'The 2019 Oscar Nominated Shorts - Animation'

[The 2019 Oscar Nominated Shorts - Animation opens in Cleveland on Friday February 8th at the Capitol Theatre, The Cedar Lee Theater, The Apollo Theater, and Chagrin Cinemas.]

Cleveland Cinemas is proud to be the exclusive exhibitor in Cleveland to present this year's Oscar Nominated Shorts programs. This year’s programs will be opening on Friday, February 8th at the Apollo Theatre (Oberlin), Capitol Theatre (Cleveland), Cedar Lee Theatre (Cleveland Hts.) and Chagrin Cinemas (Chagrin Falls).

Back when I was doing the Cleveland Movie Blog, I tried to review all three programs. And believe me, they’re all well worth seeing. This year, however, I’m only going to be reviewing the Animated Shorts program. Partly because it’s the best fit with what I’m doing now, and partly (mostly) because I just haven’t had the time to watch all three programs in their entirety, let alone review them.

Okay, on to the reviews.

Bob Looks Back at 2018 - The Year In Film

I know, I know. You’ve all been anxiously awaiting my end of the year movie lists. Believe me, I had no intention to put you through such stress, but that’s just how it went this year. Mainly because I wasn’t reviewing movies in any sort of official capacity, and therefore had to either see movies in the theater like a regular civilian (i.e. pay for a ticket) or wait for them to come out on home video. So I only recently got to the point where I felt I had seen enough films to make a respectable list.

On the plus side, since I wasn’t obligated to write reviews, I didn’t have to watch movies I was pretty sure I would hate. So that was a plus.

In the end, I only saw about a hundred movies released in 2018, about half the number I racked up last year. And yet I still feel as if I saw most of the films that stood a chance of making my list. The most notable exceptions would be SHOPLIFTERS, COLD WAR, 24 FRAMES, BORDER, and WIDOWS. But if I wait for all of those, it will probably be another month before I post this list. And by that time even I won’t care. So without further ado, on to this year’s lists.

Favorite Albums of 2018

Maybe it was the fact that I didn’t watch as many movies since I put the Cleveland Movie Blog to bed at the end of 2017, and therefore had more time to listen to tunes. Or maybe this was just a really good year for music. Either way, I found a lot of music to like in 2018, and picking my top 10 wasn't easy. Many of my honorable mentions could just as easily rank in the number 9 or 10 spot depending on my mood.

FAVORITE ALBUMS OF 2018

10. The Breeders – ‘All Nerve’

Nineties alt rock seems to be having a resurgence of late, but this excellent album is too good to write off as a mere nostalgia trip.  Bonus points for covering Amon Duul II’s “Archangel’s Thunderbird”.