“You get to that place of grief where you just want to climb out of it, that physiological response of there’s got to be a workaround to get over it. You feel like there’s got to be a shortcut. I’m the eldest grandchild. There had to be a way for me to tell their [my grandparents’] story and help everyone heal.”
– Elizabeth Chomko

I’m not going to say that Bohemian Rhapsody is the worst film of 2018. I will say it is the year’s most disappointing release to come out of major Hollywood studio this year, this biography of legendary singer Freddie Mercury chronicling Rock ‘n’ Roll supergroup Queen in the 1970s and ‘80s an inept melodramatic slog that never met a troubled musician cliché it didn’t want to enthusiastically embrace with open arms.

There is magic here. Not a lot of it but there’s definitely some to be certain, and with that being the case maybe this newest utilization of Hoffman’s story and Tchaikovsky’s ballet isn’t such a waste of time after all.

The final 15 minutes are explosive, not so much for their scares (there really aren’t any) but because of the way Bertelsen and Ruhlin so deftly pull at the viewer’s heartstrings. It’s pretty stunning, Welcome to Mercy asking questions regarding faith, religion, parenthood and self-sacrifice I found moving.

Can You Ever Forgive Me? is a tremendously entertaining motion picture overflowing in laughs, tears, insights and numerous other indelible moments, all of it centered on an unforgettable character whose larger-than-life antics confirm once again that truth truly is far stranger than fiction could ever hope to be.

Guadagnino doesn’t so much improve upon Argento’s original (which isn’t possible) so much as he makes his interpretation exist as its own, ingeniously idiosyncratic entity outside of the original source material. Watching it cast its bloody, violently unhinged spell is a thing of poetical majesty, ultimately making it a viewing experience I’m not soon to forget.

Our House might not go anyplace I found to be unexpected or original, but that does not mean it still didn’t get there with enough flair and creative energy to keep me entertained.

What They Had spoke to me with such astonishing clarity I almost couldn’t believe it.

For all his obvious skill behind the camera, Hill’s debut left me too anxious, questioning and somewhat angry for me to be able to feel comfortable extolling any of its many virtues, and even if I reassess Mid90s at some point in the future I honestly don’t see my feelings changing anytime soon.