Skip to main content
The Five Best and Worst of 2018


Best

1. Bumblebee
This was a pleasant surprise for the live-action Transformers franchise. Michael Bay's first Transformers still has a place in my heart but his other movies became more tired. Bumblebee is a refreshing new start that the franchise needs. Action, emotions, great CGI, music and 3D. This is what a blockbuster needs.



2. A Quiet Place
It is a surprise hit in 2018. I never knew I would enjoy this so much. Apart from the intense trailers, I didn't know what I would be expecting. However it turned out to be intense horror thriller with uneasy sound design and surprisingly emotional. It is one of the best horror thrillers in years.




3. Ready Player One
The colorful movie is packed with action, cameos and nostalgia that it is hard not to be entertained by it. With so much things happening, it is a joy to watch Steven Spielberg work his magic on the big screen. This is a feel-good journey that you would want to watch.



4. Mandy
This is also another movie that I didn't expect to enjoy a lot. Mandy is an arthouse horror thriller that didn't catch my attention when the trailer was first released. It was only when I saw that it was Jóhann Jóhannsson's final movie and it got my attention. Overall, the movie was a slow-burner but his score was amazing and it made the whole movie an experience.



5. Mission: Impossible Fallout
Just when you thought Mission: Impossible can't be better. Director Christopher McQuarrie hits with an installment that has everything a Mission: Impossible movie needs. Great score, action and stunts, thrills, cast and a suspenseful plot. One downside that it feels a little long (this is the longest movie in the franchise).


Worst 


1. Slender Man
This is probably one of the worst horror movies (in fact, one of the worst movies) I watched. There is not much thrills or suspense. The plot is messy. The worst crime of all that it is really dark. It is hard to see what is happening even during the scare scenes. So what's there to see. Nothing.



2. Godzilla: Planet of the Monster
It is not an entirely bad movie but it is dull and boring. I could hardly stay awake. There is nothing much going on as it centers more on the humans. Aside from the action-packed climax, there is hardly a reason why I should watch it. The animation is decent but not impressive.



3. Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle
You would think they will improve in the sequel but no, nothing is improved. It has the same monotonous pace that it is hard to stay awake. As usual, nothing much happen in the first hour. The animated trilogy will probably go down as the worst trilogy I have seen. It doesn't even entice me to finish the last installment.



4. Spinning Man
It is competently made but it is dull. It is no excuse for a Direct-to-DVD movie to be that boring. There are some twists but they do not warrant a watch. With a boring pace, it could have been shorter.



5.  Malevolent
A competently-made horror movie brings nothing new to the horror genre. It is completely forgettable and I can't remember much about it. There is nothing much happening until the last 20 minutes. It is definitely better than Slender Man but it is still a forgettable horror movie. It is a pity because its execution and concept are decent enough.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Rating: 4.5/5 Review: "Man of Steel movie review" With all the hype from the trailers, I must say this is what it looks to be expected. I have to say that this is the biggest and epic superhero movie yet. This treats destructions like child's play. It is also the most explosive superhero movie. There are so much explosions that they could literally make you exhausted from watching all those. Although this is directed by Zack Snyder, this does not have much of his trademark except the visuals. His slo-mo trademark is not featured. Instead, the action is rapid fast. Man of Steel is a good entertainment with exciting action scenes and visuals but at the same, a somehow touching human drama. The story: We get an extended opening scene on Krypton where Kal-El is just born. However the planet is going to be destroyed with General Zod adding to the problem. To save Kal-El, he has to be sent to another planet known as Earth. What is interesting about the movie that it do...
Rating: 3.4/5 Review: "The Spirit of Ramayana" (103 minutes) "A passable Thai horror movie with an interesting concept but weak execution." As a low-budget horror movie, it has enough entertainment values. In the recent years, there are a few strong Thai horror movies with decent production values and there are many mediocre low-budget horror movies. The Spirit of Ramayana is somewhat in the middle. It may not look that polished but its themes and concept are intriguing enough. The story: The narrative is straight forward however its editing made the movie look messy and disjointed. It is a simple story about Mintra, a young dancer who is rejected for the main role because she cannot pull off an evil and sensual side. However, a spirit helps her to unleash her dark side. On paper, it sounds like a supernatural Black Swan. It lacks the emotional depth of Black Swan as the director seems only interested in churning out cheap scares. As the plot develops fur...
Rating: 3.5/5 Review: "The Exchange" (90 minutes) "A decent fast-paced Thai heist thriller that is marred by weak action choreography and shoddy editing"  It's a low-key movie. You can hardly find information about this online when you type in its English title. Perhaps you will have better luck finding information in Thai. My curiosity piqued when I couldn't find any English review on it. Should I take the risk in watching an unknown movie? I finally decided that it wouldn't hurt buying a cheap ticket (US$2.50) to experience it. I actually enjoyed the movie but not the experience. Sure the movie has its own flaws but it is not as distracting as the badly dubbed Khmer language. The dub is emotionless and does not fit the tone of the characters. I know Thai and Khmer are two different languages but I couldn't help by being distracted with the bad lip sync throughout the whole movie. On the other hand, the movie is fast-paced enough to hol...