Friday, December 13, 2019

2019: A YEAR IN MOVIES




It's very cliche & lazy to say this movie year (or any entire movie year) was boring, disappointing or underwhelming on a whole (I'm seeing a decent about of negative rumblings on social media about the 2019 movie year and I mostly disagree). If you limit yourself to only watching American/English-speaking movies I guess I can see why you would think that but as far as I'm concerned - any year where Claire Denis, Terrence Malick & Carlos Reygadas drop some of their best works is a great thing (I'm even more personally pleased as both Matthew Barney & Rick Alverson released strong features as well. But most people don't share the same fandom for those directors that I do).

Errol Morris' American Dharma finally got a release (and people are having a difficult hating it now that they've actually seen it), The Safdie Brothers brought the best out of Adam Sandler (Uncut Gems), Martin Scorsese reunited with his boys (The Irishman), and while Marvel clouded the Superhero/comic book-based movie spotlight (as it does every year), DC still managed to release one of the best superhero movies in quite some time in the form of...Shazam.

Now...2019 wasn't without its disappointments and predictable moments. Someone thought it was a good idea to make & release Harriet, the movie industry continues to profit off of the "Black trauma as entertainment" genre (Queen & Slim), and we got the same (although slightly altered) yearly repackaged space movies (Ad Astra) & war films (1917).

But even with all that, I'm still very pleased with 2019 all together.

So, in no particular order although broken down in to various categories & subcategories, here are my favorite movies of 2019.

Enjoy...

THE BEST

1-5 (JURY PRIZE):

Movies made by or featuring people I am biased towards but are still excellent nonetheless...




6-10 (ALL AROUND GREAT):

Films from 2019 that I thought were great with little to no criticism...




11-12: FRUSTRATING BUT REWARDING:

Great movies that had major flaws or multiple minor flaws yet the great aspects of the movie outweigh the negative...






HONORABLE MENTION
It wouldn't be right to define an entire year with just a handful of movies. Below are some more solid releases from 2019 worth your time...

ALL AROUND SOLID:


PRETTY SOLID:


UNDERRATED/SLIGHTLY SLEPT ON:





HONORABLE HONORABLE MENTION
A few more movies from 2019 worth your time...






OTHER MOVIES FROM 2019 POSSIBLY WORTH YOUR TIME:





UNDECIDED...
Movies that I'm not sure were either "good" or "bad". Either way there's a lot to talk about with these...







(PERSONAL) FAVORITE PERFORMANCES OF 2019:
The Cast of Parasite*
Laura Dern & Ray Liotta - A Marriage Story
Tim Heidecker - Mister America
Gregg turkington - Mister America 
Florence Pugh - Midsommar*
Sterling K Brown - Waves*
Joe Pesci - The Irishman*
Antonio Banderas - Pain & Glory
Willem Dafoe - The Lighthouse 
Martin Lawrence - Beach Bum
Adam Sandler - Uncut Gems*
Honor Swinton - The Souvenir
Tom Burke - The Souvenir*
Mia Goth - High Life
Valerie Pachner - A Hidden Life
August Diehl - A Hidden Life






PERSONAL FAVORITE SHOTS OF THE YEAR:
Atlantiques
The Mountain
A Hidden Life
Long Days Journey In To Night
High Life
High Life
Portrait Of A Lady On Fire
Pain And Glory
The Lighthouse
The Lighthouse







HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & OTHER RANDOM MOVIE MOMENTS FROM 2019...

Salva smoking heroin for the first time (Pain And Glory)

Honor Swinton playing footsie under the table (The Souvenir)

The Souvenir

Richard Ayoade's scene in The Souvenir*

It was ok I guess: Knives Out

“You’re foxy and you know it” - Robert Pattinson (High Life)



Marvel refusing to let Spider-Man be its own movie without the cloud of Ironman hovering over it*

Patrick Knight crying as he watches his daughter wrestle on TV for the first time (Fighting With My Family)

Gregg Turkington going dumpster diving for VHS tapes (Mister America)

Mad that I missed: Ford V Ferrari & Ad Astra

Indifferent about missing: Once Upon A Time In Hollywood

Completely fine with missing: Queen & Slim

Mad that I watched: Harriet

The Irishman

Joe Pesci conveying his friendship to Deniro with just a look (The Irishman)*

Harvey Keitel getting no love during the rollout/promotion of The Irishman

The true comic book spirit of Shazam

Kevin Garnett delivering a great performance as himself in Uncut Gems

The very chaotic opening moments of Uncut Gens

Willem Dafoe screaming “DONT LEAVE ME!” To Robert Pattinson in The Lighthoue

"Hypnose"/The Lighthouse

Robert Eggers referencing “Hypnose” in The Lighthouse*

Martin Lawrence’s presence in The Beach Bum

Tim Heidecker’s presence in US


Too much of a good thing isn't always the best thing (John Wick 3)*

The anti-climactic climactic ending in Glass

Why are these parents so loose with letting their kid hang out with a weird old man they barely know? (Pet Sematary)

All the scenes in Haiti in Zombi Child

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre / Midsommar

Ari Aster referencing the Texas Chainsaw Massacre in Midsommar*


Persona / Portrait Of A Lady On Fire

Celine Sciamma referencing Persona in Portrait Of A Lady On Fire*


Taxi Driver /
Joker
The King Of Comedy / Joker

Todd Phillips channeling Scorsese in Joker*


Kasi Lemmons fueling the “straight Black men are trash” narrative with the fictional Black slave catcher character “Bigger Long” in Harriet.

Harriet

Black movie audiences giving Harriet a pass because Kasi Lemmons made Eve’s Bayou*

People giving The Dead Don’t Die a pass because Jim Jarmusch directed it

Sterling K Brown wasting a great performance on a “Meh” movie (Waves)

Our Time

the karaoke scene in Our Time*

Ja Rule adopting a fake forced stereotypical Italian-American mob accent in the Fyre Festival documentary.

Dan Gilroy basically remaking Art School Confidential and one noticing (Velvet Buzzsaw)

The cinematography in Long Days Journey In To Night

"Phil Burgers" (Our Time)

High Life

Andre 3000 dissolving into to earth in High Life*

Mia Goth lactating in High Life

The women going to collect their men's pay in Atlantiques


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