The year in film was book ended for me by two Mexican masters. Near the beginning of 2018 we saw the masterful The Shape of Water, directed by Guillermo del Toro. It was a superb exercise in magical realism. I thought it deservedly won Best Picture. In that same crop of films were two other magnificent films in Lady Bird, a wonderful directorial debut for Greta Gerwig and Phantom Thread, yet another cinematic masterpiece from the great Paul Thomas Anderson. Through the rest of the year my favourites were generally smaller films that saw very limited release. Such as the extremely moving Leave No Trace and the sparse and beautiful Lean on Pete. My favourite big budget film was definitely First Man, a truly masterful film that I believe deserved a much wider audience than it got. The other big story was the rise of Netflix. The Coen Brothers got into the act with the superb The Ballad of Buster Scruggs and Private Life was another small gem. But it was Alfonso Cuaron who delivered the best I believe. His deeply personal and stunning Roma was taken up by Netflix and it was a triumph in every sense of the word. I was lucky enough to see it on the big screen but thankfully it's also available in homes around the world. It might even be the first foreign language film to win Best Picture. We will soon found out.

1. Roma

2. The Shape of Water

3. Phantom Thread

4. Lady Bird

5. Call Me By Your Name

6. Leave No Trace

7. First Man

8. Lean on Pete

9. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

10. Isle of Dogs