Of all the awards Hollywood doles out, the Golden Tomato Awards are basically the most cut-and-dry. The Rotten Tomatoes aggregate site takes all reviews for movies and TV shows and determines whether those reviews are positive or negative. They are then added together to create an average, which moviegoers or TV watchers can then consult to determine whether or not the projects are worth their time. The Golden Tomatoes are given to the best-reviewed films and TV shows of the year.
These awards are broken down by genre. Obviously, there are no creative tokens (acting, directing, etc.). These are based simply on overall quality, at least as judged by professional critics.
This year, the best Wide Release film was Disney/Marvel Studios’ ‘Black Panther’. That has been reinforced elsewhere as this is the first superhero movie to be nominated for Best Picture by other award bodies. This was also the best-reviewed Comic Book/Graphic Novel Movie of 2018.
There is hope that it will be nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards, but its chances of winning are slim to none. Even so, a sequel has officially been ordered by Marvel Studios, so fans can anticipate a return trip to Wakanda in the coming years.
In the Comic Book/Graphic Novel Movie category, the runner up is a shocker, the little-heard-of ‘The Death of Stalin’, based on the French graphic novel ‘La Mort de Staline’ by Fabien Nury and Thierry Robin. That was followed by ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’, ‘Avengers: Infinity War’, and ‘Deadpool 2’.
Another movie starring a Marvel superhero, but not released by Marvel Studios, ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’ is the best-reviewed Animated Movie of 2018. This innovative film has been showered with praise and Sony has already ordered a sequel and a spin-off, ‘Spider-Women’, that will put Gwen Stacy front-and-center. ‘Into the Spider-Verse’ was the overall fourth best-reviewed movie of the year.
In the overall movie listings, ‘Incredibles 2’ came in at #8, while it was #2 for Animated Movies. ‘Teen Titans GO! To the Movies’ was the #5 Animated Movie.
Low-budget breakout hit ‘A Quiet Place’ has the distinction of being the best-reviewed Horror Movie. It was also the sixth best-reviewed movie overall. In the Horror category, ‘A Quiet Place’ was followed by ‘Hereditary’, ‘Mandy’, ‘Halloween’, and ‘Overlord’.
Perhaps the most startling win is in the Science Fiction/Fantasy Movie area. The best-reviewed movie of 2018 here was ‘Sorry to Bother You’. This was director Boots Riley’s first motion picture and featured an impressive cast that includes Lakeith Stanfield, Tessa Thompson, Jermaine Fowler, Omari Hardwick, Terry Crews, Patton Oswalt, David Cross, Danny Glover, Steven Yeun, and Armie Hammer. If you feel bad for not being familiar with it, it may help that ‘Sorry to Bother You’ is probably more “speculative fiction” than straight sci-fi.
Falling behind ‘Sorry to Bother You’ were ‘Bumblebee’, ‘Annihilation’, ‘The Endless’ and ‘Upgrade’. It looks as though viewers were too distracted by the likes of ‘The Predator’, ‘The Mortal Engines’, and ‘A Wrinkle In Time’ to take notice of some great high-quality, low-profile sci-fi pictures in 2018.
On the TV side of things, ‘Doctor Who’ was the top Science Fiction/Fantasy series, followed by ‘Westworld’, ‘Outlander’, ‘The Innocents’, and ‘The Man in the High Castle’. Meanwhile the now-cancelled ‘Daredevil’ was the best-reviewed Superhero series, followed by ‘The Flash’, ‘Legion’, ‘Cloak & Dagger’, and ‘Titans’.
Here are all the best movies and TV shows of 2018:
Best Movies/TV
Wide Release: Black Panther
Limited Release: Roma
Directorial Debut: A Star Is Born
Spanish-Language: Roma
Australia: Sweet Country
United Kingdom: Paddington 2
Best New TV Show: Homecoming
Best Returning TV Show: Atlanta
Movies by Genre
Best Action/Adventure Movie 2018: Mission: Impossible -Fallout
Best Animated Movie 2018: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Best Comedy 2018: Eighth Grade
Best Comic Book/Graphic Novel Movie 2018: Black Panther
Best Documentary 2018: Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
Best Drama 2018: BlacKkKlansman
Best Foreign-Language Movie 2018: Roma
Best Horror Movie 2018: A Quiet Place
Best Kids & Family Movie 2018: Paddington 2
Best Musical/Music Movie 2018: A Star Is Born
Best Romance Movie 2018: Crazy Rich Asians
Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy Movie 2018: Sorry to Bother You
Best Thriller 2018: Widows
Best Western 2018: The Rider
TV by Genre
Best TV Comedy 2018: Barry
Best Comedy Special 2018: Hannah Gadsby: Nanette
Best Docuseries 2018: America to Me
Best TV Drama 2018: Cobra Kai
Best TV Horror 2018: The Terror
Best Miniseries, Limited Series & Anthology TV Show 2018: Sharp Objects
Best TV Sci-Fi/Fantasy 2018: Doctor Who
Best Superhero TV Show 2018: Daredevil
Best TV Thriller, Mystery & Suspense 2018: Homecoming
Best TV Movie 2018: The Tale
