My Favorite Films & Performances of the Year, Pre-Christmas Rush

I've yet to see The Favourite.

Or Cold War.

Or If Beale Street Could Talk.

Or Vice.

Or Mary Poppins Returns.

Or, and I can't believe I'm about to say this but the reviews have been so damn good I'm suddenly excited, Bumblebee.

But I will see each one of those and several others, including Mary Queen of Scots, in the coming days and weeks as Hollywood's annual Christmas rush of blockbusters and late entry awards contenders get underway. As such, I can't really do a full "top films of 2018" list yet because it would be entirely incomplete. However, as I'm writing this I'm literally listening to a Variety podcast in which two critics debate their films of the year and which they think are the leading Oscar contenders. Everyone's doing it, and I've got the itch to join in.

So, here's a snapshot of my favorite films and performances of the year as of right now. Here they are, listed and ranked in an "If I could pick the Oscar nominees" kind of way, and just like the real Oscars I gave into a little bit of category fraud. Dangit, I had to find some way to recognize both Thomasin McKenzie ( Leave No Trace) and Elsie Fisher ( Eighth Grade).

Favorite Lead Performance-Actress Favorite Lead Performance-Actor Favorite Supporting Performance-Actress Favorite Supporting Performance-Actor

1. Michael B. Jordan, Black Panther
2. Russell Hornsby, The Hate U Give
3. Hugh Grant, Paddington 2
4. Richard E. Grant, Can You Ever Forgive Me?
5. Jake Johnson, Voice of Peter Parker in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Favorite Director

1. Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey & Rodney Rothman, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
2. Alfonso Cuaron, Roma
3. Ryan Coogler, Black Panther
4. Bradley Cooper, A Star is Born
5. Ari Aster, Hereditary

Favorite First Feature Favorite Horror Film Favorite Comic Book Movie Favorite Animated Movie Favorite Documentary Favorite Film Overall What about you? What's your "best of 2018" list looking like right now? Let me know in the comments.

Grew up obsessing over movies and TV shows. Worked in a video store. Minored in film at college because my college didn't offer a film major. Worked in academia for a while. Have been freelance writing and running this blog since 2013. View all posts by Kelly Konda