Honourable mentions: Black Panther, Solo: A Star Wars Story, Hereditary, Three Identical Strangers, Annihilation, Bad Times at the El Royale, Ready Player One, Eighth Grade, Roma, Widows, I Kill Giants, Mandy

10. Vice

Director and writer Adam McKay dramatizes the rise of the most powerful (and unelected!) leader in U.S. history, Dick Cheney (Christian Bale). Cheney goes from intern for Donald Rumsfeld (Steve Carell) to Vice President and power behind the throne of George W. Bush (Sam Rockwell). Bale’s performance is pitch perfect as the eternally scheming Veep. McKay’s is constantly breaking film rules; having the credits roll mid-movie, the narrator (a sympathetic Jesse Plemons) comparing Cheney to Galactus, characters addressing the audience, random Shakespearian monologues and more. A peppy movie about a greedy man who changed the world on a whim.  

9.  Deadpool 2

Merc with a Mouth Wade Wilson aka Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) helps mutant orphan, Russell (Julian Dennsion) but things get complicated when the time travelling Cable (Josh Brolin) arrives. There’re rapid fire jokes, craziness, blood-splatter, fourth-wall breaking but it still has dramatic impact. Deadpool 2 even has two different cuts, the longer Super-Duper Cut and the hilarious Fred Savage commentary of Once Upon A Deadpool as running Deadpool into the ground with multiple versions is also a meta-gag about superhero oversaturation. This is a very smart and very dumb movie that has a soft emotional core.

8.  Isle of Dogs

Wes Anderson delivers a deliriously madcap stop motion masterpiece. On a trash dump island a pack of abandoned dogs are led by Chief (Bryan Cranston) and they help a save a human, Atari (Koyu Rankin). Cranston is a gruff leader who has led a rough life as he slowly starts to reveal more emotional layers. The stop motion visuals in the film are beautiful as Anderson’s distinct quirkiness shines through. It bounces between different languages and tonal styles, eventually culminating in a truly earnest finale. Not many movies look like this which is why it’s so great.

7.  BlacKkKlansman

Director Spike Lee serves a visceral laceration of white supremacist idiocy that is also a cool undercover cop movie. Ron Stallworth (John David Washington) gets a local Ku Klux Klan member to invite him over the phone but since Ron is black he enlists Jewish cop Flip (Adam Driver) to take his place in the filed. The movie is often really funny but still Lee knows when to condemn the terrible history of the Klan as Topher Grace’s David Duke puts a genial smile on a horrible person. This is a live wire of a film with a lot to say and great cop movie scenes throughout.

6.  Ralph Breaks the Internet

A sprawling, hysterical animated tale grounded by a heartwarming story about learning to let go. Ralph (John C. Riley) and Vanellope (Sarah Silverman) travel into the Internet but Vanellope finds out she loves living the chaotic Slaughter Race game. There isn’t a typical “villain” which is what makes it so unique because it’s about Ralph dealing with Vanellope growing into herself. The Internet is dazzling wonderland as various dopey Internet memes are skewered. And the Disney Princess’ are surprisingly hilarious as Vanellope gets an epic Princess song about how much she loves violent racing games.

5.  The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

Writers and directors Joel and Ethan Coen serve six Old West mortality tales. There’s chatty gunslinger Buster Scruggs (Tim Blake Nelson), a bank robber (James Franco) trying to escape the hangman’s noose, a travelling theatre troupe (Liam Neeson and Harry Melling) that have fallen on hard times, a determined gold digger (Tom Waits), a woman (Zoe Kazan) on a wagon train and five people on a twisty carriage ride. Each has its own flair, some are zippy, or musical while others are dark and meditative, with lots of cool dialogue, action and craziness. It elatedly shifts tone every few minutes for a distinct experience.

4.  The Favourite

A comedy of no manners, courtly scheming, seduction and nasty quips. In the 18^th Century, mad Queen Anne (Olivia Colman) is kept in check by her handler and secret lover Sarah (Rachel Weisz). But the wayward servant, Abigail (Emma Stone), seduces the Queen, creating a conflict as the two women compete to be Anne’s favourite engaging in an escalating series elaborate betrayals. The crackerjack script has funny dialogue patter especially Nicolas Hoult as a scheming courtesan trying to pull Abigail’s strings as director Yorgos Lanthimos makes the ugliness look beautiful. It’s a mean movie but a great time.

3.  A Quiet Place

Director, co-writer and star John Krasinski’s intense experience has a great hook: a horror movie where everyone must stay silent. When marauding creatures attack anyone who makes noise, a husband (Krasinski) and his wife (Emily Blunt) try to save their kids by living as quietly as possible. This is a clockwork of methodical precision as the screws are tightened continually featuring some great moments like the wife giving birth attempting not to scream. By holding back and keeping things silent and tense the explosions of violence grip the audience and do not let go.

2.  Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

A spectacular usage of the animated medium that makes a 2D comic book spring off screen. Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) gets incredible arachnid-like powers and must save the city from Kingpin (Liev Schreiber) who is trying to smash universes together. Miles meets an older, cynical alternate universe Spider-Man (Jake Johnson) and multiple other Spider-people like Spider Gwen (Hailee Stienfeld), Spider-Man Noir (Nicolas Cage) and more. Featuring different animation styles blended into one and its deep cut references of Spider-Man continuity is wonderful. Ultimately, it is a story about a spider-kid trying to find his place in the world with a little help from his Spider-friends.

1. Avengers: Infinity War

A sweeping multi-character war movie epic. After years and multiple movies, Thanos (Josh Brolin) has arrived to claim the Infinity Stones and end half of all life in the universe. This movie easily juggles various superheroes who try desperately to stop the impending doom of the Mad Titan. Infinity War has spectacular action, great performances, especially by Brolin as a crazy zealot who kinda has a point, awesome bits of character banter, huge laughs and heartbreaking moments. An ambitious story on a wide canvass, it has the scope of war odysseys with superheroes which leads to an unforgettable ending as snap goes the world.