Notes from awards committee: 2018 was a great year (at the Box Office) with Marvel superhero flicks and animated cartoons for children raking in the big bucks. The year was good, but not great, for films directed at grown-up adults. This was also a year of hype. I often heard the praise of “Best Picture of the Year” on many mediocre films – and some were nominated for Academy awards. Roma had the most camera panning shots I ever watched, but not much of a story. We were unimpressed by Green Book, another dreary car tour of the Jim Crow South, and confess to being downright annoyed by Bohemian Rhapsody, while Black Panther oddly celebrated childish tribalism. Our two top motion pictures of the year were A Star is Born and First Man. It was a tough call, but A Star is Born edged out First Man for Best Picture Simpson award. First Man is a good film but not great because Ryan Gosling was miscast in the lead to play Astronaut Neil Armstrong. Gosling failed to portray the High I.Q. warrior persona of the real Neil Armstrong. In fact he seemed a little dumb at times. Determined, but dumb. We loved everything else about the film, and don’t give me that silly bitching about not waving the American flag on moon. Don’t care. Fun Surprises In April, with zero fanfare, John Krasinski dropped the year's most devilishly effective horror film, A Quiet Place. He also wrote and directed the movie. John Krasinski is a lucky guy: He's married to Emily Blunt, and is the first actor to win two Simpson awards for Best Actor (13 Hours and A Quiet Place). Vox Lux – A dark fairy tale about the rise and fall and comeback of a musical star. American Pop Culture at its most raw. Lady Gaga in A Star is Born – What a debut movie performance for the star rock singer! She was perfect and won the Best Actress Simpson award in the most competitive year since 2015 for strong female characters – from Claire Foy in First Man, to Shailene Woodley in Adrift, to Amy Adams in Vice, to Emily Blount in A Quiet Place, to Natalie Portman in Lox Lux, to Jamie Lee Curtis in Halloween. Mandy – Bold, inventive, full of kick-ass surprises, and a visual feast for the eyes. Halloween - Young and naïve, Karen Strode scolds her mom, Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) that it is needless to have a closet full of firearms for self-defense because, “The world is not a dark and evil place. It’s full of love and understanding!” HA! Queue another Michael Myers rampage. This film expertly and hilariously trolls the anti-2A Left wing gun grabbers. Disappointments The Favorite – smutty, loveless girl-on-girl porn disguised as fake British royal history during the reign of Queen Anne. Gotti - There should be a law against movies like this that glorify violent criminals.
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