Jim Healy is Director of Progamming of the UW Cinematheque and the Wisconsin Film Festival.
I saw 721 feature films that were new to me in 2018. These 10, presented in alphabetical order, provided me with the most pleasure:
THE BALLAD OF BUSTER SCRUGGS (2018, Joel & Ethan Coen)
GAME NIGHT (2018, John Francis Daley, Jonathan Goldstein)
ISLE OF DOGS (2018, Wes Anderson)
LEAVE NO TRACE (2018, Debra Granik)
MANDY (2018, Panos Cosmatos)
PHANTOM THREAD (2017, Paul Thomas Anderson)
LA RAGAZZA IN VENTRINA (1961, Luciano Emmer)
RALPH BREAKS THE INTERNET (2018, Phil Johnston, Rich Moore)
ROMA (2018, Alfonso Cuaron)
WHEN TOMORROW COMES (1939, John M. Stahl)
Here's a list of 20 other movies that I enjoyed almost as much:
ANT MAN AND THE WASP (2018, Peyton Reed)
CAMILLA (1954, Luciano Emmer)
CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME (2018, Marielle Heller)
GREEN BOOK (2018, Peter Farrelly)
THE L-SHAPED ROOM (1963, Bryan Forbes)
HEREDITARY (2018, Ari Aster)
ICE COLD IN ALEX (1958, J. Lee Thompson)
I AM NOT A WITCH (2017, Rungano Nyoni)
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE FALLOUT (2018, Christopher McQuarrie)
NONE SHALL ESCAPE (1943, Andre de Toth)
ONE MORE SPRING (1935, Henry King)
THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND (2018, Orson Welles)
PADDINGTON 2 (2017, Paul King)
PETERLOO (2018, Mike Leigh)
PRIVATE LIFE (2018, Tamara Jenkins)
THE RED KIMONA (1925, Walter Lang, Dorothy Davenport)
ROSAURO CASTRO (1950, Roberto Gavaldon)
SEED (1931, John M. Stahl)
SUPPORT THE GIRLS (2018, Andrew Bujalski)
24 FRAMES (2017, Abbas Kiarostami)
Just for the hell of it, here are another 20 movies that I really liked:
BUMBLEBEE (2018, Travis Knight)
CEILING ZERO (1935, Howard Hawks)
CHANG: A DRAMA OF THE WILDERNESS (1927, Merian C. Cooper & Ernest B. Schoedsack)
CREED II (2018, Steven Caple, Jr.)
FIRST MAN (2018, Damien Chazelle)
49TH PARALLEL (1941, Michael Powell)
GONE TO EARTH (1950, Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger)
IN FABRIC (2018, Peter Strickland)
INCREDIBLES 2 (2018, Brad Bird)
THE JERICHO MILE (1979, Michael Mann)
THE MAD GAME (1933, Irving Cummings)
MAKING MONTGOMERY CLIFT (2018, Robert A. Clift, Hillary Demmon)
NOS BATAILLES (2018, Guillaume Senez)
OUR VINES HAVE TENDER GRAPES (1945, Roy Rowland)
THE PREDATOR (2018, Shane Black)
READY PLAYER ONE (2018, Steven Spielberg)
A STAR IS BORN (2018, Bradley Cooper)
LOS TALLOS AMARGOS (1956, Fernando Ayala)
ULYSSES & MONA (2018, Sebastian Betbeder)
WOMEN OF ALL NATIONS (1931, Raoul Walsh)