Retrospective 2018- A Year in Film

November

November’s Reign

Image sources: Warner, 20th Century Fox & Amazon

As usual the penultimate month of the year proved to be one of the strongest and most diverse for UK releases, with its share of flops of course. British audiences were treated to franchise and big studio fare of varying quality, from the more memorable like torch-passing boxing sequel ‘Creed II‘ to disappointments like Rowling wizarding world sequel ‘Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald‘ and ‘Dragon Tattoo’ series sequel/reboot ‘The Girl in the Spider’s Web’, to the entirely forgettable English legend reboot ‘Robin Hood‘ and rare Disney dud ‘The Nutcracker and the Four Realms’.

Away from tentpole filmmaking and big studio pictures we got a look at Paul Dano’s nuanced directorial debut ‘Wildlife‘ and Steve McQueen’s female-led crime drama ‘Widows‘, plus Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Japanese Palme d’Or-winner ‘Shoplifters’, Luca Guadagnino’s bold classic horror remake ‘Suspiria‘ and anarchic state-of-America thriller ‘Assassination Nation‘. Meanwhile Netflix made its cinematic presence felt with its own ‘original films’ the Coen Brothers western anthology ‘The Ballad of Buster Scruggs‘, plus Robert the Bruce biopic (and Braveheart companion piece/correction) ‘Outlaw King‘.

Those We Lost

Image source: NBC, AP, Image Entertainment & DPA

November proved to be one of the toughest months for the industry as we lost Canadian actor and unmistakable voice of ‘HAL 9000’ Douglas Rain (90) (2001: A Space Odyssey, Henry V) and veteran American TV actress Katherine MacGregor (93) (Ironside, Little House on the Prairie), as well as celebrated Oscar-winning screenwriter William Goldman (87) (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Princess Bride). We also lost two influential directors and major figures in international cinema with the passing of British cinematographer-turned-director Nicolas Roeg (90) (Don’t Look Now, The Man Who Fell to Earth) and Oscar-winning Italian writer/director Bernardo Bertolucci (77) (Last Tango in Paris, The Last Emperor).

Excelsior!

Image source: Getty Images

The month also marked the end of an era when Marvel Comics publisher, comic-book pioneer and cameo king Stan Lee passed away at the age of ninety-five. Leaving behind a legacy of flawed, interesting and colourful superheroes and socially conscious stories ahead of their time, influencing artists and fans for generations, and birthing billion dollar franchises—while living long enough to see the global impact of his work . . . and then some. Excelsior! Mr. Lieber, Excelsior.

December next page>

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