A Constant Visual Feast

Hi. I’m late writing this up. I had other plans for ringing in 2019. Honestly, snowboarding and beer are only part of it. If I think about it for a second, I don’t really have a lot to say about 2018; I’m sans a unifying statement to reconcile all of the pop culture I digested throughout the year. There’s no rug here that’ll tie the room together, if you get my meaning. But I feel compelled to try.

…

Nope, that went nowhere. Sorry! I did my best. Sort of. If anything, these two lists – one for movies, one for music, none for TV because I just can’t be bothered with that nonsense* – both feel complete. I have no regrets. There’s nothing I’m missing, or that I feel bad leaving off, which is rare for me. Maybe I’m finally in a head space where I’m okay with the reality that not every movie is “best,” and that I’d rather not be one of those poor bastards throwing out top 50 lists because they can’t edit their taste. Here, everything’s correct. I’ve even given myself 2 fewer slots for honorable mentions**. Feels good! But not as good as the movies on my list actually are. So:

Movies
10) If Beale Street Could Talk
9) Paddington 2
8) Happy as Lazzaro
7) Shoplifters
6) First Reformed
5) Mandy
4) Cold War
3) The Rider
2) Hale County This Morning, This Evening
1) You Were Never Really Here

Honorable mentions: Vox Lux, Bisbee ’17, Leave No Trace

Music
10) Art Brut, Wham! Bang! Pow! Let’s Rock Out!
9) Earl Sweatshirt, Some Rap Songs
8) Sleep, The Sciences
7) Young Fathers, Cocoa Sugar
6) Gregory Alan Isakov, Evening Machines
5) Noname, Room 25
4) Pusha T, Daytona
3) Courtney Barnett, Tell Me How You Really Feel
2) Dirty Projectors, Lamp Lit Prose
1) Mitski, Be the Cowboy

*But I guess I’ll say that Dear White People, Atlanta, Sharp Objects, The Magicians, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and Venture Bros are all good.
**For movies. Only movies get honorable mentions. I listened to a lot of music this year, but I saw more movies.