In the 5th Post post-Oscars, my true love sent to me: my favorite movie music of 2018.
RECAP
—2018 Favorites: Introduction
—In the 1st Post post-Oscars: 2018 Movies — Intro + Complete List
—In the 2nd Post post-Oscars: 2018 Genre Movies
—In the 3rd Post post-Oscars: 2018 Movie Beginnings and Endings
—In the 4th Post post-Oscars: 2018 Miscellaneous Movies
And now, my favorite 2018:
SCORE (Instrumental)
- Nicholas Britell, If Beale Street Could Talk
- Colin Stetson, Hereditary
- Mowg, Burning
- Scott Walker, Vox Lux: A 21st Century Portrait
- Jonny Greenwood, You Were Never Really Here
- Caroline Shaw, Madeline’s Madeline
- Andrew Hung, An Evening with Beverly Luff Linn
- Anna Meredith, Eighth Grade
- Carter Burwell, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
- Thom Yorke, Suspiria
- The Octopus Project, Damsel
- Daniel Hart, The Old Man & the Gun
- Nick Zammuto, We the Animals
SCORE (Vocal)
- Vox Lux: A 21st Century Portrait
- A Bread Factory, Parts One & Two
- The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
- Teen Titans Go! To the Movies
- Forever My Girl
- Hearts Beat Loud
- Good Manners
ORIGINAL SONG (In-Movie)
(It’s fucking ridiculous that Academy Awards voters commonly judge “Best Original Song” by evaluating the quality of each submitted song in a vacuum, rarely factoring how they’re used in the actual movie. This isn’t the fucking Grammys; every single Oscars category should consider how the eligible work contributes to their respective movies. As such, “Best Original Song” should almost be retitled “Best Musical Sequence of an Original Song.” In other words: PLEASE STOP NOMINATING CLOSING-CREDITS SONGS!!! Don’t get me wrong: the final notes a movie strikes can be just as important — thus the reason Bruce Springsteen’s “The Wrestler” remains the most ludicrous snub in the Academy’s history YEAH I SAID IT — but too, TOO, TOO, TOO!!! often nominators choose end-credits songs that add basically nothing more than a nice song to listen to while walking out of the theater. PLUS, these same nominators egregiously-favor starry names who will potentially boost ratings by singing their song on the broadcast.
OK, rant over.
One more, unrelated note: Some of my favorite songwriting of the year appears in Vox Lux, but the composers were tasked with creating intentionally-insipid tracks; as such, it feels wrong to nominate them here)
- “Little Joe the Wrangler (Surly Joe)” — The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
- “Upbeat Inspirational Song About Life” — Teen Titans Go! To the Movies
- “Opps” — Black Panther
- “Hearts Beat Loud” — Hearts Beat Loud
- “Smokin’ and Cryin’” — Forever My Girl
- Cash’s Rap — Sorry To Bother You
- “Ocean to Ocean” — Aquaman
- Selfie Singin’ in the Rain Song — A Bread Factory, Part Two
- “Revelation” — Boy Erased
- “Turning My Life Around” — Anna and the Apocalypse
- The Beverly Luff Linn Band — An Evening with Beverly Luff Linn
- “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch” — The Grinch
- Backseat Tribal Campfire — We the Animals
- “This Way” — Superfly
- “No Shame” — Superfly
ORIGINAL SONG (Closing-Credits)
(Again: 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
USE OF A PRE-EXISTING SONG (Closing-Credits)
- “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
USE OF A PRE-EXISTING SONG (In-Movie)
(New covers of old songs also qualify).
- “Blues Run the Game” — The Old Man & the Gun
- First Reformed
- WHAT SONG PLAYS OVER THE PSYCHEDELIC ENDING?!?!
- “I Won’t Hurt You” — Isle of Dogs
- “At Last” — Let the Sunshine In
- “It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)” — Tyrel
- “A Thousand Miles” — Oh Lucy!
- Colonialist Prayer — Makala
- “Words (Original Version 1982)” — An Evening with Beverly Luff Linn
- “A Little Less Conversation” — American Animals
- “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” — Garry Winogrand: All Things Are Photographable
- “Let It Snow” — Loving Pablo
- “These Boots Are Made For Walking” — Ocean’s 8
- “Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)” — Ideal Home
- Cynthia Erivo — Bad Times at the El Royale
- “Take on Me” — Teen Titans Go! To the Movies
- “Material Girl” — Crazy Rich Asians
- Will Smith Rap — Gringo
SOUNDTRACK
- The Favourite
- I Feel Pretty
- What We Started
- Instant Family
- Fifty Shades Freed
- The Green Fog
- Eighth Grade
- Skate Kitchen
- Bad Times at the El Royale
- Dumplin’
- Private Life
- Never Goin’ Back
- In Between
MUSICAL
(Another Vox Lux note: I do not consider it a musical, because it’s really just a regular movie that leads into an extended musical performance at the end)
- A Bread Factory, Part Two
- Teen Titans Go! To the Movies
- Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again
- Forever My Girl
- Night is Short, Walk on Girl
