It's the first day of 2020 and a lot of people are looking forward to the new year... setting goals... and trying to improve upon 2019. I, for one, am still looking back... specifically to my favorite movies from 2019. Overall, 2019 was an interesting year for movies. The blockbusters were front loaded (with Endgame swallowing up its entire competition), with a rather weak summer season (I could count a handful of films that were good to great), and a strong finish to the year. I thought the year was really great for "prestige" films with a wide open field for best picture. Netflix is once again threatening to be a big player in the awards picture, perhaps even taking home the top prize. Adam Sandler delivered the best performance of the year (Yes, that Adam Sandler), and the Skywalker saga closed out after over 40 years. Without further adieu, here's my top 10 list for 2019. I should mention that there are still a couple movies that I need to see, so this list could change before The Oscars.
Here's a couple that just missed the cut: The Peanut Butter Falcon, The Report, Hustlers, Spider-Man: Far From Home and Toy Story 4
10) Avengers: Endgame - Endgame closed out a 10+ year chapter of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in a glorious, emotionally satisfying way. We will never see another series of films like this iteration of the MCU, and I'm not sure I even want to. It was everything I could ask for and more.
9) Midsommar - The rare daytime horror film, this film was equal parts bleak and humorous. Ari Aster follows up the incredible Hereditary with this tale of a Swedish cult like society and a group of tourists that get caught up in their ritualistic weekend. Kudos to breakout star, Florence Pugh, for being the backbone of this picture.
8) Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker - Naysayers be damned! I absolutely loved this movie (warts and all) as it closed out the 40+ year saga of the Skywalker clan. Star Wars seems to be a cultural hot potato, but I'm not about to mix it up with the toxic fanboys. Star Wars is not, nor has it ever been, Shakespeare. I was thoroughly satisfied with this latest (and last) trilogy of films. I just wish they had laid out a more cohesive vision throughout the 3 films.
7) Booksmart - So much more than just "The Female Superbad." This criminally overlooked gem from first time director Olivia Wilde flips the high school sex comedy on its head. It's full of LOL moments as two best friends navigate the end of their high school lives. It's also a heartwarming tale of friendship, love, sexuality and much more. I hope it will find a larger audience now that its available to stream.
6) Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood - Not the best Tarantino film, but definitely his most straight forward, and most well-rounded. Tarantino's love letter to 1960s Hollywood is filled with love throughout every frame. Brad Pitt shines in a never-better performance as a past-his-prime stunt man who makes a living chauffeuring his leading man (a self-deprecating delightful performance from Leonardo DiCaprio) around town. The threat of the Manson Family pays off in a way only Tarantino can muster.
5) Knives Out - The most fun you'll have at the theater all year! Rain Johnson's follow up to The Last Jedi brings back a forgotten genre, the murder mystery, in a big and beautiful way. It's more of a how-dunit than a who-dunit, but that doesn't matter. You can tell that every person involved in making this movie was having the time of their lives.
4) The Irishman - A career capping directorial effort from the greatest filmmaker of all-time, Martin Scorsese. It flips the gangster film genre on its head by looking at the effect all that violence has on its characters. It spends nearly 4 hours deconstructing the genre that Scorsese made famous. It also features a never-better performance from Joe Pesci, by going against the grain. He's subdued and heartbreaking in a way I've never seen from him. Could this be the first streaming film to win best picture?
3) Us - Jordan Peele's spectacular follow-up to the groundbreaking Get Out was everything I wanted it to be and more. I've seen it a couple times and I take something different away from it each time. This film features the best overall performance of the year (Lupita Nyong'o in a dual role), and is equal parts thrilling and hilarious.
2) Joker - The most controversial movie of the year, and also the most misunderstood. It's not a celebration of violence that a lot of people think it is. It's actually about the loss of the social safety net and what happens when we talk about "mental health" being a problem without actually doing anything about it. If it weren't for Sandler's magnetic performance in Uncut Gems, Jaoquin Phoenix's take on an iconic character would be my favorite performance of the year. How is it that we've had 3 different all-time performances of the Joker? I didn't think it could be pulled off, but Phoenix managed to squeeze some juice out of 60+ year old character.
1) Uncut Gems - I saw this film 5 days ago, and I still can't get it out of the head. The Safdie brothers delivered the most intense movie of the year and squeezed an unlikely tremendous performance out of Adam Sandler. The film starts with the intensity at an 11 and doesn't let up for 2 hours. I can't wait to see what the Safdie brothers come up with next.
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