And now with the year winding down we’re ready to countdown our top 10 films of 2018:

10. Maui’s Hook

Heart-wrenching and powerful, this impressive documentary focuses on one of the most raw issues affecting contemporary society today: suicide. Clinical psychologist turned director Paora Joseph focuses his camera on an issue that has torn apart so many families and undertakes a hikoi wairua (spiritual journey) to help a group of six families to come to terms with their loss and find a sense of healing through a journey across New Zealand’s upper North Island. At every stage you are moved by the stories you witness and Joseph presents his film with a unique narrative and style that is all its own. We can’t think of more essential needed viewing than Maui’s Hook this year.

9. Mary Poppins Returns

If you were looking for a film that was practically perfect in everyway then you need not look further than Mary Poppins Returns. This big, bold and colourful musical entertained from its very first note and took audiences on a fantastic adventure courtesy of the world’s favourite nanny Mary Poppins (Emily Blunt). Emily Blunt proved herself to be an eloquent song bird, and was the perfect choice to channel the magical enthusiasm of Mary Poppins, and add in an amazing collection of songs and a great message about the power of family and you had a film that was sure to enchant the whole family.

8. BlackKklansman

They say truth is sometimes stranger than fiction, and it didn’t get much stranger than the incredible true life story of Detective Ron Stallwell in BlackKklansman. Director Spike Lee is a filmmaker who always likes to push the boundaries and he really pushed them here with a film that packed together a hysterical narrative with scathing political commentary. Stars John David Washington and Adam Driver made a great team as two mismatched police officers, and Topher Grace stole the show as a racist with delusions of grandeur. Add in a funkadelic score and great 1970s stylings and we had ourselves a truly remarkable piece of cinema with BlackKklansman.

7. Tully

Motherhood 2018 was the theme of Tully and director Jason Reitman and star Charlize Theron made incredible magic together on this one. On Theron’s part it was commitment over and above anything else she’s done before as she brought the pain, sorrows, struggles and joys out of Marlo Moreau, a mother caught up in modern life. Packing a thoroughly clever screenplay by Diablo Cody, Tully really took audiences for a ride and was a great piece of character exploration for Theron. Rising star Mackenzie Davis also made a great impression as night nurse Tully, and both she and Theron had great chemistry together. Unflinchingly raw and hysterically funny all at the same time, Tully was definitely a film to savor this year.

6. Upgrade

Things got intense with this full-on science-fiction ride of an artificial intelligence gone haywire in Upgrade, and it really delivered one hell of a snap along the way. Boasting one of the most original screenplays we’ve ever had the pleasure to witness, Upgrade was packed out with jagged twists that you could never see coming. Thrust into the middle of all of it was star Logan Marshall-Green as Grey Trace, a technophobe who gets in touch with his superior side thanks to the power of A.I. STEM. Delivering brutal action and captured with a masterful eye, Upgrade seriously got your adrenaline going.

5. Christopher Robin

It didn’t get more adorable this year than Disney’s Christopher Robin and this sweet tale of friendship and imagination most definitely warmed your heart. Featuring Ewan McGregor as a now grown Christopher Robin who has seemingly lost his way, the adult Christopher gets a chance to reconnect with his imagination and the joys of his life once again thanks to the belief and power of his friends Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore, Tigger, Kanga, Roo, Rabbit and Owl. The beauty of the Hundred Acre Woods shone through here and the film had a perfectly polished English countryside aesthetic. Beautiful and heartfelt at every turn, Christopher Robin was sure to fill your heart with joy and set your imagination free.

4. Ready Player One

If you wanted pure escapism then there was no better way to experience it than through director Steven Spielberg’s blockbuster adaptation of cult classic novel Ready Player One. This digital extravaganza was a thrill from beginning to end and its pop culture treasure hunt was certain to make any cinema fan’s mind sparkle with amazing references to everything we loved about the 1980s. With magnificent special effects and a hard charging soundtrack of powerful rock ballads, Ready Player One took us to a far away universe of digital imagination that truly made us go WOW!

3. A Star Is Born

The full breadth of love was felt by all with Bradley Cooper’s masterful epic re-telling of A Star Is Born, and all who watched it were sure to feel their emotions run high here. Every moment of this film was presented with perfection and star Lady Gaga gave the performance of a lifetime as sheltered singer-songwriter Alley, who through the love and trust of volatile rocker Jackson Maine (Cooper) is finally able to set her voice free. Narrative and character drove this cinematic experience, and with the addition of its rocking soundtrack you found yourself embraced in a film of extraordinary vision and soul.

2. First Man

What is it to chase the impossible? That’s where director Damien Chazelle (La La Land, Whiplash) took us in this incredible true story of one man’s dream to push through the stars and reach the moon in First Man. With grand scope and incredible realism, Chazelle fully visualizes the incredible push it took to reach the moon and the toll that was exacted on those who set foot on it. Both Ryan Gosling and Claire Foy gave the performances of their lives as Neil Armstrong and his wife Janet, and the boundaries of their relationship were certainly pushed to the limit with this incredible tale. Bound by breathtaking visuals and the incredible willpower of the human spirit, First Man was a testament to the power of man’s endeavour to reach the extraordinary.

1. Mission: Impossible – Fallout

If you wanted blockbuster action than you need not look further than Mission: Impossible – Fallout and this colossal cinema experience was ready to give you the ride of your life! Tom Cruise once again returned to the role of intrepid superspy Ethan Hunt and this time it was go big or go home. With a narrative that cracked forward with a supercharged pace and action scenes which exploded with power, you found yourself pulled in every direction imaginable and the result was electrifying. And then there was the film’s epic third act extravaganza of a helicopter chase gone crazy which certainly left you needing a replacement adrenal gland after its wild thrills. To put it straight Mission: Impossible – Fallout was just AMAZING and this crazy rollercoaster of action was incredible to behold.

Images: Roadshow Films, Paramount Pictures, Universal Pictures, Walt Disney Pictures, Studio Canal, Mad Man Films

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Musician Jackson Maine (Bradley Cooper) helps a young singer named Alley (Lady Gaga) find fame, even as age and alcoholism send his own career into a downward spiral.

From the moment that the screen flickers to light, A Star Is Born explodes with a thunderous rock rift and you’re pulled into a dynamic rock drama that never lets up for a moment. As a director Bradley Cooper has full control over his film and his passion as a creative artist shines through. With his directorial debut its clear that he wants his audience to be invested in his film and to experience something incredible….and he absolutely delivers here.

Cooper draws you into the ‘play fast, live faster’ world of blockbuster recording artists and he truly takes you behind the music. As an audience member you’re constantly engaged and his smart narrative takes you in a whole range of directions that you won’t see coming, and when the credits do begin to roll you’ll feel your heart beating at an extraordinary pace. Movies don’t get more alive than this.

Along with directing the film Cooper also takes on the role of hard-charging rockstar Jackson Maine who is slowly and almost deliberating beginning to fall into the shadows through progressive hearing loss and some serious substance abuse problems. If I were to use a word to describe Jackson then its definitely authentic. He feels like a real person, with real problems, who is experiencing life at a million miles an hour and who having touched the sun is approaching burnout at an incredibly alarming rate. It’s Cooper’s most intense and honest performance to date and knowing Cooper’s own history, which itself was tinged by deep depression and drug abuse in his early years, you understand that he wants to capture the heartache of that lifestyle when it just becomes too much.

As Jackson Cooper channels a character who is equal parts Neil Young and Kurt Cobain and he really opens up when it comes to the performances. Rocking a vintage Gibson Les Paul guitar, Cooper attacks the neck and slams out his rough blues-inspired grunge that echoes the cords of the 1970s and radiates cool. It’s a rift that gets inside your skin and you feel the electricity that flows through his whole being. Cooper clearly wanted to capture the rockstar spirit up on screen with Jackson and he definitely succeeds.

While Cooper might be directing A Star Is Born the film belongs to Lady Gaga who gives one of the most thought-provoking and beautiful performances that I’ve ever witnessed as a young woman who is struggling to find her voice.

As Alley, a young would-be singer songwriter who has so far not achieved her dreams and is living a life that has destroyed her creative soul you find a character who inspires incredible sympathy. It’s only after a chance encounter with Jackson that her life begins to spin upwards and her journey to the top is like a rocket and its one hell of an exciting journey.

Lady Gaga’s performance is simply extraordinary and she really wipes away any presence of her own self in the role and instead presents the character of Alley completely. While watching the film you don’t see Gaga you see Alley and for any actress that’s an incredibly hard thing to perform. Not so with Lady Gaga here and when she does finally unleash her voice you find yourself completely and totally mesmerized with what unfolds on screen. And along with her voice and performance you completely buy into the love that Alley and Jackson share together and their tumultuous rockstar love affair will rarely spin you around.

Everything comes together with A Star Is Born and watching it you feel that Cooper has been readying himself for this film his entire life and all of the work he’s done before has been in preparation for this cinematic event. The details truly matter in A Star Is Born and everyone involved in the project works to deliver something extraordinary. I have to praise the cinematography of Matthew Libatique who captures the film with a beautiful eye that radiates the unique glam pallet of Alley’s pop star world and the rustic tones of Jackson’s cowboy life.

Every detail in this film is designed to push the narrative further and the film’s incredible score plays a crucial part in this. Singing live both Cooper and Lady Gaga craft some incredible tunes that will become instant classics. With the music you get a vast range from Cooper’s blues tinged rock tracks such as ‘Black Eyes’ and ‘Alibi’ to Lady Gaga’s soul inspired tracks such as ‘Always Remember Us This Way’ and the heartfelt ‘I’ll Never Love Again’. But it’s the film’s signature duet track ‘Shallow’ which will really command your attention and which will leave you completely enchanted.

A Star Is Born is a simply incredible piece of cinema come to life and from beginning to end it will enchant you completely. It’s story is timeless and it is heart-wrenchingly beautiful in its presentation. Experience this masterpiece now and be transformed.

Image: Roadshow Films

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Based upon the classic 1937 film, which itself has been remade two times, both in 1954 with Judy Garland and James Mason and in 1976 with Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson, Coopers take on the classic story finds him as rough-around-the-edges country singer Jackson Maine who is beginning to falter thanks to serious substance abuse and burnout issues, but who finds love and the possibility of redemption with the talented, but shy singer-songwriter Ally (Lady Gaga).

Cooper appears to have thrown himself into the film and again challenges himself with a tough character and heart-pounding story of dream chasing and what it means to truly find your soulmate. Lady Gaga also steps up to the plate as Ally, a young woman who has lost her place in the world, but who with Jackson at her side just might have the chance of doing something extraordinary.

The production values look incredible on A Star Is Born and as an audience member you can expect some seriously amazing vocals from both Cooper and Gaga who really meld well together and who both shine up on screen.

A Star is Born is definitely for the dreamers out there and your heart is sure to flutter a little bit when this cinematic experience arrives on screen on October 4.

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