In the 3rd Post post-Oscars, my true love sent to me: grand openings, grand closings.
RECAP
—2018 Favorites: Introduction
—In the 1st Post post-Oscars: 2018 Movies — Intro + Complete List
—In the 2nd Post post-Oscars: 2018 Genre Movies
I’m not sure how much introductory explicating my favorite movie openings and closings from 2018 movies requires, except to say that I describe each below with a pithy one-liner. For more musings regarding opening credits specifically, keep an eye out for an upcoming piece on a refreshingly-familiar trend staging a bit of a comeback in 2019’s infancy.
And now, my favorite 2018:
OPENING SHOT
- Treehouse — Hereditary
- Previously On… — A Bread Factory, Part Two
- Text into Just Another Walk in the Park? — If Beale Street Could Talk
- Vlog — Eighth Grade
- Sky and Shit — Roma
- Gone with the Wind — BlacKkKlansman
- Sex — Let the Sunshine In
- The Book! — The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
- Subway — Oh Lucy!
- Extreme Acting Class Close-Up — Hannah
- Tourist Bus to See the Witches — I Am Not a Witch
- Bored Dog — Permission
- Shot in the Rear — Private Life
- Following Shot — Burning
- Lost in a Sea of Towels — The Land of Steady Habits
- At Eternity’s Gate
- I forgot to describe the shot in my notes, and all these months later, I now don’t remember it — for shame!
- Protests — A Bread Factory, Part One
- Black Title Card Against White Snow — Tyrel
- Bed Make-Out — Widows
- Blue VO — Unsane
PRE-OPENING CREDITS SCENE(S)
(As in, the scene(s) that come before the opening credits, leading into them)
- Narrated School Shooting — Vox Lux: A 21st Century Portrait
- Titular Monologue — Thunder Road
- Sex + Proposal Cold Feet — Permission
- Vlog Zoom-Out — Eighth Grade
- Pastor at Bus Stop — Damsel
- Fake Suicide — Cam
- Prostitution — Tehran Taboo
- IMPRESSIONISM — At Eternity’s Gate
- The Ferryman — The House That Jack Built
- Pleasure + Pain — The Charmer
- Recording vs. Recording — John McEnroe: In the Realm of Perfection
- Sex + Nobel — The Wife
- Inverse Lion King — Alpha
- Hanging from the Fan — Arizona
- 3/4 of the Movie! — Mandy
OPENING SCENE
(The difference between pre-credits scenes and an opening scene = the latter don’t necessarily lead into the credits)
- Penetrating the Atmosphere — First Man
- Rap Battle — Bodied
- A Toxically-Masculine Ladder Dare — Minding the Gap
OPENING CREDITS
- Previously On… — A Bread Factory, Part Two
- The Long, Bloody, Choppy Set-Up — Let the Corpses Tan
- Kids! — We the Animals
- Middle Schoolers — Eighth Grade
- Sky and Shit — Roma
- Daily Commute — The Commuter
- Olde West Novel — The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
- Reverse Scroll — Vox Lux: A 21st Century Portrait
- Animated Live Action — Christopher Robin
- 007 — The Girl in the Spider’s Web
- Cinéma Français — A Simple Favor
- Protests — A Bread Factory, Part One
- MASTERPIECE THEATRE — Operation Finale
- The Roads to Work — Support the Girls
- Classic — Mission: Impossible — Fallout
- His Art — Leaning into the Wind
- Dance — Damsel
- Welcome to the Dollhouse — Fahrenheit 11/9
- Two Oaklands — Blindspotting
- Suspiria
- Ditto the At-Eternity’s-Gate-opening-shot sentiment above — shame on me!
- iMessage — Nobody’s Fool
- 3-D Graphics — Upgrade
- So Late! — The Captain
- The Font! — The Favourite
CLOSING CREDITS
- Movie’s Still Going — Let the Sunshine In
- Waiting for Their Fate — Private Life
- Animated Rules of Nature — Infinite Football
- Planes Flying Overhead — Roma
- More Art — Leaning Into the Wind
- Hook, Line, Sinker / “West Side Story” — Vice
- 3-D Game — Game Night
- Freeze Frame — Claire’s Camera
- Left Behind at Cafe — You Were Never Really Here
- “I Want Candy”? — The Happytime Murders
- Shards of Glass — Double Lover
- Random Shots of City — Have A Nice Day
- Snorting — An Evening with Beverly Luff Linn
CLOSING-CREDITS SONG (Original)
(The Academy loves to nominate Original Songs that play over their respective movie’s credits. The final note a movie strikes is obviously important — why else would I be writing this post?! — but songs that conclude a movie should not be compared to songs tasked with actually complementing the action. As such, there should be two Original Song categories, one devoted to each type of song)
- “Could You Be a Little Less Supportive” — A Bread Factory, Part Two
- “Whose Side Are You On / End of Part One” — A Bread Factory, Part One
- “Let’s Go (The Royal We)” — Venom
- “Not A Game” — Blindspotting
- “Venom” — Venom
CLOSING-CREDITS SONG (Pre-Existing)
- “This Year” — Minding the Gap
- “Skyline Pigeon” — The Favourite
- “Hit the Road Jack” — The House That Jack Built
- “My Name Is” — Bodied
- “America” — Vice
- “Losing My Religion” — Tyrel
LAST SHOT
- Breaking Dual Identity in Mirror During Sex — Double Lover
- Fading Drive-In — The Other Side of the Wind
- Still a World Away — First Man
- Cat Comes Back Under Tree — Under the Tree
- Alone Dancing Down Street — Madeline’s Madeline
- Waiting for Their Fate — Private Life
- Sustained Conversation Over Credits — Let the Sunshine In
- It’s a Rabbit Eat Rabbit World — The Favourite
- Look Up at the Planes — Roma
- Cult in Treehouse — Hereditary
- Godot, Here I Come — The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
- Pick Up the Phone — Life and Nothing More
- JURASSIC WORLD INDEED — Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
- Werewolf + Woman vs. Mob — Good Manners
- What Neighbor Sees and Closes Door on Across the Hall — Custody
- Suspiria
- I must’ve taken some shoddy notes during Suspiria…
- Three Shakes Left in a Cafe — You Were Never Really Here
- Sailing into the Future — Damsel
- Subway Embrace — Oh Lucy!
- Massaging Kid — Tully
- City of Death — Tehran Taboo
- From Uncontainable Artist to Lasting, Static, Mostly Ignored Memorial — Rodin
- Zoom-Out Over Beach and Deserted Boat — On Chesil Beach
- Hi, My Name Is… — Bodied
- Whale — Hannah
- Walking Away from Home and into Future — Permission
- Freeze Frame — Claire’s Camera
- Bookending Swaying Trees — What Keeps You Alive
- Man and Man’s Best Friend — Alpha
