The American Film Institute has announced its top 10 lists for the best in film and television for 2018. Both lists include artistic achievements both small and large, indie favorites and huge blockbusters.
Here’s the list of AFI’s Top 10 films of the year:
- BlacKkKlansman
- Black Panther
- Eighth Grade
- The Favourite
- First Reformed
- Green Book
- If Beale Street Could Talk
- Mary Poppins Returns
- A Quiet Place
- A Star Is Born
So what can we take from this? A Star Is Born, The Favourite, If Beale Street Could Talk and Green Book continue their expected dominance, and should do very well at the Oscars. A24 indie darlings Eighth Grade and First Reformed continue to prove their worth in the race despite relatively small box office, and are much more of a factor in this race than many people once thought. BlacKkKlansman also got a much-needed boost here after stumbling through the early critics prizes.
Black Panther gets in as expected for being such a phenomenon, but Mary Poppins Returns‘ inclusion feels like a sign of things to come, when it comes to positive reception for the film and how the Academy will likely respond. Then there’s the other big hit here, A Quiet Place, which is sticking around so far but I don’t anticipate making it into Best Picture with the Academy, but I suppose stranger things have happened!
And here are the AFI Top 10 TV programs of the year:
- The Americans
- The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story
- Atlanta
- Barry
- Better Call Saul
- The Kominsky Method
- The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
- Pose
- Succession
- This Is Us
Emmy favorites The Americans, The Assassination of Gianni Versace, Atlanta, Barry, Better Call Saul, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and This Is Us continue their lucky streak with mentions here. All are terrific so no arguments from me. Kudos to the three newest shows here, The Kominsky Method, Pose and Succession, for breaking through here, particularly the groundbreaking and excellent Pose. Let’s see if they can earn some Golden Globes love in a few days.
AFI is also giving their Special Award to Roma, which was ineligible for the Top 10 due to the group’s guidelines.