2, The
Evening with Beverly Luff Linn, An
Every Day
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald
Favourite, The
Fifty Shades Freed
First Man
First Purge, The
First Reformed
Forever My Girl
Free Solo
Front Runner, The
Futile and Stupid Gesture, A
Game Night
Girl in the Spider’s Web, The
Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween
Green Book
Grinch, The
Guilty, The
Halloween
Happy Prince, The
Happytime Murders, The
Hate U Give, The
Hearts Beat Loud
Hell Fest
Hereditary
Hold the Dark
Holmes & Watson
Hotel Artemis
House with a Clock in Its Walls, The
Hunter Killer
Hurricane Heist, The
I Can Only Imagine
I Feel Pretty
If Beale Street Could Talk
Incident in Ghostland, An
Incredibles 2
Insidious: The Last Key
Instant Family
Isle of Dogs
Ismael’s Ghosts
Jane and Emma
Johnny English Strikes Again
Juliet, Naked
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
Kin
Last Movie Star, The
Leave No Trace
Let the Sunshine In
Life of the Party
Little Women
Love, Simon
Madeline’s Madeline
Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again
Mandy
Mary Poppins Returns
Maze Runner: The Death Cure
Measure of a Man
Meg, The
Mid90s
Mile 22
Mission: Impossible — Fallout
Mohawk
Mortal Engines
Mule, The
Mute
Never Goin’ Back
Night Comes for Us, The
Night Comes On
Night Eats the World, The (La Nuit a Dévoré le Monde)
Night School
Nobody’s Fool
Nun, The
Oath, The
Ocean’s Eight
Old Man & the Gun, The
On Chesil Beach
On the Basis of Sex
Operation Finale
Overboard
Overlord
Pacific Rim Uprising
Paddington 2
Papillon
Party, The
Peppermint
Peter Rabbit
Possession of Hannah Grace, The
Predator, The
Private Life
Proud Mary
Quiet Place, A
Ralph Breaks the Internet
Rampage
Ranger, The
RBG
Ready Player One
Red Sparrow
Revenge
Rider, The
Robin Hood
Roma
Samson
Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood
Seagull, The
Searching
Sherlock Gnomes
Sicario: Day of the Soldado
Simple Favor, A
Sisters Brothers, The
Skyscraper
Slender Man
Small Foot
Solo: A Star Wars Story
Sorry to Bother You
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Spy Who Dumped Me, The
Stan & Ollie
Star Is Born, A
Strangers: Prey at Night, The
Summer of ’84
Super Troopers 2
SuperFly
Suspiria
Tag
Tales from the Hood 2
Teen Titans Go! To the Movies
Terrified
Texture of Falling, The
Thoroughbreds
Tomb Raider
Traffik
Truth or Dare
Tully
Tyrel
Uncle Drew
Unfriended: Dark Web
Unsane
Upgrade
Venom
Vice
Vox Lux
We the Animals
Welcome to Marwen
White Boy Rick
White Rabbit
Widows
Wildlife
Winchester
Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
World Is Yours, The
Wrinkle in Time, A
You Were Never Really Here
Festival films to be released in 2019 (or possibly never) (24):
Sundance:
Piercing
Ophelia
Fantasia Festival:
Boiled Angels: The Trial of Mike Diana
Buffalo Boys
Relaxer
Mon Garcon
Scythian, The
Mega Time Squad
Chained for Life
Telluride:
Trial by Fire
Fantastic Fest:
Strike, Dear Mistress, and Cure His Heart
Luz
Keep an Eye Out
Donnybrook
One Cut of the Dead
Savage
Standoff at Sparrow Creek, The
School’s Out
When the Trees Fall
Level 16
Climax
Perfection, The
After the Screaming Stops
Under the Silver Lake
Pre-2018 films that I re-watched (67):
Aladdin (1992)
Apocalypse Now (1979)
Attack the Block (2011)
Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey (1991)
Blazing Saddles (1974)
Cabaret (1972)
Cabin in the Woods, The (2012)
Chicago (2002)
Child’s Play (1988)
CHIPS (2017)
Coco (2017)
Creed (2015)
Detention (2011)
Drive (2011)
Elf (2003)
Evil Dead, The (1981)
Evil Dead II (1987)
Fish Called Wanda, A (1988)
Fountain, The (2006)
Heat (1995)
Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001)
Hercules (1997)
House, The (2017)
How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)
I Love You, Man (2009)
Informant!, The (2009)
Jurassic World (2015)
King of Comedy, The (1983)
Lost Boys, The (1987)
Lost in Translation (2003)
Mac and Me* (1988)
Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted (2012)
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
Mighty Wind, A (2003)
Miller’s Crossing (1990)
Mission: Impossible (1996)
Mission: Impossible 2 (2000)
Mission: Impossible III (2006)
Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol (2011)
Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation (2015)
Noises Off (1992)
On the Waterfront (1954)
Only God Forgives (2013)
Paddington (2015)
Phantom Thread (2017)
Pleasantville (1998)
Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping (2016)
Post, The (2017)
Princess and the Frog, The (2009)
Rocky (1976)
Role Models (2008)
Shutter Island (2010)
Slither (2006)
Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017)
Streetcar Named Desire, A (1951)
Superbad (2007)
Superman (1978)
Thief (1981)
Thin Man, The (1934)
Top Secret! (1984)
Under the Skin (2014)
Vertigo (1958)
Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (2007)
WALL-E (2008)
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971)
Wreck-It Ralph (2012)
Village, The (2004)
Pre-2018 films that I watched for the first time (66):
Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai, The (1984)
The Adventures of Ichabad and Mr. Toad (1949)
After the Thin Man (1936)
American Soldier, The (1970)
American Flyers (1985)
Another Thin Man (1939)
At the Earth’s Core* (1976)
Baby Doll (1956)
Bartleby (1970)
Being There (1979)
Blessed Event (1932)
Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969)
Brief Encounter (1945)
Carnival Magic* (1981)
Christmas Evil (aka You Better Watch Out) (1980)
Dark Alibi (1946)
Deadly Games (1990)
Dementia 13 (1963)
Diary of a Country Priest (1951)
D.O.A. (1949)
Equalizer, The (2014)
Face in the Crowd, A (1957)
Falling Down (1993)
Fear and Desire (1953)
Firemen’s Ball, The (1967)
Flying Deuces (1939)
Funny Girl (1968)
Greatest Showman, The (2017)
Gypsy (1962)
High Society (1956)
Hostiles (2017)
Howling, The (1981)
Justice League: The New Frontier (2008)
Killer Fish* (1978)
Living End, The (1992)
Martyrs (2008)
Night and the City (1950)
Night Moves (1975)
Ninotchka (1939)
Our Man Flint (1966)
Overboard (1987)
Papillon (1973)
Pet Sematary (1989)
Plague Dogs, The (1985)
Shadow of the Thin Man (1941)
Song of the Thin Man (1947)
Sons of the Desert (1933)
Sorcerer (1977)
Star Is Born, A (1937)
Strange Color of Your Body’s Tears, The (2014)
Strike up the Band (1940)
Super Fly (1972)
Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
Thin Man Goes Home, The (1945)
Throw Momma from the Train (1987)
Time Machine, The (1960)
Tom Jones (1963)
Too Funny to Fail (2017)
Westworld (1973)
What About Dick? (2012)
While the City Sleeps (1956)
White Fire (1985)
Wild at Heart (1990)
Wizards of the Lost Kingdom II* (1989)
Woman of the Year (1942)
Yentl (1983)
You Only Live Once (1937)
*Watched via MST3K
TV
I don’t pick up many new shows these days. The premise or talent involved have to really appeal to me for me to make the time commitment. Here’s what I did watch in 2018.
Mr. Robot S3: I thought I was done after S2 was so confusing and unrewarding, but I gave it another chance. Now I’m definitely done.
Bob’s Burgers S8/S9
The Simpsons S29/S30
Brooklyn Nine-Nine S5
The Good Place S2/S3
Saturday Night Live S43/S44
Great News S2: This show (which Tina Fey had a hand in) was really starting to find its groove when, of course, it was canceled.
Altered Carbon S1
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt S3/S4
Broad City S4: One of my favorite touches has been how they leave the swear words in but bleep the word “Trump.”
BoJack Horseman S4/S5
Westworld S2: I liked it better when it was a show about a Western-themed amusement park with lifelike robots, rather than whatever it became in S2. But I’ll give S3 a shot.
Silicon Valley S5
Arrested Development S4: I watched the remixed version of 22 regular-length episodes, which I found funnier than the original version of 16 long ones. I started S5 but got tired of it and quit.
Barry S1
Trial & Error S2: I don’t know if this comedy about a young hotshot lawyer in a small idiot town will come back for S3, but I hope so. Both existing seasons — which each have a self-contained, season-spanning murder mystery — are really funny, with a “Parks & Recreation” vibe.
Better Call Saul S4
South Park S22: I quit watching sometime during the most recent season. I just don’t find it very funny anymore, and I’m often infuriated by the show’s head-in-the-sand, everybody-is-bad, believing-in-things-is-lame attitude. The satire has grown pointless over the last few years.
BOOKS
I hardly read fiction anymore. This is bad. Here’s what I did read, though.
The Boy on the Bridge – Mike Carey: A sequel to “The Girl with All the Gifts,” which I quite liked. This one is OK.
Brave New World – Aldous Huxley: I’d somehow never read it (I was more of a “1984” man).
Thrice the Brinded Cat Hath Mew’d – Alan Bradley: It’s the eighth in a series of novels about a young girl solving mysteries in postwar England. I don’t know how I ended up reading #8, but it was delightful enough to make me want to check out the others.
Summer Lightning – P.G. Wodehouse: I’ve always loved Wodehouse. That guy could turn a phrase, I’ll tell you what.
