Parasite
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Where You Can Watch It: DVD/Blu-ray, VOD
Bong Joon-ho, like how I said with Rian Johnson earlier, is one of those artists who just hits me on a level where it’s like each of his films were made specifically for me. The way he layers multiple tones, genres, and themes into these meticulously crafted and explosively expressive wonders of the cinematic world. Nothing makes me happier than to see this film’s success crossover into the mainstream. It’s so well constructed, it’s almost intimidating. The film is sharp look at class, and while lesser filmmakers would take the same setup and paint an easy hero and villain scenario, Bong Joon-ho tackles it from a perspective you don’t see coming, pointing instead at the systems in place that pits us against one another. The “parasite” isn’t any one of the characters in the film, it’s all of them, and the beast that ultimately serves as the host to these parasites is capitalism. We’re all a part of it, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t some hope to be found.
Peterloo
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Where You Can Watch It: Amazon Prime
Another one of many films exploring class disparities in a way that is very of-the-moment despite the story being set in the early 1800s. Mike Leigh has been making films for several decades, and even at the age of 76, he shows no sign of losing his special touch. His eye for establishing a specific time and place that feels lived in, transporting you to whatever he decides to explore next, and observing the lives of these characters. With Peterloo, he tackles a historical tragedy that shocked Britain. Leigh presents the circumstances that ultimately led to the horrific finale with a palpable sense of rage and righteousness, bringing to light the context surrounding the event in a way that is as enlightening as it is rousing. The sad thing is, we will still be seeing moments like this repeat itself, but the silver lining to that fact is the idea that the oppressed will never simply sit down and take it.
Portrait Of A Lady On Fire
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Where You Can Watch It: Still in theaters, check your local listings.
For a film as quiet and unassuming as this is, it is full of tension and brings emotions out of you that I would describe as explosive and shattering. We’ve seen love stories like this before, but I certainly cannot recall seeing one this skillfully and artfully made. It is such a beautiful visual realization of the feeling you get when you long for someone, and yet cannot fully indulge in your desires and impulses. Each glance the characters have at one another brings so much life and energy to the frame, the characters are perfectly realized, and you buy into the central relationship so effortlessly. And it is also worth noting how well Céline Sciamma capture the frustration and satisfaction one feels whenever you paint.
Ready Or Not
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Where You Can Watch It: DVD/Blu-ray, VOD
I think this film has one of the best endings of the year. I vividly remember being in the theater, thinking to myself, “man, it would be so cool if it ended like this.” And then…that’s exactly what happened. Obviously, I won’t spoil, but I won’t have to because the rest of the film is just as delightful and vicious and funny and violent. Samara Weaving delivers a star-making performance that gives her so much to juggle with in terms of tone, character interiority, action, and she is pitch perfect in her delivery with all of these various elements. It’s just relentlessly fun, and twisted in all the most satisfying ways from its amazing hook to its balls-to-the-wall finale. I can’t imagine a more deeply cathartic film to come out this year.
Shazam!
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Where You Can Watch It: DVD/Blu-ray, VOD, HBO
Sure, Endgame was a satisfying conclusion to the Infinity saga for the MCU, I also liked Captain Marvel more than most, and I thought Spider-Man: Far From Home was an improvement on the first film. However, Shazam! will stand out as the finest of the superhero films of the year for me. I love its wholesomeness, I love its characters, I love how tightly constructed it is, completely unbothered by the idea of building any sort of shared universe, and I love the way it infuses moments of pure horror in an otherwise family friendly romp. It’s very much the kind of superhero film they don’t really make anymore, and of course, the only way they could have made a superhero film like that was making it a direct riff on Big, a classic – if problematic – comedy, the likes of which you don’t really see anymore. It’s has an old school sensibility while still retaining a very modern sense of humor, but it’s ultimately the kindness of its heart that gets me every time.
The Beach Bum
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Where You Can Watch It: DVD/Blu-ray, VOD, Hulu
Harmony Korine finally chills out a bit, and delivers one of the most meandering, mumbling, random, and off-kilter cinematic exercises of the year, and with Matthew McConaughey at the center of it all, delivering a performance that is just pure, uncut Matthew McConaughey in every delightful way. This will not be everyone’s cut of tea, a Korine flick rarely is, but this was an early favorite of mine. Korine’s mean streak is mostly gone, but his affection for the trashy underbelly of society is ever present, still as vibrantly realized as it was in Spring Breakers, but now in a context that feels more heavenly than anything else. It’s absolutely hilarious, full of wonderful weirdos, and it has moments of surprising poignancy and maturity, even in its most aimless moments of hazy delirium.
The Death Of Dick Long
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Where You Can Watch It: DVD/Blu-ray, VOD
This film captures the quiet quirks and painful mundanity of small town life better than most films I see that cover similar settings. I love me a good story about criminals who are hopelessly dimwitted and way in over their heads, so this was bound to satisfy me. What surprised me most was how it balanced the absurdity of the situation with a quietly somber tone. It’s far from serious, but it doesn’t stretch beyond the recognizable reality of these kinds of people to find humor. I’ve grown up around people like this, and this is exactly how they are – though, I can’t speak to the whole deal regarding the cause of the titular character’s death, that’s just on him. It’s an incredibly funny film, but it’s also weirdly charming and affecting, which I suppose shouldn’t be that surprising since director, Daniel Scheinert, was one half of the team behind Swiss Army Man, which also brought a balance between the absurd and sincere. It’s a delicate balance, but the folks behind this handle it so impressively well.
The Irishman
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Where You Can Watch It: Netflix
A film that essentially acts as an old man’s confessional, touching on his life of crime before the sweet release of death, the final half hour or so of this three and a half hour epic is really what makes this so special and haunting. For as quiet as it is, its impact is insurmountable. The consequences of putting your loved ones behind you to take part in what you force yourself to believe is important comes back to haunt our lead, Frank Sheeran, performed by Robert De Niro, in his best performance in years, as does most of the cast. Martin Scorsese manages to subvert his usual gangster formula to craft a meditation on mortality, on legacy, on history, on the weight that guilt has on your shoulders. I could gush about this film for…honestly about as long as the film itself is. It’s a master working at the height of his powers, and it’s a blessing we can still get movies like this made today, even if they do come so rarely.
The Last Black Man In San Francisco
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Where You Can Watch It: DVD/Blu-ray, VOD, Amazon Prime
I don’t usually get passionate about awards season because I get how the system works, and nothing about it really surprises me anymore. I know what to expect. However, when I finished watching The Last Black Man In San Francisco, I felt two things. The first was an euphoric rush, the second was annoyance. Not at the film, but at the fact that a film so beautifully made, so fully realized in its vision, so endearingly performed, so rich in its writing, so immediate in its themes, and yet so approachable with its style and humor, capturing one of the most iconic cities in the world in a manner that I have never seen, could still be so wholly ignored by all the award ceremonies. I’ve listened to the musical score for this several times now during some long drives, and it never ceases to make me think about the film, and what it pulls of. It’s a stunning work of art, and it’s one I will be pondering about for a long time, and I hope people discover it for years to come.
The Lighthouse
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Where You Can Watch It: DVD/Blu-ray, VOD
For a film so full of symbols, metaphors, and literary and mythological references, I’m not all that convinced it ultimately adds up to something specific and meaningful. But as a wholly original stylistic exercise, the new film from Robert Eggers is practically unmatched by anything else I’ve seen in 2019. It just works so well in tapping into these primal ticks, and utilizing an old school aesthetic in a post-modern fashion, complete with fart jokes. This is precisely my kind of weird and indulgent, and I love it unabashedly. I’m honestly still kind of amazed that not only did someone write this, but a group of people decide to give the writer money to make it, and not only was it made and released into theaters, but a lot of people, other than myself, actually seem to dig it. That doesn’t happen often.
The Man Who Killed Hitler And Then The Bigfoot
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Where You Can Watch It: DVD/Blu-ray, VOD, Hulu
So, this fell off the radar of a lot of people. It’s a small film that not many have seen, and even those that did were kind of perplexed by it, but I was an early champion. I’m a sucker for earnestness, especially in situations where irony is the easy and obvious route. With a title that colorful, you get a specific type of picture in your mind, but what the film actually delivers is a melancholic drama about an old man reflecting on the regrets he’s made in his life. It’s less grindhouse and more prestige, which could easily fall flat if it weren’t for Sam Elliot’s fantastic performance, one informed by loneliness and heartbreak. I doubt anyone else out there has this flick on their list, but I was genuinely taken by surprise in terms of how moved I was by it. Whether it click with anyone else or not, it will have a special place in my heart.
The Nightingale
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Where You Can Watch It: DVD/Blu-ray, VOD, Hulu
With just two films under her belt, Jennifer Kent establishes herself as one of the most fearless filmmakers in the game right now. The Nightingale is ruthless in its depictions of rape, assault, violence, the damaging effects of colonialism, as well as the ways colonialism affects victims of varying groups in different ways. It’s bold, brutal, shocking, uncompromising, and so rich in its filmmaking that it manages to keep you engaged even through the roughest and sickening of sequences. Followeing up The Babadook could not have been an easy process for Kent, and it would be so easy to either make another similar style of horror film, or get swept up in the Hollywood machine like a lot of indie filmmakers, but the fact that she decided to go with this instead makes me absolutely excited for whatever she takes a swing at next.
The Wandering Earth
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Where You Can Watch It: Netflix
I guess one could say this is a very silly movie, and they would be right. It’s about the planet Earth basically acting like a space ship because one side is covered in rockets, pushing the Earth on a course to a new home because of an expanding sun, except – oh no – there’s a problem, and now we’re about to crash into Jupiter. It’s silly, but it’s also committed. The world is so well realized, the characters are endearing, the story is effortlessly compelling, the production values are beyond anything I’ve seen from a Chinese film this VFX heavy, and it utilizes classic blockbuster tropes that are surprisingly effective and totally earned. The imagery present in this film alone is filled with so much wonder and imagination, I think people in Hollywood could learn a lot it.
Toy Story 4
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Where You Can Watch It: DVD/Blu-ray, VOD
While I certainly had my nitpicks, I – like most people – thought the Toy Story series found its perfect conclusion with Toy Story 3, and making another one could potentially ruin a wonderful trilogy. Instead, what we got was a story about self-discovery and self-care, the idea that it’s OK to move on from what has previously defined you if you no longer find it as meaningful or important, and to surround yourself with people and places that will take you in and appreciate you for who you are. Of course, given how much Pixar is such a well oiled machine, it’s still very funny, the vocal performances are top notch, the emotional beats are well earned, and the animation is as gorgeous as ever. We may not have needed it, but I’m so happy it exists. That the filmmakers pulled it off as well as it did feels like nothing short of sorcery.
Uncut Gems
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Where You Can Watch It: Still in theaters, check your local listings.
Though I don’t love this quite as much as Good Time, the Safdie Brothers still amaze me in their ability to create a sense of chaos without ever losing track of the story they’re telling. Playing like a Greek tragedy on so much cocaine, it’s a sensory onslaught that hits the ground running with the sickly energy of a jittery fluorescent light in a grimy nightclub bathroom. The soundtrack, the constant screaming, the relentless pursuits, it all serves to create this consistent sense of danger and unease, and Adam Sandler is the force that pulls you through all of it with a grungy gravitas that is an absolute joy to behold. Though, it’s also worth noting that Julia Fox also shines as the film’s not-so-secret MVP. It just goes to show you don’t need a huge budget and flashy effects to create a memorable experience.
Us
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Where You Can Watch It: DVD/Blu-ray, VOD, HBO
Jordan Peele’s highly anticipated follow up to Get Out came out back in March, and I’m still thinking about it almost a year later. Granted, I’m still not entirely sure what it’s about beyond the broadest gestures towards ideas of class disparities, society building on top of historical atrocities, and the way we other entire groups of people. But despite me not having the most clear interpretation of the material, that doesn’t make it any less impactful. It is such a distinctly wild swing, so ambitious and singularly weird in its vision, and elegantly realized to the screen with so many standout moments and performances, especially from the amazing Lupita Nyong’o. I may not fully understand it, but it’s one I’ll still be thinking about, and finding even more to appreciate. If that doesn’t indicate Jordan Peele as a master in the making, I don’t know what does.
Wild Rose
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Where You Can Watch It: DVD, VOD, Hulu
Combining all the elements of a great underdog story with that of a social-realist character study, Wild Rose is a firecracker of a film that explores the drive of our lead to realize her dream of becoming a country singer, even when no one seems to believe in her, her circumstances don’t provide the best opportunities, and her own flaws as an individual get in the way. Jessie Buckley’s performance is still one of the most powerful and raw that I’ve seen in all of 2019, tackling a character that has rough patches, is tough to deal with, and deeply stubborn at times, but she still has a big heart, full of passion, and a willingness to make the hard choices to do what’s best for you and the ones you love. I doubt there is a character that better represents the messiness of 2019 than Rose-Lynn Harlan, and to be frank, I don’t think there is one more worth rooting for.
And there you have it! My 50 favorite films of 2019. I had a lot of fun putting together this list, and I hope you find something here that maybe catches your interest. If you do, let me know what you think of it. And what are some of your favorite films of 2019? Feel free to discuss in comments. I’m glad I can finally put 2019 behind me now, and focus on everything that 2020 has to offer. Here’s to another year of great movies.