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.
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
Tim Heidecker - Mister America
Gregg turkington - Mister America
Florence Pugh - Midsommar*
Sterling K Brown - Waves*
Joe Pesci - The Irishman*
Antonio Banderas - Pain & Glory
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:
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| Atlantiques |
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| The Mountain |
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| A Hidden Life |
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| Long Days Journey In To Night |
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| High Life |
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| High Life |
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| Portrait Of A Lady On Fire |
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| Pain And Glory |
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| The Lighthouse |
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| The Lighthouse |
HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & OTHER RANDOM MOVIE MOMENTS FROM 2019...
Honor Swinton playing footsie under the table (The Souvenir)
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| The Souvenir |
It was ok I guess: Knives Out
“You’re foxy and you know it” - Robert Pattinson (High Life)
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
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| 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
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| "Hypnose"/The Lighthouse |
Martin Lawrence’s presence in The Beach Bum
Tim Heidecker’s presence in US
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
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| The Texas Chainsaw Massacre / Midsommar |
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| Persona / Portrait Of A Lady On Fire |
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| Taxi Driver / Joker |
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| The King Of Comedy / Joker |
Kasi Lemmons fueling the “straight Black men are trash” narrative with the fictional Black slave catcher character “Bigger Long” in Harriet.
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| Harriet |
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)
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| 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)
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| High Life |
Mia Goth lactating in High Life
The women going to collect their men's pay in Atlantiques
