And now we’re down to 10. 10 of the best movies of 2019. Turns out most of em were crammed into the last 2 months of the year. Did anything dethrone Parasite? How many films from Netflix ended up on my list? Was Cats #1, or #2? Read on to find out.
Hands down the best love story of the year. Set in France at a point where women have little control over their lives, Celine Sciamma’s meet cute between Noémie Merlant and Adèle Haenel is a slow burn, but in the best way. What do I mean? Their evident attraction makes the audience LONG for them to open up to each other, putting everyone on the edge of their seat. In addition, one of the women is going to be married off to someone she doesn’t love, so their time to be together is finite and fleeting, which further complicates their feelings. Sciamma’s deft hand makes this movie beautiful, sad, fulfilling, cruel: basically a host of complex feelings. Felicitations!
You’re either with The Last Jedi or you’re against it in Star Wars world; I side with Rian Johnson, king of upending and challenging expectations with whatever type of movie he’s making. Case in point: the plot of this gem of an Agatha Christie caper, which goes in directions previously never explored, and using a cast playing against type to maximum effect. Plus, the movie’s just a blast beginning to end.
Two handers have a high variability, and can go very wrong in the wrong hands. However, Anthony McCarten and City of God’s Fernando Meirelles are the right hands for this story. A well crafted merger of big philosophical discussion and fish out of water mismatched buddy comedy, this movie deploys Jonathan Pryce and Anthony Hopkins to maximum effect as titans of religion fighting for the soul of the Catholic Church.
A story about a dying grandmother and a family hiding her secret feels like it should be really sad and manipulative. Such is the delight of Lulu Wang’s beautiful film, which presents the differences between the East and West in a subtle, lovely funny way, and contains a revelatory performance from Awkwafina.
Set in the Diamond District in New York City, this propuslive, hypertense thriller succeeds in large part because the Safdie Brothers mine such great energy and performances out of unexpected people and places. Oh, and Adam Sandler up and delivers the performance of his career as well…
The thing usually forgotten about divorce is – especially with a kid – life goes on. Noah Baumbach takes that idea about the dissolving of a marriage but continuation of a family and gives it his empathetic, clever touch. Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson are amazing depicting a couple trying to remember their connection in spite of a system designed to make them hate one another.
A fairly sprawling look at a former GM plant that was taken over by a Chinese company. This prescient documentary takes an unflinching look at the universal struggle of working people and how the powers that be are unaware of the pain and suffering these heroes endure because of their decision making.
It’s been a minute since Hollywood gave us a great World War I movie. That drought is officially over. Sam Mendes unleashes the great cinematographer Roger Deakins on us, resulting in making us feel like we’re the two corporals in the movie, working our way around German defenses to deliver a message to the front lines. Like Saving Private Ryan, 1917 puts you in the thick of it to show you how war is hell.
Greta Gerwig’s first movie was the best film of 2017, and maybe the decade. Her follow up? ONLY a runner up for 2019. Despite the many adaptations of Louisa May Alcott’s beloved novel, Gerwig’s adaptation stands tallest, fully capturing Little Women’s essence and fully understanding all of its wonderful cast of characters.
Bong Joon Ho finally put it all together. This will be his masterpiece. Successfully merging a bunch of genres into a fascinating story about class and society, this twisty fascinating tale is a gift that keeps on giving. And could only be told by a director at the peak of his powers.
