The Mule

The Mule is Clint Eastwood's latest effort as both director and actor, wherein he plays a man based on a real life person who became a drug mule in his 80s. As Eastwood drives around across the United States delivering drugs for a cartel, the DEA tries to figure out who this new mule is, with Bradley Cooper and Michael Pena as the agents in charge. This is one of Eastwood's best performances mainly due to how he uses his real voice rather than the gruff tough voice he's always given in many of his other performances. The story isn't something new but with Eastwood's direction, it's told really well and can even understand the decisions that the main character makes even when not agreeing to them. Even as the opening few minutes are a bit slow, the pacing improves once we get to Eastwood becoming a mule. One could see The Mule as a proto road trip film due to the constant traveling that Earl Strode, Eastwood's character, does and the many places one sees are truly breathtaking as the cinematography takes you in. Something I would have loved to see more of is the cartel's initial reaction to the fact that a man in his 80s wants to move their drugs, though how they feel about him after a few of his runs is appreciated. One standout scene is when Eastwood talks with Cooper's DEA agent about how one shouldn't put their job over family as he has done in his life which comes back around when Earl is arrested and reminds the drug agent what he told him and why he did what he did. Over all: 100%

2018 top list so far:
1. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

2. Halloween 2018

3. Won't You Be My Neighbor?/BlacKkKlansman (tie)

4. Incredibles 2

5. Avengers: Infinity War

6. Mission: Impossible - Fallout

7. The Mule

8. Bumblebee

9. Ralph Breaks the Internet

10. Creed II

11. Bohemian Rhapsody

12. Solo: A Star Wars Story

13. A Quiet Place
14. Deadpool 2

15. Black Panther

16. A Star Is Born 2018

17. Ant-Man and the Wasp

18. Ready Player One

19. Aquaman

20. Bad Times at the El Royale

21. Sicario: Day of the Soldado

22. Ocean's 8

23. Isle of Dogs

24. Game Night

25. Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald

26. Venom

27. Thoroughbreds

28. Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again

29. The Predator

30. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom