Last year I combined my favorite movies, TV shows, and music from the year into one post. Why? Well, for one, it’s easier than trying to assemble three separate posts with a top 10 list for films, shows, and albums. Second, it allows me to prioritize which pieces of culture meant the most to me that year. So I’m doing it again for 2018.
These are not necessarily ranked by what was the greatest achievement this year. It’s more about what stuck with me the most, what left the biggest mark. Some years the movies or TV might be more impactful than the music, or vice versa. 2018 was a down year for popular music, as the big artists either sat out or delivered mediocre work, although there was still plenty of gems to discover; you just had to look a little harder. However, this was a fantastic year for cinema (there’s five movies in my top ten here), as I was left agape at that medium’s power in a world that is increasingly streaming-friendly. Enough summary though — let’s get to my 20 favorite things from pop culture this year. My full top 10 lists are at the bottom.
- God’s Favorite Customer – Father John Misty

I was not a fan of Father John Misty’s bloated, pretentious Pure Comedy from 2017, so it was a delight to be back on the Father John bandwagon this year with God’s Favorite Customer, which features more sonic variety and raw emotion. In many ways, this album can be seen as a course-correction to Pure Comedy. There are gorgeous melodies all over this album that aren’t just Josh Tillman sitting at a piano — although there are some of those too (“The Palace” and “The Songwriter” are terrific). “Disappointing Diamonds…” and “Mr. Tillman” bring back that breezy Father John sound that we fell in love with, while his clever wordplay remains intact (“Must have been in the poem zone” is the most amusing line of the year). Best of all, God’s Favorite Customer is less concerned with diagnosing the world’s problems (which could come off a tad condescending), and more of a witty probe of Tillman’s own psyche.
- Hope Downs – Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever
These Australian indie rockers know how to make pleasing rock that refuses to drag. Hope Downs, their endlessly listenable debut LP, clocks in at just 35 minutes. “Mainland”, “Bellarine”, and “The Hammer” are probably the catchiest, but there’s not a single track worth skipping here. Rolling Blackouts made the best music this year for when the sky is blue and your windows are rolled down.
- Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
Back in grade school, someone convinced our entire class that Mr. Rogers was a retired Navy SEAL with dozens of confirmed kills. Apparently he wore those long sleeve cardigans because he was hiding the many, many tattoos that covered his arms. Well, none of that turned out to be true, but it’s telling that everyone believed it. Back then, and especially today, Fred Rogers seemed too good to be true; he just had to be hiding something behind that soft smile. Won’t You Be My Neighbor? posits that the gentle, friendly, generous man we all watched on TV was exactly that in his personal life. It’s clear he cared deeply about children and about displaying kindness to all, which can seem weird in a cynical, ironic culture. Near the end of this life-affirming documentary, I found myself incredibly moved by the portrait of Mr. Rogers that it had drawn. This humble, unassuming, and sincere man seemed like the most radical person I’d ever laid eyes on.
- Killing Eve

When you let actors really sink their teeth into a meaty part, you get a show like Killing Eve. Actress and writer Phoebe Waller-Bridge made a show that spread like wildfire through word-of-mouth this year. Not only was this BBC America product imbued with globe-hopping panache, but Waller-Bridge wrote brilliant roles for her two leads. Newcomer Jodie Comer plays the assassin Villanelle, while Sandra Oh is the titular Eve, an MI5 officer both fascinated and repulsed by Comer’s psychopath. Both actresses have an absolute ball playing with this dynamic and the show is incredibly easy to love. It was probably the most fun I had watching TV this year.
- A Quiet Place

In 10 years, after the release of the awful sequel A Quiet Place 5: Still Quiet, I predict we will look back with immense fondness for the original A Quiet Place. This movie has such a phenomenal premise and was so successful this year, that I can’t imagine how Hollywood won’t wring the life out of it with an increasingly inert horror franchise. John Krasinski’s creature feature is incredibly fun and frightening, but it’s also grounded in his (and his wife Emily Blunt’s) personal parental anxieties that mothers and fathers around the world can relate to. With hardly any dialogue and very little score, all the actors, and Blunt in particular, are able to emote fear, panic, love, and more with just their body language and facial expressions. This is such an original achievement that it will no doubt try to be copied endlessly for years to come.
- Black Panther: The Album – Kendrick Lamar
Even in a year without a traditional release from Kendrick Lamar, we get treated to his terrific soundtrack for one of the highest-grossing movies of all-time. Black Panther: The Album is a best-case scenario for when one artist controls a compilation album (think Kanye’s mediocre Cruel Summer). Kendrick isn’t on every track, but he’s the unifying creative force here. This is by no means his best ever work, due to the fact that a Marvel blockbuster needs a certain amount of accessibility. Still, the production throughout is marvelous, from the R&B songs (“All The Stars”, “The Ways”) to the harder rap tracks (“X”, “Paramedic!”, “King’s Dead”).
It’s not surprising Kendrick was able to bring in some of the hottest names in hip-hop and R&B, but it is incredible that all this talent on one record doesn’t turn into a mess. Familiar faces like SZA, 2 Chainz, Khalid, and The Weeknd are here, but so are lesser known acts like SOB x RBE and Yugen Blakrok. All along it’s Kendrick’s vision that keeps things humming. We’re left with a gorgeous and thrilling soundtrack to an epic, culture-shaping movie. That doesn’t happen everyday.
- Sharp Objects
Sharp Objects was the rare show that made you feel like you were dwelling in the same oppressively humid environment as its characters. Set in rural Missouri, this miniseries possessed such an evocative atmosphere that you were likely to feel beads of sweat form on your forehead and a need to pour yourself a stiff glass of whiskey like everyone on screen.
HBO really brought in the talent for this one. Adapted from author Gillian Flynn’s novel, she and Marti Noxon create a screenplay that works effectively as a murder mystery and a psychological probe of its damaged characters. Director Jean-Marc Vallee returns to HBO after last year’s successful adaptation of another novel, Big Little Lies, to deliver possibly his best work yet. His mastery of the tone and emotion of material that could turn into ridiculous camp in the wrong hands made for a fever dream you could get lost in.
Amy Adams is typically stellar in the lead role and Eliza Scanlen, who plays her mysterious sister, is a name to remember. That last scene is one of the most unforgettable endings in recent memory.
- DAYTONA – Pusha T

Pusha T often gets knocked for only rapping about one thing. Just like an author that exclusively writes crime novels, King Push has stayed in the same lane for his entire career. He raps about drugs and making money from drugs. And he does it better than anyone.
While Pusha hasn’t typically been the subject of mainstream conversation during his impressive career, he proved himself to be as savvy and imposing as ever during his high-profile beef with Drake this year. And, oh yeah, he released a fantastic record in 2018 as well, with all seven tracks produced by Kanye West. It’s not surprising that Pusha rapping over Kanye beats is pure bliss. At just 21 minutes long, DAYTONA is a concise and lethal album. Over Kanye’s delicious sample-heavy loops, Push remains true to who he’s been his entire career: Hip-hop’s preeminent crime novelist.
- Wild Wild Country
Netflix’s documentary series on a truly unbelievable chain of events in 1980s Oregon had me riveted over its six hours. Brothers Maclain and Chapman Way direct Wild Wild Country with attention to detail and just the right amount of style. Against a killer soundtrack and fascinating archival footage, they take you through the story of how a controversial Indian guru built a cult community in the Oregon desert before eventually taking over a nearby town. As things turn increasingly dark and bizarre, the Way brothers show us how religion, government, celebrity, power, and freedom crash together in America. You’ll be scratching your head wondering why you’ve never heard this story before.
- Widows

If you’d always wanted a prestige Oscar-minted filmmaker to go for broke on a heist movie, 2018 gave you your wish. Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave) co-wrote and directed his version of a crime genre picture with Widows. With an utterly stacked cast (literally too many good actors to mention here — look it up), Widows is both somber and invigorating. It’s a big Hollywood movie made by a director with more on his mind than just entertainment. Unfortunately, 20th Century Fox’s marketing team dropped the ball, because the movie had limited impact at the box office when it should have been a must-see. Still, Widows seems like the kind of film built to stand the test of time.
- If Beale Street Could Talk
How do you follow up a modern masterpiece and Best Picture winner? There’s no right answer, but writer-director Barry Jenkins may have done it better than anyone. Adapting a James Baldwin novel that functions equally well as a love story and social critique, Jenkins continues to refine his storytelling and visual skills even after a historic success like Moonlight. From the lush score to the eye-pleasing colors, this is a drop-dead gorgeous film. It also helps that If Beale Street Could Talk is filled with actors that bring plenty of life. Stephan James and Kiki Layne are utterly convincing as the central couple (you really feel they are meant for each other), while Regina King delivers an Oscar-worthy performance as a strong-willed and emotionally wrecked mother. Melancholy has hardly looked so beautiful as it does in this film.
- Lush – Snail Mail

Snail Mail’s Lindsay Jordan is only 19, which is both obvious and shocking when you listen to Lush. Obvious, because she sings of heartbreak and unrequited love from a young person’s perspective. Shocking, because of the maturity and honesty on display in her lyrics, as well as her abundant talent for crafting a killer indie rock song. Whether it’s an upbeat singalong like “Full Control” or “Pristine” or a more relaxed track like “Let’s Find An Out”, Jordan is more than capable of making the superb Lush sound anthemic and introspective at the same time.
- First Man

It’s perhaps the quietest, least triumphant movie ever made about a Great American Moment, but First Man still soars. Once again, director Damien Chazelle has created something both old-fashioned and innovative. Venturing out to space after the magical jazz-musical successes of Whiplash and La La Land, Chazelle forces us to realize the unimaginable cost of going to the moon by placing us inside the cockpit and the domestic lives of the astronauts that worked so hard to achieve our national dreams. Ryan Gosling is withdrawn and stern as Neil Armstrong, transforming a history book figure into flesh and blood, and Claire Foy is the emotional center of the film as his wife Janet. It’s a technical marvel (especially the climactic IMAX scene on the moon), as well as a momentous and resonant story.
- Homecoming

The creators of Amazon’s Homecoming pulled off a magic trick here. They took ten podcast episodes and made one of the most visually inventive shows that TV has ever seen. Sam Esmail (Mr. Robot) directed all ten episodes with imagination and originality. Of course, he took his cues from 1970s paranoid thrillers to create the world of this mysterious conspiracy show, using the framing, camera techniques, and scores of those classics.
We can’t forget about Homecoming’s performances. Julia Roberts, an up-and-coming actress in her first role on TV, is splendid here, as she tamps down that natural Roberts charisma for a performance far more complex. Stephan James, Bobby Cannavale, and Shea Whigham are perfectly cast, giving highly memorable performances opposite a star like Roberts. This is a show that lodged itself in my psyche and refused to leave.
- Yolk in the Fur – Wild Pink
After an enjoyable self-titled debut last year, Wild Pink leveled up in a hurry in 2018. Essentially, their sound became widescreen and epic. They take their cues from Springsteen and Petty, as well as present-day heartland rock group The War on Drugs. Still, Wild Pink retains an idiosyncratic streak due to lead singer John Ross’ understated vocals and lyrical specificity (Tumblr, Uber, and a ouija board are referenced at different points). There’s something a little off-kilter about this band that sets them apart. “Lake Erie” and “There Is a Ledger” are the standouts, but the whole album feels like it’s optimistically reaching for peace and serenity in pessimistic times. Wild Pink is a band coming into their element in real time.
- Golden Hour – Kacey Musgraves

The most pleasant surprise of my year was pressing play on Kacey Musgraves’ Golden Hour for the first time — and then subsequently returning to it time and again as the months passed. I was only peripherally aware of Musgraves as one of many mainstream female country artists, so I was blindsided when she released what would become my favorite album of the year. On this soon-to-be classic, she plays with genre in enjoyable ways, as Golden Hour’s brilliant production melds laid-back country-pop with disco (“High Horse”) and psychedelic folk (“Oh, What A World”).
As an often cynical person, certain lyrics that seemed a little corny and cliched at first became powerful with repeated listens. She’s not ironic or detached here, just infectiously sincere and open-hearted, welcoming life’s joys with wonder and awe. Musgraves was getting married around the time she was making the record, and you can hear that both in her warm and intimate lyrics and her lovely and crystalline voice.
Golden Hour is an album that I revisited throughout the changing seasons. In warmer weather, it made me want to venture outside and enjoy the sun on my face. During the winter, it has gone down like a soothing mug of hot tea. That’s a sign of music that will live on.
- A Star Is Born

When A Star Is Born’s intoxicating trailer dropped earlier this year on a hyperbolic, meme-crazed internet, many wondered if this would be the best movie of all-time or the worst. What was so exciting in that moment is that we really had no idea if Bradley Cooper’s massive gamble to remake a melodramatic Hollywood story was going to be an equally massive success or a career-damaging failure. While A Star Is Born is clearly not the best or worst movie ever, we can now comfortably say the end product was much closer to the former.
Against all probability, this movie just works. It beckons you to come along for the ride and entertains and moves you to no end. Yes, it teeters precariously on the edge of ridiculousness and melodrama. Yes, believability is strained at times. Ultimately, none of that matters when there are moments as exhilarating and indelible as Ally’s (Lady Gaga) first time on stage with Jackson (Cooper). Cooper’s directorial vision and performance are now career-defining and Gaga’s turn as that rising star will be referred to for decades (and might even bag her an Oscar). This type of art, both mainstream crowd-pleasing and technically impressive, doesn’t come around all that often. It seems we’ve decided to cherish it while it’s here.
- Atlanta (S2)

One of the great joys of 2018 was sitting down for a new episode of Atlanta. As the first scene opened up, there was just no predicting what you were about to watch. Each installment contained ideas that could be parsed for days. Money, class, race, celebrity — it was all on the table and more. But the emotion Donald Glover and co. brings to the show is special as well. In a single episode, Atlanta can range from surreal to melancholy to hilarious to devastating to terrifying to exhilarating.
The most memorable episode was the brilliant, upsetting “Teddy Perkins,” but “Helen” and “Woods” also provided a spotlight for bravura drama and character development. Director Hiro Murai continued to give the show its unique visual sense and the cast of Glover, Brian Tyree Henry, Lakeith Stanfield, and Zazie Beetz were marvelous again (plus, we are treated to some truly amusing cameos from Katt Williams, Michael Vick (!), and “Drake”). Remarkably, Atlanta Robbin’ Season somehow topped what came before in delightfully unexpected ways.
- Roma

In describing his very personal masterpiece, filmmaker Alfonso Cuaron described the camera in Roma as a ghost from the future observing events of the past. Throughout the film we follow a domestic worker named Cleo as she goes about her quotidian daily tasks caring for an upper middle class Mexican family. In stark black-and-white the camera patiently tracks with her as we see the increasingly dramatic events of her life, allowing us to feel as if we are silent witnesses from almost 50 years in the future.
You try to go into a wildly hyped film like Roma with fair expectations, but that’s impossible. In the opening minutes my disappointment grew as I found myself restlessly waiting for the movie to become a modern classic. That is no way to watch a film. As the story continued to slowly unfold at its own pace, I let Roma immerse me in its setting, tone, and rhythm. As it washed over me, the accumulation of its moments became extremely powerful by the end. Cuaron is painting his childhood memory on screen in an almost unprecedented way here, leading to a remarkable clarity of image and emotion. Roma examines the personal and the societal in wondrous ways, making the film feel both intimate and epic, like only the timeless classics of cinema history can.
- First Reformed

Weighty, propulsive, and masterful, no film this year imprinted itself on me like First Reformed. Paul Schrader’s anguished and cerebral drama of a deeply troubled pastor is structured like a thriller, but contains a spellbinding amount of psychological complexity. Ethan Hawke is at his restrained best as Rev. Ernst Toller here, and he’s probably never been better. His character unravels physically, emotionally, and spiritually before our eyes, as he deals with the effects of sin, loss, and climate change. It’s a mostly bleak vision of our broken world, but rarely have spiritual issues — faith and doubt, hope and despair — been rendered on screen with this much depth and feeling. And the ending is one that could be examined for ages.
Full Lists
Top 10 Films
- First Reformed
- Roma
- A Star Is Born
- First Man
- If Beale Street Could Talk
- Widows
- A Quiet Place
- Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
- Mission: Impossible – Fallout
- Isle of Dogs
Top 10 TV Shows
- Atlanta (S2)
- Homecoming
- Wild Wild Country
- Sharp Objects
- Killing Eve
- Barry
- GLOW (S2)
- The Americans (S6)
- Narcos: Mexico
- The Good Place (S3)
Top 10 Albums
- Golden Hour – Kacey Musgraves
- Yolk in the Fur – Wild Pink
- Lush – Snail Mail
- DAYTONA – Pusha T
- Black Panther: The Album – Kendrick Lamar
- Hope Downs – Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever
- God’s Favorite Customer – Father John Misty
- 7 – Beach House
- EVERYTHING IS LOVE – The Carters
- Mt. Joy – Mt. Joy