The Oscar nominees were announced this morning marking the beginning of a month of lobbying and speculation about who will win what. With everything fresh in mind let’s take a look at the big categories (Best Picture, Director and the four acting categories) to see who has the inside track, who surprised with their nomination and who inevitably was left out.​

If Clint Eastwood is trying to send an apologetic message to his family, maybe he should do it in person. At the very least it would be more sincere than The Mule.

In his clumsy new film, Eastwood tells the story of Earl Stone, a fictionalized version of a very real WWII veteran who wound up running drugs for the cartel into his 80s. When we meet Earl (Eastwood) things seem pretty good. He is a world renowned horticulturalist, adored by everyone he meets. Things aren’t as rosy as they seem of course. As Earl sits alone in a hotel bar, his daughter (played by Eastwood's own daughter Alison) is getting married without her father to give her away.​

2018 was a year unlike any in my recollection. America was rocked by countless scandals, unimaginable cruelty, but also undeniable glimmers of hope. Personally, my life changed in ways that have forever altered my way of thinking. The word that comes to mind when trying to distill this year gone by is "tumult." Indeed, 2018 has been a tumultuous journey, but one that has always been lined with the optimism that smoother seas lie ahead.

​The world of film was no different. Cinema so often is a mirror to society, so it is no wonder that many of the movies that resonated enough to make this countdown traversed in a familiar instability. Each of the following films center on displaced or disparaged people. More often than not they depict the plights of those seeking stability and control over their own fates. Here they are, my top 10 films of 2018:​