Portland observer., February 20, 2019, Page 6, Image 6

Page 6
February 20, 2019
My Picks for Best Films of 2018
o PinionAted
J udge
by
D arleen o rtega
As usual, the more than 150
films I saw this year includes all
of those that populate most critics’
top 10 lists. My own list of the
year’s best films includes some
overlap--but once again five of
the films on my list were virtu-
ally unrecognized by critics. I’m
left savoring a gorgeous reflec-
tion on the life of a central but
marginalized person; two distinct
but game-changing depictions of
black beauty and culture; a film
that prioritizes indigenous per-
spectives on the history of this
continent; a surprisingly honest
depiction of an adolescent girl; a
particularly astute examination
of how racism affects what we
perceive; an Israeli drama that
examines patterns of violence; an
under-celebrated historical drama
with a feminist lens; a documen-
tary that examines systemic injus-
tice in food production; and a pro-
foundly insightful story about one
man’s experience of conversion
therapy. So here’s the whole list,
with fuller descriptions below:
1. Roma
2. If Beale Street Could Talk
3. Hochelaga: Land of Souls
4. Eighth Grade
5. Blindspotting
6. Foxtrot
7. Mary, Queen of Scots
8. Eating Animals
9. Boy Erased
10. Black Panther
1. Some years it is a contest
which of my favorite films will
make the top of my list. Not this
year. “Roma” is one of the best
films I have seen in any year, a
journey of the soul in which vir-
tually every shot is suitable for
framing and for fuller contem-
plation. Director Alfonso Cuarón
has turned an examination of his
own childhood memories into a
model for contemplative seeing,
situating his own story and that of
his family in proper relationship
to the perspective of a marginal-
ized person, his nanny, here called
Cleo (and played with real gravity
by first-time actress Yalitza Apa-
ricio). Centering Cleo’s perspec-
tive not only illuminates what is
true for others, but also demon-
strates how central she actually
is to everyone else’s story. This
film deserves the critical notice
it is getting and then some; we’ll
see if the Oscars do more than pay
lip service to its greatness with a
slew of nominations. [In Spanish,
Mixtec and English; rated R for
graphic nudity, some disturbing
images, and language; nominat-
ed for and should win Academy
Awards for Best Picture and Best
Foreign Language Film; Best Di-
rector (Cuarón); Best Original
Screenplay (Cuarón); Best Cine-
matography (Cuarón); Best Sound
Editing; Best Sound Mixing; Best
Lead Actress (Yalitza Aparicio);
also nominated for Best Support-
ing Actress (Marina de Tavira).]
2. There is no one better than
writer-director Barry Jenkins to
bring black experience to the
big screen. He has followed his
celebrated “Moonlight” with an
adaption of James Baldwin’s nov-
el “If Beale Street Could Talk”
that aches with beauty and sor-
Yalitza Aparicio stars as the live-in housekeeper Cleo in ‘Roma,’
a film that prioritizes the perspectives of those who are relegated
to the margins. The film is no. 1 on Portland Observer and
Opinionated Judge movie critic Darleen Ortega’s best 10 films list
for 2018.
row in appropriate measure, and nal Score (Nicholas Britell); also
that captures profoundly aspects deserved nominations for Best
of African American life that Picture, Best Director (Barry Jen-
are most precious and hardest to kins); Best Lead Actor (Stephan
name. Regina King’s performance James), Best Lead Actress (Kiki
as the clear-eyed mother of one Layne), Best Supporting Actor
of two young people whose love (Brian Tyree Henry), and Best
is the focus of this film deserves Cinematography (James Laxton).]
the raves she has gotten--and she
3.
“Hochelaga: Land of
is surrounded by a host of equally Souls” never got a U.S. release
fine and under-celebrated perfor- and is hard to find here at all de-
mances, including by those two spite good critical notice in Can-
leads (Stephan James and Kiki ada--yet it profoundly altered my
Layne), by Brian Tyree Henry, and own consciousness about the in-
by Colman Domingo, Michael digenous peoples who populated
Beach, Teyonah Parris, and Aun- this continent for centuries longer
janue Ellis. All of them outshine than the Europeans who all but de-
the still-so-white slate of Oscar stroyed their cultures. Prioritizing
nominees. Once again Jenkins the perspectives of its indigenous
has given us a taste of the riches characters in a way that I have
we have been missing in terms of not seen before, this film affords
black stories and talent, buoyed what were for me defining imag-
by gorgeous cinematography and es of colonizing arrogance that
a score that also deserves an Os- refused even to treat indigenous
car. More films like this, please! cultures as cultures, and places
[Rated R for language and some current life into a more accurate
sexual content; nominated for, and historical arc. It speaks a language
should win, Academy Awards for that Hollywood doesn’t yet under-
Best Supporting Actress (Regina stand, and offers a perspective of
King), Best Adapted Screenplay current relationship with the past
(Barry Jenkins), and Best Origi- occupants of this land that we des-
perately need. Find a way to see
this movie, and may it change you
as it did me. [In French, English,
Mohawk and Algonquin; not rat-
ed; deserved Oscar nominations
for Best Foreign Language Film,
Best Director (Francois Girard),
Best Picture, and Best Cinematog-
raphy (Nicolas Bolduc).]
4. “Eighth Grade” offers the
most humane and truthful depic-
tion of adolescence--particular-
ly as experienced by girls--that
I have ever seen. Kayla (an as-
tounding Elsie Fisher) is a good
kid lurching through eighth grade
convinced that she is the only one
who can’t figure out how to pull
off the perfect, air-brushed and
Emoji’ed life that all her peers and
everyone else on Snapchat seems
to be enjoying. First-time director
Bo Burnham, not even a decade
past adolescence himself, gives us
a compassionate and humane film
that helped me understand how
the current internet culture further
complicates life for adolescents,
and sparked a quality of reflection
on my own childhood that most of
us avoid. [Rated R for language
and some sexual material; de-
served Oscar nominations for Best
Picture, Best Director (Bo Burn-
ham), Best Original Screenplay
(Bo Burnham), and Best Actress
(Elsie Fisher).]
5. “Blindspotting” received
nowhere near the attention of
films like “BlackkKlansmen” and
“Sorry to Bother You,” yet far
outshone both those films in illu-
minating how racism endangers
and kills black people and creates
fissures of alienation amongst all
of us that we can scarcely grasp,
let alone heal. Co-writers and stars
Daveed Diggs and Rafael Casal
C ontinueD on p age 15